Have we mentioned that content is king on the Internet? We ’ re sure by now you have fi lled your web site with valuable content and written many articles. But there is no substitute for having your own blog, for a number of reasons.

Blogs are tremendously attractive to the search engines. They create ongoing content that is added on a regular basis, so the spiders keep coming back and updating your listings. Also, because your

Readers can subscribe to your blog through RSS (which, you will remember from the chapter, “Select the Best Business Model for You,” is Pull Technology), you will be able to stay in touch with many readers outside the vicissitudes of the e - mail system.

There are several platforms for blogs. Among them are Blogger ( www. Blogger. com ),which is owned by Google, and Typepad ( Www. Typepad .com ). Both Blogger and Typepad are hosted on the Internet. Movable Type ( Www. MovableType. org ), Blogsite ( Www. Blogsite. com), and Word-Press ( Www. WordPress. org ) are software you install on your own server.

We recommend WordPress, which is an open source software. That simply means it was developed and offered free over the Internet, and a community of developers continues to create and share new utility programs, called plug - ins, that increase its functionality and fl exi-bility. As we described in the chapter, “ Set Up Your Web Site,” WordPress templates can be used not just for blogs but even for entire sites. If your web server company offers Fantastico, they can help you install and use WordPress. Our preferred web host, accessible through www. CashMachineDomains. com, can easily accommodate and assist you with WordPress. If you need additional help, you can fi nd a technician familiar with WordPress through Rent A Coder.

Many site owners are reluctant to start blogs because they are not really writers, and they don ’ t want to have to produce content every week or two. It is certainly true that many blogs contain wonderful writing and read like the best newspaper or magazine columns.

Many other blogs, however, are just notes written to the readers, much like a brief e - mail. Some site owners simply send out e - mails to notify readers of a new blog posting, and put the meat of all their communications with their list into the blog itself. The authors of this book use our blogs to share personal and business news with readers. You can get ideas by visiting our blogs, at Www. MrFire. com and www. GrantMeRich. com. While you’ re visiting, sign up to receive our blog postings via RSS.

If you are a one - man band, you may be the designated blogger. However, you might be able to interest a spouse or even a contract employee in doing the writing. If you have employees, you might delegate this task. Some companies even designate different employees to write about different aspects of the business, and make the blog a rotating task.