Bored with blogging

Posted on 2013/01/24 by Alejandra Conine

So–as my regular readers will be noticed, we have an update the  site for a while, which is lost against the fact that most of us become a little  bored with blogging over the last few months, mostly down to the massive changes going on in the Google algorithm, which means much  of our keyword traffic has waxed and waned quite dramatically. This becomes a little frustrating, especially if–like us–you don’t try and “game the system,” if some of your networking and income relies on search engine traffic.

Plus of course one of our regulars got married recently. And–good grief!–I never realized how expensive it was to get married.–Even before the wedding, there was a massive outlay  [ well–I think it was massive] on what is apparently the latest thing in wedding rings–a wedding set. Apparently, a wedding set is a combination of 2 rings, one for the man and one for the woman. Seems like a huge waste of money from my perspective, that my pals decided it was what they wanted and they started looking around to see how much these things cost.

Wedding sets:

 http://www.primestyle.com/images/new_products/71218_YG_1b.jpg

Wow!–Wedding sets can be really expensive, and my friends ended up buying a wedding set from these guys here– http://www.primestyle.com/categories/Wedding_Sets.html

 because it was so much cheaper than buying from the traditional retail outlets. In fact–and I don’t know the exact amounts–but then they saved about 60% off the normal retail price, which is a substantial amount of money.

Honestly, I don’t know why anybody would want to get married when you consider how expensive it can be. Not only did they have to splash out a bunch of money on wedding rings, they also had to fork out a huge amount of money for a bridal gown, bridesmaids dresses, and then hiring the hotel and feeding 60 guests. Insane! I don’t know exactly how much they spent but it certainly went into the tens of thousands of dollars. And let’s be honest here–blogging is not exactly a fantastic income, so we have all been a little busy working “day job,” for the last few months.

Hopefully–will have time to get back into blogging soon.

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Blogging – For The Love Of Writing?

Posted on 2012/08/08 by Javier Mcgaughy

I’ve been blogging for years. Like others that I know, I have several different sites, all aimed at different topics. Besides writing on this one, my favorite one has to be my camping blog. I write about what I get up to in my spare time, which pretty much revolves around hiking/backpacking/camping. I also write it, for the main, for the sheer love of writing it. 

Blogging about my adventures is my way of covering two bases:

  • sharing what I do

  • educating and informing those with less knowledge

As a long time hiker (I took it up as a child with my dad) I’ve gained an awful lot of experience over the years, meaning that I’m a good source of information. Having owned the site for a good few years now, I’ve also gained more than a few followers, and finally feel as though I’m talking to an audience.

I interact with those that read my blog – they ask questions, I answer, and I try and recommend products as well as write about what I’ve done, or where I’ve been etc. Over time it’s become part journal (it literally demonstrates what the word ‘blog’ was originally derived from – web log = blog) and part information center for like minded people.

Do I earn money from it? A little. I use a combination of affiliates and direct product testimonials as a means of directing readers, though I never recommend a company or product that I haven’t either used or tested myself. As an example, I am affiliated with an online outdoor sports outlet called Moosejaw.

I’ve shopped with them for years, preferring to spend my money with them based upon things such as their awesome customer service, reasonable pricing system and discounts – of which they distribute throughout the year. One of their latest, Moosejaw coupon code 2012, is probably one of their best, and has been, so far, a good source of residual income for me over the last quarter.

For those looking at blogging as a means of earning exactly that, the secret (I believe) is in your attitude: you need determination, you need to be consistent and you need to remain current and informative. As long as you go into it with your eyes wide open, and don’t expect instant results, you will see, eventually, a return for all your hard work. Mind I said eventually ;)

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How to Make Your Blog like the Popular Kid in School

Posted on 2012/03/24 by Allan Varughese

Blogs have come a long way since their inception in 1997. With millions of blogs competing for the same audience, it can be tough to stand out among the crowd especially in competitive niches like entertainment, finance or forex trading. There are some very simple steps you can do to turn your blog into the popular kid at school.

The single biggest thing that makes a blog popular is it’s loyal followers. Whether you were the popular kid in school or were on the outside looking in, you know that being popular means you have a lot of friends. 


