Blogging

Finding Images for your Blog…. We have a resource for you

You have decided to jump into writing a blog and you have your blog post written and now it is time to pretty it up with some great images.  This is often something that stops a lot of new bloggers, where do I find images for my blog?

A lot of new bloggers will often just go to Google and do a search for images, however doing this could put you in hot water for copyright violation.  Another method that a lot of bloggers use is that they will use stock images, however these images usually have a fee for using them and sometimes this can be pricey.

One option you can always use that will only cost you your time is to take your own photos and use them on your blog posts, however we know that not everyone has the time to do that or the skill.

Here is a resource that you can use now and it will not cost you.  You will need to be sure to include the source of the image, but the nice thing is this site provides that for you.  The site is Photo Pin and you can search by topic and then select the image you want to use and then be sure to provide credit.

blog images

Here is a sample image form the site

images photo credit: laverrue via photopin cc

As you can see it is a good quality image.  All you need to do to use an image from this site is to use a credit at the end of your blog post or under the image as we have done above.

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Online Branding Tip – Create a blog

Online Branding Tip – Create a blog

Often we speak with professionals that want to brand themselves online and create exposure and also establish themselves as an expert in their field.  There are several ways to do this but one we often suggest is starting a blog related to your industry or niche.

Starting a blog and sharing information about your industry can help brand you as an expert in your field and will help get your name out there.  We have seen blogs work for several in many different industries, even those that are restricted somewhat.

Here are some ideas of how you may be able to use blogs to help you brand yourself and create exposure:

Real Estate Agent

Create a Neighborhood blog and share information on a particular neighborhood.  This will help brand you as the neighborhood expert and go to person when it comes to learning information about that neighborhood.

Insurance Agent

Insurance Agents are restricted somewhat on what they can do online, however you can start a community blog to share information to the market you are targeting.  This information does not have to be related to insurance.  This will help establish you as a resource.  To help brand yourself you can include a short bio on who you are and links to your insurance site.

Direct Sales Professionals

We work with several people in the direct sales industry and blogs are a great way for them to brand themselves.  You can share information on how to build a direct sales business and grow your sales force.  We also have several in this industry focusing on health and wellness that have blogs that showcase what they do and also provide other health related information.

Travel Agents

Everyone loves to read about great places to visit for vacation.  Travel agents can start a blog that showcases great places to visit.  This will help drive traffic to them when people are looking for a specific vacation spot and who do you want to book your vacation with …. Someone that doesn’t seem to know the best spots or someone who shares information and reviews and tips about the hottest vacations spots.

 

Fitness Trainers

A blog is a great way for a health and fitness trainer to share information and provide a glimpse of their expertise.  A fitness trainer that provides information to people is seen as a great resource and often draws them to do business with them.

If you haven’t started a blog yet we highly encourage you to look into doing so to help build your reputation and establish yourself as an expert.

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Traffic Generation – Blog Commenting

Increase Website Traffic by Blog Commenting

Probably one of the easiest ways to building links is by commenting on other blogs. Commenting on other blogs is a free method of building links and driving traffic to your website. Blog commenting is a great way to generate more traffic to your site by creating backlinks and exposing you and your blog to others that are reading blogs related to your topic.

How to do blog commenting the right way

Blog commenting can be a very powerful marketing strategy to generate traffic to your website and or blog.  There are some things you should keep in mind when you are commenting on blogs however to ensure that you are maximizing your time and getting the best benefit.  If you follow the steps listed below you should be able to effectively use this strategy for generating more traffic to your site.

Blog commenting is a marketing strategy you can use especially if you

1. Search for a popular blog – do your research and find blogs that are of the same niche as your website, and in order to attract hundreds or thousands of readers to your website, that blog that you are commenting on should have several readers.

2. Post blog comments on “Do Follow” blogs – blogs have a “no follow” or “do follow” features, when you comment on blogs make sure that you are posting on a “do follow” blog, this will allow search engines to recognize the hyperlink or backlink that you post with your comment.

