Over the last couple days I have seen numerous blog articles show up in my reader that read like those below.

• Nobody Blogs Anymore — They’re All Microblogging
• Blogging Is Dead Just Like the Web Is Dead
• Is Blogging on the Wane?

So is it true? Is Blogging really dead?

Well lets start with the point that each of these titles come from (gasp) a blog. Makes you wonder now.

The Huffington Post (a blog) just sold this month to AOL for $300 million dollars.

Wondering if AOL is that dumb to spend that amount of money for something that is dead?

No I think the death of blogging is vastly over reported.

The better questions would be is blogging changing? The answer to that would be a definite yes. Are they going away? Not in the foreseeable future.

More people are using micro blogging and various social media. I do. But I still blog too.

They supplement each other.

Will blogs move more to different types of content?

Absolutely. You are seeing it with more video content, podcasts, etc.

So from my point despite the massive reporting blogs are not dead. What is yours? Leave your comment below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogging dead, podcast, video content

5 Ways To Increase Your Blog Traffic [ 3:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Copyright 2010 – Mike Paetzold – All rights reserved

Here are 5 things you can do to increase your blog traffic.

The first and one of the easiest is to make sure your blog is set up properly. Using a plug in that allows custom title tags like All In One SEO can make a huge difference in how the search engines rank your content. Having a quality ping list that gets pinged each time you post is another easy item to setup.

Both of these are one time efforts that will continue to pay off for you in the long run.

The second way to increase your blog traffic is by commenting on other related blogs. It is important to actually be taking part in the conversations there.

It is even better if the blogs you are commenting on are do follow and use the Comment Luv plugin that will allow you to create backlinks to your internal pages.

This takes some time and effort but will ultimately allow you to get more visitors.

The third way to increase your blog traffic is through submitting articles. If you are blogging regularly you are already creating content. It is easy to adapt this content into article content that you can use for article marketing.

Another way to generate backlinks to your blog which will help you to get higher rankings in the search engine leading to more traffic.

The fourth way to increase your blog traffic is to add a podcast of your content. It is easy to do with WordPress. Just add a podcasting plugin like Podpress and read your blog posts.

With free software like Audacity you only need a microphone and your computer to create the necessary mp3.

Submit your podcast feed to the various directories, particularly Itunes and you get access to another audience for your blog content and back links to your blog.

The fifth way to increase your blog traffic is to use your content to create videos. It is easy to do. Create a power point of your blog post and read it.

You can use Camtasia or even one of the free video software products available makes it easy. Submit your video through Tube Mogul and you can easily create more ways for people to find your blog.

These are just 5 ways to get more blog traffic and there are many more. Keep up to date with this blog and find even more covered here regularly. Check out Sunday Night Cash Plan and get step by step help on exactly how I do this regularly.

Here is the video from this post.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: article content, article marketing, audacity, back-links, blogs, podcast, power point, search engines, title tags, traffic

There are a variety of ways to promote your blog. Are you promoting yours?

All too often the answer is no.

You can have the greatest content but if you are not promoting and getting the word out you will not get the traffic and readership you are looking for.

Most of us bloggers love to write on the topic we love and all to often that is where it ends.

Nobody likes to take the time to promote especially as your blog grows.

You do need to make it part of your regular schedule and it does not need to take a lot of time.

If you are active in your niche it should be easy. Commenting on blogs in your niche, being active in forums (with a link to your blog if allowed) are easy to do while you are being part of the community.

Repurposing your content to create articles for submission, creating podcasts and video from your posts and setting up link networks with that content will take you a bit of time but can make a huge difference in your traffic.

The key is to just do things regularly and make them a habit. Do that and your time commitment will be minimal but the results can amaze you.

If you need more information on some of these topics Sunday Night Cash Plan can help you to repurpose your content and Backlink Flood will show you how to create powerful link wheels.

Finally my free report on Benefit Of Content Syndication.will show you how to automate things so you do one time effort and promote on autopilot.

The key is to always be promoting your blog and make it a daily habit.

Your questions and comments are always welcomed.Leave them below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: backlinks, blog comments, blog promotion, podcast, videos

3 Ways To Get More Results From Your Blog [ 2:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Yesterday was the start of a new month and I discussed knowing what is working and what is not. Below are 3 ways you can get started on improving your results for next month whether you are doing well or poorly.

