Tools of the Trade

Presented by

Nicole Avery of Planning With KidsMichael Aulia of Craving TechArnold Aranez of Mr Gadget

Official Nuffnang Blogopolis

Twitter Hashtag: #nnb2011

Nicole Averywww.planningwithkids.com

www.blogcoachingboost.com

Tools to Promote Your Blog

RSS Feeds

What is RSS?

Really Simple

Syndication (RSS 2.0)

RSS is a format that is used to deliver

frequently updated content such as blogs, news, and podcasts.

RSS Feed Readers

Your RSS Feed

http://www. PlanningWithKids.com/feed/

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PlanningWithKids

Feedburner Options

Publicize - Activating email subscriptions

Publicize - Other Email Options

Optimize - Feedburner FeedFlare

Optimize - Choosing FeedFlares

Adding Personal FeedFlares by URL

Full vs. Partial RSS Feed

RSS Feed Settings Blogger

RSS Feed Settings Wordpress

Plugins for Feeds:

FeedBurner FeedSmith Extend

RSS Footer

RSS Feeds Add Ons

Analyze – Subscribers vs. Reach

Subscribers

ReachNo posts

Analyze – Item Use

Tools to Promote Your Blog

Newsletter Services

What are newsletter services?

Newsletters are a direct email

marketing service.

They differ from your RSS feed

in that you craft and design the

emails to be sent out, timed

at your discretion to

your email list.

Why start a newsletter?

Comparing Newsletter Services - Pricing

Subscribers 0 - 2000 2,001 – 2,500 2,501 – 5,000 5,001 – 10,000

Price Free $30 $50 $75

Send Limit 12,000 p/mth U/ltd U/ltd U/ltd

Subscribers 0 - 500 501 – 2,500 2,501 – 5,000 5,001 – 10,000

Price $19 $29 $49 $69

Send Limit U/ltd U/ltd U/ltd U/ltd

Comparing Newsletter Services - Options

Mail Chimp AWeber

Import Mailing List Yes. Yes. When you perform an import, a confirmation message is sent out to the list that you add.

Auto responders Not for free plan. Yes for all.

Test emails Limited 5 per campaign for free plan

Yes for all.

Social Media Integration Yes. Yes.

Template Designs Excellent quality and range. Easy to modify templates.

Design not as pretty as Mailchimp. Harder to modify existing templates.

Ease of use Very high. High.

Stats Not as comprehensive as Aweber

Very comprehensive.

VS

What are Auto responders?

Image used with permission from problogger.net

Starting A Newsletter

Incl link to free download

Monthly Update

Adhoc Promotion

Planning With Kids Newsletter Welcome

email

Example of Bloggers’ Newsletters

Tips for starting a newsletter service

Start when you can stick to it.

Create a simple free download.

Let subs know what to expect.

Provide useful content.

Think about your title.

Use images and add url’s to images.

Nicole Averywww.planningwithkids.com

www.blogcoachingboost.com

Tools to Increase Your Productivity

Reader, Focus Booster, Toggl

Google Reader - www.google.com/reader

Manage the RSS feeds you

subscribe to.

Free.

Mobile App.

Allows you to share.

You aren’t limited to subscribing to

blogs.

iTunes Store RSS – www.itunes.apple.com/rss/generator/

Google New Alerts RSS

Current Exhibitions RSS

Focus Booster - www.focusboosterapp.com

Uses the Pomodoro Technique

Time management technique.

Uses a timer to break down periods

of work into 25-minute intervals

5 minute breaks

Based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental

agility.

Toggl - www.toggl.com

Basic time tracking and reporting is

free.

Tracking time for different projects,

time spent on social media, writing

posts etc.

Make sure you are spending time on

the right activities.

It has desktop widgets, an iPhone

app, and an iGoogle gadget.

Nicole Averywww.planningwithkids.com

www.blogcoachingboost.com