Lets Talk Blogging

Friday, January 11, 2008

Five Steps to Blogging

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Title: Five Steps to Blogging
Author: Antonio L. Crawford
Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.Author’s Blog Training sites:
http://www.blogtakradio.com/lets-talk-blogging
http://letstalkblogging.blogspot.com/

Category: Blogging / Social Networking / Writing / Internet Marketing
Additional Category: Education / Training / Online course

Number: 001Format: 78 characters per line
Words: 769 words
ISSN:

With Gratitude,
Antonio L. Crawford, CEO Top Book Sales Inc.
P.S. To receive special e-zines from Antonio L. Crawford, author of Market Your
Book to Success and co-author 101 Ways to Generate Top Book Sales send an email to: letstalkblogging@gmail.com with the subject: sign me up
==========================================
Five Steps to Blogging
Antonio L. Crawford ©2008 All Rights Reserved

There are a number of reasons why authors should start a blog: communicate your book’s sell message; promote your book to a larger audience; connect with potential readers; share your thoughts with the universe. These are just a few.

The question most authors ask is how do you get started?

Here’s how:

Identify what you want to achieve. Most bloggers fail to maintain an ongoing blog because they don’t have a solid plan. At a minimum, you should write down your goals (what you hope to achieve through blogging). Next, create a basic plan to help you achieve your goal. Your plan should answer questions such as - why you are starting a blog? How many hours will you devote to blogging? What time of the day will you blog? How many people do you want to reach? What type of readers would you like to reach? How long will you keep your blog going? What do you hope to obtain as an end result? These are all valid questions that you should answer before you start blogging.

Identify your target audience. In today’s global society, there are billions of people who connect to the Internet. Businesses, banks, libraries, social communities, churches, schools, universities. The Internet provides the opportunity to connect to a global marketplace. People living in Australia, China, Canada, France or Rome could stop in and read your blog. Your blog is accessible to billions of people - twenty four hours a day. Now, think about the global connection for a few seconds. What type of readers will visit your blog? Children, adults, seniors? Who will read your text and post their own comments? LAPD, dentist, doctors? How many people will peruse your blog and then leave immediately? Politicians, parents, friends? There are two ways to identify your target audience (1) observe and get to know the people who visit your blog and leave comments. (2) build an audience by inviting people to read your blog.

Write about topics you are passionate about. Some authors find getting started difficult because they don’t know what to write about. Then there are others, who know what write about - but have a difficult time writing it. If you fall into either of these categories, don’t worry. Asking yourself questions will help you get started: What category or genre is your book listed under? If you went to the bookstore, where would you find a copy of your book: finance, sports, self-help, romance novels, urban literature. . .? These are your passion categories. After you have found your topic, read a few trade magazines or news papers that cover the same subject. Make a list of what stories are hot and what stories seem cold. Take notes and form your own opinion about the stories. Communicate your thoughts through your blog. Another idea: blog about your book tour, your book marketing strategies, or blog about the release of your next book. The key is, write down your topics, create your own opinion, plan your approach and then take action. Blog!

The next step is to Join a Blog Hosting Service to create and start your own blog. There are several blog hosting services available for you to choose from:

* Free blog services include:
Blogger.com
LiveJournal.com
Blog-City.com
Windows Live Spaces

*Fee-based services include:
TypePad.com
Xanga.com
SquareSpace.com
BlogIdentity.com

I use Blogger.com because Google provides a complete Internet platform that is easy to use and help train others: Gmail account, major search engine, AdSense and free blog hosting services.

Follow these simple steps to help you get started with Blogger.com:

Step one: visit http://www.blogger.com/
Step two: follow their easy steps to create a Google account
Step three: fill in your username, password, display name and e-mail address
Step four: create a good blog theme or use your brand name for your blog
Step five: chose a template, or go freestyle (design your blog using html codes)
Step six: note: think about what you want to accomplish before you (write your header)
Step seven: write your blog text
Step eight: post your comments and upload your picture
Step nine: add additional features or side bars (links, book cover, MP3 files)
Step ten: publish your blog

When you are finished building your blog, it is time to launch into the blogosphere. Join a blog community or join a blog ring. (A blog ring is a blog community or blog forum. Blog rings provide an active audience. The ready-made forum is a fast way to post your blog in the mind of fellow bloggers.) Can’t find a suitable ring? Start your own!

===========================Antonio L. Crawford, Publisher, educator and coach. Help authors and experts achieve their goals using Lean principles. Author of Market Your Book to Success, co-author of the ebook 101 Ways to Generate Top Book Sales. TopBookSales.com.
http://www.letstalkblogging.blogspot.com Free Blog e-Course
===========================
Email Antonio at letstalkblogging@gmail.com
Phone: 1-804-536-3182 USA

Monday, December 10, 2007

Eight Week Blog and Book Marketing Training Program

We have designed this eight week course for authors who need an innovative strategy to help market and promote their books.

