Archive for ‘Blogging’

November 23rd, 2009

Legal Blogs: The Nigerian Phenomenon

by admin

In the past two decades, blogs have almost completely taken over the World Wide Web. Most internet users find themselves going to blogs for information and articles on practically any topic as there are niche blogs in virtually every field. This explosive revolution has swept through every region of the world from Addis Ababa to Zurich.

Browsing through the internet in search of legal blogs from Africa, it is interesting to note that those coming out of Nigeria are pretty non-existent. Compared with countries such as Egypt, South Africa and Kenya, the indication is disheartening. The paradox lies in the fact that as of June 2009, Nigeria had the second largest number of online users, next to Egypt (www.internetwolrdstats.com). With over 40,000 qualified legal practitioners, it becomes a little mystifying why there is such a dearth of legal blogs coming out of Nigeria. A number of factors are responsible for this.

The rapid development of internet technology is a major factor. Even though Nigerians spend a lot of time on the internet, many have not evolved beyond the use of emails, Chat Rooms and a handful of websites although with the popularity of facebook, quite a number have made the migration to social networks. Nevertheless, blogging remains shrouded in obscurity.

Needless to say, there are a lot of lawyers in Nigeria who are internet savvy and some who have even delved into the world of web development but are still ignorant of the workings of blogs. Because they have no idea how a blog works or where the advantages of blogging lie, they have developed little interest in the blogosphere as a whole. This laissez-faire attitude has contributed far more to the near absence of legal blogs in Nigeria.

When all is said and done though, there are a few legal blogs around, although not enough to adequately represent the legal profession in Nigeria — but as the Nigerian Bar Association has gone digital, it might not be long before its members follow suit.

Written by Sharon Famonure

As Published in the Nigerian Lawyers Association (NLAs) 10th Anniversary Commemorative Publication

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May 4th, 2009

7 Benefits Of Business Blogging

by admin

by kabeer Bedi

Blogging has become a popular trend on the world wide web. And as business enterprises realize the potential of the medium, they are including blogs as an intrinsic part of their web presence. In fact business blogging has come to become an effective marketing strategy to engage industry audience and communicate with them directly. Apart from this, business blogging offers a plethora of other benefits as well.

Blogs act as a content management system that allows you to post content online easily and effortlessly. Here are some of the many business benefits it has to offer.

Constant Communication with Industry Audience

Making regular posts on your blog and keeping it well updated allows you to keep in touch with your audience and customer base. Unlike your website, where the content is almost static, blogs allow you to make regular updates. You can post industry news, current affairs, trends of the industry, your personal thought and opinions about them and so on. Moreover, when you receive comments for your posts you can also answer questions and address their queries.

Attract New Customers

Blogs are read extensively by internet users. If you write quality blog posts that contain great content, then you will attract lots of visitors. Moreover, regular posts to your blog will make search engines rank your blog well and this will attract new visitors to your blog. And if the new visitors like your blog they will further visit your website for your products and services. Thus you have an all new customer base.

Higher Rankings in Search Engines

Blogs and RSS feeds generally rank higher in search engines as compared to traditional websites. This is because the content changes and updates are more frequent in blogs and RSS feeds. As a result, search engine crawlers index them more often. If you design your blog properly, search engines will get notified about content update as and when they happen. In turn, the search engine crawlers will visit more frequently.

Build Online Reputation

Blogs can further help you to establish a sound online reputation. When you write about your industry, you are actually exhibiting your expertise over the subject and as your blog grow, you can further demonstrate your knowledge of the particular field.

Great Revenue Streams

Blogs can also act as great sources of revenue generation. You can add PPC advertisements, affiliate ads and sell ad space on your blog. If your blog is popular and manages to acquire a good enough page rank, then there will be advertisers queuing up for space.

Lead Generation

Blogs are a great medium to generate new leads for business. By posting good content on your blog and attracting visitor traffic, you can not only promote your good and services but also capture new leads for your business. The traffic to your blog will be highly targeted because people who’ll be interested in the subject of the blog will also be interested in the products and services that you offer.

