I didn’t have enough sidebar space. I wanted a third one, so I had it redesigned to include the extra space.

And my business partner, Becki, kept telling me that I needed to “Loofah my columns”.

I had no idea what she was talking about until yesterday when she finally came clean.

Andy Wibbels has put out a series of videos called Blogging Blunders and I highly recommend that you check them out.

But here’s the video about the loofah. Despite your laughter, think about what he says…

What are your thoughts about the “prime real estate” of your columns?

Until next time…

Heather

PS. I’m in no rush to grab my loofah…

Now, access to both doesn’t require an iPod. You can listen to them through Apple’s free program, iTunes. But for me, I like to listen to them in the car or while I’m working on other things. Yes, I can read them, but why should I when I can listen to them at my leisure.

When I got my iPod, the first thing I did was search for marketing and advertising podcasts as well as downloaded Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars” audio book. I was able to listen to both while I cooked dinner, checked email, drove to and from the store, etc.

While I think that podcasts are a different way to promote your business, I also think they may be a hindrance. For example, many of the podcasts I downloaded had such horrible audio issues I found them hard to listen to. It was more distracting than informative. Another problem I had was that when I subscribed (for free), I noticed the last time they were updated was in May. How can you expect to gain any new business or get return business when you aren’t holding up your end of the deal? When I say “deal,” I’m speaking of the instance where you ask them to sign up for your podcast and; in return, they get valuable information.

The same holds true for anything that you are doing for your business, whether a newsletter, a blog, or even your website. People don’t return to stagnant sites. Why would they?

Take blogs, for example. I use an aggregator to subscribe to various blog feeds I discover form time to time. I do this for two reasons. One, I’m never going to find the time to go back through my favorites (if I even remember to bookmark them) and see if someone has posted something new. I don’t have the time. Some bloggers post three or four times a day while others post once or twice a week. It doesn’t matter when or how often you post, as long as you are posting. The other reason I use an aggregator is that they are delivered right to my email. Thunderbird offers this with their software. Outlook offers a plugin so that you can get them delivered to your inbox. I can then read them on my own schedule. When I see that someone doesn’t post often (and by often I mean at least once a week) I typically delete the feed. If they aren’t willing to give me what they promised, I’m not willing to stick around.

That’s not to say that you can’t go on vacation, or take a break, or even suffer from blog depression; however, most people see that your posts are regular and if you’re gone for a bit, they are more likely to be patient.

Distribute newsletters in a timely manner. If you promise monthly newsletters, don’t send them bi-monthly or semi-monthly. Some visitors to your site may be intrigued by a monthly newsletter; and if they get two in one month, some may see it as a bonus, some might not. You could lose subscribers.

With your website, keep it fresh. Keep it updated and add new content. Give people a reason to bookmark it and continue to return. With my first site, it was a standard virtual assistant site. I had the about me page, what I offered, my rates, etc. I have a feature with my stat counter that shows me roughly how many people bookmark my site. With the addition of the resources and the blog, the number of people who have bookmarked it has nearly tripled. Why? I give them reasons to come back.

The key to successful marketing and, consequently, a successful business is to keep your business’ name at the top of the minds of those you are trying to reach. By keeping things fresh, clean, and updated, you cannot escape them.

Until next time…

Heather

Happy Memorial Day! 
 

I’m sitting in the middle of no where in West Virginia but due to the automated processes that I’ve set up for my blog, I’m able to still have a post when I’m taking a much deserved long weekend!
 

The key is figuring out how you can automate some of your processes to free up your time.  This blog post has been loaded in to Word Press for over a week now, along with the blog posts for the next few weeks.  It took an hour of my time and took a weight off my shoulder.
 

There are many ways that you can automate your business.  Have you found all of them?
 

What are some of the ways that you automate your business?
 

Until next time…
 

Heather

Are you a blogger and just don�t have time to post something every day?

It�s a problem I had. With everything going on, how was I supposed to stop and find something creative, witty, etc to put on my blog?

I got smart.

The first thing I did was hire a virtual assistant to help me. I use wordpress and taught her the ins and outs of posting. So when I came across something insightful, I would fire off an email and she would add it to my blog. She was even GREAT about emailing me and telling me that she needed something because it had been awhile since I had posted.

Then I got smarter.

I was still feeling the pressure of not posting original items and she was always emailing me telling me that she needed something to post. So I sat down one night and wrote one month of blog posts.

I determined that I wanted to post at least three times a week and so I just started writing. There are days that it�s just a link to another site. There are other days where I�ve included an article that I�ve written. There are some days when it�s someone else�s article.

Do you know how long it took me to write one month�s worth of blog posts (in my case, 12)? A little over an hour. I sat down on a Friday night and just collected information and wrote. Before you knew it, I was done. I fired them off to her and guess what? I don�t have to worry about my blog for another 30 days — until it�s time to write the next set of posts.

Then she got smart.

She figured out in WordPress that you could set up you posts to post automatically on the day and time that you choose. Once she gets them from me, she plugs them all in there with the day and time that they are supposed to appear and then she can forget about it. Talk about automation at its finest!

This worked so well for us that we started automating Marketing Made Simple as well. In about two hours I had 4 issues done and sent to her. She could then go and format them in the template that I made and set them up in Aweber. http://www.valleyva.net/aweber.html

Talk about set it and forget it!

Think about ways that you can automate your business. How can you free up more of your time?

Until next time�

Heather

� 2006 Heather Jacobson

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Heather Jacobson is publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter Marketing Made Simple as well as a business coach with VATraining.com, speaker, and author of “Making Dollars Out of Cents: 101 Tips for the Frugal Marketer”. If you�d like to market your business without breaking the bank, sign up for your FREE tips at http://www.10freetips.com

Copyright 2005 Priya Shah

Marketers have found that blogs are excellent tools for communicating with their audience. Anyone who has something to sell or an idea to promote can benefit from using blogs.

