Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin - Monday Marketing Tip - How To Be Successful WAHM

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:10

FOCUS is Follow One Course Until Successful

Whether it is blogging, working from home or working out of the home, spreading yourself too thin is of no benefit to your business, blog, marketing or family. Don't get me wrong! There is no harm in wanting to do and be your best (i.e. maybe you add a lead generation program to your business and make it available to your team; maybe you need or can handle 2 blogs and their marketing). That is not what I am referring to here. I am writing this Monday Marketing Tips blog post for those who are trying to build and manage a bunch of business opportunities at one time or a bunch of blogs at one time or taking on more work than your job entails ... and thinking it will make you more successful. You can only wear but so many hats and have people take you seriously. You can only do so much on your own and think that you can be the best at all. This is especially true in marketing. Most of all, God will only bless your best as he sees fit and he is not a God of disorder. You cannot spread thin on working hard for Him!

Business marketing, blog marketing, services marketing - All 3 take planning, focus and time. Unless you have a team of people that can do what you do and the way you want them to do it - so that you do not need to baby sit - Spreading yourself thin between business ventures and business marketing is just not effective. You make yourself look inefficient and end up feeling that way, too. That does not create long term winning experiences. Sorry, but YOU WILL NOT create the multiple streams of residual income that you desire by selling yourself short in these areas: focus, planning, organization, dedication, consistency, etc.

"Jack of all trades, master of none"

Focus on doing your best at one thing instead of spreading yourself too thin trying to be magnificent and successful at so many things. It just does not work that way. You can Google "multitasking" and see what Forbes.com, Psychology.com, and PBS.org have to say about this. I am not talking about cooking, washing the dishes and doing laundry at the same time; I mean trying to build multiple businesses on your own or multiple time consuming marketing tasks on your own. You cannot focus on being successful at the most important goal if you are bouncing around and spreading yourself thin between one, two, three, four, five ...

Yes, it is awesome to want to create multiple streams of residual income and / or multiple marketing resources and / or multiple creditably. You just have to knock them out one at a time - unless you have a team - opposed to spreading your valuable time between a whole bunch of projects and generating nothing. For example, if you start a home business for one type of product or service another awesome "once in a lifetime" business opportunity pop up. There is always going to be "something bigger and better" in your eyes if you cannot fully commit and focus on more than you can reasonably hand at one time. Why would you want to? More does not always equate to successful. Why take from any area of being and doing your best to be less and master of none?

"Either you run the day or the day runs you" - Jim Rohn

There are only 24 hours in a day. This is something that just does not change over time, therefore we need to make the most of the waking time in those 24 hours. Moms obviously have less time for self and work because children / family need your time, too. You have to focus and prioritize on what is the most efficient and rewarding in your life, so that you can have time for all that is most important in your life which is GOD, YOU, FAMILY and then work / money.

Learn from the experience of other and grow from doing what is proven to work!

I am going to end this Monday Marketing tip with the one last point. Learning from the experience of others will be helpful to you in work at home business and business marketing. Ideally it would be to learn from people who are successful as you want to be, but we can certainly learn as a spectator of failure as well. It is often that we learn from our own failures that create success in us. I am sharing what I have learned over the years from those who have been successful in business, family, life; where I failed and was successful, too.


(This video is short and sweet about this Monday Marketing Tip; Tyler Perry witnesses nothing but the grace of God and focus on the one task at hand)

Start one business and do well at it before you move on.

Start one blog and do well at it before you move on and start another.

Start one marketing plan / marketing process and do well at it before you move on and add another.

Share your experiences with others ... 



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Pinterest Hop | Pinterest Link Up | Connect

Today's Monday Marketing Tip is very quick ... This is a Pinterest Link Up! Add the link to your profile, favorite board or pin, and we will connect and pin with you. Pinterest is currently the #3 network in the world, so there is plenty of opportunity and friendships waiting for you. Let us know if you need an invite - See you there!

Would you like to add this Pinterest Link Up to your website? Get The Code

I'm really looking forward to connecting with you at Pinterest and checking out your boards :) Make sure to comment below to let us know that you are an active participant and not just another link posted in this hop. Hugs & Blessings!

Luv hopping and meeting other bloggers? Visit this BLOG HOPS DAILY page to join more!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - Pinterest Infographic & Pinterest Link Up @ Mother Baby Child

Did you know that Pinterest has become the 3rd popular network in the world? It has always been popular with moms, but now the masses have begun pinning at this therapeutic and entertaining social network, too. I thought that it would be fun to set up a Pinterest Link Up, so that we can connect with one another there. Scroll to the bottom of this post to add your profile link (ex: http://pinterest.com/motherbabychild/) to the Linky and follow the others on the list at Pinterest. *** If you are not yet a member of Pinterest and need an invitation, please feel free to contact me and I'll send you an invite.

Learn More About Pinterest & How To Use This Social Network

Pinterest – The Social Media Darling Of 2012: Infographic by Infographiclabs

Would you like to add this Pinterest Link Up to your website? Get The Code

I'm really looking forward to connecting with you at Pinterest and checking out your boards :) Make sure to comment below to let us know that you are an active participant and not just another link posted in this hop. Hugs & Blessings!

