Moms In Business

30 Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts Infographic

Here's a handy Infographic with 30 ideas for promoting your blog posts.

Source: launchgrowjoy.com via Linda on Pinterest

Linda's Social Media Links for 3/6/10

 
Here's a roundup of my social media links for last week.

Enjoy!

Linda Locke
Social Media Coach

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Super Tips: 13 Ways to Move Your Facebook Fans to Action http://ow.ly/1aCzn

How to Get More Twitter Followers and Give Back at the Same Time http://ow.ly/1aNke

How to set up Google Analytics on your Facebook Fan Pages http://ow.ly/1bCTM

Top 5 Ways Not to Be Annoying on Twitter http://ow.ly/1bCXK

Great read about the importance of standing out from the crowd: Personal branding lessons from a belly dancer | Copyblogger http://ow.ly/1bD4W

10 Tips for Successful Twitter Fundraising http://ow.ly/1bPHU

3 keys to beat social media fatigue - http://ow.ly/1cAA7

Study shows Social Media Use by Fortune 500 is growing: 22% have blogs & 35% have active Twitter accounts http://ow.ly/1cLAq

3 Tips for Social Media Community Management http://ow.ly/1cM65

How Accessible is Too Accessible? http://ow.ly/1cMNj

Just How Often Should You Blog? http://ow.ly/1cMPJ

10 Ways To Improve Your Social Media Karma http://ow.ly/1dhk9

How One Man Used Social Media to Raise $91,000 for Charity | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/1dhIR

Data Shows that Facebook is Better for Video Marketing Than Twitter http://ow.ly/1dIJq

My Follow Friday Video Tribute to my Twittergals http://ow.ly/1f6fh

I'm such a big, big fan of Skellie and her blogs. Her posts are always so original, thought-provoking, insightful and helpful.

I've been waiting impatiently for her first book to come out and just snagged a copy today. You should too: How to Run a Profitable Freelance Business Through Your Blog http://ow.ly/1ebj2

 

Weekly Tweets from Linda's Twitter Desk - 1/9/2010

 
Here's a roundup of Tweets from my Twitter feed last week:

Do you have a plan for 2010? This inspiring Tony Robbins video 5 Keys to Thrive will give you a jump start: http://bit.ly/5G2kbY

How to organically grow your Twitter fan base http://bit.ly/8hslAs

7 Tools to Better Manage Your Social Networks: http://bit.ly/75wYiS

5 Ways to Avoid Failure http://bit.ly/4Oqcni

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. ~ Beverly Sills

4 Home Business Ideas For Moms http://bit.ly/8COiDk

13 Ideas to Inspire Your Blog Content http://bit.ly/7VVkfh | My fave is #1 Set up Google Alerts

It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis. ~ Margaret Bonnano

Use social media to BUILD YOUR TRIBE http://bit.ly/8Htzka

If you want to check out your TFF ratio (Twitter Followers to Friends) try http://tffratio.com

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. ~ Coco Chanel

If you are buying something online, be sure to use Twitter search first to find coupons to save with special offers and coupons.

Super resources from @communicatrix December in January: Goal-Setting Around the Web http://bit.ly/6B16QM

Biz Idea #5 - Blogging As A Home Business

For many people, times are tougher than ever and money is tight. Finding a way to earn extra money, without sacrificing time with family, might seem like an impossible task, but there are lots of ways to make money, without ever leaving home. One of the easiest ways to earn cash, right from your own home computer, is by blogging.

When most people think of blogging, their thoughts often turn to online journals, where users chronicle their lives, but as blogging has evolved, this platform has created moneymaking opportunities for those with just a little bit of know-how. There are several different ways to use a blog to make money, as long as you have a niche topic that creates interest and draws in readers.

Affiliate Marketing

Earning money through affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to use a blog to create income. You find products that your readers would be interested in or likely to buy, then become an affiliate of the company, earning a commission on each individual sale that is initiated through your blog. With most of these programs, there is no start up cost involved. The only work that needs to be done on your part is to bring in people who would purchase the products that you are promoting.

Selling Ad Space

Another way to make money through your blog is by selling ad space to companies. If you have created an audience or the potential for an audience, advertisers will pay to be featured on your site.

In some cases, they may approach you, but if they aren’t, don’t let that stop you. There are other ways to find companies to advertise on your blog. You can try a sales approach of your own, going to companies that might be interested and pitching your blog to them.

Contextual Ads

Contextual Ads, such as Google Adsense, allows a blogger to earn money from the content on their site. Signing up for the programs is free. When you do so, you will receive a bit of HTML code to place on your site. This allows the program to “read’ the content on your blog and it will automatically place relevant ads on your blog.

