Hello and welcome to Rim Digest, the ezine for

"Responsible Internet Marketers".

Striving to be the BEST resource for Small Biz Owners...

February 5, 2009 volume 9-issue 6

Your editor: Jan Tallent, rimdigest@usa.net

Rim Digest ezine: http://www.rimdigest.com/

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Today's issue is sponsored by:

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Today's Issue Contains:

Publisher's Spot

Featured Article

The Importance of Blog Design

Blogs have increased popularity over this past year or so.

Many people have started to create their personal blogs to

express their thoughts and feelings. Internet companies have

also started their blogs to inform consumers on the latest

product news and reviews.

Because of this, blogs are also being used as internet marketing

media. Previously, most internet marketing was done by placing

banners and links on popular websites, such as news and

information sites. Links were also included in newsletters

and marketing letters sent to the members of the marketers'

mailing lists.

Many people spend time reading blogs. People read their friend's

blogs, their favorite author's blogs, blogs on topics that they

are interested in, and blogs on product reviews. With the

increasing popularity of blogging, it is even suspected that

people rely on blogs to get the latest news.

While getting news reports from blogs isn't reliable, some

people look for product reviews through blogs. In some cases,

this is more dependable. While it is true that some media

persons are being paid to write good reviews about a certain

product, blog writers write about their actual experiences

on products and services from a company.

Since there are many people who read and start their own blogs,

blogs are a good medium to market a product. With the increasing

blog traffic means increase in product sales.

Blog traffic can be increased by joining affiliate programs

and sites, which will list your blog under a certain search

category or name. You can also have your blog advertised on

popular websites. This, however, will cost some money and is

not advisable if you have just started blogging.

A writer who has just launched his/her blog will want as much

traffic as possible to increase advertisements on the site.

Also, some advertisers pay every time their link is clicked

or the page that has their link is viewed.

When you have increased traffic on your blog, you should try

to keep you visitors coming back and recommending your blog

to friends and colleagues.

This can be done by having informative or amusing content

and good blog layout and design. You may develop your blog's

content or you can also acquire the services of a web content

writer to provide you with the blog articles.

The blog's layout and design also plays a big role.

While most of the companies offering free blog hosting

offer pre-selected templates, there are also some that

allow customization, that if you utilize correctly can

increase your blog's traffic.

Here are a few tips to make your blog stand out from the

millions of blogs out there that have standard designs.

* Customize the banner

The banner usually has the most generic designs that are

common to the blogs from a blogging company or service.

You can personalize this banner by having a graphic with

the dimensions of the banner. You can also edit the graphic

so that it will also include the title of your blog.

In this case, you can create your own graphic or you can

purchase professional looking graphics online for less

than $10.

* Personale with photos

Of course, most of the photos that you will be posting

will be your own. However, if you don't customize the

photos before posting them, you may miss maximizing the

enhancing benefits graphics can add to the page. Adding

photo borders can help the photo stand out from the page.

It can also add to the design of your blog. You can choose

a standard border or you can also create your own border

which can be associated with your blog's templates.

* Add a favicon

Don't you think sites with icons on the address bar

before the website's URL are cool? Many people do.

These favicons add a professional look to the URL.

These are easy to do using photo or graphic editing

software.

* Check out blog templates, layouts, backgrounds,

textures and skins from sites

There are sites that offer free blog templates, layouts,

backgrounds, textures and skins. You can make use of these

so your blog will not look generic like most of the blogs

hosted by the service provider.

* Include RSS feeds

This is a cool way to inform people with newsreaders

about your blog headlines. Tutorials on RSS feeds are

available on the internet.

* Audio makes your blog more personal

Not only does audio personalizes the blog; it can also

keep your visitors coming back. You can try having

streaming radio stations, mp3 file or playlists

loading with your blog.

* Advertisements

If you have signed-up with Google Ad-Sense, which I am

sure you would like to do, make sure that the ads are

conveniently placed that these will not hinder your

readers' ease in accessing the information on your blog.

Try using these tips and you can definitely increase

and retain traffic on your blog.

Jan Tallent is the editor of Rim Digest eZine at

http://www.rimdigest.com/ and also known as the

Marketing Warrioress at http://marketingwarrioress.com/

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Positive Quotes

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are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

and

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Thought to ponder

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