Strengthening your Web Presence

By creating a blog on the internet, you can further strengthen your web presence and enhance your online reputation. Moreover, your audiences will know there is a live person behind your business and feel more at ease.

Kabir Bedi is a senior web consultant with LeXolution IT Services, a reputed web designing company located in India that caters to its clients with seamless and cost effective web design services. He has very high research and analytic skills that he uses to formulate effective web design solutions for his clients from across the world.

Article Source: 7 Benefits Of Business Blogging

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April 27th, 2009

Why Do You Need A Business Blog?

by admin

by kabeer Bedi

Blogging has come to become one of the most effective business techniques to draw in industry audience and interact with them directly. Blogging for your business can get you innumerable benefits. You can demonstrate your thoughts and ideas and exhibit your expertise of the industry in front of the online population. You can use the blog to subtly advertise and promote your products and services by telling your audiences how they can benefit by them. On the whole,maintaining a blog for your business is the best way to explore new opportunities and foster good relationships with your audiences.

Here are some things that you should consider before starting your blog.

Content of the Blog
You should have a clear idea about the purpose of your blog i.e. what your blog will talk about. The most common thing a business can do is talk about itself and its products and services. And this is where you get leads to write about. You can talk about product features, industry news, service comparisons, current trends of the industry, your approach towards handling projects and so on. The aim is to establish your reputation as an industry expert so that people turn to you if they need anything that you offer. Share your experiences in the industry, talk about your expertise and niche knowledge.

Also, try to come up with controversial topics. This attracts a lot of attention on the web and you can seek to stimulate a heated discussion. However, make sure you play your cards right and don’t end up being bashed by the fellow commentators.

Frequency of Blog Posts
Consistency is the word for making posts on your blog. You need to be regular with the postings on your blog. If you are serious about maintaining a blog for your business, then you should ideally post at least once a week. For large businesses however, it would be better it daily postings are made. This is because you need to maintain the interest of the large audience base and cater to them with valuable information. In fact, if you have a large business, you will more things to talk about! However, quantity should be complemented with good quality. It is no use posting daily if you don’t offer anything of value. It is much better to make a weekly post and write something good.

Another benefit of making regular posts is that search engines crawlers visit more often and the chances of the blog to rank well in search engines results are increased.

Managing Blog Comments
When you write good blog posts, you are sure to attract comments from visitors. Your blog posts should be such that it arouses the interest of visitors and make them comment and discuss about the topic.

And when you get comments for your posts, it is very important that you respond promptly and address the concerns, questions or suggestions expressed in the comment. While positive comments are easy to handle, be prepared for negative comments as well, especially if your posts have been controversial. Rise to the challenge and carry out a debate and learn something new.

Kabir Bedi is the senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a reputed offshore web design company located in India that deals with a variety of web site development services and KPO services. The company has significant expertise in delivering powerful web solutions to match the business needs of its clients.

Article Source: Why Do You Need A Business Blog?

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September 5th, 2008

10 Reasons to Use FaceBook For Business

by Sharon Famonure

by Mari Smith

Social networking sites, especially Facebook, have significant implications for business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs around the world. To keep your business current, you should at least be familiar with the latest social media marketing techniques and viral technologies, including Facebook and its array of powerful features.

Facebook recently crossed the 100 MILLION member mark. That’s no small number for sure. Yet, millions more will join this incredible platform in the coming months and years. And the vast majority will be seeking to use Facebook primarily for business purposes. Read More>>>

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August 19th, 2008

Free Course on Blogging

by Sharon Famonure

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

  • The best blogging techniques.
  • How to get traffic to your blog.
  • How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

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August 5th, 2008

Virtual Office I: Learning the Basics

by Sharon Famonure

Starting a new business can be quite tricky and expensive especially when you have to think of overhead costs. Setting up a law practice is no different; it is a business in the true sense of it. Therefore, when there are limited resources, other options need to be explored. One of such options, is the virtual office. This is Part I of a 3 Series article. Watch out for the other parts.

What is a Virtual Office?

