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!

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!

Don't Believe Everything You Read

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons so many people are unsuccessful at getting their websites ranking well is that they believe everything they read on the Internet. Think about that logically for a minute: if SEO information was readily available to everyone on the Internet, then everyone would be in competition with everyone, and there wouldn't be a need for SEO experts.

This is why it really bothers me when someone asks for my help then doesn't want me to do my job because they "read online that it doesn't work". Well, guess what? I know what I'm doing! That's why you hired me!

So how do you learn what SEO tactics work, and what ones don't? It's easy...the most effective way is to join an exclusive SEO community such as SEO Book. Aaron Wall has incredibly valuable information, and offers many tools to help you with your SEO quest.

Web Marketing Now and SEO Revolution are 2 more great resources for useful and effective SEO tactic information.

Trial and error are options; in fact, that's how a lot of us find out what works and what doesn't.

If you don't want to take the time for the learning curve, hire someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you. This is great for those who want quick results to improve their business.

Just remember that about 99% of information freely available on the Internet about SEO is bogus.

Tips for Blog Commenting

Wow! It has been a while since I've posted anything on here. Sorry, faithful readers! I will try to be more diligent from now on. :-)

I wanted to comment today about blog commenting...you have no idea how many *spam* comments I read on a daily basis...now blog commenting can really help you build your site up, both with links and with getting visitors to your site. BUT site owners aren't going to approve you if your comment doesn't lend any value to the post.

The purpose of blog commenting is to engage the audience, and encourage discussion on the topic at hand. Leaving generic comments such as "Great post" or spamming with a generic

Hey I just bought a spiderman costume for my kid and he loved it!

well...let's face it; this comment lends absolutely NOTHING to a discussion about the price of tea in China. And, it's not going to inspire people to visit your site either...but if you leave a comment on a post about dobermans, and you mention something specific from the blogger's entry and say something related to what the post is, you should be able to get your comment approved.

Sometimes you can even get away with using a keyword instead of your name; this will only work IF and ONLY IF your comment offers value to the discussion at hand.

Personally, I delete any and all comments left on my blogs that have nothing to do with my post. If there are links in the comment, I delete the entire comment. If the comment doesn't specifically mention something I said in my post, I will delete the comment.

So yes, blog commenting can help you build links and get visitors to your site, but be smart about it. Before you begin typing, think about what type of comment YOU would want on your site.

How to Make Your Blogger Blog a "DoFollow" Blog

Many people want to comment on blogs that will lend page rank to their site or blog. Therefore, they are looking for links without the "nofollow" tag (also known as "dofollow" links).

One way to attract comments to your site is to make your blog a "dofollow" blog. However, if you have a blog on Blogger, you may not know how...

Here's a YouTube Video I found on how to make your Blogger Blog a "dofollow" blog:

Book Review: ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett have combined their blogging for money expertise in the book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.

If you are serious about blogging for money, then you have got to buy this book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income will tell you everything you need to know about blogging for money.

The following chapters have a wealth of information that will help you succeed at blogging for money:

• Chapter 1 - Blogging for Money


• Chapter 2 - Niche Blogging


• Chapter 3 - Setting Up Your Blog


• Chapter 4 - Blog Writing


• Chapter 5 - Blog Income and Earning Strategies


• Chapter 6 - Buying and Selling Blogs


• Chapter 7 - Blog Networks


• Chapter 8 - Blog Promotion and Marketing


• Chapter 9 - Secrets of Successful Blogs


• Chapter 10 - Creating Something Worthwhile

Chapter 1 - Blogging for Money

Chapter 1 - Blogging for Money covers the blogging basics: what a blog is, benefits to blogging, and the variety of ways you can make money blogging. You will learn how to measure a blog's success and how to add interaction to your blog.

Chapter 2 - Niche Blogging

If you want to be successful at blogging for money, there are a number of questions on niche blogging every blogger should ask. What is niche blogging? Why is a niche blog a better choice than a generic blog? How do I choose my niche?

Rowse and Garrett answer all these questions in Chapter 2 - Niche Blogging.

