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Posts Tagged Blogging

Blogging FAQs

Jul 5

Posted by digit in Blogging | No Comments

Once you decide to start blogging, you are certainly going to be asking yourself a lot of questions. Everyone does when they step into these unchartered waters. The best place to get answers is the Internet itself. You will be amazed at how almost every question you want to ask may have been already answered for you. Just search for these. And it is the best way to learn. No book can be comprehensive and updated enough to guide you through. In the meantime, here are some answers you might be seeking right away.

What does it cost?

Blogging can cost nothing if you use free platforms like Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. However, it is highly recommended you go for your own domain and hosting which costs money but you could do so with a figure as low as a under five hundred rupees a month. It makes your blog sound more professional and gives you total control over it.

If you would rather not tinker with the technology and setting up of the blog, you can always hire a programmer for a few thousand rupees to get you going.

Which platform should you use?

By far the best choice is Wordpress.org. You will need to have your own domain and hosting for it, but services like GoDaddy.com (http://godaddy.com) make it a very simple process for you. You can also go for Wordpress.com but you are not allowed to carry ads on these.

When do you blog?

There are no fixed schedules for these. If you are working elsewhere, evenings and weekends might be your best bet. If you have gone into blogging full time, you can be the master of your own time.

More..!

If you have any question, you can post it on the comments and I would try my best to answer it. Would like to hear from you.

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Why blogging?

Jul 5

Posted by Dharmavirsinh Jhala in Blogging | 1 Comment

I believe developers and technologies should blog basically it helps in creating their web presence and sharing their ideas and thoughts, it does not matter how big or small it is. There are numerous benefits if a developer starts blogging online as there are numerous platforms available which lets one write free blogs without spending a single penny.

Blogging skills/basics:

Blogging requires good writing skills and passion to write, it requires that one should be able to spend some of his time on every few days for blogging if everyday is not possible. As I try to spare some of my time on weekends to have some new posts on my blog, as I can't spend anytime on my working days. It requires one to write with consistency as you must serve something new to your visitors to make them visit again and again. You must write something new which is uncommon or if you are a technologist or programmer you can post problems you might have faced and solutions you have come up with. Something you might have done which you were not able to find solution with googling skills.

3Cs of Blogging - Competencies, Capacity and Comfort

3Cs of Blogging - Competencies, Capacity and Comfort

I believe above picture says it all.

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Making money online: Want to see the money?

Jun 28

Posted by digit in Blogging | 3 Comments

If you have done all the above correctly, then you could well be on the way to making some money for yourself from blogging. These are the various avenues you can explore:

Advertising

This is what we have all grown up believing since the dotcom got associated with stories of riches. Get the eyeballs, advertising will follow and you can live it up. This is how all media survives. If you have the audience, advertisers cannot ignore you.

The simplest way to start is to sign for a service like Google’s Adsense. Acting as a middleman, Google approaches advertisers all over the world and automatically places ads on blogs and sites that sign up with them. The advertisement that gets displayed is contextual to the content on the site, and it is all done automatically.

All you need to do is create a free account and get a code from them that you place in your site program. And the ads will start coming up. The more the number of people who view or click on the ad, the more revenue you generate.

It sounds great in theory but you have to have a lot of traffic to earn enough to feel good about. Few people know how Google decides the percentage to share with you, but it is a very small one for sure. The few cents you get per click will add up to something chunky only if you have people queuing up to read your blog. Not the smartest way to monetise your blog.

Blogging for money pyramid

Blogging for money pyramid

How about pitching for ads directly from potential advertisers instead of making someone else rich? This way all the revenue you generate is yours to keep. In some cases you may have to shell out 15 percent agency commission but that is a standard practice. And Google does not even pay you 15 percent of all revenues it generates through your traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

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Making money online: Content Sources

Jun 28

Posted by digit in Blogging | 2 Comments

One of the bigger challenges for bloggers is generating fresh and unique content at a consistent pace. There are many reasons why it is not easy. Monotony or bloggers block can cause spirits to wane. They may not have enough content to generate. If the purpose is to make money, a lot of time may need to be spent on marketing leaving lesser time for content. If you are blogging part time, your day job might not leave you with enough time or energy to write content.