A virtual office is a work environment, which is not tied down to a specific location. It has been defined as an environment that enables a network of co-workers to run a business efficiently by using nothing other than online communication technologies. It is also a common term for shared office services, which normally includes business address, mail & courier services, phone services, fax services, answering services, web-hosting services, and meeting & conference facilities. (Answers.Com).

What do you need to set one up?

Technically, your virtual office is wherever you are; it could be in your home, inside your car, on the beach, anywhere you find yourself. You are not tied down to a specific address. However, you might find it necessary to create a workspace at home, where you can work uniterrupted. If you are running your office from home, you might not want your business to have the same address as your home. So what do you do? There are a few options: you could either rent a post office box for your business, use a friend’s office address or use a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (I do not know how readily available these are in Nigeria).

If you decide to operate this way, you will require certain equipment to successfully run your virtual office.

  • Computer: If your work involves a lot of traveling, you might consider getting a laptop computer. Laptop computers range in price from the brand names like HP to Dell and other home grown computers like Omatek and Zinox. However, if you do not do much traveling, a standard Destktop system will do the job.
  • Internet Connection: A very good internet connection is imperative. With a USB flash drive, you could probably go to a cybercafe and get all your work done. But with the high rate of cyber crime, it is not expedient or even wise to expose highly confidential material, such as you will be dealing with. You need some degree of security and that will be guaranteed – to some extent, by getting your own private internet connection. In Nigeria, there are a couple of ISPs; the most affordable seems to be the Starcomms broadband. However, I have used DOPC (Direct on PC) provided by Unwired for several months now and I’ve found their services satisfactory but they are only available in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
  • Printer: A black and white 600-1200 dpi laser printer if your final documents require crisp, high quality black and white output. Laser printers also provide the fastest output, so if you know your volume will be high you should also consider a laser printer. A color laser printer if your documents need high quality color illustrations, photos, or charts. These are quite expensive so make sure you compare the print quality with a less expensive ink jet printer. An inkjet printer if you need good quality text, color charts and graphs, or photos. With ink jet printers, the paper that is used often makes the biggest difference in the print quality. Get paper that is best suited for the job you are doing. Also, try to get a test print from different models to compare quality before you buy. Ink jets can provide very good quality but are not as fast printing as laser printers. (How Stuff Works)
  • Scanner/Copier/Fax Machine: You will need all of these at one point in time or the other. You can request the soft copy of documents from your clients, but there are certain others that you will need to photocopy and maybe scan, such as Court processes, Leases and other such documents.

For the same reason, you will need a Fax Machine. This is because, a good percentage of your clients are people you will most likely never see. This affords them an option to scanning. In the alternative, there are several fax to email services on the internet such as eFax, which enable you for a minimal fee, to receive fax messages as emails. Free Fax to Email, like the name implies, offers free services.

  • Alternative Power Supply: Let’s not forget that this is Nigeria we are talking about. You cannot afford to rely on the National Power supply (Power Holding Company of Nigeria). They are erratic. Your clients reside in different time zones and countries, they would find it hard to understand that you did not meet a deadline due to a lack of power supply. Therefore you need either a generator or an inverter; or in most cases both.

Software:

  • An email address: This definitely goes without saying. There are several free email services on the internet such as Yahoo, Hotmail and GMail.
  • A website/blog: This is your presence on the internet. It is where your clients will find you. Read this on how to create a blog.
  • A word processor: The most popular is Microsoft Word. But this is quite expensive. A lot of people use Lotus, however, I personally use Star Writer by Sun systems. It works just fine for me and because it is open source, it is also free.
  • Spreadsheet and database programs: Microsoft Excel, Intuit QuickBase and Star Base, which is free.
  • Presentation Software: Microsoft PowerPoint or Star Office
  • Antivirus: This is necessary to protect your system from harmful virus especially since you will be connected to the internet. Some good ones are Norton Antivirus, Mcafee and Avast.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader:
  • Graphics/Image Editor:
  • Internet Browser: You can use Internet Explorer but my personal preference is Mozilla Firefox.

This is it for now. In the next part, the following questions will be answered:

How do you hold meetings? What if you need an assistant, how do you employ?

