So, you’ve come to the realization that a business blog is the next logical step for your business marketing strategy. First of all, congratulations! The business blog (or mini-website) is the perfect way to get noticed both locally, nationally and even internationally.

Why? Because Google loves blogs. And according to Matt Cutts, from Google’s spam department, if you’ve chosen WordPress as your blogging platform, you have automatically positioned yourself far above the rest of the individuals and businesses trying to gain top Google rankings. At the 2009 Word Camp in San Francisco, Matt gave an enlightening blogging strategy workshop. One of his first points was in recognition of the benefits of WordPress and the fact that this blogging platform is built to take care of 80-90% of the mechanics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

So, you’ve made the perfect social media decision: Begin blogging to gain visibility for your business and you’ve chosen the perfect platform: WordPress

Now, that you’ve got a perfect beginning, let’s look at the recipe for creating a perfect blog post.

Why am I calling it a ‘recipe?’…because I like to cook. Okay, in all honesty I can spend hours on AllRecipes.com. I have my own account, I make recipe contributions to their website and I get abnormally excited about discovering a new dish. Along the way, I must admit that there are certain recipes that I consider to be perfect. One of them is my banana bread recipe. Now, I’ve tried other people’s recipes, but I always come back to the only one that has ever worked perfectly every time. I acquired it from a children’s cookbook that is now out of print and it is absolutely fool-proof. Never burnt on the outside and mushy in the middle, never dry–it’s perfect.

There is also a perfect recipe for blog posting. Whenever I use this recipe I get more traffic, more comments, and usually an email or two that eventually leads to new clients.  I’m going to share that recipe with you now. Keep it safe, because it really does work…every time, just like my banana bread recipe.

The Perfect Blog Recipe

1. Blog Post Headline: This one ingredient can either help catapult your post into a virtual buzz of interest or cause it to quickly die in the murky waters of ho-hum blogging.

Tips: Your title should fit in a Twitter tweet, so 110 characters or less will leave plenty of room for retweets. Also, titles that contain numbers, such as “The top 5 ways to….” or “The 10 best” work incredibly well.

2. Have a Point
Telling short side anecdotes is fine and can increase interest. It shows that you have a personality, but ultimately you must stick to one main point. Your post should address a concern, refute a popular idea, provide an answer, solve a problem, etc.

3. Search Terms or Keywords
In light of the subject of your blog as a whole, along with the main point of your post, figure out one or two popular key phrases that a person looking for your information would type into a Google search. Once you have them figured out, be sure to include these keyword phrases in your blog approximately 3-4 times throughout the post.

4. Bold Subheadings
Break up long passages and multiple paragraphs with subheadings. This is a general ‘best practice’ for web readers who like to scan articles for main points of interest. Using bullet points also helps.

5. Include an Image
Unique and thoughtfully chosen photos and images greatly increase the readability and of your blog posts. People like pictures. Your blog should not be boring.

6. Authority
If you are making statements in your posts, you can immediately add value to your post and increase your credibility with your readers by linking directly to trusted resources that will provide proof of your claims. In the first paragraph of this post I mentioned a quote by Matt Cutts. In order to add authority to my claim, I added the direct link to the video of his seminar. By doing so, your readers will trust you and also look to you as a provider of excellent resources.

Don’t worry about losing readers by linking to other sites. When you provide valuable resources your readers will come to you again and again as a source of information.

7. Call to Action
Always try to end posts with a question that will generate more comments or some other call to action. The more engaged your readers become, the more followers and subscribers you will have.

If you have found this recipe for the perfect blog post useful, or if you have additional tips, please leave a comment and let us know!

If you are like most freelancers, you LOVE being free from punching that time clock and spending all of your time working to make money for someone else.

Now that you are a freelancer, those days are over…but I’m sure you’ve quickly realized that in order to profit as a small business owner or an SEO writer, you’ll have to up your accountability level. Instead of reporting to a boss, you are reporting to yourself and your bank account is keeping the score.

It’s ironic, to be sure. As you strive to increase your income and become more successful, you’ll realize that neither will come without strict time discipline on your part.

Setting Your Business Policy

Now that you work from home, friends and family will think that you’re available for babysitting services, errands, phone chatting, etc. Since part of the pleasure of freelancing is in the area of time flexibility, you may say “yes” to some of the requests.

Be careful though, the “occasional favor” can become a slippery slope and your lack of attention to the projects at hand can quickly lead to part time wages in your bank account. If you have a family, enormous chunks of time can slip away through small but numerous interruptions.

