Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Perhaps you’ve thought about writing and selling your own e-books as a new income stream. But did you know that by giving them away (or practically giving them away), you can turn e-books into incredible marketing tools?

Whether you write a completely new e-book from scratch or compile information from your blog or website into a more comprehensive resource, let’s take a look at how you can get marketing benefits from even short e-books and reports.

There is More Than One Way to Market With E-books

When people talk about using e-books as a marketing tool, they often focus on only one potential way to do that. Let’s look at that method first and then explore a couple of others.

1. Build your mailing list.  — E-books can be a great way to entice people to sign up for your newsletter or other email list. Advertise the free e-book for subscribers and have it delivered as soon as they confirm their email subscription. Why would you want to do this? You can use your email list to sell private newsletter advertisements, sell other products to subscribers, or promote other sites or products or services.
2. Promote professional services. — Short informational e-books can be great tools for service providers. For example, I used to run a small PR firm. I offered press release writing services. I gave away a 17 page e-book about how to write press releases. It brought in client leads for those writing services because they could see I knew what I was talking about, and I gave them something of value that competitors did not. These kinds of e-books work a lot like white papers.
3. Up-sell to other information products. — By giving away e-books as marketing tools, you can use them to up-sell readers. In other words, you provide a short e-book as an introduction to a topic, and then if readers like it the end of your e-book encourages them to purchase a much more advanced e-book on a similar topic.

3 Keys to Effective E-book Marketing

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Remember that by “e-book marketing” here we’re referring to using e-books to market other things (not marketing e-books themselves). With that in mind, here are three things that might make your e-book marketing more effective.

1. Keep e-books free or low cost. — While you should price appropriately for your market if you release e-books as a primary product or income stream, using them as marketing tools is different. They can be most effective as freebies — the free information becomes the incentive for the target readers to do something else (like sign up or purchase another product or service). If you insist on charging for them, keep marketing tool e-books much cheaper than your typical e-books or other information products.
2. Offer actionable information. – Don’t make people feel like they got nothing out of reading your e-book. The fact that it’s a marketing tool in your perspective does not mean it should have no value to the reader. Using the press release writing e-book I mentioned before as an example, rather than simply use the e-book to explain what releases are I taught readers how to write their own. First, that meant people intimidated by the process or unable to make the time for it were more likely to hire someone like me. And for the rest who tried it on their own first, quite a few still became clients for their next release because they gained a greater appreciation of the work that goes into them and they wanted a professional’s touch the next time around. Don’t be afraid to teach others to do things you can do. Hoarding knowledge doesn’t help in this case.
3. Keep the content relevant. — For example, don’t write an e-book on making money online just because you think people want to know how to do that. Each individual e-book has to not only answer a question or solve a problem for the reader, but they should each be relevant to your end marketing goal. For example, if you were selling a home pedicure package you might release a free e-book on giving yourself a home pedicure. You could entice people to sign up for your mailing list for future promotions to get that e-book, and increase the odds even more by including a coupon code for the product in the e-book itself.

Are you using e-books as effective marketing tools? What have you used them to promote? How well did it work out? If you have stories or marketing tips to share that involve e-books, please comment below to tell us about it.

Credit: Fotolia.com

Are you struggling to make money from your blogs? Do you make some money blogging, but wish you could make more? The solution might be easier than you think, and it doesn’t always mean you have to increase your traffic dramatically. You can also find ways to increase revenue with your existing market reach by diversifying your income streams.

Let’s look at what it means to diversify your income streams, why bloggers should consider it, and some examples of income streams you might want to add to your blog.

What Does it Mean to Diversify Your Income Streams?

Diversifying your income streams is a simple concept. It means you should have several sources of income at any given time rather than just one. For example, if you only make money blogging through affiliate sales, you don’t diversify your income streams. If you use affiliate sales, your own product sales, and contextual advertising, then you do have a more diverse set of revenue streams.