When you are first starting to dip your toe in the online world of blogging you don’t need a ton of loyal followers. In fact you just need ten. Once you have the first ten the rest of the followers will fall in line. So how do you go about getting those ten? 

The first thing you need to do is get into the habit of posting to your blog every week, . In order to gain interest in your blog you need to give the reader fresh, original material. There isn’t anything worse than checking out a blog and seeing that the last time anything was posted was over a month ago. Why would they bother coming back if you’re not bothering to post?

Along with publishing on your blog every week or more, start posting content to your social media outlets. Set up a twitter, facebook, tumblr and pinterest accounts and spread the content around. While you’re there, make sure to spend some time replying to other’s posts, liking posts you find interesting and sharing posts with other people in your social network. Taking the time to support your fellow bloggers will go a long way. 

Once you have landed your first ten loyal followers, you need to do what you can to make them happy, because happy followers will point their friends to your blog. This is a lot easier than it sounds. When one of your original ten posts a comment on your blog or shares what you’ve written via Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media outlet, thank him or her. It doesn’t have to be a long thank you just long enough to show you’re appreciation for their contribution. 

By focusing on your ten core followers you increase your chances of you blog becoming the popular kid in school. Just make sure that once you have the first ten loyal followers that you don’t forget about them, because without them your blog would be lost. Take care of the first ten and they’ll prove to be more loyal than any of the other followers they bring to the party.

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What’s the Best Type of Affiliate Marketing?

Posted on 2012/03/03 by Alejandra Conine

Budding Internet marketers face a difficult decision when they reach the point at which they have enough traffic to think about monetisation.  Should you join the Amazon affiliate program?  Should you join a merchant affiliate program like Commission Junction or Shareasale?  How about, God forbid, adult affiliate programs pushing the dirty stuff?

It’s a tricky question, and one that requires a heck of a lot of thought before delving in. After all, succeeding as an affiliate marketer takes a lot of work.  It isn’t simply a matter of throwing in a few links to Amazon products and hoping for the best.  No, to succeed in affiliate marketing requires hours, days, weeks of painstaking research, and that’s before you even think of creating and promoting your content.

In truth, the vast majority of affiliate marketers will barely scrape a minimum wage when they finally divide their income by the number of hours worked.  Hell, in my first three months as an Amazon affiliate I made something in the region of $500.  Not a bad amount, but when you consider that it took three months of full time work to earn that amount it ain’t so great.  That works out to around $5 a day. 

Since it will usually take several months of hard work before you begin to see a decent return on your effort it’s important to make sure you make the right choices early on.  I’m going to tell you why your choice should be Amazon.  

1.  Endless Variety

Amazon offers an almost limitless range of products on its site.  Seriously, it’s crazy.  At various points along the way I’ve sold cheap zebra print car seat covers, Hello Kitty accessories, fake Roman coin pendants, mosquito repellent, ladies’ shoes and home improvement supplies, among many other items.  There just isn’t another affiliate program that can offer such variety, and it’s great for marketers who like to take a scattershot approach (though this variety can also be a disadvantage, if you’re hoping to dominate a niche and keep getting distracted by new products).

2.  Gateway Selling

Amazon takes a generous stance with affiliates.  If your site is pushing auto accessories and a visitor clicks through from one of your reviews of a set of fluffy dice, if he fails to buy the dice but then stays on the site and buys, say, a new laptop and a couple of Bluray discs you’ll still get the commission for the sale.  As long as he buys (or adds to the shopping cart) within 24 hours you’ll get credit. 

The benefit of this, apart from the pleasant surprise at seeing a $1,000 sale in your stats when all the products you push cost $15, is that to succeed as an Amazon affiliate you don’t need to be all that effective at selling products.  All you have to do is sell the click itself.  Amazon is incredibly good at converting browsers to buyers once they’re on the site, so your job need only be to get them to click through.

Of course you’ll see a much better conversion rate if you can effectively pre-sell to the visitor before they click through, but you see the point.  Focus on the click, not the sale.  

3. Trust

I’m a Shareasale affiliate.  I advertise Forex training guides, and it pays fairly well.  The conversion rates are OK and the commissions generous.  I can’t help wonder, though, if I’d be making bigger sales if these guides were on sale at Amazon. 