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - How To Merge Facebook Pages Similar Names & Address

It is not uncommon for companies and people to have duplicate Facebook pages and for various reasons. Maybe a business owner created a page and let it sit, though his marketing representative made a new page with the correct vanity URL and built the second facebook page following. Another example is when someone starts a page for one reason, learns more about marketing, and then creates a second page that works better towards his / her business branding. No matter what the reason, most do not know that Facebook has added a Merge Page option that is helpful for duplicate page / duplicate brand identity issues. It does not work for profiles that were created as pages; you will just have to change the profile name or the profile link name (if you haven't already) and transition those friends to a Facebook business page. The following are instructions on how to merge Facebook pages, so that you are managing just one brand. It really is better for you this way!

Instructions On How To Merge Facebook Pages

Go to the Facebook Page that you want to keep (usually the one with more likes and activity) and following these instructions to merge Facebook pages.

1. Click the Manage Page button at the top of the page.
   
2. Select Edit Page option.
   
3. Click the Resources link in menu on the left hand side of the page.
   
4. Click the Merge Duplicate Pages link (2nd link on the list).
5. If you have pages with a similar or duplicate names, a box will appear.
6. Click your mouse in the check box to select the Page(s) that you want to merge.

* That's it! Just keep in mind that Facebook page merges are final!

* This only works for Facebook pages; you cannot merge profiles.

Speaking of Facebook pages ... I invite you to connect with me on Facebook @ My Profile Page, as well as the Mother Baby Child page for moms that have been following this blog and the Viral Marketing Mom page for moms to advertise their blogs, products, services, business links.

I look forward to chatting and learning more about you @ those Facebook pages.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip | Brilliant Ideas Reality

A Brilliant Idea Turned Into A Reality | Monday Marketing Tip

One of my cousins has always had a plethora of information to share. As a child, he was the "go to guy" in his own right; he was our walking encyclopedia of interesting facts, biblical scriptures, solutions to problems and brilliant ideas. He spoke with such passion and variety that I felt like I was hanging out with my own little Albert Einstein. On the other hand, conversations sometimes became overwhelming because he tried to share everything on his mind at one time. It wasn't until recently that I realized that our family did my cousin an injustice. Although each one of us was a listening ear at one point or another, the adults should have taught him how to filter and turn those brilliant ideas into reality. If they had, he might have been a millionaire by now! The issue is that one has to recognize "genius" for what it is in order to know how to foster it. This Monday Marketing Tip will discuss how to recognize, filter and foster good ideas for yourself or clients. Think of it as an unofficial guide for turning ideas into reality :)

"Everyone is in love with their own ideas." - Carl Jung

I hadn't spoken with that cousin in a while, so his mother passed him the phone to say "hello" one day. He barely made it through 3 minutes of small talk before he jumped into a 1/2 hour conversation about an ingenious idea that he had been wanting to share with me. It truly was a brilliant idea, but I did not bite. He was just not persuasive enough to get me moving on it. He was excitedly in love with this idea (which I still would help him with after he does more research), but it did not naturally peak my interests on a professional level. On the other hand, I am very much interested in the subject on a personal level. If we had discussed it as a hobby for 1/2 hour, it might have taken just 3 minutes to make me understand why I should help with the brilliant idea. THAT is marketing! Everyone loves their own business, ideas, topics of interest ... it is your job to determine whether it is a good enough one to share with others (even if it is your own) and how you will accomplish that task.

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you cannot get them across, your ideas will not get you anywhere." ~ Lee Iacocca

My cousin is an Einstein in his own right and has always had brilliant ideas! The problem is that he does not know how to present his idea, so that others will become as passionate as he is about the concept. He shares all of his brilliant ideas with the expectation that others will understand the potential and turn the ideas into reality. Meanwhile, they are extremely niche ideas that someone would have to be equally passionate about to deal with the complications of putting them into action. What does this mean to you? It means that you might come up with a business or idea that you think is good, but what matters is whether it will interest others. In some cases, you can create the market, though you have to weigh whether that business or idea is worth the work and time. For example, you must present a business or product for review that will interest your followers and project what your followers will respond to.

"A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one." - Mary Kay Ash

On the other hand, my cousin only presented one brilliant idea to me. He did not overwhelm me with information or take up too much time on his interest. He has learned how to filter through ideas and for the right audience. In his mind, I was the right family member to present his most recent idea to because it is relative to the type of work that I do. Although that is just one part of filtering and presenting a brilliant idea, it is an important factor especially for Mom Bloggers that represent products, services and giveaways. You have to choose the right product for the right markets. You have to decide whether it is best to select one product that is reared towards your existing blog following or 10 products that you will tweet in hopes of getting a better response.

"Ideas won't keep. Something must be done
about them." - Alfred North Whitehead

Whether you are a mom blogger or marketing executive, you need to know how to narrow down the options and choose what will work well. The next step if to present this information to the correct markets in order to obtain desirable results. This takes time to perfect, but not as long as seeing a brilliant concept or business dream go nowhere ... Take time to learn how to turn ideas into reality!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - Blog Business or Hobby Blog? You Must Be Serious About Blogging Because You're Reading This!

Blogging for hobby is AWESOME, but don't call your blog business a hobby if  you're serious about it! This week's marketing tip is about mom blogging, blogging for business and mom business mindset!

Ok, here's a question for you ... Why do some moms become "hobbyist" when work and money is involved in "stepping up" their "game"? I am NOT saying this for personal reasons, this week's marketing tip is inspired by some blogs I've been following and blog comments I've read over the past few months.

I am NOT referring to moms who write a blog diary or are genuine blog hobbyists. I enjoy reading and interacting with those moms just as much as I do business minded mom bloggers. Some have content that rocks so hard that they could blog as a business anytime that they wanted. This is because they are amazing writers and interesting people! Isn't that what sponsors look for when willing to pay for representation? My point being that I do respect people that blog for hobby.

