If you have come to realize how important a blog is to your business as an entrepreneur, you may now wonder how to get started and at what cost. Ideally, as a business owner, you will hire someone to create your blog. When first getting started you may want to create it yourself. If this is the case, you will learn where to create a blog. If your virtual assistant has no experience at creating a blog, share this information so he can easily create one for you. Included will be a few tips about using each of the different blog applications most powerfully.

WordPress.com is renowned as a blogging platform. Incredibly, it is free and easy enough to set up your blog in as little as five minutes. It's the backbone of what I use here on this blog.

When creating your blog, the username you choose will be included in the URL. It’s wise to somehow incorporate your main niche keyword as your username if possible. This will help search engines to find your blog and index it in their listings. The URL will be theusernameyouchoose.wordpress.com

When creating the Blog Title make an interesting statement that also uses the niche keyword again. And for Privacy you DO want your business blog to appear in search engines like Google and Tecnorati and public listings around WordPress.com.

Why? By having your blog automatically listed in search engines, you will often have traffic to your blog that found it by simply typing in the niche keyword you have used for your title and URL. This is known as organic traffic. Organic traffic is any traffic that comes naturally and without specific effort on your part. This traffic is surfing the “net” looking for information about your niche and is typing in your keyword.

Once you sign up for the blog you will receive an email to confirm the new account. Your blog is already created and on the world wide web as simple as that. You can view it or login and start posting information

You can upload an avatar so your picture is next to posts you make to your blog. This is a great feature as people like to begin to identify you with some sort of image. The image doesn’t have to be you, but could be a representation of you that you would like to become known for. Avatar simply means a graphical image that represents a person, a personification or attitude depicted.

Akismet is a “widget” that can be easily added to your WordPress blog to fend off spam comments. People will often spam a blog with comments just to have their own links in as many places online as possible as this is believed to help their blog positions in search engine indexes.
You will want to download Akismet. It will require you to add an API Key which is very easy to find in your profile at WordPress.com

Now you are ready to Write a New Post. Always include top niche keywords in the Title of your posts. Then simply type to your heart’s content as easily as using Microsoft Word and its features.

The next simplest free blog you can create is at Blogger.com. Once signed up there are many similarities to WordPress.com for completing your blog setup. Here your blog URL will also be as close to your niche keyword as possible and will be yournichekeyword.blogspot.com

A great feature of Blogger.com is that the Advanced Setup allows you to create your blog right onto your website domain. This way you will not have to have the word .blogspot.com in the URL. Having blogspot.com in the URL will not hurt your search engine position but just doesn’t seem as professional as having your blog on a real domain.com

Advanced Setup is easy and all you need is the username and password of your hosting server. As you go through the setup process don’t hesitate to call your hosting provider if you have a question about anything regarding FTP. Your hosting provider should be quite happy to give you any information you need and will know what you are asking. They will most likely be very familiar with blogger.com and will know your exact needs.

A great feature of creating a blog at Blogger.com is that it’s easy to include your Adsense ads on your blog with a few simple clicks. To use this feature you will need to have an Adsense account at Google.com first. Blogger.com actually belongs to Google.com.

Another great feature of Blogger.com the simplicity of adding an RSS Feed to your blog. By having the RSS Feed on your blog visitors can click and add your blog to their list of favorite blogs so they can keep up with your new posts easily without having to constantly go to the blog itself. As a result you will want all Titles of your posts to be compelling enough to cause these people to choose to read the post for that day. By clicking on the title of the post, readers will be taken to your actual blog in one single click. If your title is not compelling they may skim past it and miss your valuable content since the title did not capture their attention.

Finally, let’s quickly touch on the ease of creating a lens at Squidoo.com Squidoo.com is a fabulous tool for you to create a blog-type website in minutes. You can use it as a blogging platform as well as an e-commerce platform. The search engines seem to favor Squidoo lenses so it is recommended that you create a lens at Squidoo.com at your earliest convenience in addition to your business blog so the Squidoo lens can link to your business blog. There are many great features and benefits for having a Squidoo lens – so much so an entire report could be dedicated to this topic alone. Meanwhile, at Squidoo.com the instructions are pretty self-explanatory for the basic Squidoo lens.

For now, though, just choose and get blogging! Start with WordPress.com and learn all you can there. Then move to the next if desired.

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If you like making Squidoo lenses, we are currently hiring freelance Squidooers on a work-at-home part-time basis. If you would like to get paid to build lenses with all the content provided, send an email to david(at)bigmoneyfreetime.com with "Squdioo Ledoux" in the subject line. Tell us about yourself, and with a link or two to existing lenses that you have built. We'll be in touch!
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Do you want to be featured in my next book?

