This is the Wikipedia definition: Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.

I recommend that you read lots of people’s blogs to learn what blogs are. Go to your favorite search engine and type in the word ‘blog’ and the subject you’re interested in. For example, ‘web design blog’, or ‘blog music’ , or ‘sports blog’. You’ll find lots of blogs that way.

Blogs have become a way in which regular, non-technical people can post information to the Web as easily as they can access it.

Why are blogs so important?

Well, they’re not that important, yet. But they could be soon, and most likely will be. In fact, some would argue that they are already vital in today’s Web business world. I am not ready to agree to that yet, but it is becoming more obvious to me over time that blogs can no longer be ignored in business.

Online businesses can benefit from blogging by taking advantage of a vehicle for easily posting new, original, and business-related content on a regular basis.

Here are some more business benefits of blogging:

• Blogs help to position you and/or your company as experts and leaders in your industry.

• They’re interactive in nature. At the end of each blog entry is usually a link that allows anyone to add their own comments to your blog entries. This allows your customers and potential customers to make comments about your products or services or ask you questions to help them in their buying process.

• Blogs are marketed easily and quickly by their RSS feeds

• Blogs allow you to stress your choice of products, services, relevant news stories, quotes, pictures and more with your audience, customers and potential customers.

• People are generous with adding links to your blog if the content is good, especially within their own blogs. More links means more traffic and better search engine rankings.

Here are some ways in which you can make revenue from your blog:

1. Selling advertisements. Whether you use banners or text links, if your site draws a regular audience interested in your blog topics or theme, try to offer ad space to organizations that are looking to market to your audience. In fact, if your blogs becomes really popular then advertisers will call you. 2. Offering Google’s AdSense. Google’s website explains, “Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website’s content pages and earn money.” learn more about AdSense. 3. Affiliate Programs. Affiliate programs allow Web sites who provide links to your site to receive payments or reciprocal advertising in exchange for promoting your Web site. In the case of blogging, this is reversed, where you post links within your blog, and collect money from the owners of those links when they result in a click-through and sale.

Here are some websites where you can get your blog listed in:

• BlogWise – http://www.blogwise.com • Blog Search Engine – http://www.blogsearchengine.com • Blog Hub – http://www.bloghub.com • Blog Daisey – http://www.blogdaisey.com • Get Blogs – http://www.getblogs.com • Is Blogs – http://www.lsblogs.com

How to blog for business:

First you need to get blogging software. You can choose to create a blog that is housed on another site such as http://www.blogger.com (which is a blog service) or you can host it on your own Web server. I recommend the latter since the links that are developed by others pointing to your blog won’t be counted in the search engines. This is because the links are attributed to domains, so a link to http://MyNewBlog.blogger.com gives a link credit to blogger.com and not your domain.

If your blog is a business blog, you really ought to host your own blog as opposed to using a blog service. You’ll need the extra functionality and control.

If you plan on hosting your own blog and if you plan to use a UNIX Web server platform then you need to go with blogging software such as Movable Type, for example. If you have a Microsoft Web server platform for your site then you’ll need software such as BetaParticle blog. Here is a great list of various blog software: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.html

Next you’ll need a database to hook your blog up to. The database is what stores the blog entries, among other things. If you don’t know if you have a database on or connected to your website server, or if you don’t know how to hook up your blog to your database, contact your host company or Web server administrator for help.

Once you have the blog set up on your domain (for example http://www.MyWebsite.com/blog) and you’ve hooked it up to a live database, you can start blogging. Generally, each entry is also a day. So you can write a new entry every day, or whenever you want, and that entry will show up on the blog at the top, moving older entries below.

You ought to think of a theme for your blog. In other words, your blog could be about your personal experiences in the industry you’re in. It could be about your company’s product reviews, or new services. It could be about your thoughts and opinions about issues related to your industry. It could be a place where you regularly find and list new resources to help others in your industry. The list is endless. But be sure to stick to a theme and be original. You want to offer something of value to your website visitors.

Sticking to theme helps you position yourself for future advertisers and also makes for better reading for your visitors. Furthermore, you want to give a good impression with your blog and with each and every entry if you want it to augment your online business. Finally, sticking to a theme helps with the search engines since it’s believed that engines determine website themes and use this information for ranking.

Of course your blog could be about personal things too. Many blogs are just that, an online journal. But since we’re interested in Web business here, I am discussing business blogs only.

What’s great is that blogs get indexed easily and quickly by search engines. Each entry is another “page” that can be potentially listed in Google for example, which will drive more traffic to your site.

Another neat thing about running a blog once it’s set up is that you do not need to be technical at all to make regular entries. This is helpful if you want to delegate the writing to someone else, since technical skills won’t be a prerequisite. This allows you to have the most qualified person regarding the blog’s theme and hopefully the best writer actually making the entries.

