Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

When you work from home and you use your income to support yourself or your family it’s important to have that money coming in at all times. Losing any portion of your income can be detrimental to you and it could cause you to lose everything if it was bad enough. That’s why it’s very important to have several streams of income instead of relying on one stream. Your business may be full time leaving you with little or no time to add anything else, which makes it tough.

One way to handle that is to add streams that don’t require a lot of work, if any at all. If you choose the right ways and you use what you’re already using, the work you must do will be very minimal and when you’re working your business full time, that’s exactly what you need. One of the best ways to handle that is to use your blog to increase your income. There are several ways to do that and each is described below.

1. Affiliate Banner and button ads. The sides and possibly the top of your blog are a great place to put banner and button ads. You can sign up for affiliate programs that offer these types of ads to their members and then link the banner or button ad to your affiliate link. Whenever someone clicks on the ad and places an order you’ll get the credit for it. One thing to remember when you’re signing up for these types of programs is to join ones that are geared to your market. You won’t make any money if you join programs that aren’t what your market needs or wants.

2. Sale advertising. If your traffic is sufficient enough, you can offer ad placement for a fee. It’s important to charge an amount that is affordable to your market and justifiable with the amount of traffic you receive each month. It’s also important to do what you can to make sure you continue to market your blog so people that pay for advertising see the results and continue to purchase from you and refer others to you as well.

3. Paid posts. There are a number of programs you can join that offer payment for posts you make. Either they tell you what to post or they give you suggestions and links to include. Some are paid by the post and others are paid by the link. Most pay through Paypal. It’s important to read all of the details and have a complete understanding before you join so you know what you’re getting into.

Adding multiple streams of income through your blog is a good way to increase the traffic to your site and add money to your pocket. Some of these suggestions are easy to do while others may require a bit of time, but all can help you increase your income when you do them correctly and regularly.

Corrie Petersen is a successful Virtual Assistant and Ghostwriter. She enjoys helping her clients grow and reach success through the services that she offers. If you need to outsource tasks in your business, click here to see how she can help you. If you’re ready to increase the traffic to your site through article marketing and blogging, click here to see how she can help you.

I started my own business during the fall of 2003. When my business opened, I had only one employee to help me serve clients. Two months later I had the pleasure of hiring two more people. Before the economy crashed in 2007, my business employed more than thirty people. After laying off all of the individuals I had planned on working with until my retirement, I closed my business’ doors for the last time in the fall of 2010.

Until recently, I thought I had experienced the highest levels of stress during the time my business was in operation, especially when I had the displeasure of letting my dedicated staff go and revoking their steady pay, 401K contributions, and health insurance plans. Since starting my own blog, however, I have discovered that the stress of being responsible for the livelihoods of others pales in comparison to the angst of depending on site traffic to cover my own bills.

My blog was inspired by the ongoing struggle my boyfriend’s ex-wife has with borderline personality disorder, otherwise known as BPD. Jane’s mental torment has resulted in her having what can only be described as fragmented relationships with people to whom she was once close, including her ex-husband, son, parents and childhood friends. Jane’s unpredictable temper tantrums are invariably followed by desperate pleas for forgiveness and acceptance; both parts of this emotional cycle are acted out in front of public and private audiences.

My blog focuses on the impact that borderline personality disorder has on those around the individual who suffers with it. I try to provide support and advice for people trying to manage a relationship with someone afflicted with BPD. Even though millions suffer from BPD, my blog has a small audience. My site traffic seems to be as unreliable as Jane’s moods. I write that with humor not malice in my heart as I have found my moods to be a bit unpredictable these days, too. I want to make a living by writing my blog, but I’m beginning to wonder if that will ever be possible.

I am fortunate to have the support of my boyfriend who faithfully reads my blog. He sent a link to every one of his contacts, but I think the sole reader my blog picked up from his effort is his mother. I’m grateful to have the support of other bloggers I have encountered, too. I wish everyone success, but I must admit that I take a certain amount of selfish comfort from knowing I’m not the only stressed blogger.

Despite the support of my boyfriend and the camaraderie of other bloggers, my stress level has piqued in recent weeks. I wonder if my blog is too narrow in scope to appeal to enough readers to meaningfully increase my site traffic. I am concerned about my ability, or lack thereof, to support myself with my writing. I’m particularly anxious about being able to contribute to my boyfriend’s household since he lost his job last week.

