This is a short post from me for today, but if you are a service professional and would like to see a ‘live example‘ of how a podiatrist (foot doctor) created a blog to:
* syndicate his offline business with an online presence,
* get more clients for his existing, offline business – his clinic,
* be viewed as the person-to-go-to for any foot problems,
* be seen as an expert in his niche.

Take a time today to visit Dr Andrew Schneider’s Blog and read through some of his interesting and informative articles, such as:
<< Ten Important Foot Facts for 2010 >>
<< Is That A Bunion On TOP Of My Foot??? >>
<< Why Suri Cruise and All Children Should Not Wear High Heels >>
<< Five Items Every Runner Should Have On Their Holiday Wish List >>

Thanks to Laura Roeder for the tip to check out Dr Schneider’s blog!

To Your Success

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What exactly is a blog?

The purpose of this article is not to define a blog. There are a lot of articles on the internet which go into detail on what a blog is. Check out Blog by Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia and Introduction to Blogging by WordPress.org for detailed articles on ‘What is a Blog?’. To make sure that we are on the same level though, I will share with you this short video which clearly defines ‘what is a blog?’ in a visual nutshell. Then we will continue with the article, and discuss how blogging can change your world…

Blogs vs Traditional Websites

Let’s first start with some of the positive things about blogs. In the beginning blogs where viewed as a personal diary – this is not the case anymore, although there are blogs written about personal aspects of one life. Nowadays blogs are mainly a place where one posts VALUABLE information – and I can’t stress enough the value in the word ‘Valuable’ – blogs are NOT a place where one writes garbage and scammed articles, as like this the life of the blog will be very short lived. People don’t like going to blogs to read about this product and that, unless it’s professional reviews and there is also other valuable information where the reader can benefit from.

With that out of the way, let’s go over 8 cool things about blogs, that I like:

1. they are dynamic. In the sense, that unlike traditional website which are static, blogs are changing all the time – depending on how often the ‘author’ updates his/her blog. If there is always valuable information, people keep coming time and time again to the blog to read the recent information, will subscribe to the feed to be updated through their inbox about the recent post, and eventually the ‘author’ will be viewed as an expert and as the person-to-go-to in his/her area of expertise.
2. they are interactive. I write a post, someone leaves a comment, I comment back, another person leaves a comment, I comment back, and on and on it goes. With blogs there is a communication going on and a sense of something ‘alive’ behind the computer screen, which with traditional websites this could not be done. And people LOVE leaving and reading comments, especially when the ‘author’ comments back. I have seen blogs where the post was written 3 years back and people are still leaving comments. The more comments one has, the more the blog is viewed as professional and the ‘author’ as an expert, because it’s the way people psychologically think.
3. posts are archived. Your posts will still be accessible and ‘pulled’ by the search engines when someone researches one of your keywords – even years on. So all the hard work that one puts into writing articles will not die after a few days or months. In addition, the posts go in archives, and one can easily access them through a search box, or by means of category or date, through your blog. So although on the home page of your blog there might only be a few posts, at the back there is a ton of information that can be easily accessible. So one can spend hours on a good blog.
4. easy to create & update. Another thing which I simply love about blogs is that one does not need to know any special computer language (like html) to be able to create one’s own blog. Nowadays it’s so easy to build a blog and to update it regularly. I am in favour of self-hosted blogs where you own the blog, as opposed to a blog where it is hosted somewhere else where you don’t have any control. Although building such a blog (self-hosted) takes a bit more time and determination, it’s worth the effort, knowing that you can fully customize it how you want and that you own it. Also, it’s so easy to add videos, pictures, link to social media accounts, recorded training calls, audio recordings, forums, shopping cart, …
5. they are your voice. The ‘author’ or blogger is completely free to design what information and what kind of message he /she wants to convey to his / her readers. In addition, the blogger can choose a topic he / she wants to write about – usually blogs revolve around 1 topic, and can choose if he /she wants to blog as a hobby, part-time or as a professional – with the difference being of how often one posts an article and how much work you want to put into it, and hence how much money one wants to earn from blogging.
6. can be a stand-alone business. Full-time bloggers decide to blog professionally and earn an income from blogging. There are many ways in which one can monetize one’s blog – look out for another article dealing with ‘Monetizing Your Blog’.
7. can supplement an existing offline business. Creating a blog can help your company be regarded as a thought leader within your industry. In addition, prospective clients can read your blog, interact, and purchase products and services from you.
8. can enhance your career. Through blogging, and hence greater visibility, one can experience positive career and business impacts, and build a reputation for thought leadership in your industry.

The Very Few Disadvantages That I Can Think Of

1. one has to commit. If you want your readers to keep coming back for more, there needs to be articles or other type of information posted regularly for them to read, as otherwise your blog will die a slow sure death. Depending on your reasons for blogging, then this is a clear indication of how often one should post a new article. At least 2 per week – or you can have a ‘rock’ post once a week, and other small supporting articles for the rest of the week.
2. too personal. One has to balance out what to write. Some people keep it strictly business, although a lot of readers like reading blogs because it makes the blogger human – so some might decide to put in a bit of personal information. One has to be prudent and realistic what information to place on one’s blog – you don’t want your reputation, business or career to be put in jeopardy.
3. controversial topics. Same goes for controversial and radical topics – one has to weigh really well what to write about. It’s ok to place your opinion about someone or something, but remember too much negativity will after a while get boring, and a blog can be potentially viewed by 1.6 billion people.
9. too much spam. I bring up this topic once more, as it is the basis of a good blog with many viewers and subscribers, and a ‘ghost’ blog. People search the internet for valuable information – the more ‘free’ value you can give your readers the more they will visit again and again. Then once you build a relationship and you are viewed as an ‘expert’ in your field, then you can start looking for ways to monetize your blog.

For additional information read this interesting 2009 Annual Study on the Growth and Trends in the Blogoshpere by Technorati. The introduction is by Jennifer McLean and the 5 consecutive reports by Matt Sussman

P.S.

If you are ready to take over the blogoshpere, and would like to create your own professional blog and learn how to monetize it, then gain access to Claire Morawski’s Training, where you will be taught in easy-to-follow steps how to create your own blog.

To Your Success

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