Why Diversified Income Streams are a Great Idea for Bloggers

Here’s the problem with relying too heavily on just one revenue stream: when it’s disappears, all of your income disappears with it.

Members only content can be a great blog income stream. - Credit: Fotolia.com

If you get banned from a specific ad network for example, your income is gone. If you only sell one product of your own and it reaches market saturation, your income stops flowing. If your readers get tired of your constant affiliate promotions, that revenue stream might stop bringing in reliable revenue. No single income stream for bloggers is guaranteed to last forever.

When you diversify your blog income, you insulate yourself from this sudden drop-off in earnings. If one revenue stream dries up, you have other income streams bringing in money. Your earnings might decrease temporarily, but they won’t disappear completely.

5 Examples of Additional Blog Revenue Streams

Diversifying your blogging income sounds like a good idea, right? It can help you earn more than you do now, and it can prevent you from losing everything overnight. But how can you diversify your income streams? Here are five examples of blog revenue streams you might be able to add. Note that not all revenue streams are appropriate for blogs in every niche.

1. Industry directories with paid inclusion (or paid featured spots)
2. Job boards / Classifieds
3. Members-only content (advanced private content for paying members)
4. Information products (your own e-books, reports, e-courses, and other downloads)
5. Ad networks (affiliate, contextual, text links, banners, or whatever works in your niche)

There are countless ways to increase your blog income, with or without dramatic increases in traffic. Think about what members of your audience want and need. Then find a way to give it to them as a premium product, service, or feature to increase site revenue. At the same time, balance that with enough free quality blog content that you keep readers coming back. If you can’t monetize their traffic today, there’s always the chance you will tomorrow. When you put readers first and build trust within your audience, they’re often quite happy to help support your blog.

How do you diversify your blog income streams? What brings in the most money right now? Have some revenue streams failed to work in your niche? Share your own revenue stream ideas and stories about how you make money blogging in the comments below.

If you’re using Google Plus, you’ve probably heard about the controversy over Google’s “real name policy.” In the interest of transparency I’ll tell you that I have some very big problems with this policy, Google’s flip-flopping about what “real names” mean, and Eric Schmidt’s recent foot-in-mouth comments on the matter. And yes, I do use my real name on the network.

But I don’t want to talk (yet again) about why the real name policy is a terrible idea or why others think it’s great and going to lend some sort of greater credibility to the network. Instead I want to talk about the business of it all.

More importantly I want to talk about how this policy could have both good and bad repercussions for Google and businesses hoping to leverage this “identity service.”

How Eliminating Anonymity is Good Business for Google

Let’s face it. We all know Google is in the information business. They gather it. They find ways to monetize it. We, and the information Google can gather about us, are in essence the products they sell to advertisers. The more they know about their users, the more targeted ads can be, and the more valuable your eyes on an ad become. Cha-ching!

In this sense the real name policy is smart business for Google. The more information they can provide about their users, the more they can rake in from advertisers and the more they can tailor other services to your habits and interests to keep you on their site.

The Business Risks of the Google Plus Real Name Policy

On the other side, the real name policy could do some serious damage to Google’s best attempt in the social media game yet. I loved the concept of Google Plus from the start. They got some things right on the privacy front (Circles being a great example). We had control over everything we shared. But then they took control of our identities. In the end, it’s tough to have things both ways.

Google is already alienating some of their early users, myself included. It isn’t just that there are good reasons to use names other than our “real” ones. It’s the way Google still seems oblivious about how the social Web works. Platforms are created for the users — not the other way around.

If Google yet again shows people they aren’t prepared to give users what they want in a social platform, they’re going to devalue their own “product” early in the game. We won’t share all of the information they (and their advertisers) want or need. We won’t trade our time on one social media tool for Google Plus. And if they push G+ users hard enough, they risk pushing them away from other Google products as well.

