You’ve finally figured out the ins and outs of your blog. However, you are missing out on a HUGE blogging secret – guest blogging! This is one of the best and easiest ways to promote your blog (and your company).

The idea behind guest blogging is to contact other bloggers in your industry and offer to send them “exclusive” content for their sites.  Obviously, you need to have a well-established blog with strong content before you guest blog.  You need to prove to other bloggers that your content provides REAL VALUE to their subscribers.

Benefits of Guest Blogging
•    Increased traffic and backlinks

•    Connect with other bloggers/experts in your field - share ideas and information

•    Allows you to write about “fresh” topics you might not necessarily write about on your own blog

•    FREE targeted exposure

•    Improves your online reputation/company branding

Networking Opportunities
When other bloggers accept you as a “guest blogger” on their site, you are now exposed to NEW people (blog subscribers). Readers will get to know you as a result of your content. It’s important to include a byline that includes your company information, short bio, and links to your websites, blogs, etc. Another plus for your SEO!

Another huge benefit associated with guest blogging is FEEDBACK from your host blogger and their subscribers. This is how you earn your reputation as an expert in your field.

You create a LOT of opportunity for yourself and your company! Maybe one of their subscribers has a blog in your industry and asks you to guest blog for them TOO! You never know what opportunities could arise from guest blogging. You have potential customers and clients right at your fingertips.

How to Hit the Mark with Guest Blogging
Before you start guest blogging, keep the following tips in mind. Remember this is a win-win situation for you, the blogger and their readers and you need to hit the mark every time with great posts!

•    Use Google Blogs to find blogs in your niche/industry.

•    Research the blog and its audience – What voice/style does the blogger use? Who are their subscribers? What kinds of posts get the most comments?

•    Could you fill in gaps with innovative topics? – Maybe there are topics that the blogger hasn’t covered yet. Add a new perspective by writing posts that give a unique twist to the blog’s niche/subject.

•    Be reliable and add value – If you commit to three posts a week, then stick to your commitment. Don’t add “fluff” to the blog. The blogger wants valuable content so that’s what you need to produce every time!

•    Share your personal story/professional experiences – You don’t need to write a full biographical sketch, but readers want to know about your “real world” experiences. How can you relate back to the blog’s readers and offer them personal insight?

•    Don’t neglect YOUR blog – It’s easy to let your blog fall to the wayside when you guest blog. You draw more traffic to your site as a result of your guest blogging. Make an effort to keep your blog current and continue to provide GREAT content to your readers!

Congratulations - you finally figured out how to use WordPress! You just finished that compelling blog post and even know how to promote it. Just when you thought you were a master blogger, the blogging world threw you a new curveball – it’s called video blogging (vlogging or vidblogging).

The online community is VISUAL – audiences like images and fast, moving action (just ask any gamer you know!) If you want to make a lasting impact and take your online marketing to the next level, it’s time to ADD VIDEOS to your blog.

Advantages of Video Blogging

•    Gets your message across quickly– You can only get so far with content. Video is interactive and people don’t want to spend a lot of time reading text. They relate better to visual images.  This is called “attraction” marketing – get their attention FAST and hold it!

•    A great teaching tool – Easier for your audience members to grasp difficult concepts through easy-to-follow video tutorials.

•    Not everyone has jumped on the vlogging bandwagon – Vlogging is still a relatively new concept. Sites such as YouTube branched out in 2005 with this blogging concept, but it’s still slowly catching on and still considered a novelty in online marketing techniques.

•    Puts a FACE behind your blog – Add videos of yourself. Not only does that personalize your blog but you add credibility to your site. A friendly face and confident voice attracts audience members - they WANT to learn and know more about you. A video can further enhance your expertise and professionalism.

Disadvantages of Video Blogging

• Lack of content makes it difficult to rank in search engines – Search engines don’t rank video-only blogs high in the search engines (a negative for SEO). Balance out the videos by adding unique content to your blog.

• Requires time and energy to upload videos – Vlogging can be more time consuming. Instead of just dashing off text-only posts, you’ll need to spend more time uploading videos to your blog. Make sure your videos upload quickly or you’ll frustrate users who visit your blog – the fastest way to lose your audience!

Tools Needed for Video Blogging
Digital Camera – You’ll need a way to shoot the videos. You don’t need to spend thousands on an expensive video camera. Most digital cameras include a video feature and videos can be directly uploaded from digital cameras. Read manufacturer’s instructions to learn how to upload videos correctly.

WordPress Plugins: Flash Video Player, Windows Media Embedding and Anarchy Media Player are just some of the plugins that can be used to add videos. Check out more WordPress plugins.

Editing Software – Cyberlink Power Director 7 Deluxe and Corel VideoStudio organize clips and trim down movies. You can also add special effects or 3-D dimensions to videos to make them really POP!

Web Cams – You can shoot easy, quick videos with web cams and the Pro version of QuickTime 7.

Live Broadcasting – For podcasts check out blip.TV. You can upload your videos for free – you only need a camera (or web cam) and microphone.

Screencasts – Screencasts are animated videos of your computer screen. Free software such as Copernicus and Jing allow you to record screencasts. Some of these programs such as Copernicus don’t record audio.