(BTW - last week's Monday Marketing Tip provided a few videos from Google and Yahoo / Bing about the importance of quality, unique, website content / blog content. Don't forget to check that out if you are serious about your mom business marketing / mom blog marketing.)

I am referring to mom bloggers / mom website owners that have given up on their dreams / goals because online business and / or blogging is hard for them ... This also applies to those who are just too lazy (not too busy; they are lazy) and too cheap (not one penny invested in themselves) to do what they planned when they launched their blog, website or mom business. They find it too hard to learn because they are either lazy or do not listen when taught. It's understandable that moms want or need to be frugal, but if you cannot learn or do something on your own ... it is money well invested to learn or have someone do for you!

Some of these people have the nerve to comment on others blogs and networks - in a nose turned up in the air manner - that their blogs are "just a hobby". How funny when those are comment threads where others are coming together to share and get advice on how to do better at making money from their blogs. So, I head on over to a few of these hobby blogs to see what their hobby looks like and find that most that claimed that their blog was a hobby actually had blogs with attempted business efforts. Some of the so-called hobbyist had pages stating that they are PR friendly (some included rates for marketing help), as well as Rafflecopter / Giveaway / Contest attempts, Blog Hops / Link Ups, Google and Other Ads, Blog Reviews with links to Amazon products or other affiliate / sponsor type activities, and so on. Some may not have been the best in design or content ... others just missing the "meat & potatoes" that could world of difference ... All did have attempts at making money or assuming a PR role in the mommy blogosphere ...

Some of the "hobby blogs" had potential. There pages were content rich and attractive enough to make $$$, but they were just kind of ... dead ... missing things? 

Next week's marketing tip will share how to deal with a "dead" blog, but this week's marketing tip is with focus on your mom business mindset and motivation, so that you can accomplish your goals ... This starts with determining whether you are really cut out for this mom business blog / mom business marketing world or if you should remain a hobbyist! There is no shame in not pursuing something you really do not like or are not willing to learn, but if this is not the case (you need to make money ... you desire this industry ... you dream of this career), then you should be ashamed of calling yourself a hobbyist instead of trying to become a mom business or mom blog success.



What is the difference between blogging for business or having a hobby blog? 

There is sometimes a fine line between what is a hobby blog or not; especially for those who are making money from a blog that started as a hobby. They love what they write about and it makes them money. This is the dream situation and goals accomplished that I mentioned a few paragraphs above. It looks easy and has been easy for some of these mom bloggers ... On the other hand, most had to work for what they wanted in some respect or another.

Successful bloggers are a classic case of "you either have it or you don't" ... they have "it" now because they either "had it" or did what it took to "have it". In many cases they already "have" the business mindset or developed a business mindset that permitted them to transition from hobby blogger to making money from their blogs. This is the same for those they inspired to start a blog to make money online. Some knew how to do all; it came easy to them. Blog content came easy to some, but the technical and blog business processes did not. Some were not good at writing and organizing content, though the blog subject matter and their ability to market were great. Regardless of what the deficiencies, they took it upon themselves to make their blogs desirable to others and financially productive (not lazy) and even invested in learning and / or producing (not too cheap) in order to become "successful".

That is that mom business mindset that differentiates the hobbyist from the business woman that makes money online. Which are you right now? How can you improve or help other moms accomplish their goals and dreams? Feel free to CONTACT ME directly if you need help or can offer other's help with training, following, liking, connecting, website design, marketing on your blog or website, or have an interesting blog business that you would like to share with the people I network with online.

Do you have something to share about this "Blog Business / Blog Hobby" post? Did you learn anything or feel inspired? Please feel free to share your thoughts by clicking the comments link or in the comments area below :)


In Motherly Love,

Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - Website / Blog Traffic

Mom Website Traffic / Mom Blog Traffic

Having killer website content / blog content is just part of having a successful blog or website. You need to "get it out there", too. Although it is presumed that quality content will drive a bunch of website visitors, the reality is that content, alone, will not always drive the website traffic or blog traffic that you need to accomplish goals. This is especially true if you are writing content to post on a Blogger / Blogspot, niche networks and static pages. In this mommy blog and mom-centric world, there are several standard methods for driving traffic. Some of these include Blog Hops & Linkups, Social Networks, and Communities. The problem is that if you are not a consistent blog hopper or networker, you will not get the exposure needed to drive traffic to your blog. This Monday Marketing Tip provides ways that you can get more traffic for your site or blog.

#1 - Blog Hops & Link Ups

Participating in Blog Hops & Link Ups are great when you are first starting out. This web traffic method provides you with the ability of meeting other mom bloggers by interest and activities. Blog hopping / linking up is very easy. All that you need to do is 1) visit a blog that is hosting a Blog Hop or Link Up, 2) follow the instructions, 3) add your blog link, 4) comment on the hosting blog and 5) visit others blogs, follow and comment. Once you have built up, you can host blog hops and link ups on your blog, too. This is an awesome way to guarantee repeat visitors by providing value to your market.

The advantages of blog hops are that you will get exposure (at least from the host) and, ideally, comments to your blog posts. You will also meet other moms / bloggers and gain web traffic if it is an active blog hop.

The disadvantages to blog hopping is that it is time consuming, some do not produce the results that you expect and the search engines could consider this method spam depending on how you are commenting (are each unique, genuine and with relevant content) and how many blog hops you are doing each week.


