One of the easiest things you can do to start publicizing your business on the Internet is to set up a blog. There are many free blog platforms on the Internet, and the choices keep increasing. Below is a list of free blogs you can choose from other than just Blogger.com and WordPress.com:
– Blog.com
– Blogster.com
– Bravenet.com
– Flatpress.com
– Klatcher.com
– Lifetype.com
– Livejournal.com
– Moveabletype.com
– Multiply.com
– Serendipity.com
– Textpattern.com
– Xanga.com
– Tumblr.com
You can have a fully functioning blog up and running in five minutes or less with any one of these free blog platforms.
However, it can be somewhat difficult to find inspiration to keep your blog updated with fresh content once you have it set up. There is nothing worse than checking out a blog only to find that it hasn’t been updated for the last few weeks. A stale blog doesn’t show that you’re dedicated about your business.
The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to keep ideas flowing for your blog. Blog posts don’t have to be a certain length, and they can differ in style as well is in subject matter. So, here are some tips to help you come up with ideas to keep your blog updated regularly.
Blogging Advice Tip #1: Product Reviews
Look for products in your niche that you can test and write a review about. Give an honest, unbiased review looking at both the good and bad sides of the product, and your readers will be more likely to trust your recommendation.
Remember, blogging helps in building trust and building your brand. So, giving honest reviews will benefit you in the long run, even if you put some people off from buying the product.
Writing product and book reviews can also be a great way to monetize your blog. Add your affiliate link that takes the reader from your blog to the product sales page. If they buy the product or book from your link, you’ll earn a commission for that sale.
Blogging Advice Tip #2: Book Reviews
Get in the habit of reading books related to your industry and writing reviews about them on your blog. Sign up to Amazon.com as an associate, and post an affiliate link to the book you are reviewing on your blog.
As you write your product reviews, make sure you include both the positive and negative aspects to build trust with your readers.
Blogging Advice Tip #3: Website Reviews
Review some of your competitor’s websites and online business models. Yes, some of your traffic will most likely disappear to their websites, but this will also attract more traffic to your blog, and you’ll build up your reputation in your field.
Also, researching your competitor’s websites will give you ideas on what to talk about and some great ideas to improve your own website and business model at the same time.
Blogging Advice Tip #4: Lists
Lists are very popular on the blogosphere. Be sure to include list posts as part of your blog posts. A good list post will yield dividends for months or even years to come as people link to it or talk about it on forums and other social networking sites.
Blogging Advice Tip #5: Instructions
Instructional posts give detailed information about how to do something or other tasks related to your business. Instructional posts are especially useful ways to train your readers to get to know about your products and how they work. You will be addressing the readers as if they were already using your products, but of course many of them will not yet have become customers. This is a great way to suggest to your readers the value of becoming customers without directly selling to them.
You can extend detailed instructions over two or three posts. You can mix in other types of blog posts between your instructional posts if you wish, but be sure to link each instructional post to the next and the previous one in the sequence.
Blogging Advice Tip #6: Quick Tips
Quick tips are an especially valuable form of blog posting. The beauty of them is that they are short and sweet. So, you can post them in between your longer posts to provide some variety.
A quick tip type of post should not be any more than 150 words long, and some can be much shorter than that. Get into the habit of thinking up quick tips, or one-point snippets of information that you composed on your blog in just a couple of minutes. Quick tips are a great way to keep your blog alive when you don’t have the time or inspiration to write a longer blog post.
Blogging Advice Tip #7: Interviews
Interview someone in your niche and then publish the interview on your blog. A good interview will bring several benefits to your blog. Not only will it provide valuable unique content, but it will also build your credibility as an expert in your field and help you build traffic to your blog.
Blogging Advice Tip #8: Guest Blogging
Finally, invite other people to post articles on your blog. This is a great way to keep your blog alive and to populate it with unique content on many different topics and in a variety of different styles. Offer to provide some publicity and a link back to the website of the guest blogger. Armed with these tips, you should never run out of ideas to blog about on your free blog platform.