After all, if you tell users they aren’t welcome to be who they are in this social context, why would they want to waste time with you in any other sense? They’ll move on. There are other search engines, other feed readers, other email providers (or means of checking Gmail accounts), and there are certainly other social networking platforms.

If Google does anything with this policy of exclusion, it might be to remind their users that all of these other options exist. That’s a risk they took when they chose to tie our beloved Google tools to this new identity service.

Personally, I hope the folks at Google get a clue before it’s too late (or at least change their tone on the subject). I’m a big fan of the platform itself, and I find some of the best conversations in my network happen within Google Plus.

Yet I’ve seen those conversations become shallower and more promotional in nature as colleagues and friends leave or cut back on information and opinions they’re willing to share. That’s even true of those already using their real names.

That’s just what I’m seeing in my own Google Plus network. Have you noticed any changes in yours recently? Whether you’re for or against the real name policy, how do you see it helping or hurting Google’s position in social media? Are they doing what’s best for their advertisers and their own business, or do you think they might be doing more harm than good? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Would you like to become a “professional blogger?” Would you just like to earn enough income to support your blog — pay for hosting and a domain name for example? If you’re like a lot of people who want to make money blogging, you’ve probably thought about tossing ads up on your site to do it. But did you know that there are other, often better, ways to make money blogging?

Let’s talk about why ads aren’t always the best option when you want to make money with your blog and mention a few alternative ways you can make money blogging, no ads required.

Why You Might Not Want to Rely on Ads for Blog Monetization

There are different types of ads you might think about using to monetize a blog. For example there are ad networks (like Google’s Adsense), affiliate ads (like those through Commission Junction or Clickbank), and private ad sales where you set your ad prices and directly sell space to advertisers. Each has positive and negative aspects, but one common drawback is that they all perform better for sites with a lot of traffic (more people to click the ads). That’s fine if you already have a popular blog, but it makes ad income little more than a pipe dream for a lot of new bloggers, or even experienced bloggers who are simply launching new blogs.

When you use ad networks there’s also the issue of relying on third parties. You don’t get to control how much you charge for ad space on your own blog, and they can cut you off at any time or close down their program. An awful lot is out of your control. Depending on your niche or type of blog, ads might even be a big deterrent for readers. In certain industries it’s frowned on to put ads on your professional blog for example (as opposed to running a niche blog where it’s more expected). Or if you were a doctor giving health advice on a blog, readers might be majorly turned off by ads promoting specific products because it damages your credibility.

Are 3rd party ad networks locking up your blog's income potential? - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Sometimes ads just aren’t the best option when you want your blog to bring in income. But here are some other options you might want to consider.

5 Additional Ways You Can Make Money Blogging

I’ve been a professional blogger for a couple of years now. While some in similar shoes do rely heavily on ads to make money blogging, I don’t. I do use ads, but I’ve turned them into a small part of a much broader overall strategy — just like I suggest to other freelance writers that they diversify income streams, I diversify my blog income. Here are some of my favorite ideas for making money blogging without ads, including some I’ve already implemented and other ideas I have in the works for various blogs I own.

