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You’ll love this guest article or my name isn’t John Kreiss.

Actually, it’s not. But the author of great article on blogging myths is named John Kreiss and you’d better listen because he knows what he’s talking about.

Five Myths About Blogging and Social Media

By John Kreiss

Based on information obtained by the 2008 Social Media Survey of Real Estate and Construction professionals published by MorganSullivan, Inc., social media are not widely used nor understood by many professionals currently working in these industries. Here are a few perceptions or myths held by some of the survey respondents:

Most bloggers are under 30 years old. According to Technorati’s annual blogosphere report, 58% of bloggers are 35 or older. There are business benefits to blogging and many marketers are starting to understand the benefits.

Blogging is for geeks and is a waste of time. David Meerman Scott’s recent example of how blogging brought Century 21 Real Estate to the top page of the Google search engine is a pretty good example of how quickly a firm can position itself for very little cost. How could positioning your company to get inquiries from clients be a waste of time? When people search for products and services today, they often use search engines like Google. Getting your company on the top page improves your chances of getting inquiries for new business. Blogging is not just for geeks anymore either. Knowledge of HTML code (universal language of the Internet) might be helpful, but it is not required. There are many successful bloggers who don’t know how to write HTML code and don’t need to because blog hosting providers including WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, and many more, make it quite easy and user friendly to build and operate blogs.

Blogging is time consuming. Some blogs can be time consuming, but many blogs get high traffic with postings of 500 words or less and some tasks including newsletters and press releases can be rolled into blogging allowing smart companies to gain efficiencies in marketing and PR activities.

Social Media would not work in construction or real estate. According to the MorganSullivan survey, many real estate and construction companies rely on word of mouth marketing to win new work. Social media are ways to use the Internet to capitalize on word of mouth marketing. If word of mouth marketing is successful, social media should be successful.

There is no way to track ROI with blogging and Social Media. This one is difficult to prove, but it’s also difficult to prove with print advertising, direct mail, and other marketing communication including press releases. Many real estate and construction companies, however, use these old tools because they’re confident that they will produce results. Start blogging and include social media sites like digg, diigo, and delicious, and see your web site traffic spike. Getting more clients to come to you seems like ROI to me.

John P. Kreiss

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Kreiss

John Kreiss - EzineArticles Expert Author

Our clients get great results using these methods of marketing: Blogging and social media marketing. Why not join their ranks?

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This notice is for all writers and bloggers who might have an interest in gaining more back links for their website or blog. Blog Content Provider is taking applications for guest bloggers. You’ll get a bio and a back link for every blog post you make. Write as often as you like. The following blogs need guest bloggers to write at least once a week:

• Blog Content Provider
• Article Marketing Blog
• News and Media Blog
• Mortgage and Real Estate Blog
• Most Wanted Newspaper Blog
• Missing Children Blog
• Runaway Teens Blog
• Things That Just Piss Me Off
• Who Let The Blog Out

All content on any of these blogs must be relevant to the blog that you want to guest blog for. Please inquire into our guest blogging positions by filling out the contact form at Blog Content Provider.

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We’ve talked about Twitter on this blog a couple of times in the last couple of weeks.

Friday we talked about a WordPress plugin called Twitter Tools. We recommend it despite some prejudice against automation where Twitter is concerned. But I do agree with Michael Martine’s analysis for the most part.

I like Twitter Tools because you can still develop relationships like Michael is talking about and still use Twitter Tools to automate your blog post Twitters. Since you will likely tweet your blog posts anyway, why not use a tool that does that for you? As long as you do not do it excessively then you aren’t really spamming, and as long as you are using Twitter the way it is meant to be used beyond your automated Twitter post, then I’d say Twitter Tools is a good thing.

But it does have one weakness (which is actually a strength). You can only automate three blogs under one account. Yes, there is a limit - and I’m not sure if it’s a Twitter Tools limit or a Twitter limit, but there is a three blog limit. Don’t try to automate all 50 blogs that you own. It won’t work.

