Learn the Secrets of Making Money For Your Business With A Blog

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Wherever you go, you start out by creating a username - one that usually will be seen by cyberspace. Then you start building your profile.

How much detail should you go into? What should you actually include?

My answer is, "use whatever name you’re comfortable with, create your persona, and use it for life (with updates along the way)".

For me, on every profile you find on me, I’ll either be LoriOsterberg or VisionOfSuccess. I’ve used both since the beginning, and continue to do so - depending on the type of site. I’m also leaning more towards my name because that will always be with me, no matter what business I move into. Therefore why not build up my persona with something that will never change?

What about security?

Sure we all need to think about security before we do things. You don’t want to change identity theft or other fraud issues unnecessarily. But if you’re building up your expertise, it’s important that everything links back to you.

Don’t give away private information easily. But your name is who you are - and depending upon your business, it’s also what you are promoting.

Your profile is all about your experience and who you are. It’s important for people to get to know you - whether you do business face to face, or through the Internet and half way around the world. Give only what you’re comfortable with, and what you’re willing to share with prospects. Things might include:

• education
• background
• former positions - qualifications
• interests
• hobbies
• awards
• aspirations

Above all, don’t pretend to be someone else, or set up a false account. A recent case was settled by a British businessman and a former school friend. The former school friend created a Facebook group titled "Has Matthew Firsht lied to you?" and filled the profile with false claims. Matthew filed suit and won. A landmark case for social sites.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of that.

You can write on your blog day after day. But if no one is reading it, it won’t do you any good.

You’ll often hear big names quote statistics in the thousands. Authors, speakers and consultants that have a worldwide audience can gain readers in the thousands in just a few months. I myself added 162 new readers to one of my blogs just this past weekend.

How did all this happen? Marketing.

The only way to build up your business is to market what you do. Your marketing goes beyond a brochure for your products or services. You also need to build up your interest.

If you’re writing on your blog several times per week, you have the first task down. The second task is harder to build, and harder to understand. You don’t want to share your ideas with an unknown audience. You need to target who’s reading and give them what they want.

Imagine someone comes in and reads one of your articles. They find it interesting and want more. At this point they don’t want a sales pitch - they want more information similar to what they’ve just read.

The more you write, the more they will stay. Once you peak their interest - it may take one blog post, or it may take 20 - then they have a desire to connect with you. They may sign up for your RSS feed. Or want your newsletter. In either case, they don’t want the sales pitch - just the ability to keep connecting with you.

Now that they’re on your list and hear from you again and again, you can begin casually dropping promotion ideas. Nothing hard-selling; just an occasional item on what you are offering.

I’ve been on lists for months before I decide to make a purchase. I keep up with them through every newsletter and through every post. And when I have a need, I almost always have a resource to go back to.

What are you doing to provide quality content to your readers that will keep them reading?

Being a professional photographer for over 18 years, I understand what it takes to promote a photography studio.

It’s hard to promote the business without showcasing your photography. Yet how do you get your photography online, and front of your prospects?

Blogging.

Sure it’s nice to have a fancy website that showcases your work in a Flash presentation. But does it bring in clients? I’m willing to bet the answer is no. Unless you have a huge name, and a huge following, no one will find your Flash website because the search engines won’t find it. And you usually spend thousands of dollars to put up a few of your best images - and then leave it set unchanged for months at a time.

Blogging gives you control.

• Photograph a client on Tuesday morning - put up her photos on your blog Tuesday afternoon.
• Photography a wedding on Saturday - put up 100 images on your blog Monday morning.

People came to us because we had 20,000 images online - on our website - at any given time. They stayed on our site because they could get lost in the feeling of our photographs. They didn’t see the best-of collection. They saw album after album, and loved what  they saw. We stood out because we weren’t doing what everyone else was doing.

Are you?

As a creative professional, you’re probably looking for as many ways as possible to get the word out about your business. I’ll bet you spend well over 40 hours a week working with clients, and marketing to bring in more clients. If you don’t do it all, who is?