Create Content Consistently

Now there is no set time table that works for everyone. My testing has shown that consistent new content seems to help me increase traffic more than sheer quantity. At least for the long term.

Set up a schedule and keep to it. Does not matter whether it is daily or weekly or in between the key is to be consistent over a longer time frame. This will take a bit for the results to be seen but over 2 months or more it does have a nice effect.

Interact With Others

Get involved in conversations. Blog commenting, interacting in related forums, and interacting with the people that comment on your blog.

The more that you are taking part in these conversations the more likely you are to see an increase in your results.

Make sure that you are adding value to these conversations.

Maximize Your Content

Creating content is hard work. Maximize the effort by repurposing it. Adapt your blog post to an article you can submit to the directories.

Make it into a podcast, a video or both. You already did the hard part so the more ways you can use it to drive traffic the better. I cover this in detail in the Sunday Night Cash Plan.

So decide to be consistent in what you do and make sure that your results increase each month.

For more blog traffic tips check out 15 Minute Blog Traffic and get even more results from your efforts.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: 3 ways, conversations, podcast, sheer quantity, traffic tips

Okay I have been thinking about what to rant about today for over an hour while I go through my morning checklist. This has been a busy week for me and I have noticed that it is usually harder to find topics to rant about when I am creating content.

Now that is a good thing for me but it does bring up the point that when you are being proactive there is less other things to upset you. That is not a bad thing.

So I guess this rant will go in a different direction. What are you doing to be proactive?

Have you done any of the following this week and do you do them regularly?

• Create new blog posts
• Comment on related blogs
• Add or edit an email from your autoresponder series
• Submit articles to the directories
• Create a video or podcast of your article
• Guest post on someone’s blog
• Create a new product either for sale or as a giveaway

Those are just a few things that you could have done this week to move your business forward and generate more traffic to your sites.

How many have you done this week?

Leave your answer below in the comments or ask a question about WordPress or blogging. I have writing to do so cutting this short. What about you?

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: autoresponder series, blogging, email, podcast, rant, traffic, wordpress

Almost finished the series on plugins here. There will be one more post on this tomorrow and that will be the most important one of the series so stay tuned. Remember that I am always looking to answer the questions you have here so feel free to ask them in the comments.

The original question that started this series was..

what are you top plugin choices for WP?

Today we address spam plugins and other miscellaneous plugins. There are a lot of choices and this list could be much longer but these are the ones I use at least semi-regularly.

• Askimet
• WP Spam Free
• Podpress
• Google Analyticator
• WordPress Thread Comment
• WP Ezine Articles

Askimet – Comes with the base installation and is a good anti-spam plugin but needs some help.

WP Spam Free – When combined with Askimet the two do a decent job of eliminating spam.

There are lost of other spam plugins but some hurt your number of comments such as the captcha plugins which keep people from commenting so it becomes a thin line to walk. Do you increase comments or reduce spam? I prefer more comments and deal with moderating the additional spam comments.

Podpress – This is the best of the podcasting plugins that I have tried. It interacts with the major podcast directories and can be tied directly into Itunes easily.

Google Analyticator – Easily adds your Google Analytics tracking code and allows you to see the stats from there within your dashboard.

WordPress Thread Comment – If you have an older theme that does not support threaded comments (they are integrated into the latest versions of WordPress) this will allow you to take advantage of them without having to hack the theme.

WP Ezine Articles – If you are a Platinum member of Ezine Articles this is a nice plugin that allows you to submit your articles to Ezine Articles from your dashboard.

Repurposing your content is a great way to get more traffic to your blog and article marketing can be an easy way to do that.

Now I could have added literally hundreds of other potential plugins but there is a trade off when you add plugins and that will be tomorrow’s discussion as we end up the series on plugins.

Your comments and questions are welcomed. Talk to you tomorrow.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, blog, eliminating spam, google analytics, plugins, podcast, podcasting, podpress, traffic

How Often Do You Repurpose Your Content? [ 1:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Writing blog posts can be hard at times. I have often written about ways to make it easier for you but there are times that it is still hard. Once you have put out that effort though are you maximizing it?

