tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373158962023-12-01T02:13:49.635-08:00Majon International - Internet MarketingInternet Marketing Blog - Sharing information, tips, and tricks on all aspects of internet marketing and website promotion.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-68756472806775060452007-11-20T10:57:00.000-08:002007-11-20T10:59:08.651-08:00<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:130%;">How to Blend Adsense Ads with Your Website...</span><br /><br />Adsense is a wonderful opportunity for you to generate additional income for your website. It doesn’t cost you anything is the best part! Adsense is also very simple. You have to complete an application with Google and be accepted to host advertisements for other businesses. Then you simply add lines of code to the html on the pages of the website where you are willing to have advertisements. With that all in place, how do you blend the Adsense Ads into your website so they don’t stick out like a sore thumb? You don’t want them to distract the consumer from what you are offering on your website.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">You may not be aware of it, but you have a lot of say in how the advertisements are placed on your website including the placement, format, color, and style. There are many places on a website to put Adsense Ads. Some prefer to place it on the top of the page and others like the bottom of the page. Along either side of the text for your website is convenient too. Since we read from left to right, the right side is more common as it will attract attention as the eyes move across the page. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">According to Google Adsense, the most effective location is at the top of the page because the entire ad can be seen. Often parts of it are hidden when on the sides unless the mouse is used to scroll over the information. This can be distracting to the consumer and lose the effectiveness of the advertisement.<span style=""> </span>They also recommend using different colors for the ads to differentiate it from your website materials, but to use colors that compliment each other. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The format can be modified to make it different or the same as your website. Some advertisement hosts like everything to be in the same style and size to give a symmetrical look to the pages.<span style=""> </span>Others like to have their information completely distinct from the advertisements. Both are effective so it is only a matter of personal preference as to how you want your website to appear.<span style=""> </span>Colors including the background can be changed to make everything work together well. You might have to experience a little to come up with the right design you are happy with. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">You want to blend the Adsense ads enough that they look natural appearing on your website rather than appearing to be out of place. If they don’t look natural they can be distracting to the consumer. They also won’t be effective because consumers don’t trust what doesn’t look professional when it comes to the internet. This could be damaging to your own sales on your website so pay close attention to this issue. It is a good idea to ask some others for feedback on how the information appears to them on your website. You should avoid placing ads to where they appear to be banners. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Adsense offers you some useful tools as well to get everything to blend. The Google Adsense Preview tools allows you to test the layout of your website with the ads in place. This gives you the opportunity to change anything that is ineffective before your consumers view in over the internet. You can also contact their customer support 24/7 for questions or concerns you may have. </p> <span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" >Adsense is a great way for your website to generate additional income by offering to host advertisements for other businesses with similar products and services to offer consumers. You are still in control of the layout and design of your website.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-86279972996832022492007-10-07T15:19:00.000-07:002007-10-07T15:20:36.685-07:00<h1>Having Trouble with Click Fraud?<br /></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"> Click fraud is a huge issue that plagues the success of Adsense. If you participate in Adsense then be warned on both sides of the field.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Click fraud involves the process of intentionally clicking ads listed on your website for the purpose of earning money rather than intending to view the products of the advertiser. Adsense involves placing ads on your website for other businesses. The way your website makes money is determined by the number of clicks to the advertiser’s link. Most websites who participate in Adsense are honest. However, the issue of click fraud is happening more often on the internet as the owner’s of some websites have found it an enticing method of generating more money from the advertisers.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">With the onset of click fraud, software has been designed to analyze data based on the traffic to a website. This information is used to determine the possibility of click fraud. If you advertise this way you should invest in click fraud software or you may pay more for advertising than you should be. This software costs from $99 to $299, so it is very cost effective.<span style=""> </span>It is believed as much as 20% of the cost advertisers are paying out each month is due to click fraud. With 3.2 million dollars generated each year for this type of advertising, 20% is a very high dollar amount to be losing! </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">A common method of click fraud involves an online robot that clicks away at the advertisements listed on a particular website. This is the quickest method. Others either do it themselves, clicking away at the ads on their own website or they hirer others to perform the task for them at a price much less than what they receive in return from the advertisers.<span style=""> </span>Sometimes click fraud is done not to make money but to sabotage competitors. This is done by finding websites that advertise for them and continually click the ads. This will then cost that competitor a great deal of money they have to pay out for advertising without any hopes of generating additional sales from that cost. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Those who participate in the act of click fraud should be very careful. There are strict guidelines in place by Google to protect the reputation of their Adsense operations. Anyone caught participating in click fraud will be banned from further advertisements on their website. Google has invested 2.7 million for their Fraud Squad. They feel this investment is worthwhile though as click fraud is a serious issue. It has the potential of destroying the entire advertising industry online as we know it. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">There are legal issues involved as well. A <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> man was charged with obtaining more than $150,000 due to click fraud in 2004. He has been indited by a Grand Jury. However, there are no state or federal laws yet against click fraud. This particular man was only indited in his scam because he came clean about it with Google in a blackmail scheme. He was going to sell his secret of how he did it to Google for another $150,000. If they didn’t give it to him he threatened to keep on doing it. If we can get state and federal laws to see click fraud as a classification of fraud with the possibility of a felony charge and jail time it may deter the amount of click fraud that takes place. </p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a provider of such advertising don’t be tempted to click on the ads yourself or with an automated system. The risk of getting caught is very high as are the financial and legal repercussions. As an advertiser pay close attention to high changes in advertising costs through Adsense. Take the time to question these increases. Is it click fraud or great increases in traffic? Have sales increased? It is a great idea to invest in click fraud software as well to protect your business as well as your advertising budget.<br /><br /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br /> <!--[endif]--></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-38631823176355809732007-10-07T04:20:00.001-07:002007-10-07T04:20:48.748-07:00<h1>Advertise with Adsense<br /></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"> Adsense is a great opportunity for you to advertise your business while not spending a great deal of money on it. It is very effective because the internet is visiting by millions of consumers each and every day.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>Adsense is a great marketing method that can be quite effective for your business. It involves advertisements for your business being posted on the websites of others. In a world where millions access the internet every day, this type of marketing is very effective. It has the potential of generating more traffic to your website. A percentage of that traffic will likely result in an increase of sales for your business.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">It is less expensive that other types of marketing because you only pay when a consumer clicks your link from one of the websites you are advertising on. This is a great opportunity for new businesses, small businesses, those on a low marketing budget, and larger businesses that are looking at ways to market their products or services while cutting out unnecessary costs. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Take a moment to look at various websites on the internet. I am sure you will find several sites that offer advertisement links for other businesses. You will also notice they look professional and attractive. Are you ready to give advertising with Adsense through Google a try? The process is very simple.<span style=""> </span>You will need to go to <a href="http://www.adwords.com/">www.AdWords.com</a>. Here you will complete a detailed application. It is important to use relevant keywords for your products or services as this is how matches will be made to relevant websites who will be posting your ads. Google Adsense offers great tutorials to help you select the right keywords for your business. