Business Blogging - How to Build A Better Blog

5 Ways a Blogging Buddy Can Help You Blog More Consistently

Are you blogging consistently? And I mean consistently more than once a month! It's been proven time and time again that the more you post, the better it is for getting found by the search engines and  getting more traffic.

Yet sadly, when pressed, most people confess to posting infrequently at best. Hey, I'm guilty too. I have three blogs plus a guest posting gig at Social Media Examiner. Sometimes I fall behind and don't hit my goal of 2-3 posts per week.

Thinking about this, I wondered if it would help to have a blogging buddy. Someone to keep you accountable to your blogging goals, whatever they are. Yes, it definitely helps to have an editorial calendar and to schedule your posts. But what about when good intentions go awry?

I've got a conversation going over on the Blog Squad Facebook page about blogging habits. I've suggested that people connect and set up blogging accountability buddies. If that sounds good to you, post your request there too.

5 ways you can support your blogging buddy are:

1. Post daily reminders on your buddy's Facebook wall (nothing like making it public to inspire action!)
2. Send daily reminders via email
3. Meet once a week by phone or Skype to discuss weekly blogging goals and ideas for posts
4. Tweet reminders to each other
5. Send links to relevant articles to your buddy for inspiration

What do you think? Great idea or ridiculous? Have a better idea for how blogging buddies could support each other? Post them here.

If you are looking for a blogging buddy, go to the Facebook discussion and post your request.

Related Posts:

13 Ways to Inspire Your Blog Content

How to Use Editorial Calendars for Your Blog

Image by Shutterstock.com

A birthday gift for you and entrepreneurs world-wide...

It's my birthday and I want to celebrate!

Last year, for my 50th, I created the Kiva Challenge and put together a lending team of 109 people who, to date, have made 301 micro-loans, for a total of $8,800 that is helping entrepreneurs world-wide.

Check it out and see what's going on with the team.

Here's the birthday plan for this year...

... for 51 hours, I'm reducing the investment for Online Visibility Secrets (OVS) to $5.10 for the first month. This is a 13.5% discount on the program.

Details ~> http://OnlineVisibilitySecrets.com

But I'm not stopping there.

For every new enrollment, I'm going to add $5 to my Kiva lending account so I'm putting the money right back into loans that will help more entrepreneurs.

I see this as a win-win-win.

Win #1 - You get a great gift: a 13.5% discount on my popular 26 week step by step program that helps you build your business by boosting your visibility on the Web.

Win #2 - Entrepreneurs who need a financial boost, get loans (not donations!) to help their businesses grow.

Win #3 - I get to serve you and share the tips, tricks and tactics I personally use so you can get more leads, more clients, more gigs, and more opportunities to build your business.

Details ~> http://OnlineVisibilitySecrets.com

The 51 hour special starts at 12:00 pm ET on June 25 (my birthday is the 26th) and ends at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday, June 27.

As I'm writing this, I decided to throw in another gift for you...a private group coaching call for everyone enrolled in OVS. I'll take any and all questions you have about blogging, social media, online visibility, Internet marketing and I will keep the lines open until all questions are answered. How's that to sweeten the deal? I'll send details next week to OVS students.

OK, now, I invite you to my birthday celebration - join me for Online Visibility Secrets and together we'll help more entrepreneurs around the world.

Join now ~> http://OnlineVisibilitySecrets.com

I look forward to connecting with you on the private group coaching call...

...blog on!

Wordpress Do-It-Yourself Training Abounds - Isn't It Time You Set Up A Blog?

If you're a do-it-yourselfer and want to learn how to build and manage sites/blogs built on Wordpress, you're in luck. Several of my colleagues have created comprephensive and excellent training programs that take you step by step through the details of how to set up a site on Wordpress.

Recently I wrote a short review about Beginner to Blogger, an affordable video training for Wordpress offered by Traci Knoppe.

A few days ago I received a notice from my mentor Tom Antion about a Wordpress ecourse he has just released. Tom no longer uses anything but Wordpress to create ALL his ecommerce sites (and he has hundreds!). I didn't get a review copy. I bought the program so I could check it out and let you know what I think.

True to form, Tom Antion over delivers. The course is delivered by email with links to pdf documents and videos that take you step by step through choosing a domain, setting up your hosting account, installing the Wordpress software and then through all the nuances of choosing a theme and the right plug-ins to make your site optimized for search engines and to work as a selling machine.

Tom knows how to make money - he's a millionaire several times over - so any training he creates, I get it and I've never been disappointed. Check out Tom Antion's Wordpress Website Creation Ecourse. It's only $97 though I'm pretty sure that he'll be raising that fee soon. It's worth several times that.

If you prefer to get live teaching and coaching, there is no one better than Christina Hills. She is a patient, thorough teacher. Twice a year she offers her 8 week intensive Website Creation Workshop. For the first time ever, Christina is offering a 4 week accelerated "Summer Camp" on how to build sites using Wordpress. But if you want the benefit of Christina's top notch teaching, you have to act now because enrollment closes on June 24. 

The investment is more for Christina's program because you get live training, hand-holding and your first Wordpress site set up for you! If this is the type of support that works best for you, you cannot do better than Christina to learn the ins and outs of Wordpress.

Disclosure: the links are all affiliate links which means I make a small commission if you invest in one of these programs. I personally know each of these experts. I have either worked with them, trained with them, experienced their teaching, and/or have used their products. That's the only way I would make these recommendations for you.

