This post was most recently updated on July 30th, 2016
There are 3 Ways To “Pump Up Your Blog” that you need to pay close attention to, in order to advance your blog to the next level.
Are you a blogging pro or a blogging newbie?
Either way, maybe it’s time to “Pump Up Your Blog.”
What do you think?
Have you been blogging a while, but just aren’t getting the results you want?
Have you been blasting out your brains trying to figure out what to write, to whom, or toward what end?
Or, maybe you’ve got a clear vision of what you want to accomplish with your blog, but it’s just not happening.
I know bloggers who have bought into a service that basically does all the blogging for them.
It gives them great content, perfectly optimized for the search engines, and laser targeted to their audience.
The pay lots of money for this service, but still are not getting the results they need to maintain the new overhead they’ve taken on.
These are all good reasons to start figuring out how to pump up your blog.
Perhaps you’ve just started blogging, or maybe are just thinking about it.
Well, then, this is really the perfect time for you to learn how to blog the right way, right from the start.
It can save you a lot of time and effort going in the wrong direction, only to have do a slick little U-turn to try to steer back onto the straight-away.
So, do you think it’s time to give a little TLC to your blog, or to put it on the right footing, or improve your results?
If so, then I’ve put together a little checklist for you.
These are the 3 major areas I’d like to see you start paying closer attention to.
CONTENT
“Content is King,” it’s been said.
I won’t argue with that.
Without top grade content, your blog is not ready to step up to the next level.
I’d suggest you stop everything you’re doing, and focus first and foremost on the value of your content.
Are you writing good and valuable articles for your target audience?
Do you make them interesting and actionable?
People like to learn things, but they especially like to learn what they can do to improve their lives.
Give them content that responds to that basic need, and you’re well on your way to having a rockstar blog.
Bring you content to life with images, video, audio and infographics.
There are so many ways to make your content more consumer friendly.
Have you been embedding some videos into your blog posts? There’s probably no better way to reach out and get personal with your readers, than by letting them see you in action.
How about images and infographics? The internet is all about being visual these days. People learn better and will remember you longer when you add images to your posts.
Do you know how to do a podcast? A lot of your readers may like to listen to a narration of your blog post while they’re on the treadmill.
Do everything you can to offer your readers high quality, entertaining and most of all… valuable content.
Special: Do You Know The Steps To Take To Pump Up Your Blog? Find Out Here.
You can do everything else right, but if your content is lagging, it won’t matter.
This is always the first thing to look at when thinking of ways to pump up your blog.
TRAFFIC
Of course, even great content needs eyeballs on it.
Without traffic, you are blogging in a vacuum.
Do you have a strategy in place for getting a steady flow of traffic to your blog?
Are you reaching out to the right people, the ones that can send readers your way?
Have you thought of using paid adverting to let people know what you’re doing?
Are you involved in blogging communities?
Do you know how to leverage other people’s blog sites, fan pages and Facebook groups?
More importantly, do you know how to do it without being spammy.
When you push yourself on others, they run away.
But when you join the conversation, you will attract them to your blog.
Learn to be a magnet of traffic, not a seeker of it.
How about forums? Forums are such a great source of traffic, yet many bloggers just don’t understand how to tap into them properly.
You see, there’s no shortage of traffic out here.
Traffic is everywhere.
You just need to get your blog in front of it, and then the magic begins.
Whether you have no traffic coming to your blog, or just not enough (is there ever enough?)… one of the ways to pump up your blog fast is to start exploring new ways to hurl your blog into the multiple streams of on-rushing traffic.
SEO
One key way to getting traffic to your blog is through proper search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
If you’re a regular reader to my blog, you probably know that I’m not a big fan of SEO.
It’s basically about getting your blog posts ranked high in Google, Yahoo and Bing search results.
While I don’t lose any sleep over optimizing my blog posts with SEO, I do use basic strategies and plugins to give them the best shot of being exposed to my target audience.
You should do that, too.
If you have a “money site,” it’s especially important to have a good SEO strategy in place.
By “money site,” I’m talking about blogs that are almost exclusively used for selling things.
So, if you had a dog training site, and it was all about reviewing and selling dog training equipment, devices and tutorials, I’d call that a money site.
You definitely want to use SEO strategies to bring people to those sites because one of the best ways for you to find customers for your products, is through relevant search terms.
SEO is done both “on-page” and “off-page.”
So there are things you should be doing on your blog, and with each and every blog post you write to help your blog get ranked in the search engines.
In addition, there are ways to help get good ranking by attracting links to it, from other people’s websites and blogs.
This is “off-page” SEO because it’s not about what you do on your site, it’s about attracting people from other sites to it.
This is typically done in the form of backlinks from other sites. Every time someone links back to your blog, search engines register it as a vote of confidence for your blog.
Therefore, they rank your blog higher.
Special: Revealed: The Cure For A “Lackluster” Blog
There are other off-page methods also, but I don’t want to get off topic, here.
Suffice it to say, that paying careful attention to the SEO strategy you’re using, and improving on it, is a great way to pump up your blog.
MONETIZATION
Most people want to make their blog a business, that is… a source of income.
If you’re one of those people, then don’t just write good content, attract readers, and expect profits to start rolling in.
You’ve set the foundation for monetizing your blog by doing all those things.
Hopefully, you’re inspired to pump up your efforts along those lines.
But don’t get so caught up in giving good content to a growing audience that you forget to create ways for converting them into paying customers and clients.
This means, make sure you are using your blog primarily to build a database of your readers.
That gives you an opportunity to build income streams into your business via your so-called “email list.”
You can also sell products and services directly on your blog site, too.
You can sell affiliate products, Amazon products and others.
You can encourage people to sign up for your business opportunity.
And you can promote services that you can provide to them.
Engagement
One of the keys to monetizing your blog, is to build engagement with your readers.
Engaged readers are your most likely customers and clients in the long run.
It’s one thing to get people onto your blog, quite another to get them to engage with you.
By “engagement,” I’m talking about getting people to join in a conversation with you.
On your blog, this is done by leaving a comment.
You should be doing everything you can to encourage people to leave comments.
You should also be doing everything you can to leverage those comments into a buzz that surrounds your blog, and that makes your readers eager to get involved in.
There are many ways of creating this buzz, and it should be a major focus if you’re trying to pump up your blog.
In addition to the buzz you create “on-page,” or on your actual blog site, you should also be exploring all the many ways to create that buzz “off-page.”
This means using other people’s sites to promote conversation about your blog.
You can do this on other people’s blogs, on forum sites, and particularly on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
There are many ways to promote this “off-page” engagement with your blog.
Explore the ones most suitable to your style and your audience, and start engaging them, and involving them in your blog and in your business.
There’s absolutely no substitute for building relationships with your readers.
Don’t just talk at them. Talk to them, and make them comfortable with talking to you, too.
That’s the essence of engagement.
Engagement is one of the cornerstone of your monetization strategy, and it’s one of the most powerful ways you can start to pump up your blog.
Together, list-building and engagement are the top methods for monetizing your blog.
If you’re not taking full advantage of them, then it’s probably time to pump up your blog with these strategies.
If you think it’s time to pump up your blog in any, some or even all of these ways, I’d like to invite you to our next “Whirlwind Success” live event, called… surprise surprise… “Pump Up Your Blog.”
REGISTER HERE for our “Pump Up Your Blog” webinar
We’ll be showing you some great ways for building great content on your blog, driving traffic to it and monetizing it.
I’d love to have you attend!
So, now, tell me this…
How would you like to pump up your blog?
Do you think it needs better content, more traffic, a better monetization structure?
Or something I haven’t mentioned (it happens, lol).
Whatever it is, I hope this article has inspired you to call a “staff meeting” with yourself to sit down and figure out some new, exciting ways that you can pump up your blog.
-Donna
Twitter: MarketingKM
March 29, 2015 at 3:58 pm #
Hi Donna
Pump up your blog – Arnold would be proud.
Great title, and we know how important a title is.
Great information. Content is king, but engagement is Queen, and she rules the house.
I heard this likely on a blog somewhere.
Are you involved in blogging communities? Well yes I am as are we all here.
Do you know how to leverage other people’s blog sites, fan pages and Facebook groups? Yes I do, and what about starting a group for Women bloggers? I am seriously thinking of starting one.
Thanks for your article, you are so helpful.
Kathryn Maclean recently posted..Can You Write A Blog?
Hi Kathryn,
Good to see you here and know that you liked this title. The quote about Content is king is from Mari Smith that social media maven.
Looks like you are pumping up your blog! It would be nice to start a group for Women bloggers. If you are thinking about that..try it!
