1. Analyze the Source of Traffic
The first thing that I’d highly recommend you do when you realize that one post on your blog is attracting more traffic than others is to spend some time analyzing the source of the traffic. Where it’s coming from will determine what actions you need to take next.
Is the traffic coming from search engines? If so, you’ll want to do some SEO on the post. You should also do some analysis of what keywords people are searching for that drives them to the post.
Is the traffic coming from social media? If so, it’ll be more temporary so you’ll want to act fast and concentrate on converting visitors to subscribers.
Is the traffic coming from another blog or site? If so you’ll need to act quickly, concentrate on getting subscribers but also build a relationship with the other site.
Why does the post work? - this is an important question to ask yourself, particularly if you’re looking to write more posts like it. Is it the title of the post, is it the topic, is it the voice you wrote it in?
The more information you have on where the traffic is from and why it’s landing on your post the better equipped you’ll be to decide which of the following strategies you should take next.
2. On Page SEO
If point #1 shows you that traffic is coming to the post from search engines you are in luck. Search engine traffic is wonderful because it has the potential to send your post traffic every day for years to come. However don’t just sit back and feel good about yourself - ask yourself how you can take the traffic to the next level and drive even more search engine traffic to it!
One of the things you will want to do is optimize the post for search engines even more than it already is. Obviously you’ve done something right in terms of SEO - but how can you improve it even more?
Knowing the keywords that the post is doing well for in SE’s is important here. Once you know this you can highlight them to the search engine bots by bolding them, adding them to your post to increase keyword density, adding images that have those words as their name and in alt tags, adding them in headings etc. Don’t ’stuff’ your post with the words - but finding ways to naturally build them into your post can help it rank even higher for those words.
Again - don’t over do this. You’re already ranking well so just tweak the post a little.
Read more about on page SEO at Search Engine Optimization for Bloggers.
3. Off Page SEO
The other thing you can do to attempt to boost the search engine ranking of the post is to build a few incoming links to the post. Search engines see incoming links to a page as like a ‘vote’ - the more votes the higher it’ll rank (in general).
Note: The best type of incoming links are ‘relevant’ ones (ie from sites on a similar topic) and ones with the keywords that you’re trying to rank for in the link.
The first way to get some extra incoming links to the post is to link to it from your own blog/s. Find other posts on similar topics and link to this post from them. You don’t need to link to the post from every page on your blog - but do find at least a few other posts to link up to it from.
The second way to get extra incoming links is to submit the link to other bloggers. You might do this by pulling a few favors with other bloggers or by emailing them to suggest the post might be relevant to their readers. Don’t spam people and do keep the links relevant to the sites that you’re submitting them to - but any links you get can help give the post an extra boost.
Lastly - another source of links can be social media sites that you are active on. Even just tweeting the link in a relevant way to readers can add a little Google Juice. I’ll write more on social media sites in my next point.
4. Submit it to Social Media Sites
If the traffic to your post is coming from a social media site like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit or Delicious you’ll need to act a little faster to optimize the post. I’ll suggest some ways to do this below - but first you might want to see if there are some ways that you can ‘help’ the post become even more viral on social media sites.
For example - if the post is on the front page of Digg there’s a chance that it could also be growing on StumbleUpon or Delicious. Check this out and vote up the post on those services. Send the links over to others to give it their vote too.
You might also like to add a link or button to the post itself if it’s doing well on social media. For example - if I notice a post is starting to build momentum on Digg I’ll add a Digg button to it. This can often be enough to tip it over the edge and onto the front page.
5. Add Options to Subscribe
This one is important whether the source of traffic is search engines, another site or social media as it focusses upon converting your new visitors to the page into ongoing readers of your blog.
When I have a ‘hot post’ I’ll often add a link to the post that says something like ‘enjoying this post - get more like it via our newsletter’ and link to a page giving the blog’s subscriptions options. These links can do very well at the end of posts.
6. Add links to the post to other pages on your blog
Drive people deeper into your blog by adding links to other pages on your site. You can do this within the content of the post itself or at the end of the post as ‘further reading’.
The key is to make the link to your best posts and to posts that are relevant in terms of content to the hot post.
7. Optimize Page Loading
Hopefully you won’t need to do this because your page will already be well optimized - but if you’re getting ALOT of traffic (for example from Digg or some other large site) your loading times might slow down - particularly if you have a lot of large files that need to load.
I learned this the first time I got on the front page of Digg on a photography related post where I had 20 large images that needed to load. The page didn’t crash but I burned through a heap of bandwidth that day and probably lost a lot of readers who got frustrated with the slow loading images.
8. Monetize the Post
Personally this is not something I do straight away as I like to work first upon converting readers into subscribers - however if you have one post with a lot of traffic it could be wise to add monetization streams to that post.
For example - if the post is doing a lot of impressions you might want to add some CPM ads to the page.
Another technique is to add relevant affiliate products to such ‘hot posts’.
I would avoid adding too many of these to hot posts as you could end up putting readers off. My personal approach is to monetize sites by converting people into regular readers and letting their continued visits to my blog make money over a longer period. Sure you might be able to earn a few extra dollars by stuffing such pages with CPM ads - but those visitors will be less likely to return in future.
9. Improve the Post
Some bloggers resist updating their blog posts - but I think it makes a lot of sense to not only add new posts to a blog but to improve old ones. I’m not just talking about editing posts for SEO benefits - but editing and adding to posts so that they become more valuable to readers.
Here’s the thing - if you’ve got a post that is attracting thousands of readers to it but it’s and ‘average’ quality post - you’ll have a lot better chance of converting readers to be loyal if the post is of an ‘excellent’ standard. So look over such hot posts and see if there are ways you can improve them.
10. Write More Posts Like it
Finally - we’re onto Keith’s question and the idea of writing more posts like the one that is ‘hot’.