1. Sell services through your blog. I’m a freelance business writer and blogger. I also happen to blog about freelance writing. Clients often find me through that blog and others, and I make sure they have a way to contact me if they want to request my services. I’ve found this is one of the best ways to make money blogging — use your blog as a marketing tool or platform piece to attract other paying opportunities. You could do the same with any type of service from being a freelance designer to running a Web hosting company.
2. Sell e-books or other digital products of your own. Rather than advertising others’ products, create and sell your own! Blogs are excellent tools that keep your target market coming back for more, meaning you have a built-in, growing audience interested in hearing more about what you have to say. If you have something of value to offer, turn it into an e-book. Or create and sell a software program or other digital product through your blog if it’s a better fit for your readers (or at least the readers you’re working to attract).
3. Offer e-courses or webinars. If you have something to teach your readers — something they would be willing to pay for — why not turn it into a webinar or e-course? You could charge for access and use the blog to promote it. Basically your e-courses would be more advanced expansions on what you talk about on your blog anyway.
4. Consider premium content (even if just partially). Similar to running e-courses, premium content is about getting readers to pay for more advanced material. You can still be generous with free content, but if you have knowledge or expertise people are willing to pay for, consider adding a premium section to your blog that goes above and beyond your free content. This is another model that won’t work for everyone, and you have to know your target market first before assuming they’ll be willing to pay.
5. Tie your blog to another site model. A blog doesn’t have to be just a blog. It can be tied to another type of site that brings in your direct income, while the blog works to attract visitors. This site is a good example of that. DirJournal.com brings in income through directory submissions, but the site also features a whole network of blogs. The blogs provide content of interest to readers — the very visitors website owners want to ultimately reach with their submissions. The blogs are a value-added service. You can tie them to other types of sites as well — your business / service site, a product sale site, social network / forum, directories, or just about any type of site you can think of.

Don’t forget about donations. While there can be complications to accepting donations — no certain income, potential nonprofit registration issues depending on where you live, etc., they’re still an option used by many bloggers. It allows visitors to directly compensate you based on how valuable they find your material.

What's YOUR blog plan? - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

If you want to make money blogging but you would rather not set up your own blog, there’s always the option of blogging for clients. I actually combine the two — I blog for clients (such as right now) but I also run nearly a dozen different blogs of my own. They can both be very lucrative options. There are many businesses out there today that want to get into blogging, but they aren’t sure how. Don’t be afraid to pitch them your ideas and help them get the ball rolling.

Do you have any other ideas for ways people can make money blogging without relying on ad networks, affiliate programs, and private ad sales? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experiences with the suggestions I made, or to add to the list.

Credit: rubenerd (via Flickr)

If you’re a book lover, you probably know that all Borders stores are closing. This weekend I went to the nearest store to check out the liquidation sale. And I have to say, I wasn’t that impressed. Books seemed to be selling slowly, even with 40-50% discounts. They still couldn’t seem to compete with online behemoth, Amazon.com.

As sad as it is to see physical bookstores closing, there’s hope. These big box retailers knocked down the little independent bookstores years ago, and now those indie bookstores have a chance to shine again. So let’s take a look at how the Borders failure can be a good thing for small businesses in this industry, and a few lessons those independent booksellers can learn from it.

Lesson 1: Get with the Times

Borders hung onto a comfortable business model in a rapidly-changing industry. They didn’t get with the times and give customers what they wanted. Smaller bookstores still have time to get their operations up to date. Yes, people still want hard copies of books. But they also want shopping convenience and e-books. Here are a few ways smaller booksellers can modernize their stores:

• Let customers search book availability online. That lets them avoid wasted time in stores searching for things. Let them either reserve in-stock titles for 24 hours or purchase them online for pick-up at their convenience. It’s like online shopping without paying for or waiting on shipping.
• Get involved in affiliate promotions. Encourage more authors to launch affiliate programs for online versions of their books (the bookstore earns commissions on sales). Or join existing affiliate programs through large online e-book sellers to avoid your own licensing deals. Offer in-store consoles for shoppers to browse and order the e-books. You can do the same through your website.
• Pay your own commissions. Referral sales can be big business, and the bookselling industry is no exception. Give customers a reason to refer others to your shop with affiliate programs or special loyalty rewards. Better yet, partner with libraries. They need income sources. You need more sales. Why not have referrals built into their online catalog? You deliver the books to the library and patrons can pick up orders just like they’d pick up hold items. The library gets a cut of each sale they refer. Win-win.

Lesson 2: Offer Value-Added Services

Story time can keep families coming back to your bookstore. - Credit: Shuva Rahim - Fotolia.com

A cup of java isn’t enough to keep bookstores alive. Smaller bookstores need to find new value-added services to keep customers coming in-store. Here are a few examples.

