Greenwood Blog Design

4 Basic Tasks a New Blogger Can Outsource

Dee — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:30:36 +0000

Blogging is a great way to get started making money online – BUT – it’s work. (All good things come with some effort, right?)

The absolute worst thing a new blogger can do is to do nothing. Yet, that’s what happens to many bloggers when they’re first getting started. While waiting to get their blog just perfect, they do nothing and, instead, spin their wheels – stuck in one place.

Meanwhile, they get frustrated, their dreams fade, and they end up giving up before they even had a fighting chance. It’s sad, especially since many of them are talented writers, are passionate about their topic, and have a lot to share with the world.

So, what can a new blogger do to avoid this from happening?

Simple. Outsource.

But, what, exactly is “Outsourcing“?

Outsourcing is just a fancy word for getting someone qualified to quickly and efficiently do a job for you that you

1. don’t have time for,

2. don’t want to do, or

3. don’t have the skills to do.

But what can you outsource, and how? And, can you afford to?

All great questions. Here are 4 tasks you can immediately outsource for a modest price (and boost your blogging efforts at the same time).

1. Blog Installation and Optimization.

If you’re planning to blog, the one thing you’ll need is a web host. Why not choose a multipurpose web host that will also install your blog for you? Both MomWebs.com and ReliableWebs.com will install your WordPress blog for you. Why would they jump through these hoops? They want you to succeed so that you become a customer for many years. As part of their service, both web hosts will also recommend and install plugins for you for a reasonable fee.

There’s no point in getting paralysis by analysis. This is an easy decision to get over your first hurdle – actually getting your WordPress blog online and ready to roll.

2. Design.

One thing I outsource gladly is graphics. When I try to do my own, they look unprofessional and, downright tacky. When I pay a more talented professional to create my graphics, they look awesome! You can find a professional designer at Shelancers.com who can make your blog look snazzy – just look around. Of course, you can also search places like eLance.com, but I’d suggest that you ask for a recommendation from a friend (or even on Twitter) before going with someone totally untested.

3. Content Management.

Keeping your blog active with fresh content can be a feat in itself. BUT – there is a big secret that bloggers use to make their lives much easier. It’s called PLR content and it’s something that I’ve also used in the past.

What is PLR content? Basically, PLR articles are written by ghostwriters and sold at a very affordable price (usually around $1-2 per article) to multiple bloggers and website owners. So, as a blogger, you can purchase these articles, and stick them on your blog. Or, as I recommend, you edit them a bit before posting them to your blog. While PLR is not totally hands-free – it can help you to get over the hurdle of having to write all of the content for your blog all by yourself.

By the way, the place I recommend you look for PLR Articles is EasyPLR.com (<— use your affiliate link here when publishing this article).

Of course, you can save even more time by hiring a Virtual Assistant to add the PLR that you purchase to your blog for you so that it’s waiting in there the next time you face writer’s block (as we all do).

4. Community.

Do you ever hear the sound of crickets when you go to your blog? How do some bloggers get such a conversation going while others seem to be talking to themselves? The answer may not be what you think. Another big secret of top bloggers is that they sometimes “seed” conversations with their own assistants and friends. Yes, they have commenters who are paid to come by and leave comments to keep the conversation going. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

While you don’t have to go quite that far, it doesn’t hurt to be “comment buddies” with some friends and help keep each others blogs active with conversation.

What Next?

Learn More about Outsourcing at my Recommended Resource. Outsourcing can be a big scary thing if you’re trying to figure it out on your own. So, if you’d like to learn more about how to Outsource in your Online Business, I recommend this course: www.OutsourceWeekly.com (You’ll see a free series of lessons on the top of that page.)

Create a Website – Free Ebook

Dee — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:18:38 +0000

Want to learn about creating a website? Grab a copy of The Web Book, free for personal use. This is an awesome book! It takes you from “What is a website?” to “Building A Test Server” with almost everything in between, including different website platforms!

