Would you like to make money blogging? There are a lot of people earning extra cash and even making a living blogging, and you can too. First, you need to come up with a topic people are interested it. The topic has to be one you know a lot about or enjoy. To become a successful blogger, you must provide useful content and update the blog regularly. You can either start your own blog, join a blog community or join a blog network.
Your Own Blog

Would you like to make money blogging? There are a lot of people earning extra cash and even making a living blogging, and you can too. First, you need to come up with a topic people are interested it. The topic has to be one you know a lot about or enjoy. To become a successful blogger, you must provide useful content and update the blog regularly. You can either start your own blog, join a blog community or join a blog network.
Your Own Blog
After setting up your blog, you can monetize traffic through Adsense, an advertising program by Google or other affiliate programs such as maxbounty or primary ads. You can also earn money by discussing advertiser products and services within blog posts through sites. For more information go to www.atoz-about-rss.com. To send traffic to your blog, you should submit it to directories, post on other people’s blogs, and post on forums with your blog address in the signature, and exchange links with similar sites.
Blog Communities
The advantage of joining blog communities is that you can start getting traffic right away. Members of the blog communities will visit your blog if it appeals to them. You will be able to make money through Adsense. Your ads will be rotated 50% or more of the time while the owner’s Adsense ads rotate the other half or less. Blog Networks
There are many advantages of joining a blog network. The blog network pays for your domain name and hosting. They setup/design the blog for you. You don’t have to work for traffic and are usually paid a specific amount each month. You can also earn a percentage of advertising revenue each month. You mainly have to focus on posting great content.
Blog Networks Currently Hiring
If you join a blog network, you’ll be able to earn a specific amount each month or a percentage of revenue generated from the blog. The following are blog networks currently hiring:
-Weblogs, Inc. is a large network with about 90 blogs. You may apply to blog on a pre-existing blog or suggest a topic for a new blog. There current blog categories include consumer, technology, travel, wireless, video games, media & entertainment, finance, and life sciences. To know more about it simply go to www.your-own-blog.com. Creative Web logging is also a large network with over 90 blogs. Their current blog categories include business, economy & finance, digital media, ecommerce & internet, dreams & celebrities, technology, family & home, recreation & sports, wireless, education, life sciences, and gaming.
-b5media is a network to over 170 blogs. Their current blog categories include arts & crafts, beauty & style, business, celebrities, entertainment, family & relationships, home & dining, science & health, sports, team blogs, technology, travel & culture, video games, and writing & literature.

Posting on blogs is easy. Getting blog traffic is not. There are a lot of blogs out there and only so many blog readers to go around. If you are thinking about posting on blogs or if you are already posting on blogs but not getting the kind of blog traffic you want, there are a few things you can do to make your blogs more interesting than some of the other blogs you are competing with.

Research Prior to Posting on Blogs

Blogs that get a lot of blog traffic have one thing in common: they cover topics that people are interested in reading about. To make sure your topics will be of interest to the general public it is a good idea to research various topics before posting on blogs. You can perform general searches on the Internet to see what’s popular and what’s not. You can also read other blogs that are similar to yours. If they have high blog traffic and lots of comments, they are probably hitting on good topics.

Consider Your Tone before Posting on Blogs

Blogs are different than news stories. People read blogs because they want to hear opinions along with facts. And as crazy as it might sound, people want to hear YOUR thoughts. Don’t be afraid to state your case or add commentary when posting to blogs. Personal opinions, tone, and writing style all help to draw in regular blog traffic. So, consider these things carefully before posting on blogs. They will have a huge impact on your success.

You Can Get More Blog Traffic with Short Posts

Posting on blogs is slightly different than posting on other types of web pages. Blog readers like short posts–really short posts. Short blogs are fun and easy to read. Long blogs, on the other hand, look intimidating and time consuming. If you want people to actually read what you are posting on blogs or if you’d like to see repeat blog traffic, it is a good idea to present as much information as you can in a limited number of words. A good rule of thumb when posting on blogs is to keep each post under 250 words.

