How to Get People Commenting on your Blog Like Crazy

One of the most interesting features of a blog is the
commenting function. Because of it the blog doesn’t
have to be a one way flow of information. The ability
to accept comments turns a simple web page into an
invitation to communicate.

I’m sure that you’ve visited busy blogs that get lots
of comment activity. The interaction comes close to
what we see on a community forum, only the blog owner
has control over the subject that their visitors get
to comment on. The give and take of ideas is fun and
adds valuable fresh content to the website.

If you’re a new blogger, you may have realized that
the availability of commenting isn’t a guarantee that
people will actually leave a comment. It does take
work to get people commenting on your blog. This can
be a bit frustrating but there are some ways that you
can increase the number of comments on your blog.

Ask Questions
One simple approach is to ask your blog readers a
question. End your blog post with an express
invitation to answer one of your burning questions.

Am I right or wrong? (Ask opinions)
Ask your readers if they agree with your blog post
or if they have another opinion.

Ask for advice
Ask your blog visitors if they have ever experienced
anything like what you’re dealing with. Invite them
to give you tips and share their own stories.

Ask friends for help
Sometime silence is hard to break. Ask a friend to
make comments on your blog and offer to do the same
for them. When others visit and see other comments
it gives them the courage to add their own.

Respond to comments faithfully
When someone is brave enough to make a response to
your posts, you should make a quick reply. Thank
them for sharing their thoughts and providing you
with feedback. Return the favor and post a comment
on their blog. This will encourage them to come back
and comment again soon.

Whichever approach you choose, remember that many
of your visitors may not have experience in using
a blog. Give them specific directions on how to
respond.
(Click on “Comments” and share your thoughts.)

Advertising For Increased Traffic

So you have yourself a plan to make those goals
become a reality. Advertising is a part of that
plan. Advertising brings traffic to your site
on a regular basis. Finding the resources that
deliver can be a challenge.


To that end, I do ongoing research to find
resources that actually work. This company
came highly recommended to me, and upon reading
their information, looks to be one of the
better, and AFFORDABLE, advertising venues I
have come across. I am going to try it out and
I will post the results for everyone to read
here.

I'll just touch on some of their benefits,
then let you visit them, and decide for yourself.

*Easy and Simple to start and manage all your ad
campaigns.

*Guaranteed Performance based advertising that
helps increase return on your advertising investment.
(up to 50% performance guarantee on most ad campaigns)

*Most Competitive Ad Rates that cuts your overhead
expenses and saves money. Start bringing in new
customers for rates as low as $12.99.

*Diversified and innovative advertising methods.
Use different advertising methods that are proven
to work. Email marketing, sponsorship advertising,
targeted text based pay per click, and banner
advertising.

*Fast and easy delivery. No waiting around days
or weeks to get your campaign started. Your campaign
can be processed within 24 to 48 hours.

*Fast and helpful customer service. You can call,
email them, or chat with representatives.

*Accurate and real-time tracking, gives you detailed
reports on each of your campaigns.

*Reporting And Feedback. Your representative will
send timely reports and feedbacks for all of your
campaigns.

*Personal Attention. Your ads and campaigns will
get personal attention from experienced advertising
representatives.

*Run Multiple Campaigns, track and manage campaigns
all in one place.

*Free Consultation. Call and discuss your goals
and plans with our experienced staff.

*Reach Only Targeted prospects. With 66 interest
groups and targets, you can reach the group of
people who are interested in your particular offer.

*Choose your demographics. Target your offers to
USA Only, UK Only, USA & Canada, or Worldwide.

*Affiliate program pays 15% recurring ad revenues
from all your referrals.

Check it out and I think you'll agree this company
has it together, when it comes to your advertising
needs!
http://www.rent-a-list.com/s/i/perfectangel

** PROBIZTIPS KWIK ARTICLE **

Diane at ProBizTips always has truly excellent pointers in
her newsletter. Here is her latest article on advertising
which naturally brings regular traffic to your site.

10 Methods for Free Advertising
By Diane Hughes
============================================

When you are just starting out with your online business,
marketing can be a tough sell for your pocketbook. You may
not have the kind of budget you need to get the word out
about your product or service. However, you can market your
new site and your expertise with no c.ost to you except some
time and effort. Here are ten effective ways to market your
site for free:

1. Search engine submission - This should be your first
step when you create a website. Avoid any services that
charge you to submit to a number of sites. Most of these
sites are too small to bother with and you can find the
larger ones on your own. Also s.ubmit to niche sites,
such as s.earch engines for your area or industry.

