Rabu, 30 Juni 2010

Two Building Blocks of Successful Blogging - DailyBlogTips

19:59

Abi

Two Building Blocks of Successful Blogging - DailyBlogTips

Two Building Blocks of Successful Blogging

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 09:23 PM PDT

This is a guest post by Rich Dixon. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

A friend recently asked me if I'd help her start a blog. Her request prompted me to consider what I've learned from operating my own blog for the past two years.

My first suggestion was to spend some time reading and learning. The Internet overflows with blogging information and advice.

I'm not the guy to help you generate huge numbers overnight, but that information is everywhere. I'm also not the source for technical tips; I know what I need to know for my situation, and I learn more as I need it.

I suspect I'm like most folks who publish content on the Internet. I classify myself as a small-but-serious blogger. I'm also a big-time consumer of content. I follow a lot of blogs in various niches, both for content and to learn what works.

So based on my experience, what should I tell my friend that'll get her started without overwhelming her? Here's where I started.

For me, blogging is essentially a relationship. Two important elements of any relationship are purpose and connection.

Find Your Purpose

Decide what you want to accomplish. You can find tons of high-quality guidance about every aspect of setting up and operating your blog, but none of it is one-size-fits-all. Every choice—design, platform, post length, style—depends on the end goal you have.

Decisions that don't seem like a big deal now may become important later. For example, self-hosting with your own domain may feel like an unnecessary expense, but it's essential if your goal is to build a personal brand or a business around your site.

Remember that it's about your audience. If that fancy font you really like is hard to read, I'll move on. I visited a blog this morning that made me feel like I'd entered a little girl's room—pink and flowery and frilly. If that's the feeling you're after, great. I hope I wasn't the intended audience, because I felt distracted and out of place as I searched for the exit.

Design should fit the blog's personality. An overly simple design might appear plain and unattractive, but the minimalist theme at Jon Swanson's site actually sets the tone for his message and enhances the content.

Everything matters. Every choice either moves you toward your goal or away from it.

Personally, I don't pay a lot of attention to numbers because traffic isn't part of my objectives. I look at and track analytics monthly, but that's really more about curiosity. I look for trends, experiment with different ideas, and learn from my mistakes.

I think of my site as a circle, and I think about attracting readers who enhance the quality of the discussion. Because my blog centers on faith-based issues, I'm more focused on the depth of interactions than subscriber numbers.

The point? My strategy is intentional and fits my overall goals. Incidentally, my numbers have more than tripled since 1/1/10. They're still miniscule by Internet standards, but there's some evidence that my strategy's working.

Focus on Connections

Life is about connecting with people and things. Information, expertise, and opinion are readily available from an endless variety of sources. I consistently follow writers with whom I feel some sort of connection.

Strategies and specific tactics vary. From my perspective, what's important is consistency and authenticity. Tricks and gimmicks provide short-term spikes at the expense of long-term trust and loyalty. You may fool me into visiting, but I won't be back if you treat me like a fool.

Beware of barriers. I appreciate concerns about spam and privacy, but balance those against the need for readers to connect.

Make your comment form friendly and inviting. Allow me to use my preferred form of ID. With so many available forums, I'm likely to choose those that cater to my communication preferences. For example, some blogs force me to use my Google ID. Since I don't access my gmail account, I'll never see follow-up comments; why bother composing a thoughtful comment? I know there are ways around that, but why should I have to do extra work to contribute to your blog?

I find that many folks don't like to leave public comments, but they love more personal contact. If you don't want to provide an email address, consider creating a simple contact form.

It seems obvious. Fewer barriers, more connection, more readers.

That's what I offered as guidance to get her pointed in the right direction. What would you add?

About the Author: Rich Dixon is the author of Relentless Grace. He blogs about issues related to adversity, disability, and faith at Bouncing Back.

Original Post: Two Building Blocks of Successful Blogging

13:06

Abi

Template Tutorial

Depression at Work Place

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Many are suffering from Depression around the world; some may suffer occasional mild form of Depression that last for few days or short interval of time. Others suffer Depression for entire life or...

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My Interview on Six Figure Affiliate Blogging - DailyBlogTips

19:03

Abi

My Interview on Six Figure Affiliate Blogging - DailyBlogTips

My Interview on Six Figure Affiliate Blogging

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 04:28 AM PDT

Some weeks ago I wrote about an ebook that my friend Zac Johnson was giving away to his subscribers, called Six Figure Affiliate Blogging.