Be creative. Add images to your blog entries to spice things up a bit. Although blogging can be lonely, keep at it. Sometimes it seems like you’re just writing new entries each day for yourself only. It may be a while before someone chooses to add a comment to one of your entries. You may not hear from anyone for a long time. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t reading it. In fact, check your website statistics to see just how many people are visiting your new blog. As you add more entries, get your blog listed on other sites and market your blog. It will build, and eventually you’ll have a nice following of engaged readers.

Most importantly, be sure to pepper your entries with calls to action. For example, if your business blog is attached to your travel website and the blog’s theme is traveling and finding great travel deals all over the world, make sure you add a link to an entry that points people to a travel special you’re running on your website. What would be even better is a blog entry about the fantastic vacation you took to Hawaii and i
ncluded at the end was a link to cheap Hawaii vacation deals on your website.

Copyright Jason OConnor 2006

Decide how much you want to spend and when you want to travel, Intra Globe travel Services will overlay the lowest fares pulled from different airlines. Don’t get stuck on the name. This is a great resource for learning about traveling and tourism. Select your two endpoints (say India and Europe) and learn who can get you from one to the other on a direct flight, hotel and packages booking only shows you who flies where; within your budget. Search hotels by ratings in your city of choice, and the site turns up an impressive mix of reduced rates on rooms at luxury properties.

Not only the information about hotels and airlines but hotel and packages booking will explain about an obsessive community of feisty people around the world share secret finds. The site features international locations and most beautiful places with images, videos of local culinary customs, how to travel within the city, and blogs such as the newly launched Tasting Notes. Plan a trip to one of more than 90 destinations from start to finish. Along with all the basics (hotel, restaurant, and entertainment ideas), get tips on what to read before you go. Decide on your transport of choice, as well as how far you’re willing to walk, and get point-to-point directions for all cities on our website.

Our services will help you to get information about different packages offered by travel agents, if you are a individual traveler then also you can check for hotel packages, discounts in hotels, budget travel packages. All information about your tours. And we are providing facility to compare different packages to book online.

Intra Globe Travel Services is a smart travel company providing information, pricing, availability and booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5000 large cities and small rural areas around the globe. As an online travel company, hotelandpackagesbooking.com acts as a complete tour planner for travelers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.

Hey, it’s no secret that times are tough.  Nothing seems secure regarding the money and employment situation in the USA.  But most people have that irresistible urge to get away from it all at least once a year for a chance to relax and explore new horizons.  And one unique gift baskets website has an idea that will help anybody accomplish this – and at a bargain rate.

AGiftBasketParadise.com has a solution that not only could accomplish the goal of getting a discounted 3 day / 2 night stay at an AAA rated or above hotel. This website could also accomplish your mission of finding a gift that could perfectly suit somebody special in your life.

There are so many themes to the various unique gift baskets offered here.  So there’s got to be at least one that is bound to meet anyone’s needs.  Therefore, it would be a cinch to find the right one to purchase before being sent for free the cheap travel hotels certificate for the economy-minded.

But are there restrictions on this valuable reward?

Yes.  You must be 21 years of age or older.  Reservations must be made 60 days in advance.  Dates near conventions and major holidays are usually blacked out and unavailable for this special offer.  Holidays, weekends, and travel within 60 days require a surcharge.

Check-in days are Monday through Wednesday.  This offer is not valid for conventions or group travel and may not be used back-to-back.  Only 1 certificate may be used per family, per city in any 12 month period.

And what is the cost of this opportunity?  Well, you send in your cheap travel hotels certificate after checking off your travel choice and filling in your address with a $15 processing fee.  You will receive back a reservation form for the city of your choice.

For instance, if you select Las Vegas, you will receive a reservation form for Las Vegas.  You simply fill out the reservation form with your dates and mail it to the travel provider’s reservation office.  If you follow the simple terms and conditions and select dates 60 days in advance and not the week of a holiday, you will be confirmed.

Room taxes are also to be paid by you.  This will run between $7 to $12 per night depending on the city you choose.  Two nights would then cost you between $14 to $24 total.  So the 3 day / 2 night cheap travel hotels deal would be the $15 processing fee plus room taxes – or $39 maximum.  Transportation and meals, of course, are not included.

So why do hotels offer these huge discounts?  It’s all about promotion!  If you enjoy your visit, it is most likely that you will return.

And there’s more good news.  No timeshare or sales presentations are required.

Your opportunity to get both a cheap travel hotels certificate and unique gift baskets is at your disposal.  Make yourself and the lucky recipient of your gift giving both be made most happy today – because this offer will only be for a limited time!

Just go to AGiftBasketParadise.com and click on the red “FAQ” down a few paragraphs on this page to see all 20 destinations and the complete guidelines of this opportunity.  Maybe I’ll even see you in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Myrtle Beach, Cancun, Orlando … or any of the other 15 destinations.  Ya never know!