2. Linking - Establish a links page on your site as soon
as possible. This will allow you to swap promotion with
other relevant and quality sites.

3. Blogging - This form of updating your site is a
wonderful way to stay in touch with clients and potential
clients. You can post as often as you like and the more
posts you have, the more hits you will get on search
engines when people search for the topic of your post.

4. Newsletter - This is one of the best ways to build a
loyal customer base. You can start an informative newsletter
that will go out to a targeted audience. Start a sign up box
on every page of your website to let people submit their
email addresses. They will pass the newsletter to others
if it is of good quality.

5. Viral marketing - Viral marketing is the use of products
sold online to spread the word about your site. You can sell
ebooks, samples, and mini courses that will include links
and references to your website.

6. Forums and bulletin boards - Post regularly on forums
and bulletin boards that target your potential customer
base. You are not allowed to promote your site in these
posts, but you can use a signature that includes your web
address or perhaps some link to a viral marketing product.
Check with the forum guidelines before you post.

7. Article distribution - Write some articles with your
customer base in mind. They will consider you an expert
and refer to you for future needs. You will get a signature
section where you can tout your expertise or promote your
product and link to your site. You can find article
distribution sites by searching on the web.

8. Article swapping - You should always allow for rewrites
of your articles with the inclusion of your bio at the
bottom. This will spread the word and allow for multiple
publications. Also reprint the articles of related experts
on your blog or in your newsletter to encourage
reciprocation.

9. Cross promoting - You can also start partnerships
with other websites that allow you to cross promote
your services, newsletters, and other products.

10. Networking - There are online business networking
opportunities available today that allow you to join and
reap the benefits of swapping articles and job leads.

How RSS Can Work for You

RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. When you think of the word ‘syndication’ you probably think about a syndicated newspaper column, meaning the column appears in a variety of newspapers around the country or the world. There’s also syndicated television. A program that goes ‘into syndication’ is picked up by a large number of television stations for rebroadcast.

So how does this syndication apply to you? You make use of RSS when you make your blog entries available for syndication. RSS is really what sets a blog apart from a regular old website.

You may know that a blog is really just a simple content management system. You enter your text and it creates pages for you and sets up navigation to the page. When you post to a blog, it also adds information about your post to a special RSS file that becomes your ‘feed’.

The location of this feed file becomes your ‘feed address’ otherwise known as your ‘RSS feed’. This is all done automatically so you don’t really have to know a lot about how it happens, just that it does happen. And that is a really good thing for most of us. lol What is important is that you take advantage of the RSS feed and use it to promote your blog.

There are many popular Blog and RSS directories on the web that you can submit your feed to. When someone visits that directory and searches for keyword phrases, if you have blogged about it, it will turn up in their search and they will be connected to your blog via your feed.

In addition to the directories, individuals can subscribe directly to your RSS feed if you provide the address to them. It’s common to use a small ‘chicklet’ image on the side bar of your blog to advertise that your RSS feed is there to grab. When someone subscribes to your feed, they take your RSS feed address and plug it into a special RSS feed reader or they take it to a web based RSS reader like a My Yahoo page. Once they plug that in, they will get alerts whenever you post to your blog.

RSS really is simpler then you thought, isn’t it? Obviously my next step should be to add a feed to my blog. However even though it sounds easy on paper, I still am not able to make the link show up on my blog. More on that when I know how> :-)

Writing For Traffic

Denise Hall has a weekly ezine full of interesting
tidbits and ads for the new marketer.
Home-Business-On-A-Budget has helped me immensely
over time. As well she is not afraid to answer her
own email when you ask her a question. And she is
very quick to let you know where to find what you
are looking for.

The following article comes from her ezine.