I know certain authors are earning a real living—a very good living—from blogging and I’m curious if I’ll ever be one of them. I also wonder if I’ll ever make even a single one of those dollars that are so plentiful among others.

About The Author

Sally is a part-time blogger who spends her free time working out at the gym, catching rays in the tanning bed, and traveling out of the country whenever her schedule permits. Read about her active lifestyle at eatbreatheblog.com

By Nicole Dean

Around the world, people everywhere are discovering that blogging is a great way to make money online. The reason? Blogs can usually be set up at a low cost and started with a minimum of experience. Two very popular tools for blogging are Google Blogger (blogger.com) or the easy to use WordPress (WordPress.org). Both make it easy to set up a blog. But what kind of blog should you start?

Recipes and cooking tips are two very popular topics on the internet. People who cook, love to share their stories, good or bad, with other people who love to cook. If you can tell someone else about a product that failed, a recipe that actually worked, or even a five-star restaurant quality meal that you stumbled upon, wouldn’t that be great fun? Now, what if your experiences in the kitchen could make you money as well? Blogging about regional dishes is especially interesting to folks who can’t travel to your area but would like to make something different. Have a little fun with it and include your own personal kitchen disasters like “the day the potato exploded”. People want to laugh along with you as well as learn something new.

If you’re questioning whether or not you have the skills needed to create a recipe blog, you probably aren’t giving yourself enough credit. You love to eat, right? Well, that’s one skill down. Can you write a recipe that’s easy to follow and accurate? There you go! You don’t have to be a trained chef or know all the fancy cooking terms, just enjoy what you do. You will probably want to have a digital camera so you can include pictures of the recipes you make, but it’s not necessary. You’ll find sites where you can download pictures that will suit you just fine. Most importantly, you’ll need to have patience. Your blog won’t get noticed as fast as you’d like, but before you know it you’ll be chatted-up all over the blogosphere.

Of course, you want to make money with your recipe blog. By using one or more of the following methods, you’ll have a real home-based business that will start producing income for you and your family.

Make Money by Selling Products: A recipe blog offers an opportunity for the entrepreneur to build a home based business by actually selling products online while blogging about them. By offering cooking products, cookware, cookbooks, and other tools that the budding chefs of the world would like, you are sharing your interests and your opinion while making money. If you are a retailer at heart, this method of earning income could be for you.

Make Money by Selling Advertising: Your blog may not be popular at first, but never fear. It won’t be long before readers start finding you and your traffic starts to increase. Once that happens, advertisers will be interested in promoting on your blog.

Make Money by Selling Your Blog: Successful bloggers, those whose readership has grown enough to be noticed by the search engines and/or media, can even sell their blogs to others and earn an income. Popular topics in high-traffic websites will get your name and your blog noticed, remembered, and visited. Some people create blogs just to sell them, in fact, so this is another idea to keep in mind.

Isn’t it incredible to think that by just sharing your love of food you can earn an income? With a bit of hard work and learning a few blogging tips, you will be able to create a one-of-a-kind blog that shares your stories, family recipes, favorite restaurant tips, cooking disasters, or whatever you want to share. Just be sure that you have your “stamp” on it, that it is uniquely yours, and the readers will follow! But, you can’t profit until your recipe blog is a reality. Get started today.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Setting up a Niche Recipe Blog is a fun and lucrative business to start with a minimum of money and equipment. Get step-by-step help by grabbing your JustAddSweat.com Guide to Making Money with a Recipe Blog. Need recipes for your new blog? Check out PLR Recipes.

By: Michelle Shaeffer

Put your blog promotion on auto-pilot with these “set it once then forget it” promotional strategies.

Submit Your Blog to Blog Directories

Once you’ve requested a listing, you’re done!

blogcatalog.com
bloghub.com
blogarama.com
blogexplosion.com
blogflux.com
blog-search.com
blogbunch.com
iblogbusiness.com
quickblogdirectory.com
bloglisting.net
blogrankings.com
weblogalot.com

Ping When You Post

If you’re using WordPress, it’s probably already set to ping rpc.pingomatic.com Add that to your ping list if it’s not there already. Ping-O-Matic will receive your ping then let lots of other sites know you’ve updated your blog.