Hurry…watch this video and take action before midnight tonight - I have room for 3 more submissions!

Last week I released a transcript of a podcast I did entitled A Brief History Of Internet Marketing. You download a copy as a pdf here.

I mentioned meeting a man named Steve Siebold by chance in 2001. Steve and his partner, the late great Bill Gove have done more for public speaking than anybody else on the planet.

Speaking from the front of the room is one of the most lucrative skills you can possess. It gives you a massive adrenaline dump for you action junkies. Depending on you, your topic, your crowd and your skill set, it can be incredibly rewarding on a personal level.

You really do need to meet Steve!

Here is a link to his site, The Bill Gove Speech Workshop. Stop by, and say hi to Steve and Dawn. They are incredible people. Tell them your goals for learning to speak well, and let them work their magic on you!

If you've been around marketing for any length of time, you've heard the saying, "People don't buy 1/2" drill bits because they want a drill bit, they buy them because they want 1/2" holes."

One of the smartest things you can do as a marketer is find out the problems in your marketplace, then provide solutions to those problems. The mistake I see a lot of people making is talking about their product and how wonderful it is. Nobody cares about the guy who makes the drill bits! They care about how wonderful their life will be with a hole.

One of the best email campaigns I ever ran was to a list of about 3500 customers of one of my physical products about 6 years ago. These were people who had each invested money into improving their business. I wanted to poke their wounds to find out how I could help them further.

This email created 1063 responses…some several pages long. I was tempted to compile them all into a new product, but it would have been so depressing! The pain that poured out onto the letters were astounding. I filled a $500 per hour coaching program for a full year with a waiting list from this single email. Feel free to swipe it and modify it for your niche….assuming you have a niche and a list. If you don't, what the heck are you waiting for? Join my intern program, start your niche blog, and build your list!

subject: , I have a special favor to ask you….

From:David Ledoux, Founder ILOVEMLM.com

To: , Network Marketing Mastery Ezine Subscriber

Why: I want to help you with your biggest problem.

Hi , it's David.

Has trying to build a big downline ever brought you to the point of tears? I remember once being so frustrated I started to do primal screams in between sobbing like a little girl. It was on the highway in 1995 in my $800 rusty old van. I had driven 2 hours each way for a freaking' no show!

Why we keep hammering this business is a mystery to people who just don't "get it". You and I "get it". But most don't. I want to help YOU to help THEM to "GET IT".

How?

Think for a moment. What is the single biggest frustration that you currently have in the business? Why?

Can you think of two or three other problems that tick you off? Do you think they might frustrate a brand new prospect too?

I want to TRADE you a mystery gift worth at least $35 for you BIGGEST PROBLEM.

Do me a favor. Send an email to mailto:telldavidyourproblem@yahoo.com

Email me the problem. Even your second and third problem. What ticks you off in network marketing? What are you struggling with? Tell me via email.

If you email me your biggest problem, I'll email you right back with a secret link to a surprise gift worth AT LEAST $35….a ton more if you use it!

Can your friends in the business do the same? SURE. Send them this email. I'll send them the same gift if they send me their problem.

Will I answer or fix your problem? Not directly, and not today. But soon…I am working on a doozy for you…but I don't want to leak out any secrets. But you can possibly be mentioned in this new project if you are willing to share your frustrations with network marketing with me!

WHAT TICKS YOU OFF IN THE BUSINESS? Email me at mailto:telldavidyourproblem@yahoo.com

I appreciate you…enjoy the gift!

David Ledoux
Massive Marketer
Author - How I Went From Welfare To Millionaire Without Winning The Lottery

p.s. stupid spam filters will probably kill this email….if you send it to your friends, make sure they know its coming….imagine, phoning your friends to watch for an email….this internet thing is getting weird!

p.p.s. remember, if you have email filters you won't get my email response with the secret link to the gift…make sure you unblock mail from telldavidyourproblem@yahoo.com

It's Friday and it's minus a billion in Toronto with snow on the ground….

I hope you're blogging in your niche. Nowadays it's pretty hard to make any kind of impact or to be perceived as any kind of authority or expert in a space without blogging consistently. No where is that more true than in the internet marketing space.

Who's stuff do I read and think is good?

1. Jack Humphrey
2. Howie Schwartz
3. Woody Maxim
4. Shoemoney
5. Ed Dale

Jack taught me how to rank #1 for the phrase "Make Money Online Expert".

Howie taught me how to dominate a conversation.

Woody taught me that I need more cowbell.

