Why Marketers Should Blog

by Joel Comm

Recently, I pointed out that blogging can be an excellent way for people to start earning with AdSense. It takes no effort at all to get a blog up and running on Blogger and you pretty much start with one ad well blended at the top of the page.

But there’s a difference between starting with AdSense and making a good income from it, and that’s really the goal, right? I’m sure that most bloggers who put ads on their sites would really like to see their entries making so much money that they can kick the day job and make their living as a professional blogger. They’d be getting paid to talk about their favorite topics, and what could be better than that?

There are some people online who do exactly that. But you’ve got to do a lot more than put one ad at the top of your Blogger site – however well-blended it might be – to become a professional blogger.

First, most professional bloggers run more than one blog. They often run several. They also talk about a lot more than their families and their points of view. They give valuable information that people can use in their own lives or their businesses, and best of all, they become the center of a community in which other people swap tips and ideas. So if they’re travel agents, they can write blogs that reveal how to find bargains. If they’re accountants, they can warn about hidden tax liabilities.

That’s valuable content aimed at a market that wants it.

And then there are the ads.

You could tell readers how to choose next week’s winning lottery numbers but if you don’t have ad units in the best places on the page and showing the sorts of ads your users will want to click, you won’t get a penny from the winnings. You’ll have to know how to make sure AdSense is serving the ads you want to receive. You’ll have to know how to make those ads stand out while still blending in. And you’ll have to know how to follow your stats so that you can leap on a drop in earnings as soon as it happens.

It’s a combination of creating valuable content, smart AdSense strategy and a good knowledge of Internet marketing too. Just get that – and it’s really not too hard – and you can be a professional blogger too.

Joel Comm is The Internet Revenue Expert. Online for over 20 years, Joel teaches people how to make money in the digital age. The recognized authority on Google AdSense, Joel teaches how to multiply your AdSense income at http://www.adsense-secrets.com - To ask Joel Comm a question about making money online, visit http://www.AskJoelComm.com

By Sharon Housley

Blogs vaulted RSS into the limelight but are unlikely to be the force that sustains RSS as a communication medium. The biggest opportunities for RSS are not in the blogosphere but as a corporate communication channel.

Even now, businesses that were initially reluctantly evaluating RSS are beginning to realize the power and benefit of the RSS information avenue. The inherent capacity for consumers to select the content they wish to receive will be the driving mechanism for keeping advertisements to a minimum and content quality consistent.

Like the Internet when it first started, blogs were emboldened by the “cool factor". As the novelty of being new and cool wears off, Internet webmasters and bloggers alike are realizing that maintaining a website or blog is time-consuming. “Coolness” often wears off if a channel is not monetized. With the ease of blogging and the array of blogs available, only a handful will be able to sustain fresh, constant, unique content and generate any sort of reasonable or significant revenue. As a result, blogs as we know them today will fade into the background, with many blogs being abandoned.

RSS, being a tool that saves Internet surfers time and allows webmasters to re-purpose and re-package existing and new content will, in my opinion, continue to thrive. A business effectively using RSS can bring new site visitors, increase search engine positioning, and generate product interest. The flexibility of RSS as a communication medium and the expansion capabilities of the enclosure tag will allow RSS to flourish as an online marketing tool. Each day businesses are adopting new uses for RSS, and users are becoming accustomed to skimming content that *they* choose in a single centralized location.

As businesses adopt RSS and consumers experiment with feeds, the popularity of RSS will grow. Ultimately, consumers are the driving force behind technology. The convenience of RSS and increased popularity will set a precedent for consumer expectations. Businesses using RSS as a communication vehicle are able to create keyword-rich, themed content, establishing trust, reputation, and ongoing communication with current and prospective customers.

The big consumer benefit to RSS is that consumers opt-in to content of interest, totally controlling the flow of information they receive. If the quality of the content in the feed declines, users simply remove the feed from their RSS reader and they will not receive any additional updates from that source. The RSS reader acts as an aggregator, allowing users to view and scan multiple content streams in a timely fashion.

Consumer expectation will drive businesses that are slow to adopt. Ultimately, RSS will be a standard, like email addresses and websites are now a “must” for businesses. RSS feeds will join their ranks.

Unlike blogs, businesses can easily justify RSS feeds, as they will be increasing customer and corporate communication. RSS will create new revenue channels. RSS has the potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and create brand loyalty. RSS Feeds will draw existing customers and prospective clients, translating to a new or renewed income stream. Businesses using RSS feeds as a communication medium to notify interested customers of specials, discounts, product announcements, technical support tips, news and industry studies will ultimately sustain RSS as a viable and valued communication medium.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a SMS and text messaging software company.