Let me know if this article was useful to you. If there is anything you would like to know about Virtual Offices, drop a comment and I’ll blog about it.

If you would like to download the free Open Office suite, click here.

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July 6th, 2008

Starting a blog

by Sharon Famonure

How to Start a Blog

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A “blog”, abbreviated word for weblog, is a web-based journal in which people can publish their thoughts and opinions on the Internet. Anyone can start a blog. It’s straight-forward and, in a lot of cases, free.

Steps

  1. Find a decent blogging provider that appeals to you. Some may include MuseCrafters.com, Livejournal.com, JournalHome.com, Blogger.com, WordPress.com, TheDiary.org, Mindsay.com, Blog.com, Blogagotchi.com, Diaryland.com, Blogdrive.com, weebly.com or Xanga.com. Most of these sites are pre-made with templates and push-button publishing that don’t require much technical know-how.
  2. Once you sign up, you’ll have a gallery of ready-made templates to choose from. Select one and personalize it. Add your name, interests, images, etc.
  3. Add blogging freebies like buttons, images, blog chalks, imoods, tagboards (for example, myshoutbox.com), guest maps, guestbooks, comment boxes for readers’ input, etc.
  4. Explore other blog sites that offer more features for a small fee, such as Typepad.com.
  5. Decide on whether or not you want your blog to be private or personal: do you want any Internet visitor to be able to read your blog, or do you just want your friends and family to be able to read it? Most blog sites offer the ability to password-protect your published posts so only those who you approve of can view what you’ve written.
  6. Decide on how you want your blog to look. You can pick a color scheme and layout. Most sites come with a set of predefined layouts and schemes that you can choose from, or you can edit your own.
  7. After you’ve set up your blog, write a few posts to test it out, and make any adjustments to the layout or style that you see fit. At first, it will seem tough to figure out what to write, but once you get into a routine of daily blogging, you will find it addictive. Write about your day, your thoughts, events, ideas, fears, pleasures, the news, current affairs, art, or anything you are interested in!
  8. Visit other blogs to build a blogging circle. When you leave comments, add your blogging address so they can visit you too.
  9. If you want to make your blog look more attractive, there are some sites up that have many “skins” that might make it look better. One example is blogskins.com, which also comes with Photoshop and HTML tutorials.
  10. Publish your blog by sending the URL to your friends or publish the URL on your website. Add the URL to posts you make on other blogs. Done

Tips

  • If you update your blog frequently, more people will return on a regular basis to read it. Establishing a reader base will motivate you to write more and in turn more people will read your posts.
  • Get into a routine of blogging. Make it part of your day. Soon, you will notice things during your day and think, “Hey, I’ll blog this.”
  • Personalize your blog. A pretty blog always catches the eye. Visit blogger.com for ideas; they have a list of their 10 most recently updated blogs.
  • You could Google for “blog California” or “blog Shakespeareans” (or anything else), depending on location, interests, etc. For instance, if you have a blog on lawns, you may want visit allaboutlawns.com’s forum and other similar type blogs. Circles of interest are the essence of blogging, and it can start to develop you as an authority in the “blog-o-sphere” on lawns or whatever area of interest you choose.
  • Keep the posts interesting. Try to avoid focusing on things that most readers won’t find worthwhile (such as “I went to the mall today and saw Kelly.”) Write about things you noticed, thoughts you had, and feelings or ideas. Blog about a recent trip to Spain. Write about the chemical explosion during class.
  • Spell check your writing before posting.
  • Some sites allow you to make money off your blog by using an Amazon Associates ID or by placing Google AdSense advertisements. If popular enough, your blog could start to pay your bills.
  • Don’t feel bogged down if no one visits your site for the first few months. As with communities this large, it will take some time for your blog to get noticed.
  • If you want a broad (international) readership, do not use too many abbreviations or slang terms that might not be easily understood by people who are not from your country/area.
  • Get interesting news from Yahoo Oddly Enough…, other Yahoo! stories, Crayon.net and other websites that you frequently read.
  • Blog on a specific subject. You can’t please everyone, so target a specific audience and go with it.
  • See also How to Write a Famous Blog.
  • Pictures are also a great idea.

