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One sure way to ensure you keep a steady flow of blog readers is to publish a weekly blog promotion newsletter. This tool is real simple. Based on a company newsletter, the focus is a little different. The idea is to provide a synopsis of your blog posts from the past week for your subscribers. The newsletter goes out weekly and features one post from each day of the week. Each entry in the newsletter shows a summary of each blog post with a link back to that post on your blog. The blog promotion newsletter is great for driving repeat traffic to your blog.

One reason you want to publish a blog promotion newsletter is because many people today still are not familiar with RSS news feeds and feed readers. Giving those people an option to subscribe to your blog through your newsletter helps them stay on top of your most recent content without the hassle and inconvenience of learning new software. It’s perfect if your clientele consists of a large number of people who are not Internet or technology savvy.

For more information on the blog promotion newsletter, contact Allen or Theresa at 717-528-4005.

You’ve set up your company blog and optimize every post to achieve high rankings in the search engines. Now what?

Don’t rest on your laurels. You need to market your blog. But how do you do that?

There are several ways you can market your blog and drive traffic to it. Here are a few that we recommend:

• Article marketing
• Social bookmarking
• Social networking
• Forum posting
• Pay per click advertising
• E-mail marketing
• Directory submissions
• Sending out link requests

Each of these methods of online marketing is effective in its own way. Article marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing online and is great for driving traffic if you do it on a consistent basis.

Chances are, if you have a blog with Blog Content Provider then we’ve talked to you about social bookmarking. If we haven’t then you should give us a call because this is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your blog.

Social networking is different from social bookmarking in one aspect - the emphasis is on building relationships with people with similar interests in order to bring them to your website so that they can see what you are doing. Social bookmarking focuses on the content; social networking focuses on the relationships.

Forum posting is also effective in driving traffic to your website. The idea is to simply join a conversation and be a contributor. When people see how valuable you are in giving contributions to the group they will trust you more and visit your website.

PPC click marketing, aka pay per click, is very effective, especially for the short term, but it’s the only method of marketing mentioned here that requires a fee beyond any service provider that you hire to act on your behalf.

E-mail marketing is still effective and even in this day many people use e-mail without being fully connected to the Internet. We always recommend marketing your blog through RSS feeds, but you should also have a way for people to receive notice of your blog through e-mail such as a blog promotion newsletter (be sure to ask about Blog Content Provider’s newsletter services).

Directory submissions and link requests are on the bottom end of the spectrum for blog marketing, but I wouldn’t leave them. You never know how people will find you so you should give them every opportunity to do so.

You can rely entirely on SEO for blog marketing, but why limit yourself. While most of your blog traffic will come from search engines, there is a lot more potential out there for getting traffic to your blog. Some bloggers report that Twitter, StumbleUpon, or another social media source is the biggest driver of traffic to their blogs. By focusing on marketing your blog, you can increase your traffic and your conversions. Don’t just leave it to chance.

For more information about blogging, talk to a blog consultant.

One question that often pops up is “How can I monetize my business blog?” First, you have to understand what a blog is for and how best to use it. You are not trying to create a publishing platform where you sell advertising or pop on AdSense so that you earn five cents per click. If you are then you are looking at the wrong type of blog for the company blog model. It’s not that the publishing platform type of blog isn’t a good model. It is. But you can’t mix and match the concepts.

A good company blog doesn’t necessarily need a monetization plan of its own if it is done properly. That’s not to say you can’t make money with it.

First and foremost, your company blog is a marketing tool for your business. The idea is to drive traffic to your website and increase your search engine standing through optimized quality content on a regular basis. A blog is the best way to achieve those two simultaneous goals.

To measure your blog ROI, follow the traffic patterns. Are you getting traffic to your static site from the blog. If so, is it converting? If not, why not? Perhaps you nee more in-text links. Or maybe you need fewer. Maybe those links need the proper anchor text. Or maybe the problem isn’t with the blog at all.

The most common problem with websites that don’t convert is with the content on the website itself. If you’re getting traffic to your website from your blog, but you aren’t closing sales then it’s the website, not the blog. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

We’re firm believers in first things first. Get your website to where it will convert traffic to sales. Then use a blog to promote it. You can use other methods of promotion as well. Don’t just stick with one way (ever hear of not putting your eggs in one basket?). But realize that not every visitor to your site will buy something and not every visitor to your blog will visit your website. What do you do with that traffic that leaves?

