I teach folks in my blogging class to take a good amount of time deciding on the area they are going to blog about.  It is much like setting a goal. You try to be as specific as possible and refer to it often to see if you are on target.

This morning I read an article about niche marketing that had a very interesting perspective. These marketing gurus felt that you should go broad then narrow when deciding on a niche. For example, if you are thinking about blogging on gardening then you would search on the word gardening with different variations. They could include “rose gardening” “winter gardening” etc.

The key point the article made was to look at the word “gardening” and start with that then go deeper. My summary “go wide then deep and decide.”

I strongly suggest using the free Google keyword tool.  When you want to do more extensive searches you can pay for a tool. But right now just go to Google and in the search box key in the words “Google keyword tool”.

The other thing it shows are the keywords “tags” you can use when you produce a blog post.If you are on a WordPress platform, there is a section on the dashboard that always allows you to key in tags. That is the same thing as keywords. The more relevant they are  to your post the better.

The cool thing about us baby boomers is that we have a broad area of interests based on our broad area of expertise and experience. That can make for some great blogging. What do you think?

If you want me to do a tutorial on using the free keyword tool with some pictures let me know.

Now, many of you reading this post already have a deep understanding of this powerful strategy. You already know that Social Bookmarking  is a great way for baby boomer bloggers to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of their web resources. But it differs from file sharing because  the resources themselves aren’t shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.

So What! Can’t You Get an Automated Service or System to do That?

Yes, you can. But when a real read blooded human being does the bookmarking he or she understands the contents of the resource. For an automated software system it is just mathematical data.  YOU can locate web pages that have not been indexed by the search engine spiders.

For us baby boomer bloggers it is also a great way to provide a list of super content for our clients, family, friends and other readers. Does that make any sense?

Ok, well I have one of those real nice and basic even I can understand it videos. I like it and hope you do too.   Please subscribe to this site because I am going to share some empowering stuff. Why? Because as I get empowered I am going to empower you! Then we can all be dynamic baby boomer bloggers the internet will know we are in the house!
NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS OLDER BUT STILL VERY GOOD. THE STATS HAVE CHANGED.

However, I want to make a couple of points before you view the movie.

• The email subscribers you have via Feedburner have subscribed to your Blog not any thing non-related to your blog posts. For example, I would not advise that you send them announcements about your trip to Kansas when your blog is on music.  You get the idea. I just don’t anyone accused of spamming. But this is my opinion and would love to hear other’s thoughts on the matter. The author of the tutorial below suggests that you can bring the names into different programs. But just be careful that you have permission to use them beyond the subscription to your blog.
• The emails can be exported from Feedburner into a CSV file and then opened in an Excel spreadsheet plus other programs.

Ok, now you can view the video and let me know what you think.

Lethia’s goal is to help hundreds of business owners and entrepreneurs shift their business into high gear and become an IRRESISTIBLE magnet for new clients and patients by teaching them the Personal Branding and Social Media Marketing strategies they need to truly turn their passion into a profit. If you are, or know someone who is ready to play bigger and make more money,

I invite you to join Lethia on this amazing tour.

So, if you can check out what this dynamic and authentic woman has to offer.

Reason 3 – Controlling and Protecting Your Business Sites

"The story we're about to tell you is true. The names were changed to
protect the innocent."
(from the TV show "Dragnet")

I wish I were kidding about that. What I'm going to tell you IS true;
I'm just glad it doesn't happen very often.

I got a call last week from a client; I worked on her website last
fall. She is an author whose book wasn't yet available at that time,
but she was doing a number of things to prepare for the book launch.
My client had a social media site created by one of her team members.
After we handled a few updates to the site I had worked on previously,
she shared with me the debacle that accompanied the release of her
book.

After weeks of work on the social media site, the site was launched. A
few weeks later, my client and her team member had a misunderstanding.
This woman did not take the situation well, and in retaliation, shut
down the site for 8 days right at the time the book arrived in stores.
My client did not have the username and password to the site because
it was hosted with other sites owned by other people, and controlled
by the team member. She had no way of replacing the site in time for
her book launch.

A third party intervened in the situation and got the site back up,
but by then the damage was done. Fortunately my client has a loyal
following, and she didn't lose much revenue, but it was emotionally
devastating. After all her diligence and hard work, losing control of
her site when she needed it most was a situation she resolved to never
allow again.

In the "I Can Fix My Website" product, one of the first things we talk
about is the importance of having the domain registered in your name,
with your contact information, and for you to have control of the
domain account's username and password. The same is true of the
hosting account; it needs to be YOUR credit card and contact
information on file so that you can change it if (God forbid) your web
designer turns on you. (Some of my students have told me that I become
somewhat animated when discussing this, but it is for good reason.)

In the Action Guide that accompanies the product, I have space for you
to write down your usernames and passwords for all of your domain
registrations and web hosting accounts. You can also note whether your
domains are privately registered (where your personal details are
omitted so that you're less of a target for spammers) and which email
address you used with the registration. I have had to help reclaim
domain registrations for some clients because the domain renewal email
went to an account that no longer existed.

