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Archived
Newsletter Articles - 2006 |
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If you have a Work At
Home Mom Information Site or Page and would like to use some of
these articles, please email me at ffoadmin @ comcast.net
(without spaces). If your site is approved then you may use the
articles with credit given back to me at Faithful Friends
Online. Thank-you!
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See also Archived Newsletter Articles
for 2004 &
2005 |
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January 2006 - Jump into the New
Year!
Once the Christmas Holiday Rush is over you may want to
plan your course of action for the New Year! I will list
a few things that may help you to get a head start:
1. If you don't have a
bookkeeping software program I would suggest Quick
Books. It has a wonderful wizard to help input your
business information and once you have it up and going,
it's really a timesaver!
Once you've been in
business for awhile you can look back and compare each
year and see how your business has grown. You can also
generate many reports to keep your progress on track and
make sure that your expenses do not exceed your profits.
2. If you have a slow
period you could use it to print out business cards and
other marketing tools that you'll need. You should
always include an invoice and business card in every
order.
3. Have a template to use
for printing out letterhead. Include your banner if you
have one, your full name, business name, website
address, telephone number, and email address. This keeps
your business consistent and professional.
4. If you want to run a
Valentine promotion or St. Patrick's Day promotion - now
is the time to get that organized. Once it's into the
New Year you may not have time to set that up.
5. Make a marketing
calendar and include shows, promotions, events, etc. for
each month to give you a quick reference when you need
it. Include personal time and events too so that you
don't 'double book' yourself.
6. Plan time for yourself
and family so that you don't get burned out. It's really
easy to get so caught up in work that you just go and go
until you drop.
7. Set aside funds per
month to use for advertising. This way - you HAVE to
promote your business instead of wishing you had the
money when a great opportunity comes up.
8. If you like to
volunteer for charities, plan this also. It's a great
time to think about what you want to give and set aside
a little at a time to have it available.
9. Make promotional items
(if you do them yourself) or order what you need now
such as bookmarks, magnets, calendars etc. to pass out
to customers or use as marketing tidbits during the
year.
10. Have a wonderful time
with your business! Make it something you're proud of
and something you enjoy doing!
11. Don't be afraid to
switch gears if you get into something costly that you
just aren't enjoying anymore.
12. If you are a crafter,
make sure that what you offer is worth what you are
charging. If it cost $10.00 to make, 8 hours to make it
in and you can only sell it for $20.00 - it may be that
you shouldn't offer it. A good rule of thumb is to ask
yourself how you would feel if you received an order for
100 of them. If you find that this would be extremely
difficult you may want to reconsider this project.
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February 2006 - Getting
Serious!
As you can gather,
there are many things that need to be considered when
starting an online business. With the creation of easy
to use, no HTML knowledge needed, templates that anyone
can set up and be in business in 24 hours - it's easy to
see why so many people are jumping on this bandwagon.
But, a lot of people can also get wrapped up in
financial problems if they don't take the time to plan
their new venture.
I
have seen a lot of new businesses popping up recently on
the internet. Although that's wonderful news for the new
businesses - I have to wonder how much thought and
planning has been given to most of them. It seems more
and more people are jumping online and throwing up a
website without giving much thought to the
responsibility of being a 'business owner'.
If
you are one of the people that recently started a
business online or are seriously thinking of starting an
online business, then you need to really consider the
ramifications of your actions.
There
are many, many laws that you must follow with any type
of business. You are not exempt from these laws simply
because you do not know about them or understand them.
It's very important to contact the IRS office, your
state and local government agencies, and probably a
small business accountant BEFORE you proceed.
One
thing that's been extremely distressing to me and other
legitimate businesses has been the neglect that some new
businesses have given to customers. I have seen and even
experienced some myself of many businesses recently
accepting payment for services or products that they do
not have to ship to customers. Whether this is due to
not having the stock or having them made at the time....
