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Selling Services via Blog
08-22-2006, 11:23 PM
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Selling Services via Blog
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Posts: 440
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I was wondering if anyone here has experience selling their services via their blog? If so, could you share what's worked for you?
I'm an SEO trying to get freelance work with my site, Montreal SEO. The catch is, I don't know if I've set the site up right to have visitors who like what they read send me job offers, or at least inquire about my services.
Incidentally, if you could have a look at the site and tell me what could be improved, that would be great. |
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08-22-2006, 11:28 PM
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Posts: 471
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I have done and always will promote my services via my blog at http://www.moobrack.com . In my eyes this is one of the best uses for a blog  |
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08-23-2006, 06:07 AM
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Posts: 117
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We meet again BW-S...
Now, in my opinion there are several ways you can improve your blog, because I see some problems with it from my perspective:
Signal over noise - You have too much clutter on your blog... There's too much text and hardly any graphics or white space to rest the readers eyes... Your articles are far more important than other SEO specialist links, so give them a more prominent position. I can't see any type of archive navigation, tags would come in handy...
Bringing in the big bucks - I think blogs are a great source of potential jobs and projects. My GF has gotten quite a few web design deals through her photo blog, so it does work. A good example of a blog that really stimulates business growth is BusinessLogs, so go and check how it works. As for brining in more SEO business, I think you do should pick the audience you are writing for... Are they web designers and developers who know what SEO is? Or people who don't really know what it is? Put a prominent "introduction" text somewhere, in which people can find out what SEO is, who you are and so on. Displaying your rate just isn't necessary, I think you should put several contact options (phone works best believe me, expecially for non web-savvy users; also IM, skype,...) to make it easier for people to contact you. You should also put your real name on the blog and preferably a picture (something professional please), because a business owner who wants to optimize his site will be more inclined to do so if he is calling a "real person"(yes, some people don't know what nicks are ).
Aestetics - I would suggest hiring a professional designers with some blog design experience to make your blog really show the content you are giving your readers. I tell people again and again, stick with what you know... If you can't design, don't design... There are web designers who will gladly decrease their feed to help a fellow web "worker", you can even offer your SEO skills in exchange for a good blog design. |
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08-28-2006, 05:45 PM
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Posts: 440
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Wow Fort! You really knocked it out of the park this time. That's some great advice there, and I really need to thank you for those tips. It's always tough being objective about your own site, you know what I mean? I need to go eat lunch and get ready for a soccer game, but I'll hopefully be implementing these suggestions later tonight. Thanks again chief 
p.s. We need to swap blogroll links! |
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08-28-2006, 07:38 PM
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Posts: 117
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Thanks BW If I had a blog, I we could. The problem with me is that I have a bunch of ideas in my mind in the type of blog I would like to launch, and since I have some knowledge in both blogging in general as well as my particular subjects of interest, starting a blog is not an easy thing, but I'm planning ahead and I think that I will soon be able to publish a nice niche blog. Also, if I can help in any way, feel free to IM me via ICQ/MSN/AIM... |
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08-28-2006, 10:44 PM
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Posts: 440
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Ah alright, I get you. Well, if/when you do start blogging, let me know. I'll be happy to post about your new project and swap links then. On a related note, check out the performancing and problogger blog exchanges. jobs.problogger.net, and performancing.com/exchange.
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08-29-2006, 08:24 AM
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Posts: 109
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I'll agree with Fortius about adding more whitespace to separate the stuff in the right-hand columns.
Also, I'd advise adding categories somewhere near the archive links (above them, hopefully). This is probably one of the few ways of navigating a blog, so it shouldn't be neglected.
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08-29-2006, 09:32 AM
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Posts: 117
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A.N.Onym
I'll agree with Fortius about adding more whitespace
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Yup, whitespace as well as line height can be crucial to the readability of content. For example, I just found this site.. It has some really useful and fun content, but it's almost impossible to read because of the typography. My eyes really hurt after trying... Adding some more line height would improve readability dramatically! |
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08-29-2006, 02:19 PM
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Posts: 1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookworm-SEO
I was wondering if anyone here has experience selling their services via their blog? If so, could you share what's worked for you?
I'm an SEO trying to get freelance work with my site, Montreal SEO. The catch is, I don't know if I've set the site up right to have visitors who like what they read send me job offers, or at least inquire about my services.
