Blogs Are the NEW Secret Weapon for Reaching Your Tarket. Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we're bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. And frankly I'm sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and cross-linking, you can share feedback. You can build your network. You can become, dare I say it, an Internet celebrity!

See blogs add humanity and instantaneous expression to the web. Like ezines, blogs are a way for your customer to get to know you.

However, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. Did you hear me? I said, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. That's a big one.

Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week, even the FCC (Federal Trade Commission) all believe blogs are here to stay. Recently Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, started one. His initial post drew over 30,000 readers. A Microsoft spokesperson says Bill Gates is considering starting a blog. And filmmaker Michael Moore built a blog to promote his controversial new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11.

But who has time to read a blog anyway? Exactly! The job of a blog is to cut through the information overload and deliver searchable, relevant and current content. BlogAds.com recently conducted a survey of over 17,000 blog readers. Here's what they report:

• Blog readers are older and more affluent. 61% of blog readers are over 30, and 75% make more than $45,000 a year.
• Blog readers are more cyber-active. 54% of their news consumption is online. 21% are themselves bloggers and 46% describe themselves as opinion makers.
• Blog readers are media-mavens. 21% subscribe to the New Yorker magazine, 15% to the Economist, 15% to Newsweek and 14% to the Atlantic Monthly.
• Whether on the left or right, blog readers have traits in common that often are absent in today's public spaces: passion and initiative.
• Blog readers have apathy towards traditional news sources. 82% say that television is worthless. 55% percent say the same about print newspapers. 54% say the same about print magazines.
• Meanwhile, 86% say that blogs are either useful or extremely useful as sources of news or opinion. 80% say they read blogs for news they can't find elsewhere. 78% read because the perspective is better. 66% value the faster news. 61% say that blogs are more honest.
• Blog readers appear united in their dissatisfaction with conventional media and their rabid love of blogs.

Don't you want to be a blogger too? How about looking at some samples of the good, the bad and the bizarre?

Model citizen blogs: http://www.marketingsecrets.com/blog/ - John Reese's blog. Hey, the guy just made $1,080,496.37 online in a single day. Here's a good rule of thumb. If Reese is doing it, you should be too.

http://www.talkbiz.net/ramblings/weblog.php - Copywriter Paul Myers keeps us up-to-date on SPAM and other Internet marketing nightmares.

http://www.thinkbigrevolution.com/ - Michael Port's weekly calls to inspire those who aspire now have an online connecting point. Designed by Andy Wibbels.

My Blog: http://www.red-hot-copy.com/blog.htm - my blog today (see end of article).

Bizarro Blog: Jeff Bridges' site is considered a "blog." It's hand-written! (Yes, really). http://www.jeffbridges.com

I've been dipping my toe into the blogging pool since earlier this year. Now I've decided it's time to really learn how to do this stuff with an expert who will take me by the hand through the scary forest of the blog-world. I'm going back to school! Through another client, I met blogging guru, Andy Wibbels. Sure, he has a funny name, but he is adorable! And his writing style has me rolling on the floor. Well Andy is a self-professed geek. And Andy knows blogs. He says it's easy and I trust him. Read more about it here. www.easybakeweblogs.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

International copywriting trainer, author and speaker, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero has been a freelance writer and journalist for over 25 years. Her words have made her clients hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now she focuses her vast experience on teaching others the skill of copywriting. Lorrie is the author of a highly acclaimed copywriting course, creator of the Red Hot Copywriting Bootcamp and founder of Copy Campus, a unique membership resource site designed to support copywriters and entrepreneurs on all levels. Visit her site to learn more at http://www.red-hot-copy.com.