Think About Blog Traffic Posting On Blogs

Quality doesn’t always equal success when posting on blogs. There are lots of good blogs out there that don’t get a lot of blog traffic. The reason is because nobody knows they exist. You can avoid this pitfall by thinking about blog traffic before you begin posting on blogs. Things to consider specifically include keywords and keyword phrases. If you can use natural keyword placement in the blog’s title and throughout the body of the text, your posts stand a better chance of making it into search engine rankings and a better chance of drawing more blog traffic.

Always Think About Your Readers When Posting On Blogs

When posting on blogs nothing is more important than your blog traffic (a.k.a. your audience.) Some of the things readers like to see on blogs include: snappy headlines, bulleted or formatted lists, links, and information that is easy to scan.

 Increasing traffic is actually easier than it seems–provided you know how. We will go over 7 specific methods of increasing traffic. These are guaranteed methods to draw more visitors to your blog.

Tip #1: Sign up for pinging services

It seems pretty obvious, but most bloggers, even those who are more experienced, don’t sign up for pinging services. If you’re new to blogging and don’t know what pinging means, pinging basically means that when your blog is updated, a “ping” is sent

out by the service to let pinging sites know that your blog has been updated. People who are visiting sites with pinging services will then see your blog flash across the side of the screen as “newly updated”. Pinging services include Yahoo’s blo.gs, weblogs.com, Google Blog search, and ZingFast.

Tip #2: Sign up for Technorati

If you go to technorati.com, you’ll see an option on the left side of the screen to “Claim Your Blog”. Doing so allows you to get updated link counts, add your photo or branding to Technorati, and see your Technorati link. Having your blog claimed on Technorati helps to increase traffic because the millions of people who go to that site will have a chance to see your blog on there.

Tip #3: Sign up for FeedBurner, a RSS service

What FeedBurner basically does for your blog is it helps you to promote your blog’s content, build your audience and measure your audience. In other words, it helps you increase your blog’s traffic.

Tip #4: Bookmark your blogs at places like del.icio.us

You can set up an account and profile at del.icio.us. Then, using that, you can add links to your blog along with excerpts from your blog. Anytime someone visits your profile on

del.icio.us, they will see a link to your blog and excerpts. There are other social bookmarking sites that you can use in much the same way. The bottom line is, using these social bookmarking sites can help you increase traffic.

Tip #5: Post comments at other blogs

No, this doesn’t mean you should go and spam other blogs with comments that are only there to promote a site. It means that you should visit similar blogs to your own, post legitimate comments and then sign your name(along with a link to your

blog). This way, people know you aren’t there just to promote your site—you’re there to post a good piece of feedback and also say where you’re from.

Tip #6: Ask owners of other blogs to post a link to yours

Find other blogs that are similar to yours. If they seem to be decently popular(that is, they have a good amount of comments for each post), you can try to contact the owner of the blog to add a link to your blog if they have a links section. To make them really want to do this, you can offer to link back to their blog on your blog. People do this reciprocal blog linking all the time and it does help to increase traffic.

Tip #7: Use keywords in your blog

Like regular web pages, having a good keyword density on a blog is a terrific way of getting search engine spiders to notice your page. (FYI: Search engine spiders are programs from search engines that browse sites and report back their findings to the

search engine database, which then lists that site. The more keywords on your site, the more likely it is for a search engine spider to pay a visit)

If your average blog posting is around 200 words, try to use 2-6 keywords per blog post. 2-6 keywords in a blog posting of 200 words is a keyword density of between 1 and 3 percent, a respectable number. Remember that you don’t want to use too many

keywords, as that will make your blog look bad.

Also be sure that the keywords used are relevant to your blog. Before even making a blog posting, decide what the post will be about and then select a keyword or two to use in your post. Then do it. It’s a surefire way of getting more traffic to your site!

Actually, blog online marketing is not all that hard if you know what you are doing. However, if this is your very first blog and you are wondering how to get readers or subscribers to it then you are in the right place.

Here are some great tips to use when trying to get your blog out there and get new readers. You learn workable tips and secrets of how to build successful blog and earn money with your blog.