I think that this is a good idea - on a number of levels.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
How to turn any blog that attracts only "cheap" keywords into a better cash flow
In this post I will explain how to turn any blog that attracts only "cheap" keywords into a better cash flow. In order to make my explanation easier to understand, I have illustrated it with a real life example.
A young girl had asked for my help to monetize her blog about modeling. As a college student and a part time model, she had both the passion and knowledge about the subject. As such, it wasn't difficult for her to come up with new interesting posts which made her blog very popular among young adults.
I suggested utilizing Google AdSense to monetize her blog. Because she was a busy full time student, it was very exciting for her to be able to earn some money with this, "passive income," stream.
Due to the fact that all model-related keywords and phrases were very low paid, we had to come up with a few additional subjects. Content that attracts very well paid ads and could be potentially interesting to her visitors. Topics such as student credit cards, student loans, online education, student car insurance, and others.
Key phrases that apply directly to modeling are paying the following:
how to become a model 23 cents
teen modeling 16 cents
teen modeling agency 15 cents
BUT! Look at what these keywords are paying:
student credit cards $3.00
student loan $4.64
online education $2.49
student car insurance $7.05
As you may have noticed, there is a vast disparity in pay-outs on keyword phrases.
I suggested building a few simple satellite blogs, based on well-paid topics, around her main modeling blog. She then created a few satellite blogs, utilizing no more than two to three pages per blog, and placed links on the main modeling blog pointing to them.
Her modeling blog receives a lot of free targeted traffic because of its popularity among young adults. She developed a warm relationship with her blog visitors by offering them FREE, valuable information. The audience has confidence in her and checks-out what she recommends.
These recommendations redirect the free targeted traffic from the main blog to the satellite blogs. Because of this, she is able to receive additional streams of income from the “expensive keywords.”
Keep in mind that she recommends only those subjects that WOULD BE INTERESTING to her visitors! That’s why it is not difficult to convince them to visit the satellite blogs.
If this young girl had decided to compete with the “big dogs” in the crowded arena of credit cards and loans, she would have never succeeded. But the trick here is that she doesn’t need to compete with them!
The young lady has a blog on a subject which is easy and enjoyable for her to write about. Then she simply redirects the traffic to the satellite blogs which attract the higher priced ads.
She recycles traffic a few times before the visitors decide to leave her community of blogs.
So, let us recap what we have learned.
1. Write a blog about a subject that you are passionate and knowledgeable about.
Do the research to be sure that you are not the only one in this world who has an interest in this subject and that your future blog will have an audience.
3. Research all keywords on the main and related topics.
4. Create your main blog. Then build a few related satellite blogs which are able to attract better paying keywords. Do not create more than five pages for the satellite blogs.
5. Spend 99% of your time posting on the main blog and 1% on the satellite blogs.
6. Make the main blog as big and interesting as possible.
7. Build traffic to your main blog, and redirect it to the satellite blogs.
With time, these seven steps could transform your little hobby blog into a steady stream of income.
Below I have another example where a main blog carries the cheap keywords and the satellite blogs carry the expensive keywords
Main Blog:
senior dating 85 cents
Satellite Blogs:
senior life insurance $7.00
senior services $1.54
senior health care $2.10
senior health insurance $5.00
senior life settlement $8.99
Building blog communities around the main blog can create a business that will bring you money for many years to come.
A young girl had asked for my help to monetize her blog about modeling. As a college student and a part time model, she had both the passion and knowledge about the subject. As such, it wasn't difficult for her to come up with new interesting posts which made her blog very popular among young adults.
I suggested utilizing Google AdSense to monetize her blog. Because she was a busy full time student, it was very exciting for her to be able to earn some money with this, "passive income," stream.
Due to the fact that all model-related keywords and phrases were very low paid, we had to come up with a few additional subjects. Content that attracts very well paid ads and could be potentially interesting to her visitors. Topics such as student credit cards, student loans, online education, student car insurance, and others.
Key phrases that apply directly to modeling are paying the following:
how to become a model 23 cents
teen modeling 16 cents
teen modeling agency 15 cents
BUT! Look at what these keywords are paying:
student credit cards $3.00
student loan $4.64
online education $2.49
student car insurance $7.05
As you may have noticed, there is a vast disparity in pay-outs on keyword phrases.
I suggested building a few simple satellite blogs, based on well-paid topics, around her main modeling blog. She then created a few satellite blogs, utilizing no more than two to three pages per blog, and placed links on the main modeling blog pointing to them.
Her modeling blog receives a lot of free targeted traffic because of its popularity among young adults. She developed a warm relationship with her blog visitors by offering them FREE, valuable information. The audience has confidence in her and checks-out what she recommends.
These recommendations redirect the free targeted traffic from the main blog to the satellite blogs. Because of this, she is able to receive additional streams of income from the “expensive keywords.”
Keep in mind that she recommends only those subjects that WOULD BE INTERESTING to her visitors! That’s why it is not difficult to convince them to visit the satellite blogs.
If this young girl had decided to compete with the “big dogs” in the crowded arena of credit cards and loans, she would have never succeeded. But the trick here is that she doesn’t need to compete with them!
The young lady has a blog on a subject which is easy and enjoyable for her to write about. Then she simply redirects the traffic to the satellite blogs which attract the higher priced ads.
She recycles traffic a few times before the visitors decide to leave her community of blogs.
So, let us recap what we have learned.
1. Write a blog about a subject that you are passionate and knowledgeable about.
Do the research to be sure that you are not the only one in this world who has an interest in this subject and that your future blog will have an audience.
3. Research all keywords on the main and related topics.
4. Create your main blog. Then build a few related satellite blogs which are able to attract better paying keywords. Do not create more than five pages for the satellite blogs.
