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Popular Niches For Blogging
June 4th, 2009
If you think of it, today’s highest-earning blogs didn’t reach their coveted spot by accident. Instead, they made the most of the resources and tools that were available to them. And if you think that successful blogging is all about working on the right marketing strategy and coming up with good posts, then you’re missing out on one of the more basic things that make a blog work: its niche or general topic.
But what are these topics that practically stand as gold mines in the blogging terrain? If you’re eager to make money blogging, you have to know which niches will give you a better chance at earning significant revenue. Check out the list below – in no particular order - to find out which blog niches will reward you the best:
1. Technology
With more and more gadgets being produced and released today, consumers are only too eager to learn more about their favorite brands and find reviews about products that have yet to hit the market. The rising popularity and diversity that distinguishes the world of computers and digital technology make this subject a most lucrative one, as Boingboing.net, TechCrunch.com, and Engadget.com have consistently proven to us. If you’re a techie who can’t get enough of the latest digital creations and innovations, then this niche is easily for you.
2. Politics
If you think that most people are generally apathetic about political issues, the current statistics on blog readers will surprise you. Blogs that offer political commentary (such as Huffington Post) earn big bucks, with people flocking to them to read up on what’s going on with the world’s leaders and states. If your interests are angled towards this niche, why not start your own blog on politics and current events?
3. Entertainment
Call these blogs what you will – cheap, trashy, mean – but you can’t deny the fact that they’re a hit with the public. Not only are they a hit; they’re also making much more money than other blogs are. This is because blogs like Perez Hilton pander to a very basic, human desire to know what’s going on with other people’s lives, especially when these people happen to be rich and famous. If Hollywood is your thing and you have a penchant for digging out other people’s dirty secrets, why don’t you give this niche a shot?
4. Personal Blogs
Capitalizing on the same voyeuristic reflex that celebrity blogs invoke, personal blogs have also made their fair share of waves in the blogosphere. Tucker Max runs a blog chronicling his adventures and misdemeanors, and has even published a book as an offshoot to his blogging success. As a general rule, however, the more humorous blogs tend to attract the most attention over those that sound melodramatic or plain generic.
In the end, the right niche for your blog is one that you’re most interested about, and which you feel strongly for. There’s no use blogging about something – no matter how lucrative it is – when it isn’t something you care much about. Remember, too, that your chosen niche is only a fraction of what makes your site special, and that hard work, dedication, and a solid business sense are just as important in ensuring your blog’s success.
Secrets To Getting Unique Content For Your Blog
May 21st, 2009
The common element to all blogs and websites which have become popular is that they provide well-written content which is useful, informative or entertaining. If you want your site to build a large and loyal audience, you have to keep people interested by giving them this kind of material - but this can take up a lot of your time; how do the popular sites do it? What do they know that you don’t?
Ideally, you’d write all of your own content - if the idea of your site is to promote an affiliate marketing venture, then you should provide as much if your own content as humanly possible. As an affiliate, you need to pre-sell your audience on the value of the products and services you promote and position yourself as a knowledgeable source of information whose recommendations should be trusted.
Creating content which covers the product or service along with your own personal opinion about its merits is a good way to lay the groundwork to make your readers more receptive to the idea of making a purchase. A particularly effective method is to use anecdotes drawn from your personal experience with the product.
Using private label articles is a viable alternative. PL articles abound in the Internet and you can always buy some that are connected to your central topic and then place them in your blog. One way of maximizing a purchased PLA is to cut it down into several pieces, thereby maximizing its content.
Utilizing RSS feeds to post on blogs is becoming very popular, although not everyone is familiar or willing to learn about RSS feeds. The advantage to an RSS feed is that your blog is automatically updated with fresh news and content. The disadvantage is that it is not unique content and that anybody interested in the feed will likely click out on a story that appeals to them.
Putting in your very own content is the best way to go. One way to find fresh ideas is to look for an appealing news article and then do a summary write-up based on it. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but you and your readers will find it the most rewarding way. If you feel that you just don’t cut it as a writer or you genuinely don’t have the time, then hire someone else to do it for you. There are many services out there who provide a “blog service” which includes daily posts of unique, engaging content and you can instruct these content writers as to where you want the links in your blog pointing to- so that any burden of cost in terms of hiring them should be offset by the gains in your increased visitor base, the marketing of your other websites and earnings from your affiliate programs.
