Google Docs - An Essential Blogging Tool?

In managing my blog one of the tools I rely on is Google Docs. In this article I provide an introduction to Google Docs and explain its advantages to those running an blog.

What is Google Docs?

Google Docs is best summarized as a completely web-based, simplified, free version of Microsoft Office. It provides basic functionality such as word-processing, spreadsheets and presentations. The fact that it is an online service gives it a number of advantages, but there are also one or two disadvantages you need to be aware of.

Web-based service

The fact that Google Docs is an online service has a great advantage, you can work on a document from anywhere you have Internet access and a browser. This is more convenient than it sounds. For example, I have several computers and, using OpenOffice, I might create a Word-compatible document on, say, my desktop computer. If I am then on the road I don't have access to that document from my laptop as the document might still be on my desktop computer's hard-drive.

There are ways to transfer between computers, and one technique I used in the past was to email the document to Hotmail. This ensured that I could access the document from any of my computers and it was backed-up by Microsoft. This wasn't convenient though as I ended up having several versions of the document on different computers and keeping track of the current version proved difficult. Google Docs solves this problem as all the documents you create are hosted by Google. You can access your documents from any computer that has a browser and Internet access.

Summary

I would say I am addicted to Google Docs and find it to be an essential part of running my blog - it is one of the main reasons I use Blogger. It is convenient, easy to use and being able to store your documents (and publish them) on the web is a huge advantage. I no longer have to transfer documents between computers or worry about issues such as versioning. It is very easy to be able to export the documents to a local file, such as a PDF. So far, I have found Google Docs to be invaluable.

Google Docs can be found at http://docs.google.com

Tony Bedford first started blogging in March 2000. Tony currently maintains a free guide to more profitable blogging at http://the-business-of-blogging.blogspot.com

What NOT To Do Using Pay Per Click Campaigns

I see a lot of experts recommending that new online entrepreneurs use pay-per-click programs as a traffic building source to generate profits for their new online businesses. Unfortunately, what they fail to mention is the potential costs involved. Many new online business owners underestimate the potential traffic if they are new to pay-per-click programs and wind up paying much more money than they had planned on. This is particularly true if they are unfamiliar with PPC.

Others who are new to the program choose a very general search term in order to maximize the number of clicks. They mistakenly think that more clicks will automatically mean more money. Unfortunately, this is not true. In order to make money using PPC programs, you need TARGETED clicks. You have to use a very narrow focus to concentrate on people who are likely to need the products that you are offering.

If you focus on the word "ebooks" in your campaign, you will get tons of clicks from people who are looking for free ebooks, but you probably won't get many buyers for your "ebook maker" product. This campaign will be doomed to failure. But unfortunately, many new entrepreneurs hear about the PPC hype and jump right in without doing the necessary research.

So, if you are new to the Internet marketing business. Do your research before committing yourself to any type of program. Make sure that you can afford the 'worst case scenario.' If you are using PPC programs, narrow your focus. Be aware that a higher number of clicks does not necessarily mean a higher amount of profit, but it WILL mean a higher cost. And sometimes it means a much higher cost. So do your research. Your online business doesn't have to begin making profits in 2 minutes; it's okay if it takes a little longer.

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Branding Yourself Will Bring You Greater Success

Wouldn't it be amazing if there was a way to successfully brand yourself without selling products and or services.Now most new internet marketers starting out their businesses just want to make a quick buck so they do not brand themselves correctly.

But smart folks like you and I know that if you try to brand yourself just by selling products and services if your customers don't like what you are offering, it is a lot harder to get your business off the ground.

If you brand yourself correctly and are known as a provider of good information you will have far greater success in selling your products thus improving your income.One of the most commonly used ways to brand yourself is to tell real life stories, show your audience that you relate to them.But beware once you have branded yourself and you are known and trusted by the public don't stop providing information to others.

Build up your business by branding yourself and providing relevant and popular information.How to position yourself as the obvious expert branding yourself as the obvious expert is the only way to dominate a niche in the marketplace.Now let's look at this for a second, why would people brand themselves when they could just brand the product and makes sales.

The people who brand themselves are in a completely different mindset.When you brand yourself, people trust you, they see you as the expert people are much more willing to listen to you and most importantly buy from you.If you just brand a product a person will buy the product and probably not even know who you are.

By branding yourself as an expert on your topic, you can easily increase your traffic to your site, as well as sales. Marketing and branding works for products and companies.

The point is this. Branding yourself is all about self-expression.The notion of branding yourself is not new. Your idea of branding yourself is a dynamic strategy everyone should use if they plan on being a big success.What prevents you from over branding yourself is the ability to express a quick summary or movie preview in a concise and articulate way. Particularly in any sales-driven industry, branding yourself is as integral to the success of your business as the company logo.

How to Get Number 1 Rankings on Google, Yahoo and MSN Using Video Hosting Sites

Proper tagging elements include coming up with a TITLE for the Video, a DESCRIPTION, and TAGS or KEYWORDS. Let me say a little about each area.

The TITLE tag is the #1 most important tag. It's the one the search engines will display in the search results. If someone searches for "free home based business dvd" in a search engine, and you are offering a free home based business dvd, you want your website to come up, as well as your video. So tag your Title well, with up to 3 phrase or keywords you are hoping to be found by. As a marketer, you can find out what are the most popular keywords by simply looking at Google's Trends website. Search for Google trends and they tell you what is hot right now in search.

The DESCRIPTION tag is the #2 most important tag. I always recommend, if you are plugging a website or are marketing something, put the URL as the first thing people see in the description slot, follow by a logical telling of what the video is about, being mindful of good keywords and phrasing. Make sure the URL begins with http:// in the front, as some movie hosting sites will turn it into an active an hyperlink, while sometimes they won't. I dunno why they work sometimes, and then not work others.

The TAGS are simply the keywords and phrases to plug your video with. Don't be stingy with your tagging. Get em all in there so you might be found, but try to be a relevant to the video and do not tag spam!

Finally - Make sure all your login and pw info is stored correctly in Tubemogul so that your videos will post correctly to the video hosting sites, and then push the button that makes this machine come alive and within hours, you'll see your videos posted in their appropriate places in your accounts. I love using tools which can easily automated task one used to have to do by themselves.

Do a quick Google search, using the title of your video and see how fast Google has indexed that video. When I did this last time, within 24 hours, I had the top 3 listings for the keywords I wanted to be found and listed with.

So, making a video or using audio and pictures to make a video is really simple. Once you have your video made, upload it to Tubemogul, tag it and post it and within hours your videos will be all over the search engines bringing you free leads and traffic daily.