Here are a few ideas for you:

• Sign them up for your newsletter
• Hit them with an exit “pop-up” window and sell them something; like, maybe an e-book
• Get them to subscribe to your RSS feed
• Sell them an affiliate product with a link in the sidebar
• Send to them a sister site

One important concept too many business owners ignore is the value of contact information, which can lead to future sales. Get the e-mail address, at least. Use your company blog as more than a repository for your “throwaway” content.

It’s important to keep traffic flowing to your blog. Traffic is what makes you money. Without traffic you are simply writing into a vacuum.

But a blog doesn’t necessarily have to be the place where you close the sale. You want to talk to people, if possible. Or at least get them to visit your web site. A blog post is really about getting them interested in you. Then, you and your sales team can close the sale.
We had a real estate agent who let us write her blog for a while then she left because we didn’t make her any sales. But she did tell us that we sent her more traffic to her web site than anything else she’d ever done. Still, she was disappointed that we didn’t close any sales. Sorry. That’s not our job. Our job is to drive traffic to your web site so that you can close the sale.

That’s not to say that we won’t ever close sales with blogs. Sometimes we do. But we don’t make that our primary effort because most people prefer to speak to someone and visit a website before they buy something. Especially in real estate. People aren’t going to buy a house from a blog.

So keep your expectations realistic. And keep in mind these 5 ways that you can drive traffic to your blog so that you can get their attention and close the sale:

1. Search Engine Optimization - There is no substitute for SEO. Have a list of keywords that are important to your business and use those keywords in your blog posts. Link to your website pages in your sidebar using those keywords.
2. Social Bookmarking - Pick some popular social bookmarking sites and make friends. Bookmark your blog posts and bookmark your friends’ blog posts. Be a social butterfly. It works.
3. RSS Feed - Set up an RSS feed for your blog and invite your readers to subscribe.
4. Use A Blog Promotion Newsletter - Not everyone understands RSS. But they will read your blog from an e-mail or newsletter. Offer them one. For free.
5. Write Articles - Articles are a great way to drive traffic to any website, even a blog. Write articles and include your blog’s URL in your author resource box.

If you’re like me, you sometimes have a hard time explaining to people what a blog is. They don’t quite get it. Especially if they don’t spend a lot of time online. But it really isn’t hard and your customers can benefit if you tell them just what to expect from a blog.

First, you have to get them to understand that it isn’t illegal or unethical. It’s simply a daily tip sheet or communication tool to bring you closer to them without having to speak directly face to face or by phone every single day. You can communicate with all of your customers at one time, and even potential customers, through your blog. Once they understand that concept then they will be interested in reading your blog.

But how do you get them to subscribe? Well, that’s a different question altogether and if they didn’t understand what a blog is then they definitely won’t understand RSS. You’ll get frustrated trying to explain that one. But everyone understands e-mail. And if you want your customers to be able to read your blog posts in their e-mail inbox and they’re interested in the convenience of doing so, rather than try to remember your blog’s e-mail address every day, then a blog promotion newsletter just might be for you.

Find out more about blog management and blog promotion newsletters from Blog Content Provider.

Many small businesses and companies entering the blog marketing arena for the first time are a little bit confused about the purpose of blog marketing. While it possible, and we’ve had some success with it, that blogging can lead to sales, that is not the primary purpose for starting a company blog. Most consumers are not going to make a purchase from a blog. That’s not what they read blogs for.

Blog marketing can be seen as a lot of like TV and radio advertising. No one buys an ad on TV or radio expecting the ad to sell their product - that is, unless they are in mail order. Local businesses that have a service or product to sell - especially retailers - use TV and radio to drive consumers to their businesses, either in person or by phone call, to discuss business opportunities. That’s when the sale is made - in a face-to-face or voice-to-voice meeting over the phone.

Blogging is a lot like advertising on TV or radio. The purpose is not to close the sale right then. You really just want to spark enough interest in the consumer to drive them to your website and that’s where you’ll close the sale. So what needs to happen before that?

How A Blog Fits Into Your Sales Cycle
Successful companies build their sales funnel then chart their strategy for making sure the sales process is followed. Do you have your online sales funnel drawn out? If not, then isn’t it about time?

