It’s easy to get lost in the sea of blogs on the internet nowadays. It seems like every small business wants a voice on the World Wide Web. How do you make your voice louder than other small business blogs? These five tips can give you an edge that’ll make your blog stand out:

1. Keep it updated: People visit blogs to keep up to date on all the information they need. The fastest way to disappear into the sea of blogs is to not update regularly. If you have the manpower to post something every day, then you have an advantage right from the get go. Customers will then become regular visitors to your blog knowing it is always updated with new information.
2. Keep it clean: Internet surfers are a fickle bunch. They can point and click their way through blogs in seconds, and it only takes one error, one misspelling, one broken link for them to dismiss the blog completely. Take the extra minute to check all your information and your posts to make sure there aren’t any unsightly errors. It can be frustrating for visitors to your blog to continually click links that go nowhere. But if you always keep a tidy and professional layout, customers will know they won’t get headaches from visiting your blog, just easy to get information.
3. Keep it organized: This goes along with checking broken links and spelling errors, meaning that internet browsers do not like chaos. If you have unsightly colors and flashing pictures or annoying popup ads, they’ll find another blog that is less of a strain on the eyes. It can be something as simple as too bright a font that will drive traffic away. There is a reason people prefer Google’s homepage to Yahoo’s homepage. Check out the differences in the pages and take notes.
4. Keep it interesting: It’s true that browsers want information first, but that doesn’t mean your blog should be black type on white background with just facts and figures about your business. Have guest bloggers write up a post every once in awhile to break up the information. If there is an interesting article related to your business, post it to your blog along with your reaction to it. Add pictures of your bloggers to give it a more personal feel. The list is endless in terms of making it interesting and professional: polls for customers, links to other helpful websites, item of the week, etc.
5. Keep it linked: Mostly, you want people on the internet to find your blog. That’s where keywords can come in handy. Making sure you have the crucial buzzwords in your blog title and posts will ensure that Google searchers find your blog fast. If your business is selling swimsuits, for example, you don’t want to pick an obscure title that doesn’t even allow your blog to show up when people search for “shop for swimsuits”. Linking your blog to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites ensure that your customers will always be updated on blog posts and essentially, your entire business.

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photo credit: shahsjunkie

Guest post by Leah Darvis of Debit Cards where you can browse various kinds of prepaid cards.

Content is still the most important tool on the internet. To effectively compete with millions of Web sites and raise your importance and visibility on the internet, you must have good, relevant, and original content.

One of the easiest ways to do this is through blogs. As a business owner or operator, you know how important it is to have original content for your company web pages and landing pages. Companies like Nike and Nuskin have learned this over the years and do an excellent job implementing it. Keyword-rich and sales-oriented content is vitally important to convince people of how your products or services are better than your competitors.

Because your standard website pages are designed to sell, they need to be more professional, validating, crisp, and to-the-point. You can provide humor, a fresh approach, and savvy language, but you still have to have a competent and polished face to convince people that your business is reliable and worthy of their hard-earned money.

Blogs are different. They are conversational and personal. They give you a friendly face that can be fun as well as informative. Your business can use blogs in a variety of ways that can provide that personal touch for potential and existing customers. A blog also gives the search engines more content to crawl, more back links to access, and helps your business attain more importance in cyberspace.

Many companies think their blogs must be as impersonal as their web pages, or be brisk and business-like. This approach is fine, but it is shortsighted. Think about your favorite grocery store, beauty shop, or restaurant. Is it just the goods, services, or foods that make it your favorite? Probably not.

Would you rather go to a place that has low prices, but has impersonal or rude employees? Or would you rather go to a place that has friendly, personable people that are helpful, attentive, or greet you by name at the checkout line?

Most people will choose the latter because personal things matter. Your blog can be the way your business extends your personal face, makes you friendly and approachable, and essentially makes you easier to be loyal to. You still need to be professional, clean, and useful, but you don’t have to be stoic, stuffy, or remote.

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photo credit: Shawn Hargreaves

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But the truth is blogging isn’t for everyone. Not all small businesses will benefit from blogging. In fact, most will try and fail.

Here are 4 reasons your small business should seriously consider not blogging.

1. You don’t have time to blog

Building a successful blog takes a lot of time. Not only do you have to spend time creating quality content, but you also have to put in a lot of effort to promote your blog so people actually read it. Then, once you finally start driving traffic, you have to set aside time to moderate and respond to any comments that come in. That’s time every day that you have to dedicate to maintaining and growing your blog in addition to running your business. Good luck.

