Depending on what source you use, there is somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 million active English language blogs today. That’s some steep competition for your blog. Making yourself stand out and generating readership are your two biggest goals when starting a new blog. Here are four ways to start dominating the internet and marketing your brilliant blog.

1. Give it Away
People are hesitant to give away valuable content for free—especially in the business world. But giving away free content increases your online visibility. Take heart in knowing that several online powerhouses such as Cory Doctrow, Julie Powell, and Brian Clark all give away some of their best advice for free. Don’t know them? Look them up, and start learning from the best in the biz.

2. Write Articles for Other Blogs
Your website will take time to build up an audience. In the meantime, take advantage of others’ blogs and websites that have already established an online presence and write a guest article, linking back to your blog of course. The key here? Use your best, most captivating articles on the others’ blogs. While tempting to save it for your site, people are more likely to see it—and in reading it, visit your site—than if it existed on your site alone.

3. Get your Tweet On
Twitter is a powerful tool, if you know how to use it to your advantage. One of the most important necessities of your blog’s twitter account is followers. Socialnewswatch.com offers a list of 237 Twitter users who will, almost guaranteed, follow you back if you seek them out. Just search “Top 237 Twitter Users Who Will Follow You Back” on Socialnewswatch.com. Once you’re being followed by this nice boost of 200 plus users, utilize it. Don’t just sit there. Interact with them so they’ll interact with you. Promote yourself and promote them. It’s a give and take relationship.

4. Be Quirky
The most evident example of quirkiness in action is David Ogilvy. If you’re not familiar with the story, here it is in a nutshell: to promote an ad campaign, which Ogilvy was modeling for, he put an eye patch on in the picture. Yes, an eye patch. The campaign was a hit due to the mysteriousness and oddity of “The Man in the Hathaway Shirt.” So what will be your blog or website’s eye patch? You need to differentiate yourself from the previously mentioned millions of other bloggers competing for your readers. Try to think of something entirely unique, useful and specific.

You’ve probably encountered one already. Maybe you’ve even tried to snap a photo of one with your mobile phone. We’re talking about those square matrix QR (Quick Response) Codes that have become recently ubiquitous. Sure, you can stick them in your windows, on your direct mail or even your business cards, but it’s important to know where your prospects are going once they take the time to act.

Having a QR Code is one thing, but having a proper landing page to where your code directs is another. A landing page is a unique page on your website that typically has a single purpose, like capturing an e-mail address or selling a product. In the case of a prospect scanning a QR Code, the landing page should be associated with the marketing you’re doing where your prospect discovered your QR Code. Take a look at how to get the most of your QR Codes by creating great landing pages that go with them.

Keep it Simple
Your initial reaction is going to want to fit as much information on this page as you can, but too much information can be overwhelming. It’s important to keep it as simple as you can while still getting your point across. Remember, you want to keep your marketing focused to the campaign you’re running.

Make it Engaging
You only have a few seconds to get your visitors’ attention. Consider making a video or place a striking image of the product you’re trying to sell. Keep the copy simple and interesting. Make sure the visitor understands specifically what they should do while they’re on your landing page.

Call for One Call-to-Action
You got a visitor to your landing page; you want them to act on a specific promotion. Stick to one central call-to-action on your landing page, especially if you’re directing them there from a QR Code. You’ll want to make it a simple a form, with as little work for the visitor as possible to capture your lead. Make sure the button you want the prospect to click is of high contrast to the rest of the elements on the site so it stands out. Having more than one call-to-action can confuse your visitors and cause them to leave your website.

Now what? It’s possible you’re having a giveaway, trying to get registrations for an event or just trying to build awareness for your organization. With a good landing page you’ve given your visitors a reason to act on the marketing you’re doing. Having these visitors to your page means you ended up obtaining information about your prospects. So, now it’s time for you to act.

Every day you go to your mailbox to see it you have mail. As you hover over the trashcan to sort, how do you decide what piece you’ll read and what piece will fall through your hands to its demise? While direct mail is an effective tool in your marketing campaign, there are some easy ways to foil your efforts. Here are a few tips to keep your mail out of the recycle bin.

Wrong Audience
First, you must understand your target audience. Second, you must find a way to obtain their mailing address. If you’re planning to purchase a list, look to your current customers as a source for demographic and psychographic information. Current customers are also more likely to respond to direct mail, so consider a campaign for repeat business.

No Call To Action
The whole purpose of direct mail is to get people to do something. For businesses, that usually means purchasing something from you. It’s important that you have a clear call to action and that the offer is compelling. Make an offer they can’t refuse and the response rate will raise.

Poor Design
The quickest way to get a person to look at your direct mail is by having a clean design. Conversely, the quickest way to get them to toss it is to have a design with no purpose. Here is where you want to call in the professionals who can create the perfect piece for your needs.

Tracking Results
How will you know whether your direct mail campaign was successful unless you include a way to track it? Include a special promotional code or make customers bring in the direct mail piece. It is important to know if you got a good ROI to determine if you want to mail again or make adjustments.