Smiles,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..The Blogging Entrepreneur
Hi Shelley,
So good to know you found some things you can use from this post. Also great that you are working with JV partnerships. I sure is a good way to monetize!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..The Blogging Entrepreneur
Donna, You have provided a comprehensive guide for helping all of us find great ways to pump up our blogs! I plan on implementing your suggestions into my site and I am also doing more with forming JV partnerships this year and learning how to work with affiliate sites like Clickbank. Thanks for all your great tips!
Shelley Alexander recently posted..Superfoods Cinnamon Coffee Latte
Twitter: deeannrice
March 19, 2015 at 8:24 pm #
Donna,
Great post on how to build up your blog.
Content is King!!! Without content you do not have a blog and without good content no one is going to come back to your blog.
Great information on content and what needs to included in content. I love videos and was thinking the other day that I need to start putting videos in my posts. In the past I tried to do a video post once a month but have not done that for a while.
Infographics and images are great additions to posts and attract a lot of people. Whenever I have used an infographic I have gotten quite a lot of traffic.
SEO is definitely important even if you are looking to grow a blog through relationships. Don’t want to leave out the search engine traffic.
Of course great content drives lots of traffic.
Really good post.
Dee Ann Rice
Dee Ann Rice recently posted..Organization And Time Management Tips For Bloggers
Hi Dee Ann,
There are so many things to consider to pump up our blogs. I do find that having a Youtube video in it…even if it is a few minutes boosts our content and helps with getting our message out there.
Also, when using a short video, people see us and that makes a stronger connection for the KLT factor.
I’m just starting to learn how to use inforgraphics. Oh boy those learning curves never stop do they?
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Why You Must Make “The Shift” In Marketing
Twitter: Barbara Charles
March 17, 2015 at 8:24 pm #
Wow Donna.
Awesome post. I see a little bit of everything that you taught me and it helps me see what I need to do clearly and has reminded me of what else needs to be done.
I’ve heard over and over content is definitely king and I learned that right away. It was only after someone was honest with me that helped me to understand I needed to change to attract people to my blog. So content is critical.
And of course building that community which I learned from you and Adrienne is very important as well. Still working on that and building slowly but surely.
Great reminders. Great post.
Barbara
Barbara Charles recently posted..Are You Effectively Marketing To Your Target Niche?
Hi Barbara,
Good to know that this post helped you see what you need to do clearly and it reminded you of what else you need.
As content is king, it will be lost in the cloud if we don’t have a good community to read it. As long as you are taking time to build your community, that will start the ball rolling. It is part of what we need to do on a daily basis.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Why You Must Make “The Shift” In Marketing
Twitter: WellGal
March 15, 2015 at 9:18 pm #
Hello Donna. The way you touched upon every successful way to pump up your blog and make it more successful is invaluable.
As I was reading through, I definitely picked up a few pointers and realized I need to be working on them. So, thank you so much on sharing all of your tips! Every time I read your blog posts, it plants more seeds toward my success as a blogger.
If I need additional help, I will not hesitate to sign up for you helpful seminars.
Regards,
Karen
Karen Peltier recently posted..Top Natural Remedies to Soothe & Re-Moisturize Irritated Nasal, Sinus, & Bronchial Passages
Hi Karen,
Thank you for letting me know this was helpful for you. That’s the best feeling of all! I am sure glad you have picked up a few pointers here and will work on them.
It is so good to know that when you read my blog posts, it plants more seeds toward your success as a blogger. This means I’m doing my job.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Why You Must Make “The Shift” In Marketing
Twitter: andrea_ansari
March 15, 2015 at 1:22 pm #
Hey Donna, thanks for sharing your Pump up your blog: webinar with us. You sure have loads of value to share!! Love your video with your husband on the registration page!
Andrea Ansari recently posted..What Is A GRAVATAR & How To Create It? {YCDIS #10]
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for liking that video. It sure is a huge complement for me coming from you. Your videos are so inspiring and one can learn from them so well. I love the way you do each and every one.
Thanks so much!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Are You Reaching Your Goals?
Hi Zach,
What a great idea you have with your technique. In your niche it is especially great to use as a search. Then all you have to do is write a blog to answer the questions.
Awesome!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Are You Reaching Your Goals?
Twitter: ppk_law
March 13, 2015 at 1:01 am #
I always try to engage my readers. One good technique I use to try and maximize my visits is to use Google’s predictive text feature to find out what kinds of things people are searching. Then I write a blog that is responsive to the search using keywords in the search query.
Zach recently posted..Someone Hit My Car
Twitter: IrishCarter1
March 12, 2015 at 10:00 pm #
Hi Donna,
I hope things are going great for you. I loved your article here. It got my mind thinking about alot of things as well as really fit into what I have been considering lately. I am thinking strongly about taking a jump from weebly to a wordpress site. I’m realizing there area lots of plug ins that wordpress has which would help me time management wise.
I refuse to put nothing but good quality content on my sites. I also work very hard to make my articles POP with interest. This takes a great deal of time just setting up and I think using plug ins would help me some. I also just read that wordpress has a SEO plugin to help you. I am not a techy person at all and SEO is not my strong suit so I think that would benefit me. The issue lies that when I went from Blogger to Weebly, I lost my entire archive. I’ve worked so hard all these years, I guess I wonder what impact switching might due regarding getting paid jobs as I don’t know how the stats would be effected in the beginning.
Your post has certainly got me thinking more in the direction I was considering. Thanks for your awesome teaching Donna.
I hope the sun is shining down out on the east coast area and the snow is melting now. We seen ground the last two days. I know one thing, I am way over winter. LOL
Take care. Have a great week. I’ll probably be missing in action for the next week and a half. I am getting ready to do the big promo launch I have been forever working on. After that, my books, videos, and CD’s and getting coaching from you in the VIP Club. Really looking forward to that. : )
Irish
Irish
Irish Carter recently posted..How to Build a Great Relationship with Your kids – You Can Be a SuperMom!
Hi Irish,
I would make that change If I were you. WordPress is wonderful. And yes, that plug in for SEO is fantastic. I am so not an SEO person, but with this plugin, the lights turn green and it gives me the go ahead to publish. I love it! It tells me where I need to tweak some words. Easy Peasy!
Yikes when you changed from Blogger to Weebly you lost your stuff … oh my, There are many ways to upload all your blog posts and the import them cleanly to a WordPress site, but I’m not sure how Weebly works. But I guess that’s water under the bridge, now.
Actually as I write, I just installed “Carbonite” on my computer. My husband’s computer crashed a month ago and he had this on his so he didn’t loose a thing.
The snow is melting and we only have two feet more to go lol. Can’t wait to see your launch!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Are You Reaching Your Goals?
Twitter: IrishCarter1
March 16, 2015 at 8:30 pm #
Donna,
Thanks for giving me insight into what I can expect with wordpress. This is one area I would definately like to talk to you about once I get the coaching going in a few weeks. My intuition has been telling me for some time the server has been a financial weight for me as far as growth. Shame on me for not listening to my inner knowledge.
I’ve wrote this topic down in my planner to talk with you more on when the launch is done. I’m getting very close to being ready to click the button. Probably a week to week and a half. Yeah.
Thanks for all your help dear. You are amazing as always.
Irish
Irish Carter recently posted..Saving Money on Home Decor
Hi Irish,
Intuition is what I always rely on lol. Yes, WordPress is wonderful and there is so much we can do with that platform. Plugins work fine and even I can understand it he he he
I can’t get the work I need to do if I had to constantly play with my blog. This is another reason why I hired someone to do it for me and also host it on a managed hosting platform.
I get a text or call if something is going wrong. I don’t have to give my blog a second thought for it to work well. If you ever want to know who to contact for that, let me know. It is a little bit more than shared hosting, but less headaches and more room to work on what we really love to do lol.
Talk soon,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Why You Must Make “The Shift” In Marketing
Twitter: nishapandey510
March 9, 2015 at 5:39 pm #
Great post Donna.
Your first point ‘content is king’ is totally true. Without informative and attractive content you cannot succeed as a blogger no matter how hard you try.
Engaging your readers in conversion is also a great way to create return traffic.
Really helpful ideas. I’m going to implement each and everyone of these ideas. Thanks for sharing. Have a good day!
Nisha Pandey recently posted..WordPress.org VS WordPress.com: Comparative Guide
Hi Nisha,
You are spot on with content because it has to be informative and attractive. Engagement is connected to create organic traffic which I personally love.
Glad you found this helpful,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Are You Reaching Your Goals?
Twitter: jenniryan
March 8, 2015 at 8:46 pm #
wow Donna . Again awesome tips and you certainly walk the talk when it comes to blogging. Would love to be on the webinar but wrong time of day for me in Australia so will keep an eye out for your next one.
Hi Jenni,
I do walk the talk otherwise I couldn’t do a post nor a webinar about this subject. The webinars I do are all recorded. Yes there is a fee, but it is free to all my members on my VIP club.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: successwithdawn
March 8, 2015 at 7:44 pm #
All spot on advice Donna, especially the ‘content is king’ and ‘SEO’… well really every point you made is 100% true. Blogging had gotten away from me, I must admit. I din;t like it, but it is true. Thanks for reigniting the spark!