5. Spend 99% of your time posting on the main blog and 1% on the satellite blogs.
6. Make the main blog as big and interesting as possible.
7. Build traffic to your main blog, and redirect it to the satellite blogs.
With time, these seven steps could transform your little hobby blog into a steady stream of income.
Below I have another example where a main blog carries the cheap keywords and the satellite blogs carry the expensive keywords
Main Blog:
senior dating 85 cents
Satellite Blogs:
senior life insurance $7.00
senior services $1.54
senior health care $2.10
senior health insurance $5.00
senior life settlement $8.99
Building blog communities around the main blog can create a business that will bring you money for many years to come.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Making Money Off Your (Blog)
There are many ways to make money off you (blog) here is a small list of them.
Adsense: You get paid to put advertisments on you website or (blog). You get paid every time some one clicks on an ad on your page. You can refur google products. You can also put in a google search engine and get paid every time someone clicks on an ad in the search results.
Blogging ads: Pays you $5 us to add a sales message to your (blog).
Inblogads.com: Pays you to review services, websites, and products of a company
Payperpost.com: Pays you for wrighting information about websites, services, or products of advertisers with a link to the advertisers site. They pay you with pay pal 30 days after you post.
Buzzbyblog.com: Pays you to post ads on you blog. Just register, receive offers, write, and get paid. You choose the minimum ammount you get paid per entery.
Posted by Taylor at 8:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: AdSense, Blog, Buzzbyblog, Inblogads, Money, Payperpost
Google AdSense
Google AdSense is free and combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising which means that you get paid every time someone validly clicks an ad on you page or in your search results.
Here's how to start you own AdSense account:
Step 1: First you will need a google account. If you don't already have one follow this link https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and fill out the form.
Step 2: Once you have your google account follow this link to https://www.google.com/adsense/g-app-single-1
Step 3: You will also need a website or you can use Googles' (Blogger) and create a (blog) and (blogspot) address. To create a (blogspot) address go to the Settings tab and under settings go to publishing and type in what ever you want as your address.
Step 4: Fill out the form. Then click the 'Submit Information' button.
Step 5: Go to the AdSense homepage and click 'AdSense Setup' and choose which products you want to add to you site. (Like AdSense for content which are ads that are targeted to your sites content, AdSense for search offers you users a web search while you earn money from the ads they click on on the search results page, and Referrals earn more money by referring users to google products and services.)
Step 6: Copy and paste the code to you site or (blog) and your Done!
If you have any questions about AdSense follow the link below.
http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help?lnk=li
Making money using eBay!
5 simple steps to your first eBay auction
It's quite simple to start your first auction on eBay.
Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open a eBay account
If you’re new to eBay you need to click register which is near the top of the window and go through the registration process. Then click sell and create a sellers account eBay will guide you through the rest of the process.
Step 2: Decide what to sell
For your first sale just choose something sitting around your house that you don’t mind losing. A book or CD’s are terrific items for your first sale.
Step 3: Submit your item
Click sell!
You need to choose a category or you can type in the item and let eBay choose for you. Write in a title and description. It’s a good idea to use words you think people will search for.
Set a starting price $0.10 is a good starting price because it will attract people who would normally not bid for your item. (Make sure to create a reserve price that you think your item is worth.) Next set a duration such as 1 day, if you set it for a longer time you will most likely get more money than a shorter time, but for something like a CD or book a lot of time is not necessary. Next add your picture if you don’t add a picture people might think you're trying to scam them and it will sell for less. Next choose the payment methods (for beginners I recommend pay pal.)
Then choose your selling locations (for beginners I recommend your county)
Step 4: Let it sell
For this step just check up on your item occasionally. People will find it on their own and some potential buyers may email you with questions. Be sure to answer them as quickly as possible. If you item does not sell then you can list it again for free!
Step 5: Get paid and send
The buyer will send you their payment soon after winning. EBay will send the buyers address to you, but be sure to wait for your money before you send the buyer their package.
After you receive your payment write the buyers address on the package, put your item and some packing peanuts in the package, and send it on its way.
Adsense: You get paid to put advertisments on you website or (blog). You get paid every time some one clicks on an ad on your page. You can refur google products. You can also put in a google search engine and get paid every time someone clicks on an ad in the search results.
Blogging ads: Pays you $5 us to add a sales message to your (blog).
Inblogads.com: Pays you to review services, websites, and products of a company
Payperpost.com: Pays you for wrighting information about websites, services, or products of advertisers with a link to the advertisers site. They pay you with pay pal 30 days after you post.
Buzzbyblog.com: Pays you to post ads on you blog. Just register, receive offers, write, and get paid. You choose the minimum ammount you get paid per entery.
Posted by Taylor at 8:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: AdSense, Blog, Buzzbyblog, Inblogads, Money, Payperpost
Google AdSense
Google AdSense is free and combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising which means that you get paid every time someone validly clicks an ad on you page or in your search results.
Here's how to start you own AdSense account:
Step 1: First you will need a google account. If you don't already have one follow this link https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and fill out the form.
Step 2: Once you have your google account follow this link to https://www.google.com/adsense/g-app-single-1
Step 3: You will also need a website or you can use Googles' (Blogger) and create a (blog) and (blogspot) address. To create a (blogspot) address go to the Settings tab and under settings go to publishing and type in what ever you want as your address.
Step 4: Fill out the form. Then click the 'Submit Information' button.
Step 5: Go to the AdSense homepage and click 'AdSense Setup' and choose which products you want to add to you site. (Like AdSense for content which are ads that are targeted to your sites content, AdSense for search offers you users a web search while you earn money from the ads they click on on the search results page, and Referrals earn more money by referring users to google products and services.)
Step 6: Copy and paste the code to you site or (blog) and your Done!
If you have any questions about AdSense follow the link below.
http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help?lnk=li
Making money using eBay!