2. You have unrealistic expectations

We’ve all seen examples of the power of social media. From successful viral campaigns to small business blogs attracting millions of visits, there’s no shortage of success stories. Unfortunately, this overnight success probably isn’t in the cards for you. So, if you’re starting a blog with the expectation of it changing your business in the blink of an eye, don’t waste your time. It’s probably going to take several months, even years, of commitment on your part before you start to truly experience the benefits of effective social media marketing.

3. You don’t have a fresh approach in a crowded niche

Earlier, I mentioned there were hundreds of millions of blogs online right now. There are blogs on every subject you can think of. This means your niche is probably already pretty crowded. So, if you’re going to start a new blog, you have to do something different and be interesting if you want to stand out from the crowd. If you plan on being another “me too” blogger, you’re better off not blogging at all.

4. You can’t handle criticism

Any experienced blogger can tell you that criticism is inevitable. Sooner or later, your readers are going to disagree with you, and many of them will have no problem leaving a comment letting you know how little they think of your opinions. Unfortunately, a lot of new bloggers are unprepared for this, and they respond with insults. This makes the blogger look like a big baby throwing a tantrum. Grow some thick skin before you start blogging, and always respond to all comments with a respectful tone.

Does your small business have a blog? How has it helped your business grow?

That is what Jason Markow had in mind when he started #FAILweek. He wanted businesses to look at their failures not for the failure, but for what can be learned from it. And in encouraging people to share failures, the hope is that others who come behind can more easily learn fr0m our mistakes.

The Potential

The failure I am going to share here is only a half failure. It is the story of what could have been, and maybe a little about the potential that is still there.

I little over a year ago, I was just getting going with my blog and was getting more and more active on Twitter. I still didn’t really know anybody on Twitter. That all changed when I sent out a tweet something to the effect of “I feel like an idea wrangler.” This tweet was read by Neal Rohrbach, a truly amazing and creative guy. Something about what I said hit home with him. We had “met” prior to this on a Twitter chat called #sbbuzz and had gotten along. So Neal, being the go-getter that he is, got inspired and registered a domain name. IdeaWranglers.com wasn’t available, so he registered IdeaAnglers.com instead. The rest, as they say, is history.

When Neal let me know what he did on a whim, I was surprised and excited. At the time, I was also buying up all kinds of domains and dreaming of the businesses that I was going to start with them. In Neal,  I found someone with similar passions, and most importantly, the same heart to help others, especially entrepreneurs. So when I found out what he did, I naturally said, okay, lets see where this takes us.

Where it took us was a partnership. We wanted to develop Idea Anglers to be a site that helped small business owners. We wanted to make money at the same time. A membership site seemed to be the natural fit. So Neal created a site and a great logo (he is a graphic designer, among other things). I brainstormed concepts. We pre-launched and immediately got some good traction. Everyone liked the idea, or more accurately, the story of two strangers meeting on Twitter and launching a business.

The Failure

The idea was the problem. We never really nailed down exactly what we wanted to do. I take the blame for this, since that was primarily my department. I tend to have too many ideas. Turns out, I needed the kind of help that Idea Anglers would eventually offer. Unfortunately, I needed it before Idea Anglers was there to help.

What we ended up with was two very creative people trying to build a broad-based solution for entrepreneurs. We never found the kind of focus we needed, I now realize. Secondly, we both had full time jobs plus side projects we were already working on. We were very busy, so we didn’t have the kind of time we needed to get things launched. So very little time plus not knowing what to focus on when we did find the time meant we couldn’t push it forward fast enough. The fact that we pushed it as far as we did is a testament to what can be accomplished when you work together on something with shared passion.

There were lots of good things. Neal and I got along really well, and still do. I found out that you can really establish meaningful friendships with people that you meet online. Also, it is possible to meet business partners online. Knowing that, what we should have done was narrowed down a focus really fast and then sought to bring more people in to help run things, people who had more time and more focused expertise.

The Education

Idea Anglers is not dead. It is just on vacation. Neal has a great new job that keeps him even busier than before. I am trying to build a business of my own, plus grow this blog. Idea Anglers still fits into my vision of helping small businesses, but it will play a very specific role when I am ready for it.

The lessons I learned are many.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with trying. I got a great friendship out of this. I also saw how opportunities can open up if you just go after them.