For example, if you have a blog about crafting, you will be most likely to have ads displayed for crafting supplies and how tos . If one of your readers clicks on the ad, you will earn a small commission. It doesn’t matter if the person buys anything – you get paid just for the click. In some cases, you may also be paid by the number of times the ad is seen, whether or not anyone clicked on the ad.

Many people earn full time incomes through their blogs. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it will take a lot of hard work on your part, but blogging can be a viable home business option.

Info Products

Once you have a blog that is established you can start thinking about creating your own information products that relate to your blog's niche market. You can create these products on your own or use already created PLR (private label rights) content and customize it to fit your market.

Moms Embrace Blogging for Communication and Support

Moms find support, information, "better perspective" in blogosphere
Source: SeattleTimes.com

"Just days after the birth of her second child in 2005, Kathryn Thompson found she couldn't eat. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop trembling. Within weeks she was hospitalized for postpartum depression and anxiety.

With the right medication, the Duvall resident began to get better. A doctor suggested she find a hobby, so she turned to blogging, eventually documenting her experience on the Internet. Soon, readers were e-mailing her for advice about their own postpartum mood disorders.

"It was therapeutic because it gave me better perspective on my life and motherhood," said Thompson, 29, of Duvall, who writes about her 5-year-old daughter, whom she calls Laylee, and her 3-year old son, Magoo, on her blog, Daring Young Mom. (She uses nicknames to protect their privacy.)

Thompson is one of the more than 150 bloggers on Seattle Mom Blogs, an online community she co-founded, who chronicle the ups and downs of parenthood in online diaries, or blogs."

What Mom Real Estate Agents Can Do While the Kids Are At School

If you're a mommy real estate agent trying to build her business, then you know how important it is to maximize your time. Once the kids are in school, you have a nice block of time when you can get a lot done...even if it doesn't always feel like it! Kids in school and no appointments with real estate clients? Here are some things you can do during those non-client filled daylight hours during the week:

Office work at the real estate broker's office

1. You can attend sales meetings, which keeps you up-to-date on the latest goings-on in your real estate market, and is a good way to network with others.

2. You can check your mail box, in which you'll get all kinds of flyers ranging from other listings to companies promoting their services to real estate agents. Most are junk...but you never know what you might find that will be important to keep...information on home inspectors, insurance agents, etc.

3. Your real estate office should have at least one copier machine and you should have copying privileges. Use them to your advantage! Either copying transaction paperwork or making copies of marketing materials...you are paying for the use of the office, so you're paying for that copier!

Office work at the real estate broker's office or home office

1. Make some phone calls! Call your real estate clients to set up or confirm appointments. Call former colleagues and ask for referrals. Call your family and friends in the area for any referrals.

2. Work on the computer. Read and return emails. Search the local Multiple Listing Service. If you're working with active real estate clients or preparing for an appointment with a prospect, you'll want to run comps. If you are working a particular area, be sure to keep up on new listings, canceled and sold listings. You may want to use the expired listings as a prospecting tool to find new clients.

3. Create marketing materials. Design postcards for your next mailing campaign. Or flesh out some sales letters. 4. Work on your Internet presence. Update your website. Create a blog post. Visit other real estate related blogs and leave comments. Visit real estate forums and leave posts.

 

Network

1. Attend a property showing tour. You may find homes that are perfect for your buyer clients. And at the very least you can chat with fellow real estate agents.

2. Attend luncheons or other daytime events with other real estate agents, lenders, title agents and other colleagues. It's important to make connections with others in the industry since a single transaction will require many people to get involved in order for escrow to close.

3. Attend events held by your local real estate Association. There may be free renewal education courses you can take advantage of, or a seminar giving you the run-down of the current real estate market. See? There are plenty of things you can do to build your real estate business while the kids are in school. Those hours are precious, so use them wisely!

Tina McAllister is a ghostwriter for busy professionals and the author of The WAHM Agent. She blogs on everything from writing and marketing to work at home biz tips.

Thirteen Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Blog

By Heather Bixler

A lot of online business woman take for granted the benefits a blog has to their business, and a lot of them choose not to use a blog because they simply can't see the benefit it has to them and their business.

Well in this article you will learn 13 very important reasons why your business needs a blog!

1. Networking - Blogs are a great way to build relationships and networking with those looking for your services and/or goods.