Dawn Golden recently posted..DS Domination Review
Hi Dawn,
Glad to know that your spark has been reignited. I really don’t do so much SEO, but rather engagement. Over time, engagement is something that really pumped up my blog.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: MarketingKM
March 8, 2015 at 7:24 pm #
Can’t believe the amount of comments !
Learned how to pump up my blog with these
Content is King – Good content that is interesting
Traffic – Many eyeballs to see your site
SEO – optimizing posts with SEO to rank high on Google
Great article – best of luck with your webinar
Kathryn Maclean recently posted..How to Use An Editorial Calander
Hi Kathryn,
I do one post a week and usually get this amount of comments. I don’t use too much SEO, only when that green light goes on in my back office do I publish a post.
Guess the eyeballs on my site are from relationships I make with others. If you go on to one to five posts a day that you do not know, eventually reciprocation kicks in.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: WillenaRose
March 8, 2015 at 6:12 pm #
Great advice, Donna! I’ve certainly picked up a few gold nuggets. All of things have to be in balance, or no one will know we’re there.
Willena Flewelling recently posted..Week 22 – Master of My Emotions
Hi Willena,
So good to know you have picked up a few golden nuggets from this post. Yes indeed, it is all about balance.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Hi Jacs,
Glad I made you smile because when I see this going on I smile to myself too! Yes, content is important, but what good is it if we don’t have any traffic?
We need to engage with our readers and commenters. It is always about engagement wherever we go from our blogs to social media to forums.
Putting a little bit of ourselves within the post will build the KLT factor.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: JacsHenderson
March 8, 2015 at 3:29 pm #
Donna, I love this… you know all the secrets and are so happy to share them!
You did make me smile at the beginning when you said some people pay good money for there blog to be managed, but they still aren’t a success!
The Content is for the audience, then targeting traffic at them, and so importantly engaging with them is such a fabulous strategy, but oh not as easy as it sounds!
You have some fabulous truths in this post which clarify points we could not be getting right, and everyone will find a place to improve here.
You are a fantastic teacher Donna 🙂
Jacs
Jacs Henderson recently posted..Blog Engage… Community… Syndication… Management
Twitter: DavidMerrill101
March 8, 2015 at 3:02 pm #
If anyone knows the are of pumping up your blog, it’s you, Donna.
I know the “back story” to your success though.
Lots of learning followed by a whole lot of implementation.
A lot of times, I start learning about something like “building a list on your blog.”
While I’m still on module 3, writing volumes of notes so I’ll be “prepared” to take action, you’ve already put 2 key strategies into action!
That’s how you’ve got to do it.
Then, when you add your natural inclination for helping others and always adding value to their lives, to say nothing of their business… that’s why your blog rocks!
Meanwhile, you spend each and every day pumping it up even more.
I’ll see you on the webinar for the inside scoop on how you do it all.
David Merrill 101 recently posted..Mentoring For Online Success
Hey David,
It is always nice when you come to my blog and comment…I feel loved lol.
When it comes to blogging, yes, I am an action taker. You know me better than anyone else on this planet and I appreciate your kind and loving words.
Yep…this webinar will rock as I’m taking the lead he he he
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: msellithorpe
March 8, 2015 at 2:33 pm #
Hey Donna,
Awesome post and great information. I will be taking your advice when I start sprucing up my blog again.
The blogging communities that we belong to definitely are a great source of traffic.
Have a great day.
Monna Ellithorpe recently posted..The Secrets To Your Internet Estate
Hi Monna,
Once you start sprucing up your blog again, I’m sure you will remember these few nuggets of advice lol. Indeed, Blogging Communities is where we need to be, as long as they are supportive…like PAC!
Thanks for all you do on PAC,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: saraharrow
March 8, 2015 at 12:00 pm #
Hi Donna, thanks for sharing your insights here. So few bloggers target their content to their audience, they just write from themselves! They need to combine your three suggestions for pumped up blogging to get better results.
Sarah Arrow recently posted..Case Study: Monthly Marketing Action Plans
Hi Sarah,
Oh those bloggers that write for themselves…poor things! We need to know our target audence and yes, combine these suggestions for better results.
Thanks for coming by,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: 344pmstyle
March 8, 2015 at 11:14 am #
Hi Donna,
Yet another amazing post chock full of actionable blogging advice!
Thanks to your tips I feel I have been curating better blog posts. Just recently I had a new client contact me because she saw (and read) a blog post (using all of the points you highlighted above) I had done on LinkedIn. She loved the post and signed up for a wardrobe consultation!
You’ve taught me right Donna!! 🙂
Thank You Thank You!!
Best,
Monisha
Monisha Kapur recently posted..How to Wear Spring Clothes in Winter
Hi Monisha,
What fantastic news! Seeing your blog posts on LinkedIn will attract a more serious clients, I believe. That’s what I love about that platform, people tend to get more serious about things.
I know she will be so pleased with your service. I am!!!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: siphosith
March 7, 2015 at 10:42 pm #
Great information Donna. There is so much to take away from your post. I need to start using more of videos and infographics on my blog. Oh and podcasting. Thanks Donna your post will be a referral point.
Siphosith recently posted..Pros And Cons Of Working With PLR Products ?
Hi Siphosith,
People learn in so many different ways, that it is a good practice to have a video, or podcast or even an infographic mixed in with our blog posts. Not all the time, but here and there.
I, myself haven’t done a podcast yet, but its on my list of to-do’s. I put in short videos sometimes and see that it always increases traffic and also that KLT factor.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: joantruesuccess
March 7, 2015 at 7:23 pm #
Hi Donna,
Wow , so much valuable content! These are awesome tips for any blogger to PUMP UP their blogs!!! You touched on so many key components to having a successful blog, thank you 🙂
You always deliver such awesome value!
Great post!!!
Joan Harrington recently posted..How To Be A Webinar Boss
Hi Joan,
I do try to keep up that value lol. I see too many good blogs around that need a little pumping up to gain more traction.
Thanks for your kind words,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: cheryschmidt
March 6, 2015 at 6:19 pm #
Hello Donna, I love your title 3 ways to pump up your blog, this really caught my eye.
All great tips my friend! I also think it is important to get that conversation going on your blog and love all your suggestions, especially where you say this can be done on other people’s blogs!
It is so true I have met so many people by just reading their comments on others peoples blogs such as yours here then clicking over to learn more about them and leaving a comment for them on their blog.
9 out of 10 times I get and visit in return and the conversations and relationships just keep on building..
Thanks for sharing and do have an Awesome Weekend Ahead.. Chery :))
Chery Schmidt recently posted..Become A Successful Online Entrepreneur With These Productivity Tips
Hi Chery,
Thanks for sharing your experience of meeting people just by reading their comments. This is one sure fire way to start relationships with new people.
I do it myself all the time! It is all about being attracted to others and starting that conversation on a blog.
Awesome!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: ErikaMohssenBey
March 6, 2015 at 4:40 pm #
Like always you give here valuable advice,
most of this, I still have to do and it takes time,
good to have you as a teacher and I am in your
VIP club,so I can ask you. Only by doing and
implemented this all works, knowing about is not
enough.Slowly I will get there.
Looking forward to the webinar.
Thank you for this great post
Erika
Hi Erika,
I know all that is on your plate from talking to you when you have joined my VIP club. You sure have your hands full, but you do go on. It may take you a longer time, but you are staying on track and not loosing focus.
I don’t know where you get he time to even open your computer he he he….but knowing you, I know you will stay on your path.
See you on the webinar.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: GarSpecialties
March 6, 2015 at 12:01 pm #
Donna- What an interesting and helpful blog. For me the one thing that really stood out when I read blogs are “People like to learn things, but they especially like to learn what they can do to improve their lives.”. This is exactly what you do and that is why you are so successful. I have read many blogs of how to improve your site, but not the information you so generously give.
I use pluggins to optimize my site. But what I am noticing, even if they do not leave a comment that my visitors, will go to my main site and click on the blog site. So my blog had better be interesting or I will lose the customers that I have cultivated. I think whether or not you are trying to optimize your site, having a blog is part of doing business for me.
Arleen recently posted..What is the magic of Branding?
Hi Arleen,
Yes, people like to learn what they can do to improve their lives. From self help to marketing and anything else, this is the core of what we need to create in order to capture someone’s interest in what we are marketing.
It is great to know that even though some of your visitors may not leave a comment, they are going right over to your site which is awesome by the way! 🙂
Yes, a blog is part of doing business. The more information we give to others bit by bit, the more they will come back. We start building relationships and get to know each other. When I see your name I know immediately I can go to Garret Specialties and purchase what I want. If someone is looking for those products you offer, I can drop your link.
