Today’s Freebie Friday gift is a free report, Blog Traffic Made Easy, written by John Robinson of SiteFever.com. You can download the report directly by clicking the link as John doesn’t require an opt-in for this information.

This guide begins with step-by-step blog setup instructions, then offers advice on finding a blog host, which plugins are useful for bloggers, and lists some services bloggers will find helpful as well.

The third section of this report is on promotion, and John gives a number of ways to drive traffic to your blog. He finishes off his guide by giving tips on writing posts and ways to encourage linking. All in all, it’s a concise work that gives a great overview of all the basic information bloggers need. I hope you find it helpful.

Until next time,

Happy Blogging!

Today’s Marketing Monday tip offers a list of 41 free (online and offline) tactics to drive traffic to your blog. This post is an introduction to a series of follow-up posts that will provide in-depth information about each item, one at a time.

Here’s the list:

1. Word of Mouth
2. Business Cards
3. Free Report or White Paper
4. Social Bookmarking**
5. Blog Directory Submissions
6. Produce an Ezine
7. Develop Relevant Inbound Links
8. Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines*
9. Submit Articles to Content Distribution Services
10. Network within Your Niche
11. Interact on Forums
12. Create an Email Newsletter
13. Start an Online Community for Your Niche
14. RSS Feeds
15. Product Marketing
16. Barter/Swap Advertising
17. Ebay & Craig’s List
18. Wikipedia & Other Wiki Sites
19. Social Media**
20. Joint Ventures/Affiliates
21. News Releases
22. Video
23. Industry Trade Publications
24. Local Media — TV/Radio/Newspaper Interviews
25. Regional Magazine Articles
26. Podcasting
27. Bizstreaming/Lifestreaming
28. Multi-media Sharing/Slidecasting
29. Relationships with Fellow Bloggers
30. Email Signatures
31. Creating Valuable Content
32. Contests
33. Polls/Surveys
34. Car Banner
35. Offer Freebies (Products or Services)
36. Become an Expert (write for Examiner and/or other reporter-type sites)
37. Develop a Referral System
38. Create an Online Directory for Your Niche
39. Create a Resource Page for Your Niche
40. Amazon.com
41. Images (SEO* and Social Photo-sharing**)

* This topic is already being covered through SEO Saturday tips.
**Beginning on January 27, we’ll start a series on Social Media/Social Bookmarking. This series will be held on Wednesdays, since Wednesday is “Friends Day.”

The best posts for bloggers that I read during the week of November 30 – December 5, 2009, are:

• Actions instead of Predictions — by Amber Naslund
• Why you owe it to the world to be your true awesome self — by Chris Garrett
• ProBlogging: 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started — by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger
• 5 Tips to Prevent Blog Wandering and Traffic Loss — Guest post at DailyBlogTips by Robb Sutton
• 4 Ways to Post Longer Tweets on Twitter — by Charnita France at BloggingTips

Angela Breidenbach is Mrs. Montana International 2009 working with the American Heart Association, the Jadyn Fred Foundation, Hope’s Promise Orphan Ministries, and drawing awareness to Fair Trade practices. Full Spirit Magazine’s president, Angela also teaches online classes in personal growth and powerful living. She’s certified in mentor/peer counseling as a Stephen Minister and Assisting Minister. She is a multi-award winning inspirational speaker and author, writing freelance and non-fiction. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom’s brain, but she is also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital. She has a combined family of six grown children, one grandson.

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