The best way to deal with time thieves is to have a clear “policy,” worked out in your mind. When you are able to say “I’m sorry, my policy is to devote two hours per week to doing favors and this week I’ve already used them up,” you’ll probably be met with very  little resistance. Having these types of personal boundaries in place, shows others that you are serious about what you do.

A Simple But Powerful Daily Schedule Document

As a freelancer, you’ll need to create a system of scheduling that works best for you. Everyone is different, which is most likely why there are so many programs out there. I’m extremely old-school. I like my assignments written in a daily planner.

Another extremely powerful document is my “Daily Scheduler & Time Sheet” It helps me prioritize my most important projects by blocking them out in half hour increments. This one powerful tool, single-handedly shames me into doing my daily exercise routine, and forces me to be accountable throughout the day. If someone needs a favor of me, it must go on the Daily Scheduler where it “bumps” a work item.

Want to Create Your Own  Merciless Task Master? Here’s How:

Since it’s so easy for us freelancers to procrastinate when we’re faced with a task we’d rather put off, I like to write  “How will I earn money today?” at the top of my Daily Scheduler.

This forces me to put aside the fun but less important jobs, to focus on those that are immediately lucrative. SEO article writing projects, blog creation, and web research are a priority. They make my daily bread and butter. Even if some of my side tasks include developing tutorials and websites that will eventually make money for me…I have bills that are due TODAY, so today’s pay must be dealt with first.

My Daily Scheduler also has two columns: the left hand column is for “Task”; the right hand column is for “Activity.” The Task column shows what I should be doing at any appointed time during my day. The Activity column shows what I am actually doing. Now this kind of thing only works if you are truthful and cooperative.

Having to write down what I’m actually doing under “Activity” helps prevent me from veering off in the wrong direction, off on rabbit trails that detract from my income. You can just imagine how powerful it is to acknowledge — through the act of  physically writing it down — the fact that you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing!

If you want to put this method to use for yourself, be sure to create your daily schedule the night before. That way you’ll have time to prepare your research and gather whatever additional  items you will need so you can truly stay on schedule throughout the day.

By working from your  Daily Scheduler you’ll be able to increase your productivity, quickly recognize your personal work weaknesses, and conquer the procrastination monster.

Try the Daily Scheduler for yourself and see if you don’t get more done, increase your income, and feel more successful — because you will be!

In 2009, an intelligently written, well researched, credible blog can touch a life, cause a profound decision to be made and ignite enough passion in the spirit of the reader to create real change. A blog can start a movement, define a dream or redirect a nation.

How does that begin?

With your first post…Never before has the average individual had the opportunity to have a voice or a platform like today. What is Social Media for? If you have to ask, you just don’t get it.

I’ve read hundreds of articles and blog posts surrounding the confusion of social media.

Twitter, FaceBook, Blogging and other forms of instant communication are the main topic of a million seminars and a wave of eBooks. Individuals can’t seem to grasp or wrap their mind around social media.

Social Media…What is it?

Well, to put it in proper perspective…let’s stop for a moment, realign ourselves and try to think like a real world changer. What do you think Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, or Nelson Mandela, would have done if they could have combined the platform of Social Media with their world changing passion?

Social Media is nothing more or nothing less than a tool in your hand and a soap box to stand on. Used with wisdom, it can allow your thoughts, your dream and your vision to permeate areas of our world you never thought possible. Now do you get it?

Of course, most people with any amount of passion allow it to die shortly after conception. Abandoned blogs and stagnant social media accounts litter the world wide web. And of course, not everyone is called to change the world, but I do believe that we are all called to find our purpose, discover our destiny and live it out to the best of our ability. If you can’t change the world, then touch one life, improve one neighborhood, give one child the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

If you take a look at the majority of Tweet Streams, you will see the glaring reality of what our world has become. The shameful truth is this…given a platform, most of us will tweet about affiliate marketing schemes, get rich quick tactics, and MLMs. We always want to put the cart before the horse. Money, money, money…How can we make money? Our shallow aspirations are an embarrassment. Twitter has begun to look like some sort of cheesy carnival. Come see the freak show, the porn peddlars, the MLM pushers and those that guarantee your overnight success (for a mere 49.99).

Here’s an idea. View Social Media as a gift, a divine opportunity–and treat it as such. Use it to spread valuable information and to help the less fortunate. Is it okay to tweet about our business services? Of course it is, but let’s be realistic….Spam is spam is spam. No one cares about joining Donald Trump’s new money making scheme or joining your program that will bring 130,000 Twitter followers in 3 months. Can’t we stop and look at ourselves already?

It’s pretty pathetic…just saying.

