It’s a fact that 90% of users are lurkers, 9% of users contribute from time to time and the remaining 1% of users is the ones that participates in the action. Face the facts. As to why that 1% of readers is not commenting on your blog, well that’s another story. Chances are, there’s something wrong with the way you blog. Here are possible reasons as to why your blog isn’t receiving any comments.

Your post is not interesting.
Why would the reader comment if your post didn’t catch their attention? They might not even finish reading your post. To invite comments, make your posts interesting. You must know what your niche audience wants and write something about it.

Visitors got no time to spare.
Some visitors like reading your blog yet don’t leave comments. They would read your blog then go do other important stuff. Time is of the essence and people tend to not have enough of it. Make your blog worthy of a comment. Give a reason for people to spend a couple of their precious minutes to comment on your blog.

Readers like questions, not answers.
Your blog might be full of answers that it doesn’t need to be commented on anymore. Sometimes being a know-it-all turns off readers. Don’t give them all the answers right away. Start by asking questions. This gives the readers a chance to express themselves. They will respond by commenting on your blog. A blog post with question will elicit responses, don’t you think?

Lost in translation.
When your readers can’t comprehend what your thoughts are, chances are you won’t receive any comments. They are not mind readers. Most of the time they like to be spoon-fed. Your posts should be easily understood.

Interaction not required.
Do you know the feeling of being right at home? Some blogs have that homey feeling that makes you want to talk to the author and the other readers. Encourage them to interact with each other.

Not passionate enough.
Your blog is the extension of yourself. It will show if you really like what you write. People don’t like it when you’re not passionate about the topics you tackle. Most likely, posts like that will not generate comments.

These are some reasons as to why no one’s commenting on your blog. Is there something else you could add to the list?

Every time you’re set on starting a blog, your blogophobia starts to creep in. You need a blog to market your business, but you don’t know how to overcome your fear of blogging. It’s like a big roadblock that keeps you from moving – similar to writer’s block.

Dealing with blogophobia is not an easy task. It would take some time for it to disappear. Here are some ways on how to bulldoze your blogophobia away.

Take a few small steps.
Start off by writing for yourself. Practice and perfect your own style of writing. Then, let a few select people read your articles. This will build up your confidence. Over time, you will be comfortable enough to take on a much larger audience.

Don’t let what others might think stop you.
Get the feedback of your controlled audience. There will come a time they’ll criticize your writing. Everyone makes a mistake, but this shouldn’t stop you. See failure as something to learn from, not as a setback.

Motivate yourself.
List the reasons why a business blog could benefit you. You must realize that you “need” a blog, not just “want” one. You need to stay focused on those positive reasons and be inspired by them. When you feel discouraged or you could feel that your blogophobia is getting the better of you, just read the list you made again.

Focus on the present.
When you focus on the present, your mind would be clear, your confidence won’t be shattered and you could write much better. Don’t think about what will happen in the future or the events of the past. Don’t let your emotions or thoughts linger to the future or go back to the past. Focus on what needs to be done today. This will make you write your blog easier.

Redefine yourself.
If your blogophobia’s seed is the fact that you are an introvert, then transform your own persona. Tell yourself that you are confident enough to go out there and express yourself through your blog. Be ready and prepared to change your personality, thoughts, actions and emotions.

Think positive.
You’re only building up fear inside you when you view the world in a negative way. Embracing positivity will lessen your blogophobia.

So what are you waiting for? Start off your engine and follow these tips and, before you know it, your blogophobia is paved away.

One of the biggest reasons – if not THE biggest – business blogging is important is to improve your presence online. Have you ever really spent much thought on why this is important, though? If your business is thriving and you are making a good profit, is there really a need to go online and make your presence felt there? Why not just stick to what you have at present and make the most out of it?

Here are some reasons you should improve your business presence online.