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Google Adsense allows you to create your own ads just like you would for any other type of advertising campaign. They program allows you to format for specified languages and geographic locations. Once the ads are posted on various websites consumers can choose to click on the link and be directed to your website.<span style=""> </span>This is the only time you will pay an advertisement host website. When you set up your ads, you will decide how much you are willing to pay per click on your advertisement. You will also have the opportunity to change and edit your advertisements any time you like. If the advertising is going well you might be able to increase the amount of sites you advertise on.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">There is a five dollar activation fee for each new business to set up an account on Google Adsense. Most credit cards can by used for payment as can Paypal and Post-Pay. There is no minimum dollar amount you have to pay each month. Again, you only pay for when consumers click on your link from a website you are advertising on. If they access a webpage with your advertisement on it and read it but don’t click on it, then you pay nothing. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As with most other types of business, there are scammers out there waiting to take advantage. Click fraud is a problem with Adsense advertising. Click fraud involves setting up a system to click on advertisement links or doing it manually to earn more money from the business that is advertising. Another reason click fraud is done is to damage competitors by clicking on their ads, knowing they will have to pay out more money. If you participate in Google Adsense for your advertising needs, it is a good idea to purchase Click Fraud software for your own protection. Google also works very hard to monitor such fraudulent activities. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">To get the most out of Adsense advertising with Google, make sure you purchase Click Fraud software to minimize your risk of being taken advantage of by those out to make money at your expense or competitors wanting to see you waste earnings on high marketing bills.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-54674952374464157102007-10-06T02:13:00.001-07:002007-10-06T02:13:49.005-07:00<h1>Info On Ad Blocks</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Ad Blockers are a great way to eliminate the amount of ads you receive on your computer. This will make your computer work faster as well as protect your privacy more.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>Are you tired of the continuous stream of ads coming your way every time you search the internet for something? If so, then you may be interested in learning more about the various Ad Blocks that will prevent this from happening. Your computer will also run faster without all of those ads and you will have more privacy regarding where you go on the internet. Most Ad Blocks work by blocking out the host files. Others work by using a list of host names. You can choose to ad new names to the list and take others off. You would continue to get ads from hosts that are not on your blocked list. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">There are many types of Ad Blocks to choose from. The one that is right for you depends on why you want to block them and if you want the option of letting some through from a particular host or not. The market is saturated with various spyware and pop up ad software that block these ads out. Make sure the product you use has automatic updates as things change and is compatible with the other software you operate on your computer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">SuperAdBlocker is considered to be the most reliable product out there. It is able to remove more than 100,000 adware and spyware components. This means regardless of the method the advertiser is using your software will likely prevent it from getting through to your computer. You will also be able to block banners in the area of instant messaging. This software comes with free updates as well as excellent customer support that is available 24/7 at no charge. SuperAdBlocker is available for only $29.95.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Mozilla is a type of Ad Blocker that allows you to make the choice of the advertisements you are exposed to as you go. It has a built in command called “block images from this server”.<span style=""> </span>It is very simple to use. When you run across an ad you want blocked from your computer simply right click. Double click the “block images from this server” option ad the ad will disappear.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Those who advertise with AdSense aren’t happy about these various ad blockers as they feel they will make their effective marketing tool a waste of time. Those who advertise for Adsense are worried to because they don’t know how those blocked ads will make their website appear to the user. They can rest easy because all the user will see is a blank spot where the ad would have been. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Will Ad Blocks affect the vitality and economy of the internet?<span style=""> </span>I guess it depends on who you ask. Some researchers believe Ad Blocks simply give the consumer some choice over what they are exposed to just like any other mode of advertising. We all have the right to turn the TV channel if we don’t like what is on just the same with the radio station. Other researchers believe that Ad Blocks will hurt the internet and cost consumers more in the long run. This is because the advertisers will have to find new methods of reaching the consumer but it will cost them more.<span style=""> </span>That additional cost will be passed on to the consumers. However the world of advertising and consumers continues to evolve and there are always new ideas being introduced. It will be interesting to see what happens next. </p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">You can choose from various types of programs and software to block such ads. Some will block all of the advertisements while others allow you to block them from particular hosts. Others allow you to click on particular ads and remove them from your computer. Ad Blocks give you a choice in how advertising online affects you and your computer.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-60182066931479126372007-10-04T09:24:00.000-07:002007-10-04T09:25:11.941-07:00<h1>Three Traffic Triggers</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">A squeeze page can take only a few minutes to set up, but you may be reaping the benefits for years to come.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Have you heard of a squeeze page before? If you are like many other internet users, you haven’t. If you are trying to make money, through selling an affiliate product or service, you are advised to examine squeeze pages.<span style=""> </span>After giving it a close examination, you will see that there are a number of different ways that squeeze pages can help you.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to squeeze pages, you will find that they have a number of different definitions. In fact, it is sometimes difficult to pin down the exact meaning of a squeeze page. <span style=""> </span>Although there are some variations, all squeeze pages, no matter how they are defined, have the same goal. That goal it to help you get the names and email address of internet users; internet users that you can then send emails or newsletters to. If properly executed, a squeeze page, which allows you to create an email list, will not only increase the amount of traffic that your website sees, but it may also increase the amount of affiliate sales you make.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was stated above, there are a number of different definitions for a squeeze page.<span style=""> </span>There are many professional who believe that squeeze pages are simply a page where you have a small form that your visitors can fill out.<span style=""> </span>Many times, the only information asked for is a first name and an email address.<span style=""> </span>Once an internet user provides you with that information, you can then send regular emails or newsletters, whichever you prefer. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">While many squeeze pages have nothing on them, there are many professionals who feel that you should provide a little bit of information.<span style=""> </span>This is fine to do, but you want to be carefully with providing too much information or making your information appears as if it spam.<span style=""> </span>For instance, if you are running a website that is centered on caring for your pets and the affiliate products that you are selling are pet related, you may want to write a little bit of information on pet care.<span style=""> </span>However, when doing so, you do not want to promote your products now. <span style=""> </span>Providing too much information may not only make it so your visitors don’t need to signup for your email alerts, but it may also discourage them from doing so.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">There are also many professional who feel that you need to give visitors a reason to sign up for your newsletters or email alerts, like an incentive.<span style=""> </span>The decision as to whether or not you want to offer an incentive is yours to make, but it is important to note that incentive have a positive track record. <span style=""> </span>As an incentive, you may want to give you customers something free, such as en e-book. Keeping with example mentioned above, you may want to offer visitors are free e-book on pets, just for providing you with their name and email address. In most cases, this approach works wonders. It is a known fact that everyone loves free stuff, especially if it is something that they could use. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Now that you know exactly what squeeze pages are or what they can be considered, you may be wondering exactly why you should have one. As previously mentioned, internet users provide you with their names and email addresses on squeeze pages.