Apart from the core content, Zac also included bonus interviews with 8 Internet marketers. I was one of them, and I asked Zac if I could share my own interview here on the blog. He agreed, so below you’ll find it. Don’t forget to check Zac’s book too, as you just need to subscribe to his newsletter to download your copy.

1. Please tell us a little about yourself.

I was born in Brazil, and lived here until I was 16. After that I went to live in some other countries, including Italy and Chile. I started working full time on the Internet in 2006 (I was 21 at the time), and haven’t looked back ever since. It is a great lifestyle, and I really enjoy building websites and online businesses. In fact every day I wake up eager to turn the computer on.

2. When did you start blogging and how did you get into it?

Back in 2005 when I got my degree in International Economics I was left with a big document that I had prepared for my thesis. I had put a lot of effort into researching and writing it out, but I was sure that apart from myself, only two people would end up reading it: my teacher and my father….

Instead of letting the document sit idle and gather dust, therefore, I decided to chop it off into small articles and publish them on the web.

That is when I started researching about web publishing models, and when I came across blogging. I built my first blogs with raw HTML files, and after a while I discovered WordPress and became a loyal user.

After university I started working for a multinational company (inside the marketing department), but one year there was enough to make me realize that I didn't want to work inside large companies. In fact I didn't want to work for anyone else. I wanted to have my own business, so I quit my job and started working full time with my websites.

3. Besides financially, how has blogging helped your business and brand?

I would say that blogging has been the kernel of my online business, for several reasons. First all blogging helped me to build authority. My content has always been derived from my experience building blogs and websites, and the readers would perceive that. Over time more and more people were willing to read and trust what I would write, which is great (and flattering at the same time).

Secondly, blogging allowed me to build a network of contacts, which is something extremely valuable for any business owner. As they say, it is often about who you know, and not what you know. These contacts allowed me to launch new websites, sell existing ones, launch new products and so on.

Finally, blogging also gave me a springboard to launch new projects. As of today I have 42,000 subscribers on Daily Blog Tips. This means that if I launch a product tomorrow I’ll be able to invite 42,000 to check it out. What is even better, these are 42,000 peopole who already have a relationship with me, so they are more likely to pay attention and give the product a shot.

4. How have you incorporated affiliate marketing into your blog?

Affiliate marketing is one of the main income sources I have on my blogs. The most effective way I have found to promote affiliate deals is when the product is very relevant to my audience. On those occasions I’ll write a honest review about it, and recommend my readers to check it out.

I believe that two factors play a role in the success of this technique: first of all you need to promote affiliate offers with moderation. If every other day you have a new affiliate plug your readers will suspect that you are just trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of your blog.

Secondly, you need to be completely honest and transparent on your reviews/recommendations. For example, try to actually use the product before writing the review, don’t mention only the positive aspects and so on.

Occasionally I also use affiliate offers to fill unsold advertising space. The conversion rate will be smaller here, but sometimes it beats AdSense, so it is a good alternative to have.

5. In your opinion, what is the single best way to monetize a blog?

I believe the answer will depend on the blog in question. More specifically, it will depend on the niche of the blog, on its size, on the amount of time that the owner has to spend on the monetization strategies and so on.

For example, blogs that receive a very high percentage of their traffic from search engines, tend to perform well with CPC ads (i.e., Google AdSense) and possibly affiliate marketing offers, depending on the keywords that are bringing the organic traffic (i.e., if the keywords manifest the intention to buy something).

Very large blogs, on the other hand, might become more profitable if the owner starts selling advertising space directly, or if he launches a related product.

In many cases the best monetization strategy will be a combination of the methods mentioned above. That is, the blog owner might use AdSense, complement it with some affiliate offers, and once the traffic grows he might also launch a product.

The key to find what works for you is to test, test and test.

6. What would you recommend for a new blogger, that was only looking to blog for financial gain?

First of all pick your niche wisely. Not too big, but not too small. If you are going to write the content yourself, it must be something you are passionate about. However, you also have the option to outsource the content, in which case you could choose any niche you want.