Second, it is possible to build meaningful relationships online. My goal this year is to increase those friendships and build on the ones that I have started.

Third, collaboration is better than working at something alone. Idea Anglers would have never gone anywhere if it was just an idea in my head. By bouncing things back and forth with another party, you can move things forward. The key is to have a focus and goals.

Going from here, I have plans. Perhaps too many plans, still. I appreciate more the importance of focus, so I am focusing on fewer things. I want to help small businesses in a lot of ways, perhaps eventually having a full-service coaching/consulting agency. But for now, I am just focusing on one area where I can be of service, helping small businesses with web sites and online marketing. Of course, I am also focusing on this blog and making it better and more dynamic.

I am also going to explore collaboration more and get better at reaching out. I value things like Twitter so much more when I am having meaningful interactions there. I want to build on that. I still want to build some things with other people. This time, however, I am going to go in with a plan and spend time up front building a focus and specific goals.

And maybe there is one more lesson. Neal and I are both very creative. We thrive on the ideas. If we wanted to build a membership site, what we should have done was bring in an expert in that. A good expert can really help you focus your ideas and broad thoughts, no matter what they are. When you are having trouble moving forward, but you know you have good ideas, I really suggest getting some expert help.

So that is my story of failure. It wouldn’t be a good story if there wasn’t something to learn from it. How have you used failure as a learning tool for success? Because that is all failure is, another tool that you can use to build your dreams. Its nothing to be afraid of, really.

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses build web sites and online presence. Follow him on Twitter @bradfordshimp.

You Need a Plan

The truth is, without some kind of plan, you have a much harder time staying on task. Staying on task directly relates to meeting your business goals, so it is very important.

You need to know where you are going if you ever want to get there. So, if you feel like you are hitting walls pretty often, or if you find yourself constantly changing direction, stop everything. Take the day off and work on a plan. Thats what I am going to do. Its time to refocus and really get a handle on where you are going.

Track Your Progress

Once you know where you are going, you need to put in place markers along the route so that you will know that you are still on track. A good plan includes a step by step map that takes you from where you currently are to where you want to be. Draw the map, and then trust it every day. For me, I think my map will include some non-blog writing every day. I really want to create some info products, but in order to do it I have to work on it a little every day. Your daily tasks will be your own. Your job is to make sure that you know what to do every day to get you to the goal.

Learn the Power of No

Just as important is knowing what not to do every day. I, for one, am easily distracted. Because I am in the beginning phases of my own business, I could take it literally anywhere. If you are in a more established business, you are already a little more focused. But it is still possible to take your business off the path if you are not careful. Say no to things that aren’t going to move you toward your goal.

I think the only way to keep things moving forward daily, and to avoid rabbit trails and walls, is to have a good plan. Read my article on business planning for some advice on how do that. Or just think of your business path as a map. Figure out where you are going, and then put in place the steps and the daily activities that will get you there.

Happy planning. I hope you have smooth sailing.

photo credit: Horia Varlan

What they can’t do is meet you face to face and shake your hand. The internet has opened up and people are more ready to trust interactions that take place on it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to try extra hard to develop a good relationship with your long distance customers.

There are three areas in particular that you need to have a plan for when you have customer relationships that span the distance. They are trust, connectedness, and attentiveness.

Trust

Trust is hard when you can’t meet someone face to face. Sure, there are some people who readily extend the hand of trust. But if you want people to pay for your product or service, you need to be able to prove to them its worth it. They need to trust it, and by extension, trust you.

So how do you get someone who lives on the other side of the country to trust you? You need to show them the complete package. This means that your web site needs to be more than a placeholder. Consider adding a blog to communicate regularly. It also means that you will benefit from positive online reviews, so tap some of your favorite customers to write reviews of your business on popular review sites, such as Yelp.com.

A great way to build trust is to include online videos of yourself talking about how your business can make a customer’s life better. If you are comfortable getting in front of a camera, you should be using online videos. People have an easier time trusting someone when they see them.

You can also build up trust by building your reputation. Get involved in online communities and make thoughtful contributions. The more you are thought of as a caring expert, the easier it will be to get people to trust you.

Of course, the first rule of garnering trust is the most important. Be worthy of trust.

Connectedness

People want to feel connected. You can’t sit down for a coffee with your customers if they don’t live nearby. So you need a plan for staying in touch. It is helpful if you think of it in terms of sitting down for coffee. Staying connected isn’t about keeping your marketing message in front of your customers faces. Its about always being there. Its about sharing with your customers.