You’ve probably experimented with websites and online marketing. And just when you thought you had some of that figured out, along comes blogging. Is it really necessary to build a blog too?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Would I benefit from building up my expertise and credibility in my niche?
• Can I find clients in more than one location?
• Am I ready to expand my business?
• Am I finding it harder and harder to gain clients using email and other more traditional online marketing methods?
• Do I enjoy trying new forms of marketing just to see what they can bring in?
• Do I have a pretty good marketing plan in place - now I just want to rev it up a bit?
• Would I enjoy being online every day, working with my blog and building up online relationships?

Is blogging for everyone? Of course not. But blogging is quickly becoming one of the most effective ways of interacting with prospects and clients, and building your expertise up in a short and powerful way. 

I’m getting ready for several presentations in the next week, and have been putting together a variety of information on blogging, social networking, and the safety of the Internet.

While I normally speak with business groups, and teach people about how to use technology in their businesses, I have a chance next week to speak to a school group and give parents some insight on kids and the Internet.

I always start out by planning the number one thing I want people to take away when they leave my presentation, and build from there. In the case of teaching parents, after a lot of thought, I decided the one thing I want them to take away is that this scary new world of social networking is really not that scary. It’s the way of the future. Embrace it, learn about it, and use it to its full capabilities.

Kids jump in with both feet and just start playing with things. They haven’t learned the fear factor. By the time we’re parents, we tend to do things we know and are comfortable with, and leave the rest alone. So when our kids challenge us by jumping into something new, it’s a whole new learning curve for everyone involved.

Many parents are completely overwhelmed by today’s technology. They simply don’t understand why their children love texting. They can’t understand how a child can be typing up a report, researching online, IMing their friends, all the while listening to their favorite tunes on their iPod. Can they really be concentrating and learning?

My daughter is at a disadvantage because I get all that – I work that way myself. So when she asks for things like a phone, or her own IM and email account, I give them to her – with a lecture and guidelines. And I watch her and help her learn.

And this summer, she’s decided she wants to earn a little extra money – very important to a 13 year old. But she doesn’t like babysitting. What’s a kid to do?

Blog

As of June, she’ll be designing her own blog (we’re still working on the focus) and I’ll be sharing with her how to make money at it. As I’m developing the first 5 steps for her, I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Design a blog that covers your interests, your niche, and can help you develop your business (or interests) to a higher level. Narrow your focus as much as possible. It’s hard to be good at everything. When you concentrate on one thing specifically, you’re more apt to get more business, and more exposure.

2. Do a little research. Find other sites and blogs that already exist on your niche, and that you think are comparable to your thoughts and ideas. What do you like about them? How can you improve? Subscribe to their RSS feeds, email notices, free ebooks, etc.

3. Write the first few posts, and get some content into your blog. The first few posts are the easiest. The idea is still fresh. The passion is still there. The excitement is high. The more you can create and post now, the easier it will be down the road when you have other commitments.

4. Discuss ways of making money through the blog. Two of the easiest ways to get products into your blog is by going to eBay or Amazon. You can always find a book or product related to your interest that can add to the overall structure of your blog.

5. Blog and network. This is where the social networking can really work. Work at adding content regularly to your blog, and share your information on other social sites and blogs. Tell your Facebook friends about your blog, and share the information with them. People are more interested in what you do when you’ve built up a relationship.

Don’t forget to keep on eye on your kids, and possibly approve emails and networking posts before they are made. It’s important for kids and adults to remember that whatever you post online will stay online for years and years into the future. My general rule of thumb is if you don’t want your children or grandchildren reading about it, you probably shouldn’t post it.

May you (and possibly your kids!) have a great and profitable summer. 

When you created your website, chances are you asked your designer how you could make it into Google, Yahoo and other search engines. Getting into the search engines is the first step to marketing your business in the online world.

As you are creating your blog, its time to ask the same question:

How do you make it into the search engines?

In this post I’m going to show you how to get into one of the best blog directories – Technorati.

Technorati is the recognized authority in tracking blog posts, currently tracking over 112.8 million of them. As your blog begins to grow, Technorati is a very important place to be.

Start by signing up for your free account. Then login to the system and start developing your profile.

Describe your company and give your followers a brief description of your business. Add a photo to personalize your profile. Then start claiming your blogs. Claiming them is easy – just click on the “blog” page and put the URL of your blog into the Claim A Blog box. Technorati will walk you through the rest, and your blog will be listed within seconds. [If you decide to create more than one blog, you can claim and manage all of them through this one account.]

