Blogging Pros and Cons

Because blogging is a popular Internet practice, it is fully open to public exposure unless the one creating the blog places specific limits on who can read it. There are at least several types of blogs a person can make, including the use of audio, video, and discussion boards. This is an ideal way for people of various ages to read, report, and/or make an analysis of news found in broadcasting media, share valuable information, write journal entries, or keep in touch with friends and loved ones located any distance away. At the same time, it cannot be assumed that the entire world population is computer literate, let alone knows how to use any Internet services, or that everyone is interested in communicating this way. But bloggers are likely to keep a list of contacts who can communicate in real time, whether they use chat services that may be available on blogging sites or just prefer old-fashioned methods.

Blogging is not meant primarily as a substitute for face-to-face interaction, but can certainly keep interesting conversations going without any apparent interruptions so the topic can be done justice. This way, there is unlimited flexibility for the participants to continue with their everyday lives and, in this process, think of possible contributions of their own to make to the forum while the topic is fresh in their minds. This is crucial to developing a sense of community beyond what each participant may be familiar with already. All users, by participating in the forum, can in time break down barriers easily caused by varying personality traits.

The blogger, by being too general in a discussion, may have problems reaching the desired audience to produce a desired response. For this reason, bloggers should use specific categories to make friends who have various interests, hopefully bringing them together by revealing what they might share in common. The blogs can be especially useful to anyone working on research projects, for which references need only be sought out and examined for credibility.

If there is any abuse taking place on the blogging site, taking the appropriate action is usually simple. It is the responsibility of all users to make sure that this abuse is prevented, especially in light of possible termination of employment. Blogging sites themselves may offer work-from-home employment opportunities. To make sure that the offers being made are legitimate, one should first be able to recognize scams immediately. Some of the most promising jobs may need bloggers to be proficient in skills used in the average workplace environment, such as navigating office programs and developing websites.

It is essential for bloggers to understand what safety procedures to follow in their use of blogs and how not to take undue advantage of anyone. From this point, they can turn the Internet into a productive resource wherever they may be. Knowing how to operate with more than one brand of computer software is also certain to work to their advantage. By staying up-to-date on the latest technology, they can continually improve their skills in serving the public cause.

By: Jesse Parsons
Edited By: Bruce A. Tucker

About the Author: Jesse Parsons is a Free Lance Writer seeking writing opportunities and wrote this article for http://www.Indocquent.com, an online resource that allows businesses and individuals to post their products and services for sale on over 20,000 blogs.

Jesse Parsons can be contacted at jd_parsons83@yahoo.com.

The value of webstats

It is important to monitor your webstat's. Not only will this provide you with tangible proof of your marketing endeavours,if used properly, webstats will also provide you with information on how to better promote yourself.

Personally, I use statscounter.com. There are both paid and free versions of this service. In the free version you can see who came, where they came from, how long they stayed and if they came from a search engine, you can even see what keywords brought them to your site.

Now, the use of that knowledge. If you noticed, Statscounter will give you the keywords which brought them to you. Well, say for example, your blog is about the risks of breast implants and you noticed alot of hits for porn related topics and very few on the health aspects. Yes you are getting traffic, however is it your target market? At that point, you may wish to consider the writing and keywords within your posts.

Many years ago, pre my blog whoring days, a writer friend who was teaching a series of courses on writing for the web, told me website content had different rules from regular paper style writing. Of course, this made instant sense as key words are important. At the time, I found the thought rather disheartening as it pointed out the weaknesses in the quality of content from search engines and how they could be manipulated. This then got me thinking and my security alarm website, is now on the first page for most security alarm related topics.

Promoting your Blog

OK, you found this blog in the tangled web we call the internet. Keep tuned over the next few days and this space will be filled up with valuable information on how to promote your blog. These website promotion techniques are also transferable to regular websites. Anything you want anyone to find on the internet.
Sure there are books on the topic, but they cost money, this is free. If you want to save a step, check out this book Search Engine Marketing a deal at twice the price, I spend more for the same thing in a local bookstore. Another great book is Search Engine Optimization For Dummies

Here are some links for search engine submissions:

Google: http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
Yahoo: https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit
DMOZ: http://www.dmoz.org/add.html
MSN: http://search.live.com/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=SUNO

Affiliate programs

Affiliate marketing can be a very profitable area of blogging. That being said, the blogger needs to pick the right affiliate program and products. Some things to keep in mind when picking the appropriate money making affiliate program for your blog site are:

Payout frequency: How often does the affiliate program pay the blogger. Some affiliate programs require a minimum payout before they actually send you the money. Some will even cancel your account if it is dormant without income if you do not provide them with any links for a set period of time.

Commission: Look at the selling price of the affiliates products and compare that to your commission. It is hardly worth the space on your page if you are getting pennies for a product that will not sell.

Sellability: Aside from the reputation of the affiliate program, this is the most important aspect of choosing appropriate money making affiliate programs for your blog. Regardless of the payout, if you are posting an ad on your blog which will never sell, you are wasting valuable blog floor space.

Relation to your Blog topic: This works had in had with sellability. Consider the topic of your blog and what the blog viewers might be looking for. For example, you will be hardpressed to sell Viagra on a Lesbian interest site. Vibrators and sex toys are more likely.

In order to get paid by most Affiliate programs you will need a Paypal Account. Click here to set one up.

For more information on affiliate marketing check out this handy book

If you prefer, Amazon also has a great book available Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing

Introduction

OK, so I'm not an expert on the topic YET, but I have figured out a few things.
First of all, Blogging can either be a great pass-time or hobby or it can be a colosal waste of time which does nothing except encourage obesity and lack of activity. The key to successful blogging is balance, after all a successful blog is written from personal experience which cannot be gained by slugging behind the computer.

I have a number of blogs on various topics which are in various stages of development. There are many blogs out there which are basically full of crap. These people take information from other websites and paste them into their own blog pretending it is their own. Sometimes they give credit where credit is due, however many do not. This kind of dishonesty, although it does bring in some hits, does shine through and valuable blog loyalty is missed out on.

Examples would be a blog I created on a hobby of mine (Winemaking) I'm not an expert, but I do enjoy the art and I am always experimenting with different wines. Another would be a friend of mine who, after going through an incredible ordeal with weight gain due to drugs she was on leading to and after a surgery, created a blog for people who were fighting weight problems. Although different in content, these blogs have one thing in common... Passion. This is not something which can easily be faked, sure you can try, but people will notice and you can join the ranks of "just another porn blogger" pimping ads for penis enlargement devices.

Speaking of ads, see those things over to the side as well as the various highlighted words in my text? Well those links pay me everytime someone clicks on them. So feel free to help a fellow blogger out and click away. In addition, these links tend to be targetted towards the content of this site. You will notice alot of them on Blogs. In fact some of those links could be very valuable in helping you make more money from Blogging. I have also done some looking around and found various products which can help you in your quest for the almighty Blog dollar, those can also be found on the side.