<span style=""> </span>Sending unsolicited emails can be considered spam and you may also be reprimanded by your web hosting company, your email provider, or even your affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>When an internet user actually provides you with their contact information, your email contact is no longer considered spam. In fact, you can send emails or newsletters to the individuals in question, as often as you would like. This is when you could then take the opportunity to promote the affiliate products that you are helping to sell. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Developing a squeeze page is relatively easy to do, especially if you have some web design experience.<span style=""> </span>If you are unfamiliar with web design, you should still be able to create your own squeeze page, with assistance from a site building program or a professional web designer.<span style=""> </span>If you would like to be able to promote your websites and your affiliate products as often as you would like, you are urged to create yourself a squeeze page today. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-76032717131462863572007-09-29T10:49:00.000-07:002007-09-29T10:50:33.983-07:00<h1>How to Increase Affiliate Sales</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p>Writing product reviews or recommendations is a great way to build a positive perception of you, your company, and the affiliate products that you are responsible for selling.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">To make money with affiliate programs, you must be able to sell a product.<span style=""> </span>With internet scams at an all time high, there are many consumers who are a little bit leery of buying a new product. <span style=""> </span>That is why you should consider testing the products that you will be selling first. The testing of products is a great way to ensure that you are promoting a worthwhile product.<span style=""> </span>Although testing is good enough, you might want to take it a step further. You may want to think about writing product reviews or at least recommendations.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to writing affiliate program product reviews or recommendations, ones of the most common questions asked is “why?”<span style=""> </span>There are a large number of program participants who feel that it is just a waste of time.<span style=""> </span>In reality, it isn’t. In fact, it could be the best use of your time.<span style=""> </span>Product reviews and recommendations give consumers an idea as to what they are purchasing.<span style=""> </span>In today’s society, a large number of consumers read product reviews before making a purchase, especially a large one.<span style=""> </span>It is also important to note trust.<span style=""> </span>Giving consumers insight into a product that you help sell allows them to develop a working relationship with you, even if it is just in their minds.<span style=""> </span>In a way, a sense of trust is created; trust that could work to your advantage.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If this is your first time writing a product recommendation or a product review, you may be wondering what you should write. In all honesty, you are advised to take a consumer standpoint. <span style=""> </span>If you were researching a product online, what you would like to know about that product? <span style=""> </span>Taking this approach will help to ensure that your product reviews and recommendations are actually useful to those who read them.<span style=""> </span>Items that you should include in a product review should include an overview of the product in question, the price that it is being sold for, what it can be used for, and the benefits of buying it. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to writing product reviews or recommendations, there are many individuals who take different approaches.<span style=""> </span>In all honestly, you can take any approach that you would like. <span style=""> </span>Essentially, this means that you can format your review or recommendation any way that you would like to. Despite having the freedom to choose your own format, you may want to consider using the sample outlined below as a guide.<span style=""> </span>This sample uses a work at home e-book as the product in question.</p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: 0in;">To Those Who Want to Work From Home,</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Are you one of the millions of Americans who you would like to work from home?<span style=""> </span>If you are, you are definitely not alone.<span style=""> </span>Finding a legitimate work at home opportunity can seem like a long and complicated task, but it doesn’t have to be.<span style=""> </span>The “Learn How You Can Work from Home,” e-book has all the information that you will need.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Available for the low-price of $10, you can easily learn how to work at home.<span style=""> </span>Hundreds of works at home opportunities are outlined. <span style=""> </span>Familiarize yourself with each opportunity, learn what equipment or training is needed, as well as how much you can make.<span style=""> </span>With the “Learn How You Can Work from Home,” e-book, you are sure to find the work at home opportunity of your dreams. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was mentioned above, the above mentioned sample is just one of the many ways that you can write a product review or recommendation.<span style=""> </span>Once you have finished your review, you will want to put it to good use.<span style=""> </span>Consider having it displayed on your webpage, submit the review to top article directories, or even use it as newsletter content.<span style=""> </span>In all honesty, it doesn’t really matter how you choose to distribute your review or recommendations, as long as you do.<span style=""> </span>In fact, once your product review or recommendation is in circulation, you may start seeing results right away!</p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Writing product reviews or recommendations will not take long, but you can benefit immensely from them. Whether you are in an affiliate program now or you are about to join one, you are urged to write a review or recommendations of the product that you are selling.<span style=""> </span>In the end, you may be surprised with the results.<span style=""> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-84883874528350998772007-09-27T12:56:00.000-07:002007-09-27T12:57:41.969-07:00<h1>Just what are affiliate programs?<span style=""> </span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p>Are you a webmaster?<span style=""> </span>If so, you are urged to join an affiliate program.<span style=""> </span>With being free, you have absolutely nothing to loose.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Are you looking for a relatively easy way to make money online? <span style=""> </span>If you have been doing research online, you may have come across programs that are known or referred to as affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>Affiliate programs are a great way to make money online, but do you really know what they are?<span style=""> </span>If not, you are urged to read on.<br />Before examining affiliate programs, namely what they are, it is best if you first familiarize yourself with internet marketing.<span style=""> </span>All business owners need to market their business to the general public.<span style=""> </span>Since all online customers are internet users, online business owners need to market their products or services to the internet community.<span style=""> </span>This is where the term internet marketing comes from.<span style=""> </span>A wide variety of different marketing tactics are considered internet marketing.<span style=""> </span>Just one of those marketing tactics is affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>What is nice about affiliate programs is that they not only benefit online business owners, but they also benefit other webmasters; webmasters just like you.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When an online business owner, who is selling a product or service, wants to increase their sales, they seek assistance from other webmasters. This assistance is typically sought from webmasters who have a website that is, in one way or another, related to the product or service being sold. For instance, if the product being sold is a work at home e-book, webmasters running work at home business sites are likely to be sought after.<span style=""> </span>If and when this partnership is formed, the exact details will be worked out.<span style=""> </span>In most cases, you, the webmaster, will be asked to display links or banners that lead the other website; the one where the product, in this case a work at home e-book is available for sale.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was mentioned above, affiliate programs are a great way for online business owners to increase their sales and profits, but they are not the only ones who benefit from affiliate programs; webmasters do as well.<span style=""> </span>Business owners who run an affiliate program usually work in conjunction with an affiliate tracking company.<span style=""> </span>This company uses cookies and other internet technology to track internet user clicks.<span style=""> </span>This means that if an internet users clicks on one of your affiliate links and ends up making a purchase, the tracking software used will record that purchase, when it occurred, and the amount of it.<span style=""> </span>This allows business owners to know exactly how much you helped them out. <span style=""> </span>In turn, you will be rewarded for this assistance.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Speaking of being rewarded, this reward is referred to as commission.<span style=""> </span>With affiliate programs, you receive commission for helping an online company generate internet sales.<span style=""> </span>The amount of money that you receive will all depend on the company in question, as well as the amount that you originally agreed to. <span style=""> </span>Many of the businesses who are looking for affiliate partners advertise, upfront how much their affiliate partners make.<span style=""> </span>This amount is typically a percentage of the sale.