Incidentally, if you could have a look at the site and tell me what could be improved, that would be great. |
A lot of people do that. In fact, almost all internet marketers have a blog. Do you mean using blog EXCLUSIVELY or as yet another marketing tool? |
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08-29-2006, 06:06 PM
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Posts: 1,028
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I can never seem to get on your blog to start with. Either doesn't load or gives me an error.
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08-30-2006, 01:33 AM
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Posts: 440
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Lol, the last time that happened, India and Pakistan were banning blogspot domains. It works though, so maybe you need to check your gadgets? What error do you get?
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08-30-2006, 10:08 AM
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Posts: 1,028
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Today it works.
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08-30-2006, 02:10 PM
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Posts: 440
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Ok, so I've added a bit of space, and played with the text to make it seem a little less dense and overwhelming (amazing how ugly a few underlines can be).
The personal stuff is a good idea, I'm just not sure if I want to do it given privacy/security concerns I have. Ditto my phone number and MSN (though I could just make a new IM I guess). I got skype, but don't know how to use it yet.
I'll hopefully be adding some FAQs, introduction, and so on. As to investing in a blog design ... IDK how active I'll be during the school year (entering a time intensive program in university), so I'm not certain it's worth the investment yet. Besides, I may switch to wordpress soon because it's so much more customizable and all.
Some good suggestions, I just need to see what time I have available for this and if the ROI is good enough.
What do you guys think of the updated design?
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08-30-2006, 02:50 PM
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Posts: 117
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Not bad, the improvement is visible, but there's still (as always) room for improvement... When you find time to improve your design aestetically, feel free to contact me if you need a blog designer...
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08-30-2006, 03:36 PM
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Posts: 120
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I've just begun selling my writing services via my blog.
Not a whole lot of promotion yet, but we'll see how it does. |
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08-31-2006, 10:16 PM
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Posts: 440
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Added the category list on the side (only a partial one though; I didn't feel like going through all my posts to check for tags). I'm going to look at adding intro, FAQs and a services page. As to rates, it's meant to discourage the cheapasses who want SEOs to volunteer just about. SEO is not minimum wage work!
Anyways, any thoughts on the latest edition?
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09-01-2006, 12:51 AM
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Posts: 67
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SEO isnt minimum wage work I know but you must provide quality SEO whihc is the catch.
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09-01-2006, 03:43 AM
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Posts: 77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookworm-SEO
I was wondering if anyone here has experience selling their services via their blog? If so, could you share what's worked for you?
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I think I got some things which will go against you when trying to sell online via a blog.
1. Your email is a free email service, (gmail). SEO is a costly service and if you want people to trust you, use a email ID which uses your domain name.
2. There are some grammer mistakes. For example "to rank highly in search engines.", should be "to rank higher in search engines." These little things could hurt credibility.
3. SEO industry is still like an under cover, mysterious thing for those who don't know about it. It will be good if you could explain/list what you will be doing for $45 an hour. I still get emails where people say "Will you get my site registered in google for free?" (They confuse "free search engine submission" with "complete seo".) Personally, I would make a link with a detailed page instead of showing the rate first.
4. If you want orders, then tell people that they can get a free analysis of their site before ordering and there's no obligation. That will get them to contact you, then it's upto you. I'm not very sure why are you focusing more on building an email list. (I know the benefits of lists, but I also know that most probably, most of the signups will be from people who want to learn seo, not order.) If you had a software which helps in SEO task, and you were selling it, then an email list could have done miracles for you...
Some changes I would have made in the design if it was my blog.
1. The big bold heading on top is a killer. Put the graphic first, then the heading in smaller font, aligned center. Use CSS.
2. Use a three column layout. 25% width on left and right, and 50% in between for posts. In left column Put things like description of seo, with a link for details, what you do, what you have done, what you offer etc. Then in right column links for your blog posts.
Additionally, I won't try selling in such a crowded market with a blog instead of an established site.(All my competition would have had a complete, detailed website, ready to take orders...) I would have built a site, offer services there, and used my blog to build a reader base, traffic, industry credibility etc.
Hope this helps somehow... |
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09-01-2006, 10:46 AM
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Posts: 109
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cooldesigner, it is possible to build a professional website on a blog platform.
A blog is a blog when you blog But you can use the WordPress as a CMS, for instance - create static homepage, pages (parent and children), etc.
Also, I don't think blogs cant be used to get business. Just develop easy and clear navigation, that's all. |
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