4th Annotated Bib

Emerson, F. Melissa. “Blogging to Build Your Business” New York Times. New York Times Company. Jun 22, 2012. Web. Mar 20, 2014. <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/blogging-to-build-your-business/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0>

This article provides insight from a professional blogger. It’s a general how-to article with real life examples and personal opinions from someone who has already been successful at blogging. He explains how he personally became popular and successful and then goes on to offer tips and suggestions. This article is useful because it pays particular attention to the social aspect of blogging- the importance of viewers and the importance of establishing a community with other bloggers.

2nd Annotated Bib

Eridon, Corey. “The Benefits of Blogging: Why Businesses Do It, and You Should Too.” Hubspot. Hubspot Inc. Nov 3, 2013. Web. Mar 1, 2014. <http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht>

While this isn’t necessarily an article, I found it very useful because it focused on why businesses might need or benefit from blogging. This article also not only speaks on why blogging helps businesses it but it also offers some advice on how to blog to help. This article points out that businesses can gain more traffic, potential customers, and credibility. First, hee outlines traffic; a business blog can attract people simply by the tagging system. By blogging about things that vaguely have to do with a product or service, they could gain traffic to their blog. Once there is traffic to the blog, these people may share it with others or they may become interested in the blog and eventually become a customer. To attract these people, Eridon suggests putting “call-to-action” buttons and ads on the blog that offer free items. They may give their information to a website to redeem the free item; this allows for a mailing list where a person may be convinced to buy from the business. By blogging and having a seemingly more personable website that where customers can ask questions or make comments about information provided, the website gains more credibility. Customers see information about the item/service as well as feedback and support from the blog makers and they see that the business is interactive and legitimate.

1st Annotated Bib

“Top 10 Reasons to Start a Blog.” Gunelius, Susan. About. np. nd. 22 Feb 2014.

This article is really more of a list/outline but I think it is useful because it is a brief summary of all the ways blogging can help a person. Many reasons, while not directly related to business or making money, can be used to further money-making. It briefly outlines that blogging gives a person credibility, gets attention, and can also earn money. Blogging is also excellent for making connections and meeting new people. It is a platform that can be used for promoting yourself or a product or future endeavors and people can become interested and offer advice or support. This article also gives links to other helpful articles that talk about why someone should blog as well as aspects of blogging brought up in this article; there are links to articles on advertising on blogs and other income generators that can be installed.