A
weblog (or simply blog) is a
website
that 'publishes' or features articles (which are called 'blog posts',
'posts',
or 'entries'), written by an individual or a group that make use of any
or a
combination of the following:
Usually
presented and arranged in reverse
chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following
purposes:
Online
journal or a web diary
Content
managament system
Online
publishing platform
A typical blog
has the following
components:
Post
date -the date and time of the blog entry
Category
- the category that the blog belongs to
Title
- the title of the blog
Main
body - the main content of the blog
RSS
and trackback - links the blog back from other sites
Comments
- commentaries that are added by readers
Permalinks
- the URL of the full article
Other
optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins
A blog can
also have a footer, usually
found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author,
the
category, and the 'stats' (the nubmer of comments or trackbacks).
There are
numerous types of blogs. Some of
them are the following:
Political
blog - on news, politics,
activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).
Personal blog - also known as
online
diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience,
complaints,
poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.
Topical blog - with focus
either on a
particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in
nature or
a local information.
Health blog - on specific
health
issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features
medical news
from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.
Literary blog - also known as
litblog.
Travel blog - with focus on a
traveler's stories on a particular journey.
Research blog - on academic
issues such
as research notes.
Legal blog - on law (technical
areas)
and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.
Media blog - focus on
falsehoods or
inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a
television network.
Religious blog - on religious
topics
Educational blog - on
educational
applications, usually written by students and teachers.
Collaborative or collective
blog - a
specific topic written by a group of people.
Directory blog - contains a
collection
of numerous web sites.
Business blog - used by
entrepreneurs
and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their
work.
Personification blog - focus on
non-human being or objects (such as dogs).
Spam blogs - used for promoting
affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.
Blogging is
typically done on a regular
(almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of
authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while
the
term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.
Today, more
than 3 million blogs can be
found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the
availability
of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier
for just
about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or
no
technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be
categorized
into 4 main types:
Personal
bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an
individual feels
strongly about.
Business
bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.
Organizational
bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an
organization or a community.
Professional
bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.
Problogging
(professional blogging) refers
to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are
people who
make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired
blogger).
Below are just
some of the many
money-making opportunities for probloggers:
Advertising
programs
RSS
advertising
Sponsorship
Affiliate
Programs
Digital
assets
Blog
network writing gigs
Business
blog writing gigs
Non
blogging writing gigs
Donations
Flipping
blogs
Merchandising
Consulting
and speaking
The following
are a few things that you
need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:
Be
patient. Problogging requires a lot
of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.
Know your audience. Targeting a
specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.
Be an 'expert'. Focus on a
specific
niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.
Diversify. Experiment with
various add
and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from
blogging).
Do not bore your readers. Focus
on the
layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog
welcoming to
read.
Certainly, it
is possible to earn money
from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right
attitude
in order to be a successful problogger.
Copyright ©
Ferdinand Martinez
About
the Author
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ferdinand
Martinez is the owner of the HomeBiz-Resources
Website. To
find the best home based business
ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home
visit:
http://www.HomeBiz-Resources.com
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