1) The first key for your successful in blog online marketing is to update your blog frequently. We can not put enough emphasis on this tip. If you tell your readers that you are going to update your blog daily, then do it. For more results please login on to www.blog-and-ping.com. Your readers are what make your blog successful. You may not realize this in the beginning, and you will have few readers in the beginning as well, but you will eventually build a readership base and have people checking out your blog regularly.

2) You are going to want to be sure that all of your posts are formatted. Doing so will leave out any confusion for the search engines and you will have everything nice and neat and all organized. The label tags are there for a reason when you are dealing with blogs. So using them and not leaving them out is a great idea.

3) Having a Google account and submitting a sitemap is almost a must when you are blog online marketing. Doing so will allow Google to know how often you are updating your blog and they will automatically know of any changes that you have made to it as well. There is a certain way you have to do the sitemap for Google, and they can explain that to you. Just know this is an important step to blog online marketing.

4) Exchanging links with authority blogs and websites that are in your same market is another great way to get the word out about your blog. The authority sites are going to have a higher page rank, and will also be listed high in Google’s search results. So do some searches and check those out and see if they are up to exchanging links. If they are not, you could always just add those into your blogroll. You do not need permission to do that if they are not into linking. However, in the world of blogs, most blog owners are thankful for all links, and are willing to return the favour.

5) Tracking is another part of blog marketing that is so very important. You want to be able to track your visitors and clickers to know where they are coming from. You want to be able to tell what keywords they searched on to find your blog and where they did their searching. Doing so will help take out all of the guess work when it comes to blog marketing. You will know what keywords are working, and which are not.

6) Allowing RSS feeds from your blog is also another great blog online marketing tool. You are going to find that when you allow RSS feeds, your blog is going to end up all over the internet with a link back to it and that is a good thing. You can also log on to www.your-own-blog.com. This is a wonderful way to get links to your blog with little or no effort. People that subscribe to your blog’s RSS feeds are able to then post your blog posts on their sites or blogs. This in return gives you a link on their site or page that they have you on.

7) Learn and apply SEO to your blogs. SEO is search engine optimization. You are going to find that if you want your blog to go anywhere, you need SEO, and you need to know how to use it to the advantage of your blog. Just like a website, a blog will be better off optimized.

Final thoughts, blog online marketing is only as hard as you make it. Use these powerful tips and get your blog out there and seen today.

www.blog-and-ping.com

www.profit-pulling-toolbars.com

These days everyone has a blog but most of them float unread out on the internet cloud. So the big question I keep hearing is how do I get more traffic to my blog? The answer is simple, and if you are willing to put in a little time you can do it for free as well.

Blogs are more or less just like any other website out there. Sure they are designed to make it easy for bloggers to post news, images, and video without much computer savvy but in reality they are just user friendly mini-websites. So now that you have one you want to get more traffic to it so here’s a few of the free and basic first steps to increasing your blogs traffic.

#1 Blog About Something People Care About

Seriously – if nobody cares about your blog because it’s just random talk about what you ate that morning you aren’t going to pick up a lot of traffic. However, regardless of how weird your interests may be someone out there also cares about them. So this one is an easy – just blog about something that someone else can relate to.

#2 Submit Your Blog to Directories

This one is also easy but takes a bit of time. There are a lot of free services out there where you can submit your blog to. They are basically like giant phonebooks for blogs and once you add your blog to their service more people will be able to find your blog. You’ll be able to categorize your blog and many of them let you use your own “tags” which are basically key words. Just jump on your favorite search engine and type in something like “free blog submission” and you’ll find lots of sites which can help you out.

#3 Have a Blogroll

Blogs often have a list of links somewhere that lists the other blogs or websites that are related or that the blogger enjoys visiting. If you want to help increase traffic find some sites that will trade you a link on their blog for one on yours. Don’t get too carried away with this though as you can actually lose traffic if you abuse this. This is where you start to get into the internet’s deeper and more inner workings so for brevity we’ll just leave it with this: you don’t want more than about 100 links on your front page or you might actually decrease your chance for big traffic.