One great way to do this is with an email newsletter. Use it to just talk to your customers. Write to them weekly in a friendly, conversational tone. Point out things that will be helpful. Answer questions. Tell them what’s new. Think of customers as friends, and communicate with them in like manner.

On the flip side, find ways to be available when your customer needs you. Provide ways for them to reach out to you with their questions. And, as I talk about next, get back to them quickly.

Attentiveness

The best relationships are the ones where if you call someone and get their voice mail you can leave a message and you know that they are going to call you back the first moment they get a chance. In life, you can measure the health of a relationship by how often you talk and how quickly you get back to one another.

To be personal with your long distance customers, you need to pay special attention to attentiveness. Be quick to answer questions and to solve problems. Follow up more than you would with a local customer. Send emails out of the blue to see how your customers are doing and how you can better serve them.

By paying attention to your online customers, you establish the fact that you value them. They are important to you, even if they are not near you.

One way this might play out is if your business has a bunch of customers in a different time zone. Wouldn’t it be nice if you put live customer service in place to help them in their own time zone? That would be really paying attention to and caring about your customers.

It is possible to be personal at the distance of the internet. You need to have a plan and work at it, but with a little extra effort, you can make each customer feel cared for.

photo credit: jurvetson

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Bradford Shimp teaches small businesses how to interact online. Learn more at BroadRiverCreative.com.

Listeners are quiet folk. They don’t engage nearly as much. If they get on your forums, its probably to find a specific answer to a specific problem. They aren’t commenting on your blog. They aren’t responding to your tweets. Because you don’t see the interaction, it is easy to discount the listeners, or to question if they are even there. But these people are listening. They are being impacted by the content you put out. They are just as loyal as the conversationalists. Sure, they don’t write blog posts recommending your company to everyone in the world, but that’s because they don’t have blogs. They are probably recommending you quietly to a trusted friend who they know will benefit from your business.

The quiet ones can be a hard group to connect with. If you are doing all of the right things online, but not seeing the results spring up like you wish they would, be sure to not throw in the towel too soon. The listeners outnumber the talkers, in my opinion. If you just stop blogging because you aren’t getting comments or seeing sales, you might be leaving some people out in the cold. If you have visitors to your blog, you should keep blogging. If you don’t have visitors, you should invest some time and money in education so you can be a better business blogger, but that is another story.

While you won’t get the kind of gratifying interaction on a regular basis out of the quiet ones that you will get out of the talkers, you will get great value. You get that value by consistently providing value. The listeners are the steady force behind your online efforts. They will subscribe to your newsletter and actually read it. They will attend your webinars. They will buy your products.

Chances are that they will also help you spread the word. The difference is, they won’t do it on their own, at least not on a large scale. That isn’t because they don’t love your product, its because they aren’t talkers. They do not have platforms of their own. But don’t give up on them. Connect with your regular loyal listeners and buyers. Draw them out. You can probably get some pretty amazing testimonials from them. When they send you a referral, it will likely be a dead-on qualified lead. You’ll take one of these a year over countless unqualified visits to your site or hundreds of spam followers on Twitter. The quiet ones make up in value what they don’t deliver in amount of interaction.

You’re job is to not give up on them. Keep writing your blog. Keep posting your best insights on Twitter. Keep talking, and they will keep listening. While your words won’t always trigger a response that you will see, you are planting seeds. And if you ever do find yourself in a conversation with a quiet one, you will be amazed at the depth and value there. Listeners are learners and doers. They have an important place in your online conversation marketing plans. Don’t leave them out by stopping your end of the conversation.

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses develop online marketing plans at BroadRiverCreative.com.

The thing is, producing an interesting blog that people will actually pay attention to is not that hard. Here are some ideas on how to do just that.

Cut the Sales Talk

You can give all of your sales information on the static pages of your web site and in your hand out materials. Use your blog to build trust. For instance, instead of talking about how great your widget is on the blog, do an in depth interview with one of your customers about how they are using your widget with great success. This still puts your business in a positive light, but with a human story.

Also, its okay to talk about things on your blog that aren’t directly related to your product or service. A blog is a place to have conversations with customers and prospects. You will want to cover a range of topics that is interesting and useful to your target audience.

