Marketing 101

[karen ann]

Deb,
Start with everyone you know! I know you and I had to wait for Elizabeth to invite me:( Just kidding! But, seriously ask everyone you know and ask that they each invite new members as well!

[johnandlisa]

Deb,

Please don't change a thing! I think Jersey Biters has all of the great connotations mentioned above, with the added bonus of a really catchy name. It sticks with you and won't be confused with other overused terms ("foodie" might be getting to be one of them). I also like it because it makes me think of "biters" as in sharks, and aren't we located at the Jersey Shore? :)
-Lisa

[Joe]

One fairly easy and no cost idea is to have a Jersey Biters blog. Not sure how many active members are here, but it looks like a couple dozen, at least. If everyone contributed just one article every other week or so, the blog would be very active. Stick on a couple adsense ads, and an entrecard (which gives tons of free advertising) and it could be a lot of exposure for little to no cost.
What is working for me right now, is I have some domain names from GoDaddy, and I link my blogger account to them. I do this because I am far from computer literate. For example, if you go to the link I have it goes right to my blogspot account, however if you type Crotchetyoldman.net, it takes you to the same place, as does crotchetyoldlady.com.
Just could be a passive way to get members. I joined because I came across it on a blog.
Domain names are relatively cheap, it's all the other baggage that costs. This is a way around that.
By the way, anyone is welcome to talk to me about any of this through email or on the phone.

[Debz]

Thanks Joe. I do intend to buy JerseyBiters.com and will get on that today. In my professional life I run several websites for nanny placement, nannyclassifieds.com, 4Nanny.com, BestNannyCam.com and several others, so I know how valuable domain names are.

I consider JerseyBites.com the "blog" for JerseyBiters. and welcome any contributions from our Biters. We just had a post from John and Lisa about the BBQ Championships in Wildwood and I'll be posting a restaurant review from ChefDruck today. If you or anyone else has an idea for a blog post on JerseyBites, let me hear it. I agree, I think its great PR and makes for a much more interesting blog.

Deb

[Joe]

Can it be entered at social networking sites? That helps get exposure.
I'm don't understand the difference between a blog and a ring, but I've never seen a ring at a place like Blogcatalog, which is one of several social sites and has hundreds of thousands of members.

[Debz]

I did set up an account on blogcatalog a while ago. I even forgot I did. I don't know squat abut BC. Can you help the JB page by becoming a fan or vote for it. Looking for a tutor on this.
JerseyBites

[Joe]

Ok, I'm back. Just to give you an idea of what I'm doing with my main blog. I just started tracking stats April 29th, although my blog has been around much longer. But that's the day I decided I wanted to start getting traffic.
In May, I had around 2000 visits. June I had 3200. And so far this month, at little over half way of a big vacation month, I have had 4800, and should easily eclipse 6000. For all intents and purposes, I have been doubling every month since I decided to increase the number of hits.
Before anyone snickers at these numbers, I realize they are not phenomonal, but they are much better than many other blogs I know.
Here's what I did. First, I joined BC. Next, I added an entrecard. While a lot of bloggers are against these because they bring some traffic, but lower quality. Some are just what's known as droppers. But I do know that some droppers regularly are converted into readers. It's a numbers game, I guess. Plus entrecard gives you credits to advertise, for free, on other blogs. Again, it's a numbers game.
Lastly, I decided to join Digg, and then put the links on my blog using Feedburner. The icon from Digg often hangs up the site which irritates everyone, that's why I like FeedBurner. I know others are available, but I like the ones that look easiest to find. I'm lazy, and I think many others are, too.
I checked out the blog and it is great. Only minor problem I noticed is it asks to join, and I couldn't find the nice icon like I found on Bill's blog, which is what made me interested and easy to sign up/join.
Once those minor details are taken care of, I'll be glad to help promote the heck out of it. It's a great site, I really liked it, but we all know that usually we only get one chance to make a first impression.

[Joe]

I keep getting awards for my blog. Part of the thing with an award is it gets shared with 5 others. The only 2 blogs I know from Jersey Biters is the Jersey Bites one and Bill's.
This time, I'm giving an award to Bill (shh--don't tell him, it's going to be a surprise for tomorrow morning.)
If we all join Jersey Bites blog neighborhood, we can find each other and pass the awards around so that we all get exposure, and also if we can work to submit Jersey Bites blog entries (when we get them) to Digg and Stumble, we'll get tons of free exposure. It's hard to target Jersey folks, but if we keep casting a wide net, we'll find others

[Debz]

How do we locate the other JB blogs on Blog Catalog? Should I send out a broadcast email to our members. I think a lot of our members do not check the forums.

Deb

[Joe]

I don't know. I would send a broadcast email. I joined the Jersey Biters neighborhood at BC. If we all join, it will help.

[Joe]

Have you looked into entrecard yet? It is so simple. Just put the widget on the blog,near the top, and bloggers stop by to "drop." You'll get credits, and these credits can be used to advertise on other blogs. It's all free, although credits may be purchased. I'd just let them build on their own. If any fellow "biters" have entrecard, it's easy enough to just stop by and drop every day. Takes seconds. By the way, the way it works, the droppers and the dropee(?) each get a credit for every drop.