Get Yourself Started In Blogging - The Right Way

by: Bruce Tucker

As of September 2007, more than 106 million blogs have been tracked which makes one wonder just what blogging is.Blogging is that wonderful world where you can write your personal thoughts about what you think on any subject imaginable, whether good or bad, with or without anonymity, although in reality anonymity really doesn’t exist when it come to the Internet. Your website, your email has an ISP address which is easily traceable to any given computer.

In general, blogs are articles you write and post on the web for the entire world to see. Your blog puts you, your thoughts in the forefront, which lets others see your brilliance or idiocy. You can have your own website dedicated to your thoughts, or you can respond to a particular article that has been written which allows you to voice your opinion about the subject or article, although use tact when responding. Most news media allowing you respond to a written article requires you to provide a valid email address in order for you to make a comment.

Most subscribers to the Internet post there blogs on personal web pages or websites their ISP provides. Other bloggers post their comments on the multitude of websites available for posting their thoughts, usually indexed by subject. To find a blog site, simply type “blog/s” in any search engine and behold you will find thousands of blog sites you can read or post.

Methods for blogging vary which you should consider before doing any posting. Blogging in response to a particular article, as well as posting on dedicated blog sites are permanent blogs, in that they can not be changed once posted. With that in mind, you really need to think about what you want to say before posting your thoughts. It’s somewhat like making a comment, once spoken it can’t be undone.

The other side of posting on an open blog site is the libel issue. At present, blog sites are not libel for what you say, so use caution when blogging.

The other method of blogging is to have your own website or page where you write your own blog. Using this method, you can edit your blog, write about another subject or simply delete the blog entirely. This method in my opinion is perhaps the safest method of blogging, but there is a caveat to this method. When you write something on your computer using a word processor and save the document, even if you delete the article, or document, it still resides on your computer and unless you completely reformat or destroy the hard drive, it remains on you computer forever. If someone wants to prove you wrote the article, with the proper software they can retrieve it.

You may wonder if blogging is without peril. That depends. If you are blogging about your Aunt Tilly’s super fruit cake recipe, you’re safe, but if you’re blogging about a politician, an organization, the government, religious leaders, a company, an individual, you need to be careful about what you have to say, as you just might be libel. Presently, in the US, the courts are undecided about blogging, weighing in on the free speech side of the argument, however; individuals have been imprisoned and/or fined for their blogs.

To be safe when blogging, it’s important to use the correct adjectives, or follow the method the news media use when writing an article. Words like; alleged, subject to, suspected of, and the like may keep you out of trouble. Although, innuendos you make can been seen as an attack, an accusation, by some very sensitive people and they just might decide to take action against you.

Even when using safe words, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to suffer the consequences for your big mouth. Many states have what is known as; “The Right To Work Law,” which simply means employers can fire an employee for any reason, or for no reason. Individuals have been fired from their jobs for posting blogs about their company.

Many blogs are instructional in nature from how to grow a tree, wash a cat to building an explosive device. Here again you need to be careful. Those blogs about explosive devices just might cause a visit from a federal agency. Unfortunate as it is, when it comes to blogging, “Big Brother Is Watching!”

Adsense Keywords For 22 Hot Niches

By: Michael Constantinos

I'm pleased to offer the following adsense keywords that target 22 hot niches and potentially paying out high to very high average Earnings Per Click (EPC). The key word here is “average” EPC. Don’t be fooled by keyword lists that show very high 1st Bidder rates as Google only sets the rate at 1 cent higher than the 2nd Bidder, which could be significantly lower. For example, the 1st Bidder for an Adsense Keyword could be $4.74 but the 2nd Bidder is only 86 cents resulting in the highest Bidder being only 87 cents. Additionally, Bidders in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Bidders could all be under 50 cents which consequently result in the “average” Bid amount being 28 cents… a far cry from the $4.74 1st Bidder amount. So if you didn’t know before, I hope you know now. It’s important to be focused on the “average” not the highest bid. Of course, market size is the next consideration to determine potential traffic and income. For more in-depth analysis on these keywords, visit my blog on adsense keywords and discover why they are recommended as good potential adsense keywords. 1. Cosmetic Surgery - $3.75 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.60 2. Document Management - $21.92 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $11.72 3. Mortgage Refinance Calculator - $17.15 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $8.67 4. Accounting Software - $25.22 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $10.90 5. Colon Cleanse - $4.55 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.93 6. Medical Alarms - $14.35 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $6.97 7. Sales Force Automation - $17.71 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $9.20 8. Accident and Sickness Insurance - $7.09 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $2.58 9. Search Engine Optimization - $17.68 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $8.04 10. Call Center Outsourcing - $8.08 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $3.32 11. Workers Compensation - $14.35 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $6.97 12. Business Degree Online - $20.90 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $11.24 13. Asbestos Lung Cancer - $11.52 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $3.74 14. Postcard Printing - $15.98 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $7.68 15. Free Business Cards - $4.64 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.84 16. Chicago Condos - $3.71 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.77 17. 2nd Mortgage - $32.15 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $16.19 18. Auto Rentals - $3.65 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.92 19. Business Phone Systems - $20.24 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $10.06 20. Discount Airfare - $2.00 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.10 21. Auto Insurance Quotes - $2.00 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $1.10 22. Domain Name - $13.41 with an Average Bid for the Top 10 Advertisers of $5.36 Document Management is a shining star with a huge average bid of $11.72, as does 2nd Mortgage with an even bigger average bid amount of $16.19 As you can see from the above list, their are several excellent opportunities and I encourage you to investigate them further with the case studies I have published, by visiting my Blog and seeing all the details. So there you have it. Adsense Keywords for 22 Hot Niches that are recomended due to their highest, but more importantly their average bids, as well as traffic expected for these keyword searches, and finally, for the level of competition with these adsense keywords.