#4 Submit Your Blog to Feedreaders

Most blog services have the ability to create a “feed”. You might hear people talking about RSS, syndication, or feedreaders. Basically what this means is each blog creates a list of what posts have been added to it much like headlines for a newspaper. You can find sites out there like the Blog Directories which you can submit your blog feed or RSS to. If you do this they’ll pick up your headlines and people can then dig through them for interesting blogs. The best part about these feed systems is that most continue to check your blog for updates so once you’ve submitted it you can just reap the benefits!

#5 Blog Often and When Appropriate

One mistake some people make with blogging is blogging when they have nothing useful to say just to get another “post” on their blog. If you are doing this then you are going to have a hard time making fans who are interested in saving your page in their favorites or bookmarks. However, you want to often update your blog. If you don’t post regularly then you’ll bore your fans. Blog often, but make sure you’re blogging something of interest.

#6 Make Sure Your Blog Has a Theme

If you’re blog is all over the place you’ll have a hard time putting together a fan base. You may get a few hits here and there by random people but you want to build a community. To do that you’ll probably want to pick a few categories you’re going to post about and stick with them. If you are the type who likes to make random posts sometimes you could just make a category called Random Thoughts or something along those lines but again be careful.

#7 Pingbacks and Trackbacks

If you want people to visit your blog then visit other blogs that are related to yours and get involved. You’ll find that people often leave comments with links back to their own blog or another related blog in the comments. These are part of the pingback/trackback system which can be a lot of fun and also get you a lot of additional traffic. Avoid spamming though as you’ll just irritate potential friends and you’ll likely have your comments removed and lose your comment ability.

#8 Appearance Matters

Every blog service offers templates which can make your blog look unique or have a style you feel fits. Often you can also customize your blog with custom graphics and tinker with the layout. While this can really help your blog be careful that you aren’t making it irritating to potential readers. Not many people want to come to a blog that hurts their eyes to look at or which has loud music they don’t like.

There you go, 8 simple tips on how to increase your blog traffic. The last thing to remember is that building up your blog traffic is going to take time. Depending on the potential number of people interested in your topics and your other blogging related skills it could take weeks and even more likely months to really get things going. If you blog it, they will come!

A blog is an online journal usually a single page that you can post practically anything that you want. The simplicity of blogs is what makes it attractive to the new person coming online and has no html experience and no website. Blogging makes it possible for an individual to go live on the web within minutes of setting up his or her blog.

There are numerous blogging websites to choose from on the net. This gives first time users the option of joining a blogging community that appeals to their interests.

Experts predict that blogs will eventually take the place of conventional websites because of their simplicity and virtually no maintenance.

Features like audio and video blogging make for added appeal as well as the ability to add mp3′s sometimes referred to as Blog Radio.

In its basic form a blog contains these features:

* Title- pretty self explanatory-this is what your post is about.

* Body- this is whatever it is you want to say.

* Trackback- whenever another blog or website puts the urls of your blog on their site, this is called a trackback.

* Permanent link- every post you write has a URL.

* Comments- this allows readers to respond to your blog post.

Another advantage of blogging is that there are only a few templates to choose from. This eliminates the complexities of numerous individual pages. Making it easier for blog users to create new pages, as it already has fixed settings that include: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc.

Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want, and the best thing about blogging, is that most blogging sites are free.

Just search any blogging directory and you’d get a listing of a lot of blogging sites that are available on the net. It’s easy to search a blogging directory, for more detail visit www.atoz-about-rss.com because it is organized according to category. This way you would get exactly what you are after. Blogging is really for everyone. It is fun, simple and easy.

Blogs have become an advertising medium. Getting traffic to your blog can be alot easier than getting traffic to a conventional website. A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, for more detail visit www.your-own-blog.com with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online.

Since all posts are archived, educators use blogs to document lessons. This gives students, who may have missed a lesson or two, the ability to access those lessons and easily catch up with their assignments.

But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.

Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other.

Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they’d get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.

www.blog-and-ping.com
www.profit-pulling-toolbars.com

So you have started your own blog and constantly writing good content for your readers. But are you getting the readers for you blog? Are you satisfied with the number of readers your blog receive? How much popular are you among the netizens?

Do search engines too like your blog? Yes, search engine bots should be among your most loyal and most frequent reader of your blog. If your writings and website design can influence major search engine bots to win their favour, you will emerge as a winner. Your blog’s popularity in various search engines will determine the traffic that your blogging site has produced. To get more traffic means more readers on your blog which will translate into more moollah for you. Your blog rock in this business and be the top blogging site, you must give your readers a reason to visit your site. But how? Read on.

Blogging can be the easiest way to gain money; tips can be taken from it when the readers of your blogs enjoy the blog that you have written. To be the top blogging site from search engines’ point of view, you ned to use several SEO techniques. SEO means search engine optimization and with its help you can get your blog on the top of the search engines result pages on several keywords related to your blog. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. sends several thousands of visitors to you every day if your blog site appears on their front page. Similarly front page listing on several blog aggregators like Digg results in numerous hits to your blog as much as to consume your all allocated bandwidth of the server you are hosted with! Make a quality blog by including the following in your blogging business. These are very useful tools in bringing your blogging site to the top and produce tremendous traffic.

Pictures and photos must be included in your blogs. These are very important parts of your blogging. You should at least give one photo in every blog you do. This will attract more readers to browse your blogging site. Make sure to add quality photos not the once that contains blurry images. This will not make your blogs to be on the top. Plus, colorful photos are more appealing to readers so include them in your blogs.

Traffic patterns are also important in this kind of business. You should not only manage one site, it is much better if you are affiliated to other sites. You can write blogs to them as well, as long as you put your link in the end of your blogs. This will serve as the link to your site. You can promote your site by using other blogging sites. This will sure to grab more readers attention that will keep the traffic to flow.

Include templates in your writings. Numbers of different associated templates in your blogs will be useful. Uncluttered template is weak compared to bright templates that can attract more readers. Templates will make your blogs look more attractive and inviting. Make sure to choose good quality and nice looking templates to add more traffic in your blogging site.

Advertise your blogging site. Make appealing site advertisements to promote your site. Ads can be helpful in bringing all the traffics to your blogging site. You can also advertise using banners ad space that you can sell. This will bring you more income as compensation to your hard work.

You cans end newsletters to your readers whenever a new blogs are posted. By this way, your readers will always be updated of what you write in your blogging website. Press release can be done to invite more readers to your blogging site. Give your blog a unique, interesting and on of a kind touch. This will make loads of traffic to your website.

These are very useful tools in making the top blogging site. With plenty of ways, you are sure to reach the peak of success in this business. Start up and gain more money by blogging.

Blogging is the latest craze in Internet marketing and SEO circles. User generated content now rules. This article gives six good reasons that you should consider blogging as part of your online marketing efforts.
The rise and rise of blogging as part of the web 2.0 phenomenon has taken the Internet by storm. For more details go to: www.instant-blog-and-ping.com Savvy web marketers are now using blogs as an additional weapon to generate leads, add credibility and improve their search engine rankings. Here are six reasons why you should consider blogging.

Blogging is great fun! Yes, blogging can be great fun. Just open you posting window and go for it without the restrictions of corporate style guides and other impediments to creativity. Got something to say? Just say it. The other fun aspect of blogging is that people can post comments about your blog posts. You posts plus reader comments all become valuable food for the search engines.

Blogging is cheap. The most powerful blogging systems are free. Word press seems to be the blogging standard and now comes standard with many cheap web hosting packages. For less than $100 per year anyone can get their own domain with blogging included.

I wouldn’t use one of the free blogging services unless you are really desperate. You can’t be sure if they will always remain free and your posts will be building up someone else’ asset rather than your own.

Blogging is fast and easy. If you can use notepad you can blog. The user interface is very intuitive and allows you to add and edit, text, pictures, and videos, whatever you want want to change the look and layout of your blog? There are literally hundreds of themes available that take less than a minute to upload and install.

