New Years Resolutions for Bloggers

If you're a blogger trying to make money online, then I'm sure you have some New Year's resolutions of your own. Perhaps you'd like to double your traffic in the next 6 months, get 1,000 visitors a day, or even make $20 a day from your blog. Whatever your resolution is, you have to make a plan to stick to your resolutions.

The first thing you can do is to make a commitment to post to your blog several times a week. This is the hardest part for me, I think! One thing that may help is if you come up with a certain type of post to do each day of the week. Obviously, this will depend on your niche. Let's say you have a photography blog; perhaps on Monday you could do a camera tips entry. Then, on Tuesday, do a "share photos" entry, inviting people to trackback to your post and share their favorite photos. These are just ideas, do some brainstorming to see what may work well for you in your niche.

Another New Year's resolution for bloggers is to build a set number of links to your site every day. Pick a number, whether it's 5, 10, 20 or even 100 per week, and get your site out there! This is how you'll increase your traffic and therefore your earnings. There are so many varieties of link building techniques, just find a few that work for you.

Participate in social networking within your niche; doing so will not only get your name (or your site's name) out there and known, it will also give you plenty of topics to write about. Let's face it, we all face writer's block at some point! Finding topics to write about can be the hardest job as a blogger.

Participate in your own community; even if you have nothing but a blog on your site, you may have your own little community going on. If a person comments on your posts, comment back. Let the people know that you are a real person, and you're there! With all of the automated content, people like knowing that a real live person is behind all of the valuable information on your site.

And last but not least, keep up to date with news in your niche. No matter what your niche is, if you want to be viewed as an authority source, you will need to keep up to date on new developments, equipment, news and people that are related to your claimed area of expertise. You want your site to be the first place people look to when they want to know about something!

All in all, keep your eye on the goal, whether it's to get more traffic or to replace your current income from a 9-5 job. The Internet is a wealth of information, and if you put yourself out there, you can turn that information into your own personal wealth gold mine!

Setting Up Your Home Office

Setting up your home office when you work from home is very important. It will help you stay organized, keep you on track, and generally make you more productive. When I first started working from home, I kept everything in a collection of notebooks, and worked in my easy chair. While it's comfortable to be able to do so, it's advisable to have either an area of a room or an entirely separate room that is designated as your work space.

So what do you need in your work area? Obviously, this will depend on the type of work that you do. Some work at home moms may have need of special office equipment, while others will be able to make due with just a phone and computer. Generally speaking, though, there are a number of items that every home office should have.

First of all, you'll need a desk of some kind. If you don't have an actual computer desk, just use a table or some available counter space. This should be where you actually sit while you're working. Be sure you have room for you to write, store your records, and that you have a healthy supply of paper and pens or pencils.

Secondly, make sure you have a calendar handy. This can be a wall calendar, a desk version, or a handy datebook. I actually use both a wall calendar and a datebook, so I can keep track of all my appointments even if I'm not at my desk. Of course, you also have to make sure you're actually using your calendar...there have been a number of times that I have forgotten to write down a due date or appointment, and that can cause a lot of problems!

The third thing your home office should have is a telephone with an answering machine. If you're going to be talking to clients or customers on a regular basis, this is an absolute must. It's a good idea to get a second line if you plan to be doing a lot of business calls. That way you won't miss a call, either on your personal home line or your business line. Be sure you have a professional greeting recorded on your answering machine.

You should also have room for a task list in your home office area. I know this may sound like a no-brainer, but seriously...each morning before you begin work, create your task list for the day. You'll be surprised at how much this will help your productivity! I started doing this, and was able to get much more done in less time!

A fax machine is a definite must. This is useful for faxing contracts, tax forms, and other types of communications that require signatures or timely information. It's a great time saver if you ever find yourself needing to fax a document; you won't need to interrupt your work day to run to Office Max!

I know what you're thinking...this all sounds like common sense, right? In a traditional office, you would find all of this stuff and more. But, many people (myself included) think of working at home, and instantly think that it's much more relaxed, and you can even work in your pajamas. Well, yes and no. You can work in your pajamas, for sure, (although I have found that my productivity level is best when I get dressed & ready for the day prior to beginning work) but you still have to maintain a certain level of professionalism. Without that professionalism, you will never succeed at working at home.

How To Rank #1 in Google

I found this super cute (and pretty accurate too!) poem on how to rank #1 in Google. Here are the first few lines, but be sure to read the entire ranking poem!!

How many links to get to #1 Google?
Do I blast out an xrumer OR try and be frugal?
I’ve heard that backlinks are king, is it true?
And can I do it on my website that’s brand new?
Tell me do I use the exact anchor phrase?
Or when it comes to linking are there better ways?

Work at Home as a Game Tester

A popular new work at home job is game testing. A game tester gets copies of new and upcoming games, plays them, and lets the developers know of any problems or quirks within the game. Sound like fun? Here are some ideas for finding game testing opportunities.

Go to a job conference. Game developers have job conferences throughout the United States that will offer a variety of available positions, including game testing opportunities. By attending these conferences, you can make valuable contacts that will give you an “in” to the game testing arena. These contacts can let you know of new testing opportunities as well as offer advice on resume structuring.

