Most blogs these days are about bloggers and their life and progress in the internet. In fact, most bloggers consider their blog as a business. One of those people is Jackie, who asked me to review her new biz (business) blog, Jackie’s Biz Blog, so she can develop it just like how I helped other bloggers.
Who Is Jackie?
Before I actually get started on talking about her blog, let me tell you a little bit about her. Currently residing in Utah, she has been studying internet and network marketing for over 6 years. Her blog, Jackie’s Biz Blog, is just like any other marketing blog where she posts her online marketing and business ramblings. It really seems more like a personal blog, but her readers can surely learn a lot of stuff about the things she writes. But when I checked out her My Bussinesses page, she actually has 3 other sites: YourFunTravelBiz, JackiesTravelDeals, and JackiesFamousJerky. I won’t talk about them, though, so I’ll get on with Jackies Biz Blog.
What I Like
When I first visited Jackie’s Biz Blog, her tagline/slogan stood out to me. “Jackie’s Business About Being In Business”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blog like this where the blog is a business… about being in business. Almost every blog out there you see is about “making money online” and all the other saturated topics, so I really like what I saw.
In terms of her posts, here are a few that you must read.
- You Mean I Have To Have Talent?
- Direct Sales vs. Network Marketing
- Chicken Soup For the Network Marketer’s Soul
Another thing that I like about the blog is her My Businesses page. I’ve already told you about this, but there’s a reason why I really like it: she is sharing her other online projects from her blog, which is what a true business is. I know that there are many bloggers out there who have other projects and businesses online, but they don’t really share it. You don’t know it, but I am one of those people. I just don’t feel that it’s time for me to share my other projects (yet). Jackie, though, shares hers which is a very good thing for her and her readers.
What Needs Fixing
Like any other blog, there are some things that need fixing. First of all the permalinks structure needs some tweaking. The browser title of the home page is plain “-JackiesBizBlog.com”. Jackie, why don’t you change it to the title of your blog and its slogan?
Jackie’s Biz Blog - Jackie’s Business About Being In Business
Wouldn’t that sound and look better? Of course you can do whatever you want, but that’s just a tip I’m giving.
Next is the sidebar and I can see a lot of things that also needs fixing. Why is there 5 buttons (RSS, technorati, blogorama, blogdigger, and blogtoplist) just sitting there? It would be a very good idea to organize them in some way. Right now, it just looks like you smacked in the HTML code of the images. And what’s up with the BlogRush widget? Please don’t tell me that you are actually getting traffic from their network, because I know for a fact that nobody else is. Remove the widget ASAP! Oh, and why is there two “Recent Readers/Visitors” widgets on the sidebar? Pick one and remove the other (I would go with the MyBlogLog one). Everything else on the sidbar is fine, but there’s always room for other things like showing your most popular posts for example.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the posts. The writing and content is perfectly fine, but what I’m referring to are the extra other things that affects the blog. Let’s take a look at the Bookmark It plugin you are using, for example. Honestly, you don’t need to show that many sites for readers to bookmark. Make 5 a maximum, not 50. In fact, you can use the Share This plugin in place of that one since it only shows one button but can do the same thing Bookmark it can.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the blog is appealing to those who are just like Jackie that have other types of business online. The only thing I would really emphasize is to fix those things I talked about. First impressions are everything, and you have to do whatever it takes to keep readers. Other than that, check out Jackie’s Biz Blog if you have not yet!
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I like the content and I think Jackie writes well, but I would get rid of most of the smilies, I think they’re overdone. As for the sidebar, clean it up and make it flow better. Right now it’s jumbled and I’m not sure where I should look next or what is supposed to be important for me to see.
Overall this is a good blog though and I can easily see Jackie achieving some success with it.
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Yeah I love the smilies, I cannot stop those but you are right about the sidebar. I am looking to rearranging again.
I like Jackie`s blog
thanks for the interesting read!
what a great review,positive and constructive, it certainly made me check out her site! Keep up the good work!
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Well Sly, I update and did some changes to my blog…you should check it out.
Your review and thoughts on Jackies Biz Blog are very down to earth, and Im sure she will take your advice and fix up her blog so that it will look better and bring in more visitors. First impressions as you tell us do count. I shall go and check out Jackies Biz blog.
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I will stop by and check out Jackie’s blog. I must say that I like the way you are HONEST about her blog. You put forward the good things about it and the things that need improvement. A number of similar posts that I read only dwell on the good bits and don’t give any constructive criticism which one needs in order to excel.
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