These are the best ways to generate content for your blog. It is advisable not to be going with the automated path. If you do decide to do that, you will probably have plenty of content- but the substance of the text is unlikely to increase traffic for you. Putting in some good, old-fashioned content work will yield better results for you. As the expression goes- “you get out what you put in….”!!
Top 10 Traffic Ideas For Your Blog
May 15th, 2009
Blogs are popular ways to create an online presence for personal and business reasons. You can build a blog for free and begin posting content right away. But, what good is that content if no one is reading it. Here are ten ideas to bring in the traffic your blog needs to survive.
Of all the successful blogs on the Internet, hundreds more have failed. Running a blog is like running a business website. Unless you are willing to put the time in and treat it seriously, you won’t be blogging long.
That is not to say that the failed bloggers weren’t serious about blogging. Mostly, new bloggers aren’t prepared for the work that goes into creating a successful blog. Just building the blog doesn’t mean that people will necessary come to you. You pursue the audience and give them a reason to see what you have to say.
1. Fresh Content – no one wants to visit a blog day after day and see the same posts. Update your blog content at least twice a week. This will be easier if you write several posts ahead of time and upload them at the appropriate times.
2. Article Marketing – the niche you’ve chosen for your blog is one that interests you. If it is interesting you will spend more time doing it. Create content not only for your blog but also to be submitted to article directories. Use the resource box to advertise your blog so people can find you.
3. Social Networking – these sites are everywhere. Join Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter or a dozen others and make connections. You can join groups of likeminded people who are also bloggers or entrepreneurs.
4. Viral Marketing – this is where you spread the word about your blog. Talk to friends, family and even strangers. Give out business cards that have your blog address on them.
5. Use RSS Feeds – RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Readers can subscribe to your feed and get email updates when new content is posted. It is an easy way for them to keep up with your blog without spending all day online.
6. Submit Blog to Search Engines – doing this allows your blog to be ranked. Google and Yahoo! are two of the most popular search engines you want to crawl your blog pages. It doesn’t guarantee top ranking, though. You’ll have to do a little more work for that.
7. Joining Forums – as a blogger you are a budding entrepreneur. Right now you are marketing yourself to find traffic and then profit. Become a member of business forums, work at home forums and others to meet new people and share ideas. You can add a link to your blog in the signature line so others can find you.
8. Visit other blogs – show your appreciation to those who visit you by also posting comments on their blogs. It is a kindness that shows others you are not just out to advertise your blog alone. Add links to your blog in your comments.
9. SEO Marketing – whatever you write, use relevant keywords. Keyword density between three and ten percent is good for getting higher page rankings in search engines. Base your keywords on a research you do to find the most popular words used in search engines for your niche.
10. Social Bookmarking – submitting posts to social bookmarking sites allows others who are members of those sites to track you back to your blog.
Using any of these ideas will start the traffic moving in your direction. It takes time through internet and social marketing, but you will build the readership you want.
Improve Communication with Your Readers
May 4th, 2009
Calling all editors, publishers, journalists and freelance writers. It is the time to breathe more life into your copy. Turn your articles into living pieces that spark measurable debate, get closer to your readers and engage their mind and soul - we’re talking revolution.
As it was in the beginning
Publishers have for many years relied on letters to get feedback from their readers and although email has opened up this method of communication it is still time consuming and difficult to process with only a fraction of the received correspondence ever being used.
As well as being an overhead for the publisher, to most people it is an unrewarding medium in terms of the amount of effort required and response received, just consider the number of letters that go unpublished and unread.
As it is now
The Internet has brought new channels of communication and has opened up opportunities that allow us to challenge traditional methods. The Internet has matured, no longer the preserve of computer geeks but an everyday technology that has been embraced globally, by the young and old, allowing the traditional way things were done to be re-evaluated. Newspapers, trade journals, magazines and ezines now have the opportunity to change the mental process.
Readers like to have the opportunity to comment and traditionally they may have composed a letter or send an email or write a comment. Emails make communication easier but they still take time to compose and time for the majority, is what they haven’t got.
The letters page, or a list of comments, although interesting, are often only a snapshot of views, or an endless unmanaged list of comments; a well crafted and well written letter on any given subject may hold the view of the majority, or the minority, but due to its free text form it is difficult, or near impossible, to measure.
As it should be
Now consider the advantages of linking articles to online surveys where as a publisher you will have the ability to obtain valuable readership feedback in a form that can be properly measured. Just as important as you communicating with your readers is providing your readers with a channel to communicate with you; a method where they know it will count.
