A great book is about to come out, it’s from a person very close to me.  It’s a great book for work at home or work from home guide for Mom’s who are looking to earn extra income in these times.  The title is: Mommy’s Little Money$Maker, the blog is @ MomBite.com

Here is an excerpt from the MomBite blog: 

The Book Bite: Mommy’s little Money$Maker:  The Mom’s Insider Guide to Making Money.  Real Moms.  Real Ideas.  Smart Tips.
 
We have over 150 ideas of successful business ideas created by Moms.  In the book, you will find the compilation of tips from some of the best experts and practical advice from everyday Mommy Entrepreneurs.   In fact, we have featured over 40 successful businesses of Moms who have turned their passion and desire into a perfect business for them.
 
Soon we are offering the eDownload of the book for free.  So please give us your feedback and help other Moms succeed in living their dreams!

This post maybe all you need to know about marketing, well maybe not, but it is a great primer. Most people don’t know the basics of marketing, we not only provide you that, but here we go further. We might give you better than a marketing MBA. Because we cover the most ignored principal of marketing, the 5th P. Having made millions with my marketing skills and entrepreneurship, I have not only been a student of marketing, but an enthusiast.

All of these the major topics of modern day will be covered in the book. Are you feeling the theme of the new book yet “Secrets to eSuccess: blogs, social, and search marketing”?

A few of my friends/advisers have Stanford MBA’s, and a conservative one with a Harvard MBA.  They all agree that SEO and search marketing are a must for any business in todays market.  As you already know, we cover a lot of these topics in our blogs, but something was missing, a holistic Marketing approach. So we decided to take a step back and provide the basics.

If some of you were lucky, smart or blessed enough to study marketing in college you certainly know about the 4 P’s of marketing. I have been talking about these 4 p’s for 7 years now. The 5th P, I will tell you in a second, and you will agree it is the most important. Marketing is not just about public relations or advertising, as most people assume. It’s a complex world of strategic positioning, product strategy, product development, product management, and public relations and advertising. Advertising, public relations and sales are really one of the lagging parts, though very important. The most important lessons of marketing was from Anthony Robbins, yes Tony, the great motivational speaker. He talked about the VALS research from Stanford, and profiling different types of people, but most marketing people don’t emphasize the 5th P principles.

The 5th P does not stand for “Process” as an MBA in Marketing from the U. of Washington in Seattle told me.  I can’t believe that is what they taught there at U. of W. U Dub is a great school, but folks, process is just a process. So here are the 4 P’s and the 5th will be discussed in detail below:

1. Product; if you don’t have a product, you don’t have anything. A product can also be a service so for sake of simplicity we will bundle them.

2. Price; if you can’t make money selling your product, should you sell it? Or go back to the drawing table, Well you know the answer right?

3. Place; needs more clarification, it’s where you will sell the product, retail, online, jewelry parties, it’s the sales channel.

4. Promotion; this is the world of public relations, advertising, and call to action sales materials, search marketing etc. etc. For those of you who study marketing you may already know that eMarketing tools is the fastest growing segment of technology. This is from a recent Gartner report, of July 2007 on marketing automation.

Without, any further a due, the drum rolls rolling, the hearts beating, yes the claps, and church bells ringing.  Tadaha..It’s People, People, People, how can the marketing geniuses of the MBA’s forget to teach about “People, the 5th P”. Is process more important than people, no silly.  So what do yo need to know about People and marketing?

Forget about demographics, focus more on psycho-graphics, and get the data to back up your strategy. It’s the art of understanding not only who your customers are. The 5th P of marketing is all about people, you need to know everything about your customers, their profile is just a start. You need to know their likes, dislikes, passions, dreams and aspirations. Where are they going today? How much money are they spending on products that you sell, how much will they spend on them tomorrow?  VALS research covers types, that I can’t really forget. There will be more on this topic tomorrow, so we will call the series, “Secrets to eMarketing, Part 1-6″, we will start with Part 1. tomorrow.

If you’re blogging to promote your business and your brand, it’s essential to have a clearly defined plan. Yes, this seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised at how many bloggers just jump into the blogosphere without doing a little bit of research, reading the work of other successful bloggers, and establishing some kind of blogging plan.