5 simple steps to your first eBay auction
It's quite simple to start your first auction on eBay.
Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open a eBay account
If you’re new to eBay you need to click register which is near the top of the window and go through the registration process. Then click sell and create a sellers account eBay will guide you through the rest of the process.
Step 2: Decide what to sell
For your first sale just choose something sitting around your house that you don’t mind losing. A book or CD’s are terrific items for your first sale.
Step 3: Submit your item
Click sell!
You need to choose a category or you can type in the item and let eBay choose for you. Write in a title and description. It’s a good idea to use words you think people will search for.
Set a starting price $0.10 is a good starting price because it will attract people who would normally not bid for your item. (Make sure to create a reserve price that you think your item is worth.) Next set a duration such as 1 day, if you set it for a longer time you will most likely get more money than a shorter time, but for something like a CD or book a lot of time is not necessary. Next add your picture if you don’t add a picture people might think you're trying to scam them and it will sell for less. Next choose the payment methods (for beginners I recommend pay pal.)
Then choose your selling locations (for beginners I recommend your county)
Step 4: Let it sell
For this step just check up on your item occasionally. People will find it on their own and some potential buyers may email you with questions. Be sure to answer them as quickly as possible. If you item does not sell then you can list it again for free!
Step 5: Get paid and send
The buyer will send you their payment soon after winning. EBay will send the buyers address to you, but be sure to wait for your money before you send the buyer their package.
After you receive your payment write the buyers address on the package, put your item and some packing peanuts in the package, and send it on its way.
making money off your (blog)
There are many ways to make money off you (blog) here is a small list of them.
Adsense: You get paid to put advertisments on you website or (blog). You get paid every time some one clicks on an ad on your page. You can refur google products. You can also put in a google search engine and get paid every time someone clicks on an ad in the search results.
Blogging ads: Pays you $5 us to add a sales message to your (blog).
Inblogads.com: Pays you to review services, websites, and products of a company
Payperpost.com: Pays you for wrighting information about websites, services, or products of advertisers with a link to the advertisers site. They pay you with pay pal 30 days after you post.
Buzzbyblog.com: Pays you to post ads on you blog. Just register, receive offers, write, and get paid. You choose the minimum ammount you get paid per entery.
Posted by Taylor at 8:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: AdSense, Blog, Buzzbyblog, Inblogads, Money, Payperpost
Google AdSense
Google AdSense is free and combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising which means that you get paid every time someone validly clicks an ad on you page or in your search results.
Here's how to start you own AdSense account:
Step 1: First you will need a google account. If you don't already have one follow this link https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and fill out the form.
Step 2: Once you have your google account follow this link to https://www.google.com/adsense/g-app-single-1
Step 3: You will also need a website or you can use Googles' (Blogger) and create a (blog) and (blogspot) address. To create a (blogspot) address go to the Settings tab and under settings go to publishing and type in what ever you want as your address.
Step 4: Fill out the form. Then click the 'Submit Information' button.
Step 5: Go to the AdSense homepage and click 'AdSense Setup' and choose which products you want to add to you site. (Like AdSense for content which are ads that are targeted to your sites content, AdSense for search offers you users a web search while you earn money from the ads they click on on the search results page, and Referrals earn more money by referring users to google products and services.)
Step 6: Copy and paste the code to you site or (blog) and your Done!
http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help?lnk=li
Making money using eBay!
5 simple steps to your first eBay auction
It's quite simple to start your first auction on eBay.
Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open a eBay account
If you’re new to eBay you need to click register which is near the top of the window and go through the registration process. Then click sell and create a sellers account eBay will guide you through the rest of the process.
Step 2: Decide what to sell
For your first sale just choose something sitting around your house that you don’t mind losing. A book or CD’s are terrific items for your first sale.
Step 3: Submit your item
Click sell!
You need to choose a category or you can type in the item and let eBay choose for you. Write in a title and description. It’s a good idea to use words you think people will search for.
Set a starting price $0.10 is a good starting price because it will attract people who would normally not bid for your item. (Make sure to create a reserve price that you think your item is worth.) Next set a duration such as 1 day, if you set it for a longer time you will most likely get more money than a shorter time, but for something like a CD or book a lot of time is not necessary. Next add your picture if you don’t add a picture people might think you're trying to scam them and it will sell for less. Next choose the payment methods (for beginners I recommend pay pal.)
Then choose your selling locations (for beginners I recommend your county)
Step 4: Let it sell
For this step just check up on your item occasionally. People will find it on their own and some potential buyers may email you with questions. Be sure to answer them as quickly as possible. If you item does not sell then you can list it again for free!
Step 5: Get paid and send
The buyer will send you their payment soon after winning. EBay will send the buyers address to you, but be sure to wait for your money before you send the buyer their package.
After you receive your payment write the buyers address on the package, put your item and some packing peanuts in the package, and send it on its way.
Adsense: You get paid to put advertisments on you website or (blog). You get paid every time some one clicks on an ad on your page. You can refur google products. You can also put in a google search engine and get paid every time someone clicks on an ad in the search results.
Blogging ads: Pays you $5 us to add a sales message to your (blog).
Inblogads.com: Pays you to review services, websites, and products of a company
Payperpost.com: Pays you for wrighting information about websites, services, or products of advertisers with a link to the advertisers site. They pay you with pay pal 30 days after you post.
Buzzbyblog.com: Pays you to post ads on you blog. Just register, receive offers, write, and get paid. You choose the minimum ammount you get paid per entery.
Posted by Taylor at 8:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: AdSense, Blog, Buzzbyblog, Inblogads, Money, Payperpost
Google AdSense
Google AdSense is free and combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising which means that you get paid every time someone validly clicks an ad on you page or in your search results.