Blogging gives you products and services personality. People like to do business with people they like. By blogging you show your target market that there is a real person behind the company you represent. By reading you blog posts that get an idea of what you’re all about – warts and all. The personal aspect of blogging is one of its most powerful characteristics.

Your blog becomes another Internet asset. Some blog sites get thousands and thousands of readers each day. For help visit: www.bloggers-guide-to-profit.com This traffic can be converted to hard, cold cash through Google Adsense advertising, affiliate programs and straight advertising space sale. Once you blog increases it’s Google Page Rank, you also get the benefit of linking out from your blog site to other web sites you want to promote.

Search engines just love blogs. It is said in many SEO forums that Google staff are great bloggers and subsequently Google spiders and indexes blogs more frequently that normal web sites. This may just be a rumor, but I have found it to be true in my case. If you blog every day there’s a good chance Google and the other major search engines will spider your blog every day looking for that new content.

Convinced? Give blogging a try. There are stacks of free resources listed in article directories like this one that will help you get into blogging.
www.profit-pulling-toolbars.com
www.blog-link-generator.com

You are going to take the time to create a successful blog, and develop a regular reading audience; I suggest blogging at least twice every week. Some video blogging sites may not accept bogs with certain types of content; others may help promote certain types of content. With blogging, you are creating an advertisement highlighting your product or services and convincing the public that it is something that they cannot live without.
Use keywords like, “blog, blogging,” to search for information on blogs. Blogging, of course, is one of those defining elements .For more detail go to: . Use free and inexpensive blog traffic exchange communities there are many sites which can be termed “traffic exchange” sites for the blogging community. (Example: In Coaching, we take advantage of modern online survey tools and blogging tools which breathe fresh life into our businesses.

You don’t know how to use your blogging software, yet you expect to look like an expert and build credibility. Reciprocal linking in the industry you’re blogging about builds relationships and links back to your site. Having originated in the world of blogging, some have even referred to pod casting as “audio blogging. Advantages of Blogging: Blogs enables coordination by improving the level of communication within members of a group.

http://www.feed-reader-links.com http://www.rss-announcers.com

There many blogging platforms existing on the net. For most people, blogging takes some time to become profitable. 5 x digital zoom, video clipping, video recording, video calling, video streaming, picture blogging, push email, media player, sound recorder, flight mode, Bluetooth, GPRS, USB, Fast Port, PC Synchronization and much more. Many blogging systems will automatically ping your blog updates.

It doesn’t have to be a whole new site, just add a directory to your existing site and start blogging. John’s blog is basically about the internet and blogging – often with thoughts on the business side of things – mixed up with odd ramblings about, and pictures of, things he eats. If blogging appeals to you, you can create a viable Internet business within a few months: for free. A blogging platform is the software that generates the blog pages for you.

Blogging for business is a trend that deserves attention. It is essential to remember that blogging outsourcing, just like usual deals with immediacy and a conversational tone. Adding to the gorgeous styling, the phone comprises an innovative logger plan that, with an ideal cellular network support, can help user in “any-time” blogging. Now, you can even host your blog on your own domain so that you don’t have to keep logging into the blogging site – you simply update your posts and ping directly from your website.

You are going to take the time to create a successful blog, and develop a regular reading audience; I suggest blogging at least twice every week. For more detail go to:  video blogging sites may not accept bogs with certain types of content; others may help promote certain types of content. With blogging, you are creating an advertisement highlighting your product or services and convincing the public that it is something that they cannot live without.
Use keywords like, “blog, blogging,” to search for information on blogs. Blogging, of course, is one of those defining elements.

Traffic to your blog, is that what you want? I wanted to take a moment and share the following tips with all you guys on how to increase traffic flow to your blogs and or sies. Its very important that you read the steps below and apply them accordingly.

1) Consistency with your post -Blog frequently

I dont know why so many bloggers hate the idea of the above when its vital to keep the content ongoing. Trust me when I say that the struggle for content is ongoing. New bloggers, however, feel like it’s just happening to them. The truth is, don’t get a blog just to have a blog. Get it and keep it updated. It’s the quickest way to gaining traffic. How often should you blog? Three times a week. The best days to blog? Studies have shown that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are key days for blogging.