Want a snapshot of opinion? How much did they like the article? Did the sentiments expressed in the article have the support of the audience or do the readers have a different view?
Now it is easy
In the past it would have taken considerable effort to design, publish and collate, a process that was too long winded and justifiable only for the niche and important topics.
However, using sites like www.surveygalaxy.com surveys and questionnaires can be created and published via the Internet by anyone who has a pulse. Professional looking surveys and questionnaires created in minutes that make the perfect compliment to articles that prompt opinion and debate.
The advantage over letters, e-mails and comments are that all the feedback is properly managed and measured and sites like Survey Galaxy will provide you with a real time poll that you can either keep to yourself or share with your readers.
It’s not even one or the other now
Link each article to an online survey and not only extend the life of the article as people have a channel to express their views, but involve your readers in the discussion where they now know their opinion will be counted.
You think they would rather send an email? - no problem - include the facility within the survey and get the best of both worlds.
It’s low cost, fast and easy to do; it will not only empower and engage the reader but will establish a valuable communication channel that will provide you with measurable feedback and give you the opportunity to promote other related articles.
There is an opportunity to register your view of this article here:- Readership Feedback Survey
Make Money Online By Blogging
April 30th, 2009
Some people choose to blog in their spare to time to earn extra money online. Some do it simply as a form of self expression, in order to entertain both themselves and their readers. Others keep personal blogs and share them only with close family and friends. Serious bloggers monetize their blogs and generate profits for themselves. Here we will discuss the ins and outs of blogging for money.
One of the greatest things about a blog is that it’s very cheap to get one started. You can set up a free blog using Blogger or WordPress, or host your blog on your own domain by spening a little money. If you do this, make sure to install a free program such as WordPress to help administer and update your blog. Before starting a blog, one should focus on what subject the blog will be focused on. In order to a successful blog, one must stick to a particular niche or topic. This way you can focus your audience for maximum earning potential. In addition to setting up your blog, you must work on promoting it to gain an audience. One of the newest methods of blog promotion is by using Web 2.0 sites that have a similar niche as yours. Once your blog is set up, and you have begun posting regularly and gained an audience, it is time to start generating your profits.
Trade Advertising – This is a very common way to earn some extra cash. Essentially it involves selling advertising space on your blog to businesses that are related to your niche. Some bloggers rent advertising space on their blogs for a period of time that has been agreed upon.
Affiliate Marketing is a way for a company to sell its products by signing up individuals or companies (”affiliates”) who market the company’s products for a commission. You will receive some money for every blog user that clicks on the advertised link.
Ask for Contributions – If your blog is valuable to your readers, they may help with contributions to help pay for hosting and other fees. Once your blog becomes popular, you may want to make it private and charge a small membership fee.
Sell Your Products and Services – Using your blog to market your own products and services is a great business model and tool to help you succeed online. Blogging purely for entertainment is limiting yourself.
As we see interest in the blogosphere grow at a rapid rate, it is becoming more apparent that blogging can be an excellent source of income. Remember to stay focused and continue to work hard. Making use of various strategies, one can become successful at blogging for money.
How to Be a Freelance Writer
April 7th, 2009
My online adventure began with freelance writing. Although that was more than 3 years ago, my freelance gigs helped me quit my full time job and launch my Internet marketing business as well. You should try freelance writing as a way to get cash flow.
Although there a really good freelance writing guide available, in this article let me give you and idea of what you can do:
- Gost write for other people’s books and ebooks
- Write posts for website / blog owners
- Become a regular columnist for offline / online media in various topics
- Become a paid blogger using get paid to blog like PayPerPost
- Become an editor / proofreader and help improve someone else’s work
- Become a web copywriter and charge for every web copy written
Being an editor requires more of a critical eye and amazing grasp of grammar and writing styles. This is a skill not everyone, even world-class writers, possess. Since copywriting involves a lot of creative thinking, you may not be able to get opportunities easily. Every other type of writing however, is a great opportunity for anyone who can construct a proper sentence in English.
Therefore, you should focus on ghost writing, content writing and paid blogging.
Ghost writing can help you make a pretty amazing sum of money, but the flip side to this is that no one will ever know who you are or appreciate the work you’ve done. In the Internet marketing world, lot of information marketers are constantly looking for someone who can help them write ebooks, instruction manuals and other types of documentation.
