"Blogging" For Fun & Profits

© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved

http://www.thenetreporter.com

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Unless you've been under a rock for the last year, you've

heard the term "blog" once or twice.



To most people, a "blog" simply represents a glorified

online "diary" where geeks, computer nerds, and lonely

teenagers record their thoughts in cyber-space.



However, many people don't realize that "blogs" are quietly

revolutionizing the way companies and customers interact

about everything from existing products to new ideas and

improvements in customer service.



In short, "blog" style communication has come of age and

anyone with an online business better sit up and take

notice fast!



In the beginning, "blogs" were basically an online diary to

record your thoughts; but "blogs" have now evolved into

dynamic websites that non-technical people can update

immediately without html editors or ftp programs.



Blogs allow their authors to make instant website updates

through a computer anywhere in the world with a Web browser

and Internet connection.



Blogs also allow readers to respond to the author's posts,

provide additional information, links, expanded opinions,

and more.



In short, an active "blog" creates an interactive community

with the author as the hub and the readers as the spokes of

the wheel that keep the whole cycle turning round.



Unlike traditional "static" web pages where content rarely

(if ever) changes, an active blog evolves in a state of

constant and never-ending renewal.



With blogs, smart online businesses re-discovered a

principal that small "mom and pop" stores understood for

years: know your customers and stay in close tune with

their wants, needs, and desires.



Large companies throw billions of dollars down a black hole

every year to literally "guess" what people want to buy.

Most call it the "Marketing Department."



On the flipside, smart online businesses understand that

blogs allow you to avoid guessing what's on your customers'

minds and provide an active and up-to-the-minute means for

them to tell you exactly what they do and don't like about

your services, products, and virtually any other aspect of

the market.



This lightning fast communication makes it possible for

small companies to literally snatch huge market share away

from more traditional companies.



Blogging also has a distinct advantage over traditional

email newsletters in that subscribers can get udpates

without having to receive an email message. Through the

power of RSS (real simple syndication), subscribers get

notified of updated content though an rss news reader.



Bottom Line: publishing a blog with an RSS feed that your

readers can subscribe to means your content NEVER gets

blocked by a SPAM filter.



Blog software basically comes in 2 flavors: hosted and

stand-alone. Hosted blogging solutions make it extremely

easy to get set up with a blog, often in just a couple of

minutes.



If you know how to type, you can create a blog. Log on to

Blogger.com and you can set up a blog free of charge and

start posting in just a few minutes.



Blogger.com (owned by search giant, Google) will even host

your blog on their servers.



Typepad.com, which charges as little as $4.95 per month, is

also an excellent hosted service offering additional

features that enable you to quickly get your own blog up

and running.



The alternative is stand-alone blogging software installed

on your own website.



A very popular solution is Moveable Type, available from

moveabletype.org, which provides a very versatile and

powerful suite of tools for creating a full-featured blog

to rival that of any size company in the world.



<-- Side Note -->



This is the solution I've chosen for my blog at

http://www.IGottaTellYou.com/blog/



<-- End Side Note -->



Whichever blogging solution you choose, if you plan to

successfully conduct any form of business online,

understand that a "blog" must form an integral part of your

overall plan for customer communication and interaction.



About the Author:



Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the

co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to

use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted

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