So I recommend using Twitter the way you would normally use it, but add Twitter Tools to your WordPress plugin list and automate your blog posts. That way, you don’t forget to tweet them and they are Twittered every day. Plus, since you are interacting with others and being social in addition to the automation, and you aren’t automatically adding friends because you are doing it manually, it shouldn’t be an annoyance to other Twitterers. Uh, I mean Twits.

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Microblogging has become all the craze and Twitter is the leader in this realm. What is microblogging? If you do it the Twitter way, you write a little post of 140 characters or less. Twitter Tools is a WordPress plugin that automatically tweets your blog post when you post it. The message appears like thus:

namecritic New blog post: Disaster Aid: What Are You Entitled To? http://tinyurl.com/5urc56

It’s starts with your Twitter name, followed by “New blog post” and a short description with the URL to the post linked as a Tinyurl. Beautiful!

With Twitter Tools you can have one Twitter post automatically done every day with no effort. All of your followers will see it and the more followers you have the better off you will be to market your blog. But you have to have a Twitter account.

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We have our own reasons for believing that blogging is a great marketing tool, but Christine Imamshah shares a few good reasons herself:

6 Reasons Blogging Is a Good Marketing Strategy

By Christine Imamshah

Blogging is something that anyone can do. It is extremely popular now and there is no end in sight for its popularity. There are thousands of new blogs created every day. Now, initially when I first thought of blogging I felt is was not for me since I imagined it to be a difficult thing to do. Not so I have since found out. This article will cover six reasons why you should blog.

There are many reasons why you should blog, here are 6 of the main ones in my opinion;

1. Blogging is fast to get setup with. There are free hosts where you could get a completely free blog but it would be my recommendation that you at least get your own domain name and hosting to set up your blog. Then I would suggest you use the easiest blogging software which is WordPress to build your blog. Blogging is fun and it is relatively easy. These days with the elections upcoming there are many people political blogging and people enjoy it because it is like discussing current events with others online. The key to good blogging is unique and interesting content. You want to engage your readers so they keep coming back and interacting with you.

Yes, a blog is fairly quick to set up, but there are pitfalls. WordPress is a challenge for first time users. You can get around that by using a free blog host like Blogger.com, but I wouldn’t recommend that. You have no control over a blog on a free host. They set the guidelines and you have to follow them. Own your own domain name and you set the rules.

2. You can make money blogging. You can put a number of different types of ads on your blog, which, when clicked through and a purchase is made you get a commission. One of these would be Google AdSense ads but there are many others you can do a search for and see if they fit with your blog’s topic. You can also use your blog as a traffic director by having your affiliate links on it and directing your visitors to check those links out. Also, if you have your own products you can direct your visitors to those if you have them at a separate website or point them out at your blog.

Yes, you can make money selling ads, but if you are using a blog as a marketing tool for your business, I’d hold these types of advertising arrangements to a minimum.

3. You can build your list via your blog. If you are looking to build a list of subscribers to your blog, which you definitely should do if you are trying to make money blogging, then you can very easily do this by having an opt-in form at your blog.

I definitely recommend using your blog to build a list. Not only that, you can promote your blog with a blog promotion newsletter.

4. Blogging helps you to create your brand. Basically you are being yourself, or should be, at your blog and your readers begin to know you by this.

True. You can learn more about this at Blog Content Provider.

5. Blogging allows communication between you and your readers via the comments that they can leave about your posts. The world is all a buzz about interaction online and a blog is a perfect format to accommodate this.

Blogging is a good way to interact with the marketplace, but not all blogs necessarily have to approach it this way. It’s entirely up to you.

6. Blogging can help you keep up with a lot of the Social Networking communities as well as there are plugins that allow you to automatically update Twitter for one example. Social networking is growing rapidly these days as the new way to do online marketing. It is a different type of marketing than in the past but you definitely want to partake in some of these communities and you can also invite your friends at these places to visit your blog and leave you a comment.

Social networking is gaining in popularity and is a big benefit to blogging. If you use the Blog Content Provider basic blogging service then you’ll get daily social bookmarking thrown in.