YOU SHOULD NEVER ACCEPT PAYMENT WITHOUT LETTING THE
CUSTOMER KNOW EXACTLY WHEN IT WILL SHIP! It's against
the law to accept payment for goods that aren't going to
ship in a timely manner. If the case is that you want
payment immediately for goods temporarily unavailable,
it has to be completely understood by the purchasing
party that there will be a certain 'waiting' period. And
then it's your responsibility to make sure that they
receive their orders during that timeframe.
Another thing that some new business owners do not seem
to understand is that there is a right way of handling
customer service and a wrong way. Customers do not
normally care if 'you're extremely busy' or 'have had
the flu'. The only thing customers care about is that
they paid for items and expect to receive those items.
Since we are all customers at some time, I'm sure you
can all relate to that.
Owning your own business is rewarding, enjoyable, and
extremely time-consuming. So you need to make sure that
you've taken into consideration that you will have
enough time and energy available to follow through with
commitments, orders etc. You will also have to be able
to tolerate and understand that there will be periods of
slow times and know what you need to finish during these
times. For example, if you're not busy then you need to
take inventory, make inventory, print flyers etc. to
help promote your business and have ample amounts needed
on hand for when business again gets busy.
Another thing that a lot of newbie's don't seem to
consider is the amount of money and time needed for
certain projects. If they are making crafts, for
example, then they need to know exactly how much time
and money is involved in the completion of each one.
They also need to know how they would complete an order
of a minimum of 100 or 1000. If this is impossible then
they may need to put a timeframe of each item and a
maximum amount that they would make.
I'm
sure by now you've decided that I'm offering very
discouraging news here but please know that with proper
planning and understanding, it's very possible to create
a business you can be extremely proud of and it will be
very gratifying.
As
with anything, that you want to succeed at, plan for
every scenario both good and bad that you can think of.
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March 2006 - Pricing
Headaches?
All creative
craftspeople and small businesses have done it. You show
someone what you have and they nonchalantly ask "how
much is it?" You now have to answer this question. The
thrill of someone actually inquiring about your product
is wonderful! You can now say "I'm in business!" But are
you really?
The IRS considers you
a business if: you are sincerely trying to make profit;
if you are making regular business transactions; and if
you have made a profit at least 3 years out of 5. If you
have sold your wares but do not meet the business
criteria, the IRS may consider you a "hobby business"
however, you still have the responsibility to claim your
income on Schedule C with both types of businesses. You
also may deduct expenses against the income but if you
are a "hobby" then you may deduct only up to the amount
of your hobby income.
So
now that we've established if you are a 'business' or a
'hobby' - you still need to set your pricing. A lot of
new business people use formulas for pricing. Wouldn't
it be great to say that if you spend x amount of money
making it then you multiply by 2.5 to come up with a
value? Well, sorry, but it's not that simple. I'm sure
that you've all seen or heard about what an item went
for at auction. And, it doesn't always have anything to
do with actual value. If you would like to set up a
basic formula you can try this one (geared more toward
items you hand make yourself): Cost of materials + cost
you set for labor + overhead costs + Profit = Wholesale
(if you offer wholesale) x 2 = Retail Price
Another thing that you should do is 'shop the market'.
Are there similar stores selling comparable items as
yours? How much are they selling them for? Try to find
3-4 stores that offer similar items that are higher than
you charge and lower than you charge. Watch them each
month to see how their prices change, if stock is moving
or just sitting on the shelf, how customers browse the
products etc. This will give you a real overview on your
own products.
If
you find yourself with your stock not moving, don't
lower your prices as the first thing to do. Take a look
at your products. Are they something that customers
need? Are they something that customers want? Are they
the type of items that customers would purchase over and
over again? The best selling products are always items
that offer something to customers. These types of items
will always sell even when the economy isn't good. And,
as much as overpricing is frowned upon - don't under
price your wares either. Customers will think that there
is something wrong with them or that you don't put much
value on what you sell.
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April 2006 - Should You Accept
Credit Cards?
In today's business,
accepting credit cards can actually make or break a
business. Most people do not carry much cash with them
and when they pay for things use a debit card. Of
course, there are always those that prefer writing
checks but they are getting less and less common each
day. If you decide to open an online business, it makes
it even more important to offer a variety of ways for
customers to pay and feel comfortable doing business
with you.