<span style=""> </span>As previously mentioned, that percentage will vary, but it is not uncommon to see percentages from three percent all the way to fifteen percent.<span style=""> </span>If commission is not determined by percentage, it will often be a flat rate amount.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">In a way, the affiliate program that you choose to apply to will have a large impact on the amount of money that you make. That is why it is extremely important that you choose an affiliate program wisely.<span style=""> </span>It is important that you thoroughly examine the amount of money that you can make, through commissions.<span style=""> </span>It is also important that you familiarize yourself with any rules or restrictions that an affiliate program has.<span style=""> </span>For instance, there are some rules as to how you can link to or promote an affiliate product.<span style=""> </span>It is important that you not only familiarize yourself with these rules, but follow them. If you do not, you could find yourself disqualified from participating in the program.<span style=""> </span></p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">In short, affiliate programs are a great way to make money online.<span style=""> </span>Affiliate programs allow you to legitimately make money online without having to have your own product.<span style=""> </span>It is hard, if not impossible, to find other online money making opportunities like this one.<br /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br /> <!--[endif]--></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-88710346785103585112007-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:002007-09-25T15:02:29.119-07:00<h1>Make Money, No Product Required<br /></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Isn’t it amazing that you can make money selling products, without having to handle your own inventory?<span style=""> </span>The quicker you sign for an affiliate program, the quicker you can start making money!<br /><o:p><br /></o:p>Would you like to make money by selling products online?<span style=""> </span>If so, do you already have a collection of products to sell?<span style=""> </span>If not, do you have the money needed to obtain them? If you are like many others, who want to make money online, there is a good chance that you do not have the funds needed.<span style=""> </span>After all, if you did, you likely would not be looking for ways to make money online.<span style=""> </span>While you might automatically assume that it is impossible for you to make money online, especially if you don’t have any products to sell, it isn’t. There is good news. That good news is that you can make money, a substantial amount of money, even if you don’t actually have a product to sell.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was stated above, there are a large number of individuals who want to make money online; however, many think that it is impossible to do because they don’t already have a collection of products or they don’t have the money needed to make the purchases.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, when this occurs, a large number of individuals just give up. You are advised against doing this. <span style=""> </span>As previously mentioned, it is possible to make money online, even if you don’t have any products to sell. You can do so with affiliate programs.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Affiliate programs are programs that create a partnership with business owners and webmasters.<span style=""> </span>If you are already a webmaster this is great, but if not you can easily become one.<span style=""> </span>As you likely already know, a webmaster is an individual who owns and operates their own online website.<span style=""> </span>Once you have a website and you find another business, which is running an affiliate program, you can enter into a partnership with them.<span style=""> </span>This partnership is unique because you can both benefit from it. <span style=""> </span>Affiliate programs work to help business owners increase their sales, but they also help webmasters generate extra income.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Although affiliate programs sound nice, you may be looking for more information. After all, with internet scams at an all time high, you can never be too cautious.<span style=""> </span>While some affiliate programs are operated in different ways, they tend to be operated in similar matters.<span style=""> </span>This matter involves the business owner creating links or banners for webmasters, just like you, to display on their website.<span style=""> </span>Special tracking software, which is often referred to as affiliate tracking software, is used.<span style=""> </span>That software will enable a business owner to determine exactly when you helped them generate a sale and how much that sale was.<span style=""> </span>This sale will, in turn, generate additional income for you by way of commissions.<span style=""> </span>The amount of money that you make will all depend on the affiliate program that you choose to join, but your commission is often a percentage of your sale. In some instances, can also be a flat rate amount.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to affiliate programs, one of the questions most commonly asked is “why?”<span style=""> </span>As previously mentioned, affiliate programs allow you to make money selling a product that isn’t even yours.<span style=""> </span>This means that you do not have to deal with any inventory. You also don’t have to ship any products to the buyers.<span style=""> </span>In fact, you shouldn’t even have to communicate with your customers. Your affiliate partner, the one who is selling the product, will do all of the work for you.<span style=""> </span>What could be easier than that?</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you are interested in making money online, without having to have your own products to sell, you are urged to further examine affiliate programs, namely the programs that are available for you to join.<span style=""> </span>You can find these programs by examining large affiliate hosting programs, such as LinkShare.<span style=""> </span>You can also find affiliate programs to join by examining the online websites of various online retail stores.<span style=""> </span>Typically towards the bottom of the main homepage, a business will outline whether or not they have an affiliate program that you can apply to.<span style=""> </span>If you are really looking to make money online, you are urged to find a product, a service, or a company that you can fully stand behind, one hundred percent.<span style=""> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-37311614255815688112007-09-23T18:15:00.000-07:002007-09-25T15:01:42.291-07:00<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Using a Squeeze Page to Build Your List</span><br /><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--> <!--[endif]--><br />Increasing your website traffic will not only look good for your website, but it may also help your pockets, money wise.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Affiliate program participants rely on sales to make money with affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>The only thing is that many new participants forget that they also need to rely on website traffic.<span style=""> </span>After all, without traffic, no one will be able to see your affiliate products, let alone buy them.<span style=""> </span>That is why, if you are in an affiliate program, you need to work on increasing your traffic.<span style=""> </span>There are a number of steps that you can take to increase your traffic.<span style=""> </span>Just three of these steps are outlined below.<o:p> </o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>STEP # 1 – SEO</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you are an established webmaster, you likely already know what SEO is.<span style=""> </span>If not, you need to familiarize yourself with it right away.<span style=""> </span>SEO, which is also known as search engine optimization, may have an important impact on the success of your website, even its failure.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to increase your search engine ranking.<span style=""> </span>Having a high search engine ranking increases your chances of seeing traffic from search engines. <span style=""> </span>Search engine optimization encompasses a number of different methods, but one of the most important is content. You need to have content on your website; it is what search engines pickup.<span style=""> </span>You will also want to use keyword tracking tools; they enable you to determine what keyword phrases internet users are searching with.<span style=""> </span>Using those keyword phrases on your website is sure to increase your website traffic.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>STEP # 2 – Article Distribution</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Have you heard of article directories before?<span style=""> </span>Article directories are websites that act as hosts for collections of articles.<span style=""> </span>They often contain a large collection of articles, sometimes even millions of articles.<span style=""> </span>In exchange for providing your content free of charge, article directories will allow you to insert a link at the end of your article.<span style=""> </span>This link should direct readers to your online website, namely the page that outlines the affiliate products that you are selling.<span style=""> </span>Not only will it help to increase your website traffic, but your sales may also increase.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to submitting to article directories, which is often referred to as articles distribution, you are advised to create yourself a schedule.<span style=""> </span>To effectively use article distribution, you need to submit multiple articles.<span style=""> </span>In fact, the more articles the better.<span style=""> </span>You should create a goal for yourself, like submitting at least five articles a month.<span style=""> </span>It is also important that you create content that is relevant to your website.<span style=""> </span>If it is not, your readers might not click on your clink; thus defeating the purpose of submitting to article directories.