For most businesses, the company website is the place where the sale is going to be closed. If you have a local retail store then you might use your website to provide information to people in your community who will drive to your store to purchase an item, or they may place the order online and pick it up in person. You may want them to call you to place the order. That’s fine. Whatever your sales cycle is, you need to define it and make it work for you. But where should your blog fit in?

Your blog should be seen as a pre-sales tool. Whether you close the sale on your website, use the website to drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar store, or have your customer call you, you’ve got to get them to the website. A blog is a great tool for driving customers to the website. Here’s why:

1. Your website is a static tool that doesn’t change often
2. Your blog is updated every day, increasing your chances of getting your website crawled daily
3. A blog can be used to add new pages with fresh content to your website every day; that in turn brings the search engine spiders back to your website to crawl it more often
4. An off site blog can be used to build link popularity for your website, which in turn affects the search engine rankings and authority of your site within its niche
5. The longer you keep your blog running, the more effective you’ll be in gaining a loyal readership over time; that loyal readership can translate into increased links and traffic for your website
6. Your blog can drive targeted traffic to your site as the traffic to your blog increases

So, to boil it all down, your blog can be used for three overarching purposes:

• Search engine saturation
• Link popularity
• Traffic

And, of course, all of that translates into branding.

Two More Tools To Make Your Blog More Effective
Your blog fits into your overall sales funnel by being a conduit between the search engines and your website. As more and more websites compete for your key terms due to more and more businesses going online, adding a blog can give you an added advantage in your niche. New businesses entering your niche to compete are less likely to start a blog so you’ll be ahead of the game. Your blog can be most effective in achieving the three stated purposes above if you make it effective in these three areas:

• SEO
• Social Media Marketing
• Viral Marketing

We’ve talked about SEO - remember? Search Engine Saturation and Link Popularity? - but what about social media and viral marketing? The key to social media is to use sites like Digg, Technorati, and StumbleUpon to reach traffic that you might not find through SEO. Plus, SEO and social media marketing reinforce each other. When fellow Stumblers and Diggers see your website in the search engines, they’ll recognize it because they’ve seen you on the social sites. Again, that’s branding. That’s why we offer the additional service of social bookmarking, to add to your edge.

Viral marketing is a bit different. Social bookmarking can be a part of that, and so can SEO. But viral marketing involves giving your customers a reason to do your marketing for you. One term that is used is customer evangelism. It’s a term that encompasses the idea of customers talking you up and driving traffic your way. One tool that is excellent for doing that is a newsletter. Some of our customers use a blog marketing newsletter to keep loyal readers. The newsletter goes out weekly and highlights that week’s blog posts so that busy professionals who don’t have time to stop by your blog every day and haven’t quite figured out the RSS thing (which is most small business people and new Internet consumers) can receive your newsletter in their e-mail inbox and visit the blog posts that interest them based on this unique viral marketing tool - and you can make it easy for them to share your newsletter with their friends!

So, you see, it’s all about your marketing funnel. If you have not added a blog to your sales cycle or you’re not quite sure what a blog can do for your company, find out more by paying a visit to Blog Content Provider or give us a call at 786-317-8774.

Browsing through Constant Contact’s back end for our company newsletter, The Content Letter, I recently discovered that we have 23 unconfirmed e-mail addresses. These are e-mail addresses for people who have attempted to opt-in to our newsletter, but for one reason or another did not click the link in the confirmation e-mail that was sent in order to activate their submission.

There are several reasons why this could have happened. The e-mail could have landed in the person’s junk mail and they haven’t seen it, or they may have just forgotten about it and never clicked the link. I have done this several times myself after signing up for a newsletter that I thought I wanted. Some of them may have changed their minds after signing up for the newsletter. And, of course, some of them are likely spammers.

Spammers sign up for e-mail newsletters hoping to find an easy doorway into becoming a weed in someone’s rose garden. That’s why I like double opt-in lists. The individual has to confirm their subscription and spammers aren’t likely to do that simply because it takes up more of their time than an e-mail address is worth. All they really want to do is to get the e-mail address of the person sending the newsletter so that they can reply to an issue with their own spam. If they sign up for thousands of newsletters a day with that intention and only a handful of them are double opt-in newsletters then they have a low pay out in time commitment. That’s why we have opted to use the double opt-in process. It cuts down on spam.