I'm
sure that if you are contemplating setting up a business
or have a business that doesn't accept credit cards yet,
you are asking yourself how to go about being able to do
this safely, easily, and as inexpensively as possible.
Don't panic, there are avenues!
Paypal, at
http://www.paypal.com , is good to offer as a
payment option and customers can use any credit card or
payment option. The drawback to paypal is that not
everyone likes using it. So, although, it can be a great
way to offer people to pay you, not everyone will use
it.
Propay, at
http://www.propay.com , is a wonderful resource to
offer as a payment option. You can choose from a couple
of different plans to offer customers the opportunity to
charge their order. The really wonderful thing about
propay is that it's your own merchant account so you
have the capability of charging orders that are given
over the phone and at vendor shows. You pay a small
annual fee and then only small fees per order that you
receive. There are no monthly maintenance fees and it's
easy to use. You will need to have a business email
address because what appears on the customer's charge
card statement is your email address (that is on file at
propay) and your phone number. To avoid charge backs and
customer confusion you should have your business name in
the email address. I haven't really found a drawback to
this processor, however, it's very important to only
charge a credit card when the items are in stock and
ready to ship. It's illegal to charge a credit card and
not ship the items within a certain timeframe.
CCNow, at
http://www.ccnow.com
, offers a great shopping cart that you can set up along
with a credit card processor that accepts all credit
cards and paypal (without you needing to have your
own paypal account). This is really a nice and easy way
to go and has lots of amenities but the drawback is that
the fees are slightly higher than the previous options
and they do charge a monthly fee.
You
can also check with your banking institution to find out
what they offer for small business merchant accounts.
There are many different options out there and you
should find the one that you're the most comfortable
with that suits your business needs.
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May 2006 - Record Keeping
Basics
Starting a new business
venture offers a chance to spread your wings and let
creativity soar. However, when the initial paperwork
begins and the business becomes more real it can be a
very scary and nerve wracking adventure.
One of the biggest
concerns for most new Work At Home Business Owners can
be bookkeeping and keeping records in general. I'm sure
you will be thrilled to know that the IRS doesn't
require any special system of bookkeeping and there only
concerns is the accurate claim of money coming into the
business and money going out. Being consistent with
records is the biggest way to keep your records
straight.
You can actually begin
with a simple journal and ledger book purchased from any
office supply store. By keeping accurate records, it
will be easy for you at the end of the year when you
fill out the Schedule C Form on your tax return.
Remember that even if
your business is considered a hobby, you must still
report income from sales and you can only claim expenses
up to the amount of your hobby income.
As your business grows
and you feel more comfortable, you may want to keep more
information in your bookkeeping system. I use the
software Quickbooks and since I've been in business over
5 years now I can generate a variety of reports
including comparing how my business looked in a previous
year to present. At a click of a button, I can view what
I purchased for each vendor or what each customer has
ever purchased from me. I can track items in inventory
to see if they are good sellers or something that I
should eliminate.
I highly recommend
hiring a good accountant to file your taxes for you. He
or she will be aware of any problems or specifics that
might not occur to you and even save you money or
headaches in the future.
I also keep an
expandable file where I keep all receipts of purchase by
month. That way if I ever need to find anything I can
look up the date in my bookkeeping program and go right
to the receipt. This is also a good system to keep in
case you are ever audited.
At the end of the year
I take all the files and place them in a box that I mark
by January through December of the year and keep the box
on a shelf in case there are any questions in the
future. |
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June 2006 - Let's
Talk About Goals!
We've all thought
about goals and what we expect from aspects of our
lives. Whether it's the aspect of marriage, purchasing a
new home, having a baby, or starting a new business
venture there are always expectations, hopes and dreams.
From the new business perspective everyone usually says
that their number one goal is to make money. This is a
great starting point - now you need to itemize how you
can physically achieve this goal.
