The Blog … What in the world
is it? Should I have one? and Why would anyone want to read my journal?
Hmmm b-l-o-g = Weblog. Just in case you haven't heard.
I've been wondering about
all of these issues for the past six months. I'm here to tell you, I still
don't know if it is what it's all cracked up to be. I keep thinking it's
just for "The Big Guys," you know, MSNBC or FoxNews, or for someone who
doesn't have anything better to do than sit around and write a journal
about what they are doing.
So let's go through this
logically. First, if you are dedicated to a subject, maybe a political
issue or a medical issue and you find a blog focused on the subject, I'm
sure you can learn about your issue, connect with others interested in the
same subject and gain new friends (or enemies, depending on the issue).
What would be the advantage
for someone like me to have a blog? Believe me, I have a hard enough time
telling people about my business and my services without writing about it
three or four times a week, hoping someone will be interested enough to
read it. Let's back up to the newsletter revolution…yes, I started a
newsletter, Connected Virtually because I wanted to promote my business,
get visitors to my web site and generally share all of the stuff I was
learning being a Virtual Assistant. My newsletter was monthly. I had
plenty of material, but eventually it became a little stressful to have to
produce the thing every month. Newsletters are time consuming and must be
rather formal and precise.
Here is the
Syndicated Feed from my Blog - www.thevablog.com using RSS
Ohhhh, that's the big
difference! Blogs are relaxed, less formal and more spontaneous and can be
fun with photos, side bar comments and spur of the moment opinions. So I
can take all the stuff I want to share in a newsletter and post it to a
blog. The theory is that if it is easy writing, I'll want to write more
often.
Just because I'm a VA and
have lots of stuff to share about being a virtual assistant doesn't mean I
have other information I'd love to share. I can sneak in things I find "on
the way to" something else. And what would this do for me? For one thing,
it will add a whole new set of keywords for a search engines to consider
and most importantly, generate some conversation, opinion and more visits
to my web site.
Also, your network has just
been stretched to a whole new dimension. And what does networking do – oh
wow: potential new clients. This could go on forever. Well, we hope. Your
credibility will be built and your network will constantly reach beyond
current boundaries. You will have new sources of support, possibly create
joint ventures, link exchanges and your arena of influence will expand.
If you want to fool around
with your own blog, first visit a couple of the "Big Guys," that I've
mentioned above, then visit
http://www.milana.com
a coaching blog with lots of great information and please see how mine is
coming along at
http://www.thevablog.com
Set "Add to http://www.Blogger.com
listings" to Yes
Getting Traffic to Your
Blog and Website
Be sure to sign your
Posts with your name and website, just like you do in all of your
email message signature. In fact, put your blog site in your email
signature.
Register your Blog name
as a domain name. If you use
http://www.prositesetup.com, you will be able to forward your new
Domain (blog) name to the free blog site or create a one page site that
points to your blog.
Getting Your Blog
Noticed
Just like a web site
and newsletters, your blog should be keyword sensitive. Be sure to
use the keywords that are relative to your product or service.
Keeping your blog
dynamic with new, informative and interesting information will keep
people interested in returning and participating. Blogging is
search engine friendly.
I thought we VAs had bumped
up against the wall for finding new clients with "The List of How to
Attract Clients" we have all been working. And along comes yet another
wonderful experiment for us – ahh the Internet, "it's really just a web,
isn't it?"
I've been wondering about
all of these issues for the past six months. I'm here to tell you, I still
don't know if it is what it's all cracked up to be. I keep thinking it's
just for "The Big Guys," you know, MSNBC or FoxNews, or for someone who
doesn't have anything better to do than sit around and write a journal
about what they are doing. 