Here's how to start you own AdSense account:
Step 1: First you will need a google account. If you don't already have one follow this link https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount and fill out the form.
Step 2: Once you have your google account follow this link to https://www.google.com/adsense/g-app-single-1
Step 3: You will also need a website or you can use Googles' (Blogger) and create a (blog) and (blogspot) address. To create a (blogspot) address go to the Settings tab and under settings go to publishing and type in what ever you want as your address.
Step 4: Fill out the form. Then click the 'Submit Information' button.
Step 5: Go to the AdSense homepage and click 'AdSense Setup' and choose which products you want to add to you site. (Like AdSense for content which are ads that are targeted to your sites content, AdSense for search offers you users a web search while you earn money from the ads they click on on the search results page, and Referrals earn more money by referring users to google products and services.)
Step 6: Copy and paste the code to you site or (blog) and your Done!
http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help?lnk=li
Making money using eBay!
5 simple steps to your first eBay auction
It's quite simple to start your first auction on eBay.
Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open a eBay account
If you’re new to eBay you need to click register which is near the top of the window and go through the registration process. Then click sell and create a sellers account eBay will guide you through the rest of the process.
Step 2: Decide what to sell
For your first sale just choose something sitting around your house that you don’t mind losing. A book or CD’s are terrific items for your first sale.
Step 3: Submit your item
Click sell!
You need to choose a category or you can type in the item and let eBay choose for you. Write in a title and description. It’s a good idea to use words you think people will search for.
Set a starting price $0.10 is a good starting price because it will attract people who would normally not bid for your item. (Make sure to create a reserve price that you think your item is worth.) Next set a duration such as 1 day, if you set it for a longer time you will most likely get more money than a shorter time, but for something like a CD or book a lot of time is not necessary. Next add your picture if you don’t add a picture people might think you're trying to scam them and it will sell for less. Next choose the payment methods (for beginners I recommend pay pal.)
Then choose your selling locations (for beginners I recommend your county)
Step 4: Let it sell
For this step just check up on your item occasionally. People will find it on their own and some potential buyers may email you with questions. Be sure to answer them as quickly as possible. If you item does not sell then you can list it again for free!
Step 5: Get paid and send
The buyer will send you their payment soon after winning. EBay will send the buyers address to you, but be sure to wait for your money before you send the buyer their package.
After you receive your payment write the buyers address on the package, put your item and some packing peanuts in the package, and send it on its way.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
increase your blog traffic with this free and easy method
By now just about everyone has a blog on their site. If you don't yet, you should definitely look into starting a blog of your own. With easy and free options like Blogger and Wordpress, it's actually a lot easier than it may look.
Why bother starting a blog? Because blogs could possibly be the easiest type of site to promote that has ever been created. The whole concept of blogging is based around interlinking to other interesting sites, often without being approached by the site owner first. Most blog platforms even include a trackback feature to encourage blogging about other people's sites. This is a drastic change from the view of traditional webmasters who fear linking out will hurt their site's ranking.
Submit your blog to as many free blog directories as possible. Just like submitting a regular site to free web directories gives you backlinks and Pagerank, submitting your blog will do the same thing for it. Also, if your blog generates an RSS feed (most blogging software does this for you), you can submit that to another list of RSS directories also, maximizing your exposure.
Blogs also give you an easy way to take part in the social bookmarking (Web 2.0) phenomenon and get some great targeted traffic. While most social bookmarking sites let you post pages from regular websites, the very structure of a blog makes it a great fit for bookmarking and sharing with others in the community.
Technorati is the best place to start with tagging and pinging your blog. All you have to do is sign up for an account and "claim" your blog with a couple of easy steps. Now you can add tags to every post and your blog will show up on Technorati for those keywords. If you're using Wordpress, there are a few plugins that make tagging easy (Simple Tags and Ultimate Tag Warrior are probably the best right now.)
Technorati is just the beginning, though. There are literally hundreds of social bookmarking sites now, with more new ones popping up every day. Obviously, time becomes a factor at some point, but you should try to sign up and post your blog at as many social bookmarking sites as possible.
Of course, you can still use traditional online marketing methods to bring traffic to your blog just like it was any other site. You can get great traffic from writing and submitting articles or press releases that link to your blog. Be sure to also link to your blog in your signatures on any related forums you may participate in. Try to post quality information so people will be interested in reading what you have posted on your blog.
Blog sites are far easier to promote than traditional websites, just because of their design and interactive structure. Take advantage of as many of these interlinking features (trackbacks, comments, tagging, etc.) to maximize the traffic to your blog. Submitting to blog and RSS feed directories, along with traditional methods of directory submission, article writing, and link exchange should also give your blog a significant increase in website traffic
Why bother starting a blog? Because blogs could possibly be the easiest type of site to promote that has ever been created. The whole concept of blogging is based around interlinking to other interesting sites, often without being approached by the site owner first. Most blog platforms even include a trackback feature to encourage blogging about other people's sites. This is a drastic change from the view of traditional webmasters who fear linking out will hurt their site's ranking.
Submit your blog to as many free blog directories as possible. Just like submitting a regular site to free web directories gives you backlinks and Pagerank, submitting your blog will do the same thing for it. Also, if your blog generates an RSS feed (most blogging software does this for you), you can submit that to another list of RSS directories also, maximizing your exposure.
Blogs also give you an easy way to take part in the social bookmarking (Web 2.0) phenomenon and get some great targeted traffic. While most social bookmarking sites let you post pages from regular websites, the very structure of a blog makes it a great fit for bookmarking and sharing with others in the community.
Technorati is the best place to start with tagging and pinging your blog. All you have to do is sign up for an account and "claim" your blog with a couple of easy steps. Now you can add tags to every post and your blog will show up on Technorati for those keywords. If you're using Wordpress, there are a few plugins that make tagging easy (Simple Tags and Ultimate Tag Warrior are probably the best right now.)