Social Networks / Social Networking / Social Media Marketing

Social networking is an effective and fun way to market your blog or website. Networks like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin, Tumblr, Pinterest, Myspace, etc. provide you with the ability to share all types of information and for free. Some social networks have "pages" features (Facebook, Google+, etc) that let you create a special page for your blog or business, so that you are not networking or spamming information from your personal profile. It is extremely important to have these separate entities (pages) because social networking is a form of social media marketing. In social media, relation marketing is essential to the social marketing process, therefore leading with your social profile / yourself adds more benefit than leading with a business / blog page on these networks. On the other hand, some people only brand market (use business pages, groups, profiles to connect with others) and build well, though this takes a more aggressive approach than purely social networking. Most social sites also permit you to create groups, blog, participate in forums, add images and videos.

The advantages of social networking / social media marketing is that all of these features help you gain exposure and make friends at the networks. This provides you with the tremendous advantage in generating blog / website traffic. Plus, you can build a larger connection than if you were networking offline. Many shrewd mom bloggers and mom-centric business networkers turn their connections into subscribers and customers that they can remarket to on a regular basis, and without having to frequent the network as often.

The disadvantage to social networks is that you are sometimes limited on how you can market and that your content is no longer your own. For example, if you write blogs or refer friends for points, this adds content and growth to their site and not your own. Social networking can become time consuming if you are not using certain social media marketing processes that attract to you.


Niche Networks & Communities

Niche networks and communities are sometimes even more beneficial than using one of the more popular networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. This is because you connect with others on specific interests opposed to having to find them at the other networks. These are often much smaller networks / communities, therefore you have a more intimate environment to network and marketing within. This helps drive blog / website traffic like crazy. Examples of niche networks and communities include: Google Friend Connect (for Blogger / Blogspot users), Flicker (photo network), SocialMoms, BlogFrog, Klout, etc.


Article Writing / Press Releases

Just as with writing killer website content / blog content is important to your blog or website, it is just as important to networks that permit you to post blogs, articles and press releases. Social networks are a great place to start, though there are specific networks for articles, blog posts and press releases that will drive traffic directly to your mom blog, website, networks, etc. http://www.ezinearticles.com and http://www.articlesbase.com are two popular ones ... Just Google what you want and you will find resources. Offering to write guest posts to struggling or developing blogs, is also an excellent way to position as an authority and gain more blog / website traffic.

The advantage to article / blog / press release marketing is that you can gain more web / blog traffic and create a following of people who are interested in the type of things you write about. You get the word out there more quickly - at the right websites - because these types of sites are authorities in what they do and do their own marketing (it's like having another website working for you); there are search engine ranking benefits, too. People visit those sites to read and share the articles.

The disadvantage is that these are not your own websites / blogs, therefore you are giving them your content (this is hard for people that struggle with writing enough content for their own blogs). Plus, you will not get any exposure / web traffic if you do not write well and / or it is not a popular networks. This method of web traffic generation can become costly.


Banner, Button, Link Exchange

This is not the same as blog hopping. When yo exchange links, buttons or banners, someone is placing a direct link - to your website or blog - on their blog or website. They will often ask you to do the same, but not in all cases. Some will link to you because they value your website or blog. Some people provide linking websites - Picket Fence Blogs is an example - that set up a link network that has voting and giveaway sections. This is extremely helpful and not looked upon poorly by the search engines. On the other hand, other types of link sites are harmful and you should stay away from them. They can hurt your marketing and search engine exposure.


Other blog / web traffic generation ideas ...

There is a world wide web of additional web traffic generation methods and form of online marketing for moms. You just have to delve a bit further and pay attention to what others are doing to marketing their mom blogs and websites. Some moms provide review services; others do giveaways with requirements that drive web traffic and increase network memberships. The sky is the limit when you are marketing on the Internet. The goal is to try new things and keep what does well. This means that you need to learn how to track conversions (web traffic, sales, comments, etc.)

Have a website / blog content tip that I should add to this blog post? Did you learn anything about why you should write the "Quality Unique Website Content"? If so, please take a moment to share your thoughts below in the Comment section of this blog :)

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you ever need website / blog traffic, or with networking and bloging help?


In Motherly Love,

Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - Quality Unique Website Content / Blog Content Is Key

Unique Website Content / Unique Blog Content Is Still Key

It was not so long ago that Google added a feature to their Webmaster Tools that permitted webmasters to report duplicate content; kind of like a "grace" system for those who wanted forgiven for duplicate content. That was at the end of 2009 while we were waiting for the social search engine (Google +) to launch and I didn't fall for it! I have been using the Internet daily and writing website content for 13+ years. I have been following Google and Yahoo since their Internet launches. I did not fall for this duplicate content "grace" feature as I was taught and had previously confirmed that it is unique website content that distinguished us from one another and is favored by the major search engines. This makes sense, right? Yahoo / Bing and Google want to provide us with quality content, therefore it makes sense that they filter out what is repetitive information in the search engines, so that we continue to use their services.

How Does This Apply To Your Website / Blog Content?

• You should write quality unique website content (blog content) to attract new website visitors and retains followers.


• You should write quality unique website content (blog content) to stand out from the others in Google, Yahoo / Bing.


• You should write quality unique website content (blog content) for other search engines and directories that featuring your blog / website.

For example, if your mom blog does product reviews or provides PR services, put everything permissible into your own words. I say permissible because some companies have constraints on how their products or services are described / marketed. Regardless, if they are paying / giving samples to more than one mom blog, it is likely that search engines will consider yours duplicate content if you use suggested content that is too similar to what is written on another site.