Chapter 3 - Setting Up Your Blog

Chapter 3 of Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income discusses different blogging platforms. You will learn valuable information to help you make an educated decision on which blogging platform to use.

Chapter 4 - Blog Writing

This is one of my favorite chapters. Find out valuable tips for writing your content, such as varying your types of post, how often to write blog entries...even some advice on how to write series to keep your readers coming back for more!

Chapter 5 - Blog Income and Earning Strategies

This chapter discusses different ways your blog can make you money, from PPC advertising to selling ads on your site, and even some affiliate discussion & hiring your writing skills to other bloggers.

Chapter 6 - Buying and Selling Blogs

If you're looking to buy an established blog, this chapter tells you how. You can learn how to work up your blog to sell, or purchase an inexpensive blog, fix it up & sell it again.

Chapter 7 - Blog Networks

Ever wonder what a blog network is? This chapter will tell you!

Chapter 8 - Blog Promotion and Marketing

And here's perhaps the most important chapter of all (but that's just my opinion). Find out the best & most effective ways to get visitors to your blog!

Chapter 9 - Secrets of Successful Blogs

Hmmmm....I think the title of this chapter speaks for itself! This chapter analyzes the top 100 Technorati blogs.

Chapter 10 - Creating Something Worthwhile

Make your blog stand out, and lend value that will entice readers to your blog.

If you're serious about making money blogging, then you cannot live without this book.

How to Get Quality Backlinks Part 2

Looking for How to Get Quality Backlinks Part 1?

Now you know how to find sites to put your backlinks on. Find sites within your niche with a high page rank. Now we'll discuss exactly how you go about getting your quality backlinks.

First, set up a spreadsheet to keep track of where you put your backlinks. You can set it up like this:

Number

Date

Website Name

Website URL

Google PageRank

Now you're ready to go!

Checking Google PageRank

First you must know how to check a page's pagerank. If you've found a blog or website that you want to put your backlink on, check their pagerank. This PageRank Checker is a priceless tool. All you do is type in a web address, type in the captcha code, and hit enter.

How to Create Your Backlinks

Now you want to find dofollow sites to post your backlink. One way to do this is by commenting on blogs, another is to join forums, and yet another way to get quality backlinks is to join community sites.

Remember from How to Get Quality Backlinks Part 1 that you have to find sites within your niche to get high quality backlinks. These sites have to be "dofollow" sites...so how do you find sites within your niche without "nofollow" tags?

Finding DoFollow Blogs in Your Niche

There are a few free tools you can use. First, find dofollow blogs. All you have to do is type in your niche keyword. For example, if your blog is on crocheting blankets, type in "crochet blankets". The results will be dofollow blogs in your niche.

I'm currently testing out a few other tools for finding dofollow blogs, and I will be creating another post about the good ones I find. :-)

Get Backlinks by Blog Commenting

So, now you have your list of blogs within your niche that are dofollow blogs. Now, you read some entries that interest you and post a comment on them. IMPORTANT!!! DO NOT leave spam comments merely to get your link out there. All of us want some meaningful comments that give feedback or conversation about what the post is about.

So what, exactly, constitutes a spammy comment? Simple...basically just remember that you shouldn't put simple posts like "Thanks" or "Great post"...these comments are not helpful, do not contribute to the overall value of the post, and therefore should be avoided.

The type of post you want to leave is simple. Basically, if there's something in the post you have experienced, share it. If you disagree with something in the post, say why and give supporting facts that support your opinion. Only post if you have something constructive to say!

Get Quality Backlinks by Joining Forums

You can get quality backlinks by joining forums as well. Like the blogs, you will want to remember to find forums in your niche and do not spam. Most forum owners will delete inactive or spammy accounts. This is why Angela & Paul's Backlinks isn't a good idea.

If you find a forum that is interesting, and that you will be active on, go ahead and put your link on it. This is a great way to get a quality backlink to your blog or website.

But joining forums also has other benefits that you may not realize...you can discover new things about your niche, which will give you more topics to write about, and let you learn new things. You can also meet new people that share the same interests.

Bottom line, don't join a forum merely to post a link. If you join and post your backlink, make sure you are somewhat active so that you can glean the other benefits from joining!