You are doing such a great job and it’s nice to see you again,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: BarbaraCharles
March 6, 2015 at 11:08 am #
Hi Donna,
A perfect post for those of us who are bloggers (beginners and experienced). For one, I remember how hard it was for me to get to good content. Not that I’m an expert at it now, but although I knew the definition of good content, the question was ‘where’ does it come from. You asked a question in your post. Do you make them interesting and actionable? Well, I found out my blog was boring from one of our mutual friends. I think your question is important but how do we analyze our own blog with that one question. I never thought my posts were not interesting so it didn’t dawn on me until someone else told me. So you are right, but I’d like to add each blogger should have an independent and honest review to determine if it’s interesting and actionable.
Well as you know I’m big on blogging communities right now and it has increased my traffic which goes along with engagement. We definitely need both.
I don’t always practice SEO and I need to get better at it for sure. Thanks for the reminder.
These all all great points for us to step up our game on our blogs.
As usual great post.
Talk soon.
Barbara
Barbara Charles recently posted..What To Do About Blogging When You’re Going On Vacation?
Hi Barbara,
It is always good to get feedback on our blogs. We need it because we cannot judge our own work. So reaching out to others and getting their view points is always good practice.
Great idea you raised that each blogger should have an independent and honest review to determine if it’s interesting and actionable. Thanks for raising that point!
And of course, we do need blogging communities in order to increase our traffic. There are so many out there, but when you get one with good reciprocity…its great!
Enjoy your trip!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Carol_Amato_
March 5, 2015 at 11:23 pm #
Hi, Donna,
I love the term “pump up your blog” – great tips, and I couldn’t agree more with everything you said. These are areas that we must pay close attention to, absolutely.
While I was doing my business planning in the latter part of 2014 for the upcoming new year, I knew that I needed to focus on rich media content.
That’s when I determined to start offering infographics on a regular basis, as well as case studies, more videos, etc. Will also be starting a podcast this year, and writing a book. Leaving my comfort zone is necessary, so am swiftly giving myself continual kicks in the behind and gentle nudging to keep on track.
All of the parts you mention are important, and yes – I’m wanting to increase conversions so am testing different things on my site (using heat mapping) and seeing how different traffic sources respond.
You’ve given me several golden nuggets for ideas, Donna – thanks so much for sharing this valuable post. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Talk soon,
˜Carol
Carol Amato recently posted..Time Hacks to Make The Most of Your Screen Time
Hi Carol,
Its great to know what you are up to these days! Thanks so much for sharing because I like the way you shared how you were doing your business planning at the end of 2014 for the up coming year.
This is one lesson people need to know and I am so glad you mentioned it. Business planning is so important, especially laying out our goals for the year to come.
Then starting to implement podcasts and infographics. Well done and a great plan for your blog.
This sure will give you the time to increase conversions, especially testing with heat mapping. People somehow forget the importance of testing.
Glad you brought these points out here to make this blog more valuable to my readers.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: miriamslozberg
March 5, 2015 at 8:05 pm #
Great post Donna. Content will always be king, and the better the content, the higher it will rank! And I love the FB groups for encouraging blog engagement and I have to say that has helped me see a nice spike in my traffic!
Miriam Slozberg recently posted..5 Ways to Push through that Writer’s Block
Hi Miriam,
Oh yes, when we get on Facebook groups, it does help to get more people coming to your blog. I’m a strong believer of this one. Once we find a good group with reciprocity, it only grows and we can quickly build relationships.
Hey…that’s how we met lol!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
You have brought up a really fantastic point. It’s very useful and helpful. Thank you for sharing your article about these 3 Ways To Pump Up Your Blog. Great!
Dylann Andre recently posted..5 Retail Marketing Ideas
Hey Dylann,
Thanks for stopping by. Good to know this post was helpful for ya…
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: BAMoneyBlogger
March 5, 2015 at 5:45 am #
Hi Donna
Very actionable post indeed.
Usually we take steps to renovate the building of our blog but rarely pay attention to improve its functioning.
Quality, quality and quality; everyone is talking about quality but what if everyone comes up with quality. In such situation diversity is the best solution to get edge over stereotyped quality as you also pointed out.
Podcast is still at below its potential in blogosphere as many people want to listen instead of watching and reading because it requires their lesser attention and they can do something else simultaneously.
Professional online marketers are exploiting this option but typical bloggers just put it once after publishing several posts without it.
SEO is an unavoidable reality in blogging and one needs to avail it to its maximum possible potential. Keywords are in demand and bloggers very passionately use them but still many bloggers don’t bother to go for long tail keyword that is an easier way to get targeted traffic.
You are right traffic is in abundance we just need to tell it we are here to serve the people so just come to our blog. This needs blog promotion with a strategy and sharing posts in forums is the best way.
I am sure your offering a webinar to teach bloggers how to pump up their blog will be a big success as this topic is need of the time especially when blogging is towards its point of saturation.
Thanks a lot Donna for sharing this wonderful post.
Mi Muba recently posted..What should be the ideal length of blog comments?
Hi Mi Muba,
Indeed, everyone talks about quality! Of course we do need to give good quality, but that’s not the end all! We need traffic on our blogs for a good conversation in the comment section. This not only provides back links, but also our commenters will share our quality posts on the social sites. This sure brings quality traffic to our blogs.
No, we cannot forget SEO. Although I use it lightly and not focus too much on it, as long as that green light goes on in my back office that it is SEO fine, I am fine with that.
Yes, we are here to serve others and that is the most important thing. If we just keep that in our mind, the rest will all fall into place.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: NandaRahmanius
March 5, 2015 at 2:53 am #
Hi Donna,
What a great and wonderful post! 😀
I am glad when reading it. Indeed, it is the basics to pump our blog.
I have not used infographics and podcasts on my blog yet. I do not know how to make it though..hehe
I love your words about traffic magnet. I also liked your discussion about engagement. Indeed, a blog should engage with their readers as much as possible. Like your blog, I wonder when will my blog will have 100 comments like this. LOL
Thanks for sharing this great post, Donna.
I will sharing it. 🙂
~Nanda
Nanda Rahmanius recently posted..THANKS To My Comment Authors: February 2015 Report
Hi Nanda,
I myself haven’t used infographics, but a good blogging friend of mine uses them so much that she is getting so much activity on Pinterest, her blog went wild!
Whatever we can put in our blogs, besides words once in a while does help. I see it when I put a small video on my blog. It build up the KLT factor when you see someone live. Some people love podcasts because they learn from hearing.
We all learn differently, so having a mixture of things will pump your blog up.
My favorite is engagement! Lots of people try to come to this blog with a one liner and drop a link, but I won’t allow it. The only time I do is the newbies I teach and have to email them and tell them what to do and why.
Engagement is wonderful, even on other people’s blogs. When leaving a good comment, well you know how to do that, you never know who will read it and be attracted to you and thereby come to your blog.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: ikechiawazie
March 4, 2015 at 6:51 pm #
Hi Donna
You sure know how to make a blogger tick with excitement. Love the topic; who doesn’t want to pump life into his blog. I must certainly open to new ideas which you brilliant lay outlined in this post.
Love the idea of podcasting even though I am not ready for yet. SEO does help bring life to one’s blog as long as you follow its rules but one shouldn’t be spam my with optimization as Google search light is on.
Love your strategies on Monetization and this is one area where creativity and innovation is needed. Thanks for sharing and I think I need to pass this to other s.
Hi Ikechi,
Of course everyone wants to pump up their blogs lol. There are so many ways to play around with it to see if it works. All one has to do is try.
I see you are interested in podcasting. I’ve not done it myself, but have been a guest on many. I like to put in videos here and there on my blog posts. Of course, paying close attention to see if it does well or not.
Usually a short one does the trick for me.
So true, SEO is still there, but at a minim …not like the old days and I’m happy about that one because I never liked reading those blog posts full of SEO language. It didn’t flow.
Thanks for coming by,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
March 4, 2015 at 3:55 pm #
Hey Donna, I thought this was a free webinar but I noticed is being sold through JVZoo.
I can’t get it right now due to having a TON in my plate but for the topics I’m reading here, I’m pretty sure it’ll be a great one.
All the best and thanks for showing a new way to monetize content since I’ve never seen someone link directly from a blog post to a paid webinar like this (great idea!)
Sergio Felix
PS. Not long ago I was using this theme on my own website, I miss it terribly since the one I’m using right now is super sluggish in loading times.
Sergio Felix recently posted..How To Find Your A-Game In Internet Marketing
Hi Sergio,
Yes, it is a “paid” webinar for those who are not in my VIP Club. There, it is free to all members. Sometimes people want to check out the monthly webinars I do for my VIP Club members and then make a decision if they want to join.