• Offer children’s story time on a regular basis.
• Host author book signings, readings, and other events.
• Launch a community book club (or several).
• Offer used books and trade-in opportunities to compete with low-priced online used book sales.
• Host contests or events like writing workshops — find new local talent to promote and get local press coverage for it.
• Host events relevant to your store (murder mystery parties for a mystery bookstore, Halloween events for one specializing in horror, period costume parties, etc.).

Lesson 3: Find Your Niche

It’s tough to compete as a generalist in an industry where one or two large retailers dominate the market. They can buy in such bulk that they can afford to offer greater discounts than a small seller can. You can’t compete with them on price. Instead, smaller sellers can compete with niche specialties (such as a mystery bookstore or one focused on children’s books). Here are some of the benefits of doing that.

• You can provide more knowledgeable staff than a general bookstore can — people passionate about a specific genre who know the authors, books, and niche inside and out.
• You can focus on highly relevant authors and books for events your customers might be interested in (rather than hosting general events where customers might only be interested once every few months).
• You can offer more obscure titles and collectibles within your niche because you don’t have to save floor space for a huge diverse collection of books.

The bookselling industry might be changing, but that doesn’t mean physical bookstores are going anywhere. Those with a creative edge will likely thrive and take things like the Borders failure as an opportunity to shine.

Do you have a favorite independent bookstore? What do they do that bigger chains don’t (or can’t)? How are they adapting to changes in book buying behavior and e-publishing? Share your thoughts, stories, and other comments below.

Credit: Fotolia.com

Despite the fact that social media marketing seems to monopolize internet marketing conversations lately, it’s far from your only option. For example, email marketing can still be a highly effective way to communicate with an audience, drive traffic, and increase sales.

I used to use simple email newsletters to promote site features and content, but stopped years ago because I didn’t have enough products to promote. The return wasn’t there at the time. With several new e-books and a series of e-courses in the pipeline, I decided that now was a good time to get back into email marketing.

That meant I had to choose a new email marketing service. In my case, I chose Aweber. I won’t tell you to run out and sign up for their service, but I do want to share some of the issues that came up when making that decision.

By answering the following questions, you’ll have an easier time choosing the best email marketing provider for your small business.

1. Is this for a new list or are you moving an existing list?

Any email marketing service can help you start a new list. But if you already have an opt-in list, your choices might be more limited by things like import limits or rules regarding new opt-ins. Rather than potentially losing subscribers with a new opt-in for the service transfer, you might be better off asking your current provider if they can offer a different plan that better suits your needs.

2. How many subscribers do you anticipate early on? In the future?

An important consideration when choosing an email marketing service is whether or not they can handle your current subscriber count. Check their limits (which will likely vary based on pricing tiers) and make sure they can accommodate your current list size. Also consider anticipated growth of your list. Does the service you’re interested in offer scalable options that can grow with your business, or are you already maxing out their subscriber limits?

3. What will you use the email marketing service for?

Different email marketing services can offer different features. Which are most important to you? That will depend on what you plan to do with the list. For example, I mentioned e-courses earlier. So I looked for a service with good autoresponder features to deliver scheduled course materials.

What's involved in email marketing? - Credit: Danard Vincente (via Flickr)

You might want to do something similar, use it mostly to deliver RSS feeds via email, send manual newsletters, send scheduled announcements or promotions, or do some combination of these things. Even if you aren’t ready for all of these things right now, think about the foreseeable future. Choose an email marketing service that fits into your ongoing marketing strategy to avoid having to switch services again too soon.

4. How much can you afford?

Another important consideration is the affordability factor. If you can’t afford to use a paid service at all, then you might want to tailor your strategy to free options available. If you have an adequate budget you can go for premium services that offer greater reliability, no ads in your emails, and better response tracking (in addition to the primary features you want).

Did you recently choose your first email marketing service or change providers? What made you choose them? What were you looking for and what made that provider stand out? In addition to the things mentioned here, what other factors would you suggest small business owners consider? Leave your thoughts, stories, and tips in the comments below.