Get Quality Backlinks By Joining Community Sites

The final way to get quality backlinks to your site is by joining a community site. Again, make sure you aren't spamming the site. If you join a community, be part of the community. Take the time to create a profile, create your backlinks, and be an active member of the community.

I am working on getting lists of dofollow blogs for you. Here is my list of dofollow blogs for making money online. This list will continue to grow as I find more dofollow blogs, and I will be posting other categories of dofollow blogs in the very near future.

How to Get Quality Backlinks

What's all the hype about backlinks? What IS a backlink? I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and are dying to find out, once and for all, how to get quality backlinks. I've done a lot of research in the last couple of weeks, experimenting with backlinks, and what it does...so I thought I'd share my findings, and tell y'all how to get quality backlinks.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink is simply a one-way link to your blog or website that is on another site. Knowing how to get quality backlinks will help raise your rankings in the search engines. Having quality backlinks shows the search engines that your site is important enough to link to, so it raises your worth in their "eyes".

What is a "Quality" Backlink?

You must take into consideration the pagerank of the site, the quality of your link, the niche of your website or blog and dofollow/nofollow.

A Site's Pagerank

A quality backlink is one that is on a site the search engines see as important. In other words, get quality backlinks by putting your backlinks on sites that the search engines have a high regard for; i.e., high pagerank sites. When you are placing your backlinks, you want higher page rank websites. You can check the pagerank of the website before placing your backlink.

Your Link Quality

When I say link quality, I mean the content of your link. For example, if you're posting comments to get backlinks, don't just post "Great post!" or "Thanks for the post"...you want to actually read what you're commenting on, and contribute to a discussion about what you read. Make it meaningful, so people will want to clink on your link to see what else you have to say!

If you're posting to forums or community sites, don't just set up a "fake" (also known as spammy) account that you're never going to visit again. You want to become a somewhat active member of the forum/community. From experience, I can tell you that just setting up accounts to put your link on community sites and forums is NOT going to give you quality backlinks. Read more here.

Your Niche

The best way to get quality backlinks is to stay within your niche. If your blog or website is on photography, why would you post a backlink to a rape crisis center?? (sorry, speaking from experience with Angela and Paul's backlinks again) Read other blogs about the same topic as your website/blog. Post MEANINGFUL comments. Join community sites on photography, pictures, whatever part of photography you are interested in. This will also benefit you, as you will find others who share your passion, and discussions on these sites will help give you topics for your blog!

The point of trying to get quality backlinks is to raise your reputation; the best way is to have other sites in the same topic link to you. Therefore, when working on building your backlinks, concentrate on sites with high pagerank in the same niche as your blog/website.

DoFollow vs NoFollow

There's a lot of hullaballoo right now about "dofollow" and "nofollow". Let's first discuss what exactly they mean.

"DoFollow" means that the page tells the search engine to "follow" that link. This means that if you post your backlink on a site with "dofollow" tags, the search engines WILL count it as a backlink to your site.

"NoFollow" tags are for links a site/blog owner does NOT want the search engines to follow. If you post your backlink on sites with "nofollow" tags, then they won't help you at all in your quest for quality backlinks.

The hardest part is trying to find blogs & websites with "dofollow" tags. Here's a list of Dofollow blogs in the making money online category. I am continuously updating this list, and will be adding other categories in the near future.

Well, that's all I have time for tonight...tomorrow I will give instructions on how to find "dofollow" blogs, and how exactly to create your high quality backlinks. I have told you what you need to look for, and tomorrow will tell you HOW to do it. Have a great night!

Make Money Online DoFollow Blog List

My blog is a dofollow blog! So leaving your comment here will give you a quality backlink. Check through my blog to see what you have to say to me and my other readers!

It's hard to find a list of DoFollow Blogs. Therefore, I am making my own list of DoFollow Blogs! This list has DoFollow Blogs in the topic of "Making Money Online".

I will update this list as I find new Make Money DoFollow Blogs, so be sure to check back!

Making Money DoFollow Blogs

1. Toast & Egg & Me


2. Conversation Marketing


3. Can I Make Big Money Online?


4. Wordpress How To Spotter


5. EZ Online Money


6. The Digerati Life


7. Template Panic


8. Sly Visions


9. Andy Beard


10. Spark Plugging


11. It Can Happen For You Too


12. Best Real Income


13. Making Money Working From Home Blogging


14. Work at Home Wealth


15. WebStyle

Want to add your blog to my list? Leave me a comment! ;-)

Angela and Paul's Backlinks

If you are looking for quality backlinks, then I do NOT recommend using Angela and Paul's backlinks program. Why? Well, it's obvious that they have done a lot of work on their program. BUT I don't think Angela and Paul's backlinks provide you with good backlinks.

What makes a good backlink?

A good backlink should come from a high PR, "dofollow" website that contains content related to your niche. While Angela and Paul's backlinking program does provide you with "dofollow", high PR websites, most of them have NOTHING to do with your niche. They are just taking advantage of community sites...community sites that people have spent a lot of time and effort working up to their high PR.

Don't get me wrong, community sites are a great way to get backlinks to your blog or website. But they should be community sites that you are going to participate in, and be an active member in. The sites that Angela and Paul's backlinking program provides you with are too wide of a variety; and many of the community sites do not allow you to have links until you have made a certain amount of posts. And most will delete your profile for inactivity, which will delete any backlinks you had.

Problems with Angela and Paul's Backlinks

There are problems with the types of backlinks that Angela and Paul's backlink program provides you. Here's a list:

• First of all, the sites provided by Angela and Paul's backlinks are too wide and varied to apply to the niche of one blog. One of the sites Angela and Paul's backlinking program provides is a rape crisis center community; how does that help your blog??


• The type of backlinks that Angela and Paul's backlinking program gives you are considered "spamming".


• Using Angela and Paul's backlinks is a form of "shady SEO tactics". This means that you're trying to piggy bank off someone else's work, without adding any quality back to their site.

If you're thinking about using Angela and Paul's backlinks, I definitely recommend against it. Yes, you will get backlinks, but they are on sites that aren't going to give any quality to your blog. I recommend getting quality backlinks your own way.

Google Blogger Templates

If you have a blog on blogger, you may have noticed that the templates are somewhat plain. If you would like to get something a little more classy, or personal, you will need a new Blogger template. Where can you find Blogger templates? Well, there are websites providing free blogger templates that give your blog a beautiful appearance. You can also learn how to create your own Blogger templates.

Create Your Own Blogger Template

If you have some CSS or HTML knowledge, it will be quite simple for you to create your own Blogger template. Google actually offers a Blogger template walkthrough to help you learn how to create your own Blogger template. If you don't understand everything in that Blogger template walkthrough, you can either purchase a book (the ones listed above are great) that explains CSS and HTML, or just stick to the pre-made Blogger templates that are available.

Creating your own Blogger template is simple once you know how. It's basically CSS code, and what are known as "tags" specific to Google Blogger content. If you're familiar with CSS and HTML, you shouldn't have a problem creating your new Blogger template.

Free Blogger Templates

My favorite place for free Blogger templates is B Templates. They offer a huge collection of free Blogger templates. Their selection is eclectic and beautiful. The free Blogger templates they offer are put in many different categories, from colors, to style, to layout. I strongly suggest that if you are looking for a free Blogger template to jazz up your blog, you check out B Templates.

The Free Templates Blog offers a nice selection of free Blogger templates as well. If you can't find what you're looking for, I suggest subscribing to the RSS feed on the free template blog.

Changing Your Blogger Template

Once you have found your new Blogger template, downloaded it to your computer and unzipped the files, you are ready to upload it to Blogger! Please note that when uploading a new XML Blogger template, you will lose any gadgets and widgets you have on your blog. When I changed my Blogger template, I first copied all the code from each widget so I could replace it after the change.

Go to your Blogger account, click the "Layout" tab and click on "Edit HTML". There is a place there for you to upload a new template to your blog. Click the "Browse" button, find the file on your hard drive, and click upload. See how easy it is to upload a new Blogger template?

Do you have a favorite website that you get free Blogger templates? Or perhaps some tips on creating your own Blogger template? Please share! I love comments!