Duane Forrester: Video on Establishing Authority in Bing

Duplicate Content forgiveness went to the waste side in 2011. The Panda changes and launch of Google + beta encouraged us to share others content in social settings, but Google's Little or No Original Content and Webmaster Guidelines provide assurance that unique website content is still key with Google. Yahoo / Bing states the similar in their blog post explaining how to become an Authority Site which includes a bulleted list of what they look for to determine authority sites (unique content is one of the factors).


Matt Cutts: Google Video on Good Quality Content vs SEO

Matt Cutts from Google has posted a video explaining how your good content is taken into consideration and sometimes in addition to SEO, this is why those mom blog offering PR and Product Sponsoring need to make those ads / blog content unique for the Search Engines as well as interesting to the website visitors / blog followers. Yes, you are supposed to write for website visitors above the search engines, but they both go hand in hand for your success!

The disadvantage and advantage that a good mom blogger / webmaster has is that search engines determine what is duplicate content or content spam for themselves (algorithm change for this in January 2012). It is a disadvantage if you do not know how to protect and market your content, someone else can squeeze in on your "good stuff" and claim it as their own. On the other hand, shrewd and Internet savvy mom bloggers know how to protect themselves from duplicate content. The advantage is that search engines can most often tell which content is yours and whether it is worth anyone's time ("quality"). They constantly update their algorithms (code also known as crawlers) and they hire people to serve as search engineers ... this protects you from websites and blogs that embed your RSS and content spammers that duplicate your unique writings; including articles you have made public domain on PR and article sites that permit sharing. This is why social bookmarking and link descriptions are not considered duplicate content, but a new web site that is using just feeds could be considered duplicate content.

Over the years, it has really ticked me off when I hire a "Ghostwriter" to assist with writing content, for a large projects, and it is a spun article or not unique content. It just wastes my money and time because I have to go through and fix the documents so that they are quality unique content according to Google and Yahoo / Bing. BTW - don't forget to check out last week's Marketing Tip on Good Commenting practices.

I feel the same about link engineers that put my beautiful websites - with beautiful unique content - into crappy link locations or do not know how to comment on my behalf without using spam! I have stopped hiring these link specialists at all and use screened USA assistants ... you should be careful who you permit help market your web content, too!!!

On the other hand, NOTHING has ticked me off more than someone duplicating my quality unique website content. There are ways to get passed this, so that the search engines know that you were the first to post the website / blog content. You are welcome to CONTACT ME for a consultation on how to search and protect your website content from duplicators.

In the meanwhile, just keep in mind and hold dear to your heart that NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS (seo experts, search engines, online friends), you are ALWAYS better off by having quality unique website content or blog content. With this in mind, it would not hurt to go back through your blog posts and correct what you can. This can make a world of difference for someone using Blogger opposed to Wordpress or Typepad. Blogspot / Blogger does not have the same extensions and SEO capabilities as the other two blog platforms, therefore unique content and proper external SEO will help your Blogspot / Blogger rank better in the search engines.



Have a website / blog content tip that I should add to this blog post? Did you learn anything about why you should write the "Quality Unique Website Content"? If so, please take a moment to share your thoughts below in the Comment section of this blog :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip - Best Blog Comment - How This Is Abused By 4 Types Of Bloggers

Want To Know How To Write The Best Blog Comments For Marketing & Develop Real Friendships: This Is Abused By 4 Types Of Bloggers!

Yes, I am writing this week's Marketing Tip on blog commenting ... This is a subject that should come easy to most of us, but is abused by four types of bloggers: 1) Wanna Be, 2) Newbie, 3) Oblivious and 4) Bad Bad Marketer. Now, the person commenting can be a combination of the three (ex: The Wanna Be SEO Marketer or Oblivious Wanna Be), but they are basically all doing the same ANNOYING things that make you not want to approve their comments, none-the less, continue to associate with their blog. DON'T leave these types of blog comments (blog spam) if you want to be a respected mom blogger. Read further to understand EXACTLY what I mean! If you would prefer to catch up on previous week's Monday Marketing Tip, please do so and then come back to read this Best Blog Comment post!

Don't forget to read the Blog Comment Etiquette at the end of this post!

The "Wanna Be" Guru / Borderline Spammer

The "Wanna Be" blogger posts comments that show no discretion in comparison to their advanced blogging and marketing skills. I call them a "Wanna Be" because they come off as wanting to be a "Super Mom Blogger" when the reality is that REAL Super Mom Blog Gurus don't do the same tacky things they do. The real "Super Mom Blogger Gurus" leave genuine comments with their pen or real names attached; maybe a link or proper signature etiquette on their comments. Some "gurus" don't reciprocate blog comments at all - which is rude and snobby, but they justify it as being short on time or only time to comment on friends blogs - that should be another post about how they should hire a VA ... Regardless, the point is that "gurus" are followed because of their skill not spam comments.