Stock photos let even the non-artistically inclined amongst us add some pizzazz to our work, from blog posts to print marketing materials. For the best selection, it can be a good idea to purchase image licenses from stock photo sites like Fotolia.com. These stock photo sites allow photographers and graphic designers to upload their material and make a profit. You, on the other hand, get access to low cost images from a diverse collection of designers without having to wait for custom work.

We recently switched to Fotolia.com for our images here at the Directory Journal, and today’s review will give you some early feedback after using the service. Below you can find highlights (some of our favorite things about Fotolia) and suggestions (changes that might make the service better in the future).

Highlights

Here are some things we love about Fotolia’s stock photo website.

Fotolia.com Image Credit Pricing - Credit: Fotolia.com

• The Price — After using two major competitors in the past, I can say that Fotolia’s prices are attractive, especially if you use a lot of images as a blogger. While the price-per-credit can be comparable to the competition (although a bit lower), what’s really nice is that they don’t require multiple credits for most images that would work on your blog (although you can pay more to get higher quality images when needed). This can save you quite a bit.
• The Options — Another price-related highlight is your ability to choose between the credit-based system where you purchase packs of credits and a subscription option that lets you download a certain number of images each day. If you need a lot of images, a subscription might be a good option for you and it might help you save even more.
• The Selection — I sometimes have to search for rather obscure things to illustrate blog posts, and in the past it’s been a struggle to cover some topics. For example, even e-books (with their rapid growth in popularity) aren’t well-represented on many stock photo websites. Here I was able to not only find images that were uploaded to other sites, but plenty of new options. I felt like I had much more choice due to the sheer selection here.
• The Search Tool — There are great search options on Fotolia.com, some of which I hadn’t seen before. For example, you can search by how recently the image was uploaded so you can weed out similar images you’ve seen and rejected in the past. I also notice that there tend to be more search results on this site when compared to other stock photo sites. Fotolia seems to be able to pull images that could represent something as much as directly relevant results. And that’s a good thing. There are plenty of “ooooh! I never thought of that!” moments when you have more options available to you.

Suggestions

No review is complete without a bit of balance, so I always share the negative side as well as the positives. And I try to frame those downsides as suggestions, should a site or service ever make changes in the future. With Fotolia, I only have one suggestion.

Example of Fotolia Download Options - Credit: Fotolia.com

• The site can feel rather cluttered, especially to a new user. On doing basic research into the service as I figured it out, I found that some information was a bit difficult to dig out. It’s there. But there is often so much information on a page that it can be tough to spot at first. More importantly, this became confusing during the first download process (with a subscription account). The clutter on the download page threw me for a loop as I tried to figure out which download option was the right one. While I “get it” now, I still think it could be a bit more intuitive for new users. For example, in the future I think it would be awesome if a subscription user could have the “single download” section on an image page automatically minimized so the subscription options showed up alone (and they could open the other options again if they needed to).

Conclusion

Overall, I can wholeheartedly recommend Fotolia.com to other bloggers. And the great selection of images and different size options could also make this site ideal for those working on print design projects. Check out Fotolia.com today and see if any of their stock image licensing options is right for you.

Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links or have been the result of other compensation or business relationships (such as special offers extended). However, the author of this article is not directly compensated by the subject of the review. The author is compensated by the site owner the same regardless of a review being positive or negative. Here at the Directory Journal we strive to keep all reviews balanced to keep our readers better informed.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

When we previously talked about how to write a white paper, we looked at the ways informational reports can be used as highly effective marketing tools. Marketing case studies are another popular informational marketing tool you can use to promote your business.

You might have in-house marketing folks write your case studies or you might hire a freelancer to help you out. But if you want to give it a try on your own, this article should get you moving in the right direction.

What is a Case Study?