Give Advice

One great thing to do on your blog is to give advice. People are searching for answers all of the time on the web. If your blog can provide good answers to specific questions, it will attract an audience. So think about the advice your customer base will most benefit from, and then provide content on your blog that gives that advice.

This works well for every type of business. A mechanic can give advice for basic car maintenance and upkeep. A marketer can give advice on how to set up a marketing plan. Don’t worry about putting yourself out of a job. Remember, you are a specialist. If you are a baker, you could give instructions on how to bake a perfect cake and still attract buyers for the cakes you make. The fact is, you will always be able to do it better, and people will come to you for your expertise.

Spice it Up With Other Content

You don’t have to write every article on your blog. You can find other content to include that will be useful to your target customers.

One way to do this is to pull articles off article marketing sites, such at EzineArticles.com or ArticleBase.com. Sites like these allow you to repost content. Simply search for your topic and follow the instructions to post the content on your blog.

You could also find guest authors to write unique content for your site. Blogger Link Up is a good resource for this. You can also find experts using Help a Reporter Out. Both of these resources allow you to reach out to a list of people who want to write content or be interviewed.

Share the News

If you are a local business, sharing local news can be a great move for your blog. You will attract local visitors who will then be introduced to or reminded about your business. Add your own take on the news or break stories, and you will have even more visitors.

You can share news by providing a brief overview and then the link to stories on other web sites. Link to other sources generously. If you start sending a decent amount of traffic to a news site, they are bound to notice your blog and your business. At the same time, do add some personal touch to the news you share. You can also treat your own company news as legitimate news stories.

Interview Your Customers

Putting up interviews can work very well for some businesses. This is especially true if the interview can help other customers. I work with a business that sells to volunteer organizations. These organizations can benefit from learning about how other volunteer organizations are succeeding.

Interviews also give you a chance to get to know your customers a lot better. This has huge benefits as you figure out how to better communicate with and sell to your customer base.

Finally, interviews are almost a guaranteed way to get visitors to your blog, as your subject will visit and share the link with others.

Be Personal

Your blog is a place where you can truly connect with customers. Its okay to add your personality to your posts. By being real on your blog, you are building trust. If customers feel they know you, even before they buy, then you are succeeding.

I don’t suggest making your business blog a personal journal. Customers don’t need to know about the movies you see, the parties you go to, or about your latest hobby. Instead, sprinkle personality into your business posts. Use your real voice. Write and record as if you were having a normal conversation. And if you want, slip some personal information inside the business posts.

Keep Talking

Here is an important key to writing an interesting blog. Do it regularly. This is counterintuitive to many business owners, who think that by writing too often they will drive people away. The fact is, the more often you blog, the more people will visit.

Its not just about the visitors. By blogging often, you will be able to develop a rhythm and a voice. You’ll find your groove, basically.

If you blog only once in awhile, your blog will attract cob webs and the posts you do put up will likely be stilted and boring. Commit to a regular schedule, and your blog will be dynamic, on point, and conversational.

By blogging regularly, something unexpected will begin to happen. You will begin to understand and relate to customers like you never have before. You will unleash new ideas for your business and see new opportunities. Blogging regularly gets you to think, not just about the next sale, but about the greater story that you are involved in with your business. I would argue that blogging makes your a better business, and a better person.

If you still need help getting your blog off the ground, please feel free to email me at bradford@allbizanswers.com.

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses develop their web presence at BroadRiverCreative.com.

It is from a network of colleagues that you can learn about changes in business and with which you can brainstorm new ideas for growing your business. You will also find shared opportunities and chances to collaborate. While your customers will be focused on their needs, your colleagues will be more focused on the same needs you have as a business.

So how do you find colleagues and start talking to them? Here are a few ideas.

• Go to trade shows and focus on building these relationships, and not just on getting leads.
• Join LinkedIn and look for other people in your industry.
• Join Twitter and find other people who own small businesses. A great place to do that is on the Small Business Buzz chat.
• Reach out to the people you come in contact with as you sell your product. There are people who sell to the same demo, but who are not your direct competitors.
• Ask your customers what other local businesses they use and love.
• Host an event and invite other area businesses (that sell to your customer base) to attend.
• Join local organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce or a networking group.
• Join a mastermind group.

Share Experiences

The great thing about talking to colleagues is that you have a forum to share experiences. This is where you can talk the inside baseball of your business. The details of running a business is deeply interesting stuff for you, but its probably not an great topic for discussion on your customer blog.