Ok, so now you know the different between the "Wanna Be" and "Super Mom Blog Guru", let me explain how the "Wanna Be" ALWAYS leaves blog comments:

The "Wanna Be" abuses your Comment Luv and will "do follow" comment you to death. They leave a quick sentence that is usually not relative to what your post is about and then a paragraph that mentions something about their blog, links the name of their blog and shows the link to their blog in your comment section. They never use their real name (not on Blogger, Social Networks, etc.). They do stupid things as if they are a Newbie (like blog hopping to a heart felt post instead of finding a post that is more appropriate for their superficial comment. Most of their comments are similar to "Visiting from blog hop ... then a paragraph about nothing relative to your post followed by their clickable website link and their blog name as a clickable link ... maybe more text" ... Meanwhile, they subscribed to your RSS to come spam your blog posts and lead visitors to their relative blog posts and / or visiting from someone else's hop and leading you to their blog hop. Plus, they distract people that are commenting to your very serious heart felt blog post and encouraging more Wanna Be and Newbies to SPAM COMMENT on your serious and heartfelt blog content. They spam your social network posts ... they do not post spam comments on their blogs at all ... etc, etc, etc. They are "Wanna Be" snobs and spammers.

You might confuse a super aggressive blog marketer or blog hop hosts as a "Wanna Be" if they do this every time you hop and on everyone's blog. They especially do this on others blog hop posts / pages as to run your commenters from your blog to their blogs. MEANWHILE, the point of a blog hop is for the participant to stay at your blog and hop there first (finish visiting the list before moving to another blog hop). Although not exactly unethical blog business, it is rude - shows lack of finesse and inability to drive blog traffic any other way!

* UGG! If this "Wanna Be" is you ... tone it down or stay off our blogs! Our comment sections are NOT billboards in support of your blog marketing efforts. I personally delete your SPAM. I rarely permit them on my non-linky, heartfelt, blog posts and I do stop visiting your blog (even if you have an awesome Blog Hop or Linky) because your Mom Blog Marketing and "friendship" really STINKS.

The "Oblivious" Blog Commenter

The "Oblivious" blogger has no clue they are spamming. They have no idea that they are coming off as a "Wanna Be" or "Newbie" ... they are totally oblivious to Internet & Blog Etiquette. They are not "Newbie" bloggers; just dictionary definition "ignorant" until they learn better (if that ever happens). The "Oblivious" blogger uses all CAPS, newsletter and comment spam like crazy. The "Oblivious" blogger does not use discretion when commenting. Unlike the "Wanna Be", they comment on the non-linky / serious content posts without thinking (as if every section of your blog is for their promotion and blog hopping comments) ... they just don't have the couth / manners. THEY ARE and ARE THOUGHT OF equivalent to what is stated in stereotype jokes ... Yes, I am going to "go there" as my family trees fork from Hillbilly and Ghetto ... The "Oblivious" blogger is Hillbilly or Ghetto, per say, until she learns how to become a desired blog friend or (God forbid) one of the other undesirable types of blog commenters.

A blogger may not realize they are an "Oblivious" blog commenter, therefore it is appropriate to kindly point your standards out to them, so they know how to comment on your blog. I have seen some bloggers post a Commenting Policy, so that all of their readers know.

The "Newbie" Blogger

The "Newbie" blogger comments similar to the "Wanna Be" and the "Oblivious". They are annoying in a child-like way because they are obviously new and trying to get the word out. The nice thing about a "Newbie" is that she wants to do her best and accomplish goals, so she is paying attention to blog posts like Monday Marketing Tip and learning as quickly as she can. She eventually tones things down or steps them up appropriately to hopefully become an awesome, commenting, Mom Blog Guru. Unfortunately, the contrary is that she follows and mirrors a stinkin' "Wanna Be" and you end up ignoring her after all of her hard work in learning how to post the best comments. C'est la via!

* If you are a New Blogger, please keep reading, so that you can learn fast and correct mistakes from the start! More experienced bloggers should tactfully help Newbies out instead of abusing their blog comment areas.

The "Bad Bad Marketer" / Cockroach

The "Bad Bad Marketer" is the trickiest of all. She leaves comments that makes you want to click from the dashboard to see if it is really a mom blogger or spammer, sometimes the comments are so INAPPROPRIATE that you immediately click spam to get rid of them. On the contrary, sometimes the comments are written so well (with the link slid into the paragraph content with relevant anchor text), that it takes a few seconds to decide whether to post their comment or not. These are the bloggers that do not bother to add a picture to their Wordpress or Blogger Profiles; some do not even have a link to their website or list of blogs. They are like ghost bloggers :) They are often Offshore Outsource hires that we were tricked into thinking were quality Virtual Assistant or Mom Blog Services. "Bad Bad Marketer" uses bots, abuse "do follow" blogs and blog spams the same messages everywhere. They are like the "Cockroaches" of the blog sphere and there is nothing that you can do but click DELETE to squash them.

* I report and delete Bad Bad Marketers, so they might as well stay off my blogs!

Want To Know How To Write The Best Blog Comments & Develop Real Friendships With Other Mom Bloggers?

Read this Monday Marketing Tip blog post AGAIN ... more slowly this time, so that you can pick up and eliminate any that applies to you. There is a blog ethics and blog etiquette to adhere ... most is common sense, but there are "fine lines", too. Those "fine lines" are what we sometimes need help distinguishing (we do not pick up by just watching) and that is REALLY O.K. as long as you are trying and eventually learn what is good blog commenting or not.

Basic Blog Comment Etiquette:

1. Take the time to read the person's blog post before commenting. Mom bloggers value the opinions and / or relevant discussions of our content.


2. Comment on appropriate blog posts. Don't leave Blog Hop & Follow comments on blog posts that are not relevant unless that person did not think ahead to make one available, then it is necessary.


3. Write honest blog comments, but don't be rude (similar to if you don't have something nice to say ... but, it does not have to be 100% in support of the bloggers post, but avoid being disrespectful).