You can log in at any time to edit your settings, or to find out your Authority ranking for your blog. As a new blog, you will be ranked low. One month into my newest blog and I’m ranked as an Authority 1, ranking a little over 5 million.

I’ll update this post periodically as my rankings change.

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Like what you see here? Get even more detailed step-by-step guidance with my Blogging For Business Marketing Package. Each month you’ll receive detailed video training guides that will walk you through exactly how to market your blog and start making money online.

Blogging isn’t about talking to your next door neighbor or to the person who lives within driving distance. Blogging is about sharing your ideas with people anywhere in the world.

Blogging is a powerful platform that allows anyone to enter your site on a particular post, and begin developing a relationship with you immediately. If they resonate you, you may instantly have a follower.

But keep in mind that you may be able to offer information to someone that would have no other way of connecting with you other than online.

I happen to live in Denver, Colorado, USA. I have followers from every corner of the world, including Australia, Turkey, Canada, and England. So when I write my post, I not only talk about the things in my life, but I also keep in mind that my readers may not understand certain local items. If I need to explain further or use photos to describe something, I spend the time necessary to create a meaningful post.

Take a look at what you write. Can anyone understand your post without needing phrases or words defined? Can they use your information in their own lives … anywhere in the world?

If not, spend a few extra minutes telling people how to use your information. Give them a point, or a moral, to your stories.

This will not only make you a better writer (and better post creator), but also better at marketing your business .

One of the biggest concerns a busy business owner has when we discuss blogging is the time factor. When do you have time to blog every single day? That’s a great question from someone who’s already working a 10-12 hour day, and can’t fathom adding another 30 minutes of writing into a blog.

The great thing about a blog is its automated. You have access to your account manager 24/7, meaning you can sit down and write when you have the time, and when it fits into your schedule. So maybe you have an hour on Friday morning - write a few posts and get them into the system.

When you are writing a blog post, you have the option of placing in a date and time of when you want the post to be released. You can have it released immediately when you hit "publish" or you can post date it into the future. So if you have a half hour to spare, write a few posts and schedule one a day throughout the week.

The important thing is you are adding quality information that attracts your readers. When you post it isn’t important. It’s the frequency of the release.

Isn’t automation grand?

You’ve probably read dozens of blog posts. You may even subscribe to a few RSS feeds from your favorite blogs. But what exactly is a blog? How can you use it to market your own business?

Check out my latest Squidoo lens, What Is A Blog to learn more about blogging, and how it can help you become a better blogger.

Blogs are a great way of building up your relationship with your prospects and your clients. You can share your ideas, your strategies, ask questions, share comments - really anything you can think of. And you can do it much more efficiently because you are working on your own time. You don’t have to schedule meetings - just create a post when you have a spare few moments.

If you’re ready to start your own blog, I would highly recommend having a blog customized for your branding, your look and feel. You’ll love blogging.

It’s fun. And it’s easy. And it’s addictive!

We can see it all in our heads. We start with a blog, have everyone follow us, make millions, and sell it to Google for a mint. Then retire to a tropical island and live happily ever after.

If I had a dime for every time I heard someone dream in that order, I could live on that tropical island myself.

But what most people seem to forget is the order of their dreams. They see themselves on the island. They see themselves selling a business to Google. But what they don’t see is the sweat it takes to start and build the company.

You have to start with an idea, and you have to have a way of monetizing that idea to fulfill your dreams.

Creating the blog is easy. You can design it to look anyway you want. You can add your image. You can add beautiful photographs. But what is going to make people come back again and again?

Think of your blog a year from now. What will it look like? How will you be making money? Then work backwards.

If you have sponsorships, and people are paying you for advertising on your site, you have to have quality content to get your traffic up.

If you sell products, what type of people will buy your products and how will you get them to read your blog?

If you have Google Adsense on your site to make money through pay per clicks, do you have the traffic that can make the money you’re looking for?

Now that you know how you’re going to make money, it’s time to develop your content. Write Write Write

You may post the first 50 posts with no one reading. Don’t worry. That will come as long as you develop your content and your style. Never lose site of your long term goals, and keep it up every day.