What happens in that VIP club is not only free webinars followed by Q &A’s but also a free consultation, and customer service at our end if someone gets stuck on a project they are doing.
As for linking directly from a blog post to a paid webinar…yes..pretty good idea Ehh? When you think about it, many people do have what I call “sidebar blindness” and won’t recognize what is on our sidebar to opt in.
As for the theme…I’m loving it. I had to re-vamp this entire blog a way back because the theme was too sluggish.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: nkeriakos
March 3, 2015 at 10:40 pm #
Hi Donna,
Wow!! So much value in this one post. If that is the value you give in one post, I wonder how the webinar will be. For sure packed up with golden nuggets.
The 3 ways you mentioned are all necessary to pump up any blog. I totally agree with you great content is king but it needs the eyeballs and that’s why we need to promote well to get that traffic to read our content and when the traffic comes we need to engage with them so that with time they turn into clients and customers or just be a social proof as you said in our blogs.
I need to improve in all these 3 ways to see the results that I am shooting for this year and one fourth thing I need to improve on is managing my time and balancing between work and home to get things done properly. We all know our blogs consume so much of our time.
Thanks Donna for a great share with lots of value as always. Have a great week.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
Neamat Tawadrous recently posted..How To Deal With Discouraging Remarks???
Hi Neamat,
We can write all the greatest content in the world, but without traffic to our blogs, we are lost in the wilderness. There are so many ways to get traffic blogging groups, so much more ….
But the best thing we can do if we are in a time crunch is to visit at least one blog a day that you don’t really know. Someone that captures your interest. Leave a great comment ( I don’t have to tell you that lol) and share on social media. Reciprocity will take place.
Yes, blogging does take time and it does grow the more time we have to put into it. Right now it seems to me you are struggling with time management. That is one thin I think we all struggle with.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: leadingedgeadv
March 3, 2015 at 9:33 pm #
Hi Donna,
More traffic is probably something everyone could use. No matter where you are in your blog progression getting more eyes on your content is always good.
I think at some point I want to look at monetization but right but I’m going to conitnue to focus on content and traffic.
~Lea
Lea Bullen recently posted..7 Vicious Beliefs You Need to Abandon to Get on the Road to Success
Hi Lea,
If you are focusing on content and traffic, it sure will build because your content is great. It does take time and traffic doesn’t happen over night, but I see you have a nice crowd following you. Others that do put in good comments on your blog and that is fantastic.
As for monetization, you’ll get there when your heart tells you to!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Hey Donna,
This is a hot topic in and of itself, and who’s better to talk about it than you Donna!
There are people that work hard on their blog but yet their results don’t show for it. This will say that there are something that they’re lacking in to get those results of traffic, comments, shares and leads.
What would that be. Well you do have to know your audience for one. But the ideas you have here are enough to build a strong foundation for a successful blog. Using different forms of content, engagement and practicing the law of reciprocity by comment and sharing, and also having a good SEO strategy for those money sites you were referring to.
In the end, we all want to be able to monetize our blog. If you’re an entrepreneur, isn’t this the same goal! With these tips you have here, if applied, your visitors and students will be able to accomplish this!
Great post Donna and you have a great rest of the week!
sherman smith recently posted..5 Common Power Words You Need To Instantly Put Your Blog Audience To Action
Hi Sherman,
You have said it all with one word “reciprocity” As long as we are going to visit other people’s blogs, we comment and share and eventually reciprocity comes into play.
We may belong to blogging groups, but I always say to visit at least one person a day you find interesting that you don’t know. Leave the best possible comment you can and share it on social sites.
I’ve found that to some people it’s a jaw – dropper! They thank me for the consideration and for sharing. I also find that when I do this to someone I don’t really know, my actions speak louder than words…they start doing the same and their blog gets “pumped up”
Yes, in the end, we want to monetize our blog. We can do that in so many ways, but building the KLT factor is priceless.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: coachtocoachguy
March 3, 2015 at 5:32 pm #
Thanks Donna!
What a proverbial smorgasbord of proven blogging/marketing ideas!LOL!
And I really love your excellent advice of being “a magnet of traffic, not a seeker of it!” That is just way too priceless!
As usual, you’ve over delivered on the goods! Thanks a much, for sharing such
a highly informative and extremely practical blueprint!
Mark recently posted..Three Incredibly Simple Reasons Why All Serious Entrepreneurs Need To Get Out Of Debt Fast!
Hi Mark,
Yes we do need to be a magnet of traffic and not a seeker of it. Providing good content and engaging with others will do the trick all the time.
And I know you know this because I’ve seen you around everywhere I go ((smiles))
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: vanmarciano
March 3, 2015 at 5:10 pm #
Hey Donna, killer post here and these things will truly help you take your blog to the next level. I couldn’t agree more, content is king, and without proper marketing and promotion, that content will never get found… OK maybe eventually.
OK here’s what I’m doing right now:
Content: I’m only producing a new post every 5 to 7 days, this helps me to really focus on creating useful and educational content.
At the same time I’m taking the time to read through every single other post I have on my blog to make them even better, this is taking a lot of my time, but it will be worth it no doubt.
Traffic and SEO: Like you I don’t lose sleep about over optimising my blog posts, I use the Yoast SEO plugin, but I rarely think about things like keyword density or meta tags and stuff like that. I keep it basic.
As for off-page I don’t go out searching for backlinks, asides from the links I get from doing content marketing, i.e. creating videos, occasional guest posts, slide presentations, hosting infographics etc. At the moment I’m also getting backlinks naturally from nice people mentioning my posts and my blog in their articles, which is awesome.
I think I have a good balance of 60 percent search traffic and 40 percent direct and referral.
Monetisation and Engagement: Like you I’m huge on list building and I’m constantly learning and tweaking my efforts. I’m all for engaging with others, winning their trust and loyalty. I love creating product reviews and providing services on my blog, that’s my monetisation model.
I think what we need to remember is that all of this takes time, none of this happens quickly for anyone, but with hard work and consistency, these will truly skyrocket your blog as you say.
Well done Donna, wonderful work.
Have a great rest of the week.
Fabrizio Van Marciano recently posted..How I Quadrupled My Email Subscribers With These 5 Powerful Tactics (List Building Case Study)
Hi Fabrizio,
Many thanks for sharing what you are doing to increase not only your blog engagement, but also monetizing. It all works hand in hand.
Yes, I’m not a big fan of SEO..just the minimal stuff, but a big fan of social media. That’s where I get tons of juice. I have been using Facebook and getting lots of opt-ins and buyers on my FB Page.
Just when people are arguing about how they have to pay to play on Facebook, I see it as a very affordable way to do paid advertising.
Right now, it is working to my favor and I get to meet some fab peeps there as well. I love to use a re-targeting pixel there to if they don’t go through the process of purchasing. But I have built a bigger list there in just a few months. They are pretty loyal people.
Once people are on my list I work it like a crazy woman. This is why I only blog once a week. It works for me and I find that through the week, people come every day and blast the blog post out on social media…so it is a slow and steady process.
All good things take time. If bloggers will only realize that they can monetize so well if only they had patience.
Thanks again for your fab input,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: enstinemuki
March 3, 2015 at 4:20 pm #
Hey Donna,
You got the nails to the right points!
I think in blogging, you need content and then traffic. Once you are able to publish that content to keep people hungry for more from you, you’l definitely get traffic.
the first SEO factor for every blogger is what I call linkable content. When people love your content, they will link to it and that fuels your SEO.
Of course, without traffic it’s a vacuum as you put it
Once you get the content and traffic, monetizing is with a snap.
I know your webinar is a well of power info so good luck to you both on it 😉
Enstine Muki recently posted..Argument ~ Would you ever consider taking comments off your blog?
Hi Enstine,
Indeed, good content, then traffic pumps up your blog. There are so many ways to generate traffic, but you know that lol.
After which, your blog becomes well known, and it provide the social proof needed if you are going out there to market something.
As I produce more and more products, I also find that through advertising on social media and lists, I get a stronger ROI than my blog.
But that is fine. My blog is here for those who don’t know me at all. It is the KLT factor that one needs to opt into a product or service I offer.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: HelpStartMySite
March 3, 2015 at 5:02 am #
Hi Donna!
Good points, I’m glad you mentioned all of them because they really all have to work together in a system to be successful. You can have great content, but it does you no good if people aren’t reading it. You can have people reading your content, but if they aren’t engaged and you don’t have a monetization system in place, you won’t be making any money. That’s how I’ve found it to be anyway, as my earlier sites had great content but a horrible system, and didn’t make much as a result.
Here’s wishing you success for your upcoming webinar. 🙂 I actually managed to sneak into one of the VIP club videos on your YouTube channel, don’t think I was supposed to because I saw it’s no longer public haha. Guess I owe you one!
Have a great week Donna!