People look to web sites as a plus point when it comes to credibility and accessibility.
With the use of the Internet being as prevalent as it is today, people see web sites as more than things to visit online. They actually attribute more credibility to businesses when they can find them online. More so, they appreciate the fact that web sites are easy to visit and provide them with the information that they need conveniently, any time that they want to.

Online shopping as an activity has greatly increased in the past years.
If your business is selling a product, or products, then you would be one to greatly benefit from the use of the Internet as a shopping medium. You should make the most out of this relatively new venue and market your company to the countless people who go online to do their shopping. Imagine the additional revenue that you could get if you could establish yourself online!

Some people involved in business or corporate blogging have long wanted some sort of standardization or organization when it came to this particular activity. Reasons vary, of course, depending on the individual or group. Earlier this month, there was some activity regarding an organization for corporate blogging. Reactions have been mixed – some welcomed it although some just didn’t seem to care.

For your information, here is some information on the newly formed Blog Council. It is up to you what to do about it. I have pasted the press release from their own site:

The Blog Council, a professional community of top global brands dedicated to promoting best practices in corporate blogging, officially launched today. Founding members include the leading companies from a diverse range of business sectors: AccuQuote, Cisco Systems, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP, and Wells Fargo.

The Blog Council exists as a forum for executives to meet one another in a private, vendor-free environment and share tactics, offer advice based on past experience, and develop standards-based best practices as a model for other corporate blogs.

“Major corporations use blogs differently while abiding by the same rules and etiquette,” said Blog Council CEO Andy Sernovitz. “Individual and small-business bloggers don’t face the same issues. For example, we still need to deliver a responsible and effective corporate message, but we need to do it in the complicated environment of the blogosphere. We have to speak for a corporation, but never sound ‘corporate.’ And we have to learn to do it live, and in real-time.”
Representing thought leaders from corporate departments as diverse as corporate communications, global communities, marketing and customer service, the Blog Council’s advocacy role functions as a collective voice in support of responsible, ethics-based corporate blogs. Other issues the Council will address include:

• How do global brands manage blogs in more than one language?
• What do you do when 2000 employees have personal blogs?
• What is the role of the corporate brand in a media landscape increasingly geared toward consumer-generated media?
• What is the correct way to engage and respond to bloggers who write about your company?

“Every major corporation is struggling with the question of how to use blogs and engage the blogosphere the right way,” said Sean O’Driscoll, General Manager, Community Support Services for Microsoft. “The Blog Council brings together precisely the people who need to explore these issues together, in a productive and private networking environment. We can work together to develop model policies that set the standard for corporate blogging excellence.”

Media is good, right? Well, not all the time – and it actually depends on how you use it. Pictures in blogs are always good – no matter what kind of blog you have. Even business blogs benefit from them aesthetically. However, if you make a practice of simply putting in a picture just because you feel like it or you feel that you have to have a picture for the sake of having one, then it does not really make sense.

Pictures should be used to complement your content. That’s it. Another thing about pictures is that you should avoid – as much as possible – linking to pictures from other web sites. This is not good practice at all. Some even liken it to stealing bandwidth if you do so. The solution? Upload your own pictures.

Another common mistake that business bloggers commit is to ignore tags altogether. Tagless posts are not totally useless, of course, but they are almost there. In fact, one could say that tagging posts – appropriately, I must say – is one of the most important aspects of blogging. You need to tag your entries so that they could be found by other people who may not otherwise know about you. You can get countless hits from sites which make use of tags – Del.icio.us, Digg, or Technorati.

If you’re still not convinced about tagging, think about it this way. Why did you start a business blog in the first place? I would bet that you wanted to establish your online presence and get the attention of as much people as you can, right? Tagging is one of the ways to do this.

Here more bad practices that you should know about and how to avoid them.

Links without meaning
How many blog entries have you read wherein the clickable words do not hold much meaning? What I am pertaining to are those links which say “click here.” True enough, these will still bring the reader to a pertinent link – if you do insert a pertinent link. However, it would be better if you placed the link in content rich words. So for example you are talking about a new product, place the link in the product name.