<span style=""> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>STEP #3 – Blogging</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Over the past few years, the popularity of blogging has skyrocketed.<span style=""> </span>In addition to personal blogs, a large number of online businesses are now relying on blogs to help increase their website traffic and you can too.<span style=""> </span>Blogs are nice because you are given choices.<span style=""> </span>You can create your own, free blog or you can pay to have your blog hosted on your own domain name.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When creating a blog, you can create your own content, which may include product reviews or recommendations. In fact, you don’t even have to write your own content.<span style=""> </span>You can use content from many free article directories; many will give you free usage rights.<span style=""> </span>Speaking of article directories, if you submitted your own articles, you can even use them for your blog.<span style=""> </span>The only thing you need to remember is to link back to your original webpage.<span style=""> </span>Doing so in each blog post will help to increase your traffic.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The above mentioned three traffic increasing steps are just a few of the many that you can take.<span style=""> </span>These three; however, are a few of the easiest ways that you can go about increasing your website traffic.<span style=""> </span>With a small amount of effort, you can easily see an increase in traffic, in what seems like no time at all. <span style=""> </span>In fact, you will not only see an increase in traffic, but you may also see an increase in your affiliate sales.</p><br /><p class="MsoBodyText"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Looking for current <a href="http://www.majon.com/blog">Search Engine Marketing News</a>?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-82842761194417955112007-09-22T16:40:00.000-07:002007-09-22T16:41:12.991-07:00<h1>Make Money, No Product Required!</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><br />Isn’t it amazing that you can make money selling products, without having to handle your own inventory?<span style=""> </span>The quicker you sign for an affiliate program, the quicker you can start making money!</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Would you like to make money by selling products online?<span style=""> </span>If so, do you already have a collection of products to sell?<span style=""> </span>If not, do you have the money needed to obtain them? If you are like many others, who want to make money online, there is a good chance that you do not have the funds needed.<span style=""> </span>After all, if you did, you likely would not be looking for ways to make money online.<span style=""> </span>While you might automatically assume that it is impossible for you to make money online, especially if you don’t have any products to sell, it isn’t. There is good news. That good news is that you can make money, a substantial amount of money, even if you don’t actually have a product to sell.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was stated above, there are a large number of individuals who want to make money online; however, many think that it is impossible to do because they don’t already have a collection of products or they don’t have the money needed to make the purchases.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, when this occurs, a large number of individuals just give up. You are advised against doing this. <span style=""> </span>As previously mentioned, it is possible to make money online, even if you don’t have any products to sell. You can do so with affiliate programs.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Affiliate programs are programs that create a partnership with business owners and webmasters.<span style=""> </span>If you are already a webmaster this is great, but if not you can easily become one.<span style=""> </span>As you likely already know, a webmaster is an individual who owns and operates their own online website.<span style=""> </span>Once you have a website and you find another business, which is running an affiliate program, you can enter into a partnership with them.<span style=""> </span>This partnership is unique because you can both benefit from it. <span style=""> </span>Affiliate programs work to help business owners increase their sales, but they also help webmasters generate extra income.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Although affiliate programs sound nice, you may be looking for more information. After all, with internet scams at an all time high, you can never be too cautious.<span style=""> </span>While some affiliate programs are operated in different ways, they tend to be operated in similar matters.<span style=""> </span>This matter involves the business owner creating links or banners for webmasters, just like you, to display on their website.<span style=""> </span>Special tracking software, which is often referred to as affiliate tracking software, is used.<span style=""> </span>That software will enable a business owner to determine exactly when you helped them generate a sale and how much that sale was.<span style=""> </span>This sale will, in turn, generate additional income for you by way of commissions.<span style=""> </span>The amount of money that you make will all depend on the affiliate program that you choose to join, but your commission is often a percentage of your sale. In some instances, can also be a flat rate amount.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to affiliate programs, one of the questions most commonly asked is “why?”<span style=""> </span>As previously mentioned, affiliate programs allow you to make money selling a product that isn’t even yours.<span style=""> </span>This means that you do not have to deal with any inventory. You also don’t have to ship any products to the buyers.<span style=""> </span>In fact, you shouldn’t even have to communicate with your customers. Your affiliate partner, the one who is selling the product, will do all of the work for you.<span style=""> </span>What could be easier than that?</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you are interested in making money online, without having to have your own products to sell, you are urged to further examine affiliate programs, namely the programs that are available for you to join.<span style=""> </span>You can find these programs by examining large affiliate hosting programs, such as LinkShare.<span style=""> </span>You can also find affiliate programs to join by examining the online websites of various online retail stores.<span style=""> </span>Typically towards the bottom of the main homepage, a business will outline whether or not they have an affiliate program that you can apply to.<span style=""> </span>If you are really looking to make money online, you are urged to find a product, a service, or a company that you can fully stand behind, one hundred percent.<span style=""> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-83288957687228312902007-09-15T23:51:00.000-07:002007-09-15T23:52:48.025-07:00<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Promote the Products You Believe In</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><br />Promoting affiliate products that you will believe in will not only make you feel better about yourself, but it may also help to increase your sales!</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p>When it comes to an affiliate program, one of the most common mistakes a program participant makes is choosing to sell a product that they do not believe in or fully stand behind, one hundred percent.<span style=""> </span>Although you may be making money, you may also be creating a bad name for yourself.<span style=""> </span>That is why it is important that you promote or sell products that you believe in.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">When it comes to promoting a product that you believe in, one of the most commonly asked questions is “how?”<span style=""> </span>The best way to promote a product that you believe in is to actually try out the product. For instance, if you are promoting an e-book, you may want to think about reading the e-book in question.<span style=""> </span>In fact, if you ask, you may be given the e-book to review for free or for a discounted price.<span style=""> </span>If you are interested in joining an affiliate program set up by a retailer, you will earn commission for all sales, not just a particular product.<span style=""> </span>To test the waters, you may want to think about placing an order, even just a small one.<span style=""> </span>This will give you a first hand look at the affiliate program that you will be promoting on your own site.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Perhaps, the greatest reason why you should test out a product is because if you don’t like it, there is a good chance that your customers won’t like it as well.<span style=""> </span>In a way, you can look at it as providing a service to the general public, at least internet users.<span style=""> </span>By not agreeing to sell a poor quality product, you will be saving other consumers, just like you, money.<span style=""> </span>In fact, you should be proud of yourself for refusing to do business with an affiliate program that doesn’t live up to par. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Another reason why you should avoid doing business with an affiliate program that sells a poor quality product is because of your reputation.<span style=""> </span>Although you are only directing customers to the site where they can buy the product in question, you may still be remembered for your part in the sale.<span style=""> </span>Do you really want to be remembered as the guy or the woman who recommended a product that wasn’t even worth the money spent?</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was mentioned above, you may be making money with an affiliate program, even if the product being sold isn’t as good as it could have been. Although you may be making money will probably not last forever. In fact, you may soon find your sales decreasing, if the decrease hasn’t already started. You need to remember that customers talk.<span style=""> </span>If a customer was not satisfied with the product that they purchased, they will likely talk to their friends, family members, and coworkers.