Writing articles and web content for blogs / websites is another great opportunity, plus in most cases you also get a “byline” for your work. If you’re writing for blogs, you have your author credits on each blog post. This helps other people know who you are, and get addicted to your style of writing, ideas, and personality. Writing on blogs or other places where you get credited for your writing is much better in terms of building a long-term career.
Another way of making money from freelance writing is paid blogging. The basic idea is you set-up your own blogs and start accepting writing offers in networks like Pay Per Post, Review Me or Sponsored Reviews. Advertisers want to create buzz about their products, and they will pay you to participate in doing it. The popularity of your blog determines how much you earn per post.
The great part of this is that technically you own the web content you have written, which means you can always monetize your growing blog with Google Adsense or even affiliate offers.
5 Blogging Plugins That All Blogs Should Use
February 23rd, 2009
Wordpress plugins are very useful and very easy to set up. You will find everything you need to turn your idea into a great blog. There are a lot of blog plugins out there are that are good to use, the five that are listed here are at the top of the list.
Akismet
This plugin actually comes standard with your Wordpress installation. You will have to get a Wordpress.com API key to activate it, but after that you are good to go. It keeps spam comments away automatically! Akismet is smart enough to put suspected spam into a separate folder, and it even learns from you as you go. Always activate this plugin to achieve the best results out of your blog. It is a time saver also!
Related Posts
Linking to different pages in your blog from every page is a great search engine optimization tactic. One of the problems that blogs possess is that it is difficult to go through old posts and manually link related posts to your new one. Related posts solves that problem! It will insert relevant posts for your blog automatically. It’s very hands-off and very effective. Both visitors and search engines love this plugin.
All in One SEO Pack
Once again, optimizing your site for the search engines is going to be one of the best ways you can make money with your blog. The higher rankings you achieve, the more traffic your blog recieves. The more traffic your site recieves the greater the level of income generated! The All In One SEO pack makes your life easier because it allows you to specify the title, description (that will show up in the search engines), and keywords.
Wordpress Database Backup
Backing up your blog is crucial if you value your business. You need to be prepared as you don’t know what could happen to your server and you could lose all your data. This plugin allows you to easily back everything up by pressing a few simple buttons.
Top Commentators
This plugin is really cool and it encourages a lot of interaction on your blog. It will list the people who have the most comments posted on your blog. They love this because they get the extra exposure. You are happy about it because people have a natural desire to be at the top. It also provides social proof. First time visitors are much more likely to spend time on your blog if they see that other people value your content. The fact that they can see others participating is a great thing.
There are an incredible number of different plugins out there that are ready for you to use. Installing and using these plugins will help you become a great blogger.
For more blogging tips and information on how to make money with your blog check out http://www.profit-from-blogging.com
3 Easy Steps To Optimize Your Blog Post
February 21st, 2009
For many blog owners, they fail to capitalize on search engine traffic because they don’t understand how search engines work and how important it is for their blogs to rank high for their chosen keywords. Failing to bring in targeted traffic is one reason many bloggers stop trying to make money with affiliate programs and find the next scheme to jump into.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. It can be done in 3 simple steps. These three steps can increase browsers to your site which can make the difference between a blog that builds the blogger very little income or a blog that creates wealth for the Blogger.
Follow the advice below to optimize every blog article you upload and start taking advantage of free Internet search engine traffic.
For starters, you should make sure your article addresses are SEO friendly. With a blog platform like Google’s Blogger blogs, this is done automatically and cannot be changed. If you’re a WordPress user, then you’ll want to change your permalinks so that WordPress will produce search engine optimized url’s when you write a post.
The way you get this done in WordPress is to click on the Permalinks tab, and click the radio button along side the Custom field. Next you’ll put a percentage sign followed by the words Postname. {Immediately after the words postname, Now} add another percentage sign. You’ve now ensured that all your post will have optimized urls.
The best tip to optimizing your blog is to put your main keyword in the Title. For example, if you’re blogging about how to earn extra cash, then make sure these keywords are in the Title of your blog. Don’t put something like Johns Blog. Using the keywords in the Title, then you’ll rank higher than if you name it Johns Blog.
You’re next step is to write the keywords in your Post’s title. If you’re targeting people to click on your post about online auctions to to make extra money, then put the keywords in the post title. Not irrelevant keywords like How I Make Money With Auctions. If you do this, the search engines will have trouble determining what your post is about and prevents search engine users from finding your blog post. This is the secret to also earning high paying clicks with Adsese.