One
way to put these into black and white is to itemize them
in an outline format simply called "Marketing Plan
Outline". For example you could start with this
type of example (putting in appropriate line items
geared to your specific goals:
1. Goals
A.
Financial
1. Current monthly average - $1,000
2. Projected monthly average Goal - $1,500
2. Methodology for achieving Goals:
B. Increase Sales
1. Offer Monthly Sale
2. Increase Advertising Budget
3. Increase Website Traffic
4. Increase local awareness
5. Promote coupons
6. Offer wholesale
This
example offers ways to promote your business per the
following year based on past information.
I
find that the best way to look at goals is with the
S.M.A.R.T. Analogy:
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Specific Goals
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Measurable Goals
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Achievable Goals
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Realistic Goals
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Time Related Goals
If
you can make lists of things you would like to achieve,
make sure that they are realistically within your reach,
and move towards achieving them - you will reach your
goals! |
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July 2006 - Never
Underestimate the Power of Children!
When I decided to go
into business officially for myself in January 2001 it
was primarily because I had just been blessed with our
2nd grandchild. I wanted to spend more time with them
and our grown children and cherish the little things
that I felt I had been missing by working so much. I had
done research on different work at home businesses and
decided to jump on the personalized book bandwagon!
This
decision was exciting and I started sending out
different Press Releases to the media regarding my new
business! As they started contacting me for interviews,
I made sure that my grandson was always available to
talk with too. He was amazing and only 5 years old at
the time too! He would pose with my books and answer
questions about the stories as I had made him samples of
each book. Actually, he began to feel that his grandma
was famous and had made all books! ROFLOL!
Children can be the BEST little marketers around. They
are not afraid to walk up to people and proudly tell all
about you and your business. Don't be afraid to share
your ideas and thoughts about your business with your
children. They can really surprise you and be the best
sales people you can have!
Let
your children help you with your business. They can
learn many things and be very helpful. They can be great
packers. If they are old enough they can learn to do
inventory and cut out business cards, design brochures,
pass out flyers etc. Never underestimate the power your
children can have and the impact they can possess for
your business.
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*NOTE FROM DEBBIE:
I'm happy to be able
to offer Linda Walsh's articles to readers here at
Faithful Friends Online! Make sure to visit her sites to
view her wonderful patterns, tips, networking ideas and
so much more. You can click on her links at the bottom
of the following article.
August 2006 - I Wouldn't Know What To Write In A Blog!
I hear this all the time, "I'm not a
writer. I wouldn't know what to write about. I'm not an
expert on anything." Or, "Why should I have a blog?"
Let's take the latter
question first. For those of you that are
unfamiliar with a blog there has been a blog explosion
or blog phenomenon on the internet during the last few
years. Blogs started out as journals for writing down
one's thoughts and opinions and have mushroomed into
full blown websites used both personally and
commercially. Just about everyone and anyone has a blog.
In fact, if you type "blogs" into Google you will come
up with 1,230,000,000 entries. That's a lot of entries
for something that virtually didn't exist over a decade
ago. Unbelievable.
If you're in business you
have a blog. If you're a political commentator you have
a blog. If you want to share your thoughts, photo's,
adventures, etc. you have a blog. If you have a hobby
you love and want to share with others who love that
hobby as well you have a blog. If you're a celebrity you
have a blog. If you just want to keep track of what's
going on in your life and share it with your family you
have a blog. If you're a grandparent and want to tell
family stories and share pictures you have a blog. If
you want to share your opinion of how the country is
being run and politics you have a blog.
If you just want to share
recipes with your friends you have a blog. If you want
to show off your latest creations you have a blog. If
you're a commentator you have a blog. If you're a
teenager and you want to share your day, your gripes,
your pictures, etc. with your friends you have a blog.
If you just like to listen to yourself speak you have a
blog. If you're in a long distance relationship you have
a blog. If you're a global family you have a blog. If
you just want to feel like you're part of the internet
world you have a blog.