– James
James McAllister recently posted..How To Turn Your Blog Posts Into A Kindle eBook
Hi James,
Yes it takes all three to make things work. But that’s just the beginning … They must be done with a systematic approach in mind. Monetizing is the end game. But all the while we have to carefully construct our good content to others and make more information available to them if they choose.
Oh boy you sneaked into my YouTube channel…what a hoot! Youtube is so sketchy. Only you can manage to do something like that he he he. It was probably a Q&A which I don’t protect as much as a product.
Thanks for telling me….I am hysterical.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: moumitablogger
March 3, 2015 at 2:19 am #
Hello Donna,
Nice discussion. You have discussed here 3 justified ways to pump up a blog. Useful content always generate more traffic for a blog. So need to write useful or helping content which can bring solutions. All efforts to write great content will go in vain if it does not reach the people. So bloggers should try to generate traffic. SEO is a very effective way to generate traffic to a blog. We can also concentrate in Social Media Marketing to generate traffic.
Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful tips.
Thanks & Regards,
Moumita Ghosh
Hi Moumita,
Nice to see you here. Indeed, all efforts to write great content will go in vain if it does not reach others. I do a little SEO, but rely mostly on social media and groups to get traffic on my blog.
Never was a big fan of SEO. My blog has grown organically through time.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: CopyWarner
March 3, 2015 at 12:52 am #
Hi Donna,
Great post here.
Your points about Content, Traffic and Monetization is spot on. They all play on each other so well and are all an intricate part of really growing your blog. And you truly need the first two in order for the third on to work effectively.
I’m just now looking into various ways to monetize my blog. I’m looking to take that step and it’s exciting actually. There are a lot of avenue to take and I just want to make sure to make the right decision. But to your point, any success truly depends on engagement. And I plan to engage as much as I possibly can.
These are some excellent tips and excellent advice as usual.
Have an awesome rest of the week and I hope your webinar goes really well also.
– Andrew
Andrew M. Warner recently posted..How To Boost Blog Engagement By 1583% In 6 Months (Case Study)
Hi Andrew,
If we get the content and traffic down, we then have to monetize. There are so many ways to do so, but I always say work backwards.
First write down your ultimate goal, then all the steps you need to achieve it when marketing. But in the end, it still comes down to engagement on your list.
I think I’m writing more to my list than I ever do on my blog lol.
When marketing out there, we will get many people who don’t know us at all. They always seem to come to our blogs and see that social proof we have.
Wishing you all the best in your endeavor.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: RyanBiddulph
March 2, 2015 at 10:28 pm #
Hi Donna,
That engagement note really primes the abundance pump. By chatting, and sharing, and connecting, you build powerful bonds that expand both people’s presence in no time.
I feel my community grew through some writing practice on my part but mostly through the support of wonderful people like yourself. I see a spider web effect; each person who promotes someone else adds threads to the web, and as the threads grow around in a circle, we help each other to branch out. What a wonderful way to make an impact with your blog, by engaging, by helping and by inspiring, right?
Fab points Donna.
Thanks much for sharing!
Ryan
Ryan Biddulph recently posted..Visit the Blogging from Paradise Library on Amazon
Hi Ryan,
Indeed, that “spider effect” works so well and this is why we need to engage with our readers and reciprocate. I see blogging as a “tribe” of people – ergo the word tribe after my name. This starts that spider effect.
Then some relationships get so strong that we can rely on each other in many different ways. Someone can PM me and ask if I could do a testimonial, or help them in some way. Because we are blogging buddies….of course I will and vice versa.
It is the foundation of the KLT factor.
Thanks for stopping by and I love your new hair cut.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: virtualpioneer
March 2, 2015 at 9:55 pm #
Amazing post, thanks for diving into each step so well!
The only thing I might add is to also focus on conversion aspects as well. You can have all the traffic and programs in the world but if you can’t convert it to sales with specific design elements and funnel optimization it might as well be worthless.
If you’re at the top of your game in funnel and conversion optimization you only need a little bit of traffic to make some serious money.
If this is any indication of the pump up your blog webinar though, I’m sure it’s going to be awesome!
Hi Ben,
Thanks for adding that. Sure..we can pump up our blogs but with our sales funnel in mind! We want to give good information to others and never have our blogs scream “buy me” It is all about engagement here.
Of course there is opt ins, in this case embeded in my content. Also on my sidebar.
But what I find is that our blogs will only get a small conversion when compared to other marketing methods.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: marquitaherald
March 2, 2015 at 7:34 pm #
Wow Donna, talk about being packed with gold nuggets! I stopped by and read your post yesterday but there was so much I made a few notes and decided to visit today to review it again. Your webinar sounds great and what an awesome opportunity, especially for new bloggers. I know one area I want to pursue this year is providing content in different formats. I’m a reader pure and simple, I rarely watch video posts and there are only a couple of podcasts I listen to. But that’s just me, so I need to pay more attention to my readers different communication styles. LOTS of wonderful inspiration here!
Marquita Herald recently posted..A Very Inspiring Blogger Award
Hi Marquita,
Good to know you have received some golden nuggets. I too am a reader, but a short video…and I mean short no longer than 2 minutes will Pump up your blog in many ways because it is on Youtube also.
When I analyze my blogs with and without videos in them I see that the ones that do have a short video gets more attention and is widely spread. I always write the length of the video when I do insert one so that it will be more clickable.
Yes, people do learn from many ways. It’s nice to have a mixture on our blogs.
Glad you were inspired!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: AdrienneSmith40
March 2, 2015 at 7:12 pm #
Hey Donna,
Who better to share about this topic than you. Great stuff my friend.
I know that the new bloggers today have so much more great information out there at their fingertips but I also think that if they aren’t finding the right information then they’ll quickly become discouraged and next thing you know there is yet another abandoned blog.
I do believe that content is still king but when people usually say that the meaning behind it is that it’s the right content. Not just some blah blah blah blah blah stuff. I can’t even imagine someone having a blog and someone else is doing all the work. Gosh, they must not understand the true value of it or they just are too lazy themselves. Okay, they’re probably busy but to me they are disconnected.
You have really laid everything out for them from what they should do to ways they can do them. I agree with you of course about the conversations and if people just realized what it really takes to get people’s attention then they would be doing so much more of it.
I bet your webinar is going to be awesome. Anyone who needs to pump up their blog definitely needs to be on that one girl.
Thank you Donna for all the value you continue to provide for us all and for helping so many bloggers eager to build their blogs and business. You rock girl!
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Revealed: How My Blogging Journey Got All Screwed Up
Hi Adrienne,
You have raised a good point here of how people hire others t do their blog. If you into blogging, it has to be in your own voice and it is our home where we can engage with others. Well, you and I are on the same page with that.
I do see some blogs that I know right off the bat that it was done for them. When I see that blogger on social media or when they comment on my blog, the entire wording is different. What a bummer!
The true value of blogging is to engage and that you know well my friend. And from a marketing standpoint, it is part of the whole.
Thanks Adrienne for always being there cheering me on, I so appreciate you my friend.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: bloggignspree
March 2, 2015 at 5:11 pm #
Hi Donna,
Excellent tips for a blogger. Thanks for sharing.
Although content is thought as king, I see many blogs which have excellent content but they are not going anywhere.
When, I look at those blogs, I believe that they have no inkling of SEO. I see no interlinking of any sort and often, the posts are not following any kind of a theme of topics. They are each as if individual. Sometimes I think that a well thought out SEO is the king and the content is the queen, or they are both equally important and they rule side by side.
I am finding that my responses on social media are not as good as they used to be. Facebook is very “cheap” with showing posts and although I still post on Facebook, I am not as active there as I used to be. Google+ has also been a disappointment for me. Perhaps there are just too many promotional bloggers and marketers who are ruining it for the rest of us. I just don’t know.
One other thing I wanted to mention with respect to pumping up a blog, is consistency of publishing and also the frequency of publishing. I think they both contribute tremendously to the well being of a blog.
Take care
Dita Irvine recently posted..Monthly Blogging Scoop – February 2015
Hi Dita,
Thank you for your great input in this conversation. Part of content is SEO of course and do rule side by side indeed.
As for Facebook, It kind of how you use it. For me my FB Page is active, plus doing paid ads have been working great. My blog is part of my marketing plan, so it all ties in with advertising not only on social media, but also solo ads.
Times changed for Facebook and we have to pay to play in that area, but it is not so costly when running a business. When I pump up my blog, it is sure great for those who don’t know me, and go to my blog for some social proof.
Ahh..you mention consistency … great point. We do need to be consistent with our blogs
Thanks for visiting,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: brotherbillamis
March 2, 2015 at 4:57 pm #
Donna,
I made a step to push a button!
To understand us and our blogs like this. There are many of us who have no clue how to really make it work. That is without cluttering their blog.