4. It is a competitive blog-eats-blog mommy world, but there is no excuse for testing "nice" blog owners and taking advantage of Newbie bloggers by commenting like a "Wanna Be" or with your borderline spam posts. No one wants that kind of friendship from you. All I can say is "Fake it til you make it" ... OK???


5. When you leave a comment, it automatically links to your Blogger profile or blog link, you REALLY DO NOT need to post a link to your site in the comment section. If you must add your link to your comment, post it just once or as part of an appropriate blog signature (like you do in forums), so that it is not spam ... SEE #6


6. Gauge each blog ... Pay attention to how Mom Blog Gurus comment on your blog and what types of comments they post on their blogs. Look at their heart felt posts as well as the giveaways, reviews, blog hops and see what kind of comments they accept. Some are lax with all ... others filter by what is appropriate per the post).


7. Make sure to come back to that blog again! Either subscribe to their feed, newsletter and / or at least their comment thread, so that you can get to know the blogger better and then filter which you should stay connected with over time. You can also connect with bloggers that you support at their Facebook, Google + and other social networking sites.

Have a blog etiquette tip that I should add to this list? Did you learn anything about how to write the "Best Blog Comment"? If so, please take a moment to share your thoughts below in the Comment section of this blog :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Marketing Monday Tip - Hyperlinks, Image Links, Graphic Links, Banners & Button Links

How To Make Hyperlinks, Image Links, Graphic Links, Banner Links

Last week, I explained how to make your website / blog images more search engine friendly. This week, I am going to explain how to turn those images into hyperlinks / clickable text that lead to more than just your picture. It is easy to make links when you are using Microsoft Word, Blogger or Wordpress because there is a text editor / blog editor where you can click on the little Link icon that makes text a hyperlink, but what if you want to add a text link or banner on a website (mom network) where you are promoting your blog? How about when you want to add someone's blog button to your site, but they did not provide the code? Would you know how to turn that graphic into a link? In these cases, you need to know how to make a link without using a text editor / blog editor. Additionally, if you read the "ONE MORE THING" paragraph in my last Monday Marketing Tip, it explains how annoying it is - to your website visitors - to click a picture that links to nothing or the same image. It is more beneficial to YOU and THEM if a clickable image leads to a different blog post, page, service and / or product you are marketing. This is when the fun begins :)

How To Make A Hyperlink / Clickable Text Link

How To Make An Image Link / Graphic Link / Banner Link

VERY IMPORTANT - How To Make ANY Link Open In A New Window / New Browser Tab - Works for Text Links & Image Links

Now that you know how to make a link, there is one more important detail; how to make links open in a new window or new browser tab by using TARGET="_BLANK". The target="_blank" attribute is added to any link code (text link, image link, graphic link, banner link) as follows:

TEXT LINK EXAMPLE

<a href="http://motherbabychild.blogspot.com" target="_blank" title="Text Link">Link Opens In New Window</a>

Test how this link opens in a new tab or window

GRAPHIC LINK EXAMPLE

<a href="http://motherbabychild.blogspot.com/2012/01/monday-marketing-tip-image-seo.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" style="border: none;" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." width="500" /></a>



As you can see, by adding one simple target="_blank" to your link code, you can make links open in a new window or browser tab. The key is knowing when to use target="_blank" in your links and when NOT to use target="_blank" in your link code.

When To Use TARGET="_BLANK" / When NOT to Use TARGET="_BLANK" In Link Code

You can use target="_blank" when you do not want website visitors to leave your blog or website, but you should NOT use target="_blank" on every single link on your website!!! If all of your page and post links use target="_blank", then your website visitors will have a ton of pages open at one time and this becomes VERY ANNOYING to your website / blog visitors. They may not come back to your blog / website again, so you should only use target="_blank" if you are asking the website visitor to reference a certain page or blog post, but they will need to come back to your original blg post or page to read the rest of the information.

For Example, the link at the top of this page is an example of how it is OK to use target="_blank" to lead viewers to a blog post or page on your website / blog. I am telling the reader to go to the previous post to see what I am talking about, but come back to this post to read the new information. I have put a link to this target="_blank" blog post at the very end of the last blog post just in case the user did not remember that they opened in a new window or browser tab. I know this can be confusing, so just CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE THAT PAGE (opens in a new window by using target="_blank") and scroll to the bottom of that post to the ONE MORE THING paragraph (does not use target="_blank") that leads back to this page. I open the link in a new window from this blog post just in case they close that one; they will still have the original page open to read. I lead them directly back with the link at the end of that blog post (it does not open in a new window), so that they do not have too many of my blog pages open. I DO NOT ALWAYS DO THIS - only on posts and page where the user needs to reference another page (catch up) before reading new information.

 You should use target="_blank" when you have someone else's banner or link on your site. For example, when you have written a blog post that references their website or blog; when someone has paid to advertise on your sidebar; when you have placed blog hop or linky banners on your blog / website ... it is appropriate to add target="_blank" to their banners / links because you want your website viewers to visit their sites, but you don't want them to forget to come back to read more of your blog or website.

Doesn't that make sense?


Do not use target="_blank" on your menu links unless it is leading to a different blog or website. For example, if your COMMUNITY menu link leads to your BlogFrog, Google + or Facebook page, then it is ok to use target="_blank". On the other hand, if your COMMUNITY menu link leads to a page that hosts your BlogFrog or Forum on your site, then do not use target="_blank" because it will just annoy your website / blog visitors.

