As someone passionate about blogging, I believe everyone should have one. But, let's break it down. For marketers, PR professionals, writers, and anyone looking to share ideas or promote products/services, blogging is a no-brainer. It's easier, cheaper, and more convenient than traditional methods.
However, blogging's benefits extend far beyond these groups. Anyone with experiences to share, stories to tell, or a desire to document their thoughts can benefit from blogging.
I once suggested to a diplomat that they start a blog. In today's digital age, it's surprising that more diplomats don't have blogs. After all, even presidents (like those of Iran and the USA) have blogs.
In an era where digital communication is key, I'd argue that blogs are essential for diplomats and foreign department officials. Anyone listening?
In conclusion, if you can't have a blog, you should at least have a printing press. The point is, sharing your ideas and perspectives with the world is crucial – and blogging is one of the most effective ways to do so.
Labels: Blogging, Blogs, Fine Art of Blogging
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, March 03, 2025,
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Why blog?
Sunday, 25 August 2024
Why do you blog? I asked bloggers this question. First, I posted the question on my own blog Light Within and then emailed the post to bloggers soliciting their comments on the post. Earlier, I have been scouting blogsphere in an effort to find out different motives for blogging.
Some 20 bloggers posted their comments and almost same numbers replied through email, pointing to posts on their own blogs answering my question.Here is a kaleidoscope of opinions from bloggers that I was able to contact and read their posts.
Labels: Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Fine Art of Blogging
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, August 25, 2024,
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Promotion, Branding (including Personal Branding), and Creating Buzz Online through Blogs, X, Facebook
Executive Summary
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, establishing a strong online presence is crucial for businesses and individuals alike. This proposal outlines a comprehensive plan to leverage blogging, X (Twitter), and Facebook to enhance your online visibility, engage with your target audience, and drive business results.
Introduction
The rise of social media has revolutionized the way businesses connect with their customers. Blogs, X, and Facebook have become indispensable tools for corporate communications, marketing, and customer engagement. By harnessing the power of these platforms, we can strengthen relationships with key target groups, position your organization as an industry thought leader, and create a buzz online.
Understanding Blogs
A blog is a dynamic online platform that reflects the interests, thoughts, and opinions of its author. In a business context, blogs offer a unique opportunity for organizations to share their expertise, showcase their personality, and engage with their audience in a meaningful way. By definition, business blogs are published by or with the support of an organization to achieve specific goals.
Benefits of Blogging
- Strengthen relationships with target groups
- Position your organization as an industry expert
- Drive visitors to your website and attract new customers
- Engage with existing customers and encourage loyalty
- Cost-effective marketing tool
X (Twitter)
X is a micro-blogging platform that allows for instant messaging and real-time engagement. With millions of users, X offers a vast opportunity for businesses to connect with their audience, build their brand, and drive sales.
Facebook
Facebook has become a powerful tool for businesses and individuals to increase their online visibility and reach a wider audience. By integrating your blog with your Facebook page, we can amplify your online presence and engage with your audience in a more meaningful way.
Who Should Blog for You?
Ideally, frontline people who know your business inside out should blog about it. Alternatively, marketing professionals or hired writers can also create content under your company's name or their own.
Goals and Objectives
Our aim is to support your business objectives by:
- Informing and educating customers
- Encouraging dialogue with current and potential customers
- Conveying your company's personality and culture
- Gathering feedback from readers and customers
Proposal
We suggest the following:
- Set up a dedicated blog for your establishment, product, service, idea, or individual
- Generate relevant content and post it on the blog
- Write blog posts (editorialized advertisements) on existing blogs to strengthen keywords in search engines
- Support the blog with active Facebook and X accounts created specifically for your company
By implementing this proposal, we can help you establish a strong online presence, engage with your target audience, and drive business results.
Labels: Blogging, Blogs, Facebook, Fine Art of Blogging, Marketing, Social Media, X
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, June 20, 2024,
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Blogging is no more a new phenomenon in Pakistan. Many Pakistani online users are writing their own and rest are reading others' blogs and interacting in meaningful ways. Their voice is being heard in the blogsphere. Getting paid for blogging is still a new idea in Pakistan though.
There are reasons for this. Ironically, corporate Pakistan is yet not aware of blogs as economical, effective and interactive marketing tool. Like anywhere else, blogs can be a welcome mat for local businesses to reach out across the world but this has not started happening yet. Which is why Pakistan blogsphere can be characterized by only anti-establishment, noncommercial write-ups and rants, mostly. Exceptions aside, Pakistan blogs are mainly personal where bloggers post purely because of their own interests.
