Your Blogging Services Portal

Social media websites are no longer for geeks and early adopters.  If you are reading this, you have likely heard of Facebook.  Celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, athletes like Tracy McGrady and journalists like Rick Sanchez from CNN all use Twitter.  You can share your favorite videos with your friends on YouTube.  How can a busy business owner cut through the noise without spending hours keeping up with their social media pages?

Interestingly, you have several options that do not have to be life consuming.  Many services already post general information about your business and all you need to do is register to make sure it is accurate.  And if you are concerned about Search Engine Optimization for your website, all of these services can help.  These are four that are sure to make a difference.   

1.  Google Local Business Center

Google is by far the most popular search engine and one of the most innovative companies on-line.  When someone is looking for a service and Google it, local business results with a map appear at the top of the list.  Register your business and you increase your chances of landing on this list.  Simply go to the Local Business Center to register.  Make sure your correct contact information is listed, including your website so you can be easily found.  Also be sure to enter a few keywords that describe your business so that you have a better shot at the top of your customer’s searches.

2.  Yahoo! Local

Yahoo! is still relevant and their local pages will drive traffic to your website.  Just go to Local Yahoo! and scroll to the bottom of the page, then click on “Add a Business”.  Please note that if you have a Yahoo! account, log in first so you are contacted when the updates are made.  As with Google, make sure your basic contact information is correct.  Yahoo! asks for keywords too, so make sure you enter a few. 

3.  Yelp!

Yelp! certainly is not as big as the others, yet the user experience is excellent!  For you as a business owner, go to http://biz.yelp.com to register.  They have a great Business Owner’s Guide that will walk you through your experience, including some of their enhanced features.  You can have Yelp! widgets for your website, indicating the number of reviews you have received and a few other cool features for business owners.  Reviews of your business can be left by anyone but they cannot remain anonymous, reducing the likelihood of spammers or competitors leaving negative reviews.  In fact, over 60 percent of all reviews on Yelp! are at least 4 out of 5 stars.  These are some of the reasons Yelp! is quickly becoming a favorite tool among social media mavens.

4.  Manta

This is truly a set it and forget it type of site.  The creators of Manta aggregate Dun and Bradstreet, Hoover’s and Moody’s data about your business; then allow you to update it as needed as long as you are a member.  People can leave comments about your business, however it is not an easy process to do so.  I mention this service because it tends to rank highly in searches.  Registering is pretty straight forward and the link to get started is on the top of the page, just below the login fields. 

Visibility is only one part to running a successful business.  Establishing credibility with your customers is another.  As Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, says, “Visibility plus credibility equals profitability.”  Allow these four services to build visibility for you so you can focus on maintaining your credibility so you can rake in the profits! 

This is my blog launch formula. It is an absolute beauty. Follow this strategy and you are GUARANTEED to successfully launch ANY blog in ANY niche. I won’t make any wild claims about the number of visitors you will receive, nor the number of pages you will have indexed in Google, nor the number of mentions you will have in Google, suffice to say, you will be delighted with the return on time and effort invested.

You will have noticed that blogs and blogging play a big part in the 7 Sexy SEO Secrets. In fact, that is the 7th and in my opinion, the sexiest seo secret of them all; BLOG.

Here’s the launch formula that I personally use when I’m serious about a blog. You can trim accordingly for less important blogs, but trimmer beware, who knows where the secret sauce lies?

Task + How Long?

1. Keyword Research and Domain Purchase 1 hour

2. Install WordPress blog 30 mins

3. Install 2 tag plug ins, change the permalinks to /%category%/%postname%/, insert ping list, insert header. 30 mins

4. Create my Feedburner feed and submit RSS feeds once posts have been completed. Also add my Buzzboost to display in sidebar 30 mins

5. Insert sign up form using Aweber 30 mins

6. Install Google Analytics and submit Google Sitemap 20 mins

7. Set up RSS Bookmarker to take care of my social bookmarking. Could also use AutoSocialPoster 30 mins

8. Claim blog at Technorati. Also submit to Entrecard (worth buying a few ads) and BlogCatalog. 30 mins

9. Write 5 unique articles and post on blog. Submit same articles to Ezine + Article Marketer 3 hours

10. Install WP-O-Matic to publish RSS feed 30 mins

11. Start a low budget PPC campaign on Yahoo, MSN or Google for selected keywords. 2 hours

12. Create a video and post to video distribution sites. Also post video on my site. Also bookmark video by adding video RSS Feed to RSS Bookmarker. 2 hours

13. Link to blog from 4 of my other blogs, including 2 of my blogger blogs. Add FAQ, privacy and contact pages to my site. 1 hour