If you prefer to have an expert build your site and coach you on how to effectively use your blog as a marketing tool, let's talk. I have a blog build/consulting program that may be right for you. Use my support desk to submit your request and we'll connect.

If you don't have a blog yet, what are you waiting for? No matter your budget, there's a way for you to get a blog set up fast and easy in just a few hours.

Blog on!

Use Share Options to Boost Your Blog Traffic and Visibility

Via my new Ask Denise feature, I got a great question about using share buttons on blog posts from Kathleen at FabFit50s.com.

Kathleen asked:

My question is about the share buttons you use. I'm working with a designer on my blog and would like to tell her which ones to use. Do you recommend all of those that you use below?

She is referring to the SexyBookmark buttons on DeniseWakeman.com (built on Wordpress) which are different from those in the footer of this blog.

The first thing to know is that in the six years I've been blogging, the platforms have evolved enormously and with the introduction of social networking and sharing it's easier than ever for your readers to share your content with their friends and followers. So, you MUST have multiple ways for your content to be shared.

Including sharing options on your blog boosts your visibility since shared links show up on your readers' social sites. If your content and blog post titles are compelling, you will see a boost in traffic from new readers.

List building tip: reward your blog subscribers

Are you building your list of blog subscribers? No doubt you've heard that list building is a critical strategy for building your business. And there are many tactics you can employ to grow your list.

Back in the olden days of the Internet (I got started in 1996!), your list meant your database of subscribers to your electronic newsletter (ezine). Now, there are many kinds of lists that comprise your business universe: your customer list, ezine list, special reports lists, twitter followers (yes, that's a list of people in your world), Facebook friends, Facebook "likers" (fans), LinkedIn connections, YouTube channel subscribers and of course your blog subscribers.

I think many bloggers neglect their readers. They offer an RSS feed on their blog but don't offer an email subscribe option. Did you know that most blog readers still prefer email over RSS? I do. And I consider myself to be a tech savvy, sophisticated blog reader. I realized a while back that though I subscribe to blogs with Google Reader, the blogs for which I receive email updates are the ones I read the most consistently.

In just about every presentation or teleseminar or blog review I do, I talk about the fact you must have an email subscribe option on your blog. Otherwise you're neglecting a lot of people who may want to stay on top of what you're writing.

There are several options for offering an email subscribe option. I use Feedblitz (fee) and have since it was launched in 2005. There's also Feedburner (free) and Aweber (fee), the autoresponder service, offers an RSS to email option for blogs.

How do you get readers to subscribe?

Got blogging questions? Ask Denise!

Everyday I get questions about blogging, online marketing and social media. The challenge I have is that the questions are posted all over the place: twitter, Facebook page, LinkedIn, and in blog comments. It's tough to manage and keep track of them all.

So I came up with a solution that I hope will streamline the process: a form for you to post your questions. That way the questions will be delivered to me in a format I can review and organize. Then I can pick the most frequently asked questions and create blog posts or articles or videos or reports that address your pressing questions. And, if I pick your question to answer, I'll acknowledge you in the response and let you know.

It's an experiment. Bookmark the "Ask Denise" page and when you have a burning blogging question, submit it and I'll put it in the mix for review and response either on this blog or on Biz Tips Blog if it's related to online marketing and creating visibility on the Web.

I also recommend that you subscribe to get blog updates delivered by email or RSS. That way you don't miss a thing! I post 2-3 times a week max. And, when you subscribe by email, you get a bonus gift - right now I'm giving away a sample lesson from Online Visibility Secrets on how to leverage Google to boost your visibility.

Image from Shutterstock.

Blog Comments - Where do you prefer readers comment on your posts?

Along with traffic, the action most desired by most bloggers is that of readers commenting on their blog posts. Prior to the explosion of social media and easy syndication of content to external sites, it was straight-forward...you publish a post and readers commented on your blog post...on the blog.

Now, however, your posts get published on Facebook via the Notes Application (not so reliable anymore) or NetworkedBlogs or any of a number of tools that feed your content to multiple platforms.

A question that has come up several times on the Blog Squad Facebook page, is: when you're commenting and a blog is posted on FB do you comment on the blog or on FB, or both?

You can see my answer below. I would like to know your opinion too.

Problogger - Interview and Q&A with Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

If you publish a business blog, you probably know about and read the blogs of Chris Garrett (ChrisG.com) and Darren Rowse (Problogger.net). They are two of the most popular bloggers on the Web. In 2008 they co-authored Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income (aff).

Now, 2 years later, they have released the second edition of Problogger, updated to include a new chapter on social media and a thorough case study about Darren's Digital Photography School blog and how he has achieved success and a 6 figure income with that blog. The case study alone makes it worth investing in the second edition of Problogger.

My colleagues were kind enough to agree to a blog -based interview and will also answer any of your questions posted in the comments. This is a great opportunity to connect directly with these two very smart business bloggers. So, without further ado...an interview with Chris Garrett and Darren Rowse...

1. The second edition of Problogger has just been published. Backing up a bit, what inspired you to write Problogger originally and what is the primary take-away you want readers to get?

Chris: I guess the main inspiration was that people really wanted to know how to make money from their blogs but were struggling to piece the information they needed together. We wanted to put everything into one complete package, give people a step by step guide.

Darren: one of the challenges of producing a 'how to' blog on any topic is that over the years you write a lot of content that becomes a little dated, that becomes 'lost' or unseen in your archives or that is presented in an illogical order for someone reading in a chronological order - this book was an attempt to update, reorganize and unearth the 'gold' in the archives of ProBlogger the blog.