<span style=""> </span>They may even write negative reviews online.<span style=""> </span>These negative reviews may cause other consumers to avoid purchasing the product that you are selling, as well as your whole website in general.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The money that you can make, right away, may seem nice, at the time, but you need to remember to think long-term.<span style=""> </span>Do you know what you want to do in the future, whether it is now or in a few years?<span style=""> </span>If you are like many people, there is a good chance that you have no idea.<span style=""> </span>What if you want to create your own products to sell online?<span style=""> </span>As it was mentioned above, what you do online now can come back to haunt you.<span style=""> </span>That is why it is important that you think about your future, in the business sense, and it what it may entail.<span style=""> </span>If your dream is to one day start your own online business, you will want to refrain from bad publicity; bad publicity that may come in the form of a poorly run affiliate program.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Although it was advised that you actually test out the products that you will be promoting, through an affiliate program, testing isn’t your only option.<span style=""> </span>You can also research a product online. Reading customer reviews, both good and bad, may give you insight into the product you may have to sell. Better yet, it may help you decide whether or not it is a product that you want to be associated with.<span style=""> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-56265426158196637972007-09-14T17:32:00.000-07:002007-09-14T17:34:54.563-07:00<p class="MsoBodyText"><b style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">Effective Press Release Distribution</span><br /><o:p></o:p></b><br />One of the things that start off most people on the wrong track is the assumption that the word “distribute” means the same thing online as it does offline. In fact aggressive distribution of anything online quickly earns the person responsible for it that undesirable tag of SPAMMER.<br /></p><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ><br /><b>The Most Important Online Rule Marketers Should Never Forget<br /></b>Here is one key rule that marketers should never forget and it also applies to anybody seeking to distribute their press releases effectively online. It is simply this; people hate to be advertised to on the web. This means that your press release must come across as useful profitable information rather than advertising. This is the only way you will end up being effective.<br /><br />Actually as long as you constantly remember this important key rule in everything that you do online, all should be well.<br /><br /><b>The First Step In Effective Distribution Is Posting<br /></b>The first step in effective online news release distribution is not to hit the “send” button. Rather it is to post your release. We are assuming here that you have written it for the web. That means doing some keyword research and using the right keyword phrases that will attract traffic from search engines.<br /><br />The ideal place to post it is at your official web site. It will also be a good idea to have links leading from the page where your press release is directly to other relevant pages offering more information on your product.<br /><br /><b>Use The Power Of Blogs To Distribute Your Special Announcement<br /></b>The next thing you will need to do will be to get to the blogosphere (where all the traffic resides) and start off by posting an interesting article based on your press release. The more sensational and relevant you are, the better. Naturally you will need to link to the source of your information, which is the press release at your site.<br /><br />The most amazing thing about the blogosphere is the fact that blogs tend to quickly link to each other, almost naturally. So if you do this right, within a very short time you will have started a viral process that will ensure that your press release and information related to it is “distributed” far and wide.<br /><br /><b>Responsible Comments Are Very Effective<br /></b>Without leaving the blogosphere, the next step in distributing your press release will be to get to a good online blog search engine. I usually use the Google one. Use keywords that are relevant to the main idea behind your press statement. This will lead you to pages discussing the same subject. Read every page carefully before you leave your comment. This is the only way you will be able to make a relevant effective comment that will get attention. Do NOT leave any link in comments. This is an important rule because most bloggers delete every comment that has a link without even reading the contents.<br /><br />Actually it is not necessary for you to leave a link because there are many ways people can find you, all you need to do is ensure that all the information is available where folks will look for you. For instance in blogger.com the name you use for comments will lead back to your online profile. Update your profile so that it points directly back to your press release. Others will use your name on a search engine to find you, so do the same and visit the top places in the top 10 results. Ensure that in all those places, it will be easy to find your press release.<br /><br />There are many blogs where they ask for your web site when you leave comments. Rather than lace the url for your web site, place the link that specifically leads to the page where your press release is posted.<br /><br /><b>Use Article Directories<br /></b>With your keyword research still handy, write a few articles for popular high traffic article directories based on your press release and link directly back to your press release.<br /><br />Again the effect here is viral because good articles get re-posted all over the place with your links intact. This will further ensure that your press release gets seen by a huge targeted audience.<br /><br />This is one effective way to distribute press releases online.<br /><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br /><!--[endif]--></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-38695614987959756372007-09-13T15:32:00.001-07:002007-09-13T15:32:56.256-07:00<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Safe Email Marketing Little Known Ideas<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b>In this kind of chaotic and demanding environment, one does not need to be a genius to realize how valuable email marketing can be in helping any organization to not only survive but to thrive. The key is to look at email marketing as a way to build relationships before anything else.<b><br /></b><br />Despite all the problems that are usually associated with email and email marketing, this World Wide Web tool has been called the world's greatest marketing tool. It is important to examine this sweeping statement so as to establish whether this is really true and if the title is one that the controversial email deserves.<br /><br />It is rapidly emerging that hyper competition in the new uncertain and shaky markets in today's world has put a lot of pressure on marketing departments everywhere to re-think the way they have always done business.<br /><br />For instance it is becoming abundantly clear that short-term customer relations are a very risky way to handle any business, and this applies as much to offline enterprises as it does to online ones. The new era of marketing has arrived. It not only calls for long term customer relationships which are important, but it also demands analyses of customer needs through regular contact while observing the reaction and behavior of the client carefully, which is much more valuable and useful than just getting information from a client based on questions posed in some questionnaire.<br /><br />The advantage of email is that this is probably the only medium through which such a relationship can be established, cultivated and maintained with the greatest of ease. Of course it all starts with the right approach, which is actually the only legitimate one as far as email is concerned. Namely permission-based marketing where emails are sent out only to those who have opted to receive it.<br /><br /><b>Email Is The Road To Better Relationships<br /></b>Email marketing makes way for better relationships with customers and prospects. There are a variety of ways that this can be achieved. It starts with the building of quality addresses. Here it is very important to go for targeting and to shun the temptation to prefer huge lists over smaller targeted ones.<br /><br />Actually the smaller the niche you are targeting the higher your chances of success through email marketing. Even if it takes you a long time to build such a list, it will always be well worth your time at the end of the day.<br /><br />There are various additional online tools that help a great deal in the building up of relationships. For instance software that reminds you of important dates in relation to your email list. This includes birthdays, anniversaries and the date the client made the first purchase. This special day can be commemorated in all sorts of creative ways that will help cement your relationship with members of your email list.<br /><br /><b>Speak To Your Audience As Individuals<br /></b>One of the truly amazing aspects of email is the fact that you can segment an audience based on data, and believe me you can collect huge amounts of data from any email list you have with very little effort. Segmentation and data analysis makes it possible for you to speak to your list as individuals. Your audience will love this and will almost always reward you with loyalty and a very high response rate. You really can't go wrong when you address the individuals and their particular unique problems after you have segmented the market accordingly.<br /><br />Incidentally, when you do this, you personalize the relationship further, which will without doubt translate into huge profits for you later on. Actually the truth is that you cannot go wrong when you do things that contribute to a long term relationship rather than to a short-term-make-maximum-profits-at-all-costs approach<br /><br /><b>Era Of The Mass Market Has Ended, Thanks To The World Wide Web<br /></b>Thanks mainly to the World Wide Web, the era of the mass market has ended. The significant result worth noting is that customers and clients have become much more demanding and impatient. And you really cannot blame them, especially when they are spoilt for choice. Then there is the fact that numerous web sites are no offering personalized and extremely efficient services online for virtually anything you can think of.