Adsense and Adwords Are Two Different Sides Of The Same Coin

By: Dave Mallegg

ADWORDS are simply the keywords that visitors put into Google to search for information on that keyword or phrase. Your pay-for-click ad on the right side of the page that appears is called an Adword, because your ad appears when the visitor searches for information on that keyword. When the visitor clicks on your ad, you pay Google (adword). If, when your visitor arrives on your site, they click on any ads you have on your site, you get paid by Google under a pay-for-click program called Google Adsense. LOCATION OF YOUR AD The best location for your ads on your own site would be the top right side. This is because the visitors' eyes tend first to look up and right, so you want the most important information in that location. RESEARCHING KEYWORDS The real goal is to obtain the maximum click conversion and not only the optimization search engine ranking. This is not only about high ranking to get visitors to click on your ad, but it is about your visitors later clicking on your ads that appear on your site. Therefore, you must chose keywords that relate the best to clicking on your ads and not just a high ranking. The highest paying keywords do not automatically guarantee you will make the most profit. You must test this and track the results. IMPORTANT POINTS ON CONTENT Your purpose of having your visitors click on your ads is always the primary purpose. The content in your article must be sufficiently relevant that it puts the visitor in an emotional state of mind of being inquisitive or in a buying frame of mind. TYPE AND FORMAT OF YOUR AD All ads on your website must match and conform to the general broad design, color, image and level of quality of your site. They must harmonize, yet they can still attract attention by "standing out". BE CERTAIN TO AVOID THIS When you have ads placed on your site and you get paid for visitors clicking on them, you must strictly adhere to the Google policy and general common sense to never have family and friends click on those ads just so you can get paid. This is the fastest way to have Google terminate you and likely never to able to deal with Google again. Google is watching for this, as it would destroy this valuable advertising concept for everyone. The pay-for-click is a fantastically effective method of getting your word out to visitors who are searching for your information. These basic guidelines and rules will help your journey to use Adwords and Adsense to build traffic and profits in your chosen niche.

Adsense Tips That Double Affiliate Earnings

By: Mark Walters

MOST of us would love to double our Adsense earnings. It doesn’t take long to learn that Google uses a sliding scale, so a $10 keyword that promised to pay $1 to the affiliate only pays $.05. Many affiliate marketers, especially work at home professionals, assume that affiliate marketing is a scam and quit. Unfortunately, affiliate marketing through Google or Yahoo is not a scam. It is the marketer’s ignorance that is costing them money. No matter what type of internet business a person operates, most will include affiliate marketing to a greater or lesser degree. Many businesses consider affiliate income as passive income, but they remain frustrated by the lack of success. HowEarnings are Calculated: Many factors are involved when calculating the affiliate’s earnings. Page rank, hits, inbound links, and Page Rank are all important. However, the search engines also track how many people click and compare it to how many people remain at the site for more than 30 seconds. Ad Appearance: The effectiveness of an ad depends on its appearance. Adds that mimic a link bar on a webpage will do better than ones that appear to be advertisements. This is why Google allows web publishers a wide variety of layouts and color combinations. Many affiliate marketers tell small business owners to post three, four, or even five bars of Affiliate links. This rarely works. Instead, it can make the visitor feel like they’ve hit a MFA (Made For AdSense) spam site. In most cases, visitors just leave. Content: You’ve all heard it – Content is King. Many people mistake this to mean that content attracts search engines – not true. Content, and meta tags, determine what ads appear on a site. A web page that is not doing well can be improved, dramatically, by altering the keywords to attract sites which have good products to sell at an affordable price. The keywords in an article rarely effects search engine rank in today’s SEO world. However, they are 100% effective in controlling the ads that appear on a web page. Know the Ads: Never click an ad on your website. However, you can read the URL and go visit the site. What are they selling? Is it a good product? Do you know how to write an article that can ‘pre sell’ the product? Can your article ad value to the product? All of these questions will play a vital roll in the difference between the number of the ‘click through’ from your site and the number of ‘decisions to buy.’ There is nothing wrong with manipulating the ads that appear on your web page. If too many of those ads lead to ‘Hard Sell’ pages then change the keywords and topic of the page to attract something more ‘user friendly.’ AdSense Analytics: All business owners need to familiarize themselves with web analytics. AdSense has its own analytics program. Keep an eye on the pages, which ones work, which ones don’t, and which ads pay best. When you target an ad that earns a high affiliate payout then create more pages that attract that ad. It is easy to track hits and traffic by creating ‘channels’ in the AdSense program. Reversed AdSense: Don’t forget to improve your PPC campaigns success by using this advice in reverse. One thing that many small businesses often overlook in their Pay Per Click programs is the websites where their ads appear. If the ad appears on too many Made For AdSense pages, or the Return On Investment is low. Take a look at the sites where you want the ads to appear. Use your browser’s ‘view’ button and look at the page’s ‘source code.’ The meta information may give a few insights to how the ads are placed. Sometimes a PPC campaigns success can be increased simply by changing one keyword, or a single word in the ad.

