SETTING UP YOUR BLOG

In this series of simple how-to's, let's look at how to set up a free blog.

Blogging is a lucrative source of profit and blogs are easy to set up and maintain. Imagine a life where you are paid to write on stuff that interests you, whenever you want, wherever you are. The mere flexibility of blogging makes it easy for you to just kick back, relax and go on a vacation whenever you feel like it.

In this article, we are going to look into the profitability of a blog and set up a blog of our own at no cost! Interested? Read on!

First, we need to obtain a blog. There are several options – host a blog on your own domain or get a free blog.
For starters, let’s talk about the free blogs. You can obtain a free blog at www.blogger.com or the newer, www.wordpress.com. If you are a techie, Wordpress is a free blog engine that is robust and infinitely expandable.

Blogger.com is owned by Google, so it will be detected on Google’s radar faster and you will be indexed faster.

Get a free blog at either Blogger.com (http://www.blogger.com/) or Wordpress (http://wordpress.com/signup/). Then, familiarize yourself by posting your first post on your blog and tinkering around with the options and templates.

Here are a few common “blog-related” words to help you out:

1) Permalink – Permalink stands for permanent link, which is a URL (uniform resource locator) that leads to an individual post that you make in your blog.
2) Trackback – When you post about someone else’s blog post elsewhere, your post will show up in their “trackback” section.
3) Pinging – Blogging seems to be paired with pinging almost every time either one is mentioned nowadays. Pinging is actually the action where a certain aggregator is notified whenever your blog is updated, so that the aggregator may show the newest post of your blog on their website. This is a useful way to gaining traffic.

For now, I shall leave you testing out your new blog and the features that come included with it. In the next articles, we shall discuss the many ways we can profit from a blog, as well as tips on how to write posts that keep visitors glued and keep coming back for more!
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AutoResponders

Do you need Autoresponders? Freebie trial or Paid Account? Which is Best?

When it comes to marketing your products online, it is a known fact that before you try and sell anything, you need to learn how to build a list of prospects to market to. Your list is the most important factor in determining if your business is going to last. Your list is what will generate sales for you automatically throughout the year, 24 hours a day.

In order to build your list, you need an autoresponder account with a reputable, established autoresponder company . The question here is if using a free autoresponder account (as opposed to paid) will be an advantage or a hindrance to your business.

Let me explain the 2 main differences and what you should look out for when deciding between a paid account and a free account.

1. In a free account, your messages will most likely be plastered with advertising that gives no monetary benefit to you, while taking up valuable space in your outgoing messages. Your paid account should have zero outside advertising, giving you the entire message to use for your marketing.

2. A free autoresponder account may not give you the ability to export (download) your leads so you can import them into a different system in the future. ie. you have no control over the leads you’ve worked so hard to collect. With your paid account you would be able to export your list whenever you like, giving you the freedom to use your leads as you see fit.

It’s quite obvious (at least to me) that if you’re serious about building your list, and building your online business, you need to have complete control over your leads and prospects. If you decide on a free autoresponder account you will get to the point where you’ll need to move your list for whatever reason. If your autoresponder company does not give you control of your leads, you’ll have to start from scratch in building your list all over again from your new system. This could easily put you behind by months (or even years) in your marketing efforts.

So in conclusion, there are many things wrong with starting with a free autoresponder account, and doing so will only cause you pain and inconvenience down the road.

Solution? Get a paid account with a solid reputable provider.

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