Surefire Tips for Customising Your Blog
Starting up a blog is probably one of the smartest ways a Virtual Assistant can invest their time and effort. It’s the first thing most people will see of your business, so there’s absolutely no margin for error. Trying to make it too extravagant or complex is largely futile. These days, you don’t need a computer expert to do the job for you, because everything necessary is readily available, most of it for free.
The one point that I would recommend, if this is going to be your primary internet presence as a Virtual Assistant, then you should have your own Hosting Package and a domain name that’s the same as your business name, or as close to it as you can get it. The steps you need to follow when developing your blog are:
First of all, before you begin, here is a big warning: Keep your site classy and uncluttered, simplicity is everything! Ensure that the site is easy for your users to get around, so that they can quickly find what they’re looking for. Whilst in technological terms it may be state of the art, your blog still needs to appear stylish.
1. The first thing to do is to pursue some keyword research around the topics you are going to talk about on your blog. From this you can identify the most optimised names for the blog. From this you can identify the most optimised names for the blog.
2. Your next step is to research the blog platform that you are going to use. There are a great number of choices available, offered by providers such as WordPress.org – the Moveable Type for the self hosted option, or the likes of WordPress.com, Typepad, Blogger, Blogspot or Blogsmith for hosted platforms. The things you really need to make sure that you do are:
* Use a platform that is widely support by a very active community.
* Use something that is portable, and always keep a back up should anything go wrong.
3. Once you have chosen the platform, sign up using one of the optimised names that you chose for the blog, or install the site onto your own domain.
4. Choose the template that you want to use, and make sure that:
* It ’s appropriate to your topic.
* You fully customise it with headers, pictures, buttons and so on to make your blog stand out.
* The end result suits your style and brand.
5. Once you have completed this see what else you are able to add to your site, i.e. available widgets and plug-ins.
6. When you’re comfortable with the general style, you should add some posts to get a good idea of how the blog will appear once users start to interact with it. Once you’ve verified all is well, make any adjustments necessary to improve the style and visible structure.
7. When you are happy with the overall look you can then publish your blog.
Maintaining your blog can be challenging as you really should post more than once a week, two or three unique posts at them minimum would be best. You should be displaying something that visitors will want to return for – and motivate these users to opt-in to your feed.
Remember that this is an online business blog and you’re displaying your corporate image, so keep the discussions agreeable, as you want to put forth your individuality while still remaining completely professional. Don’t intermingle business with pleasure on your site, and as you don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, try to stay away from any sort of controversial subjects.
Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, an accomplished Executive Virtual Assistant Service which helps companies of all sizes reach their commercial targets. Want to get more information about online business building success strategies that really work? Then why not get involved with the Campaign for FREE Virtual Assistance now!
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4 Tips to Staying Motivated in the Midst of Failure
Most successful people have failed miserably. That’s right. At one time or another they have flopped, fell short, missed the mark, struck out and goofed up royally. However, the difference between these people and the rest of the world is that when they failed, they made a choice to use the experience to better themselves…to become stronger.
Are you determined to reach your goal? Do you really believe you can achieve what you set out to accomplish? With determination and belief, you too can make the same choice to turn a failed situation into a winning one. How? By choosing to adapt a positive perspective and engage in edifying self-talk. Here are four opportunities to stay motivated in the midst of failure:
“The Only Direction is UP” or “It Can’t Get Any Worse”
Feel like you’ve hit rock bottom? Don’t beat up on yourself too badly. To experience disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment and/or self-doubt is to be human. However, to wallow in this state for too long is downright destructive. Tell yourself that it doesn’t get much worse than this point of failure and let yourself know that the only place left to go is “upward.” Use the failure as motivation to start climbing back up. When you do this, you will see that instead of running from failure you will look it in the eye and overcome it.
“I Have a Chance to Do Better Next Time”
As long as you’re breathing, there’s always room for improvement. Choose to use your failure as motivation to do better the next time around. When you remember your goal and envision reaching it, you will be super-charged to find ways to develop yourself. For example, if you need to do better in school, make (and follow) a consistent study schedule. If you are intent on a promotion at work, take classes to increase your skill-set. No matter what the failed task consists of, you can use it to motivate yourself to get more done.
“Hmmm, I May Need to Change Direction”
Does it seem like you’ve come to a roadblock? Then the solution may just be detouring and moving toward your goal in a different way. When something does not work out as planned, you need to re-evaluate the route you are taking. So review the situation, re-group and get on a track “around” that roadblock. The track may be a different one, but it may also be a more successful one.
“This is Not the End of the Line”
Know this: everyone fails from time to time but failure is not the end of the line unless you allow it to be. You blundered, you tried, you failed and it hurts. Allow yourself time to grieve it but then let it go so that you can get back to the business of reaching your intended goal. Your goal IS your motivation. Remind yourself that the only positive option is to seek ways to turn the situation around. Then tell yourself that in the morning, you will begin again!
