Digg it UP - Marketing Optimization 101 for Blogs

Blogs may be Web 2.0, but bloggers should not ignore some of the good old internet direct marketing tactics that have been working for marketers online almost for a decade or more.

Here are the absolute 101 basics you really shouldn't ignore ...

1. DON'T FORGET E-MAIL DELIVERY

Bloggers are often abandoning or completely ignoring e-mail as a tool to deliver their content to their readers. As an RSS evangelist I certainly believe in using RSS to get your content to the world, but only as a supplement to e-mail delivery.

While RSS provides us with many unique benefits, it is yet to reach mainstream adoption. Until it does, marketers and publishers should not even consider abandoning e-mail delivery, or risk ignoring most of their potential readership.

If you're still wondering why you need e-mail, consider the potential you might be wasting without it. Someone visits your blog, likes the content and would like to be notified as new content of interest becomes available, and he does not know what RSS is or even care. If you fail to capture his e-mail address and consent at that exact moment, he might never again return to your site, either because he forgets about it or because dozens of other sites capture his interest even before the next day.

2. E-ZINE PUBLISHING IS STILL A MUST

Publishing a blog is not a replacement for an e-zine. If nothing else, publish a weekly or monthly e-zine of your top blog posts, available in a single easy-to-consume format.

Some simply do not have the time to watch your blog regularly and others will only want to receive a quick summary to get only your best and most crucial content. Publishing an e-mail e-zine will do that for you, giving you the opportunity to communicate with the widest possible long-term audience for your blog.

3. E-MAIL AND RSS SUBSCRIPTIONS

Providing e-mail (e-zine) and RSS subscriptions is important to the success of any blog. But neither of these will do you much good if your visitors don't actually see them and if you don't give them enough incentive to subscribe.

Foremost, display your e-mail e-zine and RSS subscriptions information at the top of your blog, instead of somewhere far down where no one will see them.

And second, use enticing copy to get visitors to subscribe. Briefly explain the benefits of subscribing, what kind of content they can expect to receive, and also do not forget about your privacy disclaimer, calming potential subscribers that you will never abuse their personal information.

4. EXPLAIN RSS

Most internet users still do not know what RSS is or how to use it, and consequently the RSS buttons on your blog mean absolutely nothing to them.

To overcome this problem, create a special RSS presentation page and link to it next to the RSS subscribe button. On that page explain:

- What RSS is
- How the visitor will benefit from using RSS
- Where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one yourself!)
- How they can install it (provide step-by-step instructions)
- How they can subscribe to your RSS feeds
- Why they should subscribe to your own RSS feeds

Then, on this same page, include the links to all of your RSS feeds.

5. TOP CONTENT

If you update your blog frequently, your less recent top content keeps being pushed down and down, where most of your blog readers will never bother to look for it.

Overcome this frequent blog problem by creating a list of your top posts, clearly displayed and available from each of your pages. Depending on the topic you cover, you might want to place these headlines as close to the top of your blog as possible, in order to quickly entice your new visitors to start reading the best of what you have to offer and then use this content to convert them to loyal readers and subscribers.

6. THE HEADLINE

The site or blog headline will tell your visitors what to expect from reading your blog and will answer their key question: "What's in it for me?"

Make sure that your blog headlines gives this reason and the story inviting enough for your readers to keep reading.

7. LEAD YOUR VISITORS TO YOUR MDA Online Paid Surveys Pros and Cons
Online paid surveys are useful for finding views held by people on particular issues. Online survey companies or what we call product or market research companies are interested to collate consumer behavior data because of the big bucks they earn from the product manufacturers. That’s why folks like you can step in to participate in the ongoing income opportunity. What are the pros and cons of taking online paid surveys?Pros of Online Paid Surveys1. Ease of ParticipationThe greatest advantage of using free internet paid surveys is the ease of completing each survey. Survey takers or panelists need not leave their desk to give their input or comments about specific products and services.2. Influencing the Product DevelopmentOnline surveys make it a whole lot easier to target the correct crowd than by doing manual surveying. Market research companies can be sure that they participat does, marketers and publishers should not even consider abandoning e-mail delivery, or risk ignoring most of their potential readership.

If you're still wondering why you need e-mail, consider the potential you might be wasting without it. Someone visits your blog, likes the content and would like to be notified as new content of interest becomes available, and he does not know what RSS is or even care. If you fail to capture his e-mail address and consent at that exact moment, he might never again return to your site, either because he forgets about it or because dozens of other sites capture his interest even before the next day.

2. E-ZINE PUBLISHING IS STILL A MUST

Publishing a blog is not a replacement for an e-zine. If nothing else, publish a weekly or monthly e-zine of your top blog posts, available in a single easy-to-consume format.

Some simply do not have the time to watch your blog regularly and others will only want to receive a quick summary to get only your best and most crucial content. Publishing an e-mail e-zine will do that for you, giving you the opportunity to communicate with the widest possible long-term audience for your blog.

3. E-MAIL AND RSS SUBSCRIPTIONS

Providing e-mail (e-zine) and RSS subscriptions is important to the success of any blog. But neither of these will do you much good if your visitors don't actually see them and if you don't give them enough incentive to subscribe.