Warnings

  • Avoid posting anything on your blog that might be personal to other people if just anyone can read your blog (example: Your uncle might object that it’s published on the Internet that he is an alcoholic). If something is personal, avoid using last names at the very least, or make up a name for that person. Be wary of unwarranted attention. Blogs are for the world to read. If you want a private blog just for friends, use Xanga or any other password-protected blogging site.
  • Xanga and MySpace are good for beginners, but for more public blogs, sites like Typepad and Blogger are much more “respected”.
  • Be wary of unwarranted attention. Blog stalking is possible; don’t give out too much personal information such as name, location, school, etc.
  • Read the small print. If you don’t, your blog’s content may be “owned” by the company that puts it on the web for you.
  • Don’t make your blogs like MySpace bulletins (adding random posts to suck in friends) and don’t include your friend’s name or websites in them either.
  • Write ins ands outs people love them!

Things You’ll Need

  • A computer
  • A site to start your blog on
  • Some content for your blog
  • Willingness to keep up your blog

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Start a Blog. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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July 2nd, 2008

Your Online Identity

by Sharon Famonure

There is no alternative to having a business card…this is your identity, it is what tells people what you do. Same goes for internet presence. This is your online business card.

Gone are the days when a practicing professional could afford to go without significant online presence. The world has indeed become a global village and contracts are now signed without any physical meeting between the parties.

Having your own internet presence, either for you personally or for your business is necessary for the following reasons:

  • It tells the world what you do;
  • Interested parties know where to find you;
  • International clients find it easy to contact you;
  • You can publish your articles and make them available to the whole world for free, this in turn establishes you as an authority in your niche;
  • An online presence will brand you and your business;
  • It will keep your readers up to date with what is going on in your personal or professional world.

It is no longer difficult to acquire internet presence. Depending on your budget, you can explore the follwing options:

Web Designers: These days, you can find any of these without much difficulty. They know their stuff and will give you custom and beautifully made websites. However, this depends on your budget as they can be somewhat expensive. Also, you need to be very sure of the expertise of whomever you choose as there are a lot of charlatans masking around as web designers, they will take your money and deliver a substandard website.

Free Hosting: There are many websites that make it possible for you to create your own website for free. If you have a domain name, (which only costs $10 i.e approximately N2,000) you can use that. Even if you do not have a domain name, you can use a subdomain; I have tried this myself, you can check out http://sharron.bravehost.com to see what I’m talking about.

They also have loads of templates which you can customize and make into what you wish. You do not need to have any knowledge of html or any programming language…just copy and paste.

What is the catch? They place discreet adverts on your website. This is how they can offer it to you for free.

I will post a list of those free sites at a future date..

Blogs: Blogs, derived from the world ‘weblog’ is an online journal. Or at least is started out that way. This consists of dated entries, that is, you can put information on the page and keep updating. Each time you update, the post is automatically dated.

The beauty of this is that it is free and it is completely DIY (do it yourself). Like the free sites, you can either use your own domain name or a subdomain, like http://thereservoir.wordpress.com or http://sherlockholmesclub.blogspot.com. These are both subdomains. You can have as many pages as you want depending on the host you use

On a blog, you can have information about yourself or your business, you can also post your articles and your opinion about several issues.
Check the about page of this blog.
Check back for a post on how to create your own blog.

Social Networks: Examples of these are MySpace, HI5 and Facebook. These are called social networks; you can place information about yoruself, your work and anything else you want. However, it would be clumsy posting the many articles you probably have.

There is no longer any excuse for not having an internet presence. Well, maybe except PHCN (epileptic Power) and even that does not hold water any longer, not with cybercafés all around. You do not even have to spend a dime and it is so necessary in making you a force to be reckoned with globally. Well, at least on the internet. Don’t believe me? Google up my name…try it – Sharon Famonure. Then google up yours. Any articles there? Yes…Congratulations! No…? Don’t fret. You can change that now!

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