Converting A Blog Into A Money Making Opportunity
If you have hosted your own blog and have managed to obtain some traffic arriving on the blog, then it is probably time to look into what different methods are accessible to you to start Creating An Income From A Blog. This might be just a spot of additional pocket money, or even a full fresh income stream if you are posting an adequate amount and happy to put the time in.
The primary, and easiest, manner for earning an income by means of a website is Google Adsense. With this you show adverts chosen by Google and every time that somebody clicks on an advert Google pays you a fraction. There are in addition further related systems about, but Adsense is probably the best recognized and most extensively used. The great advantage of these systems is that they assess your website and work out what adverts are most fitting to the content of each page. This means that they can be seen as adding meaning to your pages as they are providing more constructive information to your visitors.
A further approach of creating an income is direct selling by means of affiliate schemes. If a post is talking in relation to a certain widget, then see if you can link to a seller of these widgets. If somebody reads about the widget, clicks the link and buys one then you will make a commission. It’s best here to sign up to one of the large affiliate scheme providers rather than individual merchants as they will build up your commissions across several merchants, rather than waiting for every merchant to reach the minimum payment balance.
A modification on this is selling Ebooks, either created by yourself or created by other people and sold by means of related affiliate schemes. Like selling real books, you might be pushing books that feature extra information or related information
An alternative that various people have tried and even more don’t know exist is Pay Per Post advertising. With this you sign up to the scheme and wait for proper opportunities to come along. After one does you read the directions and write a post to suit. On condition that the advertiser is content that you have done what you are expected to, you will pick up a payment. This might be something like $2, or if you have a good blog and a lot of traffic and a generous offer comes along, then the potential for earning can be a lot bigger. Even if these sound great, your blog does typically need to have existed for a while and there are each time particular circumstances, such as successive posts cannot be paid posts.
Whatever manner you try for earning an income, produce plenty of content and write about what you know. Then it’s just down to traffic generation to generate a stable stream of visitors that will make the profit for you. If you want more Creating An Income From A Blog, visit the blog.
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At Last! A Powerful Affiliate Marketing Blog!
Many people sign up to an affiliate promotion opportunity, place some ads, and sit back waiting for that first $1,000 or $50,000 to roll in with their name on it. Naturally, only discontent rolls in when they realize that this wasn’t a get-rich plan; it wasn’t even a make-a-few-extra-dollars plan. If only they had read a good Affiliate Marketing Blog before! In a number of cases they do put the work in, but the commissions still aren’t coming, or little amounts are coming few and far between. Infrequently it isn’t the work you do, but the product you are promoting. There are a number of yes and dont’s when it comes to picking your affiliates that will make the difference between a disheartening venture and a profitable one.
Don’t select an internet promotion opportunity simply because others are making money at it (Exception for Clickbank Quantum). That may sound like the opposite of what you need to do. You want the programs that are making folks money, right? Not always. It all depends on the program. If it is something that intrigues you, that you think you can promote well, then it’s worth considering. But if a program called “Become a Millionaire Selling Futures Online” is the one that every top Internet marketer is drooling over now, irrespective of how much money it makes them, if you know nothing about futures or the people that could might be interested in this subject, it’ll take lots of work for you to make a profit from it. And why not spend that time and do that work on something you already know about, and enjoy?
Do select programs that interest you. If you’ve got an eagerness for something, it shows. Your website will have fascinating content because you are interested and you have information to share. Select an internet marketing opportunity that’s related to a subject that interests you, and you will naturally spend more time promoting it, and you’ll have a better chance at success.
Don’t employ a free service for your website. Naturally you don’t want to spend a lot of cash, particularly not in the beginning when you’re not sure of your profits. But free services put ads on the page in the shape of sidebars, banners and worst of all, pop-up ads. These make your website look cheap and less trustworthy.
Do purchase a domain name related to your topic. Don’t just purchase a domain name called jimsbusiness.com and expect folks to flock there. Decide what type of internet promotion opportunity you are going to market first, then ensure that’s clear in your domain name.
Do promote some related products. You can start out with with one simply to get your feet wet, but then casually add in references and links to some more merchants offering related products and affiliate marketing programs. This does not just fill your site, it gives you more chances to sell.
Follow these dos and don’ts and read everything about web marketing that you can, and you may help yourself succeed with an affiliate marketing opportunity. Get more knowledge now by reading this article about PPC Marketing 101.
Global Day of Prayer St. Louis
The Global Day of Prayer event in St. Louis was May 31, 2009! Area Christians met at the new St. Louis University Chaifetz Arena.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:1-4
Global Day of Prayer 2009
Global Day of Prayer 2009 included at least one prayer gathering from every single nation, a historic first. The free-will offering was collected to benefit the St. Patrick Center and Habitat for Humanity St. Louis
I want to encourage every Christian in the surrounding area to be prepared to participate at next years event.
Maven Approved