If you can’t ping directly from your blog, try Feedburner’s Pingshot service.

Offer Your Readers an RSS Subscribe

Techno-savvy readers love RSS feeds they can subscribe to.

Your blog may have this built it just waiting for you to link to. You can also sign up with Feedburner or Feedblitz.

Be sure to add the code to your blog once you’re setup so readers can subscribe.

Add Social Bookmarking and “Tell a Friend” to Your Posts

Sociable and Share This are two great plugins you can use to easily add social bookmarking and “tell a friend” capability to your blog.

Just download, install, setup, and then the plugin of your choice will add the social networking icons to every post on your blog.

Connect to Social Networking

Using social media you can syndicate your blog content to reach your social networks.

If you Twitter, you can tweet your blog posts with TwitterFeed.

If you’re on Facebook, try the WordPress Facebook App.

These five strategies take a few minutes to setup but once you’ve got them up and running they’ll promote your blog for you. Strategies 2 – 5 will promote your blog every time you post!

About The Author

Work at home mom extraordinaire Michelle Shaeffer publishes The Muses Brainstorm, a weekly ezine with tips to help you balance, manage, and market your home based business. If you’re ready for inspirational guidance and bright ideas sign up free at www.thesmallbusinessmuse.com.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

By: Grace Chen

Harnessing the marketing power of your blog is an excellent strategy for growing your business. With the many benefits of blogs, including SEO and developing customer loyalty, even Fortune 500 companies are jumping on the bandwagon. However, utilizing blogs is not as simple as writing articles that optimize your company’s keywords.

Seeing your blog as an extension of your marketing and branding efforts is the key to maximizing the benefits of blogging. Remember, the purpose of your blog is to attract your target customer base – and keep them coming back for more. With that said, there are several strategies you can utilize to maximize the marketing power of your blog.

What does your blog say about your company?

A major element of your marketing efforts is brand congruency. McDonald’s, Apple, Nike, and the other highly successful global organizations have achieved their status through intelligent, congruent branding. Keeping this in mind, it is critical that your blog stays in line with your branding efforts. Readers see the blog as a personal extension of the company, and thus, it is important that it reflects the same character of your branding strategy.

For example, if you run an online party supplies store that is known for creativity, then make sure your blog reflects that branding. Include innovative party ideas, such as themes, unique DIY decorating tips, and recipes. This creates significant value with your target customer base, while keeping in line with the creative branding your company employs.

How is your blog valuable to your target customer?

Although blogs are indeed beneficial for SEO purposes, the most power you can generate from your blog stems from attracting your target customer. With this in mind, carefully evaluate how valuable your blog postings are to your client base. Put yourself in their shoes; would you bookmark your blog and come back regularly?

One strategic – and easy – way to increase the value of your blog is to create specialized content. Positioning yourself as a specialist and expert in the field not only provides value to the customer, but inherently reinforces the legitimacy of your company.

For example, if you are a recruiting firm, then your blog should discuss pressing HR issues that your clients would find valuable. You could expound upon changing laws, new legal rulings, powerful interview questions, and background check tools. Not only do you reaffirm your expertise in recruiting employees, but you present very valuable information that would prompt your client base to become regular readers.

How does your blog stand out from the crowd?

With many of your competitors utilizing blogs, how can you compel your target audience to visit your blog? The key is to create innovative content that stands far above mediocre articles. While many blogs simply write average, keyword-rich articles for SEO purposes, make sure your blog shines with innovative content. Whether you infuse humor, compelling research, breaking news, or expert knowledge, writing interesting blog articles is the most powerful way to generate attention. Keep in mind that your goal is to create articles worthy of links – ones that other blogs and social networks will want to re-publish – and your content will easily stand out from the blogging crowd.

When you create innovative, valuable content that is in line with your branding strategy, your business can fully reap the benefits of blogging. Leave your competition in the dust as you jumpstart your marketing campaign with the power of today’s blog!

About The Author

Discover how blog content can increase your company’s potential by visiting our Learning Guides. CommunicateBetter.org offers powerful freelance writing services, whether you need valuable, ghost-written blog articles or engaging, converting landing pages.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com