Today I stumbled into a new website named Bloggled.  I have been trying to gather as much information on them as I can because from what I have found and what I have read, it seems like a pretty neat and interesting business idea that might actually help me out personally with all my blogging.  Right now, there isn’t much to their site as they are in beta testing, but they have just launched a blog at www.bloggled.com/blog that hopefully will be posted to along the way as they launch officially.  So, after reading a few Squidoo lenses on bloggled and Brent Ramey I decided to contact them for an official take…this is what I got back.

“Look out Facebook and MySpace, a brand new social utility website designed specifically for bloggers is set to go live by the end of October, 2008.  Bloggled.com is the perfect one-stop-shop for Bloggers, both novice and professionals alike.  Bloggled.com will build upon the existing capabilities of blog-hosting sites such as Blogger and Blogspot by providing free hosting to the blogger and permanently backing-up the user’s blog as a part of a free subscription for bloggled.com users.  Most bloggers are unaware that one of the risk of blogging for free with the mainstream  hosting providers is that if your blog were accidently erased or if in the unlikely event hosting was ever interrupted or lost there would be no way to recover your blog.  This in some cases would be a major emotional or financial loss to the blogger considering the fact that many families use their blog(s) as virtual journals, diaries and scrapbooks.  Not to mention the fact that professional bloggers who are accustomed to making money on the internet through selling advertising space would be temporarily “Out of Business” with all of their prior content lost.  (Posts, comments, pictures, etc.)

In addition to being able to back up their blog, users will have advanced editing capabilities, similar to digital scrapbooking to format and edit their blog in an extremely user-friendly fashion.   Subscribers will also receive as part of their subscription free blogging tips, monthly newsletter updating the latest and greatest in the blogging world and access to a bloach (Blog Coach) to help them make their blog look and fell exactly how they want.  Many beginning bloggers, especially those who aren’t computer savvy, struggle making the layout of their blog (posts, pictures, font, color, etc.) look exactly how they would like.  Our Bloach’s will work with them through short online tutorial videos and chat to help them layout their blog exactly how they would like.  There will also be discounts on products and services offered from bloggled.com and the ability to share ideas, templates and editing capabilities.  Bloggers from all fields (sports, religion, politics, cooking, decorating, businesses, etc.) will be easily able to find each other through search features built into their profile in order collaborate, bounce ideas of each other and share with one another not only what they are blogging about, but why.

As one the first flagship products, Bloggled.com will provide its users with the first web-based software to convert their blog into a book.  Users can decide on sizes, hardbound or softbound, color or black & white along with multiple “digital scrapbooking” editing tools.   Users will be able to click and drag pictures from their blog, as well as comments, posts, and virtually anything else they want.  Users can then format their book to look and feel anyway they please through the assortment of editing tools offered.   Books will then be shipped directly to the customer’s doorstep.   Customers at that point can either keep the book as a family scrapbook or gift it to relatives and friends, especially those who may be older in age and not accustomed to using the internet on a daily or weekly basis.  Professional bloggers also will benefit from converting their blog into a book in order to generate additional revenue streams through book sales.  Bloggers will have the ability to interact and share with one another their ideas, templates and advice, as well as find new Blogbuddies which they can add to their network.   Finally, for the professional blogger - coaching packages will be available ranging from tuition of a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, depending upon the number of coaching sessions and value of the material shared.  More and more individuals are in the business of making money from their blog and our top internet/blog experts will be there to show them how to maximize their blog’s earning potential.   With over 120,000 new blogs a day being started on the internet, Bloggled will be the premier community for all of them to host their blog, edit their blog, convert their blog, and receive additional blogging education and skills.  You can visit Bloggled.com now for a preview and trailer of what’s to come later this fall.”

The other night I’m at dinner with a few friends and there was a couple there that we hadn’t seen for some time. The husband had recently left his old job for a new job in event management. I asked him some questions about his new job and the things he likes about it and what he didn’t like about his old job. Pretty common answers came back like his new job is more exciting and more flexible than his old. He then asked me for an update on my business life and I let him know some things that were happening and that I was happy with business. He then asked, “so how did you get started in online marketing and SEO”; that is a very common question I get asked so I figured I would toss this post up explaining it.

I launched my first site in 2001 with a partner that I still do business with. It all started with us sitting around saying…we need to do something that let’s us be in control of our lives and gives us a chance to make a lot of money. We decided on the internet and launched our first site MyLDSMissionary.com which is still online and profitable today. From there I started working with a number of small business consulting firms and eventually decided to work full-time for a company named Prosper Learning. My experience there is what really gave me the push I needed to really dig deeply into online marketing and SEO and while working there I launched 5 additional ecommerce sites, most were successful, a few failed.

Prosper Learning is a company that coaches or mentors small business owners on how to launch, grow, and create a successful business. The specialize in mentoring in 5 major areas of business: Ecommerce, Real Estate, Personal Finance, Stock Investing, and General Entrepreneurship. While working at Prosper Learning I had the opportunity to mentor thousands of small online business owners through the concepts and process of building a website and marketing it. I got to rub shoulders with many extremely successful entrepreneurs including: Robert Allen, Mark Victor Hansen, Anthony Robbins, David Bach, and many more. I also attended every convention you can imagine in the realm of online marketing and SEO including: SMX, Pubcon, SES, CJU, etc. I already knew what it took to build an launch a successful website before working there, but having the chance to hone my skills and work with thousands of businesses really gave me a unique look into ecommerce. Most small business owners rarely start and build more than 1 or maybe 2-3 business during their lifetime, but I had seen thousands of business launch. Of course not all succeeded, but I could see why they failed and learned from it.

After leaving Prosper Learning I have gone on to create my own SEO firm, Dream Systems Media and Utah SEO Firm along with my two partners and have continued to build and create profitable ecommerce businesses. I think my greatest moments of learning where watching a business that I had high hope for fail. It gave me a direct seat to see what should have been done better to make it work. I have been involved in ecommerce and online marketing now for 8 years and like to think I know how to do it well now.

So there you have it…how I got started in online marketing and SEO.

As many of you know, I live in Sandy Utah. I have lived here most of my life and love it here. I did a stint in Washington and loved it there too, but there was far too much rain for my liking. Back in Utah I only have to deal with far too much snow for my liking…at times. However, I have learned to enjoy the snow and the seasons that I experience every year here in Utah.

As I was doing a little research for an SEO campaign I’m working on I came across a story talking about how Sandy city is the 26th safest city in America and I have to tell you that made me feel great. What a way to represent. For all of my friends (and others) that hate on Utah and Sandy…take that.