One wonder why local businesses have failed to notice the growing readership and influence of these Internet postings and the buzz corporate blogging can create particularly as a process of Search Engine Marketing or targeting online segment of consumers. But this is not about how Pakistani businesses can harness the power of blogs to reach out. This is about the options available to Pakistan bloggers to get paid for their work online.
Payments by most online advertising programs and affiliates are made through Paypal - widely used online money transfer service. Sadly, Paypal is not available in Pakistan so far. This alone puts Pakistan bloggers at a great disadvantage because without Paypal account they cannot join most of the programs.
That said, Pakistan bloggers are exceptionally good (and I am not being ethnocentric here). They have acumen for corporate writing. Their language and blogging skills and networking capabilities can be compared with any bloggers' community in the world. Internet coverage and users ' base is constantly growing. Even trend to shop online is taking off. Given chance, all this can indirectly help in efforts to make making through blogging.
Despite the odds, some of the savvy Pakistan bloggers are already using different methods to make money from blogs; Google AdSense advertising program being the first choice. Google pays through check and is liberal in taking small blogs in their program. Only recently, Google has started paying in Pakistan through Western Union and now bloggers here don't have to wait for 40 long days to get their checks cleared through normal banking channels or pay them $ 12 for every transaction.
Google's AdSense program, which started in 2003, pays Web publishers including bloggers based on how many times advertisements on their sites receive clicks. Google places the ads on participating Web sites using contextual word matching, in an attempt to ensure that the advertisements relate to the content on the page. Users' friendly AdSense also offers the opportunity to monetize site searches while providing a powerful and fast search engine for blogs sites. Google places relevant ads along with search results pages. Clicks on these ads also earn the site owner revenue. Earnings are not big mainly because there are not many local ads in Google's AdWord inventory. "Things are changing," says Badar Khushnud, Google country representative, "as Pakistan businesses have started using AdWord program."
AdBrite and Bidvertiser - both click based advertising programs that make payments through checks - closely follow AdSense.
Bloggers can also make money through "affiliate networks," which, in contrast to Google's automated system, allow blog writers to choose which advertisements to put on their pages. They also can be paid based on how often ads on their sites lead to sales rather than how often the ads receive clicks. I have experience with Text Link Ads (they pay through check) and it is fun working with them. They sell space off my blogs and I have control over what appears on my multiple blogs.
Then, businesses and organizations from all over the world offer to pay bloggers for mentioning them, their products and or services in blogs in order to create an online buzz, get more traffic and better page rank. Many online services like Pay Per Post, Sponsored Review, Loud Launch - paypal required - and Reviewme to name just a few, have come up. These services manage growing demands by advertisers and arrange supply through interested bloggers. Few months ago, I had signed up for Reviewme because they also pay through check. Reviewme offers products or services for review. I write about whatever I like and they pay me fifty percent of what they charge the advertisers. This arrangement works fine for me.
I have tried with merchandising through my blogs as well. Attempt to sell my own books (and the one I had translated) was a good experience. While I did not have a lot of success with merchandising - I am sure other bloggers can see this as an opportunity to make some money from blogs by selling products. That is not all. Bloggers can sell branded products whatever way their entrepreneurial heart desires using CafePress by creating and adding online store's link to blogs and CafePress will do the rest. There are so many more ways to earn money by blogging for those who are interested in earning using blogs. Driven by demand, more advertising programs, affiliates and sponsors and others are coming up every day. Bloggers can experiment with different programs that suit them and can create diverse stream of earnings.
A word of caution; earning through blogging does require persistent postings of quality contents and blog promotion. Best is to keep blogging for joy and monetize blogs on the side; keeping money making expectations realistic. It is a long and slow process. Only "17 percent of most popular bloggers in NYC earn more than thousand dollars a month. That leaves a whooping 83 percent earning less," revealed a NYC Blogger Summit Survey earlier this year. But again these figures are relative.
Blogging is a creative activity and fun. Most bloggers enjoy blogging. That is why they are blogging in the first place. Now let's think about getting paid for blogging.
Some of the sources that pay through check and I have experienced are Google, Link Worth, Earn $$ with WidgetBucks and ReviewMe.
Labels: Blogging, Corporate Blogging, Making Money Online
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, May 06, 2024,
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Promotion, Branding (including Personal Branding), SEO and Creating Buzz Online through Blogs, Twitter, Facebook
Introduction
A strong online presence is important for businesses and even individuals in today's high-speed and competitive world. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook have already become a new buzz in marketing and a welcome mate for corporate sector. Businesses are taking advantages to reach out to uses in fast growing users’ base.
Read more »Labels: Blogging, Fine Art of Blogging, Marketing, Social Media
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, May 05, 2024,
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