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-82067682469469514702007-09-08T09:25:00.000-07:002007-09-08T09:26:22.836-07:00<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Why Are Pay Per Click Ads Are So Popular?<br /><br /></b>It is very clear that the popularity of PPC ads is not a fad but an exciting development that is not only here to stay, but one which smart entrepreneurs are using to make money online.<br /><b><o:p><br /></o:p></b>In the offline days long before the World Wide Web and PPC (Pay per click) ads came along, publishers as well as radio and TV stations experimented with something called PPO (pay per order) and PPR (pay per response) or PPL (pay per lead) advertising. As the names suggest, these were ads where the advertisers either paid per lead generated or order generated. But the truth is that these ads never really took off and were never widely accepted.<br /></p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <br />So what happened in the case of online PPC (pay per click) ads? What caused these kind of advertisements to become so wildly popular as they are today?<br /><br /><b>Google Launched The PPC Revolution<br /></b>To answer some of these questions it is useful to go back in time a little and trace the origin of the popularity of PPC ads. There is the amazing story of well known search engine giant Google which has experienced phenomenal growth within such a short time of existence.<br /><br />The Google fairy tale is still a fascinating read even today. Started by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were still students at Stanford, for a long time this venture grew tremendously in popularity and usage and was very widely used and yet had not found a way to generate revenue. It was obvious that charging a fee for the use of their revolutionary search engine was not the right model. That search for a way to generate revenues ended when Google was already receiving millions of visitors daily and the company just found a convenient and non-intrusive way to display advertising.<br /><br />It is clear that the founders of Google realized quite early on in the game, what many others have not seen to date. That is the fact that although the Internet is widely seen as an improvement of the Television, this is not true and the web is actually an adavanced telephone more than anything else. This is easily proved by the fact that TV and the web are in fact two very different mediums. TV can accommodate a lot of advertising comfortably, but advertising on the web is usually viewed as a nuisance and intrusion into people's privacy. This is the main reason why PPC ads took off quickly even when a similar concept offline never really proved attractive to most publishers and advertisers alike.<br /><br />Google looked for a way to carry advertising online to its' huge audience without intruding and came up with the idea of displaying only relevant advertisements based on searches on its' popular search engine. The idea was simple but extremely powerful and meant that somebody using keywords to search for information would end up with the organic results of their search on one side and on the other relevant advertisements on the same subject.<br /><br />The next problem they had to solve was the fact that based on the huge audience they had, they would be justified in charging very high advertising rates. However the market accustomed to cheap online advertising was unlikely to accept those ad rates.<br /><br />And that is how PPC ads came into use at Google. By charging only for click throughs to the site, advertisers were very happy to pay huge sums as long as it was for actual visits to their sites from people who had clicked on the Google PPC ads because they will usually have been able to generate an even larger sum of money from orders placed by a percentage of the visitors who arrived at their sites.<br /><br />The rest as they say, is history. The Google PPC concept rapidly grew in popularity and is today by far, the most popular form of advertising on the web.<br /><br /><b>Others Join The PPC Party<br /></b>As you read this, there are numerous other online companies and sites that offer PPC ads. They make lots of sense because advertisers can easily measure their response and sales revenue against what they have spent on advertising.<br /><br />Today there are a number of interesting search programs that include PPC advertising and are well worth taking a look at because they are capable of providing the perfect solution for many online marketing and advertising problems.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-48445007583867839062007-09-07T07:47:00.000-07:002007-09-07T07:48:17.391-07:00<h1>Don’t Get Ripped Off by Affiliate Scams<br /></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><o:p><br /></o:p>For the most part, affiliate programs are a nice, easy way to make money online.<span style=""> </span>However, like many other online opportunities, you need to be on the lookout for scams. <span style=""> </span>Internet scams are all over the place, as they are increasing in popularity.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, there are also scammers who are using affiliate programs as fronts.<span style=""> </span>Although it is hard to associate good news with internet scams, there is good news.<span style=""> </span>That good news is that there are ways to make sure that you join an affiliate program, make sales, and actually get paid for those sales.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As previously mentioned, a large number of scammers are starting to use affiliate programs as fronts for their scams. These scams can take on a number of different sizes, shapes, and styles. <span style=""> </span>One of the most popular affiliate program scams involves affiliate programs that do not pay.<span style=""> </span>These programs are selling real, legitimate products. The only problem is that many of these affiliate programs do not pay.<span style=""> </span>Essentially, you end up doing a bunch of work for nothing.<span style=""> </span>Another common affiliate program scam involves selling a product that doesn’t even exist.<span style=""> </span>Not only will you not get paid for your hard work, but you will also be participating in a scam that involves ripping off consumers, by taking their money without giving them what they paid for.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As it was mentioned above, there are a number of different ways that you can prevent yourself from joining an affiliate program that doesn’t pay.<span style=""> </span>One of those ways involves choosing a well-known affiliate program.<span style=""> </span>If you need assistance choosing an affiliate program, you can seek it online.<span style=""> </span>There are a large number of online websites that give accurate and updated information on a wide variety of affiliate programs. There are also programs, which are regularly referred to as affiliate directories.<span style=""> </span>These directories are actually in charge of running a company’s affiliate program.<span style=""> </span>Many of these programs, which include LinkShare, come highly rated and recommend, as do the affiliate programs they have listed in their directories.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">In conjunction with researching an affiliate program, you can also research the product that is being sold.<span style=""> </span>A large number of customers write product reviews.<span style=""> </span>Many of these product reviews, which can be both positive and negative, can be found online. <span style=""> </span>You will also want to check out websites that are known as scam websites.<span style=""> </span>Scam websites allow internet users, just like you, to post ways that they have been scammed and by whom.<span style=""> </span>You can find information on poor quality products, individuals, companies, and even affiliate programs that are not considered legitimate. <span style=""> </span>When researching an affiliate program or even a product, it is important to remember that nothing and no one is perfect.<span style=""> </span>While it isn’t uncommon to find one or two negative reviews, you need to be cautious of numerous negative reviews.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Since it is relatively easy to avoid an affiliate program scam, you are advised to do so.<span style=""> </span>If anything appears out of the ordinary or if you suspicions are raised, you are advised to use your common sense.<span style=""> </span>In the long run, you will be glad with your decision to do so.<span style=""> </span>Not only can avoiding an affiliate program scam ensure that you get paid, but it will also help you save your own reputation.<span style=""> </span>The last thing you want to be associated with is an affiliate program that doesn’t deliver the products that they promise.<span style=""> </span>In fact, your name or your company’s name could literally be drudged through the mud.<span style=""> </span>While you may think that this won’t have a long lasting impact, it might just, especially if you plan on selling your own products in the near future. Even if your products are quality products, many consumers might remember you as the person who scammed them before.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Although it is relatively easy to spot an affiliate program scam, there are a few that might “fall threw the cracks.”<span style=""> </span>If you later determine that you are involved in an affiliate program scam, or even just a program that is selling poor quality products, you are advised to get out as soon as possible. Severing your ties will help to ensure you get paid, as well as build a good name for yourself.</p><p class="MsoBodyText"> Affiliate program scams do exist, but you don’t have to live in fear of them.<span style=""> </span>Just use your common sense, when it comes to choosing an affiliate program.<span style=""> </span>Common sense goes a lot further than many imagine.