2) Focus and Stay on Track

I tell authors this a lot: stay on point, stay on topic. Why? Because if you don’t you’ll lose readership. Once someone commits to your blog they want to keep reading relevant information. So don’t blog one day about your book, your speaking, or your mission and the next day share Aunt Ethel’s pot roast recipe.

3) Plan your blogs

While spontaneity is the catalyst for creativity, planning is a good way to stay on track. Start to map out key dates that you want to blog about that have some relation to your topic – this way when you’re at a loss for topics, you can always pick one from your list of planned out blogs. Also, consider these topics to blog about:

a) Future predictions: everyone loves these, to the degree that you can predict market trends in your industry do it, and the readership will follow.

b) Discuss industry news: what’s happening in your industry that you can talk about? Even if you’re a fiction writer there’s always *something* going on worth mentioning in publishing, writing, or marketing that directly relates to your topic.

c) The elephant in the room: talk about the stuff that everyone is afraid of. What new trends are emerging that consumers/readers/companies need to be aware of? What’s next for your market and how will it affect the industry? How can we keep publishing books when we already publish 800 a day? You see what I mean? Think of things that frighten you and talk about them. People will respond. Every time I do this I get a ton of comments on my blog.

d) Write reviews: review other people’s books, product or work. This is a great way to network and to become a “filter” for your market. Filter out the new stuff and feature it on your blog (this goes for you fiction writers too!).

e) Other blogs: what are people talking about? What did your favorite blog just say? Virtual networking (with other bloggers) is a great way to grow your content and get to know others in cyberspace. Don’t forget to link to the blog you’re discussing!

4) Invite comments on your blog!

This is really important! The more folks you can get commenting, the quicker your blog will get passed around. If you have a “no comment” feature on your blog, remove it! You want people to be able to comment and give feedback. In fact, at the end of every blog, why not invite readers to comment? If you start getting a lot of responses to this, begin featuring your favorite comments in future blog posts!

5) Comment on hot topics in the news

The quickest way to get traffic is to get your blog featured on a high-traffic site. But how can you do this? By commenting on news stories. Most major news sites have a feature that will list blogs that are talking about the various news stories. Not all blogs get featured but: a) if your if your topic is related to the story they’ve featured; and b) you’ve written an insightful post on the topic, you’ll likely get listed. For an example of what these look like take a peek at a recent story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/14/simpson/index.html

6) Digg yourself

Make sure that your blog has a bookmarking feature. Sites like Digg and http://Del.icio.us are great places to get started. You can go there, sign up for an account (very easy to do) and then follow their instructions for bookmarking your individual posts. This is important! You don’t want to bookmark the blog but rather, the posts. The posts will then show up in these sites and, hopefully, other folks will bookmark them as well. Even if no one else bookmarks your posts, it doesn’t matter. You can still get traffic by being positioned on these sites. Super simple to do, go ahead, give it a shot!

7) Twitter your blog

Got something to say? Try microblogging at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com. It’s a free service that asks the question: What are you doing now? Go in, sign up and start posting your messages with links back to your blog. We tried this and it’s fantastic. You can also blog from your cell phone and blackberry. You can not only use it to promote your blog but your book, speaking event, whatever you want. It might sound like a “who cares” idea, but trust me, everyone’s Twittering these days.

Syndicate yourself

Using simple RSS feeds through http://www.feedblitz.com you can syndicate yourself and let folks subscribe to your blog. If they don’t have a way to subscribe to your blog, they may forget you altogether. Once someone subscribes, every time you post new content it will notify them. And the best part? Your messages won’t get stuck in someone’s spam filter. They’ll get the notification, head to your blog and voila! Your readership stays engaged and growing.

Finally, don’t use an “official” voice on your blog. Pretend you’re sitting across from your reader over coffee. Talk to them in a more casual, conversational tone and you’ll not only get more readers, you’ll likely get more comments too! It doesn’t take much to grow a blog, just a little dedication and creativity. Happy blogging!