Quality content is valuable and just using it for your blog post is actually a waste when with a bit more effort you can get it out in multiple formats or on multiple sites.

Now I am guilty of this all too often. Are you?

It does not take that much to read the article and make an mp3 out of it and have a podcast.

You can rewrite a bit and add a signature file and you have an article to submit.

Put the article into power point format and read and record it. You now have a video.

Reuse the content as content on Hub Pages, Squidoo, etc to create back links to your blog or the page your post was promoting.

None of these will take you a long time to accomplish and the benefit you can get from doing this is immense.

You have done the hard work of creating quality content and you can easily get more from that effort.

Once I finish writing this post I can convert it into a video and podcast quite easily. I will be doing just that and with video uploading and rendering it will add about 45 minutes.

When I am done I will have a podcast delivered to a variety of services through Podpress from this blog and 7-8 new listings on a variety of video sites.

Think I might get a bit more traffic from that effort?

You can do it easily if you just follow the steps in Sunday Night Cash Plan too.

[hidepost]Now my voice was bad and the power point template is very basic. The basic was done on purpose to prove a point the voice is just what it is.

Now I could have let that stop me and decide not to do it. I could spend all day making the power point template pretty and then it would take forever.

Then I decide that it is too much time for what I get. Just get it done and up as that is the real key to take action. Yes I have a fancy power point template and could have used that but doing is the key.

Each time it will get better and faster but only if you actually do it.[/hidepost]

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: hub pages, mp3, podcast, power point template, quality content, traffic, video sites, video uploading

Well I asked and you have answered and it has been quite interesting to say the least.

Far and away the biggest topics of interest are generating traffic and tweaking your blog. No big surprise there but when asked how you prefer your information there was a surprise but maybe it should not have been.

Far and away the biggest choice was through blog posts. Second place with less than half the responses of the winner was through pdf’s.

Now as the people taking the poll are blog readers that should not be surprising. My surprise was that almost no one wanted audio and the vote for videos was not much higher.

What it shows me is that the majority of people looking to blog are readers and prefer that for instructions.

One of the funny things though is that even though audio is not popular with those that took the survey the podcast from here draws a lot of traffic.

So for those looking to increase their traffic (the majority of those taking the survey) adding audio is probably a very good start and it will draw a different demographic into your sphere of influence then you get other wise.

So the results have been interesting and I will be writing more about these topics. Were you surprised with the results? Leave your comments below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.

Technorati Tags: blog traffic, podcast, surveu results

Two new plugins I am testing [ 1:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Okay all done with the Twitter series for the time being. Now to what has been changed in the environment here.

I have added WP-Twitip-ID plugin so that if you leave your Twitter id with your comment it will show up with a little bird image that links to your Twitter home page. Again as has been stated here the more that people can interact with each other the better for all involved.

One of my goals is to get back to doing a podcast version of the posts here and today is the first in a bit.

Now you can answer back in the same way.I have added a new plugin called Riffly that will allow you to leave and audio or video comments here. I do ask that you leave a written comment too because not everyone visits with the ability to listen.

Be interesting to see how this goes and whether it stays. Let me know how you like the return of the podcast too.

Have a great week end.

Mike Paetzold

Follow me on Twitter

Technorati Tags: comments, plugins, podcast, riffly, twitter, WP-Twitip-ID

What is a podcast? [ 1:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Todays question:

Again, being new to the blogging world, what is a podcast?

Yesterday I answered a question about finding your podcast feed and one of the comments was the question above. Used to regularly podcast on this blog and figured it just may be as easy to show it as it is to write it.

Nahhh. You know me I’ll do both.

Here is the definition from Wikipedia

A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added.

Using WordPress blogs it is easy to add an audio file into your feed using a simple plugin like Podpress which is what I use. It now allows me to have an audio here that you can get from..

• The feed
• Listen to it right here
• Download it from here
• Download it directly from some of the directories like ITunes

This allows you to give people another media to get your information.

As always your questions and comments are welcomed.

Mike Paetzold

P.S. The traffic series is stalled again for lack of comments – hint, hint

P.P.S. Podcast will only show on actual post not the main page

Technorati Tags: podcast, podcast directory, what is podcast