By sharing experiences with other small business owners, you can learn from each other. Perhaps one of you tried something new in marketing, and it really worked. Now the others can adapt it to their businesses.

Being a small business owner can get lonely. Having a close network of other small business owners to help encourage and spur you on can make a lot of difference.

Brainstorm Ideas

Beyond the emotional impact and the sharing of experiences, you can use your network to brainstorm new ideas that you are working on. Its great to think through things ahead with people who have had similar experiences.

Colleagues will bring in a perspective of an owner, but with a different take than you. You’ll get ideas by brainstorming with this group that you could never get from customers, employees, or even friends and family. Other people that live where you are at will have a truer sense of what it takes, including the amount of risk that is acceptable.

Blow Off Steam

Sometimes, you need to vent. You can’t vent to customers or employees. And you don’t really want to bring it home to your spouse all of the time. Colleagues can understand you. If you are close enough with some of them, you can call them up and tell them all about the crazy customer, the tight budget, or whatever. Chances are that they can relate.

If your network is local, you can also get together and have some fun. Colleagues are people who share similar interests, so chances are you can have a friendly get together and forget the business woes, if just for a little while.

Collaborate

A good network of colleagues also presents opportunities for collaboration. By talking to these people, you are developing relationships with possible investors, partners, affiliates, or mentors.

If you have complimentary businesses, chances are good that you can work together on some marketing pushes, say hosting an event together. You can also send referrals each other’s way.

When a group gets together and starts helping each other out and investing their time in each other, everyone in that group benefits.

So take some time to develop relationships with colleagues. There are a lot of mutual benefits to be had.

When you first start blogging, it can be lonely. You feel like you are writing for nobody. Its a little overwhelming to think about how to attract people to your blog and make it have an impact on your business. Don’t lose heart. There are some simple things that you can start doing that will help people hear what you have to say.

Target Your Content

The very first thing you need to do is make sure you write some of your blog posts with targeted key words. This means that if you sell self-cleaning window blinds, you talk about them and use popular search terms in some of your posts.

Surround those key words with quality content. Eventually, people will start to find your blog via search. The more targeted your content, the easier they will find you.

Its also true that the more focused you are on your blog, the faster it will catch on. People respect expertise. Talk about things that are important within a specific niche. This might mean blogging only about one part of your business. If you are all over the place, you will not be able to attract loyal readers, and this means you won’t have anyone helping you spread your voice by linking to your blog.

Comment and Discuss

Another way to get your voice out there is to leave comments on similar blogs and posts on industry forums. Speak in the same voice on these comments and give clear, thoughtful content. You will be able to include a link back to your site in most cases. People will click the link if you consistently have something to say that is worth hearing.

Other bloggers have already built up communities. Join those communities as you are building your own. If you are committed to it, you will be able to rise to the top as a quality commentator and will gain the respect of other members of the community. In that way, your voice will be heard by whole new groups of people.

Its a great idea to include posts on your blog that are responses or inspired by other posts and comments your read. Also, include links to articles that you think will be helpful to your audience. In the world of blogging, its all about interconnectedness and collaboration.

I didn’t include it as a category, but guest posting is also a great way to spread your voice. Start by leaving great comments, and then look for opportunities to provide a thoughtful guest article to the blogs you read.

Be Social

Social networking is here to stay. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are a necessary part of your business’s online approach. They are a great place to talk about your blog posts.

I suggest taking nuggets of your post and updating your social networks with them all day. Include a link back to the blog with each nugget. Also, provide other quality content link free throughout the day.

Perhaps the biggest secret of success on social networks is engagement. Spend time each day responding to what other people are saying. This will help you build a network, which will check out your blog and resend your links to their own networks.

Explore

There are probably hundreds of more ways you can spread your blog. There are sites you can post your articles to, such as Digg and StumbleUpon. There are article marketing sites that you can post fresh articles to with links back to your blogs. You can answer questions on Q&A sites. You can post YouTube videos. The possibilities are endless.

You need to explore some of these options on your own. Many of them can work quite well to help you promote your blog. I find that its best to pick a few outlets and stick with them until you really have the hang of them, and then maybe add a few more.

If you are going to blog to bring in business, you owe it to yourself to learn how to do it right. Take the time to learn some ways to spread your voice, and pretty soon you won’t feel as lonely when you blog. Soon, you will start to see that your voice is being heard.

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses navigate the web in an effort to bring in more sales. Visit BroadRiverCreative.com to learn more.