Domains that present limitations
Of course, a good way to go about business blogging is to use a free blogging platform – am I right? Not really. It is true that you can save money by doing so – it doesn’t cost you a thing. However, it would be better to purchase your own domain. You do have to pay for it but it doesn’t cost that much – less than $10. With your own domain, you have more control over what you can do and you won’t be limited by what free blogging platforms have to offer.

More than this, with your own domain, you can choose the most appropriate URL for your blog. This is quite important as you want your blog to be easily accessible to your readers – both existing and potential. You can choose a domain name that is easily recognizable and can be related to your business without any confusion.

(more to follow)

We all make mistakes. After all, we are merely human and making mistakes are part of it all. Yet if we knew more about possible mistakes that we can commit, then maybe – just maybe – we can avoid making them.

In the world of business blogging, there are certain things that we can do to avoid those pitfalls. Here are some of the most common mistakes in business blogging and how to avoid them.

Anonymity
The Internet may be the best place if you want to keep your identity a secret. Yet this could be one of the most disastrous things for you, your company, and your business blog. If people do not know who you are and what you stand for, you just might lose their interest and worse, may not help your credibility at all. Remember, you are not in this for an anonymous adventure, but to establish your business presence online.

Mediocre post titles
Alright, with mediocre post titles you might still make it – even if just barely. However, with bad post titles, your business blog will surely be gasping for breath after a while. Titles are crucial in attracting reader – both existing and potential. You cannot afford to stick with mediocre or bad titles if you want to reach out to the countless people out there in cyberspace. With the sheer number of blogs and other links out there, your bad title will merely fade into the background – leaving you with fewer and fewer readers.

(to be continued)

Painting the perfect headline for your blog posts requires a lot of practice. Follow these 10 surefire tips, and you’ll be churning out masterpieces in no time.

1. Give the readers a reason to click through.

The headlines should make the reader want to click it for the full article. It must be clear about the blog post’s topic, but not give away the main ideas. “Click here” has proven itself as good copy. There are also some time-tested headline formulas that have been known to get high click through rates.

2. Make the readers curious.

Stir the readers’ emotions. The headlines must generate curiosity among your target audience. It must make your readers want more.

3. Be the solution.

The headlines should address your readers’ problems. It must provide the solution and tell the readers how your products or services would benefit them. “Have acne? Here are 7 tips to get rid of it once and for all” is a perfect example.

4. Offer something they can’t refuse.

People love freebies. When your headline is something like “Free stuff inside”, it will surely draw in some traffic. People like it when they receive something for free, or if they get great deals and bonuses.

5. Promise them the moon.

Readers will notice the hype of your promise. This will make them read the article. Just be sure that you can back up your promise. People are turned off when they felt hat they were lied to.

6. Simplicity does it.

Keep it simple. Some headlines contain different topics – this makes them confusing. Stick to just one.

7. Use your power.

The power of words, that is. Words like “proven”, “free”, and “how to” grab a reader’s attention. Numbers such as “7”, “10” and “101” are also effective, such as in “10 ways to get cleaner tap water” or “Blogging 101: Everything you need to know to start blogging”.

9. Action is better than nouns.

Use verbs in your headlines. Verbs could make your headlines come to life because they evoke action and force. Use verbs such as “discover”, “turn”, and “create”.

10. Don’t forget about your target audience.

The headlines should be focused on your targeted audience. It must grab the attention of those searching for solutions that your company can offer. Also, the headlines need to speak in your target audience’s language. “10 Ways to have a kickass business plan” probably won’t entice the corporate executive, but it’ll entice college entrepreneurs. Think about this when coming up with your headline.

The holidays are upon us and inevitably, we will be swamped with many other activities – if we are not yet swamped, that is. Personally, I am quite apprehensive about the onslaught of other activities that I have to deal with and at the same time, making sure that my blogs are not neglected.