Shoe taught me not to underestimate the power of a knee to the solar plexus.

Ed Dale taught me the value of deep-fried Snickers bars and 32 times cash flow.

What do you buy someone for Christmas or a birthday who has everything?

It was a major problem for my family 10 years ago. Falia and I wanted for nothing. Business was brilliant and money was abundant. Whenever anyone asked what I wanted for my birthday, I would say "nothing!" with a big grin.

But you know that when it comes to giving gifts, it's the thought that counts, not the price tag. What was something that I enjoyed that would make a meaningful gift?

In 1997, I found the answer. Gourmet coffee.

When I was first launching my direct marketing business in 1994, I drank any brown swill that had the audacity to call itself coffee. By '97 the business was doing $4 million per year in sales, plus I was making a six figure income from my baby internet business selling $6000 websites. On a Caribbean cruise in the winter of '97 I tasted an ambrosia that ruined my taste buds for boring old store bought coffee. I've been a bean snob ever since.

When my family wants to get me a gift, they generally give me gourmet coffee. There is nothing like sitting out on the back deck in the early morning, writing a blog post and enjoying the aroma of a fine cup of joe.

Sometimes I order my coffee online, especially when I want to try a new company's offerings. I'm actually subscribed to a couple of email newsletters by coffee companies. I got a coupon online this morning from one of my coffee suppliers. If you'd like to try real Gevalia coffee you can use this link for a substantial discount.

Regardless of your personal income, you can live like a bazillionaire by treating yourself like one. Small luxuries and tiny treats can make you feel wonderful, can't they? What are your private indulgences? Join the discussion in the Money & Lifestyle Forum.

Hi everybody!

Here's a question for you.

What's your biggest marketing challenge?

Seriously, where does it hurt?

I'd love to help.

Jump on over (or crawl over) to our new Internet Marketing Discussion Forum and post your question.

We have a team of people ready to put some brain power behind your problem!

Here's some brainstorming music to get you in the mood!

I had a fascinating evening last night.

A couple of months ago I was researching ghost hunting in Toronto. Google led me to a paranormal investigation group that met monthly through an online web portal called Meetup.

Meetup is a power tool for creating events. There are over 78,000 groups using it in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries. There are meet-ups for Dungeons and Dragons fans, entrepreneurs, knitters, poker players and every imaginable topic. Last night I attended the meet-up for fans of Tim Ferriss's #1 best-selling book, The 4 Hour Work Week.

There were 6 of us that met at a local coffee shop for 2 hours. Everyone was an entrepreneur. One was a former engineer who owns a small business consultancy. One was a building subcontractor. The two ladies who attended were in real estate and seminar promotion. Dave, the Meetup organizer was a sales and marketing freelancer. A very eclectic group, and it made for an interesting evening.

We mulled over concepts like dreamlining and leverage. Hiring freelancers and personal assistants to gain more leverage and more hours in the day to focus on high payoff activities sparked lively dialogue. It was great to get out of the home office and around other entrepreneurs. For many of my readers who have internet businesses, unplugging for a few hours to deal with real live humans again should be at the top of the priority list!

Have you used Meetup before? What groups do you attend? What are your thoughts? Share a comment or leave a message in the discussion forum!

It's Wednesday morning. Can you please do me a favor? It will only take a second.

I set a goal to get 19 new RSS subscribers to my blog this morning. I want to do this because it's the best way to get information to people without risking the email spam filters.

Did you know that 1 good email in 5 is not being delivered for no apparent reason across the information super highway?

Do me a favor and click on this button here.

Can I ask you a question?

Do you still use business cards?

We live in such a technology-rich society that sometimes we overlook simple things that can pay big dividends. The humble business card is such an example.

Last week I was in Las Vegas for a conference. One of the speakers played a "game" with the entire room. It was a dynamic exercise on social networking. By the end of the 20 minute exercise you had collected the business cards of 6 individuals that you could either do a lucrative joint venture with, or had access to resources to solve one of the problems in your business. How powerful is that?

I noticed unfortunately that many of the attendees had to write their name and phone numbers on slips of paper. It's difficult enough to make serious business contacts. What impression do you give when you say you are a serious business person and yet don't have cards?

There is no excuse any more not to be able to promote your message. In the old days, it would take weeks to order cards. Printers would make plates, order stock, scan graphics and charge you over $1000 for cards, envelopes and stationery. Boy, things have changed!

I use an online service when I need "mission-driven cards" in a rush. When I have a new video to promote, or a special project, I can count on these guys. Here is a back-door coupon to get 250 full color business cards for free. Test them out, get some for your new blog, and give them away!