Get Free Backlinks

John Smith at Money Bush has a great contest going on. It's basically a huge link builder designed to give bloggers lots of free backlinks.

If you're wondering what a backlink is, you're not alone! A backlink is just another website with a link to your site. Free backlinks are great ways to increase your traffic and your Google PageRank.

So, if you want some free backlinks, head on over to John's free backlinks contest!

How to Get Free Backlinks
The contest is easy. All you have to do is get a copy of the free backlink list, provided on his blog entry. You post a blog entry on your blog, along with the free backlink list, then leave a comment on John's post with a link to your post on the free backlink contest, and requesting to be added to the list. Easy, right?

The Free Backlink List

With that said, here's the free backlink list:

1. Make Money Online
2. Money Blogging Tips
3. HowHero
4. Find Torrent Search Engine
5. Indo Contest
6. Mga Kwentong Ma Alamat
7. Contest Love
8. It Blood
9. I Heart Contest
10. Nurse Jen Doll
11. Your Web and Graphics Design
12. My Blog Contest
13. Prize King Contest Blog
14. Computer Collections
15. Medan Blogger
16. Eiffel Tower
17. Programming the Life
18. John Doro Dot Com
19. Paco Contest
20. Couch Surfing Host
21. Erick's Blog
22. My Life 4 Hire
23. The Spirit of Blogging
24. EmTNester
25. Amori, poesi, arte, chat
26. Great Wall of China
27. The Painted Veil
28. FeeFiFoto Blog
29. I am Harriet
30. Phoenix2Life
31. Anurag Bhateja
32. Online Treasure
33. Gorilla Sushi
34. London Eater
35. News n' Tech Palace
36. Sherry Rambling
37. Blogging Tips and Tools
38. Selbst Management
39. Skip Ratt
40. Eljon
41. Heart Net
42. Just 4 You
43. Widgets For Free Blogger Widgets
44. Bubble Crush
45. GoGalavanting
46. Mesothelioma Cancer Help
47. How Things Do
48. Hardware Rig
49. Reality View
50. Utah Web Design
51. Hero Help Tutorials
52. Nub Lag Teh Server
53. Jobs Human Resources
54. Naeem's Blog
55. Facts For History
56. Prasdikatama
57. McPhee-Env
58. PeriPheryPoem
59. Writings of RYU
60. Heart Net
61. Cater Hater
62. Tech Recipe
63. Tech Boy UK
64. Internet Leashed
65. Tha Good Life Reviews
66. Solaris Photography
67. bSaves - Saving Energy Search Engine - Black Google
68. Sitfu
69. The All Rounder
70. The Science of Getting Richer
71. University Results
72. Surigao Digital Services
73. Senior BabyBoomers
74. Gazlo
75. Jessi & Ray Dream Life
76. Life Around Raymond
77. Susan Boyle
78. Get Any Thing
79. Exclusive Arena
80. The Star Girl
81. Tem Bolog
82. Trash XP
83. How Hero - How to Tutorials - Video Tutorials
84. Blog Darma
85. Money Central Online
86. Watch Free Online Movies
87. Zoom Your View
88. Hey I Want a Job
89. Dog Pet Grooming Supplies
90. Aqualux Carpet Cleaning
91. All about the Beautiful Game
92. Communicate Your Emotions
93. Vemma Kuantan
94. Online Global Biz
95. Home Affiliate
96. News to Me
97. Google Gadget Games
98. High Point of the Day
99. The Biggish
100. Tech Feast
101. Cake and Bread
102. Home Cleaning Tips
103. Fitness Excercise
104. Funny N Cool Pix
105. D Bucks
106. Fow Furniture
107. Dubious Ma
108. Mami Bizi
109. Fundo Geek
110. Nijan Translator
111. Core Worlds
112. Dance Music Ireland
113. A Blog for All
114. Golf Swing Pro
115. AFpaintball.com
116. Top Money Making Websites
117. Bunny Exclamation
118. V2 Tricks
119. Make Money Online - Comple Exercise
120. Kits Kingdom
121. Daily Blog
122. Financial Planning with Chris Pua
123. Work At Home
124. Awesome Tech – A blog dedicated to Tech-News
125. RohitComputers
126. Superplaystationstore
127. Joeedmund
128. Yooray's Blog
129. Feisublog - Anime blogs and Forums
130. LUMIXiOUS
131. imanes27.blogspot.com
132. Best on Tube
133. Dubai Moves
134. ViJeshKirodian
135. Demystifying the East
136. MyFundoo Blog
137. Jobconstruction
138. http://yatabe84.blogspot.com/
139. Cash Crate
140. Bucks N Blogs
141. OMG LaGigel
142. Vintage Shirt Vintage Jeans
143. http://chickylounge.blogspot.com/
144. Hack A File
145. Making Money for Mommies
     