This is a great service you are offering. I love it! Anyone who has a brain may want to complete their due diligence and jump all over this!
William Earl Amis, Jr. III recently posted..Nothing New Under The Sun
Hi William,
You are so kind! To make our blogs work, it has to be full of good content for others, engaging all the time, reciprocating, and most of all having an opt-in box that will explain the products/services we ourselves offer to them.
Even those who are affiliate marketers need to have at least a one minute video on their opt-ins to provide others the KLT factor.
That one always makes me shake my head…why would one have an opt in and it goes to a company or someone else? Branding is key!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: notnowmomsbusy
March 2, 2015 at 4:34 pm #
Hi Donna,
These are awesome tips…I especially like that you mentioned engage…that is so important but to this day I still see bloggers not replying to comments – Okay so I’m behind on mine 😉 but the ones I’m referring to have no engagement at all which is surprising because their blogs do so well.
I’m on several Facebook groups and it’s a tremendous boost on traffic but it keeps me very busy.
I think the problem is too many folks are focussing on the monetization part that they’re letting other areas of their blogging go by the wayside. Little do they realize that content, engaging and monetization do go hand in hand in that once you gain the trust of your audience they will buy your products. But how will they know if they don’t even thank them for at least dropping by.
I think I got the hang of “on-page” SEO and now I need to zoom in on my “off-page” SEO.
As always you’ve shared some great stuff here. Thanks for putting this together for us. I hope you’re having a great day. How’s the weather today? I’m sure you’re counting down the days for Spring!
Take care,
Cori
Corina Ramps recently posted..How To Overcome A Confidence Crisis
Hi Corina,
As a marketer, and product creator, that always takes first place in my daily routine. But my blog is part of that. I think that is where people get all mixed up.
I don’t rely on monetizing readers from my blog more than those who respond to ads I have in place. But If we are bloggers, we need to always give good content to help others. We need to engage with every person that comes to us and spends their precious time of their lives in the comment section. We acknowledge that, and reply, and then go further to reciprocate.
Our blog is our home! Now, although I am marketing most of the day, those good folks that do opt in to my products/services will always check out who I am. What better way than to go to my blog.
And they do…99% of them will always tell me they have purchased something I offered because they were impressed by the great comments and conversations here on this blog.
Plus they will jump around and read and comment sometimes to other posts I have written.
So that being said, Our blog is imperative whenever we are doing anything because it is a place where people can read about us and get that KLT factor.
As for the weather….the snow is melting and it is only 3 feet high now. I think Spring will come in July he he he.
Have a great week,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: DZthe13
March 2, 2015 at 3:19 pm #
Hi Donna,
Love your article, everything so nicely explained
is like Cheat sheet you must have on your wall
to remind you 🙂
Great tips, thank you for sharing,
Have a wonderful day!
Emi
Emi recently posted..Facebook Marketing Strategies
Hi Emi,
Good to know you enjoyed this article. He He…it is like a cheat sheet isn’t it? Just keep on blogging my friend and you will see great results.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: sylvianenuccio
March 2, 2015 at 2:07 pm #
Hi Donna,
Did your blog go live yesterday? Sunday?
Anyways, good stuff.
For sure, there is no doubt that content is the first thing we need to create and have on our blog, but it’s not the ONLY thing we need to have though.
We need to engage, we need to make sure that our fabulous content is search engine friendly, we need to make sure is well targeted, and we need to build those relationships.
As I always say, most of the people who actually comment on my blog are not my customers/clients, but they do help provide interaction on my blog and share my post on their own social media.
I’m really working on pumping up my blog and I have to log into one of your webinars one of these days, when I have more time ahead of me.
As always, another great share, Donna.
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..4 Marvelous Places Where You Can Find Writing Ideas
Hi Sylviane,
Yes, I tricked you and posted this on Sunday lol. I have a lot to do so I needed to get a bit ahead of myself this week.
As content is still important, engagement is key! We do need to make sure our content is search engine friendly and well targeted, but more than that, we are here to build relationships.
So true: I too say that most people who come to my blog are not my clients, but they sure do help to provide social proof, and sharing on social media.
It is fine that we have our own products/services on our blogs, but when we get into marketing, people tend to check us out so where do they first go? To our blogs!
That provides that KLT factor and this is why our blogs are an essential part of our business.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: donpurdum
March 2, 2015 at 1:49 pm #
Hi Donna,
Are you trying to hit every passion I have? LOL… I love this post!
As you know, I learned a long time ago that if our blogs are going to be persuasive we have to give people a reason to buy from us. If I spend all my time doing the technical stuff that drives traffic but then only talk about “me” all of the time; I’m in trouble.
Who wants to read how great I am all of the time or buy this or buy that?
It’s good now and then if you have a real point to make, but not very often.
Instead if we focus on what business we are “really” in, communicate that to our audience and then solve their specific problems one article at a time; you can create a rockstar blog!
But it’s going to take being intentional and strategic.
I love it when I’m working with a client and the light goes on!!!! Once that happens they never go back.
Fantastic post Donna!
Have a great week.
~ Don Purdum
Don Purdum recently posted..How Guest Blogging, Webinars and an eBook can Change Your Business Overnight
Hi Don,
What is so important that bloggers need to focus on is strategy. Some focus on building a lot of comments, others are always talking about themselves or their products they are affiliating.
When it comes down to it, our blogs are You.Inc. It is all about our branding and being the go to person for whatever niche you are in.
This particular post is a reminder of why we blog. But strategy is so important.
Thanks for you awesome comment,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: joyhealey
March 2, 2015 at 1:45 pm #
Hi Donna
Some great ideas there, thanks.
I just do the basics on SEO now.
On another blog I spent ages researching and looking into SEO but I recently killed off that blog – so that shows how much good it did me LOL. I was also blogging 3 times a week on the same blog and boy was it depressing all the work I was putting in for no results.
I’m in a couple of communities but had difficulty keeping up with the high volume in the best one, so I hardly go there now and stick to the one I can keep up with. I have to strike a balance between blog commenting and writing articles (both of which I really enjoy) and turning it into income LOL – which is the long term purpose!
Time is a big challenge for me so for the moment I’m concentrating on content and community and beefing up with monetization without looking too obvious. It’s a work-in-progress of course, but I’ve killed off several old blogs that were wasting my time for no results, so I think I’m headed in the right direction.
Have a great week, Joy
Joy Healey recently posted..Roundup of February 2015 Comments
Hi Joy,
I sure do think you are heading in the right direction. Most people that blog many times per week often tell me that they are not gaining traction, unless, of course it is a specific niche blog that is just there for sales purposes.
If time is not on your side, it sure is wise to stick to one blog and blog maybe once a week. I do it, and the comments roll in during the week. I answer and reciprocate.
Monetizing is what I focus on these days. When it comes to internet marketing, I do spend more time in that arena than I do with my blog.
But…my blog is important because it is “social proof” for those who do want to opt in to a product or service that I produce. They can see some good value in my blog posts, but more than that, see the comments and the wonderful conversations going on here.
I say keep your eye on the ball of monetizing and let the rest go easy. Just a thought!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Internetmylife
March 2, 2015 at 1:22 pm #
Hey Donna your tips can definitely pump up any blog. Content has always been the king and it will continue to do so. At the same time a blogger needs to give time for social media marketing as well as SEO. Learning SEO completely is not easy as one needs to always learn new things related to SEO. Donna you’re definitely pumping your blog by writing valuable blog posts regularly. Keep doing hard work in the same way and the traffic will keep on increasing.
Mohit recently posted..How to Reduce Bounce Rate of Your Blog/Website?
Hi Mohit,
It is so true..our content is king, but we need more than that… we need to be on the social sites engaging with others and in turn they will reciprocate.
I love to market, especially on social media. When I do, people who don’t know who I am will visit my blog and see that good content is provided as well as a healthy comment section whereby engagement is great.
Thanks for stopping by,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Nikshepd
March 2, 2015 at 9:39 am #
Hi Donna!
Great tips to pump it up indeed! I am also of the belief that content is king and the basic SEO needs to be in place. I think another thing which is badly needed among bloggers is patience!
The content I wrote a few months back continues to generate traffic in bursts when I don’t expect it! So keep at it and keep writing good content should be the mantra.. for me my blog is a way to share my ideas first and help me get practice as a future writer.
So I sometimes choose to ignore investing too much time in SEO and focus more on the content 🙂
You have made excellent points through n through! Have an awesome week ahead!
Cheers,
Nik
Nikshep recently posted..My Must-Read Book Collection: Spy Novels
Hi Nikshep,
There are so many ways to pump up our blogs from content to engagement to SEO concepts.
I do agree that on thing that is needed badly among bloggers is patience. It takes time to get your blog up to par. Nothing works overnight….there is no magic pill!