I hope this was clear and helpful to you. If not, please do not hesitate to ASK FOR HELP with website design, blog design, content development or Internet marketing!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip | Image Optimization

Have you ever wondered why HER mom blog pictures show in Bing / Yahoo and Google Images, but YOUR Blogger images do not?

This Monday Marketing Tip will explain how to optimize your pictures, so that people can find them in Bing / Yahoo and Google images. They will also see a message you have written when they put their computer mouse over the pictures. This is called image SEO and is part of the organic search engine optimization (SEO) process. It doesn't matter whether you have a website or blog; Blogger, Typepad or Wordpress, the need for image SEO optimization is the same for everyone and it does make a difference in the great scheme of things in the Internet Marketing world. Please keep in mind that this is just one type of "image optimization" and is also called optimizing an image with search engine optimization and / or image seo.

How Pictures / Images Upload To Your Blog

When you upload a picture to your blog, it stores in a virtual space on your server (hosting account). You do not realize the complexity of it because your blog generates an image code for you. You can see this code in the HTML tab in your blog editor. It looks like this  and is in the upper left hand corner of your Blogger editor page. I edit my images and blog code a lot because blogs puts a lot of junk around our image code (this is why your pictures are clickable to a larger picture) and show up in a certain style. I typically remove this extra code unless I want my pictures to align or link to a different page. This is why my code example (below) will look a little different that what you might see in your  editor. The next section explains what to look for in your image code, so that you can optimize them.


Image Code Basics

The basic image code looks like this:

<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" style="border: none;" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." />

The image code typically begins with the <img src= and has the link to the image in quotes ... some text editors (the area where you type posts in a blog) put the image HTML code out of order, therefore you have to look for the src="http://your-image.jpg"  part even if it is not next to the <img

For example, the follow src=" is not next to the <img

<img style="border: none;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." />

Both snippets of image code will still produce the same result. All that matters is that you can find the <img and src=" in your  editor, so that you can seo your images.

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Your image code will need both an ALT and TITLE attribute. The following is example is for the CHECK THIS OUT picture at the top of this blog post. I have highlighted the 2 sections of this image code as follows: title=" " is marked yellow highlight and alt=" " is marked purple

Optimizing Image Code by Using The ALT Attribute

img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64"  title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings.

ALT = " "
As you can see, my image has an alt=" " that says "Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" this tells the search engine to read this ALT attribute as if it is text on my blog, though specific to this image. So, using this  alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" tell the search engine that my image is about or relative to the content of this blog post and, ideally, what the image is showing.


Notes on using the ALT=" "

It would be more appropriate for me to put alt="Check this out" if I wanted to the search engine to read this image as "Check this out" opposed to "Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tips". Try to keep the alt=" " text relative to what the content of your page is about or specific to what the image is for sites that are about photography / photographs.

The key to using the alt=" " attribute is not to SPAM the search engine with what is called keyword stuffing (marked in red text to signify that stuffing images with keywords is a bad / horrible thing to do ~ Bing / Yahoo and Google can BAN your blog from showing in the search engines). Image stuffing is when you put a lot of text (keywords and sentences) in the alt=" " attribute. For example, alt="image optimization, picture optimization, best keywords, best image optimization, blog optimization, website optimization, image seo, picture seo, blog seo, website seo, wordpress seo, blogger seo, typepad seo, blogspot seo, blogger image seo, wordpress image seo, blogspot image seo, typepad image seo" and so on (some people stuff their images with even more "keywords" or a bunch of keyword rich sentences). DO NOT STUFF YOUR IMAGES!!! You should only put a few relative words (keywords) or a small keyword rich sentence in your images.

---

Optimizing Image Code by Using The TITLE Attribute


img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings."

TITLE=" "
Additionally, my image code also has a title=" " attribute that says "Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." - this TITLE attribute is what your website visitors can see when they sit their computer mouse over the picture. *** GO TRY IT! Put your mouse on the Check this out! picture. ***

Notes on using the TITLE=" "

Similar to what is stated above in the Notes on using the ALT=" ", do not Keyword stuff your title=" " attribute because it can hurt your blog or website. Search engines can ban your blog from their results and this will most certainly happen if a human editor find that mess. You can get creative and write more personal messages in the title=" " area; just not too long. Your message should be short and sweet to guide the website user.

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This is what your image code should look like with both the TITLE and ALT Attributes

img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings."

That's it ... Now, you know how to optimize your images by adding the ALT and TITLE attributes. Other details like width, height, border and alignment are other useful image code details. You can see the width="" and height="" attributes in this example. Adding a border is as simple as border="1" (you can make this number larger if you want a thicker border) and the align="" property is written as align="left", align="center" and align="right". There is a more advance way to do all of this through additional programming called CSS, but this standard HTML code examples work, too.


I hope this was understandable and will help you get more website traffic from your images. There is a lot more to image optimization, but these 2 basic changes can make a huge difference for your marketing.


ONE MORE THING ... Don't forget to take the link code from around your images if you are not planning to link it to a page or blog post. There is nothing more annoying, to a person visiting your site, than to click an image and it goes to nothing but your original picture (well unless it opens to your Google image viewer). People will just steal your images this way, so remove the link code OR link it to a relative page. Learn how to make your image HYPERLINK TO A NEW POST or page that will add value to your blog!

Need help with your website, blog or marketing online? Does this feel like Chinese to you? Feel like you could use some help with design, content or marketing? Visit Mom Business & Blog Marketing page!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child