Ten Cash Generating Blog Techniques
Here is a list of ten things you must do in 2008 to make money on the internet.
If you are wondering why you are floundering with little internet cash then you
must read this article. If you aren't doing these ten things then you are
leaving Internet money on the table. Why would you want to walk away from easy
cash?
1. Join Entrecard and watch your traffic numbers go UP.
In my opinion Entrecard can give you the bump you need to jump start your
traffic. In only two weeks using Entrecard my Entrecard traffic has become my
number 5 source of traffic. The important thing is these people are reading
articles, becoming rss subscribers and commenting on articles. They are
becoming part of the You Can Learn Series community.
There are some tricks to making Entrecard really work for you. Drop as many
cards each day as you can. Make sure your Entrecard is easily found on your
website. I highly recommend above the fold. Make sure your pages load fast.
Many card droppers don't like to stick around for pages to load. They will go
somewhere else. Make sure your articles have a little bait to them. As card
droppers wait for the "thank you" reply from Entrecard, you might be able to
bait them to read an article. Advertise on other sites and watch what kind of
traffic you receive. Go back and advertise often on sites that produce traffic.
Like this one! :)
2. Work hard at getting your website optimized for the search engines.
The traffic from the engines is normally prequalified for what you are selling.
Once you get them to your website you must pull them into your sales message.
There are simple tricks that won't get you banned by Google, Yahoo or MSNLive.
Check these out at
Secrets of SEO.
I recommend you work on the long tail keywords instead of head keywords like
Insurance and Make Money. Long tail keywords would be like, Yosemite National
Park Tunnel View Photos. Where the head keyword might be Yosemite.
3. You must have an RSS Subscriber tool.
Use Feedburner, or create your own, but use something. People that subscribe to
an RSS feed reader already like your writing. They see something of interest in
your writing style, writing content or maybe they just like the colors of your
website. But, they have an interest in coming back. They don't want you to
irritate them with emails everyday or every week. But, they do want to be
notified when you write a new article.
When they get the message in their feed reader of choice that you have written
something new then they can choose when to go read the article. It is really an
exciting opportunity for them. It's like getting a snail mail letter from your
favorite uncle. They see the new article has been posted and they can't wait
for the opportunity to read it.
This becomes your community. These are people that will support you long
term. They will become your friend and they will support you when you have bad
times. Your rss subscribers numbers will fluctuate up and down, but there will
develop a core of subscribers that will consistently read your articles,
comment and buy your product or service? Why? Because they trust you. That is
what community is all about, TRUST. Once someone trusts you they are
more likely to buy from you. If you say a product is good they say, well if he
/ she say's it is good then I am going to buy it. See my article on
influence for more information.
4. Get involved with Social Networking.
This means a lot of different things to a lot of people so I am going to
generalize here and you will have to determine what it means to you. The first
point is communicating with others. This might be through LinkedIN, FaceBook,
Digg, Twitter, MyBlogLog, ProBlogger or any of a number of other social sites.
Which is your favorite? If you don't know anything about them then 2008 is the
year for you to find out. If you choose not to learn and grow then you will
leave a LOT OF MONEY ON THE TABLE. Money that should be in your pocket.
The process of joining one of these networks allows you to interact within a
larger community. You can share websites, photos, personal information and
articles of interest. You meet people and you make friends. And again you
develop a trust with others.
All of these sites are the same, but different. You have to find the one to
five social networking sites that work for you and your business. The important
thing is you should definitely get involved.
5. Comment on Other's Blogs
This is without a doubt a powerful traffic generator. You gain a number of ways
with this technique. You have to read other articles. This means you are
opening your brain to new ideas and possibly new article starters. You have to
learn how to be succinct in expressing your opinions. A good writer has
opinions and will attract readers if they know how to express their opinions
well.
Many blogs will allow you to leave your URL with your name. So, if you comment
many times you get links back to your website. Some will be nofollow and others
will be dofollow. It doesn't matter. You will take either. Because you want
people to see what you think and how you write. You want them to take action to
visit your website. You will take the link back to your site if it is
available. But, your real goal is to stimulate readers of those comments to
visit you.
Many people will check out top commentators on blogs. They want to know why
they write, what they write and how often they write. So, take the time to
write well written comments. Don't rush your comments. Proof them before you
hit the submit button. Don't ever answer in anger. Relax, breathe deeply and
respond. How did the article make you feel? What did the writer of the article
leave out that would make it a better article? Why did the writer take that
point of view? Do you see the other side to the argument? Do you have
experiences that agree with the article or even disagrees with the article. Can
you express your side of the argument with class and without name calling?