I don’t do much SEO as I do content and engagement.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: atishranjan
March 2, 2015 at 2:17 am #
Hello Donna,
How beautifully you have written and structured this post? Wow!
Traffic is complementary to Content!
If your content is great then traffic will be flowing but yes there is a little bit a need of social promotion to give the post initial boost up.
For long term traffic SEO is indeed required as you mentioned.
And at last which is required by everyone, Money is indeed can be earned well if you monetize your blog in a better way.
Moreover, if you look closely then they are connected.. Better content and promotion strategies can get you better traffic which in turn can get you a good amount money!
Amazing write up! Well connected straight to the point.
Really enjoyed it.
Atish Ranjan recently posted..How to Make Your Emails More Clickable?
Hi Atish,
SEO used to be the greatest thing we could do with our blogs. And yes, it is still needed, but more than that we do need good people coming to our blogs with good back links. We need to be on social networks and be very active there.
It does involve time, but it is sure worth it. Things are always changing and that is why I just had to create yet another webinar to elaborate on that.
It is great for the newbie as well as those that are lost in the shuffle. Monetizing our blogs is one way to build our business, but there are so many parts to that puzzle!
Today, we need to be just about everywhere for recognition. But when it comes to our blogs, even if someone finds us through a social site, they will always check our blog out. They will scan through to see what we know.
And more importantly, they will see the comments we receive and the activity on our blogs.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Roy_C4L
March 2, 2015 at 12:52 am #
Hi Donna,
This is my first visit to your blog and I was delighted to read this very informative post.
Love the title of the post! I often feel that even though we write quality content, it is equally important to market it in order to attract readers. Great content is only valuable when people read it. This is when SEO and social sharing comes into picture.
Organic traffic is definitely great for conversion but is difficult to achieve. I always make sure to implement basic SEO techniques and leverage social media for promotion. Great tip about Facebook and G+ groups. I have not used this extensively but will give it a try – without being spammy 🙂
Thanks for the great tips. Will come back for more. Have a great week ahead!
Hi Arpit,
Welcome to my blog! Good to know you like the title of it…It was a bit of a struggle with that one lol. Indeed, we can write the best content ever, but we need readers!
I do a bit of SEO, but rely more on organic growth. Yes, although difficult to achieve, there is a method I use to obtain it. This is why I just had to develop a webinar for it to elaborate on the different methods to pump up your blog.
As for Facebook and G+ groups…there are so many, but once you find good ones with reciprocity, I am sure your blog will gain more traffic.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: harleenas
March 1, 2015 at 11:57 pm #
Hi Donna,
Wonderful post, yet again 🙂
Loved all that you wrote, and I think it’s one of your lengthiest ones, though one couldn’t make out as the things shared were so much of value 🙂
Your three ways are so apt! Content IS king indeed, and if you have that in place and you write all that can help your readers, you are on the right path. There is no question that helpful posts are not visited, though you need to tweak your blog with the basic SEO. Just like you, I really have NO idea about the real SEO stuff and how others do it, nor have I ever bothered, nor used any tools or software for it. All that works is the basic to help put your posts in front of the search engines, as you mentioned, so that you get traffic from there too, besides your usual visitors.
Hmm…monetization is one part that I’ve never concentrated on, as I had other ways to earn (freelancing), but now with the amount of time I am spending in blogging, and the ABC (Aha!NOW Blog Community), the forums that take a lot of my time, it makes sense to try and earn a little from my blog too. So, we are just starting off with this aspect, and trying out various ways – but as they say, things take time, so we are on it now 🙂
You’re so right about engagement too, and I know you’re so good at it on your social networks. Yes, FB groups and G+ communities are great places, and forums too (as I can see that now!) – just wish I had more time to be on all of these places. I guess you take up a little in rotation and do your best. Nothing works better to build those relationships than engaging with people on the social circles, besides your own blog through the comments.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Harleena Singh recently posted..Live Your Best Life In The BEST Way
Hi Harleena,
Although content is king, engagement is queen and she rules the house as Mari Smith always says!
We need to give good value with our content, but more important than that, we need to engage with others as you do so well.
I know you must have your hands full, especially with your Aha!NOW Blog Community. That takes a heck of a lot of time. Couple that with your freelance writing and I just wonder how you do it all.
I do see that your blog can be monetized in some way and I’m sure you will achieve that. It is a pro blog and why not?
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: SusanPCooper
March 1, 2015 at 11:17 pm #
Hi Donna, great post and valuable advice on how to “Pump up your blog”. For some reason every time I read that line, in my head it’s in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. Lol.
My favorite bit of advice was “Learn to be a magnet of traffic, not a seeker of it.”. That is key. Something that is not easy to do at first, but definitely something a successful blogger needs to figure out.
Hi Susan,
Happy Anniversary! Oh I love it when someone reads a headline and gets a voice in their own head. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice is amazing lol.
Indeed, it is not easy to learn to be a magnet of traffic at first…it takes a while, as you well know to gain some traction on our blogs.
If someone is new they need to know that it takes patience. Also I have some students that have created other blogs and get impatient, so I just had to put out this friendly reminder.
Cheers!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: askdrho
March 1, 2015 at 9:20 pm #
Another great post from Donna Merrill. These are wonderful tips for a beginner and wonderful reminders for a more seasoned bloggers.
Elise Cohen Ho recently posted..Chinese New Year
Hi Elise,
Sometimes I have to go back to basics. There are a lot of new bloggers coming into the blogging world and I wanted to write a reminder of how powerful blogging is.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: usmile
March 1, 2015 at 6:49 pm #
Hi Donna,
Pumping -up your blog is an ongoing thing… information is always changing, Right? But you mention some vital ways .. and the one I appreciate the most is engaging with other people. Good’ole business practices, right? It may take a little longer (and Rome was not built over night) but I would rather take time and build meaningful relationships and have more loyalty over time too ..
Lesly Federici recently posted..ScreenCast Pro Delivers
Hi Lesly,
You are a gal after my own heart. I too like to have things grow organically. Especially when it comes to my blog.
Little by little, it grows…Yes..Rome was not built in a day. I find that good quality visitors to my blog is worth more than numbers to it.
I like to engage with each and ever person here. A blog does take time to grow!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: RenardMoreau
March 1, 2015 at 6:07 pm #
[ Smiles ] Great advice, I would say that the two most important ones would be good content and effective SEO; without them, we would not be able to attract many visitors to our blog.
Renard Moreau recently posted..Renard’s Cool Perspective On Blogging
Hi Renard,
Indeed good content and SEO are important for our blogs to be noticed. I like to meet people and have it grown organically too.
Thanks for visiting,
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Lisapatb
March 1, 2015 at 5:13 pm #
Hi Donna,
Boy just when I get back on track, life gets in the way. But I’m still plugging along with 1 arm and 10 broken ribs.
I think one has to have passion for blogging with topics that never bore you too. A blogger has to keep interested to look for ideas, research and continue generating content.
I’m glad you mentioned SEO as it still is a top driver of traffic. It is getting harder to do with all the Google changes but remains an important part of being found online today.
Thanks for sharing Donna and have a great week ahead!
Lisa Sicard recently posted..Google Plus Social Network or SEO Advantage?
Hi Lisa,
Girl, I want you to know you are still in my prayers for healing. You are some trooper coming back so soon, but I’m so glad you are back.
Indeed, one does have to have passion for blogging. We need to be excited to write something that will help others. Plus, have the love to engage with our commenters.
As I’m am not a great SEO specialist, I found that a dash of it plus good back links really push us ahead on the Google platform. We have to consistently go out to other bloggers and get new “meat” to our blogs for good back links. (I love doing that) Plus make sure before we press that publish button our SEO has a green light.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
Twitter: Virtual_Bren
March 1, 2015 at 3:45 pm #
Hi Donna!
These are awesome tips for anyone wanting to “pump up their blog”! I particularly like the part about using Facebook Groups. I wonder if G+ Communities work as well so I’ve created one to test it out. I also love the part about engaging. For me, my blogs are mostly about engaging with others on topics my sites share. I am working on amping my presence but, unfortunately, time is alway an issue. I think I always overextend myself in blogging, especially trying to keep 2 going.
I’m sure everyone could use a little “pumping up” so I going to pass this one along.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
B
Brenda Lee recently posted..A New Look May Just Be The Inspiration Needed
Hi Bren,
I can see how difficult it is with two blogs going. It sure is a lot of work, especially that you engage and that is something we all have to do. I too have to create time to engage with all my readers. Although enjoyable, it does take time.
Facebook groups are pretty good, if you find the right on with reciprocity. I’ve been in a few and now am only sticking to two of them. The others were link dropping too much.
I also am in some G+ Communities, I think I even created one myself a while ago ((oops)) but never visit.
Keep at it and your presence will be recognized. I see you on Facebook a lot and you are always fun to hang out with.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?