Perhaps you are experiencing the same thing as we enter the last week of pre-Christmas preparation and planning. For your business blog, you would also know that it is important not to let it stagnate over the Christmas season. Blogs have emerged for a reason – they are updated regularly and continue to offer new information no matter what.

Are we excused from doing so just because it is the Christmas season?

I think not. One thing that you could do in order to deal with this busy time is to write and post your entries ahead of time. Most blogging platforms have a time stamp feature which allows you to back date or pre date entries. I think this is the best course to take for the holidays.

Write your entries when you can – write as many as you can to cover for the next 2 weeks wherein you would be too busy to post entries. Choose the dates wherein you want those entries to be published and you can leave your blog alone for a while.

Even though you may need to check the blog for comments from time to time, you do not have to spend the same length of time searching for ideas and writing blog posts. I really do appreciate this time stamp feature!

A blog without credibility is like a nuisance presidential candidate.   No one believes a thing you say, your readers think you have a secret agenda, and you’re not likely to win.  To get the trust of your readers and gain a loyal following, you need to build credibility for your blog, as well as some personal credibility as a blogger.  This is especially important for business blogs, where your blog credibility will also reflect on your business’ credibility as a whole.  How can people buy from you if they don’t trust you?

So, without further ado, here are 12 simple tips could help establish your business blog’s credibility.

1. Aim to blog for the long run.
Credibility doesn’t come in an instant. Make a commitment to your blog and as time progresses you’ll gain the respect of your peers. A business blog’s longevity is proportional to its credibility.  If you’ve been around for a long time, people are more likely to trust your blog and your products.

2. Talk about your experiences.
Your business blog should contain content based on your experiences. When you share your experiences about your field, the audience will view you as someone with first-hand knowledge about the subject.  Your personal experiences, good or bad, will add a lot of weight to your articles – but only if they’re relevant to the topic.

3. Be an expert.
Your business blog will gain credibility when you share with your audience the things you and at the same time tell them how to apply it. Wisdom is nothing without proper application. Your readers will thank you for sharing your expertise with them.

4. First impressions last.
The first thing your readers will notice about your business blog would be its design and layout. To be credible, your business blog must look serious and professional. A subtle palette would do.  Look at other blogs or websites in your industry and see the trend in their designs.

5. Express your message clearly.
Your content must be well written. The business blog is a written communication between your company and your potential clients, so you must articulate clearly what you want to say. Keep it simple and straight to the point. You waste your readers’ time when you beat around the bush.

6. There’s strength in numbers.
The number of visitors of your business blog could be a factor to its credibility. When you enjoy a large number of readership, it shows that your readers enjoy your blog and they keep on coming back.

7. Comments do count.
Readers like it when the author responses to their comments. Personal interaction with the readers is one way to build up your credibility with the community.  they know that as readers, you take them seriously.

8. Recommendations, such as via links, would help.
A recommendation from your peers in the industry is a big boost to your business blog’s credibility. The more positive backlinks you get, the better.

9. Consistency is the best policy.
Being consistent gives your business blog credibility. You should not be affected by popular opinions. You know what you believe in. And above all, you must not contradict yourself in your blog.  At the end of the day, your readers need to have a clear idea of who you are in order to trust you.

10. Sincerity and generosity go a long way.
These two traits, sincerity and generosity, could be felt be your readers. By responding to your readers’ questions or comments, it shows that you care about them and their opinions as well. Going out of your way to correspond with them means a lot to them.

11. Be open to your readers.
People like it when you are transparent. You will endear yourself to your readers if you are honest about your intentions. Want to post affiliate links?  Let them know that you get a commission for sales, sot hat they don’t feel like you’re trying to make money off of them.  You get extra points if, when you make a mistake, you come clean about it. If it requires an apology, apologize. People will respect you for admitting you’re human.

12. Getting to know you.
Knowing the author makes the blog more credible. A short description of the author should be included in your business blog. A static “About Us” page is best.  People like it when they can put a face to a name. There must also be a private way for the readers to reach the author.  You can do this by placing a contact form on one of your pages, or displaying an email address.