Yes, in blogging as in business it’s important to have a plan, even if it is just a loose outline.   Some aspects that a blogging plan should include is a posting schedule, an organized set of categories and keywords, and a series of goals that the blogger intends to achieve (of course, you can always add keywords and categories later, or switch up your schedule, but really, most people operate better under some kind of set parameters and a good plan will help you start off on the right foot).

Setting goals, even small ones like “gain ten new high quality incoming links this week” or “move up five spots in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for your top keyword” is a good way to propel yourself through the ranks of the blogging community.  Reaching these goals is also an excellent morale booster, especially when you look back at what you’ve accomplished on days you’re feeling discouraged.  It’s important to remember that every blogger starts with just one opening post, even the Technorati Top 100.

You could also set writing goals, such as “post three times a week for the next month” or plan to a finish a longer piece such as a tutorial or glossary (your flagship content) by a certain deadline.  Creating a certain number of informative podcasts and video posts is another potential goal.

Of course, you need to have the big picture in mind as well.  What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?  Do you want to be in the top five search results for your main keywords?  Want to establish yourself as an authority and get consulting gigs as a result of your expertise?  Want to use your blog to generate internet buzz about your company and products?  Writing these things down and having an end result in mind will ensure that your blogging efforts are more focused and accompanied by a sense of purpose.

The type of goals you set should depend on your niche, your expectations for your blog, how much time you have to work on it, and most importantly, the sort of blogger you are.  However, it is extremely helpful and even necessary to create a plan or outline, including a series of goals - and don’t forget to reward yourself with some kind of treat when you reach them!

Are you holding off from starting a blog simply because there are so many other bloggers out there?  Worried about standing out from the pack and wondering how you’ll ever get traffic, lots of incoming links, and a high page rank?  A little bit intimidated with blogs with tons of content and several years worth of posts in the archives?

First of all, remember that no one makes the A-list overnight.  You may get spikes of traffic from a great post or by being popular on the social bookmarking sites, but building an amazing blog takes time.  After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Focus on the little things, and think of each incoming link, unique impression, and new subscriber as a building block for your blog.  These all occur one at a time, but they definitely add up.  Building up content is the same way - make the effort to post several times a week (or even every day if you’re ambitious), and before you know it, you’ll have created quite an impressive archive of knowledgeable content.

Search engines love sites with tons of content on related topics, so the simple act of writing a post helps with SEO (of course, it’s even better if it is a keyword-rich post, but you knew that, right?).  Of course, search engines also love sites that are constantly updated, so posting as often as possible is another simple SEO boost.

It’s also important to remember that you don’t need to write a book every day.  Some of the best, most informative articles out there are only a few paragraphs long, and it’s difficult to read tons of text on a computer screen anyways (so be sure to break up blocks of text somehow, whether you use bold headings, bullet points, or similar techniques).

So get started on your blog, take it one day at a time, and you may end up being amazed at what you’ve built.

I was very, very impressed by this guest post on Problogger from Gala of iCiNG about the 9 Lessons she’s learned from blogging.  Yes, she’s a niche blogger -her blog deals with fashion and style, which are common topics in the blogosphere but she definitely adds her own unique spin to everything. She points out an incredibly important aspect of blogging that I’d be willing to bet all successful bloggers know.

And I quote:

Blogging isn’t about shouting the loudest or being really important, it’s about connecting & engaging in a dialogue with other people. If you’re not actually interested in interacting with anyone else or hearing other people’s opinions, you might as well be keeping a diary for yourself. Like it or lump it, having a blog is like being in retail. If people don’t like you, they will go (& spend their money) elsewhere.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times - successful bloggers manage to connect and communicate with their readers, and that’s what makes them so popular.  On the most basic level, they create value for their readers, and that’s why readers keep coming back.

Yes, listening and responding to your readers takes some time, but remember that they are like customers - keeping readers interested is essential to your success.  If you put in the hours creating compelling content, whether it’s a how-to or a round-up of useful resources, it will eventually pay off.  Of course, you need to promote it with SEO and link-building, but you had better concentrate on creating something quality to market first.