Can your blog change the world? Of course it can, if the right person is behind the wheel, great things can and will be accomplished through the power of social media.

What is your online voice going to be known for? Pushing garbage or doing something worthwhile.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln

No worries, dear writer, it’s not a disease nor debilitating illness that we speak of here–simply a bump in the cycle of writing that must be avoided at all costs.

How to Be Sure Your Reader Climaxes:

Oh, you’ve heard the questions a hundred times if you’ve heard it once. Sometimes it comes as a simple, “Did you?” and sometimes a blatant, “Was it good for you too?” is blasted your way right after a sexual encounter. Let me just say, as kindly as possible that if you have to ask, it wasn’t all that special.

When writing, let’s be sure to take our reader to new, previously unexperienced levels of deep satisfaction. Let’s take them to those knowing realms where we can linger back for a moment, ever so smugly, just knowing that we’ve pleased and touched them in a real and eternal way.

I’m writing this post at three a.m. as a product of a dream I was having. When I awoke, I had this entire article in my head so clearly that I had to open my laptop and begin to write. Good writing is just satisfying like that. It all comes together with an ebb and flow, easy and free and yet well rounded and unforgettable. The art of writing…whether a short article or a novel, is very much like creating a small person. Your article or piece of literature should have a definitive personality once you have completed it. It should stand on it’s own, or even fly right away from you–ready to take on the world. When you’ve accomplished that, you’ll never have to ask the reader, or an editor, if it was “good.”

Have a Hook:

If you are a lover, or even tolerator, of classical music, you soon come to know that most worthy musical compositions have a crescendo–or as I like to call them, a climax. When listening to a favorite piece of music, there is a period of “building up” to the crescendo, an excitement, an interest, a longing if you will. A good article or piece of writing can, and should, have the same build up that a piece of music contains. Writing is an art form, just as photography, painting and musical compositions are. As artists, do we sometimes lose our touch? Of course we do. But as with sex, we can get our groove back if we realize it has gone missing. And very similar to sexual pleasure, writing is an experience in which we should concentrate on pleasing our partner (the reader). By doing so, self-pleasure will certainly and effortlessly follow.

Have I got your wheels turning yet, oh writing guru? Good. That was my intention. I’ve said it a hundred times and I will say it again here and now–there is too much regurgitated sludge out there, especially on the internet. If your skills are going to shine through and you are going to be respected as a true leader in your field, you’re going to have to be unique, intelligent, fluid, and have the ability to hold the interest and excitement level of your reader. I believe the word I’m looking for is “engaging.” Practice being engaging this week. Do it on the phone, face to face, everywhere you turn… If you are engaging in life, you will be engaging when you write, I promise.

This is especially true for the writer who has experienced a period of ‘writer’s block’ or just plain mental stagnation. Suddenly, when you become engaging–you’ll be able to gently and delightfully lead your dear reader down the path of desire. Your writing will become crisp, alive, and pungent. You will once again be able to sit before an empty piece of paper (or blog square) and see it’s potential. The empty palette will be inviting instead of frightening. When this happens, you’ve arrived.

Lately, my writing has been that way. Like a favorite song, the words just flow. It’s a wonderful, fulfilling feeling.

One last word about writing—have a hook.  Classical music has it’s crescendo, it’s strong and vibrant climax…but so does every favored piece of music and art. Everything has it’s own personal ‘hook.’ My current favorite song is Annie by Safetysuit. It is simply and divinely a beautiful song. It’s new and I never would have heard of the band had it not been for my teenage son, but I found the actual song, Annie, by myself while digging through a few playlists. It has since become a family favorite.

The song is basically about a girl who is beautiful. Inside and out, she can light up a room. Of course, Annie isn’t aware of this quality that others (especially the songwriter) find in her. Annie sees nothing beautiful, nothing wonderful and seems to suffer from low self esteem. The lead singer unfolds the story very pleasantly. The song itself is quite intoxicating. But of course, being a writer and hopeless romantic– there is one simple line that I wait for every time I listen to the song. For me, it is my personal hook, my climax…it is the part that makes me smile. The line of the song says, “Annie, you are the one sight my eyes never tire of.” Once I’ve heard that line I sort of drift away, satisfied and smiling. For me, that is the best line—it’s my happy place. When you write, be sure your article, story, or web copy has it’s own hook, it’s own happy place, it’s own fulfilling sentence and you won’t go wrong. I Promise.

Writing is a pleasure, an art form, a wonderful experience… As writers, lets be sure to keep it that way.

“…And Annie you are the one sight my eyes never tire of, it’s like I cannot get enough of you” ~ Safetysuit