Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

I blog on Monday, am asked to do a radio interview on Tuesday

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Michael Angelo Caruso uses blog to get interviewsMany people complain that they don’t get any juice from their blogging activity.

The problem is usually related to one of two issues.

1) Not enough people are seeing the blog.
2) The blog topic isn’t interesting enough.

By “interesting,” I mean relevant and by “relevant,” I mean something that is in the news. Extra points, if the blog topic is related to what you’re marketing.

Never forget that the Internet works on keywords, so your blog has a better chance of being read if it contains the most popular keywords of that particular day. A good place to get your daily keywords is from news sites, such as www.CNN.com.

Here’s how this formula worked to a tee for me this week.

Peter Falk, TV’s Lt. Columbo, died late last week. I posted a blog about how Columbo’s famous “just one more thing” line became an effective selling tactic and pushed it out to my social media platforms.

Radio show morning host, Michael Patrick Shiels, a connection in my vast social media network, read the blog and had his producer contact me for an interview.

(By the way, another author/speaker in my city also had the idea to post about Columbo, but he incorrectly spelled the name “Colombo,” which no doubt reduced his number of original views.  Spelling counts, people.)

You can hear the interview tomorrow morning, Tuesday, June 28 at 6:45 AM ET at MichiganTalkNetwork.com.

Of course, once the interview was booked, I reposted the same topic along with the new development to squeeze extra juice out of the topic.  I might even create an “epilogue post” after the interview is completed.

Good luck with blogging and all your marketing efforts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone can blog.  Listen to Michael Angelo Caruso interview with Paula Parisot, a soccer mom and paid blogger.  The 60-minute audio CD is titled, Blogging for Profit.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blogging, Career development, Communication, Creativity, Entertainment, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Selling, Social Media, Success, Weblogs, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

5 reasons to blog–even if nobody reads it

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Michael Angelo Caruso blogging Internet marketingMost people haven’t figured out blogging, yet. That’s because blogging, that is writing, is a discipline like playing the trumpet or flying an airplane.  Or juggling.  It takes time and effort to make it worthwhile.  It also helps to be motivated, which usually happens when one is a little knowledgeable about the discipline.

Here are 5 reasons to blog, even if nobody reads it, followed by a chance for you to learn more from a soccer mom I interviewed who now gets paid to blog for other people.

1.  Search perks. Internet search engines love fresh content.  Since blogs, especially WordPress blogs, are easily updated your company is more likely to be found even if you create a blog post once per week.   Blogs are the new Web sites.

2.  Perpetual value. Time and again, I am contacted by people who tell me they read an old blog post and liked what I had to say.  Some of these folks turn into customers.  Your blog content keeps working for you year after year!

3.  Drip marketing. Periodic blog posts are a great way to keep in touch.  People will never forget about you because they are always being reminded.  Rig your social media sites to automatically post blog articles.

4.  Virtual salesperson. SAP advertises training services in a sidebar on its blog.  Wegmans grocery store blogs about recipes that use their food products.

5.  Massive public relations reach. If your blog is consistently good, you may get picked up by an aggregation service.  When this happens, your lil’ ol’ blog could be read by hundreds of thousands of people!

________

Paula Parisot

Soccer mom and paid blogger, Paula Parisot

A while back, I interviewed Paula Parisot, a soccer mom who now gets paid for blogging.  A non-techie by her own admission, Paula talks about how she does it and shares valuable tips on how you can get started doing the same.  That is, unless you can’t use the money.  Learn more Blogging for Profit by listening to this fun CD.

It was fun interviewing Paula.  She takes a “real-world” approach to things and I think you’ll like her!

-Michael Angelo Caruso

Royal Oak, Michigan

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blogging, Career development, Communication, Creativity, Customer Service, Entertainment, Growing Your Business, Leadership, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Weblogs | No Comments »

How to rework content for your blog

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

Blogging articlesWhen posting an article to your blog or creating other content for your company’s Internet presence, it’s best to do your own writing.

But, if your writing skills aren’t the best, you can also rework articles that have already been published.  When doing so, make every effort to avoid two things:

1) Plagiarism, which is unethical. It’s just plain wrong to use claim credit for someone else’s work.  This includes the despicable act of  anonymously posting articles–as if the pieces wrote themselves!

2)  Duplicate content. Google and other search engines notice when you post duplicate content and will penalize you with lower search rankings.

Here are some guidelines for reworking articles written by others.

Be sure to change the other writer’s article at least 70%.  You can do this by rearranging the paragraphs and sentences and changing the order of the bullet points.  Delete some of the material and maybe add a bit of your own.  You can also incorporate content from two or three sources.

Perhaps the best way to go about reworking an article is to put the words in your own voice.  For example, don’t keep words you would never use in conversation.

A second way to rewrite is to simply delete awkward phrasing, sentence fragments, convoluted sentences, and other nonsense.  Most people tend to overwrite, so it will be easier to make your revised article shorter, just by
taking out the weakest parts.

Speaking of length, you only need about 500 words for a substantial blog post.  I recently rewrote a cool article I found online, by using all the above techniques and busting the article into four blog posts.

When finished, include your favorite keywords in three places: the title, first paragraph and last paragraph before posting.

Be sure to add your contact information and attribution for the writer–you, if you followed these directions and when rewriting content.

-Michael Angelo Caruso

P.S.  Learn how a soccer Mom named, Paula Parisot, now gets paid for blogging.  Michael interviews her on the CD, Blogging for Profit.

More great Internet marketing info (mostly original articles!) at  http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/michael-angelo-caruso-blog/

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blogging, Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Success, Weblogs, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

5 Cool ideas for writing and selling your book

Monday, May 31st, 2010
Your info is worth money

Your info is worth money

Everyone has a “how-to” book in them.  Your lifetime of experience and acquired skill sets should probably be required reading for the next generation, yes?

That book is easier to write than you think.   Once written, you can market your knowledge to people more than willing to pay for it.  Social media can be a cost-free delivery system.

Use the profits from the book to pay down bills, shore up your battered 401K, buy a car or just have some fun.  Here are 5 Cool Ideas for writing and selling your book.


1.  Do it yourself, the publishing industry is broken, anyway.

Self-publishing e-books is an easy, very lucrative way to create passive income.  The process can be as simple as writing a 20-page e-book and saving it to a .pdf.  Arrange a payment gateway through Google or PayPal and start telling Facebook friends about your creation.


2.  You can publish a book, even if you’re not a writer.

Mark Victor Hansen simply collected stories others had written and titled the book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul.  Another great idea is to create other types of information products, instead of books.  Audio programs, for example, are very popular and in some cases, sell better than printed material.   And get this–audio programs are even easier to create than books.


3.  A writing “system” can help you be published in less than 90 days.

I often write books by accumulating information.  My 5 Cool Ideas books have been the result of collecting info, reworking the content and formatting related ideas in groupings of five.


4.  Blog your way to authorship.

Web logging on Typepad or WordPress is a an easy way to develop your voice and build a following at the same time.  Just post a few paragraphs twice a week and you’ll be amazed at how much content you can originate.


5.  Think about what comes next after what comes next.

Celebrate your finished book as a great achievement,  but remember that a book is almost always more powerful as a means to an end.  Being a published author opens the doors to many opportunities, including speaking gigs, consulting work and media attention.  Consider having other products and services to promote when your book is released.


Want more info on how to write a book?

Go to http://bit.ly/CreateSellYourInfoProducts

Good luck and keep writing!
Michael Angelo Caruso, Author of the 5 Cool Ideas books and creator of over 75 info products

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Career development, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Social Media, Success, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »