Blog Contest Sponsors Wanted

The contest last year was a major success and featured some awesome bloggers.  This year will be bigger and better and I have some new ideas that I will be implementing.  In addition to the contest where the readers will have the opportunity to Vote for their favorite new blogger of 2010, there will also be a “Best Blog Post” component of the contest.  Additional details about both aspects of the contest will be coming in subsequent posts.  I will also be accepting entries for the contest beginning on September 15th…again, I will write more about that in another post.

The purpose of this post is to reach out to you folks and see if you have an interest in being a sponsor for this contest.  The contest will be structured in a way that provides maximum exposure (and links) for the sponsors.  Every contest participant will be required to write a post about the contest and include links back to all the sponsors.  In addition, I will feature 125×125 banner ads (for Gold) or text links (for Silver) on the homepage of this blog for the rest of the year for those that get involved in sponsoring.

I would like this to be a CASH contest so I will have three levels of Sponsorship:

GOLD – $100

Silver – $50

Bronze – $25

Please leave me a comment below or send an email to tycoonblogger at gmail dot com if you are interested or would like more information.

Every night as he slept, the ageing shoe man dreamed of elves. He’d heard the stories of these tiny folk. The ones who rescued shoe makers, just like him.

And every morning he would wake to the familiar groan of his belly, glance to his work room and see the table still resolutely empty.

Tired, afraid of the never ending hunger, our hero decided that it was time to go in search of the elves. His shoes were beautiful. He knew that. But they weren’t fabulous enough to sell to the rich people over the hill. Were they?

And so he set off. Travelling a night and a day, he found himself in a new land. Bright lights, dazzling colours. What was this place? He saw fancy looking people dressed in dapper threads, handing out technicolour leaflets advertising their wares. He sighed. These were no elves.

Tired and hungry, he stumbled into the nearest bar and filled his belly from the blessedly low cost menu. As he emptied his glass a little while later, a curious old man, heavily decorated in creases, shuffled over and asked the shoemaker his business.

With a sigh, he told the old man about his home town, the workshop where he lovingly crafted his footwear and how he gently softened the leather with his own special hammer. As he talked to the man, something magical happened. He found his heart swelling and an excitement he thought had long since died made him come alive.

As the clock struck midnight, the shoemaker glanced round and was shocked to find himself surrounded by a small crowd of listeners. Still no elves in sight, the shoemaker returned home with a smile on his face.

Where are the elves in your business?

Do you have the magic little people looking after your stuff or, like our shoe maker, would you look around in shock to find people listening to your business message?

If you could use a little more magic in your marketing, a well told story is your secret weapon.

How many blogs are there on this super, huge world web of ours? Last time I asked Ms Google, she told me the answer in 2006 was 50 million. 50 million blogs?! I can’t even begin to get my head around that number! What if I told you that 2 new blogs come online every single second of the day?

With all that noise, how are you and I going to get ourselves heard? A well told story is your secret weapon.

What are you writing about on your blog? Or if you’re a small business owner, what product or service do you sell? I’m going to stick my neck out here and bet you a copy of my latest ebook that whatever you do, there is someone else doing it quicker or cheaper. With all that competition, how are you going to get ahead? A well told story is your secret weapon.

Look for the stories in your business. Find them, tell them, love them. People love stories. Without them, our history books would be empty. Who said business has to be staid and boring? Since when did your blog have to look and sound like every other place out there? Start pouring your very heart and soul into the fabric of your website. Oozing your personality and charm, it can not fail to attract new people.

Your story is what makes you unique. There is only one you so by telling your story, you’ve just smashed the competition out of the water. Ready to give it a try? Pop a link in the comments and let’s all enjoy a little story time together.

Need a helping hand? Come back next week and I’ll give you some simple tips to get your story started.

There is a new app coming out called BlogMe, it is another creation from the folks that brought us MarketMeTweet, which they changed to MarketMeSuite.

With this new app, here is how easy it is…Check out these 3 steps.

1. Pick a premium theme

2.Enter your domain name

3.Enter your name server

That’s all there is to it.  They will take care of everything on the back end.  I forgot to mention that the themes are truly premium, with choices from Studio Press and Woo Themes.

I am sure you are wondering what the cost is.  You can try this for $3.99 a month and it comes with free blog hosting for a year.  After that blog hosting is only $45, which is about half the price I am currently paying.

If you are ready to buy, I have mixed news.  This is not out yet, it is only available for MarketMeSuite customers.  On the bright side, you can always sign up for MarketMeSuite through my link and take advantage of that awesome service and get going with BlogMe as well.

