Previously on Apollo’s Blog, we discussed 5 reasons to make blogging a habit. The main point here was that posting on a consistent basis makes your blog more attractive to both new and returning visitors. But sitting down to write brilliant, reader-worthy posts on a consistent basis can be so overwhelming that it leads to procrastination…and more often than not, giving up on the whole endeavour!

Inspired by reader Tiffany’s comment, this post covers how you can harness your creative energies and move forward with a plan for frequent posting. Here are several methods that you can pick and choose from so you can create your own strategy for developing a blogging habit:

1. Keep track of things that spark your interest, any way you can. Bookmark websites, subscribe to RSS feeds, jot down your thoughts on a notepad, keep a diary, take photographs, doodle, draw, record, videotape, do anything it takes to capture moments, stories and images that immediately catch your eye and leave you saying “I should share this”. As you take more interest in observing, analyzing and reiterating your daily findings, the more excited you’ll be about sharing them on your blog. So mark this down, you’ll want to share it later!
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Being the sentimental saps that we are, our team at Apollo Media is excited to team up with a new company in their effort to create inventive and captivating greeting cards. They are an emerging player in the industry, specializes in creating cards that feature tiny recording devices so people can send personalized messages to their friends and family, creating a whole new meaning to sending wishes.

With a little help from Apollo, our new card company client is hoping to bring their ingenious creation to a wider audience looking to share moments in a more personal way. Our partnership will bring about a new and accessible website that effectively connects with customers and helps them send their most intimate sentiments.

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Apollo Media is very excited about working for our new clients at GPO Networks, who specialize in managing virtual executive offices for large business and corporations. GPO currently owns and operates five office business centers in Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal, providing suitable working space for both traveling and expanding businesses, complete with receptionist service, full service staff and the most comfortable conference rooms, reception areas and offices available.

Global Prime Office Network focuses on prompt, friendly and professional execution of their virtual business solutions. Concentrating on the details, their clients feel as if they never left home so they can feel comfortable in their impromptu business atmosphere and feel free to take care of their business. In order to properly convey GPO’s contribution to clients, Apollo is preparing an extensive overhaul of GPO’s website including a dynamic new design and effective SEO to better direct web traffic in their direction.

We are working hard to produce the most comprehensive web development package for GPO so they can strengthen their client relations online, bringing prospective business closer to their professional and well-managed office spaces. At Apollo Media, we fully understand the importance of a prestigious business image, and we are sure that our partnership with GPO will help businesses of all kinds achieve the powerful presence they deserve.

If you think you could use a new company website, contact an Apollo Media sales representative today.

After reading Darren Rowse’s excellent article “Using Examples to Give Your Blog Depth” on Pro Blogger, I thought it would be useful to elaborate on his points and summarize some key methods of increasing your blog’s value to your readership.

In his article, Rowse explains how providing examples when writing theoretical or instructional content can boost its overall power and usefulness. In his case, he was instructing photography bloggers on how to improve their articles by providing illustrations, both visual and textual, to better explain their points.

The Power of the Image

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So you’ve written great articles offering advice, instructions, commentary and satisfying conclusions on a variety of subjects. You’re proud of your work and you’ve put a great deal of time editing and syndicating it. Yet you find that the response to your work is somewhat lacking. “Where are all the comments?” you ask.

Don’t get discouraged by the lack of comments below your posts. Building a dedicated readership, let alone one that’s ready to share their thoughts and opinions, always takes time. But there are effective ways of encouraging comments on your posts without being too pushy about it.

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Social Media Marketing (SMM) (a.k.a. social media marketing, viral or buzz marketing, community marketing and a few others) is an internet marketing term referring to the promotion of a brand, company, website or blog through social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, etc.) and social web applications (e.g. Digg, Stumbleupon and Twitter, etc.). Smart SMM tactics involve highly evolved content generation that both promotes and encourages user-generated feedback, discussion and viral action (a.k.a. web word-of-mouth).

SMM is a revolutionary marketing practice in that it relies on the contribution of consumers in the shaping of promotions, rather than pushing hard-sell techniques. Social media has allowed consumers to be active participants of a brand’s marketing message - with or without the brand’s blessing. It is a movement from the traditional marketing approach of `communication’ to one that revolves around the unpredictable but very influential `conversation’.

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As we’ve talked about before on Apollo’s Blog, Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a valuable internet marketing strategy that connects directly to your niche market and allows for quick and responsive feedback from your potential client base. Not only is it free market research, it is the contemporary version of word-of-mouth marketing. And as we all know, the very nature of technology is instantaneous.

If performed correctly, social media marketing has the power to connect a company with hundred of thousands of people in one day! However, there are several things you need to consider before taking the plunge into the world of SMM, since it can be a very opened-ended practice where there is little executive control.

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When Apollo Media is in consultation with new clients, we often like to explain some of the key differences between Social Media Marketing (SMM) and more traditional forms in order to emphasize some of the strengths of our approach.

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Actually, this blog title is slightly misleading because if you have a blog, you don’t have to bother at all. You’re already offering your readers an RSS feed without even knowing it!

Q. How?

A. All the major blog platforms automatically include an RSS feed on your blog and all recent versions of modern web browsers reveal this fact by presenting a little orange and white striped icon. When you arrive to a website that is publishing an RSS feed, Firefox provides the RSS icon on the right side of the address bar. Internet Explorer has the same icon in its toolbar but it’s grayed-out until there’s an available feed, then it turns orange and white.

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Blog writing isn’t just copying and pasting popular videos and filling your page with countless links. It’s about finding your voice and sharing it with the world. Here are some tips on developing captivating content so that your blog shows value to readers within your field of interest. Read the rest of this entry »