During this eight week course we will show you how to create a dynamic blog, setup a podcast and execute a virtual book tour.

Why should anyone take this course? Traditional marketing tactics like mailing fliers, buying media ad space and traveling on a physical book tour could cost you a ton of money. Through blogging, you stay at home and gain immediate exposure when someone visits your blog. You can advertise your tell-sell message to a global audience. You can establish a platform to launch a virtual book tour. You gain the opportunity to market and promote your book at little or no cost.

According to Bob Walsh, the author of Clear Bloggin, the number of people who blog double every five to six months. Yes! I believe Bob. You will be surprise when I tell you - who some of these people are.

Rich and famous business executives have become bloggers. In today’s technical society – book agents are now blogging, publishers are blogging, expert book marketing consultants are blogging. The list goes on. . .

What are your chances of winning a major book contract through blogging? You will never know if you don’t own one. Get started to day! Join us.

Best of all – the course is free. That’s right. FREE!

Share this information with your associates and friends.

How do you get started?

Send an email to letstalkblogging@gmail.com with the title: [Lets Talk Blogging] and the phrase “sign me up”.

Every week you will receive our schedule and an e-zine with information on how to use your blog to market and promote your book.

Each email will have [Lets’ Talk Blogging] in the subject line. Please review your email inbox daily so you don't miss any of the information that will be sent to you.

The content of this course is part of Top Book Sales: Ultimate Book Marketer’s Training Course, “Lets Talk Blogging”.

The goals for this course are:

*Increase your exposure. We provide an interactive blog training program to show you how to use blogs to market and promote your book(s).

*Save you time and money. We provide information, tips, tools and resources to help you execute a virtual book tour.

Antonio L. Crawford

The Ultimate Book Marketer’s Kit

www.topbooksales.com

Antonio@topbooksales.com

7 Dollar eReports

www.7dollarereport.com

INTRODUCTION TO THE EIGHT WEEK COURSE

Theme: ‘Lets Talk Blogging’

Length: Eight Weeks

Start: December 20^th, 2007

End: February 7^th, 2008

Cost: Eight weeks. Free to everyone

Contact: Antonio L. Crawford

Email: letstalkblogging@gmail.com

Blog: http://www.letstalkblogging.blogspot.com/

Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lets-talk-blogging

Objectives: After taking this course Authors will learn how to:

1. Start a dynamic blog to communicate to a global audience

2. Publish and market your blog in a syndicated network

3. Increase your revenue stream by designing blogs to generate profits

4. Build a social network to recruit prospects, receive referrals and make new friends

5. Travel the world by executing a Virtual Book Tour

*Stay connected to receive our upcoming highly requested article “Start a Dynamic Blog to Communicate Your Message to a Global Audience”.

Wait! That’s not all.

Please tune in-to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lets-talk-blogging, Thursday, December 20th, 6:30pm EST. Antonio, will interview eMoms at Home founder Wendy Piersall. Wendy is a dynamic business woman and mom. She is passionate about helping parents succeed as entrepreneurs and in life. Join us as she discusses: The Relationship Between Marketers, Moms & Bloggers. The impact a blog can have on your readers.

Until then: good reading, requires great blogging.

Lets Talk Blogging!

If you think this course could be helpful for someone who you know, please share this information about our blog. Feel free to post comments and send your questions to letstalkblogging@gamil.com.

Antonio L. Crawford

The Ultimate Book Marketer’s Kit

www.topbooksales.com

Antonio@topbooksales.com

7 Dollar eReports

www.7dollarereport.com

Blog Training Course Description & Outline

This eight week course is designed to help authors create and start a blog to promote their book. At the beginning of every session is an easy and simple workshop designed to help sharpen your blogging skills.

The course will include:

*A free weekly e-zine that will be delivered to your email inbox

*Q&A session. Send your emails and questions about blogging, book marketing, social networking, and publishing to letstalkblogging@gmail.com

*Quiz that contains up to five questions.

*Research activity. Visit and review other blogs to discover what other bloggers are talking about. Search for the top blog awardees to get new ideas.

*Weekly Blog Talk Radio Podcast. Listen to interviews with professional bloggers.

Topics included in the eight week course:

1. Reasons Why Every Author - Needs a Blog

2. Five Mistakes Bloggers Make and How to Avoid Them

3. Portals, Directories and Listings: Publish Your Blog to the Next Universe

4. Five Surefire Ways to Market and Promote Your Blog with Ease

5. Talk Your Way Out of It: Pod-Cast Your Blog

6. The Money Blog: Increase Your Revenue and Stay at Home Blogging

7. Build Your Social Network: Recruit Prospects, Receive Referrals and Make New Friends

8. Go Virtual and Leave the Books with Us

Blog Talk Radio Show: Lets Talk Blogging

Radio and TV Talk Show Host: Antonio L. Crawford

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lets-talk-blogging