There are ways to overcome this challenge by generating content from alternate sources. Not only to take care of the issues mentioned here, but also to add more variety and depth to the content. This is where you can get content from when you are not able to provide yourself adequately:

Guest Writers: It is not uncommon to invite others to contribute to your blog if they have something relevant to add. The guest could write a one-off post, or even agree to post something at a regular frequency. Their motivation to do so may be an opportunity to be featured in what they consider a quality media outlet, to do you a favour or even to earn some money. The last mentioned can be an option if you have a budget to pay writers.
Make it a collaborative blog: While blogs are usually perceived as one-person efforts, it need not be the rule. Nor is it always the case especially when operations cross a certain level. You could partner with one or more persons on the blog giving you more contributors. Even if everyone cannot write, division of labour can ensure all necessary functions like content, marketing and technology are given their due attention by the various partners.
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Making money online: How to Market your Blog?

Jun 28

Posted by digit in Blogging | 1 Comment

Setting up a blog is as easy as it gets—getting traffic is another proposition altogether. Yes, blogs by their very nature are supposed to be search engine optimization ready but there is a catch: Your blog needs to break free from the millions of blogs jostling with each other for attention. And till you don’t get traffic, you cannot make money from a blog. At least through some of the direct means.

Here is what you can do to get the eyeballs to look your way:

Promotion

If every good product sold on its own, advertising would not have been a career option. Even when you have hit the sweet spot with your product, you need to promote it. Try these ideas—based on a mix of conventional thought and the science of how bits and bytes behave in cyberspace:

Get other sites to link to you: In an ideal world, everyone you want will link from their site to yours. Poof, and you could be in business overnight. The more blogs and sites that link to you, the better you fare in search engine rankings. If wishes were horses! Keep trying, and you will have sites linking to you over a period of time. It may take a year or longer of blogging for things to start happening for you. Remember, other sites will link to you only if your content is good. Period.

Get yourself some links: Till WSJ.com does not link to you, visit the site and other blogs and leave comments on topics of shared interest—with your link. This is one way to generate some traffic faster - find blogs in your niche area and leave meaningful comments on posts with your blog’s address.
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Making money online: Choosing a blog type

Jun 28

Posted by digit in Blogging | 1 Comment

You can decide to blog about your personal habits, but no one would care about that unless you happen to be Paris Hilton. It would still be fine but we are here to help you make money. To achieve this objective, your blog should fall under one of the following categories:

1. Identify a gap in the market, and go for it

If you think everything there is to write on every possible subject is already being written, think again. Despite India not lagging behind in the blog roll calls, there is still a dearth of quality blogs with content being written consistently on them. A majority of blogs still focus on personal musings or public interest issues. Both these categories make for lesser subjects when it comes to making money. Just look around and you will be amazed at the number of topics you could cover: technology, automobiles, health, fitness, business, consumer goods, books, sports, marketing, travel, investing and fashion to name just a few. Even these can be further broken down to give you a niche. In technology, you could have separate blogs for mobiles, computers, social media, gadgets, software, programming etc.

Blogging makes you a better marketer

Blogging makes you a better marketer


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Making money online: Define your Product

Jun 28

Posted by digit in Blogging | No Comments

It is not possible that you have not heard about Blogging yet..! Everyone from Amitabh Bachchan to your neighbour’s wife seems to have one. Various estimates put the number at over 100 million globally, with readerships of each varying from millions to just the blogger and his dog. It’s time you added to the number and start your own.

Yes, there is chaos out there. And a big clutter. How can you make money from a blog when most people don’t? There are ways for your blog to go beyond being a mere statistic and making a healthy contribution to your personal balance sheet. The following could help you get started:

Define your Product

Every suggestion in the book on monetizing your blog will come to nought if your product is not strong. For a blog, the product is mainly content. What is more important in a newspaper: the quality of production or what it offers to read? Same holds true for a blog.

Start by asking why you are writing a blog. This will bring clarity on who you are writing for, and this in turn will help you determine what you are writing. Readers will come to you only if you carry something impactful, informative or even humorous for them. Just because so many blogs have little more than incoherent ramblings of the publisher does not mean you have to subscribe to such low denominators.

Blogging Dimensions - To be taken care of

Blogging Dimensions - To be taken care of


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