I've received several requests and questions from readers, friends, etc. that all point to one salient issue. "What can we physically do to improve our blogs?" or "What actual activities should we complete, in order to make our blogs better?". It seems that launching a blog for some new and inexperienced blog owners is a huge exercise (and for some a steeper learning curve than for others). I've often observed clients who have launched their blogs, fail to garner traffic, further excitement and buzz, or for that matter, reach any of their goals and blogging aspirations. After a time they become discouraged as they feel let down by their blog. One of the biggest barriers I've observed (among others) is that often people just don't do anything, mainly because some don't quite know what to do (or how) and others just need more motivation. Some launch their blog and expect the Internet horde to rush over and visit. To be blunt, the days of "Build it and they will come", are long over. A blog is akin to your business tools, if you don't use it, it will become rusty. Defining some of the barriers to improving a blog is well and good, ...

When I launched my first blog, I thought it would be easy. I read a bit about it on the Internet and saw some of the successful blogs that had been launched. Because I had a strong technical background and access to top-notch graphic professional, I assumed I was in for an easy ride to popularity and riches. After reality hit, I realized it's not that easy, I worked without a plan or any concrete guidance, which was my first mistake. What were my others? Read on and learn. Find out how you can plan your next blog for an exceptional launch, or improve your existing blog to be more successful. 1) Create an Action Plan Much in the same way we create business plans, we should also do the same for successful blog launches. Among the more obvious, some things you'll need to pay extra attention to are: Domain name. Is it easy to remember. Does it describe the blog? Measurable goals. Does your plan include tangible goals that you can measure and evaluate? Does it include contingencies. Budgeting. Have you evaluated and included all foreseeable expenses? What about a financial buffer - What happens when an unexpected expense occurs? 2) Use Reliable Hosting Make sure ...

It seems to me that the ever increasing demands placed on blog owners to enhance the growth of their business through the use of social media tools, has left many a bit unsure as to which tool best suit their needs. In fact, one of the most common questions I'm asked is along the lines of "Which social web site is the best for me?", followed by a plethora of names, ranging through Digg, StumbleUpon, twitter, LinkedIn and so on. One thing I'd like to clarify before continuing. Online social media promotion tools (such as the sites mentioned above) are best used as an extension of your existing, traditional marketing activities. The benefits in most cases result in: More targeted audience. Greater geographic reach. Reduction in marketing costs. Save time (in other words using time in a more productive effective manner). However, the above are only some of the most immediate that come to mind. One thing I always try to advise clients is to break down their business or blog promotion requirements to reflect the jobs (or responsibilities) at hand. Generally, there are four primary groups: Management. Your are the blog and/or business owner. Your primary goal should be to raise awareness and visibility of your products, ...

From time to time, I receive messages or talk to a blog owner who is unhappy with low traffic. They often lament how their new blog does not provide much traffic improvement and provides no value to their business. As such, some of them even go so far as to explain the above is the primary reason why they no longer spend time developing content. But wait, how do things get so bad that your blog has become a rusty tool? What happened that has demotivated the blog owner? Firstly, successful blog owners have a positive attitude, they try to be constructive, cooperative and well informed. They work with the community, not for the community. They understand that the benefits a blog can offer are bestowed by the community, as they are earned. Again, it's about good attitude. If you're going to burst on the blog scene all wild eyed, posting reams of comments on every forum or blog in sight - regardless of the subject matter, all tough and authoritative, posting low quality content on your own blog whilst sucking honey out of a bees arse... You're not going to get far. You need to find the golden middle way. Don't ...

I just received an email (about a new blog post earlier today). The questions was "...you mentioned [blog] update services and pingomatic, what is that...?" For those of us who use Wordpress, it's a feature you can configure in the writing settings of your blogs administrative area. Simply log in and go to "Settings" - "Writing" and look near the bottom. You will see the following: "When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services. For more about this, see Update Services on the Codex. Separate multiple service URLs with line breaks." Many readers subscribe to such services and will see that you have new content posted. By default, Wordpress only notifies rpc.pingomatic.com. The list below contains another 145. Make sure you back up your wordpress files and database BEFORE adding this to the "Update Services" of your blog. http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2 http://api.feedster.com/ping http://api.moreover.com/ping http://api.moreover.com/RPC2 http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc/ http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://ping.blo.gs/ http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/ http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2 http://topicexchange.com/RPC2 http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 http://xping.pubsub.com/ping http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ http://1470.net/api/ping http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b http://api.feedster.com/ping http://api.moreover.com/RPC2 http://api.moreover.com/ping http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2 http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping http://www.bitacoles.net/ping.php http://bitacoras.net/ping http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 http://blogmatcher.com/u.php http://www.blogoole.com/ping/ http://www.blogoon.net/ping/ http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates http://www.blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1 http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php http://www.blogsnow.com/ping http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/ http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt http://www.mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php http://ping.amagle.com/ http://ping.bitacoras.com http://ping.blo.gs/ http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/ http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/ http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc http://ping.feedburner.com http://ping.myblog.jp http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://ping.weblogs.se/ http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2 http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/ http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2 http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/ http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2 http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2 http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php http://topicexchange.com/RPC2 http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/ http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/ http://xmlrpc.blogg.de/ http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b http://api.feedster.com/ping http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2 http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php http://www.blogsnow.com/ping http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://ping.blo.gs/ http://ping.feedburner.com http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2 http://topicexchange.com/RPC2 http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/ http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping http://api.moreover.com/ping http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/ http://api.feedster.com/ping http://api.moreover.com/RPC2 http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2 http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/ http://ping.blo.gs/ http://ping.feedburner.com http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/ http://rpc.newsgator.com/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2 http://topicexchange.com/RPC2 http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud http://ping.weblogs.se/ http://blogmatcher.com/u.php http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php http://ping.myblog.jp http://ping.bitacoras.com http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/ http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/ http://xmlrpc.blogg.de http://1470.net/api/ping http://bblog.com/ping.php http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC http://rpc.pingomatic.com http://ping.weblogs.se/ http://blogmatcher.com/u.php http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php http://ping.myblog.jp http://ping.bitacoras.com http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/ http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/ http://xmlrpc.blogg.de http://1470.net/api/ping http://bblog.com/ping.php http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC http://www.wasalive.com/ping/ Please let me know if there are any others! - Cheers.