EBook Writing and Marketing Secrets

 If you’ve been holding your breath while the NFL decided Brett Favre’s fate, it’s time to get back to work. Of course, this is an example of using a current event to get your reader’s attention. You might also have noticed that I am starting to use more graphics, and that is because iClipArt is having a great offer on their clip art service. Check it out if you have been looking for graphics to spice up your blog posts.

Tie your blog posts into what is going on in the world around you, and you will find that your readers are more interested in your blog posts overall. If you can connect your current events post to your niche topic - even better. Football season is right around the corner, so I challenge you to tie it in to your topic and let us know so we can take a look. I will publish links to all blogs using a football connection between now and Labor Day.

This morning I went to the networking meeting held weekly in my city. I like to visit them about every 6 months or so to see what they are doing. It is not a group that would be a good fit for my online business, but I do offer them tips on how to promote their offline businesses. I am always thrilled when one of them has written an article or started a blog, but they are pretty set in their ways so this does not happen very often.

Today I was pleasantly surprised when one of the members got up to speak about her landscape design company. She now understands that not everyone with a backyard is her ideal client. Once she was able to focus on which people she wanted to work with, she was able to let everyone else go.

Think about the eBook you (more…)

One part of my online business involves marketing for three small businesses. I write articles, blog, and send press releases for a handyman, an insurance agent, and a plumbing company. You can do the same thing as you are building your online business.

I began by setting up a blog for the handyman two years ago. I would write about the work he did and include pictures with many of the posts. I always included keywords in the post titles, which included the name of his city and the words handyman, patio cover, kitchen faucet repair, ceiling fans installed, or anything else that we was doing. Within a few months his phone was ringing and he had discontinued all other advertising. I had also started writing one or two articles each month for him, making sure to include these same keywords in the article titles.

By this time the insurance agent had found out what I was doing and asked me to do the same for him. We negotiated a monthly fee and I began writing. The most recent (more…)

Most of you know that I have more than a dozen blogs. No, I don’t post to each one every day. Yes, they are all on different topics in various niches. Three of them are for small businesses that I market for.

The biggest question I get is regarding where I come up with fresh ideas and new content for each blog. The simple answer is that I always have my eyes and ears open. I read other blogs and subscribe to many email newsletters. I listen to other people’s teleseminars. I read articles online that are related to my topics. The end result is that I will never run out of things to write. You can do the same thing and position yourself as an expert in the process. Here are some suggestions for better blogging:

• Spend time researching your topic, both online and off.
• Read everything you can on your topic.
• Read other blogs and leave comments when you have something to add to the conversation.
• Google your topic and visit the sites that come up. Don’t just visit the ones on page 1 and 2 of Google; go to page 10 and see what gems you can find.
• Love your topic and be passionate about it. It will show in your writing.
• Be thankful that you have the opportunity to express yourself freely on your blog. Just 5 years ago, blogs were in their infancy. Now they are among the most powerful and influential sources of information the world has ever known.

Pinging your blog after each post is important to your overall SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. Each time you ping your blog post, many blog directories are notified that you have some new, fresh content. They, in turn, send out their spiders to see what you have written and index your post.

Both Pingoat and Pingomatic have been down for a couple of weeks now. But they are not the only sites that offer this type of pinging service. Technorati offers the best service, mainly because they are the largest blog directory in the world. If you haven’t already, go over to Technorati and claim your blog. You will see your traffic to your blog increase dramatically when you do so, because more people from around the world will now be able to find you online through your keywords.

I have also started using Ping.in and KPing.com. These are two sites that offer a similar service to that offered by Pingoat and Pingomatic.

So keep on posting and pinging, and do no worry about which sites provide this service to you.

Today’s Tuesday technology tip will cover trackbacks. A trackback is used to let another blogger know that you have written something about one of their posts. It is the only way the other blogger would find out that you had referred to him or his post, unless you used his name or something that he had a Google Alert set for.

If I am writing a post and want to discuss someone or something from another blog, I send a trackback ping when I publish my post. For a WordPress blog, the trackback url is simply the permalink with /trackback after it. On Typepad, you can click on the word ‘trackback’ at the end of the post and you will be given the trackback url, which is a long string of numbers.

Using trakbacks is a great way to connect with other bloggers and let them know you think their post will be helpful and interesting to your readers.

I can’t overstress the importance of blogging when you are writing and marketing your eBook. Your blog will be the best way to get your name and information known on the internet, giving you the opportunity to gain visibility, credibility, and profitability online. It will also give you the content you need to finish writing your eBook.

I have written about this in previous blog posts, but many people still need to learn about using their blog for search engine optimization (SEO). Take a look at any of my post titles and you will see that I am using my keywords to help people find my blog. When someone searches for your topic on Google or any of the search engines, you want your blog to come up as high as possible in the rankings.

By using your eBook chapter headings as your categories, you will make it even easier to get your eBook written by repurposing your blog posts. Once you have written ten or more posts on one category, you will have most of that chapter completed.

Get back in the blogging habit, post something of interest every day, and you will not only get your eBook written but also have someone to sell it to.

I am often asked to give my opinion on which blogging platform is the best. The truth is, I use both WordPress and Typepad, and believe they both have some good and bad points.

Typepad is user friendly and is hosted by Six Apart. In the three years I have been with them, their service has always been available, unlike some other companies with servers that go down regularly. Typepad’s customer service is also outstanding. You can start for as little as $4.95 per month, but I have the Pro plan, which gives me unlimited blogs and all of the features. This runs $14.95 per month, or $149 per year.

Hosted WordPress, available for no charge at WordPress.org, offers thousands of themes to choose from. However, you must upload the them you choose to your hosting company, and then do all of the technical part and plug-ins yourself, or hire someone to do it.

Both Typepad and WordPress blogs do well with the search engines, so I have done well with both.

What is your opinion on this? It reminds me of the time when we used to argue over which car manufacturer was best - Chevy or Ford. Back then I had a distinct opinion, but I was much younger in those days

Blogging to build your online business will be the fastest way to get your name known on the internet. Even though there are several million blogs out in the blogosphere, yours can stand out and you can become known in your niche if you are willing to do some work, especially during the first two or three months. Here is how to use your blog to build credibility and reach people all over the world you will be interested in your products and services.

• Determine what niche you will specialize in. Many people try to be all things to all people and end up not being known in any niche market. Make a choice and then stick with it.
• Choose either Typepad or WordPress as your blogging platform. Both of these allow you to use the many features that set blogs apart from traditional websites, making it simple to conduct your business from your blog.
• Choose colors and a design that brand (more…)