Search engine marketers especially favour blogs because they have a number of features that make them the darling of search engines.

1. Fresh, Updated, Relevant Content

When you write a good blog about a theme that you’re passionate about and post to it frequently, you’re creating fresh, keyword-rich, content that search engines love.

2. Natural, One-Way Links

Search engines view links to your site as a recommendation of your site content. More links pointing to your site or blog boosts your visibility and search engine rankings.

Google gives more weight to natural, one-way incoming links, and blogs make it easy to get two types of one-way links to your site.

Similarly Themed Blogs

A well-written, authoritative blog, with unique content, is likely to get linked to from a number of other bloggers writing on similar topics. These are natural links that are viewed highly and given more weight by search engines like Google.

RSS Feed Syndication

Blogs and the RSS feeds built into them, help you build valuable, one-way links to your site by syndicating your content online.

3. Get Indexed Within Hours

When you post to a blog it pings a number of services that list blogs. This notifies the service that your blog has been updated.

Search engines like Google give more weight to blogs that are updated regularly. It is possible to get your pages indexed in Google and other search engines within hours of writing your first blog post.

Compared to the time it takes to index a website (days, even weeks), you can see why blogs are better search engine optimisation tools than static websites.

Indirect SEO Benefits of Blogs

Besides the SEO benefits, a well-written, authoritative blog can also create publicity and branding for you, which promotes even more people to read and link to your blog.

—————————————————————————————
Priya Shah is a partner in the search engine optimization firm, SEO & More Request the detailed version of this whitepaper Boost Your Search Engine Visability

We also offer a Blog Roll! If you would like more information on how to have your blog listed on Blog Mavens, head on over to the Blog Mavens Blog Roll!

Until next time…

Heather

Becki over at the VA Soapbox posted the link WAY before I could, so I’ll let her share her bandwidth and disk space with you this time!

Here’s what Seth says about the book:

�For a long time, the web has been about more. More links, more traffic, more hits, more choices. In the face of all that more, many sites (and most surfers) are not getting what they want. This free ebook proposes a different way of achieving your goals: less.�

Thanks Becki for sharing…:)

You can get Everyone is an Expert here.

Until next time…

Heather

There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog. Having said that, bloggers will likely increase their exposure by following some simple blog guidelines.

1.) Stay on topic.

Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest.

Most readers won’t care that you eat Cheerios for breakfast. They may, however, be interested in the fact that vinegar takes out stains and that toilet paper rolls make great wreaths. Define a topic and stick to it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers.

2.) Stay informative.

If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news. If you are endorsing a product or voicing an opinion, be sure to check your facts; your reputation is at stake. If you are offering an opinion, be sure to qualify your post, making it clear that the content is intended as an editorial.

3.) Old news is not news.

While blogging every day can be a drain, it is important that the information presented is current and accurate, writing an article or blurb about something that happened 6 months ago, will not be of interest to many. Telling your audience that Martha Stewart was convicted and will be going to prison, after her sentence is completed will make people question the value of your columns.

4.) Adhere to a schedule.

Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don’t create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content.

New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don’t want to lose them due to lack of communication.

5.) Clarity and simplicity.

Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to understand. Remember, the web is global and expressions, idioms and acronyms don’t always translate. Sometimes a little explanation goes a long way.

6.) Keyword-rich.

If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post should have a title that will attract attention but still be relevant to the post. The title should be no longer than 10-12 words.

7.) Quantity matters.

In order to attract the attention of search engines, you will need to develop content and substance. A headline or simple sentence is not going to generate the interest of readers or help with search engine ranking. Be sure to archive old blog posts to develop a large portal of similarly-themed content.

8.) Frequency.

If your blog content is updated frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.

9.) Spell checking and proof-reading.

It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from having to make embarrassing explanations. Remember that whatever you publish on the Internet can be found and archived. Think carefully about what you post before doing so.

10.) RSS.

RSS will increase your blog’s reach. It is important that you include your blog’s content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.

Most weblog audiences are small, but with time and regular updates audiences grow. Bloggers may never have more than a few hundred readers, but the people who return to regularly are generally interested in what you have to say.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and NotePage a wireless text messaging software.

He’s a very intelligent man. He can do a complete crossword in pen without making a mistake and without looking things up. (This truly amazes me!) He has an extensive vocabulary and I learn a lot from him.

Although he reads my blog (and edits everything that leaves my company’s hands) he just doesn’t “get it”.

Yesterday he came home and handed me the Neighbors section of our local paper. It was open to one particular article and he simply said, “This was in the paper today. I saved it for you.”

The title of the article is “Blogs let the world read your thoughts”. I read the article by Jason McNeil and it was very well written but while reading it my initial reaction was “Jason doesn’t get it either.” While what he says is true, no where in there does he mention business blogging. It’s all about people and sharing their thoughts for the world to see.

I’m debating on writing Mr. McNeil and sharing some of the wonderful blogs that I read on a daily basis, none of them ones where people reveal their deepest, darkest secrets. My only fear is that he will hear those Charlie Brown voices as well.

Perhaps I’ll draft it and get Tim to edit it for me and see what he thinks. The only way to educate someone on the value of blogging is by letting them know they aren’t all online diaries written by “the lonely blogger [sitting] alone in a room, pale face lit only by the sterile glow of a computer moniter.”

If you would like to read the complete artile, you can do so at the Roanoke Times.

Until next time…

Heather