Again, if you want to get free backlinks for your blog, head over to John's free backlinks contest!

Search Engine Optimization for Blogs

I think we all want traffic for our blogs. One method of getting traffic to your blog is via search engines. But how do you get your blog to shop up in search engine results? By optimizing your blog entries. But how does Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for blogs work?

There are several different ways to implement SEO for your blog. I will go over these, so you can get started with increasing your search engine traffic to your blog.

Choosing Your Keywords

Before performing any SEO tactics on your blog, you need to know what keywords people should use to find your blog. For example, if you're writing a blog entry on how to care for geraniums, then "how to care for geraniums" would be your keyword phrase. Try to limit each blog entry to one topic; this will help raise your blog SEO and get you more traffic from the search engines. Now let's discuss how to get people looking for info on how to care for geraniums to your blog!

SEO Blog Tactic: Image Optimization

The first thing you should do for your blog's SEO is include a picture in your blog entry. There is an attribute inside the tag (the "< img >") called "alt". In this alt attribute, you want to put your keywords. So, using the example I presented in the last section, the image tag will look similar to this: "< img ... alt="how to care for geraniums" ...>"

SEO Blog Tactic: Keyword Usage

The next tactic for improving your blog's SEO is to increase your keyword density. Your keyword density means how often the keywords appear in your text. I would suggest keeping your keyword density between 3% and 5%. This tells the search engines that your topic is relevant to the keywords.

Headers and emphasized text also help with your blog's SEO. Search engines consider stressed words and headers as great indicators of the subject of your blog, so using keywords in headers and putting a couple in bold help with your blog's SEO.

SEO Blog Tactic: Links to Your Blog

The more links on other websites that point to your blog, the better off your page ranking will be. Search engines consider the number of other sites that point to your site as a "vote" of relevancy on the topic at hand. The big question is, how do you get links?

There are many ways to get links to help your blog's SEO. One is to join a group related to your blog's topic, and request link exchanges. Another great way to get links for you blog's SEO is to post comments on other blogs. You can also join forums related to your blog's topic, and post regularly.

Submit your blog to sites such as Blog Catalog, Blog Carnivals, and Entrecard. All of these are great ways to increase your blog's SEO.

Internal links will help increase your blog's SEO as well. Have relevant links to other posts on your blog related to the current post; this adds value to your blog, and shows the search engines that you have easy to find and relevant content for readers.

Using these SEO tactics for your blog will soon have you getting some nice search engine traffic. Let me know how they work for you, or just let me know if you have any questions! ;-)

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• Blogging for Money

Entrecards for Free Traffic

You have probably all noticed the new widget at the top of my last sidebar called "Entrecard". I have found what may be the best way (so far) to get free traffic to your blog: entrecard.com.

For those of us who have a low budget for start-up, free traffic to our blog is a dream. There are other systems out there offering free traffic to your blog, but few of them deliver quality traffic. Even though many will provide free traffic to your blog, the visitors most likely are only there to earn their reward, not to read your content.

So, the question remains: can you get quality, targeted free traffic to your blog?

I believe you can! Let me introduce you to Entrecard.com. Entrecard.com is a place where you create an entrecard and drop it off with other bloggers; each entrecard you drop earns you credits, which you then use to purchase ads on blogs of your choosing. Sound intriguing? Keep reading; I'll explain how Entrecard.com will help you get free traffic to your blog.