Blogs have become the way
to communicate your thoughts, your ideals, your
opinions, your hopes, your desires, in effect, your
life. They have replaced the lovely tradition of
handwritten letters. While I love and cherish the
tradition of handwritten letters blogs are a much better
way to communicate to a lot of people in a fast paced
society. If your blog is made public then they open the
world up to everyone else. How wonderful is that? People
on one side of the globe can read about the lives of
people on the other side of the globe. Amazing. Simply
amazing and astonishing.
Now let's tackle the
first question. When I tell people how wonderful
blogs are they always comment, "I'm not a writer. I
wouldn't know what to write about. I'm not an expert on
anything." Well, the GOOD NEWS is you DON'T HAVE TO BE!
You don't have to be a writer. You don't have to be an
expert on anything. Your blog can be about anything you
want it to be. There are no blog rules. There are no
blog police. Your blog is just that. It's your blog. It
can be whatever you want it to be. There are no right
ways and wrong ways in the blogging community.
You set the rules for
your own blog. No one else. Just you.
You don't even have to make it public until you're
ready. So, what are you waiting for? Come on. Have
some fun. It's time you joined the blogging
community .
Copyright©FREE
Articles Written By Linda Walsh of
Linda Walsh Originals and
Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll
maker and doll pattern designer.
http://lindawalshoriginals.com
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September 2006 - Testing The Blogs
Series
Part 1 - Blogs and Their Features?
I've been thinking about how to approach
my "Testing The Blogs Series" and decided that I should
start with my favorite blog provider.
They are what I would consider the "Cadillac" of blog
providers and then I could go from there. That way all
of the other blog providers that I test and review can
be compared to my favorite.
Now, just because I might consider my favorite blog
provider the "Cadillac" of blog providers doesn't mean
everyone else would.
So, why is that? Well, because blogs are highly
individual. They are very dependent upon the users likes
or dislikes, what they are going to use the blog for,
and their particular skill level. All of these factors
play a role in what kind of blog someone might choose.
For me, I like to manipulate things and
change them to be what I want them to be. Therefore, I
wanted a blog provider that would provide me with a lot
of features and give me the ability to tweak them. In
order to do this they would need to give me access to my
blog's "template" which is the HTML or CSS source coding
for the blog.
But, before we get into all that, if you are new to
"blogging" you would need to know a few things first.
So, what I'm going to do in Part 1 of my "Testing The
Blogs Series" is back track a little and define what a
blog is and then tell you in general terms about some of
the features.
Part 2 of my
"Testing The Blogs Series" will be all the definitions. Just
like text messaging, forum commenting, etc. bloggers have their
own shorthand, words, and definitions, too. You don't have to be
an expert on them right away or know what everything means.
If you're new to "blogging" don't worry. If you decide to create
a blog before too long some of these words will become common
language to you. I'm sure you may have heard some of the terms
already. Some may be more obscure and you may never use them or
know what they mean. I gave them all to you because I like to be
thorough.
And, then in Part 3 of my "Testing The Blog Series" we will get
into the blog providers and the "Cadillac" of blogs.
So, let's start with - What is a blog? Well, according to
"Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia" a blog is defined as:
A weblog, which is
usually shortened to blog, is a type of website where entries
are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse
chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject,
such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more
personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images,
and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to
its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus
on photograph (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting).
The word blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or
add content to a blog.
In simple words, it's a computerized diary or journal with
features defined by a particular blog providers software.
Most blogs are FREE to the user. Some blog
providers charge a fee for their service. All of the blogs that
I use and will be reviewing in my series are FREE
blogs. With so many wonderful blog service providers giving you
a FREE blog with terrific features - why would
you want to pay for it?
Sometimes there is a trade off for getting a FREE
blog. Generally, this is allowing the blog provider to advertise
on the very top or sides of your blog. I don't consider this a
big deal as long as the advertising isn't intrusive.
The blog design, formatting, structure for posts, colors,
content, and layout are, generally, controlled by HTML or CSS
software coding in the blog's "template." Some blog providers
allow you access to this coding, others do not. My preference is
to have access to this as it allows for the most flexibility
with making the blog "my own." This, however, is very dependent
upon your skill level.