14. Add my site to links network. Submit RSS Feeds. 10 mins

15. Completely rewrite 25 PLR articles and set them up for sporadic posting over the next month or so. Submit those too. 8 hours

16. Submit site to directories using a directory submission service 30 mins

17. Write and submit a press release 1 hour

18. Write and submit various classified ads 2 hours

19. (Potential to buy links but Google may frown on this practice. Buyer beware!) 1 hour

20. Forum posting (genuine, not Spam), include Warrior Forum Special Offer 5 hours

21. Install ad tracking codes on certain campaigns to measure return on time/money invested 1 hour

22. Rifle shot approach to top listings in Google and other target sites, contacting each site individually and exploring advertising/joint venture opportunities. 5 hours

TOTAL, give or take 40 hours

* Please note that it takes about 5 minutes per account to register for each social bookmarking sites. So, if you don’t have any accounts set up as yet, please allow yourself around 3 hours to set up 30 odd accounts.

So, there you have it. Appreciate it that this might be a bit overkill for some blogs but thought it might cut out a lot of guesswork for others.

There you have it, The 7 Sexy SEO Secrets. They, in case you missed any, are:

1. Long Tail 
2. Off Page 
3. Ranking page ownership 
4. 1 way links 
5. Keep it fresh 
6. You don’t need SEO! 
7. Blog

Good luck on your journey! Remember to always ask for help and to seek expert advice from top SEO services if you need it.

I’ve had many people who have emailed me and private message me on my forum asking me where the non-phone jobs are. I have read on numerous work at home forums people asking for non-phone jobs mainly because they have babies, young children or because phone work is simply not their cup of tea. Add to this mix, some even state they have no experience.

Even to someone who has no experience, you have options.

One, you can choose to take a course online in a particular subject or choose to brush up on your skills such as your typing speed, learn Word or Excel. You can find a tutorial online or you can go to your local library and borrow a DVD.

Two, your other option we are going to discuss six telecommuting job options for people who have no experience and who prefers non-phone work.

1. Writing - Almost everyone can write and compose a sentence. You don’t have to be a professional writer to get paid. I’m not talking about companies who require their applicants to have a journalism degree or writing degree. AssociatedContent.com requires you to write well with proper grammar and spelling. They have a variety of categories you can write about. It’s a good entry-level start to get paid for writing which may open you to other writing jobs whether it’s ghostwriting or freelancing jobs.

2. Blogging - I’m sure you often wonder how you can make money blogging. It’s really quite simple. Blogging, in my opinion, is a great outlet to practice and to hone your writing skills.

Once you have started a blog, you can bring in revenue by monetizing your blog in several ways. You can add Google AdSense ads, Text Link ads, sell ad space, and promote affiliate programs or business opportunities. Another way is to get involved with “Get Paid To Blog”.

What is “Get Paid To Blog”?

Get paid to blog are companies who have advertisers who would like bloggers to write about their products or services. Pay varies from company to company.

Or there are many blogging companies who will pay you to write blog articles for their blogs.

3. Texting - Texting is not for everyone. You use your computer to chat with a person of the opposite sex. Usually the conversations are adult-oriented.

4. General or Legal Transcription - While general or legal transcription doesn’t require specialized training, it does require a good ear, speed and accuracy. There are some companies who will hire without prior experience, but you are required to meet their standards.

5. Virtual Assistant - You can market yourself as a Virtual Assistant. There are many basic tasks you can perform if you’re not an experienced administrative assistant. There are people who look to outsource easy clerical tasks such as article submitting, promoting or partial maintenance of their websites like link checking, answer general inquiries, advertising etc. Oftentimes, people are looking for ghostwriters because either they aren’t good writers or they don’t have time to write. It’s a good idea to brush up on all of your skills or become more knowledgeable in areas where you are lacking so you can be more marketable and versatile.

6. Forum Posting - You’re certainly not going to get rich doing this, but you will make some money.

What is forum posting?

Forum posting is boosting forum activity for forum owners. You create topics or reply to topics of interest. Depending on the specifications, you are either paid by post, length of post, number of posts etc.

With all jobs there is a learning curve and each of these options will require learning in progress, but there is tons of free information on the web that will help you along the way. The best way is hands on experience, trial and error and learning from others.

If you’re determined to work at home, have no previous experience, prefer non-phone jobs and a willingness to learn, these six options are a good starting point to gain some valuable experience. Although the income may be on the low end at the beginning, it is something to be expected, but as you gain more experience, you will also see an increase in your pay scale. This will also open you up to better and higher paying telecommuting jobs and positions in the future.