Technorati is just the beginning, though. There are literally hundreds of social bookmarking sites now, with more new ones popping up every day. Obviously, time becomes a factor at some point, but you should try to sign up and post your blog at as many social bookmarking sites as possible.
Of course, you can still use traditional online marketing methods to bring traffic to your blog just like it was any other site. You can get great traffic from writing and submitting articles or press releases that link to your blog. Be sure to also link to your blog in your signatures on any related forums you may participate in. Try to post quality information so people will be interested in reading what you have posted on your blog.
Blog sites are far easier to promote than traditional websites, just because of their design and interactive structure. Take advantage of as many of these interlinking features (trackbacks, comments, tagging, etc.) to maximize the traffic to your blog. Submitting to blog and RSS feed directories, along with traditional methods of directory submission, article writing, and link exchange should also give your blog a significant increase in website traffic
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
How to Make Money from Your Blog (Other Than Using Ads)
The Value of Monetizing Your Blog Through Nonadvertising Opportunities:
Displaying ads on your blog is certainly a simple way to try to generate an income from it. However, ads are not a guaranteed money-maker. For one reason, they are often dependent on the actions of your blog's readers. For another reason, generating a significant amount of money through advertising on your blog is unlikely (possible but unlikely) unless your blog receives a very large amount of traffic each day.
By diversifying your income-generating opportunities, you'll have a greater chance of successfully monetizing your blog. Following are a variety of nonadvertising methods to earn money from your blog.
Sell Merchandise:
Many bloggers have success selling branded and non-branded merchandise on their blogs through CafePress.
Ask for Donations:
It can't hurt to ask your readers to donate to your blog. Some of them just might do it. You can add a donation button to your blog through PayPal.
Sell Your Guest Posting Services:
Most bloggers write guest posts for other blogs for free as a way to promote their own blogs. However, you can also offer your guest posting services for a fee.
Write and Sell an Ebook:
If your blog has loyal readers then they must like what you have to say. Similarly, if you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic, then there is a good chance people will want to read more from you outside of your blog. Leverage that position by writing an ebook and offering it for sale on your blog.
Write a Book:
If you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic and developed a strong following, you could write a book and either try to have it published or self-publish.
Become a Professional Blogger:
Many blogs and blog networks look for talented and knowledgeable writers to author blogs, and many of those blogging jobs are paying. Apply to blogging jobs to boost your blogging income.
Apply for Other Writing Jobs:
Blogging can help you polish your writing skills, which can help you land other freelance writing jobs online and offline. Transitioning into freelance writing from blogging is not unusual and can be very lucrative.
Become a Public Speaker:
If you've successfully established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic and generated a decent amount of traffic to your blog, you could offer your services as a public speaker at events related to your area of expertise.
Become a Consultant:
If you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic, you can offer consulting services to other people or business' who could use the help of your expertise. Alternatively, you could offer consulting services related to developing and writing a successful blog.
Displaying ads on your blog is certainly a simple way to try to generate an income from it. However, ads are not a guaranteed money-maker. For one reason, they are often dependent on the actions of your blog's readers. For another reason, generating a significant amount of money through advertising on your blog is unlikely (possible but unlikely) unless your blog receives a very large amount of traffic each day.
By diversifying your income-generating opportunities, you'll have a greater chance of successfully monetizing your blog. Following are a variety of nonadvertising methods to earn money from your blog.
Sell Merchandise:
Many bloggers have success selling branded and non-branded merchandise on their blogs through CafePress.
Ask for Donations:
It can't hurt to ask your readers to donate to your blog. Some of them just might do it. You can add a donation button to your blog through PayPal.
Sell Your Guest Posting Services:
Most bloggers write guest posts for other blogs for free as a way to promote their own blogs. However, you can also offer your guest posting services for a fee.
Write and Sell an Ebook:
If your blog has loyal readers then they must like what you have to say. Similarly, if you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic, then there is a good chance people will want to read more from you outside of your blog. Leverage that position by writing an ebook and offering it for sale on your blog.
Write a Book:
If you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic and developed a strong following, you could write a book and either try to have it published or self-publish.
Become a Professional Blogger:
Many blogs and blog networks look for talented and knowledgeable writers to author blogs, and many of those blogging jobs are paying. Apply to blogging jobs to boost your blogging income.
Apply for Other Writing Jobs:
Blogging can help you polish your writing skills, which can help you land other freelance writing jobs online and offline. Transitioning into freelance writing from blogging is not unusual and can be very lucrative.
Become a Public Speaker:
If you've successfully established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic and generated a decent amount of traffic to your blog, you could offer your services as a public speaker at events related to your area of expertise.
Become a Consultant:
If you've established yourself as an expert in your blog's topic, you can offer consulting services to other people or business' who could use the help of your expertise. Alternatively, you could offer consulting services related to developing and writing a successful blog.
guide to pasting adsense on your blog
Simple steps to pasting google adsense on your blog
Your adsense account has been approved, now you want to display adsense ads into your site. Adsense ads are Java Script. You are not familiar with Java Script or HTML. You are confused how to paste adsense code into your blog.You may also interest to know how to paste adsense code between the posts. Are you searching for guidelines to paste adsense code? Yes, you have landed at the right place. I will guide you to paste adsense code into your site.First I will discuss how to display adsense ads in blogger blog.
Method one:
Sign in to go to your Dashboard. In the relevant blog click 'LAYOUT' and you will be taken to the 'Blogger:: Edit Template HTML', where you will see "Add a page Element" under the Navbar and Header. Click on the "Add a Page Element"
After you click on "Add a Page Element", a pop-up will appear. There are several option in the pop-up to add into your blog. Click on "Adsense" . Seelect appropriate format and color as per the placement of the adsense ads and the background color of your blog. If you like to place ads in the side bar choose the skyskapper 120X600 or 200X600. With the drag and drop menu you can change the placement of ads any where. Before saving check your adsense publishers ID No. If it is correct save it. You are done.