One excellent way to create value is to teach your readers something.  If you’re a business blogger, chances are there’s at least one area where you possess some expertise, so share your knowledge with your visitors.  By helping others you can help yourself.  An example from the sports world - hockey great Wayne Gretzky recorded more than twice as many assists as goals (1963 career assists vs. 894 goals), and he still holds almost every possible scoring record.  It’s clear that he helped his teammates succeed, and now he’s considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Focus on what you can give to your readers - “ask not what your readers can do for you, ask what you can do for your readers“.  Yes, I took some serious liberties with John F. Kennedy’s classic phrase, but it’s important for bloggers to remember that they must contribute to community in order to reap its rewards.

I’ve suggested before that when you’re creating your About page and your first few introductory posts, you should interview yourself.  But that’s easier said than done, and personally I always find it easier to write about things other myself.  However, your blog is about you and building your brand, so creating a detailed profile is vital.

As a result of my blogging experience (seriously, there are thousands of posts and hundreds of thousands of words that I’ve written on the web), I’ve had lots of experience interview and writing profiles of individuals from all walks of life.  Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of questions that I use as prompts when I interview someone.

Of course, my actual questions change depending on the characteristics of the person I’m profiling, but here’s the basic template (this is geared towards business owners and/or people who are using their blogs to market something).   Feel free to take this as a survey, and answer it on your own blog (skip any questions you don’t like or add your own).

1. Who are you, what do you do, and where do you live (the basic data -this one is a softball question)?  How about family (married, single, kids, pets)?

2. What is your background (education, career, awards, achievements, etc.)? Basically, why should readers be listening to you and reading your blog?  This is an especially important question for authority bloggers - people who blog to promote their expertise on a particular topic - to answer.

3. How did you get to where you are today? Tell your readers about the journey.  What forces shaped you?  Have you always been involved in the industry that you’re part of today?  What interesting twists and turns has your life taken?

4. Where do you hope to be in the future?  You don’t necessarily need to post a five year plan or anything that detailed, but talk about your aspirations.  Where do you see yourself in the future?

5. What are you passionate about?  What inspires you and why?  If you’re in a creative field, what is your muse?  What gets you out of bed in the morning and what makes you happier than anything else?

6. What are some current trends in your industry/niche/topic area?  How do you feel about them personally and where do you think your field is headed?

7. What makes you unique in your field?  In general?  How do you stand out from the crowd? (Again, this falls into the category of why your readers should be reading your blog).

8. Who are your heroes? Who do you look up to? Why are they awesome?

9. On the opposite note, do you have any key advice for newcomers to your field? What do you wish you had known when you started?

10. Do you have any favorite quotes that always ring true with you?  What are they?

11. What is a typical day in your life like?

12. What are your hobbies and what do you do when you’re not working? What kind of music do you like, what are your favorite movies/games/sports?

13. What are some of your favorite places, in your current hometown and in the world? Why are they your favorites?

14.  Name a few interesting facts or unique talents you have.  Is there anything truly off-the-wall or have you done something that few other people have?  Do you have any weird but wonderful accomplishments under your belt?  Share some interesting anecdotes.

15.  If your readers could only remember one thing about you, what would it be?  Can you sum up your brand - your uniqueness - in a sentence or two?

And last but not least, the one question that I always ask at the end of an interview:

16. Is there anything you wish I would have asked you that I missed?

New to the blogging world and wondering what it’s all about?

Here’s a hint: blogging is like writing a column.  Think of the web as a giant media organization, sort of like a community driven, open source version of the Associated Press that is constantly churning out new content.  Each individual reader composes their own local paper of their favorite sites and blogs that they read regularly (and bookmark or subscribe to).

So really, maintaining a blog is not entirely unlike having your own byline and column in your reader’s newspaper.  Like a columnist, you have a dedicated topic -your niche - that you give your own personal spin.  Bloggers and columnists both have personal brands that they promote, and they usually write in their own voices, in the first person.

You may reply, “but I want to use my blog to market something, not to write a personal column.” Yes, but the basic idea is still the same - your blog is simply an advertorial or advertising column instead of an editorial one.  You are still blogging to promote your brand, just in a more conversational, interactive sense.

But that’s about where the similarities end, because as everyone knows, the web is fundamentally different from other media - it’s dynamic, it’s constantly updated, and it’s much more democratic in the sense that anyone who can get a hold of a computer and an internet connection can participate in the conversation.