I understand the importance of keeping good records for your domain
registrations so that you don't lose them! With these simple
precautions (and some other advice I have for you), there's no reason
why you can't take control of your sites and protect your valuable
online business assets.

I want to see YOU confidently switching to the Code view in your web
editor and saying "Bring it on! I know how to use HTML...!" I look
forward to working with you on these and other important items during
our coaching sessions together in the "I Can Fix My Website" program.

Tomorrow: Reason 2 - Saving Time on Quick and Easy Updates to Your
Sites

Toolie®

Reason 8: Branding, Creativity, and Freedom to Fly

I get asked a lot about how I can possibly make a living teaching
website and blog skills when there are so many free website templates
and site-builders out there already. My answer is simple: people come
to me when they’re tired of bumping into the limitations that both
website templates and site-builders have. They’re ready to make their
sites work for them, instead of the other way around.

I remember when I learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle. My Dad bought
a bike with smaller wheels, and put training wheels on it. (This was
before we knew we should wear helmets, but thankfully all I ever got
were skinned knees.) I rode up and down the sidewalk, back and forth,
back and forth. After a while I thought I was ready to have the
training wheels taken off. Dad ran alongside me and steadied me while
I got that wobbly front wheel under control. After a few sideways
landings (thank goodness for lawns!) I took off and pedaled as fast as
I could until Dad called me back. It was incredible! I felt like I was
flying.

Pretty soon I was doing circles and figure-eights in the street, going
fast, going slow, even racing with the other kids in the neighborhood.
It’s a good thing I liked riding my bike because I rode it to piano
lessons, to my first job at the grocery store, and even to driver’s
education classes during the summer after my sophomore year in high
school. I rode it to go shopping as a teenager, and many years later,
I rode it for recreation and fitness. (McAlister and I even rode bikes
on our first few dates.)

The point is, once I got the hang of riding with training wheels, I
insisted on having them taken off so I could ride my bike without
them. I wanted to feel grown up and free. As silly as the comparison
may seem, being able to maneuver your own websites and blogs gives you
that same sense of freedom and control. And the people who come to me
are usually the ones who want a sense of empowerment, freedom, and
control. They understand the importance of standing out, of being
unique among the millions of websites already online.

There’s another really, really important aspect to consider about your
sites, and that is your brand. Usually by the time entrepreneurs,
virtual assistants, and small business owners come to work with me,
they’ve got a logo and color scheme that they want applied to their
sites. That’s the difference between having a site that looks like the
other 662 sites using your website template, and having a site that is
truly unique and reflects your brand choices. Plus with a site you’ve
built or had built, you have the flexibility to do creative things
with it, such as audio, video, and other interactive features.

A site with a good design gives you so many opportunities to attract
visitors by continually expanding and enhancing it with good content.
In my website/blog training program, we’ll talk about both design and
content to produce sites that really work for your business.
Tomorrow: Reason 7 – Behind-the-Scenes Knowledge to Really Enhance
Your Site

Well, I am struggling with this same issue. I have some ideas , have the software but still fine tuning the types of sites I will create. It is also a bit scary but so was blogging.

So, if you are struggling with the type of membership site you want to create check out this video.

Actually my research led me to several sites.  But I found one that seemed to be much clearer than mud. This baby boomer actually understood it! Ha!

Anyway, for all of you that have placed Google Analytics on your site please read this excellent article explaining the difference in the statistical reports. The site is designed for beginners and those with one step into the intermediate range.  Here is a short description about the author who seems to know what he is talking about. Well, he sure knows more than me.

Edward Lansink has been active in web marketing and web analytics since 2005, working with an international software development company and providing consultancy services to a few online retailers who have grown to understand the increasing importance of optimization of their websites and marketing spend.

So thank you so much Mr. Lansink for your excellent explanation about Google Analytics vs AWstats. Now, I understand. You made this baby boomer happy.

So, I decided to share some information that I am learning in my own research.  That’s right I am thinking about selling one of my blogs in the future. Yet, the posts below are helpful.

Think about preparing your house for sale. It is not an overnight job.  This is also true about your blog sale.  We need to assess it, prepare it and learn about the sales process. But an interesting thing happens when you about to sell your house. You clean it up and fix it up! Sometimes when you are finished you decide to stay? Well, I suspect when I get ready to sell one of my blogs, it will get cleaned up and fine tuned.

I have also included a book that is sold on Amazon about flipping your blog for cash. The title sounds a bit crude but you get the point.

Now one important note.  If you are on a hosted blog platform like Blogger, Live Journal, Yahoo 360 or WordPress.com YOU CANNOT SELL YOUR SITE. You need to transfer it and self-host it. After all how can we sell that we do not own? Yet, I train folks on the hosted sites to get their feet wet in blogging. But I encourage them to plan to self host those sites in the future.

Here are a few articles to get you thinking. I would love to hear from anyone who has sold their blogs.

Lorelle shares powerful insights on the things can make a blog sell. Why not start working on these things now?

Matthew Henrickson gets into some important details about preparing your blog behind the scenes to sell to your future buyer

Remarkablogger shares some basic guidelines in a short video. Be sure to read the comments also.

Here is the only book I found, so far, on Amazon about selling blogs. I am sure there are others. I have not read this one yet so I cannot give you a review.