Introduction
According to the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project, nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults use the Internet. These people use search engines to find information, consult review sites for product recommendations, make travel arrangements, and read blogs. With numbers as large as these, big business has embraced online marketing through blogs and social networks in a big way: More than 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies use social media in some fashion and nearly 16 percent publish blogs.
On the other hand, small businesses and individuals have had difficulty tapping into this mother lode. Small businesses typically don't have big budgets to devote to experimental marketing programs. Every dollar matters, and the new online forms are largely unproven.
You may have heard stories about professional bloggers, such as Heather Armstrong (www.dooce.com) and Darren Rowse (www.problogger.com), who make a great living from their blogs. Maybe you have an idea you want to try or perhaps you built a successful hobby blog, but just don't know where to start to make the blog work as a business.
This book offers small businesses and individuals practical guidance for successfully using a blog in, for, and as a business. I can't make you a success or deliver a six-figure blogging income, but this book can point you in the right direction.
About This Book
You don't have to read this book from front to back, but you might want to. Professional Blogging For Dummies follows ...
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