3. Add a personal touch to your blog comments – when you post blog comments on others’ blogs, you are not just posting to get your website link out there, you are also there to interact and connect with others.  Ensure that you fully read the blog post you are commenting on and leave a relevant comment, hopefully one that will generate more comments. When possible be sure to use your logo or photo with your blog comments, this will help you with branding.

4. Be engaged and interactive – once you post a blog comment, check every now and then or “subscribe” to that blog post so you will be notified when others have posted a reply or a comment and you can engage into a conversation — this is a good way to network with potential clients that will help you increase website traffic.

What blog commenting can do for your website

Commenting on blogs can generate more traffic to your website, but there are other benefits too that include:

  • Networking with others
  • Building your Online Reputation and Creditability
  • Branding for both your site and yourself
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How to Blog – How to Find Topics to Blog About

How to Blog – How to Find Topics to Blog About

One struggle that many bloggers experience is deciding what to blog about.  Unfortunately this often is the number one thing that causes a blog to fail.  This post will hopefully help you with some ideas on what to blog about and how to find topics to blog about.

One thing that we suggest is that you sit down and make a list topics that are relevant to your market and that you feel your prospects and clients would be interested in.  This list will help you greatly as you begin to formulate blog posts.

Once you have your list of topics we suggest that you do a little bit of keyword research to determine how popular your topic is with people that are searching for information.  You can use tools like Word Tracker or Google Adwords Tool for this.  This will help you determine if there is a large enough audience for the topics you are writing on.  We suggest that you look for a minimum of 2,000 searches a month.

The next step is to take your list of topics and come up with some blog posts around them.  The following is a list of potential blog post topics you can use around your list:

  • How to or Tutorial Posts
  • Top 10 Lists
  • Resources
  • FAQ Posts
  • Announcements and Events
  • Review current news on your topic

Once you have your list and know that you are working with viable key words you can begin to formulate some ideas for blog posts.  If you get stuck on finding ideas you can also visit some great resources for finding content:

Niche Specific Forums – If there are forums that your prospects and clients visit these are great places to look for popular discussions and questions and write a blog post on it.

Question and Answer Sites – There are several sites online that are set up for people to ask and answer questions – these are great places to get ideas.  LinkedIn has LinkedIn Answers and then there is also Yahoo Answers.

Digg – Digg is a great resource to see what people are talking about and then formulate a blog idea from that

AllTop – AllTop does a great job of gathering some of the top news stories and information on several topics.

This information should give you a start on determining what to write on your blog.

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How to Blog – Blog Comments

Blog Comments

This week we are focusing on Blogs and providing information around blogs.  Today’s topic is Blog Comments.  This post will cover what Blog Comments are, Why they are good, How to Comment on other blogs to increase your traffic and dealing with the irrelevant or spam blog comments.

 

What are Blog Comments?

A blog comment is a comment that appears after a blog post on your blog.  Typically the comment is related directly to the content of the post.  Blog comments provide an opportunity for dialogue with your readers.  Allowing Blog Comments on your site can allow you to improve your connection with those that follow you and also can help you with customer service by providing a place for comments and questions to be asked.

Why are Blog Comments Good?

Typically when your blog is new you will not have a lot of comments.  As you develop your blog more and add more content and start to provide relevant information on your topic you will start to get the attention of others that are reading your blog.  When you can encourage those that read your blog to comment and interact with you this helps strengthen your creditibility and reach.  Typically the more comments you have the more others will want to read the post and share the information.

What about Spam and Unrelated Comments?

Although blog comments are great and something that we want, comments that are spam and those that are unrelated we want to keep to bare minimum or eliminate.  Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there that make comments on blogs for the sole purpose of creating more links to their site.  These type of comments are typically only done for the purpose of creating a link back to their site.

There are ways to help minimize these types of comments.  One way is to set-up your blog to manually approve comments so that these types of comments are not automatically posted to your blog.  Other ways to minimize this is if you are using a self-hosted WordPress blog certain plugins can be used to help with this.  Here are a few of these plugins:

Spam Free WordPress

Bad Behaviour

Commenting on Other Blogs

Commenting on other blogs is a great way to share your expertise, provide input and encouragement to other bloggers and also helps increase your blog’s popularity.  You can use Google to search for blogs related to your topic or niche and then read the blog and if there is a post that you can provide meaningful comments to please do so.