What is an Entrecard?

Let's start at the beginning - what is an entrecard, and how will it give you free traffic to your blog?

Basically, an entrecard is your business card. All an entrecard is is a 125px by 125 px banner. You can choose one of Entrecard's free designs for your entrecard, or you can design your own (recommended).

You drop your entrecard on another blog that interests you, using the Entrecard widget that other Entrecard members have on their blogs. This earns both you and the other blogger one credit each.

Purchasing Entrecard Ads

Once you've dropped your Entrecard on a few blogs and built up some credits, it's time to purchase some ads. Go to the campaign section on Entrecard.com and get ready to get some free traffic for your blog! Look through the blogs, choose one that you think has readers interested in your topic and click advertise. That's it!

Your entrecard (i.e. banner) will run on the blog for a full 24 hours, not on a rotating basis. Voila! Free targeted traffic for your blog!

Fast Free Traffic for Your Blog

There are many things you can do on Entrecard to help get you fast free traffic for your blog. For one, do reciprocal drops. What do I mean by that? When someone drops their entrecard on your blog, drop your entrecard on their blog. This will encourage others to do reciprocal drops with you, and increase your credits, which in turn will allow you to purchase more ads. All of it adds up to more free traffic for you!

Many people offer incentives for their top droppers (the people who dropped their entrecards the most in a month's time). A blog entry with links to the top droppers' websites is very common. This not only helps get free traffic to your blog, but also helps by increasing your links (which raises your pagerank).

I am just getting started with Entrecards.com, and so far I have purchased 4 ads. I will let you know how it all works out. I hope this blog entry helps you!

I love comments! Do you use Entrecard.com to get free traffic to your blog? How has it worked for you? Let me know what you think of it after you check out the site.

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Making Money with Your Hobbies

In your spare time, what do you like to do? Do you like to make crafts? Read books? Scrapbook? Write? If you're a stay-at-home mom looking to make money on the Internet, write a list of your hobbies. There are ways to make money doing what you already do, and enjoy to do!

Make Money with Your Crafts

Handcrafted items are always in demand. Whether you like to do wood burning, carving or building, or crochet baby blankets, you can make money with your craft. Check for an in-depth article on this topic coming soon! :-)

Making Money Reading Books

If you love to read, consider starting a book review blog. Read a book, write a review, rate it and blog it! How do you make money? By using advertising and affiliate programs. Click here for information on how to integrate advertising and affiliates into your blog. Click here for more information on blogging for money.

Starting a book review blog will be a fun project for those of us who love to read!

Make Money Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a fun way to keep track of your family memories. It can also be a lucrative hobby! There are several ways for people who love scrapbooking to make money with it on the Internet.

First, if you enjoy editing pictures, and making neat projects with them, consider starting your own online photo editing and product store. Many people have pictures that are damaged and would love to find someone with the knowledge to fix them. You can also do baby announcements, personalized photo cards, those cards used for pageants (sorry, my girls aren't in pageants so I'm not sure what they're called), photo collages, calendars...you get the idea!

Scrapbookers also may create their own scrapbooking pages...I've often seen these on sale on E-Bay or Etsy. If you have a creative flair, consider making your own scrapbooking pages and selling them online.

Last, but not least, you can become a distributor for companies that sell scrapbooking supplies. Stampin' Up, Creative Memories and Close To My Heart are just a few that offer an opportunity to own your own business selling scrapbooking supplies.

Make Money Writing

If you love to write, you can write articles online and get paid for them. Most sites don't pay a lot for your articles, but you can make a good supplemental income, or more, if you write for more than one site. Read my entry on how to write for Helium here. Other sites you can write for are Associated Content, e-How and HubPages.

If you want to actually sell your content, you can sell articles on Constant Content for a price you set yourself. There is a pretty competitive market, but give it a shot!

All of these ideas can work for the right person! These are just a few ideas of some hobbies that can be turned into cash cows. Are you making money with your hobby? Let me know how you do it!

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• Blogging for Money

Make Money Blogging with Advertising

In another post, I discussed how you can make money blogging. I explained how you could use advertising to earn money through your blog. In this article, I will discuss some popular advertising media for blogs.

