The invention of the phrase “Web 2.0″ was always a thinly disguised publicity stunt.
Supposedly Web 1.0 was about the type of websites first on the Net which were simply publishing content to their readers but nice clean web 2.0 is a new type of website that allows and encourages feedback and involvement.
And that sounds fine until you realise that the first types of website were Bulletin boards – now known as forums which are 100% user generated where feedback is sometimes, er, energetic and feedback is frequently fast and furious.
Anyhow we are stuck with the term and “2.0″ is even detaching itself because today I saw a book called “Barack 2.0″
Here at Expert List Building we are taking the “2.0″ tag as meaning “social” and we are taking a look at how you can make your blog more social.
A few obvious things to start off with:
- Enable commenting on your blog – many marketers want to control what appears and that’s natural. You have to consider your branding in all that you publish. Relax and let Akismet do it’s work!
- Ask people to guest post
- Join in Blog carnivals
And then get to the less obvious more tech side of the socialisation of your blog
- Use plugins such as Sharethis or Sociable to allow readers to bookmark or syndicate your posts to their friends
- A twitter plugin is so important that it’s worth mentioning seperatley
- RSS syndication is crucial and a way to encourage it must be part of your blog and the way you do this may depend on design and taste issues. If you take a look at the top left of this blog you’ll see the “Add to Any” subscription for RSS feeds – feel free
- And then notice the “Contact Us” option on the menu – that is provided by the Contact 7 plugin and gives a good way to er, contact us.
- Next we get to “Join Us – You are Welcome” – this is an invite to opt-in to our email list.
- Looking over to the right sidebar you can see another way to join our opt-in email list. This is a different plugin – MaxBlogPress Optin Form Adder
- The “Subscribe to comments” also encourages people to join in and take an interest rather than just surf by
We could continue but enough already, huh? The social dimension of your blog has to be a prime consideration of all you do.
The more you syndicate your content the greater will be your reach and influence leading to more leverage and profitability.
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Filed under Blogs by on Mar 9th, 2009. Comment. 
Traditionally, if we can use such a word with regard to the Internet, bloggers have eschewed list-building. They have one may say, traditionally avoided making any money too.
You might wonder whether these two facts are related!
I think it was Alvin Phang who started the turnaround. I noticed a subscription box on his blog and he then started to sell or at least bundle his Atomic Blogging theme which had the subscription box in the header.
That got my attention – more to the point I thought it would get my reader’s attention too. That’s why I bought Atomic Blogging. This is not a review of that package – I should have done that already and notice with a little embarrassment that I have not done so (soon, OK?)
The key here is that any way you can get an opt-in box in front of your customers you should do so.
“The money is in the list”
So blogging is a way to build your list?
Yes and no!
Yes in that blogging on a great WordPress blog that is optimised will get visitors. If the posts are worth reading or fun or provoking or a combo of all 3 (I’m trying, I’m trying) and those visitors may well become repeat visitors.
They may also subscribe.
The debate in the blogging world is whether you want subscribers to follow you on their feed reader or to subscribe to your autoresponder.
The answer to that is BOTH!
And to follow on twitter as well
What I want as a marketer is “attention”. I want to get the attention of my audience and lead them towards what they want.
People will buy what they want eagerly; persuasion not needed and “hype” well hype is SO “1950s” why are so many Internet Marketers pouring ketchup all over their food?
(“hype = ketchup OK?)
Why persuade when you don’t need to? Why deceive people into continuity programs they don’t want when you can sell them one they are delighted with?
I’m baffled by all this. Maybe I’m really a blogger who wandered into Internet Marketing by mistake…
Whatever. Every author and blogger wants to be read so list building on GetResponse, feed readers and Twitter are all welcome. They all increase your audience.
So…
Providing you have something to say – you can build your list by blogging!
So what do you think?
Are you a blogger and do you build a list?
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Filed under Blogs, Social Media by on Feb 9th, 2009. 1 Comment.
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