Mistake#1. Spamming

SPAM…Sending People Annoying Messages… Yes, you got point! People hate spams simply because they are annoying! They receive emails from someone they don’t expect. So stop making a list of those email addresses from Newsgroups or Free Ads Classifieds or wherever…! It’s just not going to work that way to promote your business…

Spamming on contrary could put your business at risk. Since almost all of internet users nowadays just can’t put up with it, here’s some predictions of what they could do to ruin your business…

If you join an affiliate program or perhaps you are a representative of a certain company, they could just send an email to that company, informing them that they are receiving spams from you. Generally, they have zero tolerance for spamming and will eliminate you without warning.

Or, they also can make a report on you to your Web Host or ISP. How about that…?!

Mistake#2. Reach un-targeted people

Even though I’ve had several personal blogs for years, I’ve only been officially business blogging since 2003. So in going back over expenses for last quarter, you can imagine my shock when I realized that my overall business costs were down about 19%. What saved me so much money? Surprisingly, blogging.

How can you save money with your blog? It's pretty simple, so I'll be brief.

Attract search engine traffic without paying big bucks

If you want Google, Yahoo and MSN to pay attention to you, blog.

It doesn't have to be a whole new site, just add a directory to your existing site and start blogging. Most blog software solutions are either cheap or free.

And you can find out most basic blog information online for free (really, sometimes just typing your question into Google will do it.) by people who've actually done it. For less than $100, you can build a small library of blog tips and secrets, written by successful business bloggers.

Instead of buying links, get one-way links from blog search engines and directories, as well as getting your RSS feed content displayed at other sites.

Linking is a great way to get search engine attention and click traffic. Some people get links by trading; others by including their links at end of freely distributed articles. Others pay to be listed, or to get linked.

In each of these scenarios, some type of trade takes place, money, free content, or a link back.

When you blog, you'll find plenty of search engines and directories that are willing to list you free of charge. For most part you won't need to link back - you'll get a one-way link from site favored by search engines, often using text that you select yourself.

If 90 or more of these free, legitimate links back to your site is worth your time, then get you blog in motion.

Not only that, if you update frequently, other sites may want to display your RSS feed content on their sites. To encourage them to do so, put a link on your page with instructions on how to do so. Ever since I put one on front of my site, various feeds from my main site have turned up in most unexpected places.

Cheaper way to study your audience.

As your blog gets more popular, you may start to find that on any given day, you have a representative cross-section of prospects and clients at your site. If you have a question for them, you can just... ask.

True, you can post a link to a survey in your newsletter or on your site, but these are not as interactive as ability for your audience to comment. They will comment, and you can reply to ask them to expand, or clarify. Conversation gets going and before you know it, a bond is formed, a much stronger bond than occurs in a one-way conversation.