Your Passport to Wealth Business Blog

Greetings Bloggers

Blogging your Passport To Wealth Home Based Business will
drive traffic to your site, generate sales, plus add that personal
touch to your prospective clients.

 Here is the definition for “blog” from Wikipedia: “blog, short for web log, an online, regularly updated journal or newsletter that is readily accessible to the general public by virtue of being posted on a website. Blogs typically report and comment on topics of interest to the author, and are usually written and posted using software specifically designed to facilitate blogging; they include hyperlinks to other website and, often, photos, video clips, and the like. The most recent entry by the blogger is posted at the beginning of the blog, with earlier entries following in reverse chronological order; comments and other responses to the blog by readers are often posted after each entry.”


What Is So Great About Blogs?

The ‘great’ is entirely in the eye of the beholder but here are some distinct advantages that come to mind:

• Blogs are a great medium for your customers and prospects to get to know you and your services better.
• When you post information to a blog the blog software automates the process of updating your website with the new information and archiving old content; simplifying the chore of keeping your website fresh and relevant.
• Blogs can automatically announce (ping) to the world whenever new content is added. Again, this automated process simplifies the all-important (and normally time consuming) promotion process.
• Through the use of syndication methods your blog postings (writings) can be monitored easily by fans of your services/writing.
• Blogs provide a wonderful platform for readers to interact with you by leaving comments.
• Due to the highly social and interactive nature of blogs it is possible that links will begin to appear to your posts from other websites. This can increase your websites link popularity and will only happen if you write engaging and source-worthy content.

What Blog Software is Available?

Blog software, both free and commercial, is so plentiful I couldn’t possibly cover all of them. That said, here is a fairly comprehensive list and a blog software comparison chart which provides further detail.

Here are the top 4 better known solutions:

1. Blogger by Google (Free): I use Blogger and I have been impressed with some of the options in this free solution. Unfortunately, Blogger is far from perfect and lacks much of the customization potential available in other solutions. I plan on changing to a new system in the future even though it will not be a simple task to change.

There are two types of Blogger; one is the hosted solution (using Google’s servers) called Blog*Spot and the other is a personally hosted solution where updates and archives are automatically posted within your own website. The Blog*Spot solution is not recommended because, like typepad (#4 below), all of the content and links will not be as influential because they are not hosted on your own website. There will be some benefit because your blog is likely to link to your main website profusely; however, it is best to integrate the Blogger blog within your own website. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to use Blog*Spot's wonderful free service until I get my website built.

2. Wordpress (Free): WordPress is a very impressive blogging solution that can be easily installed and offers myriad advanced options including simple-to-install plug-ins to extend the capabilities of the program. I have not personally installed and used Wordpress but plan to in the very near future.

One concern about using Wordpress is integrating your current website design with it as its templates are solely CSS driven. If your website is not CSS-driven you will be in for a bit of unexpected work. Converting your web design to CSS is definitely a smart move but at that point you are effectively redesigning your website; which makes the addition of a blog much more work than it needs to be.

3. Moveable type ($$$$): Movable Type is perhaps the most popular blogging tool available because it offers a great deal of flexibility and complexity. Unfortunately these additional elements result in a tool that is not meant for the faint of heart. However, if you want an advanced blogging solution that is sure to stand the test of time then this is the tool for you. Pricing for personal licenses is free but commercial licenses start at $149.95 per year.

4. Typepad($$$$): TypePad and Movable Type are made by the same company. The learning curve for TypePad is significantly lower while providing many of the advantages of Movable Type.



What You Should Consider Before Creating Your Blog
For your Passport To Wealth Home Based Business P2WHBB.


• Carefully name your blog: Your blog is both an extension of your company’s brand and its marketing goals. Consider this when researching the name of the blog.

Start your research by noting the names of your competitor’s blogs; you may find a pattern of keywords emerging. Also review the various search frequencies for blog related keywords in your industry. Using a tool such as Keyword Discovery or Wordtracker you can get some perspective on the popularity of various phrases.


• Decide on a simple path: Your blog should be located at a space in your website that is simple to remember and navigate to. For example www.yourcompany.com/blog/ is often adopted because it is the easiest to remember.

• Add the blog into your site’s navigation: Are you planning on your blog being a large draw to your website? If so, you should consider where you are going to integrate links to your blog within the main navigation of your website.  Remember that your blog is meant to create a readership over time and providing easy access to the blog is a crucial step.

Tip: Make sure to evaluate the placement of the navigation links over time using your website statistics. It may very well be that your statistics show your blog has become the main driver of traffic to your website. If this is the case then experiment with your navigation by making the link to your blog even more prominent on your home page and see how it affects sales; this may yield higher readership, better ROI and longer time spent by visitors on the site. If you do not have a stats program I highly recommend the award winning ClickTracks traffic analysis program.Google Analytics has tracking features as well.

IMPORTANT: I recommend starting your blog with a positive attitude; expect it to become a permanent addition to your Passport To Wealth online marketing strategy. This will require you to plan spending the time to make your blog work for you. After all, successful blogs require extraordinary commitment because the only way to draw regular readers is to provide quality content on a regular basis.

Hope you found this post useful.

Robert Drysdale
www..rjdrysdale.com