If you are in business and want more business… YOU should have a blog! If you are passionate about something in your world…. YOU should have a blog! If you are a person who has strong opinions and always have a group of people who like to debate things with you… YOU should have a blog!

There are lots of excuses that my clients give me for not blogging…. I hate computers…(pretend it’s paper and pen) I can’t spell…(there is a NEW invention called SpellCheck) I don’t know what to write… (whatever comes to mind)

What can blogging do for my business? Blogging is the BEST way to get your name out in your industry….. You writing your own posts is only one part of blogging, the other just as important part is finding people in your industry or area of interest and learn from them.

There are mentor’s EVERYWHERE on the web that just might know something you don’t and miracle of miracles they like sharing with other people. So go find them… read their posts and comment on them… of course always leave your user name with a link back to your blog or your website. You have given your site a valuable link (always good for SEO, Search Engine Optimization) and a chance for an unlimited amount of people to come and see what you have to say, sell, share or give away on your site.

Examples of what kinds of business’s benefit from blogging.

Realtors…  Active Rain has an awesome blog network for realtors, ask and answer questions, connect with other’s in your field and related fields
(There are more real estate sites on the internet than any other category other than porn)
Posting ideas… Post about your market area… Love Boulder?? Tell your readers why…. Have a house for sale… I know it’s on MLS, but a billion houses are on MLS, give your listing a whole extra page of it’s own. Use that fact to get clients, explain the benefits to your potential clients you are trying to get to list with you.
Post about mortgages, interest rates, have your mortgage broker write a post for your blog and you write one for hers.

Retail Stores… Having a sale? Blog about that…. Know about a new trend? Blog about that… Are you an expert on something? Educate people about your products…

Authors… Post published reviews to your books… Post information about what you are working on now… Books that are about to publish…. Where your book signings are going to be… What inspires you to write…

Wedding Planners… What amazing new venues have you found? What’s the latest chic trend in weddings? What’s the wildest wedding you’ve officiated? Go to related industries blogs… photographers, caterers, florists and start leaving comments on their blog of course always leaving a link to you in each reply.

Custom Builders…. Post pictures of your latest projects… before and after… Blog about the new trends in the industry… Blog about the types of surfaces you recommend for kitchen countertops and why. If people see you care about them and know what you are talking about you… they are more likely to call for a quote.

blogger by google

As you can see the possibilities are endless. You really can’t go wrong… just DO IT!!! The good that comes from this effort is that your name will start being recognized around the blogosphere as being an expert in your field, you’ll have a limitless amount of links back to your site, you’ll learn a ton of great information as you are out DIGGing and you might just enjoy it.

What are those things I keep seeing on blogs???

I have been having so much fun “digg” ing around the internet for all the new social networking sites and following them to great blogs! The FAVORITE thing of all is all the new gadgets I’ve been finding on other people’s blog sites. If you like any of the one’s I have on the right of my page, usually if you just click on them it will take you to their own “widget maker” page and you can get one for your blog too…

In your Blogspot Blog, just go to your dashboard, layout, page elements, Add a Gadget, you will usually need the Html/Java Script one.. click on that.. copy and paste whatever little script the Gadget maker gave you… save and wala (is that a word?) you have your new gadget… Preview to see where you want to put it and then “grab” the widget box and pull it into position. Save… there you have it.

I just found the twitter box this morning… it’s cute! And then separate from that the twitter updates, My DIGG… things I’ve found online that were interesting… not necessarily all business.. but interesting none the less. Sphinn it… a social website all about Social Networks and Web 2.0, and then of course the two coolest things were the “share this” and “add this” buttons so that you can save this blog or certain articles on any one of the many social networking sites out there…

There are a bunch of these sites.. I’ve listed some of the most popular below for you to check out….
Facebook

Delicious

Digg

Magnolia

MySpace

Newsvine

Reddit

Stumble Upon

My aol

Yahoo Bookmarks

Google Bookmarks

Yahoo My Web

Technorati

Twitter

Any RSS Feed

Furl

MSN Live

So THAT’s what all those cute little things I keep seeing on the net!

It really is fun getting on these sites and seeing if any of your long lost relatives are out there. I so far have found two of my college roommates that I’d lost touch with, so if for now other reason… that made it worth it.