When you do comment on blogs be sure to provide comments with substance and not the ones that you are trying to prevent on your blog.  One other thing you need to be sure to do when you comment on your blog is to add your website to create a link back to your site (back-link).  When you do create a link back to your site please be sure to leave your Keywords, for example if you want people to find you by the term Mid Century Modern Homes, be sure to make sure your blog is tied to those terms on your comment.

Remember comments are important for your blog.  You need to cultivate good comments, leave good comments and also ensure your blog is monitored to help eliminate bad comments.

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How to Blog – Blogging 101

How to Blog – Blogging 101

Blogs or weblogs used to be mostly for personal use, like a journal or a diary only this one is online. These days however, blogs have also become a tool for many businesses. It has become a means to reach out to their present and potential clients especially since people are now technology-savvy, they prefer the convenience of searching and learning more about a certain business’s products and services within a few clicks.

Whether your company or your business is only starting up or has been ongoing for a while but with no online marketing strategy, a blog would be a great way to start introducing it to your target market and gaining clients.

But, how to blog? Is it as easy as getting just a blank piece of paper and writing down your article? Well, not necessarily. Knowing how to blog has a significant role  on how effective your blog would be and end-result that it can give you and your business.

Below is a list of things to keep in mind about how to start your blog:

1. Know your niche and stick to it – whether for personal or business use, research about your topic, and then sticking to your niche topics can bring you more traffic and more clients. If you’re business is about real estate, post real estate related topics, products, and services, if you are into food and beverage, anything related about food, beverage, restaurants, even health, can be included in your blog.

2. Choose your blog name, URL address, design and platform -  now that you have come to a decision on your topics — although this would be easy if you are blogging for business — it is now time to think of your blog name and URL, both usually your company’s name since it is the one you’re marketing. After all these, choosing where you want to place your blog is the next most important thing if you are just starting how to blog. There are a lot of blog platforms available today, both free and paid, that can accommodate personal and business blogging. Some of the most popular blogging websites are WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, and LiveJournal. Depending on your style, choose the ones that best suit your business’ needs, which one is easier to navigate, the design that is easy and not to heavy on the eyes, these may seem insignificant but it is as important as the contents if you are just learning how to blog.

3. Regularly post content – posting articles and content on your blog is the bread and butter of your blog site.  This is what people would be looking for when they visit your blog. Make sure that you post within your niche and you post regularly. If you can’t post daily, you can write several articles per day and just schedule each post to be published in the next days.

4. Publish and promote your blog – so, you are now starting to get the hang of how to blog, it’s time to broadcast it to the world and let everyone know about your business — your products and services. How? Start with your existing clients and friends, let them know that they can now be updated about your business through your blog, it is a good idea to send out  emails or newsletters. If you have social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, post your blog site there too, you can also post feeds of your articles to bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon to get your blog out there.

The 4 notes above are just the general things that can help you start a blog, once you have created your blog, you will have to work on your content, target, gain and maintain your traffic/visitors. So, knowing how to blog is just the beginning of your blogging experience, keeping it alive and getting traffic is an ongoing process.

 

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10 Common Blog Terms to Know

10 Common Blog Terms to Know

Here is a list of 10 Common Blog Terms that you should know when you start using blogging to gain exposure for your business and drive traffic to your site while you connect with your current customers and prospects.

Article – Article and blog "post" are frequently both used. An article is a single post on a blog.

Blogosphere – This refers to the collective community of all blogs and bloggers on the Internet.  If you want to search for other blogs on the internet.  Technorati is a great site to search for blogs of interest.

Directory – A blog directory is a website that lists blogs, usually ranking them by their popularity and ordering them by subject or category. One way to help generate traffic to your blog is to add it to blog directories.  You can add to Technorati.

Feed – This is a news feed used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it in RSS reader or via e-mail.

Hyperlink – Used synonymously with the word "link", this is clickable content within a web page that takes the user to another page, website, or within part of the same page. The text that comprises the hyperlink is referred to as the "anchor text".