If the web is a conversation, traditional media is a collection of lectures.  You can listen and even take notes, but you can’t respond.  This what makes blogging such a powerful new form of marketing - it breaks down the walls and lets businesses speak directly to customers, experts directly to their audience in the form of authority blogs, and allows virtually everyone to promote their personal brand.

The level of reader participation is a big part of what makes blogging different from print publications - readers can comment, other bloggers can link to your posts, and you can instantly respond to questions.  Blogging is dynamic, print is static.  Like the rest of the web, it is also much more community based, as it is important to interact with and link to other bloggers in your niche - to participate in the discussion.

Yes, I’m talking to you.  Do you have your own business?  Are you an expert on your particular niche?  Do you have a product to sell or something to market?  Are you a freelancer in any field?  Do you simply want to interact with a community of like-minded people and learn about new, interesting things?  Or do you just want to share your knowledge and opinions with the world?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you need to get a blog.  Thanks to the rise of many excellent (and free!) blogging and social media platforms (including MyTypes, hint hint), you don’t need tons of technical know-how or be a brilliant writer to start one.  You just need to have something to say and willingness to learn and participate in the internet community.

Many businesses and individuals think they need websites - and it’s true that a presence on the net can be incredibly valuable in the age of Web 2.0.  However, they usually also assume that they need to hire webmasters, designers, and assorted techie types to build and maintain it.  This results in an expensive site that is difficult to keep timely - these sites often become quickly outdated and tend to stagnate as the costs of keeping them current outweigh the benefits.  These sites are part of the “static” web, as opposed to the “live” web (encompassing the blogosphere and the social media).

The static web can be looked at as real estate - people build, design, and construct sites and give them addresses along the information superhighway, where they get traffic in the form of readers.  However, the “live” web is more of a dynamic publishing system, based on chronology, syndication, and tagging.  We create content that others view through browsers, feeds, and aggregators, and participate in global discussion about everything under the sun.  Naturally, blogs are a major part of the live web community, and most people who think they need a website really need a blog. Why?

1.  It’s relatively easy to get started - once you choose your name, set up template and get the hang of the (quite simple) technology, you’re in blogging business.

2.  You can update it yourself. Instead of waiting for your webmaster to change your site, you can write new posts as often as you want and publish them yourself.  You can also edit it yourself easily and quickly.  Your business and your life changes constantly, so your web presence should be able to keep up.

3.  You can interact within the live web and position yourself as an expert; you can share your knowledge and learn something from the other bloggers in your niche.

4.  You are searchable and findable - a blog that is SEO’d (search engine optimized)and updated often will get on the radar of potential customers and clients. After all, the web is increasingly the first place people turn when they need information on, well, anything.

The static web is not completely out of date, however, you can and should still include static pages within blog (the About page, your contact page, and other flagship content can be static - or kept outside the chronology of the rest of your blog.  An example of a static page would be the Blogging Terms 101  page on my header).

So what are you waiting for?  Head to the main page and get started on your own blog this weekend.

You can read more on the live web vs. the static web here, and for something more recent, it’s also mentioned in this interview with Doc Searls by Shel Israel.

Chances are you’ve heard the terms “web 2.0″, user-generated content, and social media networks being thrown around before, and you probably have a decent idea of what they mean (if not, check out my dictionary of blog related terms).  However, you may not be sure how to use the social media networks for your business - to blogcast your brand, because the blog is the center of it all.

Think of your brand/business as a solar system - your blog is the sun, and the rest of the social media sites and applications as planets orbiting around it.  You may have profiles on the other networks, videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr, and use social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and digg, but it all revolves around your blog (be sure to put links to your blog in all your profiles, but you already knew that, right?).

There are two main forms of social media that can be quite useful for bloggers - networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, Linked In) and bookmarking sites (Stumble Upon, Reddit, and my personal favorite, del.icio.us).

The networking sites are kind of self-explanatory; they are not that far removed from your actual network of friends, associates, and colleagues, except that they are virtual and you can see everyone else’s networks too.  Besides the fact that it is simply convenient to have everyone’s profile info at your fingertips, these sites can also be useful when it comes to reconnecting with old colleagues and accquaintances, and for learning more about new friends.  While you don’t need to maintain a presence on every social networking site on the web (you wouldn’t have time to do anything else!), it’s helpful to be involved in one or two that are popular in your business’s niche, e.g. fashion types with Iqons and anything music or entertainment related with Myspace.