Amazon has trust, you see.  Over the years it’s built itself into one of the most trusted brands in the world.  They’re reliable, great value and just generally good at what they do.  People love to buy from Amazon, and even those wary of online shopping understand that a purchase from Amazon is unlikely to lead to problems.

Shareasale, though?  Who are they?  When my visitors click through one of my Forex links they’re redirected to a site that looks like it was designed in 1996.  It can’t possibly convert as well as Amazon, or even close.  In fact, it converts around 1 in 500 visitors to a sale.  Amazon, on the other hand, converts about 1 in 30 (some people get conversion rates of 1 in 10 or better).   

So, you see, Amazon just makes sense.  There are other schools of thought on this, but these are my two cents.  What do you think?

 

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Merchandise Your Blog to Increase Revenue

Posted on 2012/03/02 by Ashlee Baggs

Creating a successful blog, takes a lot of hard work. Posting frequently, interacting with your readers and fans, staying on top of the latest changes in the blogosphere. These things take up lots of time and effort.

But, just creating the blog isn’t enough for most of us, we also want to be rewarded for our efforts financially. So a whole additional level of learning about advertising formats, introducing ad codes and scripts plus creating partnerships with advertisers has to be pursued.

For many of us, this is a complete headache. A bunch of WORK, when the blog is supposed to be either a fun hobby or a free expression of our interests. Lets not even mention what can happen to our blogs when we start catering to the advertisers or contextual ad links.

So finding ways to make money from the effort and time and costs we put into our blogs needs to be attacked in a creative way.

If you write a lot in a single topic, you can curate your content together and repackage it as an ebook. Then sell the ebook on your site so people can read in a more comfortable manner on their ereader or phone.

If you have a skill related to the topic of your blog you can either offer your own services through the blog or some sort of educational/teaching program to show others that skill.

If you have a popular topic or a particularly devoted fanbase, you may want to consider merchandising your brand. Utilizing t shirt screen printing or embroidered shirts maker services, one can print merchandise that features your logo or your site address or even fun memes or jokes from within your niche.

You might be surprised how quick your readers snatch up a chance to advertise your brand for you just because they enjoy interacting with you and your site. Online readers can be very loyal if you give them a chance to be.

 

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How to Create a Personal Skin Care and Acne Blog

Posted on 2012/03/01 by Delpozo

There are thousands of new blogs popping up every week, and they cover almost any topic imaginable. If you’re interested in starting a new blog but you’re wondering what should be about, you’re certainly not alone. Some people do it to make money while others simply want to share their own experience. Sometimes it’s possible to combine both, and that can make the endeavor more enjoyable. One area that can be both profitable and rewarding to pursue is setting up a personal skin care blog. This won’t necessarily be something designed to sell products or to generate affiliate income. By simply sharing your own struggles with acne or problem skin, you can build up a loyal following quite easily.

It’s no secret that acne is one of the most universal problems around. It can happen to men or women, teenagers or adults, and people across racial and geographic lines. Quite simply, almost everyone has had at least one pimple in their life. And in many cases, it is a serious problem for some people that it can affect their self-esteem and daily life. It’s unfortunate that many people are embarrassed about their condition even if it’s through no fault of their own. People with acne and problem skin feel like they stand out and that they have to suffer all by themselves.

It takes a brave person to start up a blog where you make yourself honorable while sharing your experience. But for other people, it can be an incredible thing to find out that they are going through this alone. Since this is such an intimate thing, you might find some extremely loyal people who are thankful for your blog. This is a great way to find a readership who will support you through thick and thin. It also happens to come in handy when you’re trying to promote your work or a particular product.

Your personal skin care blog can start off with your history so that people can get a chance to know you. You can give pieces of advice on various treatments you’ve tried whether it’s a Clarisonic Mia or a new Neutrogena cream. You might also provide insight into different types of experiences such as going to a dermatologist. This type of blog is also perfect for incorporating comments or even a forum. By creating a special place where acne sufferers can go without fear of embarrassment, you might just be on to a winning idea. Most important of all, you’ll be helping other people while helping yourself in the process. This can turn into a lifelong project that helps millions of people across the world. If you’re looking for more information and useful facts for use with your acne blog, you can find more information at http://howtogetridofacnehelp.com/

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