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Blogging: Give your readers a merry Christmas

December 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

christmas-image

Hi bloggers it’s early  December.  And that means -

That Christmas is coming - the goose is getting fat

If you haven’t got a penny – your saving will do.

Oh he’ll give you credit and then sue you

Cue muzak of the jingly bell kind and pronouce a couple of ‘yo ho ho’s and get into the spirit.   Now is the time to be jolly, but be careful where you sit as dad’s dropped the holly, (Sorry).

What does Christmas mean to bloggers apart from the fact that you’ll probably be dragged away from your screens and keyboards to attend family events, where you’ll have to be polite to aunt Agatha, over eat, and will be considered rude  if you don’t stay and slump in front of the Christmas special on TV.

It’s the time to be selling

Well from the retail point of view its the big sell.  For Amazon its the big sell.  For computer sellers, gadget sellers, games seller its the big – er – I think you’ve got it – the big sell.

Now is the time to give your readers subtle hints, such as

MY ADVERTISERS ARE THE BESTEST, CHEAPEST IN THE WORLD

or possibly you may want try a different approach.  A good one would be why your reader should think about buying online this year and then give some recommended links, with your affiliate links of course, at the end of the article.

Compare products

Another approach would be to compare a series of products.  To give an example a friend of mine has a car related blog and he is doing an article on different satnavs, (those amusing gadgets that shout out at me in the middle of difficult driving conditions and lead me to some interesting, but wrong places).

Of course he has direct affiliate enhanced links to the best buy of each gadget. Of course he also has links to his other more detailed articles on these gadgets, which makes Google search happy and gives his users another chance to click to his affiliate links.

Write about buying presents

This is also a good time to be writing about buying presents.  These posts can range from what to buy say for the man, woman, child, pet, work colleagues, boss, (a special night at my friend, Madame Stern’s Dungeon, would take some beating).

You could write about your problems with buying, and possibly what you would consider to be a good gift, (and oh, very subtly mention that you do have an Amazon Wishlist set up).  And maybe, just maybe Santa will come in the shape of a mail man to you.

Word of warning

Don’t oversell.  People read blogs to get background information and to enjoy your writing, your perspective.  They are happy if there is a link from the post and further information, but don’t do

MY ADVERTISERS ARE THE BESTEST, CHEAPEST IN THE WORLD

unless it works for you.

So how will your blog deal with Christmas?

What techniques will you use this Christmas season?

What will Santa bring you?

What would you like Santa to bring you?

Image by Paparutzi

Filed Under: Editor

Start a Blog Now?

December 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Drunken Snowman - How Low has Britain Sunk?

Drunken Snowman - How Low has Britain Sunk?

So there’s gloom, doom and the tabloids tell me the world is about to end. No sorry, that’s because we’ve had six inches of snow, and that means Britain has ground to a halt: no London buses and no London tube trains. My wife has even had to take two days off, boss’s orders, so she can watch Diagnosis Murder, instead of shovelling paperwork, dealing with incompetent academics and stroppy students.

‘So why on Earth do you want to start a blog now?’ She asks holding the kitchen’s meat cleaver three inches from the top of my head. ‘There’s a recession on.’ (Psychologists call this ‘Attention Seeking Behaviour – and I can testify this sort of behaviour does attract attention.)

I quickly thought for a clever response.

‘Um’ I said.

‘Well,’ I thought. ‘We’re moving into a great depression, the biggest since I was born, and I’m ancient. Reading the press, especially the UK’s Daily Mail, (which is a really great read if you need to get depressed), house prices falling, credit crunch, unemployment, shops closing, people working short time and I, yes silly I, want to start a new blog.’

‘But less face facts.’ I said confidently. ‘This year, 2009, and this month, this miserable, cold, damp February is exactly the right month and year to start a new blog.’

‘What really?’ she said waving the cleaver around in a menancing way.

‘Yes, there’s four good reasons’ I said.

· People will use the internet more

· People will use the internet more to get things cheaper

· Business will become more aware of using the internet for marketing

· Business will become more aware of using the internet for saving costs

· A blog that survives the recession will be in a great position to exploit the upturn

· Quite a few potential bloggers will be put off because of the recession

· If you are looking for work, then a blog can demonstrate your initative, writing skills, computing skills, graphical design skills and business skills, but be careful, to some it could suggest you are a geek, with a fantastic looking girl friend, but unfortunately she’s on Second Life.

So I gave her seven, not four, reasons.

‘Oh.’ She said, obviously impressed.

I smiled.

She smiled.

‘Let’s bury the hatchet.’ I said.

She did.

Ouch!!

Filed Under: Blogging