Foremost, display your e-mail e-zine and RSS subscriptions information at the top of your blog, instead of somewhere far down where no one will see them.

And second, use enticing copy to get visitors to subscribe. Briefly explain the benefits of subscribing, what kind of content they can expect to receive, and also do not forget about your privacy disclaimer, calming potential subscribers that you will never abuse their personal information.

4. EXPLAIN RSS

Most internet users still do not know what RSS is or how to use it, and consequently the RSS buttons on your blog mean absolutely nothing to them.

To overcome this problem, create a special RSS presentation page and link to it next to the RSS subscribe button. On that page explain:

- What RSS is
- How the visitor will benefit from using RSS
- Where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one yourself!)
- How they can install it (provide step-by-step instructions)
- How they can subscribe to your RSS feeds
- Why they should subscribe to your own RSS feeds

Then, on this same page, include the links to all of your RSS feeds.

5. TOP CONTENT

If you update your blog frequently, your less recent top content keeps being pushed down and down, where most of your blog readers will never bother to look for it.

Overcome this frequent blog problem by creating a list of your top posts, clearly displayed and available from each of your pages. Depending on the topic you cover, you might want to place these headlines as close to the top of your blog as possible, in order to quickly entice your new visitors to start reading the best of what you have to offer and then use this content to convert them to loyal readers and subscribers.

6. THE HEADLINE

The site or blog headline will tell your visitors what to expect from reading your blog and will answer their key question: "What's in it for me?"

Make sure that your blog headlines gives this reason and the story inviting enough for your readers to keep reading.

7. LEAD YOUR VISITORS TO YOUR MDA Here are the Reasons Why You Should Build A Website for Your Medical Practice Office
The internet is now one of the best sources of information. This article is about why you must consider building a website for your medical practice office.(1) Patient can easily download the following forms through your website:New Patient’s InformationFinancial Policy for New PatientsSelf-Assessment (pain issues, current health conditions etc) before coming in to the office for a follow up visit(2) List all Insurance plans you accept. Listing down all insurances and plans that you accept is very useful to your incoming patients. That way, they would know if you are participating with their insurance. This will save them money (for not going out of network). (3) Feedback from your patient is also very important, by adding a web form with questionnaire is a good tool to evaluate your patient care through patient’s feedback reports.(4) Posting on your website ave the time to watch your blog regularly and others will only want to receive a quick summary to get only your best and most crucial content. Publishing an e-mail e-zine will do that for you, giving you the opportunity to communicate with the widest possible long-term audience for your blog.

3. E-MAIL AND RSS SUBSCRIPTIONS

Providing e-mail (e-zine) and RSS subscriptions is important to the success of any blog. But neither of these will do you much good if your visitors don't actually see them and if you don't give them enough incentive to subscribe.

Foremost, display your e-mail e-zine and RSS subscriptions information at the top of your blog, instead of somewhere far down where no one will see them.

And second, use enticing copy to get visitors to subscribe. Briefly explain the benefits of subscribing, what kind of content they can expect to receive, and also do not forget about your privacy disclaimer, calming potential subscribers that you will never abuse their personal information.

4. EXPLAIN RSS

Most internet users still do not know what RSS is or how to use it, and consequently the RSS buttons on your blog mean absolutely nothing to them.

To overcome this problem, create a special RSS presentation page and link to it next to the RSS subscribe button. On that page explain:

- What RSS is
- How the visitor will benefit from using RSS
- Where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one yourself!)
- How they can install it (provide step-by-step instructions)
- How they can subscribe to your RSS feeds
- Why they should subscribe to your own RSS feeds

Then, on this same page, include the links to all of your RSS feeds.

5. TOP CONTENT

If you update your blog frequently, your less recent top content keeps being pushed down and down, where most of your blog readers will never bother to look for it.

Overcome this frequent blog problem by creating a list of your top posts, clearly displayed and available from each of your pages. Depending on the topic you cover, you might want to place these headlines as close to the top of your blog as possible, in order to quickly entice your new visitors to start reading the best of what you have to offer and then use this content to convert them to loyal readers and subscribers.

6. THE HEADLINE

The site or blog headline will tell your visitors what to expect from reading your blog and will answer their key question: "What's in it for me?"

Make sure that your blog headlines gives this reason and the story inviting enough for your readers to keep reading.

7. LEAD YOUR VISITORS TO YOUR MDA The Management Consultant Stories: Culture. A major obstacle?
Culture, a Major Obstacle To BusinessMorale was high at the US based contracting company. They had just been invited to join a consortium of companies that had pre-qualified for a big public works tender in Central Asia. The offer came via e-mail. After concluding the initial round of correspondence with their counterparts, a two man team made up of one senior engineer and one business development exec were sent to Europe to meet up with their potential partners and sign the consortium agreement.The trip started well, as they were well received by their hosts at the airport, guided to their hotel and were pleased to see that a well planned itinerary awaited them. Two mid- level managers took them out to dinner that night, and a jovial relationship was established.The next day, still dazzled by the late night and effects of jet lag the US team met with the senior execs of the consortium and gavedo not forget about your privacy disclaimer, calming potential subscribers that you will never abuse their personal information.