18 Reasons To Write An E-book And Then
Give It Away For FREE

1. People will visit your web site to get the free
valuable information.

2. Advertise your products or services in the e-book.

3. You will become known as an expert on the subject
of the e-book.

4. Offer the e-book as a free bonus for purchasing
one of your products or services.

5. Allow other people to give away the e-book to
increase visitors to your web site.

6. Gain new leads by having people sign up and
give their contact information before they can
download your e-book.

7. The word "FREE" is the most appealing word
on the internet.

8. Conduct market research asking people to fill
out a survey before getting the e-book.

9. Make money selling advertising space in the
e-book.

10. Give away the e-book as a special gift to
your current customers letting them know you
appreciate their business.

11. Gain free advertising by submitting the
e-book on freebie sites.

12. Make money selling the reprint rights to
people who would like to sell the e-book.

13. You'll gain valuable referrals from people
telling others about your e-book.

14. Make money cross promoting the e-book as a
free bonus with other people's products or services.

15. Gain free publicity sending press releases
announcing your "Free E-book Giveaway."

16. Increase subscribers to your e-zine by giving
away the e-book as an incentive to subscribe.

17. Give away the e-book to people that join your
affiliate program.

18. The biggest reason you should write an e-book
and then give it away for free: you'll feel good
helping people improve their lives.

Women -- Play To win In Business and Life

This article was sent to me just today and I
thought it seriously marked issues that we as
women do have. Very thought provoking -- And
yes by going to the Summit your chances of
increased traffic to your site would be only
a by-product of this life-changing event.

Please Read -- Is this You?

Have you seen this happen to a woman you know?

She gets very close to success - then turns
her attention in another direction.

She has an opportunity to "shine" at a meeting,
but turns it over to someone else.

You compliment her on what a great job she did
and she gives credit to the team instead.

She has a million-dollar idea, but decides to
take the safer route and get a steady job and
pursue the idea "later."


These are examples of "playing not to lose" and
it's often a common ailment of women in business.
It's taking the safe option instead of really
going for it.

While part of this may be a result of our culture,
we still have choices. And that choice can be to
"play to win!"

There are five principles for a "Play to Win" attitude.

1. Be Decisive. In business there are opportunities
that are time-sensitive and if you delay in making
a choice, you may lose the chance. From ordering
lunch to signing contracts to choosing the ideal
outfit, you need to learn to trust yourself and
make decisions quickly. Start with the menu at
lunch tomorrow. Make your choice in less than a
minute, then enjoy more time for your lunch and
the conversation.

2. Live with a Commitment to Learning. Part of
the learning cycle is recognizing and admitting
that you don't know. Be open to asking questions
and give up the need to be the ultimate authority.
You'll enjoy a confidence that it's okay to be you.

3. Learn from Mentors with Experience. Successful
people did not achieve their success alone, yet
we sometimes think we need to do it all ourselves.
Seek out a mentor and absorb their guidance and
advice. It doesn't make you appear less capable
by asking for help.It evokes thoughts of "Winner"
when you are willing to ask for mentoring.

4. Be Resourceful with Daily Activities. Women
are naturally good at multitasking, so we tend
to be very efficient. But what that talent does
yield sometimes is a lack of focus. So learning
to balance the focus and the multitasking is key
to the Play to Win attitude.

5. Join a Team of Like-Minded Players. In the
famous book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill,
the power of the Mastermind is emphasized. It is
important to align yourself with others who are
on the level to which you aspire. So be cautious
in your associations with people, organizations
and even what you read and watch! Be sure they
are on the same winning level.


Learning to Play to Win is a process which can be
learned and practiced on a daily basis. Start now
to stomp out that "playing not to lose" attitude
and start winning!

Put that principle into action and click this link to
get registered now:
http://WomensPowerSummit.com/cmd.php?af=498734

More Ways To Promote Your Blog

First I would like to thank a fellow marketer
for commenting on my post "Promoting Your Blog".
Keith added some great insight into more methods
of adding to the value of one's blog.
And I did go to blog announcer to submit my blog
as well as putting the link to it on my site. A
very good tool to use. Have no idea if I
submitted mine right but I tried my best and
that's all that matters. :-)

I also checked out other blogs on traffic.

I found some great articles one of which I will
add the highlights here plus the link.

10 Ways to Build a High-traffic Website or Blog.

1. Create valuable content.
2. Create original content.
3. Create timeless content.
4. Write for human beings first, computers
second.
5. Know why you want to be a high-traffic
site.
6. Let the audience see the real you.
7. Write what is true for you and learn to
live with the consequences.
8. Treat your visitors like real human beings.
9. Keep money in its proper place.
10. If you forget the first 9 suggestions, just
focus on genuinely helping people and the rest
will take care of itself.

You can go ahead and read the whole article at
Steve's blog.
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/how-to
-build-a-high-traffic-web-site-or-blog/

He has a very interesting blog with a wealth
of information on a wide variety of topics. I
bookmarked his site so I can go back when I
have time to do some more reading. You will
want to do that too. :-)