Search the Internet. Keep in mind that there are a lot of scams out there (as with anything else). Check out the big name game developers; by going directly to the developer, you can rest assured that any game tester opportunities are legitimate.

Subscribe to a variety of gaming magazines. You’ll usually find a lot of listings for game testers. It will also help keep you up to date on new gaming developments and news, increasing your knowledge of the gaming field while allowing you to talk to the developers intelligently. This is a great way to find game testing work.

According to the International Game Developers lists, the average salary for a game tester is $37,210 a year! Not bad for playing video games, huh? This salary is the average for inexperienced game testers; the more experience you have, the more you make! A common starting rate for game testers is $15 an hour.

What’s even better is that the company provides everything you need; there isn’t any need to go spend tons of money on equipment or supplies to be a game tester. The reason they provide everything is to provide a consistency to the results. They want everyone who’s testing the games to have the same conditions, so the platforms and equipment used aren’t factors to any issues that may exist within the game.

Do you think a position as a game tester may be for you? Check it out, and see what work at home positions you can find!

Job LIstings for Stay at Home Moms

I have added pages to my blog for automatically updated job listings for stay at home moms! You'll find listings for writing jobs, data entry jobs and customer service jobs.

Subscribe to my feed to be sure you get all of my updates! Have a great day!

UPDATED: Contest: FREE Back Link Analysis

Free Back link Analysis Contest

Do you have a website you are trying to get traffic to? Are you not quite sure how to improve your rankings in the search engines? Well I can help!

I am having my first giveaway! The prize is a complete back link analysis of one website; this includes information on your current link profile and recommendations on getting more links.

Why do you want a free back link analysis? Because it can help you rank in Google, get more traffic, and make more money! SEO Consultants charge $500 and up for this service. But now you have the chance to get it for FREE!

Here’s what the lucky winner will receive:

• 10 suggested high-traffic keywords you should be focusing on
• Your current link profile
  
  • Links with anchor text
  • Nofollow links
  • URL of current back links
  • Current Google rankings for keywords
• Detailed instructions on how to increase your rankings
• Suggestions for link building

Now here are the rules of the contest:

• Blog about this contest on your site or blog, including a link back to this blog using this code:
  <a href=http://mommiesmoneyblog.blogspot.com>mommiesmoneyblog.blogspot.com</a>
• Leave a comment below with a link back to your article on your site
• Only one entry per person!

Winners will be selected by a random drawing on November 1st. I will post the winner in an entry on 11/1, as well as notify him or her by email.

Good luck everyone!

Make Money Online Free!

If you're frantically searching for a way to make money online, chances are you don't have a lot, if any, money to invest. Most home business opportunities have an up-front investment, and many online money making schemes are scams.

Luckily, there are legitimate FREE ways for you to make money online. One way is to become an affiliate and set up a blog promoting a product or service.

A Free Blog

Let's start off with the blog side of things. There are a few different sites that offer free blogs: WordPress and Blogger are just 2 of them. Personally, I recommend Blogger, only because it offers more features for you to make money.

Choosing a Niche for Your Blog

Is there a topic you are exceptionally passionate about? Remember, making money online is possible, but you have to work at it. In this case, one of the things you're going to have to do on a regular basis is write blog entries. This will be a lot easier to do if you are interested in the topic.

So what are your hobbies? What do you like to do? Are you an avid reader? Create a blog about your favorite books. If you like making things, start a craft blog. If you're a gardener, start a gardening blog. The trick is to find a topic that you truly enjoy.

Another option is to pick one product or service that you are particularly impressed with. Then you can see if they have an affiliate program, and start a blog around that product or service. Remember, however, that it's your reputation on the line, so make sure you don't blindly recommend products or services; do so only if you have personal experience with it.

Choosing a Name for Your Blog

Once you've chosen a blog platform and a topic, you will need a descriptive name for your blog. Try to choose something that has to do with what you're blogging about. Don't just name it "Susan's blog". If you're doing a gardening blog, you could name it "Susan's Gardening Tips" or something like that.

Most blogging platforms give you a subdomain, so it will look like this: "yourdomain.blogspot.com". If you're offering garden tips, name it something like "susansgardeningtips.blogspot.com". Your Blog name & domain name should be the same. In other words, if the Title at the top of your blog is going to be "Susan's Gardening Tips" use that as the subdomain as well.

Finding an Affiliate Program

So far, you have chosen your blog platform, your niche, and your blog's name. And, you haven't spent a single dime! :-)

Now it's time to find an affiliate product or service to promote. There are many places to find affiliate programs: Amazon, Commission Junction, Google Affiliates, Clickbank, etc. Research to see what programs they have available in your niche. You can search by topic, keywords, product name or company name.

Alternatively, if you have a favorite product, company or service, you can contact them to see if they offer an affiliate program. Express to them how much you love their product, and often you can work something out.

The Hard Work Begins

Once you've got this far, it's time to choose a design and write some content. That's the easy part. After your blog is created and you have some content, it's time to work on SEO. You need to get your site out there so you get visitors; and that means you need links. Let me know if you have any questions; I'll be glad to help!