4. EXPLAIN RSS

Most internet users still do not know what RSS is or how to use it, and consequently the RSS buttons on your blog mean absolutely nothing to them.

To overcome this problem, create a special RSS presentation page and link to it next to the RSS subscribe button. On that page explain:

- What RSS is
- How the visitor will benefit from using RSS
- Where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one yourself!)
- How they can install it (provide step-by-step instructions)
- How they can subscribe to your RSS feeds
- Why they should subscribe to your own RSS feeds

Then, on this same page, include the links to all of your RSS feeds.

5. TOP CONTENT

If you update your blog frequently, your less recent top content keeps being pushed down and down, where most of your blog readers will never bother to look for it.

Overcome this frequent blog problem by creating a list of your top posts, clearly displayed and available from each of your pages. Depending on the topic you cover, you might want to place these headlines as close to the top of your blog as possible, in order to quickly entice your new visitors to start reading the best of what you have to offer and then use this content to convert them to loyal readers and subscribers.

6. THE HEADLINE

The site or blog headline will tell your visitors what to expect from reading your blog and will answer their key question: "What's in it for me?"

Make sure that your blog headlines gives this reason and the story inviting enough for your readers to keep reading.

7. LEAD YOUR VISITORS TO YOUR MDA Advertising Balloon - Let Your Ad Touch The Sky
One of the warmest pleasures of life is to gaze at pretty colorful balloons flying in a sunny sky. If you want to translate pure pleasure into profit and make your company name soar above others, advertise with a balloon. The customer will be delighted and your company name will be engraved in his mind. Advertising balloon will be an innovative enthraller for your customers and an easy way for you to reach success.The ads on the radio or television are lost in noise. Most people move onto different channels during commercials. No pleasure is left with newspaper ads or pop ups of Internet. So step out of stoic ad sphere and be innovative, inflate your sphere of customers and profit with a brilliant colorful inflator. The advertisement balloon is generally mounted at top of or outside the company building and shows off your company logo or your desired slogan in a unique fashion.The benefits of flying ayour less recent top content keeps being pushed down and down, where most of your blog readers will never bother to look for it.

Overcome this frequent blog problem by creating a list of your top posts, clearly displayed and available from each of your pages. Depending on the topic you cover, you might want to place these headlines as close to the top of your blog as possible, in order to quickly entice your new visitors to start reading the best of what you have to offer and then use this content to convert them to loyal readers and subscribers.

6. THE HEADLINE

The site or blog headline will tell your visitors what to expect from reading your blog and will answer their key question: "What's in it for me?"

Make sure that your blog headlines gives this reason and the story inviting enough for your readers to keep reading.

7. LEAD YOUR VISITORS TO YOUR MDA

MDA is the Most Desired Action you want your visitors to take on your site, ranging from a subscription to your e-zine to requesting more information about your services or ordering your product / getting more information about it.

Your blog will be of great help in this area, but only if you actually lead your visitors to this action. Putting this information in your menu simply is not enough.

Experiment putting some copy for your MDA directly below each blog post (on your permanent blog post archives pages) and also prominently in your left- or right-hand columns.

If you're providing multiple services or products, promote each of them next to the appropriate posts, based on post topics.

And yes, this is more important than having dozens of Google AdSense ads on your blog ... if you want to use your blog as part of your marketing mix.

8. LOOK DIFFERENT

Blogs are usually not heavily designed and most of them look exactly the same. While light design is one of the positive sides of blogs, you should invest some effort in making your blog stand-out visually. Don't cram it with design, but still make sure it's different than every other blog in the market.

9. USE YOUR OWN DOMAIN

Having a subdomain.typepad.com type sub-domain might be the easiest choice, but don't forget that your domain name is your permanent online address and part of your online brand.

Consequently, invest a couple of dollars to get your own domain name, to enforce your brand, as well as making it easier for your readers to access your blog.

10. DON'T FORGET YOUR KEYWORDS

What keywords do you want your content and blog to be found under in the search engines?

Don't forget to implement these keywords in the titles and body content of your blog posts. I'm not saying you should write your posts to please the search engines, but at least keep them in mind and use them when possible, without taking anything away from the actual content.

11. INTERACT WITH YOUR READERS

If you're blogging for business, don't forget about business oriented reader interaction.

Mainly, solicit questions from your readers, pertaining to your field of expertise, and then respond to them via your blog. Post interesting client case studies. When you get a review, post it or link to it. And so on ...

12. BLOG SPECIFIC PROMOTIONAL TACTICS 101

a] Intensively market your RSS feeds

b] Ping the search engines and directories after you update your blog, using a free service such as http://www.pingomatic.com

13. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CONTENT

And of course, none of the above won't make any difference at all if you don't provide high-quality, interesting and frequent content.

These 13 points are of course only the most basic stuff, but enough to help you get on the marketing optimization train.

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

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