To you experienced bloggers who have read this far, what do you think?  Is this a valuable tool or something that is not really needed?

About 18 months ago, I wrote a post entitled How to write a killer about me page for your blog .  The post was pretty basic and in this post I wanted to offer some additional tips and ideas for your about me page.

• Get personal – People are interested in people.  What is your name? Where are you from?  What do you look like?  You do not need to get into too much detail but the basics need to be there.
• Video – A great way to connect with your readers is to put a quick video up and let your readers see you and get a sense of your personality.
• Experience- This is vital for those bloggers that are blogging to enhance their business.  If you are providing information to others then you need to tell others why you are qualified to dispense this advice. 
• Connections- Most people use their blog to connect with others.  With that in mind, your about me page is the perfect place to include links to other places where you hang out online, ie., Facebook, Twitter, etc…
• Email or Contact Form- Similar to the above point, make it easy for your readers to connect and follow up with you.
• List- If you are looking to build an email list (and you should be) this is a great spot to include a call to action and include your sign up form.
• Promote your about me page – This is an advanced tip that I picked up from Dennis Edell  . Now that you have improved your about me page, start promoting it.  Consider linking to it when you comment on other blogs and direct new visitors there as a starting point.
• Showcase your best content.  Consider linking to your top posts so new readers get to see your best stuff.

I will be working on updating my about me page over the next week or so and will definitely be incorporating the above tips.

What would you add?  What creative elements have you included in your about me page.

 I urge you to head over and spend some time on her site, she has a beatifuly designed blog and a unique and refreshing writing style.  I guarantee that you will enjoy her content as it is a nice break from tech and blogging tips blogs,  El blogs from the heart and the passion she has for writing and entertaining her readers shines through on every post.  Aside from being a great blogger, El is also a great person.  She is the co-founder and writer on the Give a Brick charity website. 

I am super excited and eager to read El’s take on blogging for business (or charity, in her case), social networking and inspiration.  I think her posts will add another dimension to this blog and I see this as a major step forward for TycoonBlogger.com.  Please join me in welcoming El and stop by her blog and say hello to her at her “home” as well.

The concept is very simple and straightforward.  You join the community (you sign up with your Twitter ID and password).  You then tweet a link to share another member’s content with your followers.  Each time you send a tweet, you are awarded points.  The point system is based on your Klout score.  You then submit your own content and community members will then tweet your links to their followers and earn credits from you for the effort.

Like I said, pretty simple stuff.

I think as this site grows it will be a powerful source to help promote your blog.

If you want to read more about this site, here is a link  from the creator Nicholas Cardot.

Brand Your Tweets

MarketMeTweet gives you the option of branding your tweets by adding a customized clickable link below your tweet.  You can use this to simply link to your site or you can get creative and use innovative text to help draw in your audience and increase your click through rates.

Flexible Scheduling

Many twitter apps allow you to schedule tweets but this tool takes it a step further.  In addition to regular scheduling you can also schedule tweets through Google calendar.  This allows you to go mobile and for me this means using my iPhone to schedule tweets for my clients.  If you use Android or Blackberry you are good to go as well.    For advanced users, you will have the option to bulk import tweets to schedule.  I have not used this feature but I am sure it will be useful to many users.

Reply Campaigns

This is an awesome tool for businesses that are looking to enhance their outreach campaign and start meaninful conversations with their target audience.  You will initially load in your keywords.  Let’s say you are an owner of wedding planning service.  You may want to target keywords like; “wedding, “engaged”, “engagement”, “getting married”.  You can then set up a campaign and reach out with automatic tweets like, “Congrats on your engagement!!!  Have you set a date yet?  Are you planning yourself or outsourcing?”  Yes.  You can target users based on location.

Here are some additional features:

• Auto Rss feed
• Get emailed when you are mentioned
• Ping.fm integration
• Unlimited accounts
• Facebook integration

For a complete list of features – follow this link —>  Market Me Tweet

ps.  I am such a fan of this tool that I just signed up as an affiliate.

Here is a pic of me and the fam on a surrey ride..

Ok, enough of the personal stuff as this is a business blog not a personal blog…  As the title of the post suggests, I am looking to bring on one or two bloggers for a regular writing gig on Tycoon Blogger.

It has been 18 months since I started this blog and I have made the decision that it is time to take it to the next level.  As I mentioned in my last post, I am expanding beyond the blogging tips niche and will be focusing on helping small business owners and individuals leverage social media (including blogging) to build their brands and grow their businesses.

Here is what I am looking for:

An experienced business professional with experience helping business owners build their businesses online.  Preference will be given to those with demonstrated success in marketing, branding, and social media.  Previous experience blogging is preferred but not required.