Since blogs can be as varied as the blog owners themselves and
the blog providers, what is or isn't contained in a blog can be
as varied. However, generally, blogs contain the following:
Blog Title and blog description (i.e. reason for
the blog).
Profiles of the blog owner may or may not be
contained within a blog subject to the blog owners preferences
and those of the blog provider.
Blog owners post their articles, pictures,
entries, etc. in reverse chronological order with each post
containing the following: Article Title - main title of the
post.; Article Body - main content of the post which may or may
not contain pictures or graphics; Date and Time Article Posted
and blog owners screen name; Articles may be posted in a WYSIWYG
(what-you-see-is-what-you-get) Compose mode or can be posted in
HTML or CSS Edit mode. Or, you can switch back and forth between
the two. How you enter your article is dependent upon your skill
level and the features allowed by the blog provider's software.
Articles can be written and posted in "draft" mode to allow for
editing at a later point in time or to actually post them at a
later date. This allows you to write several articles ahead of
time and post them when you want. From what I understand the
search engines and blog readers like it if you're a frequent
poster. I like to write several articles ahead of time and then
post one per day for several weeks.
Once
the article is published it creates it's own "permalink" which
is the URL of the full, individual article. In other words, each
post is a separate web page with a URL of its' own. Generally,
this is the URL of the blog itself followed by distinguishing
unique identification.
So, each article becomes a separate URL website location for
search engines. The more articles you write the more likely your
blog's articles will be picked up by the search engines.
With "permalinks" you can direct readers to that particular
article's URL within the body of another article. Or, your blog
may contain "Categories" which will house the "permalinks" that
fall under that category (i.e. dolls, wood crafts, craft
promotion, etc.) Some blog providers allow for categories that
are can be set-up ahead of time and determined by the blog
owner. Others do not. Categories provide a way to sort the blog
articles by topic and are usually listed in the sidebar of the
particular blog.
If the blog provider allows for categories, then, generally, you
must determine which category your blog article belongs in
before publishing it. For others you can enter HTML or CSS
coding to the sidebar of your blog so that your blog articles
will be sorted by "keyword" or "phrase" category. For this type
of category listing you must make sure that the blog title or
body of the article contains the "keyword" or "phrase" that the
category is going to sort on. Otherwise it won't be picked up in
the category sorting.
If you are using your blog to support your small business craft
website and want to target your specific clientele then you
might want to make sure that all of your blog articles contain
keywords specific to your audience. That achieves two purposes.
One, your articles are picked up by the search engines for your
particular audience and two, your articles will be sorted by
category for your specific topics.
Each article post may or may not allow for readers to comment on
the article. Most blog owners allow for commenting. After all,
if your blog is public what is the point of writing an article
and posting a picture if not to receive feedback? Plus, this is
a big benefit for small business craft website owners as it
allows the websites customers to post their comments.
Blog owners may or may not have the ability to screen the
comments before they are posted. This is dependent upon your
blog providers software.
Also, commenting may or may not require word verification. All
of my blogs do because this prevents blog commenting spam. Yes,
you have to worry about "spam" with your blogs, too. Like e-mail
spam there are robot spam programs that flood a blog with
advertising in the form of bogus comments. For this reason some
blog providers allow you to ban certain IP addresses from
commenting on your blog or have software built into their
systems that prevents spamming on their blog users sites.
Also, when a comment is posted by a reader it is generally
considered in good blog taste for the blog owner to respond with
a comment of their own. For small business craft website owners
this allows for an interaction between you and your customer
that others can join in on. Blog owners who don't respond to
comments may be considered a "Blogsnob", which is a person who
refuses to respond to comments on their blog from people outside
their circle of friends.
Owners of the blogs can determine whether or not their blog is
seen by the public or whether they are strictly private. Owners
can also determine whether or not their blogs are to be made
available to the various blog feed services.
Some blog providers allow you to make your blog "semi-public."
