The Future Of Blogging – SOTB 2009 Day 5
What is the future of blogging? We’ll if you are in business or politics, chances are the paths are fully drawn and filled with gold. While blogging is pretty much across all industries these days, the two areas where people see the most success, and thus are more likely to continue are for business and politics.
Once you start blogging, your more apt to use other social tools to help you build your business and your traffic levels. According to the State of the Blogosphere 2009 Day 5 report, as of this past May only 14 percent of the general population used Twitter. But for the bloggers that took part in the SOTB survey, 73 percent use Twitter. (For corporates and self employeds, it was 83 percent and 88 percent respectively.)
Using Twitter puts your hand on the pulse of society. Not only is it a great traffic booster, allowing you to bring in traffic to your blog instantly, its also a great way to keep touch with what people are thinking. You can find out instantly everything from current events to resources and business tips. Once you start using it, its easy to begin relying on it as a way to keep up with the circulating buzz.
So how can you use Twitter if you blog?
Think of it as a resource for content. Follow the leaders in your industry, and people that offer advice and tips that relate to your target market, and of course people that may eventually do business with you. You can click through and find a ton of information that relates directly to your prospects and clients, and pass it along. Become a resource. Become an expert. The more you’re willing to share, the greater chance you have of becoming an authority – and picking up prospects and clients.
Can You Really Make Money At Blogging? SOTB 2009 Day 4
Blogging. It sounds like a secret club, or at least something you mess around with on the weekends. It could never provide full time income, right? Especially as a small business owner – it simply provides a few leads, but never income.
According to the State of the Blogosphere 2009 report, with 72 percent of respondents stating they blog as a hobby, that tends to be true.
But once you discover you can make money blogging, and you put a little effort into it, the sky is the limit. According to the survey, 54 percent of part timers, 32 percent of self employeds, and 14 percent of corporates have monitized their blogs in some manner. And among those bloggers that generate ad revenue from advertisers, the average numbers look pretty good:
And that’s just the start. Because your blog makes you an authority – a respected individual in your field or niche, the money can come from many different sources.
- Speaking at expos and industry events
- Book deals
- Services
- Coaching/consulting
But it all starts with becoming the expert by blogging. Again. And again. Don’t quit until you achieve success.
Are You Using Photos And Video In Blog Posts – SOTB 2009 Day 3
What makes your blog more colorful, and gives it more eye appeal? Photos and video of course.
People don’t like coming to a page, and seeing nothing but copy. They like to have something to break up the text, and focus on something pleasing for awhile.
In today’s State of the Blogosphere, they covered the how of blogging – what people are doing right now with their blogs. While there is a ton of great information, and again the interviews are well worth going through, the thing that popped out at me was the use of media sources on blogs.
While audio was a big thing a few years ago to incorporate into a website, its not that big of a deal with blogs. Move to photos, and across the board, around 82 percent of all bloggers are using photographs to showcase or highlight what they are blogging about. I also found it interesting that its pretty equal where the photos are coming from – they create them themselves, and they get them from other sites. (A good reason stock photo houses are the place to be putting photos if you’re a photographer.)
I was also impressed with the number of bloggers using video – between 47 and 63 percent. Video is booming right now, and it’s a way of communicating with your readers on a whole new level. Instead of reading, they can see and hear you. It brings in another sense, and allows them to connect with you based on your voice and your body language.
3 Stock Photo Sites:
Great Video Gear:
Try the Flip Video – I love it. Take your video, pop it into your computer via the USB port, and upload your video to YouTube, Facebook, or any other video site. You can have Video on your site in minutes.
Why Do People Blog? SOTB 2009 Day 2
Day 2 of the State of the Blogosphere was released today, really without much surprise. (If you have a chance to head over and listen to the interviews, they are very informative) People that are professionals, corporate or self-employed blog to:
- Attract new clients
- Share expertise and experiences with others
- Speak openly on topics of choice
- Meet and connect with like-minded people
When you go into business, the first item on your list was creating your marketing plan.
- How will you market your business?
- How will you find clients?
Marketing is all about having the tools necessary to reach out to prospects that will ultimately turn into clients. Blogging is simply one of those tools that allows you to reach out to a broad marketplace, and raise your potential beyond what you could normally reach out to in your local community.
Blogging also gives you the ability to market once, have it work for you always. Put up a blog post today, and it can still bring in clients several years from now. How? Let me give you an example.
About 18 months ago I created a blog post on my photography blog, The Difference Between Amateurs and Professionals. It ranks high in the search engines, and I use it quite frequently in the social sites to generate traffic. People love it because of the controversy of what separated an amateur from a professional photographer. People have their own opinions, and they love expressing them.
This post works for me today to generate traffic and interest to my site. It works well because I’ve kept writing on my blog, and have hundreds of posts. Google and my followers look to me as an authority, because of the content I have within my site. So this one post that I created 18 months ago only adds to my credibility and my popularity. And still helps bring in enough traffic that allows some to convert into clients.
State Of The Blogosphere – Do Your Clients Actually Read Blogs?
Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2009, day 1, was released today, providing valuable insight on who bloggers are today. 
This report not only provides valuable insight on who is blogging, but for me, it also provides valuable insight on who is reading blogs. If this is the caliber of people creating them, you can be sure the same types of people are reading them on a daily basis.
Some things that immediately jump out is:
- 48 percent of bloggers are from the U.S.
- Though blogging is pretty evenly distributed across the U.S., the 5 top states are California, New York, Florida, Texas and Washington.
- On average, bloggers have three or four blogs they actively write for
- 75 percent have college degrees
- 40 percent have graduate degrees
- One in three has a household income of $75K+
- One in four has a household income of $100K+
- More than 50 percent are married
- More than 50 percent are parents
Do your customers fit this profile? Would you like more customers from this profile?
Blogging is something that pretty much every business owner has heard of, yet few know how to apply it to their business. But if you do, the rewards can be tremendous.
Drew Carey Bid $1 Million For Twitter @drew
Drew Carey pledges $1 million to Twitter user @drew if he can bring in 1 million follower by December 31, 2009