Implementing these 3 simple tips will go a long ways in letting the Search Engines know what your post is about. By taking a little extra time and making it easy for the search engines to know what your post is about, they’ll rank your post higher in the Search Engine ranking pages.
Now to fully take advantage of all this optimizing, you’ll need to build links to each post. But alas, there isn’t enough room here to go ito the details of link building. First, get acquainted optimizing your own blog and blog post.
Work at Home Moms, how to blog
February 7th, 2009
Blogs are here to stay, and many Wahms are taking advantage of the trend. Making money with blogs is a popular choice for many work at home moms. It is easy to set up a blog, they are also relatively easy to update. This is especially true when you compare blogs to other types of websites. Within just a few minutes, you can set up a professional looking blog for free and start your Wahm blogging business.
A blog is an easy to update website that looks sort of like a journal. Make an entry at least once a week, the newest entries appearing at the top. Entries are normally short articles of 200 to 500 words. Readers use a blog reading program to visit the blog or read new entries. Entries can be commented on by viewers and they can provide links between their own blogs and yours.
With blogs, the opportunities are wide open. Choosing a blog topic is as easy as looking at your own life for inspiration. There are blogs about every topic, from gardering to make-up to celebrity news. Do some research on the Internet to investigate if people are interested in the blog topic you have in mind, before you actually start it. It doesn’t matter if your topic isn’t populair when you have a dedicated group of people who are interested in it.
Make sure to stay within a fairly small “niche when picking a topic.” The term niche is used to describe a group of people who have a similar interest. There are small niches - like tips for training your cat to sit on the toilet - and big niches - like working at home. A happy medium between a populair topic and a niche interest will help your blog get plenty of readers. There are some topics that are too broad, like working at home or parenting. They have too much competition for readers.
A free blogging platform, like www, can be used to set up your blog.blogger.www or com.wordpress.com. There are also a half dozen others to choose from. Use the blogging platform to make your first entry into your blog, it will walk you through it.
After you’ve made a few entries into your blog, it’s time to make money with your blog. This means you’ll be making specific changes to your blog in order to make money. Using a contextual advertising program, like Google Adsense or Chitika to gain income from a blog is one of the most populair ways. Contextual advertising pays you for each time a reader clicks on one of the advertising links on your page. The advertising program will scan your blog entries for keywords, and then place advertising on your page that relates to your page content.
For instance, the ads next to the article will have to do with Sesame street if you are writing an article about the program because you have a blog on children’s television. They might be links to shopping for Sesame Street items, or an ad for vintage Sesame Street collectables selling on ebay.
What to blog about during a recession
February 6th, 2009
There are millions of people who turn to the internet whenever they need any kind of information. Some are looking for products while others are looking for certain services; still others are searching for solutions to their problems. Thus, the internet is a space where you can get the maximum exposure for your business. If you are a blogger, the first thing that you need to do is to put up useful content on your website that will help others.
Start networking
Despite the economic problems that are plaguing the markets today, you can still make it big if you can do your networking properly. Grow your social network as quickly as you can, it will help propel you to the top. It is very important to know other people in your niche because they will help publicize your business. Even if you already have a good enough network, you still need to put enough time and effort in order to expand it.
A great way to expand your network is through various social networking sites. You can also ask your clients to refer to you in their contacts and thus spread the word about your business. You can also collaborate with a group of popular bloggers. Many bloggers get into mutual settlements via these groups to publicize each other.
Write about the necessities
One thing that you need to be aware of is that despite all kinds of budget constraints, there are certain things that people will continue buying, such as the bare necessities of life. Thus, if you are able to write about the absolute necessities of life, you will never be out of business.
In order to identify the necessities of life, try to observe the people around you - your family, your friends. By observing them you can understand more about the necessities of life. Once you identify them, try to develop an insight and write about it.
Enlighten and motivate others
When you are in the sphere of blogging and you know that there are many readers you cater to, make an effort to make a difference. Try to write about inspiring stuff that will help people and give them good advice and courage to face difficulties. Inspire the folks who read your blog. Also try to educate them about things that you know best.
A very important thing that you can write about is the job prospects of people. Look for advice you can give reguarding other jobs, professions and income sources. People are always willing to learn about a better job and get to know more about what’s going on in the market.
People are always looking to make more money. If you know of some tips to make money on the internet and if you have succeeded already, share it with your readers.
There are millions of things under the sun to write about. Choose your topic in such a way that you are comfortable about it and you have the required knowledge to write about it. Write with your heart and in a genuine manner.