That is you determine who will be in your "circle of friends"
and specifically invite them to join your blog group. If they
haven't been given access to view your blog then they can't view
it.
Published articles are stored in the blog's archives and
organized by day, week, or month. Some blog providers allow you
to determine this yourself. Others do not.
Blogs may or may not have a list of "recent posts" which may
contain the titles of your last few posts. This is dependent
upon the blog providers software.
Some blogs allow for readers to subscribe to their blog. What
this means is that every time an article is published for that
blog the reader is notified by email, if that's the type of
subscription they signed up for, or notified via RSS feed to
their subscription service account. What this means is that the
reader (i.e. subscriber to your blog) is notified automatically
when your blog is updated and doesn't actually have to visit
your blog to see if it's been updated.
Of course, this only informs the reader of article updates. It
doesn't tell the reader if the blog owner has added anything
else to the sidebars of their blog that may be of interest to
the reader.
Blogs may or may not have sidebars or other
informational frames. These may contain links to other websites
that the blog owner wishes to tell you about, links to the blog
owners other websites, general information that the blog owner
wishes you to know about them, pictures, and graphics such as
blinkies, which are small blinking graphics. Other graphics may
be included as well and can range from the very tiny that can be
read on little mini screens to larger graphics that are easily
read on larger computer monitors.
Also, there may be various types of settings for different blogs
(i.e. # of posts to show, formats, site feed setting, allow the
blog to be seen by the public or not, comment settings, etc.)
that you need to set. Usually each is set-up for a default or
recommended setting.
So, now you know what a blog is and some general blog providers
features. Next you'll learn some blogging terms. And, after that
you'll discover who my favorite blog provider or "Cadillac" is.
I bet you can hardly wait!
What? You can't wait? You demand to know now!
Geez! Impatient aren't we!
For those of you who are familiar with my
Linda's Blog,
DOLLS Blog,
"I Love Crafts and Craft Blogs" , and "Tips
For Crafters On The Web" this should come as no
surprise. It's
Blogger.com.
Why are they my favorite and the "Cadillac"? You'll have to tune
in to Part 3 of my "Testing The Blog Series." It's all about
Blogger.com
and the blogs I have there. Don't worry it's not all accolades.
There are some things about Blogger.com that I don't like. Tune
in and you'll find out what they are.
Copyright©FREE
Articles Written By Linda Walsh of
Linda Walsh Originals and
Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll
maker and doll pattern designer.
http://lindawalshoriginals.com |
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October 2006 - Are Blogs Really
Helpful?
I get asked all the time - "Would a blog
really be helpful to my small business website? The
answer is definitely "YES."
You might be wondering -
"How?"
Well, for many reasons.
Today, we are going to look at one reason
- Search Engines. Future "Tips From The Blogging Queen"
columns will look at some of the other reasons.
So, one reason they can be helpful to
your small business website is that they can help
towards getting your small business website noticed in
the search engines.
Let me explain by telling you that I
started my main doll pattern website in June of 2005 and
my 2nd main handmade dolls & crafts website in May 2006.
I started my main blog in June 2005 and have published
over 250 articles (i.e. posts) to date. All of my
websites and blogs have links to each other.
Well, my main blog has a better Google
Page Rank then my two main websites. My main blog has a
Google page rank of 4 while my websites are a 3 and a 2,
respectively. So, articles published on my blog have
better search engine ranking and visibility then my two
main websites do.
Does this help me? Absolutely! How? Well,
let's take a look at Google's own explanation of Page
Rank. According to
Google - Technology
PageRank Is Explained As:
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its
vast link structure as an indicator of an individual
page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from
page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But,
Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or
links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that
casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are
themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to
make other pages "important."
Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google
remembers each time it conducts a search.
Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they
don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank
with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find
pages that are both important and relevant to your
search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a
term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the
page's content (and the content of the pages linking to
it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.
My main blog is ranked as more
"important" than my two main websites and as such makes
my other pages (i.e. main websites) more important.