Types of Advertising

There are three main categories of advertising that you can use to make money on your blog: Pay Per Click campaigns, affiliate programs, and direct ad placement.

• Pay Per Click Campaigns


• Make money on your blog by adding ads provided by a third party. When visitors click on the ads on your blog, you get paid; it's that easy!


• Affiliate Programs


• Affiliate programs allow you to place someone else's products on your blog. When your blog visitors purchase something through your link, you get a percentage of the sale.


• Direct Ad Sales


• If you have room on your site for banners or buttons, you can offer advertising to your blog visitors, and charge them either by impressions (the number of times their banner or button is shown on your blog) or by a set length of time.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Google Adsense

The most popular pay per click advertising is Google Adsense. It's simple and free to sign up for Google Adsense; simply go to Google and create a free account. Be sure to read their terms and conditions before signing up.

Chitika

Chitika ads only appear on your blog to your search traffic. This means that if you have a blog on gardening, and I do a search for "caring for roses", when I show up on your gardening blog I will see ads related to the care of roses. Chitika is very effective, and boasts a high click thru rate.

Bidvertiser

Another great source of income for your blog is Bidvertiser. Just like Google Adsense, ads are placed on your site, and you get paid for valid clicks on those ads.

Affiliate Programs

Amazon

Amazon.com offers a large variety of items for sale. You make money by signing up for an associate account and providing links to merchandise from your website or blog. It's that easy! When your visitors click on the links and purchase that item, you get paid a percentage of the sale.

For a great list of affiliate programs, visit Affiliate Scout. They have many different affiliate programs, split up into categories so you can find something perfect for your blog or website.

Direct Sales Advertising

Last, but not least, you can sell ad space on your blog or website to others. If you have room at the top of your page for a banner, consider selling the space for a set fee per month, or per year.

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Blogging for Money

Blogging for money can be a great option for stay at home moms to make money. It's inexpensive, and can be free if you use blogger or other free blog sites.

Many people start blogging thinking that they will make an instant income. It's not that easy; getting your blog set up to actually get good traffic and make good money takes time, and a lot of work. But it is a job that will eventually pay off if you do your homework, and can make you some extra money. How much money depends on your topic, how well your blog is set up, what advertising methods you implement, how much work you put into it, and the type of advertising you use.

Starting to Blog for Money

The first step to making money with a blog is to pick a topic. You want to choose a topic that you are passionate about, so it will be enjoyable to write several entries a week.

There are different theories on how much to write per week; some people will tell you to write several small entries each week (8-10 entries about 400 words each) and some will tell you to write a couple long entries each week (3-4 entries of at least 1000 words each).

I personally believe that at first, when you are first starting your blog, it is important to fill your blog with content quickly. In other words, write a lot in the first month, then you can find a schedule to fit your needs. Just keep in mind that search engines like content that is updated on a regular basis!

Choosing a Blogging Platform

There are many websites that offer free blogs. If you're just starting out and don't want to spend a lot of money, this is your best option. Two really common ones are Wordpress and Blogger. Do a google search for free blogs, and find the best one to work for you!

Advertising Your Blog

To make money, you have to have visitors to your blog; to get visitors to your blog, you have to advertise. So what is the best way to advertise? There are several ways to advertise, some are free, some are not. Google Adwords is one way, commenting on other blogs on the same topic is one way (this will also improve your search rankings by giving you links to your blog), putting your blog entries in blog carnivals, and using social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and Nimbio.

So How Do I Get Paid for Blogging?

OK, so you've chosen your topic, selected your blogging platform and written some entries. So how do you make your money?

You use advertising and affiliate programs. Google Adsense and Chitika are just two common sites that offer pay per click advertising revenue. Both offer optimization tips to help make you successful. Amazon is perhaps the most popular site that offers affiliate sales. They offer many modules that allow you to place items related to your topic on your blog, and when people purchase them from a link on your blog, you get paid a percentage.

Blogging for Money is Hard Work!

The biggest thing to remember is that blogging for money is not a get rich quick scheme; you CAN make money, you just have to remember that it does take time and hard work to see results!

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