The internet is all about interaction and blogging is a fun, fast and easy way to develop your own readership and interact with them.

To Your Success,

Chris

Christine Imamshah is a full time internet marketer. You should visit her blog here at http://www.christineimamshah.com and get a Free report about internet success. Please leave a comment also.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christine_Imamshah

Blog marketing is still fairly new and there is no real definitive way to get it done. Learn more about using your company blog as a marketing tool.

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I wouldn’t recommend doing this every day, but you can expand the audience for your blog by blogging outside of your niche once in awhile. One way to do that is to participate in worthy efforts like Blog Action Day.

When you blog outside of your niche you are engaging in untargeted marketing. I of course believe that targeted marketing is always best, but there is a place for untargeted marketing as well. The key is to discuss a topic that has a wide, broad level of interest - like poverty. Everyone is affected by at some level. And most of us can do a little something about it or ease the suffering of those living in poverty - if we choose to.

I’d encourage you to write a blog post about poverty today or to write about a non-niche topic on your blog sometime soon. You might even gain new business or new readers just by taking a small risk.

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Bestselling author Paulo Coelho says he blogs. So does that mean you should to?

The interesting thing about this article is that Coelho says the marketing people in major publishing houses told him he should be “mysterious” and hang out in the ivory tower. Well, that’s how they are in the publishing houses, and that’s why there’s a huge revolt among authors and they’re flocking to the Internet to take control of their own marketing.

The fact of the matter is that everyone from best selling authors to small business owners are starting to see the value of a blog. And if you haven’t seen it yet then I’d say open your eyes. You’re about to hit with a brick.

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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.

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I decided I’d put a Twitter badge on a client’s blog so I went looking for Twitter badges. Man are they hard to find. Well, if you have a Twitter account and you are active in your account then you should add a Twitter badge to your blog. What better way to attract new followers than right there on your blog?

Here’s what you need to do to find that Twitter badge:

1. From your Twitter page, click on “Help”
2. In the left sidebar you’ll see “Twitter FAQ” - CLICK ON IT
3. Click on 1.1.FAQ
4. Scroll down
5. Keep scrolling down
6. Scroll, like, all the way down until you see “Can I put Twitter on my blog?“
7. Click the link using “put a Twitter badge” as anchor text in the “Can I put Twitter on my blog?” paragraph

Yikes! That’s seven steps just to find the page on which the badges can be found. Five if you count the three step scroll function as one. Facetiousness aside, you’d think that Twitter would make it easier for bloggers to find badges for their blog. And, I’m a bit disappointed in the limited choices available. Oh, well.

Instead of the above seven-step process, just click here and you’ll go to the Twitter badge page. Or you can go to http://twitter.com/badges. Now, from here:

• Click the type of widget you want to use (again, I’m disappointed they don’t have one for WordPress - the most popular blogging platform); if you use WordPress, click “Other”
• Choose the type of badge you want
• Customize your badge
• Copy the code
• Inside WordPress, click on Design then Theme Editor
• Click on the Sidebar php file you want to edit
• Insert the widget code where you want it to appear in the sidebar
• Update file
• Visit Site and make sure the badge appears the way you want it to appear

Don’t have the time to install your own badge? We’ll do it for you. Call Chris at 786-317-8774 or visit the website and fill in our contact form.

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A blog is a great way to build inbound links. You can use an offsite blog to build links to your static website by posting daily and using your keywords as anchor text to build those inbound links. The best way to use a blog for building links is to augment other types of Internet marketing that you do and not try to do too much too soon. You don’t want the search engines thinking you are spamming and discounting those links. In the case of linking from your blog to your static site, moderation is the key.

There are two ways to make your blog’s inbound links for you:

1. Sidebar
2. In-text

Your sidebar links are permanent links and won’t help you a great deal, but they do help brand your blog and drive traffic to important pages where you want your traffic to go. Your in-text in-blog-post links are the best links you can have. The search engines love those links. And they count to help push your static site up in the rankings. Learn more about how an offsite blog can help you build inbound links.

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