Bookmarking sites are useful for bloggers in the both the promotional sense (having your content listed on the sites brings in readers) and in the personal sense - you can bookmark and tag your favorite sites and articles and access those bookmarks from anywhere, and if you work from multiple computers your bookmarks will be synched.   I personally like to bookmark and tag any articles that would be good blog fodder, so bookmarking sites can help beat blogger’s block as well.  Social bookmarking sites are also excellent tools because they enable you to check out what others in your niche are reading and what they thought of it. Popular forums can function in a similar fashion (be sure to put a link to your blog in your signature line!)

Last but not least, there is Technorati, the blog index that has become so much more. Technorati lets you see who has linked to your blog and how recently, what other sites they have linked to, who they have favorited, and so on.  There’s also an authority ranking (how many sites have linked to a particular blog).   It’s a good way to keep track of which bloggers are saying what, and how other bloggers are reacting to it.

The key idea to remember is that the social networks are a community - you have to participate, learn the mores, and in some cases, follow the rules (for example, many forums have certain codes of conduct and behavior, so check out the regulations before you jump in and post).  Even if you’re a natural rebel, you have to learn the rules before you can break them.  Like any other community, virtual or not, you have to learn to listen as well as speak.

Branding a blog is not unlike branding a business - you want to design a brand that encapsulates your core characteristics, that makes you stand out from the crowd, and that sums up your philosophy. I’m not talking about pretty logos or a memorable slogan, however. In order to succeed in the age of Web 2.0, your brand/blog must be dynamic, beneficial and/or entertaining - or preferably all three. Today’s readers are savvy, demanding, and fickle, so there has to be substance behind the hype if you want your message to stick.

When you begin your blog, ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want to say? Try to narrow your message down to a few sentences. Think of it as a blogging mission statement (you can put this on your about page).

2. What do I have to offer? What unique skills and knowledge do you have to share with your readers? How can someone benefit by reading your blog? This can can become the basis for your cornerstone content.

3. What is my niche? No one can be all things to all people, so focus on what you can do well. Define your niche so that your blog and brand can be tailored to it (this is also important for SEO purposes, as it helps you to focus on the best possible keywords).

4. Is this sustainable in the long run? Do I have enough to say on this topic to maintain a blog? If you are blogging about your business, (hopefully), you’ll be very passionate about it and have more than enough to say. Remember that creating a successful blog, like a successful brand, requires time and commitment.

5. What sets you apart from the competition? What makes you and your business stand out? Can you describe in a few words? Why should someone read your blog?

As an example, here are the answers for this blog:

1. What do I want to say? In a nutshell, I help bloggers make their blogs better; in particular, I teach to people use blogging to promote their businesses.

2. What do I have to offer? A finely honed writing ability combined with an knowledge of new media and web 2.0 topics, and an awareness of trends in the blogging community.  Plus, I’m patient, friendly, and a good teacher.

3. What is my niche?  Yes, I’m one of the many who blogs about blogging, but I’m focused on helping small business owners and entrepreneurs create compelling content and maximize the potential of their blogs.

4. Is this sustainable in the long run?  Definitely.  I clearly have lots to say, and the blogging community is incredibly dynamic and innovative, so there are always new topics to cover and lots of blog fodder.  I’ve developed blogs before, so I understand the time commitment.  Finally, blogging is something I’m passionate about on a personal level, because starting a blog literally changed my life (ultra quick summary - I was planning on going into a completely different field after I got my B.A., but I started a fashion blog as a hobby, fell in love with the world of blogging and online media, and the rest is history).

5. What sets you apart from the competition?  I consider myself a writer as well as a blogger (just because the web is more informal medium than print doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t put my best face, or posts, forward), and I teach people to use their blogs as a means of active communication, connection, and involvement with their readers/markets instead of just a promotional tool.  I’m in this to help other people succeed.

This post is being submitted to ChrisG on New Media’s Branding Round-up, so click the link for more posts on branding and how it relates to new media.

And a Happy 4th of July to my American readers!