Looking for 2 quality posts of between 400-800 words per week.  Compensation will include weekly cash payouts via PayPal as well as exposure and links via the author box below your posts. 

This is a great opportunity to gain exposure and build your brand and an audience for your own blog while making a few bucks as well.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, you can drop a comment below or connect with me via email at tycoonblogger at gmail dot com.

The number of blogs launched daily into the blogosphere is alarming. Every new day sees the birth of a thousand blogs or maybe tens of thousands. I am definitely not against the rate of blog increase but my main concern is the actual number of blogs that will be in existence few years later. I bet they won’t be much.

 In the process of trying to uncover the contributing factors responsible for the high rate of blogging failures, I discovered a fundamental factor common to all the blogs that fail and that factor is the “Primary motive for which these blogs were established.” 

What is your primary motive for blogging?

 I deem it fit to ask this question because the answer to this question will determine the success or failure of your blog and as it stands; you alone holds the answer to this question.

 Now what is your primary motive for blogging? Before you begin sharing your answer in the comment box below; whichI am anxiously looking forward to, let me share with you:

Five primary motives why people go into blogging 

1.            Money 

Of all the motives why people go into blogging, money carries the lead. Everybody wants to be the next John Chow or Jeremy Shoemaker. Almost all bloggers start their own blog simply to make money and that is why the “make money blogging” community is rapidly on the increase. Please I want to state categorically that there is nothing wrong with making money from your blog but the wrong comes when it becomes a primary motive.

 2.            Fame

 The next motive why people go into blogging is to acquire fame. Blogging has brought fame to a lot of bloggers and now, many are rushing into the blogosphere all in the name of fame.

 3.            Investment purposes 

Another motive why people go into blogging is simply for investment purposes. I think this is one of the reasons I became a blogger. From personal experience, I can say that those who use blogs as an investment vehicle are usually long term thinkers and they are the ones that create blogs of high value. Example of blogs launched for investment purposes are LifeHacker, TechCrunch, Mashable and Gizmodo.

 4.            Power 

Those who have watched the movie “Spiderman” will be familiar with the saying that “With great power comes great responsibility.” A blog can put you in control of tremendous power. Imagine the power weird by bloggers with a community of over a million users. Many startup bloggers desire this power and they see blogging as a leverage to achieve their desire.

 5.            Self Expression

 The final motive why people go into blogging is to express themselves or their abilities. Since the evolution of the internet, many creative individuals have been seeking platforms to express their expertise or creativity and blogging has provided that platform.

 Today, there are blogs in every niche ranging from golf to parenting and behind some of these blogs are creative individuals, doing what they know how to do best.

 As a final note, I think every blogger is entitled to his or her motive of starting a blog but it is recommended you make it balanced and focus more on providing valuable content. 

Does any of the motives above suits you or is your motive for blogging quite different from the ones I listed above, please share it in the comment box below.

This is a guest post from Ajaero Tony Martins is a serial entrepreneur, investor and a prolific blogger. He blogs about his entrepreneurial experience and provides hard core Business Development Strategies to entrepreneurs and small business owners. You can also follow him on twitter @StrategicTeam

I hear from many small business owners that they just do not have the time to update their blogs and when they do have the time they do not know what to write.  I will address the first problem in subsequent posts but will help with the second problem right now.

Blog post ideas for businesses

• Q and A- Chances are your visitors will likely have questions about your products or services.  Why not start a weekly series where you highlight a question and provide and answer.
• Poll- This is an awesome way to get to know more about your target audience.  Ask your readers a question in a poll format and ask them to provide additional information in the comment section.  Not only will you have great content but you will also have valuable market research data.
• Behind the Scenes-There are a ton of ideas you can run with here.  You can highlight your employees, interview the owner/ceo, show some photos of your office or some pics from you company picnic.  Again, not only will you get fresh content but you will be “personalizing” your business and making your company more “approachable.”
• Track trends and News- It is a great technique to make your business blog a destination for news and trends that are related to your business.  For example, if you run an exterminating business, you should of been all over the news last week about the bed bugs in Abercrombie and Fitch stores in NYC (btw, this is a real news story).  What do you and your company think about that?  What are your experiences in dealing with bed bugs? etc..
• Video Posts – Videos are an awesome way to keep your blog fresh and the ideas are unlimited.  Tape an interview with an employee.  Take your camera on the next extermination trip and capture the footage.  Going to a convention soon?  Go ahead and take your video camera along with you.

Let’s do some brainstorming here in the comments…What other ideas do you have that would be ideal for small business looking to keep their blogs fresh and interesting?