Take the Wheel - Drive Customers to your Website

By: Lori Quaranta

SO you own a small business and you have made the decision to build a simple website to gain internet exposure. Or maybe you already have a website that no one visits? You can be the proud owner of the slickest website you have ever seen, but if you aren’t getting any traffic because it’s not properly optimized you have wasted a good chunk of change and a lot of your valuable time. Weather you are building a site from scratch or tweaking one that already exists, consider these web hosting and marketing tips to help drive traffic to your website:

For Web Hosting:
1) Start with keywords - Think about terms potential customers would use to find you in a search engine. What would you type in if you were looking for your business?
2) Use a keyword selector tool - Type your keywords into a keyword selector tool to see how many people have searched on the term in the last 30 days. Look for terms in the 2k-10k range that are relevant to your site.
3) Use domain names which match your keywords – My client advertises products that are geared toward leadership skills development. In addition to leadingonedge.com he also has leadership-skills.info and a handful of others.
4) Use keywords throughout your web pages - Put your keywords in the title, description, keywords, graphics, and written text.
5) Use a keyword density analyzer - Check your website against a keyword density analyzer to see how frequently a specific keyword is used. Shoot for 3-15% density.
6) Slick and sexy doesn't get you traffic - Don't waste your money on slick graphics or things that fly across your screen. Most visitors find them annoying and search engines don't care for them.
7) Use Google AdSense on your website - Whenever someone clicks on a Google ad in your website, you get revenue. And the ads are relevant to your content. My websites now pay for themselves with ad revenue alone.
8) Advertise Amazon books and products on your website - Set up an Amazon Associates account and put relevant books and products on your website. When someone buys a product you get referral revenue.
9) Consider using a website starter package - If going it on your own, think about using a website starter package which can have you up and running quickly.
10) Decide where you want to spend your time - In any business, time is money! Small business web hosting is very doable, but it does take time. Decide if you want to do it yourself or have a professional help you.

For Marketing:
1) Get an automated eCommerce system - These can be really good, very comprehensive and very inexpensive. The good ones can do everything from customer base management to product management to shopping cart to newsletter broadcasts.
2) Get a cheap and reliable merchant account provider - You can get merchant account providers that do both the merchant account and internet gateway for you.
3) Put a link back to your website in your email autosignature - This doesn't need to be obnoxious, just a simple link that email recipients can click on to reference your website.
4) Do selective link trading - Link trade, but make sure the content on the other websites is similar to your own. Don't touch "link farms" with a ten-foot pole; search engines hate them.
5) Write articles and include your website address – Every business owner has something to say that someone would love to read about! There are a number of article databases out there that are researched for website content. Find some article databases which house content similar to yours and write a few articles. You'd be amazed at where your articles show up!
6) Write newsletters - Allow for customers and visitors to subscribe to a newsletter to get regular visibility to you and your company. This is also a great way to compile a customer email data base for your business.
7) Consider using a search engine submission services - These services submit your site to multiple search engines & directories. This can be helpful particularly if your website is new.
8) Set up an affiliates program - Allow for others to promote your products on a commission basis. Again a good eCommerce system should already have this built in.
9) Download the Google Toolbar – I am a Google toolbar fanatic! The Google Toolbar has a nifty feature which shows you the page rank (0-10 scale) of every site you visit; the higher your page ranking the higher your placement in search engines.
10) Set up multiple websites - Got three services you perform? Set up three different websites with domain names that match your keywords. Super cheap to do and can be very effective.