Method two:
Log in to your adsense account
Log in to your Adsense account using your email address and password.Once logged in, you will see four tabs on the top- ' Reports', 'AdSense Setup', 'My account' and 'Resources'. Select the 'AdSense Setup' tab panel. Under 'AdSense Setup' you will see four optins. Select 'AdSense for Content'. You will be directed to a form that provides options to fully customize the look of your ads, such as selecting ad formats, sizes and colours. Opted for Single page option to view the whole thing in a single page. Under 'AdSense for Content' there are two options- 'Ad unit' and 'Link Unit'. You are allowed to place up to three ad units and three link units on any page. First select ad unit (text and image ads in default is the best) next choose adformat and color(blend your color with the background color of your site to increase CTR).Choose corner style as you like. Then Add channel, if you like to track the performance of your ad unit. Now 'submit and get code'. Finally, you will get the ad code for your AdSense ad unit. Click anywhere inside the grey box to select the code, then right-click and select copy. Copy the adsense code without changing any thing. Now go the "Add a Page Element" on the pop-up menu click on "HTML/Java Scripts", Paste the adsense code in the box provided and save it.
Method three:
Sign in to go to your Dashboard. In the relevant blog click 'LAYOUT' and you will be taken to the Blogger:: Edit Template HTML, "Under Blog post" Click on "Edit". A pop-up will appear. At the bottom you will see the option "show ads between the posts". Select AdSense Ads to be displayed after one, two, three or four posts. Save it. You are done. Adsense ads will be appeared between the posts.
Your adsense account has been approved, now you want to display adsense ads into your site. Adsense ads are Java Script. You are not familiar with Java Script or HTML. You are confused how to paste adsense code into your blog.You may also interest to know how to paste adsense code between the posts. Are you searching for guidelines to paste adsense code? Yes, you have landed at the right place. I will guide you to paste adsense code into your site.First I will discuss how to display adsense ads in blogger blog.
Method one:
Sign in to go to your Dashboard. In the relevant blog click 'LAYOUT' and you will be taken to the 'Blogger:: Edit Template HTML', where you will see "Add a page Element" under the Navbar and Header. Click on the "Add a Page Element"
After you click on "Add a Page Element", a pop-up will appear. There are several option in the pop-up to add into your blog. Click on "Adsense" . Seelect appropriate format and color as per the placement of the adsense ads and the background color of your blog. If you like to place ads in the side bar choose the skyskapper 120X600 or 200X600. With the drag and drop menu you can change the placement of ads any where. Before saving check your adsense publishers ID No. If it is correct save it. You are done.
Method two:
Log in to your adsense account
Log in to your Adsense account using your email address and password.Once logged in, you will see four tabs on the top- ' Reports', 'AdSense Setup', 'My account' and 'Resources'. Select the 'AdSense Setup' tab panel. Under 'AdSense Setup' you will see four optins. Select 'AdSense for Content'. You will be directed to a form that provides options to fully customize the look of your ads, such as selecting ad formats, sizes and colours. Opted for Single page option to view the whole thing in a single page. Under 'AdSense for Content' there are two options- 'Ad unit' and 'Link Unit'. You are allowed to place up to three ad units and three link units on any page. First select ad unit (text and image ads in default is the best) next choose adformat and color(blend your color with the background color of your site to increase CTR).Choose corner style as you like. Then Add channel, if you like to track the performance of your ad unit. Now 'submit and get code'. Finally, you will get the ad code for your AdSense ad unit. Click anywhere inside the grey box to select the code, then right-click and select copy. Copy the adsense code without changing any thing. Now go the "Add a Page Element" on the pop-up menu click on "HTML/Java Scripts", Paste the adsense code in the box provided and save it.
Method three:
Sign in to go to your Dashboard. In the relevant blog click 'LAYOUT' and you will be taken to the Blogger:: Edit Template HTML, "Under Blog post" Click on "Edit". A pop-up will appear. At the bottom you will see the option "show ads between the posts". Select AdSense Ads to be displayed after one, two, three or four posts. Save it. You are done. Adsense ads will be appeared between the posts.
monetize your blog
Text-Link-Ads let you sell site-wide link on your blog and make money from it. It is also the largest, text link ad marketplace around. Once approved, you will get their wordpress plugin or the other relevant plugin for your blog platform, so you can get started with selling right-away. www.Text-Link-Ads.com
If you blog is in an established state, you should probably sign-up for ReviewMe if you offer sponsored review on your blog. The payouts are probably the highest in the industry but getting approved is a bit hard. Also, you can approve and reject offers and set-up a direct marketplace on your own blog. www.reviewme.com
TNX allows you to sell links, much like Text-Link-Ads. The economy is run by this currency and you earn TNX points for showing other text link ads on your website or you can buy them. You can spend your points to show your text links on other sites or you can sell them to other TNX members or to TNX itself - for cold hard cash - of course. www.tnx.net
A miniature version of ReviewMe. It gives relatively lower payouts than other sponsored post marketplaces but getting your blog approved is much more easier. They have their own rating system which varies on your blog’s quality, sponsored posts quality, and etc. The higher your rating goes, more offers and more payout will be on the way.