Once you know what niche you are going for, aim to dominate it. How? By publishing the best content out there. People must read your stuff and say “Wow, this is so good I’ll bookmark it. Heck, I’ll even blog and tweet about it to let my friends know!”.

Publishing that killer content alone won’t do the trick, however, because no one will know about your blog. You’ll therefore need to spend a lot of time promoting it as well. Use social media, network with fellow bloggers, join online forums relevant to your niche and so on.

Sounds like a lot of hard work? You betcha!

7. Any recommended blogs or resources for bloggers looking to bring their blog to the next level?

Some blogs where you will find a lot of useful information (make sure to check their archives, too) include:

Taking the advice from people who have been there is important, but you must also follow your gut once in a while. The Internet is relatively young, and we’re all trying to figure it out still.

8. Do you have any big announcements or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

I am working on a new project right now. It will be a web based service, but I can’t talk too much about it right now. Hopefully within 3 months or so I’ll have the beta version live. If you read my blog you’ll see the announcement there.

Original Post: My Interview on Six Figure Affiliate Blogging

Video: What Really Motivates People

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 07:14 AM PDT

Yesterday I came across a really interesting video about the factors that motivate us. It is a promotional piece for a recently launched book titled “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” The surprising part is the fact that, for complex tasks that require cognitive skills (i.e., thinking), money is NOT as good a motivator as most of us assume.

The points explained in the video (and probably in the book to much greater detail) help to explain recent phenomena like Linux, WordPress, Wikipedia and so on. I’ll be ordering the book soon, and when I am done reading it I’ll try to write a review here.

Original Post: Video: What Really Motivates People

07:59

Abi

Koleksi Software gratis Monitoring File dan Folder

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 05:32 PM PDT

Sebagai pemilik komputer, kadang kita ingin menjaga privasi file dan folder di komputer. Kita ingin agar perubahan file dan folder yang ada di windows bisa senantiasa kita pantau atau di awasi. Untuk melakukan hal ini, kita bisa menggunakan software-software gratis monitoring file dan folder. Berikut ulasan singkat 5 software gratis untuk monitoring file dan folder. [...]

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tipi[S]ipit| Blogging Life

23:36

Abi

tipi[S]ipit| Blogging Life

New Granite Sink for Your Kitchen

Posted: 27 Jun 2010 09:38 AM PDT

Even though you don’t have large kitchen, you still need to get the best kitchen appliances in there. You also need to ensure that your sink works properly for you will need it to wash and clean the appliances that you have just used.

Mrdirectint.com knows the best choices for your kitchen sink. You get various sinks from various manufacturers. If you want granite sink, this website has the options for you. It will help you to get offers at the best price. You only need to choose from granite sinks that are available in this website.

Without wasting your time, this website will proceed your order once you have put it in the shopping cart. You will have it delivered instantly, so you can replace your sink with the new one right away.

06:02

Abi

Blogger Templates & Other Layout Collection

Moi Magazine | Blogger Template | Wordpress Theme

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:14 PM PDT

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Smash | Blogger Template | Free Premium

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:14 PM PDT

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Blogger or Writer: 3 Ways to Nourish Your Writing Roots - DailyBlogTips

19:00

Abi

Blogger or Writer: 3 Ways to Nourish Your Writing Roots - DailyBlogTips

Blogger or Writer: 3 Ways to Nourish Your Writing Roots

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 09:14 PM PDT

This is a guest post from Brad. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Everyone knows you can make money writing; authors of books, newspapers, and magazines are all presumably paid for their work. But people are consistently intrigued with the idea of earning money blogging. Why is this, when a blog is basically a series of self-published articles? A blogger is a writer that goes above and beyond to do their own publishing, marketing, and monetization.

The lifeblood of blogging is the writing craft. Too often we hear the “content in king” cliche and accept it as the final word. We decide that our topic is important or interesting, and therefore that we have the content part nailed. But content is not so much the information provided as the manner in which it is conveyed. We tend to forget this, and pour more effort into the logistics of the enterprise than into the literary backbone.

I have fallen for the blogger-writer distinction about as hard as anyone, starting with little writing experience. This made it blatantly clear to me that I had some work to do. Reading had given me a feel for good writing, but creating it did not come as easily. The blogosphere of course has many tips: you should write write list-posts, follow your interests, and create snazzy titles — but such tips will not correct serious deficiencies. The most compelling advice I’ve encountered points to practices that take time and dedication. I have found the following three most helpful towards the blogging platform.

