Blogging is described as a game-changing innovation on par with television and mobile phones. While blogs can be simple to describe, their full impact takes time to realize. Blogging encourages conversation and helps build relationships by allowing for more personal content than other forms of writing. Successful blogs focus on educating readers rather than direct selling, maintain a consistent posting frequency, and find a distinctive voice and niche to engage an affinity group of readers. Blogs are best promoted through other social media like Twitter and Facebook, commenting on other blogs, search engine optimization, and encouraging participation through comments. Managing a blog requires creating a posting schedule, brainstorming content ideas ahead of time, and measuring how the blog drives traffic and followers to other online

1. Blogging

2. “Game changing innovations are few and far between. They are usually simple concepts to describe but when they arrive it takes time to fully realize their importance and impact. Television was a game-changer, mobile phones were a game-changer, and blogging is also one.” Collis Ta’eed

3. Blogging Basics Blogging is simple Blogging is interactive and encourages conversation Blogging builds relationships Blogging is more personal

4. How to Approach Blogging Content is soft marketing Don’t direct sell Use it to educate/illustrate Try to be consistent in your posting frequency Blog posts can be short, and don’t need to take a long time to write

5. Finding Your Voice and Niche Write the way you talk Let your personality shine through What defines you, and how does that relate to the customers you want to reach Find your affinity group There is placeblogging and there is niche blogging

6. “And it occurred to me that there is no such thing as blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.” Simon Dumenco

7. Promote Your Blog Twitter Facebook fan pages Feedburner feed subscriptions Commenting/engaging on other blogs SEO Encourage commenting/participation on your blog Guest blogging/getting guest bloggers Promote on main web site

8. Manage Your Blog Create a schedule Brainstorm ideas for blog posts and keep the list handy for when you need inspiration Pick a time of the day or week that you will devote to blogging and blog promotion It doesn’t have to take a lot of time Write blog posts ahead and schedule them to post at a later date

9. Converting and Measuring Promote deals or your company in the sidebar and about pages Track statistics to see how many people you drive from blog to site or sale Offer exclusive deals for blog readers and use promo codes for tracking Use your blog to drive readers to be Facebook fans and Twitter followers via widgets