Keyword(s) or Key phrase(s) – When you write your blog you should think about the topics that are important and relevant to the audience you are trying to reach.  When you create content around these topics which are your keywords or key word phrases you are more likely to have your content show up to those that are searching for you.

Nofollow – This describes a link that has an attribute which prevents the link from being crawled by search engines.  Since building links to your content is important to getting found in search engines you want to be sure that your links no not have the nofollow attribute.

RSS – Short for Really Simple Syndication, a means by which users can subscribe to a feed, a blog feed for instance. Because content is published in a frequent basis subscribing makes it easier for users to follow content and updates.

Subscribe – It is important that your content is seen by your target market and that once they reach your blog they come back when you have new content.  Getting visitors back to see your new content is to get them to subscribe either via RSS feeds or email.

Comments – One great feature of blogs is that you can solicit comments from your readers in response to your blog post.  Comments can help grew your blog and increase the readership.  It is suggested that you allow your readers to comment on your blog and monitoring these comments and being sure to respond to them if need be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Real Estate Agents and Blogging

Real Estate Agents and Blogging

We have been working with several real estate agents and several of them have asked us questions about blogging and the importance of blogging.  Here at SourceOne Technologies we suggest that all of our clients have a blog and that they try to blog at least once a week.

Having a website is no longer enough for your online presence – you now need to reach out more with your prospects and current clients with other tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and a Blog.

Here are some top reasons why real estate agents need to have a blog and be posting to their blog at least once a week:

  • Blogging will help establish you as a local expert
  • Having a blog is one of the best ways to increase your search engine ranking
  • Content based blogs help build a relationship before the sale
  • Writing a blog gives your prospects a reason to connect with you on a regular basis to see the information you have posted

If you are just getting started and don’t have a blog set-up yet we can assist you with this component of your online marketing plan.

If you would like additional information please complete the form below.

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Great Marketing Tip for Realtors – Create a Neighborhood Blog

Neighborhood blogs for Real Estate Agents

Neigborhood Blogs are great tools for Real Estate Agents

 

Creative Commons License photo credit: Violette79

In today’s environment one thing that often sets one Real Estate Agent apart from the others is information.  How much information and knowledge do you have and share with your clients and prospects.

A great way to showcase your knowledge and gain recognition as an expert in the neighborhood is to start a neighborhood blog.  This blog can focus on activities in the neighborhood and events and then sprinkle in your information and listings from time to time.  The focus however will be on the neighborhood.

Starting a neighborhood blog will help you become seen as the neighborhood expert and start generating more sales.

If you are ready to start a neighborhood blog, SourceOne Technologies can help you get started and have this up and running.  Just complete the contact form below and we will get back to you to get started on making you the expert in your neighborhood.

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Is your Blog being seen? – You may need to syndicate it

Are People Finding your Blog?

Blogs are wonderful tools to showcase your information and stay in contact with your prospects and clients.  They are also great for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes.  Blogs are also one of the first aspects we suggest for our clients as the hub of any Social Media/Social Networking Activities.  But now that you have a blog is it being seen?

There are several ways to ensure that your blog is being seen, however today we are just going to focus on syndication.  Syndication is basically making your content available and see in other places on the web.

In order to syndicate your blog you will want to send your blog’s RSS feed to multiple websites at one time.  This will help increase the exposure for your blog.  If you look on the address line of your browser in the upper right hand corner you should see the icon for your blog’s RSS feed, if you click on this you will be able to obtain your RSS feed.  Typically this will look like:  http://www.sitename.com/feed

Once you have this you can go to one of the sites on the web that allow you to submit RSS feeds and add the feed to your Blog so that it will be found.  Here are a handful to start with:

Feed Shark – will submit your RSS feed to several sites

FeedAgg.com – will submit your feed to its directory and gain more visitors

FeedListing – Another great place to submit your RSS feed

Blogdigger – Submit your feed here

RSSAggregator – Free RSS Directory & RSS News Aggregator

RSS Feed News – A FREE RSS News site where you can also add your feed

Bloglines – this is a great place to get your blog listed for some local traffic

Blogged – another great place to submit your blog and find others to read and follow

Blogville  – another great resource to submit your blog

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