If you have signed up for The Content Letter any time between mid-December and now and have not received an issue, it may be because you have not confirmed your e-mail address. Please search your junk mail folder and click the confirmation link. Otherwise, we will be cleaning out unconfirmed list and will delete all unconfirmed e-mails. We’ll give you one week. After that, you’ll have to opt in again.

If you are not receiving The Content Letter at this time, I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter by going to the Blog Content Provider website and entering your e-mail address into the sign up box at the top of the page just below the menu bar.

If you have a daily blog, one way to keep readers coming back to your blog each week is to promote it through a newsletter. A blog promotion newsletter can do a lot to increase your readership, your comments, and your bottom line. One happy customer has seen a huge increase in your blog readership and participation since starting her newsletter in January. Carolyn Melberg says:

Thank you!

I’ve gotten great feedback on the new format for the newsletter. People like the added value of all the articles (rather than just one per week), and the short blurbs so they can choose which ones they want to read on the blog.

Great work!
Caroline

The blog promotion newsletter is a unique product because it consists of nothing more than a link to every blog post from the past week. We include a short synopsis of each blog post, or a snippet from the blog post, in each newsletter along with the title of that post. The intent is to interest the newsletter reader in the blog and drive traffic to it. It works!

If you’ve noticed, that’s how we promote our blogs. Every week, Tuesday morning in fact, the NameCritic newsletter, “The Content Letter,” is sent out and we highlight three blog posts from each of our company blogs - SEO Service Provider, Blog Content Provider, and Article Content Provider. The readership at each blog has grown since we started doing this.

Why A Blog Promotion Newsletter Works
If you’ve been in marketing for just a short time then you’ve likely heard of a marketing funnel. Your marketing funnel is your plan for driving your customers deeper into a relationship with you. Online, the typical marketing funnel consists of offering free content or free information. Of course, not everyone will take your free offers, but by offering something free in exchange for an e-mail address or other valuable information, you ensure that you at least start a relationship with your target customer.

The next level in a marketing funnel often consists of a small purchase. After that, you may offer a larger purchase, and keep bumping your customers up a level as they learn to trust your knowledge and insight and want more benefits from your offerings. Businesses have been using the marketing funnel since the earliest of times.

Your blog promotion newsletter should be a part of that marketing funnel. You already have their e-mail address, right? What are you doing with them? Are they reading your blog? Why not?

The NameCritic Marketing Funnel
Most of our customers understand the two types of blogs: Onsite and offsite. The onsite blog is typically called a company blog and the offsite blog is called a promotional blog. They have different focuses in terms of how we communicate with customers and use SEO for your benefit. But sales usually don’t take place on either blog. What you really want to do is drive traffic to your website from your blog. The blog is a way to provide useful commentary on your business offerings and the benefits you offer, but it isn’t typically a sales tool. It’s a pre-sales tool. The website is where you close the sale.

But you still need to get your audience to your blog. Many people will subscribe to your RSS feed and read your blog daily because they follow it. Most readers, however, will not subscribe to the RSS feed because they don’t understand it. The latest figures show that only about 20% of blog readers actually subscribe to RSS feeds. That leaves 80% of your potential readers out there looking for your blog. How will they find it?

If they aren’t on your e-mail list, they’re finding your blog either through organic search, PPC if you are driving traffic that way, and social bookmarking sites. If your customers aren’t searching for you that way then they likely aren’t reading your blog. That’s why you need to use e-mail to drive your current customers and potential customers to your blog.

Everyone is using e-mail. And since everyone uses e-mail, why not communicate with your audience that way?

In a separate e-mail to us from Caroline Melberg, she had this to say:

Just thought I’d drop you a note of thanks … I’ve had a great increase in comments on my blogs, and I’ve noticed a definite increase in my search engine rankings since you started blogging for us.

The strategy we use for Caroline’s blogs are the same we use for all of our client blogs - well-optimized content, social bookmarking (an add-on service), and driving traffic to her website by writing intelligently about her service offerings. There is one additional service we provide for Caroline that some of our customers have not tried yet - we use a blog promotion newsletter that goes out to Caroline’s list once a week and promotes her blog to her current list of customers and potential customers. We didn’t build the list. Caroline did. But we use the list to promote her blog and it looks like it’s paying off. I’m not a bit surprised.

Chances are, we can do the same thing for your company or promotional blog. If you have an e-mail list that you communicate with on a regular basis, or a list that you are not using, give us a shout and learn how a blog promotion newsletter can benefit your business.