How to Recruit a Guest Blogger - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

How to Recruit a Guest Blogger - Website Magazine - Website Magazine

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Are you Making These Blogging Faux Pas?

9 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Blogging: “Are you Human”?

I am all for advanced technology when it helps to enrich our lives or make some tasks easier. However, when this same technology starts to replace humans, I think it has gone a bit too far. As an Internet Marketing Consultant, I obviously spend a lot to time on the Internet and spend way too much time having to “prove” that I am a “human”. Is it just me or do others find this a bit odd? With the use of Captcha’s on so many blogging sites, bookmarking sites, etc. I find myself wondering why and when being “human” became something we had to offer proof for.

A Captcha is defined as “a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer”. In other words, unless we can prove otherwise, we are assumed to NOT be human. This is a rather peculiar twist on the “innocent until proven guilty” premise. The phrase “challenge-response test” in the definition of a Captcha is in many cases, extremely accurate. However, when the “test question” is a simple addition problem such as “what is 1 + 1”, I have no problem passing and have a bit of resentment that this type of question is referred to as a “challenge”. Granted, many of us have lost our ability to do simple math because of the calculator, but “1 + 1”? Even the mathematically-challenged adult can handle that one. But then there are those Captcha’s that cannot possibly be interpreted by a “human”. It sometimes takes me upwards of 5 tries before a non-human presents me with a Captcha I can still barely identify.

This brings me to the new concept in Internet Marketing called “auto blogging” (http://www.profitblogger.com/what-is-autoblogging-and-how-does-it-work/). This is a neat concept that makes it possible for bloggers to blog automatically. In other words, there is no need for a human to sort through the vast amount of information on the Internet that bombards us on a daily basis. There is a program that can do that for us. Personally, I don’t subscribe to this kind of system because I like to assure that the content on my blog is valuable and also like to know what I am posting. But I would like to thank those Internet Marketing Professional bloggers who do use automatic blogging and posted my press release announcing the launching of my new Internet Marketing website on their blog site. I can’t help but wonder if a “human” would intentionally post the announcement of a competitor’s website.

10 Ways Blogging Will Simplify Your Marketing Program (Guest Post)

"When marketers and small business owners consider blogging, they typically worry about added complexity. For a small team already managing many different channels and campaigns, content development can be a daunting undertaking." Read full blog here.

Why do I need to do Internet Marketing?

It amazes me with the year 2010 almost here, that there are still professional business owners who don’t understand the power of the internet, so when I came across an article by a gentleman named Nigel Peck, I couldn’t resist quoting his witty commentary:

"There is a common misconception amongst many people with regards to Web Sites and it is that as soon as you have a Web Site people will start looking at it, and therefore it will attract new business. This is not true.

My answer to this is always the same 'When you get a telephone does it start ringing?’ I won't insult you with the answer to that one. A Web Site is like anything else, for people to look at it they've got to know it's there first."

I read somewhere that even if a business owner truly doesn’t see the need for Internet marketing, just the fact that competitive companies in the same industry do have a web presence, in and of itself, is reason enough to make darn sure you are on the web too.

Seems pretty obvious yet it isn’t so obvious to many people. I have actually personally had a conversation recently with someone who wanted to write and distribute a newsletter. I am a big fan of newsletters, having run a non-profit association for years. It was my number one way of communicating with our membership on a monthly basis. I asked for contributions from members, ran “member of the month” contests and shared industry-relevant information as well as association news. So I definitely agree that newsletters are a great resource. However, this person I was conversing with, when asked how he would distribute his newsletter, responded with “there will be a sign-up form on my website.” Sounds great. Now how are people going to get to the website? He didn’t have an answer to my question. He didn’t understand or agree with the importance of Internet marketing. Good luck to him getting his newsletter out.

Then there are those entrepreneurs who do recognize the importance of Internet marketing but might not have the luxury of time or the resources available. New Horizons 123 was created with this population in mind. Baby steps for small businesses.

New Horizons 123