Every time I write an article I make sure that my
article mentions "keywords" that I want the search
engines to hone in on. Also, every time I write and
publish an article for my blog I always add the same
information at the bottom of each published post.
Published by: MY MAIN WEBSITE NAME with Clickable Link
and my main website byline. That way every article that
is published has a link back to my main website. A
"keyword" within the body of the article to hone in on
and a link that the Google search engines can follow, as
well as a clickable link that the web searcher can
follow. Since each article published in a blog creates
it's own unique url and since I have published over 250
articles on just my main blog alone, that means that I
have over 250 unique url's with links back to my main
website for the search engines to utilize.
The more exposure, the more likely I will
be in the search results. Will that help my business? I
would certainly hope so. What do all the experts tell
you is the most important thing you can do for a
business? It's "Advertise." Well, every article I post
to my blog is FREE advertising for my
main website.
So, are blogs really helpful? I would
hope you would agree that they are. Please stay tuned to
my next "Tips From The Blogging Queen" column where
we'll be looking at other ways that blogs can be helpful
to your small business website.
Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved Written By Linda Walsh of
Linda Walsh Originals and
Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and
doll pattern designer.
http://lindawalshoriginals.com
"Tips From The Blogging Queen"
Column 1 Definition
BLOGSNOB - A person who refuses to respond to comments on their
blog from people outside their circle of friends. Be
sure to tune in to future TFTBQ Columns on "Commenting
On Blogs and How That Can Be Helpful To Your Small
Business Website!"
Copyright©FREE
Articles Written By Linda Walsh of
Linda Walsh Originals and
Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll
maker and doll pattern designer.
http://lindawalshoriginals.com
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November/December 2006 -
Commenting On Blogs &
How That Can Be Helpful
to Your Small Business Website
In my last "Tips From The Blogging
Queen" Column 1 Definition -
we learned that a "BLOGSNOB" is a person who refuses to
respond to
comments on their blog from people outside their circle
of friends. Is this a
good thing? No.
Why not? For one reason, it's just plain rude. And, for
two - you want your blog readers to feel like you are
reading their comments. After all, they took the time to
read your blog and comment on it. You should at least
take the time to respond to their comments.
Plus, reason number three is exposure for your blog
which, hopefully, translates into exposure for your
small business website.
Commenting on other people's blogs can be helpful to
your blog and small
business website. How?
Well, the reason you created your small business website
blog was to gain
exposure for your small business website. Commenting on
other people's blogs, especially if they are in the same
field as you, is a way to gain exposure by directing
them to your blog.
Most blog owners love people who comment on their blog.
After all, you write the blog to get it noticed and
read, don't you? If you comment about a blog owners blog
and provide a link back to your blog they are more than
likely to visit your blog. If they like your blog then
they are more than likely to add your blog to their list
of blog links or blogroll.
Does this help you? Absolutely. Links to your blog are
just as important as
links to your website. You spend a lot of time
exchanging banners with similar small business websites
in order to gain exposure in the search engines. The
same logic holds true for your blog. You want to link to
blogs that are of a similar nature in the industry your
website is in. The more important their blog is (i.e.
Google Page Rank) the better it is for your blog.
So, why else should you respond to comments on your
blog? Because you never know if the commenter is a
current customer or future customer of yours.
Blogs for small business websites are a means to
"personalize" you to your
customer. Customers can communicate with you and your
blog article by means of a comment. If you don't take
the time to respond to a comment from a potential
customer what does that say about you and your business?
So, are comments helpful? Absolutely. They provide
exposure, potential blog
links, and a means of communication with your customer.
Do you want to become a "BLOGSNOB?" Absolutely NOT?
Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved Written By
Linda Walsh of
Linda Walsh Originals and
Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and
doll pattern designer.
http://lindawalshoriginals.com
"Tips From The Blogging Queen"
Column 1 Definition
BLAUDIENCE - The audience, or readership, of
a blog. Be sure to tune in to future TFTBQ Columns on
"Who Is Your Audience and What Should You Tell Them?"
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See also Archived Newsletter
Articles for
2004 &
2006 |
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