2. Information - Blogs are also a great way to get information out about the products or services you sell!

3. Fun - Blogging is a great way to build your business while having fun. Really it doesn’t even feel like work!

4. Affordable - Sometimes having a blog can be more affordable to get set up than having a website. 1. Because the Wordpress Blogging platform is free to install on your own hosting and domain, and 2. you don’t need expensive software like Frontpage or Dreamweaver to maintain your blog.

5. Easy Maintenance - Using blogging platforms like Wordpress and the like make it so much easier to add content to your website, through the art of categories, you can easily organize your content and make it easier for your visitors to find what they are looking for and therefore encouraging them to stay and visit for awhile!

6. Friends - While you are networking you can also make friends!

7. Interactive - With blogs you can be more interactive with your visitors by making posts, asking for comments, and then replying to the comments, all through your Wordpress admin dashboard! You can’t do that with a “regular” website!

8. Easy RSS - It is super easy to create an RSS feed with a blog which means more readers for your blogs!

9. Plug Ins - Plug ins add value to your blog by making it possible for you to host podcasts on your blog, and even generate Google sitemaps too! With regular websites you would either need to know alot about javascript, and a whole lot of code mumbo jumbo, but with Plug Ins all you have to do is intall, configure, and have fun! So much easier, and so much more fun!

10. More Search Engine Traffic - With the right Wordpress template and plug ins - your traffic will be streaming in no time at all.

11. Flexibility - With Wordpress you have the flexibility to create posts, pages, and you even have the control over what appears on your home page (like a sticky post or even a specific page) which provides you with the flexibility to either create more of a blogging type website, or a static type website.

12. Community/Partnerships - Wordpress blogs are a great way to create community blogs! So say you have a team of employees, or business partners, Wordpress makes the ability to have multiple authors of the blog seamless, which is a great way for your team to grow their business!

13. Perfect - All around Wordpress is the perfect choice for you and your business, by giving you the opportunity to communicate with your guests and to help build strong relationships that will in turn help you grow your business. No business should be without a blog, period!

About the Author
Heather Bixler is the owner and Lead Designer at Girly Blog Designz.

7 Speedlinks for Moms in Business

Here's a roundup of some of the nifty stuff I found on my Internet journeys this week:

New to Twitter? Here's 7 tips that will help you get off to a good start. http://snurl.com/3j4hi 

Top Article Directories resource. Awesome! http://snurl.com/3j4fp

Watching a demo of HitMeLater, a nifty little tool that helps procrastinators remember to answer their emails http://snurl.com/3iy7b

10 reasons why your company needs to Tweet http://snipurl.com/3gca7

New trend: Social networking for dogs? http://www.doggyspace.com/

How social media can help land you your next job http://snipurl.com/3h0n6

Risky Writing http://ping.fm/7WRBz

Linda Locke
Moms in Business

My Twitter Weekly Digest

A roundup of some of my Twitter posts from last week.  Yeah I got kinda carried away :)

Enjoy!

Here's some good ideas for getting content for your blog. http://snurl.com/270ah

Can you write a good blog post in 5 minutes? http://snurl.com/271bx

[BLOGGING] Make your blog better in just 15 minutes. http://snurl.com/271b7

[BLACKBERRY] Email tips and tricks. http://snurl.com/271bg

[PODCASTING] 10 Tips for Launching a Solid Podcast http://snurl.com/271ax

Here's 5 essentials for the mobile web worker. http://snurl.com/26vqy

[PR TIPS] Amp up your PR campaigns by making them newsworthy. http://snurl.com/27199

Reading A Secret to Blogging Success from Problogger. http://snurl.com/26vo2

Powerful, good stuff on how to deal positively with your fears. http://snurl.com/26qsq

If you are a singer, speaker or use your voice a lot, here's why you should make sure you keep your voice hydrated. http://snurl.com/26qrt

Viewing Social Media Optimization and Marketing 101 presentation at SlideShare.com http://snurl.com/26nbb

How to Be a Stress-free Web Worker. http://snurl.com/26n53

If you are a new freelancer, here's some helpful tips on how to set your rates. http://snurl.com/26l9q

The 2 Magic Words. http://snurl.com/26ew3

Ahhh! The joys of self employment... http://snurl.com/26cz9

Dreaming of blogging around the world. http://snurl.com/26bkc

Direct Marketing vs. Social Marketing. Good stuff! http://snurl.com/26bhh

Can you juggle? http://snurl.com/26beb

Reading Seth Godin's advice on how to write like a blogger. http://snurl.com/252vd

Reading Anywired.com's Complete Guide to Becoming a Lifestyle Entrepreneur. Fantastic! http://snurl.com/25sdi

Two good places to find free pics for your blogs. http://snurl.com/25san