It's A Blog, Not A Sales Letter

The recent spurt of interest in blogging has begun toignite the hope that people can make a full-time income from blogging.

Although there are a few people actually doing this, therearen't too many business models yet that can support someone making afull-time income from their blogs.

I believe that blogs should be an important part of anytraffic-generation plan for a website, but don't depend on the blogitself to do much selling.

Blogs are best viewed as an addition to site content, inreality, a very simple content management system that helps you updateyour site more frequently, so your search engine listings and trafficincrease.

Email campaigns are still the best way to produce sales ondemand and to announce specials and time-limited offers, because blogsdo not yet have the immediacy and reach of email.

Blogs are not about selling anyway. As an internet marketerand publisher, I find that blogs can be an excellent tool to supportyour main business, to provide value, build relationships withprospective customers and to build your personal brand and image.

For corporates and small businesses, blogs can help put ahuman face on an otherwise bland business site. In the corporate world,blogs are being for internal communication and knowledge management,and for brand building and public relations campaigns.

Nike's Art of Speed blog is an excellent example of subtle brand building using blogs. Gawker.com Artofspeed

As an internet marketer and publisher, here are some ways you can use blogs to support your business.

1. Write reviews of products in your field

Writing reviews not only allows you to benefit from improvedsearch engine listings for the product you are reviewing, but allowsyou to provide your subscribers with information that contributes totheir purchase decisions. That makes it an ideal way to earn affiliateincome.

2. Direct traffic to your articles

If you've written an article and published it online, use yourblog to post a teaser, perhaps describing what made you write thatparticular article, and then link to it so you get your readers to alsovisit your website and check out your other offerings.

3. Direct traffic to your ezine archives

Post a few paragraphs or the editorial of your ezine ornewsletter issues on your blog and link to the archived issue on yourwebsite so that your readers can read the rest of the issue there.

4. Talk about what's going on in your life

People buy from those they like and trust. As an online journalor diary, a blog is the ideal medium to share details of your holiday,the things that made you laugh (or not), your own humorous take onlife, anything to let your prospective customers get to know the personbehind the website better.

5. Comment on developments in your industry

A blog is an ideal place to post your personal opinions,favourable or not, about the developments in your industry. If you arenot happy with someone's customer service, or have been defrauded, theyare also a good way of warning other potential victims. Becoming asource of industry information is part of the process of brandingyourself as an expert.

There are many more ways that you can promote yourself, yourproducts and services using a blog, but the ones above should get youstarted for now.

Just remember to use your blog for the purpose it was meant to be used. To brand, to communicate, to connect.

Leave the selling to your sales letter.

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