Sometimes you will read an article and disagree with the article. That is a
good time to write your own article that expresses that opinion. Then let other
people comment on your pages.
Joining and becoming active in forums fits into this same area. You again
become a part of the community. In forums don't be afraid to initiate articles,
correct people who give bad information, and comment on other's articles. You
will become known as a source of authority. People will flock to your website
because they want to know the real answers.
6. StumbleUpon - If you aren't a Stumbler then you aren't living.
I don't mean the kind of stumbling you do after a long night of heavy drinking.
I mean using the StumbleUpon tool. This might be called social bookmarking. I
don't know. But, I know it can bring great traffic to your website. Traffic you
will never get any other way.
In fact try it out right now. Click on the I approve "thumbs up" on your
Stumble tool bar. See, isn't it fun? But, the real power is that people are
randomly sent to your site using some hidden algorithm known only to the
programmers at StumbleUpon. Some of the traffic will be crap, but on occasion
you will get quality, community minded individuals that want to be part of your
little universe. Treasure them, encourage them and help them give you money!
7. Send out a Newsletter.
This goes along with an rssfeed. You want both. Not everyone wants to subscribe
to your rssfeed and not everyone wants to receive emails from you. You want to
service both customers and you do that with emails.
This article isn't for telling you all the things you should have in a email.
But, include new special articles for the subscribers that are either not shown
on your website. You can send email subscribers a sneak peek preview of the
article. You have to find the right balance of newsletters to time for you to
send them out and write them. It is different with each blogger.
8. Run a Contest
This will drive traffic, if you do it right you can get rss subscribers, email
subscribers, repeat visitors, commentors, site reviews and links back to your
website.
9. Write articles for others
If you have the silver pen then you can write articles that appear on other
websites. These will either be paid articles, cool you make a little cash, yay!
Or you get a link back to your blog. This is good for SEO purposes.
But, a little known benefit is the I am expert benefit. When people see
your name splashed all over the internet on the blogs they read regularly, then
you go up a notch on the expert status indicator. This is a good thing. You
become like a mini god to the readers. You might be asked to speak or sit on a
panel at a conference. Why, because you are seen as an expert in the industry.
This again goes a long way to up your trust level with the readers and visitors
to your website. When you comment casually that you just wrote an article that
appeared on "Time Magazine" or some such website then you get industry kudos
and traffic and money and coolness. (Is coolness a word?)
10. Review other Websites
Find some big names in the industry that like to comment about being reviewed
or interviewed. Then do an interview with them. Ask them the questions that are
important to you and your readers. You will learn a lot by asking these
questions. Plus, they will be flattered about the attention. They will mention
your article on their website. So, in theory you will get a super big link on a
high powered website.
The best way to do this is to find an up and coming web site or an affiliate
website that needs the attention. Be honest in your review and don't be afraid
to say something negative. Sometimes that will cause the interviewee to mention
you as they clarify a comment they made.
Cash Generating Tips or Traffic Tips
There you have 10 hot traffic generating tips that will help you make money.
Wait, you say! I was looking for cash generating tips. This is nothing but
traffic tips. Yes, but if you don't have traffic, I don't care what you sell,
you aren't going to make any money.
But, if you have a ton of traffic. Especially, people that trust and respect
you then you can sell them just about anything. They will come back often and
buy from you, listen to your recommendations and click on just about any link
you ask them to click.
Don't skip on the social networking part of this equation. It is hard work and
will require you to spend time you would rather spend doing something else.
But, it will pay big dividends for you. I think you can sell any product or
affiliate product if you have a large group of people that trust and respect
you and are part of your community.
Do These Daily
So, everyday, Entrecard drop at least 100 other websites. When you visit their
pages take the time to Stumble approve at least 10 of them. Read 10 to 25 of
the articles. That will help you Stumble them. Then comment on at least 5 and
try for 10 of them. Good relevant well thought comments. Not something lame
like "Great article dude." Digg articles, add articles to your Facebook
network. Subscribe to other's rss feed and send out emails regularly. Review
other websites and let them know they have been reviewed.
Doing these steps daily. Yes, Daily! Will take you to the top! Good luck in
2008. I hope to see you at the top of the Internet with me! :)
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