Get your download and share this link=> http://www.the-web-book.com/index.php

Note: This book may not be uploaded to share; you can only share the link. For more details, read the second page of the book.

Get more traffic to your blog

Dee — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:35:48 +0000

A blog is a great way to promote your products or services. They are easy to install, easy to administer and easy to update. And search engines pick them up much quicker than static websites. All these reasons make blogging very popular. But you can’tjust set up your blog and expect lots of traffic. Here are three quick ways to boost traffic to your blog and pump up your sales.

Build a list of blog services to ping

There are a lot of blog services you can ping. This means that you notify this service, that you’ve updated your blog. These services then list your new posts and you get the traffic from them. In WordPress, you can add services under the writing section in the setting tab. Daily Blog Tips has a great list of ping services you can add to your blog.

Update your content on a regular basis.

Search engines and blog services love regular updates. It’s very likely that you will get targeted traffic from search engines if you post regularly. Once a day posting is great but if you can only post every other day, that’s fine. The point is to set a posting schedule and stick to it as best you can. Not only is this good for search engines, but your regular readers will come to expect your posts and will be disappointed if you don’t post.

Submit to blog search engines

There are many search engines available, that list only blogs. Just google “blog search engines” and you should find a good list of them. These blog search engines will help you with targeted traffic. Submit your blog to each site and be sure to write a good title, description of your blog and put it into the correct category, so that people will easily find it and click on your link.

Follow these 3 steps and you will start seeing more traffic to your blog.

Time Management Videos

Dee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:18:29 +0000

I was alerted to this series by the folks at BlogEnergizer. It is a series of quick videos to help women entrepreneurs manage time, make it a habit and as a result, perform better in their business. The videos are very easy to follow at only a few minutes long, mostly 5 minutes and under. But don’t let the length fool you. There’s a lot of value and action points you can put to work today. Right this minute. There is an opt-in required if you want to access these videos. Judge for yourself, you can always unsubscribe later if it is not for you.

Here’s the link: Perform to Profit

Why does my business need a blog?

Dee — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:04:29 +0000

More than likely, your customers are looking for your company’s website before they ever step foot in the door or contact you. They want to view your site to get a feel for your business, get directions, or just get answers to their basic questions, like ‘what are your hours?’, ‘where are you located’ and ‘why are you different than store XYZ’. Bring your website into this century and take your business to the next level. A blog is the perfect vehicle to bring customers to your door.

A blog:

fits your small business budget
gets local consumers in touch with your business
gives you more control than a regular website
builds relationships

Mile High Card Co Redesign

Dee — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:12:28 +0000

I just finished a complete website redesign for Mile High Card Co, a sports memorabilia auction house. The client was looking for an updated look to his previously cluttered website. He wanted a streamlined website that had a vintage feel to match the collecting hobby. We got rid of many cluttered images that linked to pages and opted for a more streamlined menu. We went for a sepia color to give the site a nostalgic look, along with the vintage Detroit Tigers photo (one which the client has hanging in his home). He also wanted a few modern features like rollover buttons and a flash banner with some of his auction’s featured items. And all this needed to be integrated into his auction software.

The client was extremely happy with the look of his completed website. He said it was “exactly the way he envisioned it”.

Twitter Updates for 2010-08-05

Dee — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:32:00 +0000

Bby paperr plates #

New Web Based Billing Solution

Dee — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:12:22 +0000

I’ve implemented a new WordPress plugin called WP-Invoices that allows me to create invoices for design and hosting services. It’s a great new program that creates an invoice you can view by clicking on a link that I send to you via email. It’s a great plugin that will even allow for recurring billing. This should take a little time from having to manual create invoices which will give me more time to devote to design.

Site Redesign

Dee — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:27:40 +0000

I’ve been meaning to redesign the site since Summer 2009, but with a family, a job, freelancing and volunteering, I just haven’t been able to get to it. Until now. I wanted a simpler website. Something you can look at, find some basic information and then contact me easy-peasy. I think I did it!