There are different types of case studies. For the purpose of this article we’re talking only about “marketing case studies.” A marketing case study is kind of like your company’s chance to play show-and-tell with your customers, prospects, and the public. A case study is a document that details a very specific success you’ve seen — either on your own behalf or on the behalf of a client.

For example, an SEO firm might publish case studies relating to individual clients and past projects such as showing a struggling client achieving first placement search engine rankings as a result of the firm’s search engine marketing plan and implementation.

What a Case Study Includes

1. Problem – Your marketing case study should start out by highlighting a business problem you or a client had. It should be a problem that other customers or prospects can relate to, or something that might interest the media if you plan to use them as background material for newsworthy stories you intend to pitch.
2. Approach / Solution – Next you’ll cover your plan or approach — how you intended to address the problem. You should briefly explain why you chose the approach that you did and how the problem can be solved using that approach.
3. Results / Evaluation – Then you’ll want to share specific results proving that your approach and intended solution worked in a real-life scenario. You might also offer further evaluation of the approach if you think it’s needed.

You can do more than publish case studies to your website. For example, why not include them in your media kit or share them at presentations? - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Why Marketing Case Studies are Important

Case studies lend more legitimacy to your company, services, or products. They go beyond the hypothetical and prove that you really know how to get results. This can help you:

1. Land media coverage or be looked at as an expert source for interviews;
2. Attract more clients or customers when they see the real-world impact you, your products, or your services can have.

In the end, case studies help you prove the value of what you offer in a very specific and measurable way. You may remember that white papers work using a similar formula — problem, general solution, your solution. The biggest difference is that while a white paper can educate your prospective buyers in a longer format, these generally shorter case studies are more about illustrating something specific and real.

You move beyond the “I can help you solve your problem by doing X, Y, and Z,” to “Here’s what I’ve already done to prove I can solve the very problem you’re experiencing.” And that can be an incredibly strong motivational marketing tool.

Have you used marketing case studies before? How have they worked out for you? Do you have case study writing tips you’d like to share? Please leave your thoughts, experiences, and ideas in the comments below.

Photo: BigStockPhoto.com

Business cards are a very effective way for clients and potential clients to keep essential information regarding your business close at hand. Many, however, are discarded without a second thought. How can you make sure yours is a successful element to your company?

When placed improperly, business cards lose their effectiveness immediately. Some people strive to give their card to everyone they meet, however brief the discussion. This may seem like a great way to spread a company’s name. If the cards are given to people that are not truly interested, the cards will be wasted along with the time and resources spent producing the cards. If you would like your card to help expand your business it needs to be a positive visual reminder of you and your company. The demeanor that your card is presented is a representation of your company. What will a future customer think when they see your card? Will they remember feeling pushed or obligated to take it? A negative feeling associated with your business downplays your products or services, despite their quality. Rather than offer a card to everyone without discretion, use tactfulness. First, ask the person for their business card. Take the time to read their card rather than quickly setting it in your pocket or wallet. Give their card the same attention and respect you would like your card to receive. After you have thoroughly read it, ask them a question or two about the information listed. It may be about their product, service or even location. This will start a conversation that is natural, leaving a better impression. Often they will ask for your card and might ask a few questions. By offering your business card in this manner, the prospective client will remember the conversation they had rather than a feeling of obligation or pushiness.

There are opportunities to place your card effectively with someone who has not asked for one. Such appropriate situations include the inside of hand-written thank you notes, attached to a requested brochure or catalog and nearly anytime literature regarding your company is requested.

Leaving a positive impression along with a business card is not the only factor in successful cards. The design of your card also reflects the company. A basic card design is easily lost and forgotten next to more modern custom business cards. A card does not need to brightly colored and excessively flashy to catch attention. Simple upgrades from the basic business card can enhance its effectiveness. A catchy slogan, textured print and quality printing can upgrade a boring card to memorable. By using features such as raised print or textured card stock, the sense of touch is utilized, leaving a deeper impression with the card holder.

