Starting a blog is fairly easy; starting a blog the right way is not a walk in the park. I recently came across yet another spin off of the “put your blog inside my master blog and let me charge you money to build links for my domain” type of service. Wrong! Anyone starting a blog has to think about their needs and themselves FIRST and ALWAYS!

Reinforcement – Starting a Blog Is YOUR Business Strategy

I think the reason so many fall for the idea that starting a blog as a subdomain under a “master domain” is “easy” is because they don’t dig deep enough to understand the full ramifications of this decision:

1. It’s NOT your domain – you’re going to slave away building links for the other guy who just has to sit back and let you do the work to grow his/her business.

2. It’s much better to build your own spot on the internet for so many reasons!

A Few Reasons Why Starting A Blog of Your Own Is Best

As every marketer knows (including my case in point above) starting a blog with its wonderful link building is a must strategy to be attractive in terms of SEO and other people finding you. Eventually, you’re going to have to bite the bullet. You need to decide to stay on the edges or jump in and swim with the big and small fishes. I can tell you that having your own spot to advertise and market is easier on your wallet. In addition, you’re spending your money on yourself.

My case example (for starting a blog to his advantage) charges over $60/month. Hmmm… it reminds me of a time (long ago) where my business partner (at that time) and I spent $97 a month doing the same thing. It didn’t take us long to realize, “Wait a minute! We’re starting a blog, but this guy now has over 600,000 back links in the search engines!” Of course, we canceled that membership!

Free blogs and their pitfalls have been discussed before on this blog, so there isn’t a need to reiterate why going free isn’t always a smart move. Suffice to say, you want to put your best foot forward and let the world know you are an independent operator with the ability to afford (at a minimum) hosting of your own.

Consider the advantages of blogging with a pre-established network when starting a blog or a website online.

How many times have you paid more than you feel you should to get information you know you must have to be successful online?

The beauty of it all is that you do not have to do this – it’s ridiculous really – when online marketing and advertising how to’s and more exist right now at paper back prices.

Trust me, I have two large computer hard drives – no make that three – stockpiled with all the “advice” and “secrets” and (supposed) “directions” every marketer and advertiser needs to know. Many, many, many of them I paid WAY too much for… rehashes of the same old same old. Sad imitations of (existing Private Label Rights (PLR)?) copy either never modified or not modified enough. In other words, extremely generic information too basic to justify its expense (if new I’d be willing to pay, but not be gouged… and I’m not new to all this).

So what do I do? I rely on staying on top of things in an economical fashion.

For instance, this weekend my Dime Sale running includes seven (7) reports, up to 350 internet usage tactics, covering: (more…)

We often concentrate hardest on what to do online with regard to marketing and advertising online. Marketing programs, products, and services is an art form, not to be undertaken lightly. Serious consideration to how you are going to go about achieving your objective – traffic, new clients, new sign ups, etc., – is critical to your success.

However, how many of us seriously take the time to investigate contacting those not online on a regular basis? Believe it or not for all us cyberspace crazies, people do enjoy getting special messages yes by snail mail! There are those (and yes I count myself among them) who joyfully go to their mailboxes each day in the hopes of letters from friends and family and even interesting internet offers.

So the question is… When was the last time you researched offline advertising to add to your online mix?

Well not only is today a holiday in many parts of the world (particularly the U.S. I’d imagine), but it’s also your lucky day

Vistaprint is offering great specials for those looking for offline ways of connecting with potential and existing customers. Vistaprint postcards come in a variety of sizes and colors and layouts. You can even design your very own (or for those graphically challenged they have plenty of choices ready-made for you).

Browsing their ready-made postcards is a breeze. They actually give you the option to select one from the “board” so to speak or search by keyword, industry, style, or purpose.

Or, of course, if you are logo and word-ready, customize your own.

The one thing we do know personally about Vistaprint (we have used Vistaprint in the past for our business cards) is that your order arrives exactly the way you ordered it, and in a timely fashion. And, it goes without saying, that their prices are very affordable for just about any entrepreneur, business, or home business marketer.

My suggestion this Spring and on into the year is to supplement how you market online with branching out to reach those offline.

Yes postcard campaigns can get expensive, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your visit to Vistaprint’s postcard possibilities.

And Happy Easter!

I’ve been so darn busy that it’s been a few days since I had the time to stop and do what I love… post something new on this blog.

However, it was worth the wait since we have several new resources you’re sure to find worthwhile, including information on how to start or get a job offline or on.

The first is Knol: A Unit of Knowledge. Not unlike a blog or wicki (or maybe just like a blog or wiki lol), Knol is a byproduct of Google where you can “share what you know and write a knol.”

With a PR of 7/10 (it’s Google’s own remember) and Alexa rank of 1 (again, it’s Google’s own), you can’t go wrong posting stuff you know and getting it listed and indexed in Knol.

The second item we’d like to share is a resource called Big Hit System, a pushbutton marketing resource run by a great guy named Steve Russell. Steve has put together the tools and resources you need to get the job done online. The best part? I’ve spoken with Steve and discovered another (gasp) online marketer willing to – yes – pick up his phone! He’s also been online long enough (since 2003) to know of what he speaks – another rare commodity and huge bonus for you! They even provide you with no obligation information on the home business right for you.

And while this next one is not new, if you’ve been hearing about the canonial tag and are still confused about whether you need to use it or not, that bolded link will take you straight to Google itself to read all about it. Best to get information like this straight from the horses’ mouth versus trying to interpret a third party’s interpretation. Website owners, article writers, and anyone with possible duplicate content on the same domain should read up on this “new” tagging system.

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Last but not least, if you’re looking for a job or a change in career, head on over to this information found at the AARP website. You do not have to be of retirement age to benefit from these job suggestions. They provide 10 ideas to help you make extra money fast. Again, these ideas are for ANY age and they even suggest “going rates” for what you can charge, how to get started, and more. Remember if you found this or any of our other posts and pages of interest, please comment. We love comments! (And it’s free marketing for you.)