Practice 1: Develop a rich vocabulary. Almost all good writers use a diverse set of words because it allows them to express finer shades of meaning, state ideas succinctly, and adjust the sound and rhythm of the writing. You do not want to concoct ridiculously ornate prose, but the right word at the right time can pack a powerful punch — whether it is to motivate, persuade, inspire, or entertain. As a bonus, you will sound more intelligent, for we naturally intuit what formal studies prove: vocabulary sizes correlate very strongly with IQ scores.

Practice 2: Practice imitating styles. Your favorite bloggers or writers probably have distinct voices formed by their sentence structures, word choices, and emotional appeal. Do they lure you in with short anecdotes, or jump to the main ideas? Do they employ metaphors and imagery, or state ideas plainly? Is the voice conversational, or formal and journalistic? Practicing writing in other voices helps you stretch your capacity and better understand your own mechanics. See if you can make your writing indistinguishable from that of whom you emulate.

Practice 3: Reduce the number of words as much as possible. Concise language is clear and vibrant. It forces you to use a decisive, active voice, rather than meandering around topics on which you have little to say. Try taking a post and cutting the words in half, without sacrificing content. Even if you think the piece is irreducible, commit yourself to this exercise. I think you will be surprised, as I often am, how much extraneous writing surrounds your core ideas.

About the Author: Brad in the author of Word a Day Wonder, a site that teaches vocabulary using fun and interesting facts.

Original Post: Blogger or Writer: 3 Ways to Nourish Your Writing Roots

Should I Put My Photos On My Website or On Flickr?

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 09:34 AM PDT

questions and answers This post is part of the Friday Q&A section. If you want to ask a question, just write a comment below.

Mary H. asks:

I blog about animal training, and end up with quite a few good photos I’d like to share with my readers. I put a few photos in my posts every now and then, but would really like a place a reader could go to view a collection of my photos.

Here’s my question– is it better to self-host my photos on my site or use and outside site, such as Flickr?

I think both methods can be useful, depending on your goals and business model.

For a photographer who makes money selling his photos or doing freelance work, for example, it would be important to have both things. He would need to have a website with samples of his work and a portfolio, but he would also need to have a presence on social networks where people share images (Flickr is the main one, but Facebook could also help). This presence on social networks would help him to expose his work to more people, to network with other photographers, to meet potential clients and so on.

If your goal is to make money directly with your website (e.g., by selling advertising or related products), however, then hosting the photos yourself would be a better idea, because those might bring more traffic and increase your earnings.

This seems to be the case of the reader who asked the question, so I would put most of the photos on the blog itself.

She also mentions the idea of creating a gallery. I think this can be useful for the user, as it facilitates the browsing of the images, but I would make sure that each photo also appears inside an individual page focused on a specific topic. For example, if you have a picture about teaching a dog how to sit, place inside a place where you explain how the process work. The combination of a relevant title tag, a unique piece of text and relevant keywords will make the image rank better in search results.

Finally, here is a tip for those who are not playing with images yet: images can drive a lot of organic traffic, because Google is integrating image results on most search queries. In other words, creating a niche website or blog around a topic with plenty of images (e.g., celebrities or sports images) could work well.

Original Post: Should I Put My Photos On My Website or On Flickr?

13:05

Abi

Template Tutorial

Cheap LCD TVs
You Hacked Project
Samsung Fridge Freezer

Cheap LCD TVs

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 10:51 AM PDT

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Posted: 25 Jun 2010 09:33 AM PDT

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Posted: 25 Jun 2010 07:52 AM PDT

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Rabu, 30 Juni 2010

Find Your Purpose

Focus on Connections

Selasa, 29 Juni 2010

1. Please tell us a little about yourself.

2. When did you start blogging and how did you get into it?

3. Besides financially, how has blogging helped your business and brand?

4. How have you incorporated affiliate marketing into your blog?

5. In your opinion, what is the single best way to monetize a blog?

6. What would you recommend for a new blogger, that was only looking to blog for financial gain?

7. Any recommended blogs or resources for bloggers looking to bring their blog to the next level?

8. Do you have any big announcements or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

Senin, 28 Juni 2010

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