For business owners looking to make a bolder statement, there are thousands of designs available to create a unique business card. Bold colors, patterns and textures create an unforgettable ‘pocket-sized billboard’ for your business. Some companies have successfully made use of turning their business cards in magnets, developing a product both useful to the customer and promotional for the business. Certainly, advances in technology allow for cards to truly be one of a kind.

It is important for anyone willing to drive a successful business to remember the basics behind business cards. The design chosen for your card and a tactful placement can mean the difference between a business card in the trash and profit for your business.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

Have you ever let a blog “slip” before — where you stopped posting for an extended time, maybe a planned break or maybe not? Do you want to bring that dormant blog back? If you’re ready to resume blogging, and you’re sure you’re prepared to stick with it this time, you’ll want to bring that blog back with a bang! After all, a simple update after a lot of lapsed time won’t necessarily get much attention. And you want people to take notice.

One of the best ways to bring back a dormant blog and build a bit of excitement in the process is to treat it as a sort of re-launch event. Here are some tips to help you re-launch your blog, get back your old readers, and attract some new ones.

1. Don’t apologize.

Don’t waste your first post back by apologizing for the lack of recent posts. Kicking things off that way puts the emphasis on the fact that you were gone. You want the emphasis on the fact that you’re back.

2. Consider a redesign.

Do you have a re-launch plan in place for your blog? - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

To make your re-launch more attention-grabbing, consider a new or updated blog design. This makes it look like there was more of a reason for the time away, and it gives you something to talk about (site-wise) when you re-launch, in addition to jumping right back into your typical style of content. Not up for a full redesign? Then consider adding a new feature or two or making just a few minor updates to improve upon the old design. Think of it as the new and improved version of your site — the one that’s here to stay.

3. Line up some content.

The last thing you want is to re-launch your blog and then run out of blog post ideas, leading to another lapse. Pre-write a few posts so you can get at least one up every week (more if you want, or have one pre-scheduled post intermingling with your on-the-fly ideas). This way you’re guaranteed to have fresh blog content for your readers, and you’ll keep them coming back for more. You want them to get used to seeing you around again after all.

4. Improve your SEO.

Did you pretty much ignore search engine optimization the last time around? Take the opportunity to optimize your posts better now — have keyword-rich permalinks, add meta titles to each post, tag them, etc. It might not help with the initial re-launch, but it might get you ranking a bit higher in search engines on a regular basis, driving even more traffic to the blog. If you change your permalink structure, just remember to set up redirects so you don’t lose traffic from existing links.

5. Get the conversation started.

End your new blog posts with a call to action. Just make it a quick line or two to encourage people to comment. For example, ask if they have additional tips or ideas to share (like at the end of this blog post), or ask them to share their own stories, reviews, or whatever else is relevant to the posts. The idea is to get more people interacting with you and your content rather than just treating the blog as a simple publishing platform. Engaged readers might be more interested in coming back to see what else you have to say. Besides, people love to know you’re listening to them and that you value their input. This is especially important if your original blog lacked a lot of comments.

6. Tell people about it!

Tell your subscribers about your blog's re-launch! - Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

What’s the point of re-launching your blog if no one knows about it? Announce it in your Twitter account, your Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile, or whatever other social media tools you use. If you have email subscribers, send out a message to let them know about the re-launch and any changes. You could even give them advanced notice of a day or two just for subscribing. If you’ve launched something major tied to the blog (a new product, significant tool, etc.) consider putting out a news release. Write a few guest posts on others’ blogs with a link back to the re-launched blog. Comment on other related blogs and leave your link (usually allowed with your name — don’t spam it in the body of your comments). Give people multiple ways to find out about and visit your re-launched blog. Then worry more about giving your blog readers a reason to stay.

What about you? Do you have any other tips for re-launching a dormant blog? Would you create some other kind of event around it (like a contest)? Would you opt to re-brand the blog entirely? Leave a comment below to share your own tips and stories.