Bidvertiser is an Google Adsense alternative. You can generate customized ad blocks containing contextual text links and display them on your site. Payouts are done in CPC (Cost per click) and CPM (Cost per impression). The specialty of Bidvertiser is that you can actually sell contextual advertising on your blog to the highest bidder!
www.bidvertiser.com
If you blog is in an established state, you should probably sign-up for ReviewMe if you offer sponsored review on your blog. The payouts are probably the highest in the industry but getting approved is a bit hard. Also, you can approve and reject offers and set-up a direct marketplace on your own blog. www.reviewme.com
TNX allows you to sell links, much like Text-Link-Ads. The economy is run by this currency and you earn TNX points for showing other text link ads on your website or you can buy them. You can spend your points to show your text links on other sites or you can sell them to other TNX members or to TNX itself - for cold hard cash - of course. www.tnx.net
A miniature version of ReviewMe. It gives relatively lower payouts than other sponsored post marketplaces but getting your blog approved is much more easier. They have their own rating system which varies on your blog’s quality, sponsored posts quality, and etc. The higher your rating goes, more offers and more payout will be on the way.
Bidvertiser is an Google Adsense alternative. You can generate customized ad blocks containing contextual text links and display them on your site. Payouts are done in CPC (Cost per click) and CPM (Cost per impression). The specialty of Bidvertiser is that you can actually sell contextual advertising on your blog to the highest bidder!
www.bidvertiser.com
Making Money and Saving Money Running a Photo Blog
I haven’t seen many people trying their luck with this process so sometime back I thought of experimenting with it. Though I didn’t experiment enough to make some serious money, I came to the conclusion that it is possible to make money sharing pictures, if you have got the right mindset.
So here’s where the magic is. Networks like Shareapic.net pays publishers to upload their own pictures, host them free of charge and get paid whenever these images are viewed. For an instance, if I was running a photo blog which was getting a lot of image views, I’d host my images at Shareapic.net and post the thumbnails on my site. When the user clicks on the thumbnail, he/she is taken to the Shareapic gallery which has the original image, that can be viewed properly.
And when that happens, I get paid for the number of image views. Ah, I almost forgot to mention that Shareapic earns money through the advertisements they display alongside the original image. But, not to worry, it’s not that much big a deal, and many users will not get distracted.
If you’re running a photoblog, then hosting your images at Shareapic will save you some bucks on your bandwidth expenses and will get you some bucks from the traffic you refer to them. Genereally, their rate is 22 cents per 1000 views, which is not that bad., and is higher than any of the other networks that I researched.
But, you don’t have to have a long-running photo blog to earn some decent cash this way. You can simply start a nich photo gallery on a simpole web page or a blog. For an example, summing up the whole process in a few steps;
Do some keyword research on the words ‘pics’, ‘pictures’, and ‘photos’., and select your niche. Let’s say I selected the phrase “house pics”.
Now I need to get some house photos. I don’t necessarily have to have a lot, but more the better. For this, I’d search around the net for some non-copyrighted content or do a Creative Commons search on Flicker.
After this, I would set up a wordpress blog, divide my pictures into 5-6 categories and make a post on each of the categories.
I’d be building a different ShareAPic gallery for each of the categories and pasting the code for the thumbnails, so when the user clicks on the images, he/she will be taken to the ShareAPic site.
Do some link-building and wait for Google to index the pages - and I’m done!
One thing I wanted to note here is that niche picture sites/photo blogs have relatively less competition in search engines so you need not do a lot of SEO to get them ranked.
Suppose you hit a niche where you get 1000 hits everyday, which is easily doable. And let’s assume that each user will check out a minimum of 5 photos. (Some of them will be there to download the whole gallery) So, you will be having 1,000 x 5 = 5,000 minimum image views per day, which will earn you (5,000 / 1,000) x 0.22 = $1.10 everyday, on auto-pilot.
All for this, for a few hours of work… So I guess that’s not a bad invertment, is it?
So here’s where the magic is. Networks like Shareapic.net pays publishers to upload their own pictures, host them free of charge and get paid whenever these images are viewed. For an instance, if I was running a photo blog which was getting a lot of image views, I’d host my images at Shareapic.net and post the thumbnails on my site. When the user clicks on the thumbnail, he/she is taken to the Shareapic gallery which has the original image, that can be viewed properly.
And when that happens, I get paid for the number of image views. Ah, I almost forgot to mention that Shareapic earns money through the advertisements they display alongside the original image. But, not to worry, it’s not that much big a deal, and many users will not get distracted.
If you’re running a photoblog, then hosting your images at Shareapic will save you some bucks on your bandwidth expenses and will get you some bucks from the traffic you refer to them. Genereally, their rate is 22 cents per 1000 views, which is not that bad., and is higher than any of the other networks that I researched.
But, you don’t have to have a long-running photo blog to earn some decent cash this way. You can simply start a nich photo gallery on a simpole web page or a blog. For an example, summing up the whole process in a few steps;
Do some keyword research on the words ‘pics’, ‘pictures’, and ‘photos’., and select your niche. Let’s say I selected the phrase “house pics”.
Now I need to get some house photos. I don’t necessarily have to have a lot, but more the better. For this, I’d search around the net for some non-copyrighted content or do a Creative Commons search on Flicker.
After this, I would set up a wordpress blog, divide my pictures into 5-6 categories and make a post on each of the categories.
I’d be building a different ShareAPic gallery for each of the categories and pasting the code for the thumbnails, so when the user clicks on the images, he/she will be taken to the ShareAPic site.
Do some link-building and wait for Google to index the pages - and I’m done!
One thing I wanted to note here is that niche picture sites/photo blogs have relatively less competition in search engines so you need not do a lot of SEO to get them ranked.
Suppose you hit a niche where you get 1000 hits everyday, which is easily doable. And let’s assume that each user will check out a minimum of 5 photos. (Some of them will be there to download the whole gallery) So, you will be having 1,000 x 5 = 5,000 minimum image views per day, which will earn you (5,000 / 1,000) x 0.22 = $1.10 everyday, on auto-pilot.
All for this, for a few hours of work… So I guess that’s not a bad invertment, is it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