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-79579105235675643092007-09-02T15:34:00.000-07:002007-09-02T15:35:23.581-07:00<p class="MsoBodyText"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial;">Guidelines to Follow When Choosing a Profitable Affiliate Program<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><br />One of the best ways to know that you are dealing with a legitimate affiliate program and a quality product is to test that product out.<span style=""> </span>Although you are advised to do this, you may not want to or you may be unable to do so. If that is the case, you can still research an affiliate program or even the product that is being sold. You can easily do this online.<span style=""> </span>One of the best ways to do your research is to perform a standard internet search. Search with the name of the affiliate program or the product being sold. You can also check out websites that are known as scam websites. These websites tend to profile companies, individuals, or business opportunities that regularly scam consumers.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Before applying for or signing up for an affiliate program, you are advised to read all of the rules, restrictions, or guidelines associated with that affiliate program. <span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, you may find yourself disqualified from an affiliate program right off the bat.<span style=""> </span>For instance, there are a large number of affiliate programs that prohibit their products from being advertised on websites that display pornography, foul language, and other offensive content.<span style=""> </span>Familiarizing yourself with an affiliate program’s rules and guidelines will prevent you from being denied from a program or later dismissed from one.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Perhaps, one of the most important things to remember, when choosing an affiliate program, is the product that you will have to sell. In conjunction with making sure that the product is a quality one, you will also want to make sure that it is related to your website or business, in one way or another.<span style=""> </span>For instance, if your own website focuses on computer programming, you will not want to join an affiliate program that sells pet products.<span style=""> </span>Joining an affiliate program that is related, in one way or another, to your own website may increase your chances of making a sale; thus increasing your profits.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Although it is important to choose a quality product to stand behind, you also need to remember that your goal is to make money. One of the easiest ways to make a substantial amount of money is to choose an affiliate program that pays their affiliates decently.<span style=""> </span>The average commission for affiliates is three to five percent of each sale made.<span style=""> </span>While this is a good percentage to make, there are higher paying affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>You may want to look for affiliate programs that pay around ten percent.<span style=""> </span>In fact, there are even a select number of affiliate programs that pay around fifteen percent in commissions.<span style=""> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-30456565107501887292007-08-30T14:03:00.000-07:002007-08-30T14:07:27.797-07:00<h1> </h1><h1><span style=";font-family:";" >Generating Traffic with a Newsletter<br /><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Have you ever received a newsletter in your email?<span style=""> </span>A large number of internet users do and many actually read them!</p> <h1> <!--[endif]--></h1>With affiliate programs, you can easily sell products without even having to have the product in your hand.<span style=""> </span>As nice as it sounds, you still need to have you own website; it is a requirement for many affiliate programs.<span style=""> </span>Having a website is ideal, but to really make money with affiliate programs, you need to have a website that receives a relatively high amount of traffic.<span style=""> </span>If you would like to increase the amount of traffic that your website sees, you should examine newsletters. They are a great way to increase website traffic.<span style=""> </span> <p class="MsoBodyText">Before examining how newsletters can help you increase your websites traffic, it is best that you first understand newsletters.<span style=""> </span>When it comes to understanding newsletters, there tends to be a little bit of confusion.<span style=""> </span>Newsletters come in a number of different shapes, sizes, and styles; they are all used for different purposes.<span style=""> </span>Newsletters are essentially emails that are sent to those who have requested to receive them.<span style=""> </span>Some use newsletters solely to update their customers and other uses them just as means of regular communication.<span style=""> </span>Despite a variation in purposes, one the most common uses of a newsletter is to increase traffic. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">One of the most common questions asked, concerning email newsletters is “why?”<span style=""> </span>A large number of individuals, namely affiliate program participants, wonder why they should even bother writing and then distributing a newsletter.<span style=""> </span>In all honesty, there are an unlimited number of reasons why you should write and distribute newsletters to those who are interested in receiving them.<span style=""> </span>The number one reason is because you can do it as little or as often as you want.<span style=""> </span>Many webmasters only send out newsletters as often as their time allows them to do so.<span style=""> </span>It is also important to note that your newsletter content can be whatever you want it to be.<span style=""> </span>In fact, you may even want to think about tying in your affiliate program or the products that you are selling.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">In conjunction with an affiliate program or an affiliate product tie in, you can not only use newsletters to increase your website traffic, but also to promote your affiliate products; products that you are responsible to help sell.<span style=""> </span>You can do this by writing a quick review or recommendation of the products or products that you are helping to sell.<span style=""> </span>If you haven’t tried the product yourself, you may want to try and find other internet users who have.<span style=""> </span>Most of the time, you will find that many internet users are more than willing to write a quick review, just for the sake of helping others.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you are an article writer or if you enjoy writing, you may want to write your own newsletters.<span style=""> </span>If you are not an article writer or if you are, but you just don’t have the time to produce you own newsletters, you don’t have to. There are a number of alternatives for you to choose from.<span style=""> </span>One of the easiest alternatives is to pay a professional to write your newsletter for you.<span style=""> </span>If you are looking for a free way to make a newsletter, you are urged to examine article directories.<span style=""> </span>Many article directories give out free usage rights for their articles. This means that you can easily find newsletter content, that you didn’t write, without having to spend a dime! <span style=""> </span>When using article directories, it is advised that you use articles that are, in one way or another, related to your website or the affiliate products that you are helping to sell.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">As you can see, there are a number of reasons why you should at least think about writing and disturbing a newsletter.<span style=""> </span>In addition to those reasons, there are also an unlimited number of benefits to using newsletters to your advantage.<span style=""> </span>Whether you make the decision to write your own newsletters, hire a professional, or use free content from article directories, you are urged to give newsletters a chance.<span style=""> </span>In the end, you might be surprised just how effective they are.<span style=""> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-25150004960032757342007-08-29T05:28:00.000-07:002007-08-29T05:30:21.413-07:00<p class="MsoBodyText"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to Get A Free Blog</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />Over the past few years, blogs have become incredibly popular.<span style=""> </span>Just about everyone who uses the internet also has a blog. You want to get in on the action, but you’re not sure how to get your own blog.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Luckily for you, sites like Blogger.com have made it easy to set-up and make posts on a blog. In this newsletter, we will go over everything from signing up for a blog on Blogger.com to choosing a template (look) to finally making a first post. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p style="font-weight: bold;"> </o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is Blogger.com?</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Simply put, Blogger.com is a site that hosts blogs for free.<span style=""> </span>This makes it even easier for you to have a blog because there is no need to set up a web site and host the blog yourself. All you have to do on Blogger.com, once you’ve signed up, is login to your blog, write a blog post and click submit. It‘s that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What will my web address be on Blogger.com?</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Your web address will be <a href="http://yourname.blogspot.com/">http://yourname.blogspot.com</a>. One thing that people dislike about Blogger and other free blog sites is that they don’t have as great of a freedom in choosing a name.<span style=""> </span>You are limited to choosing only what is available. So if you’re looking for <a href="http://yankeesfan.blogspot.com/">http://yankeesfan.blogspot.com</a>, you probably won’t be able to find that.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Signing up for a blog on Blogger</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The first thing you’ll do is go to blogger.com. Next, you’ll scroll down the page and click on the button labeled “Create Your Blog Now”. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">You will then be taken to a page where you will enter an email address (used to log into your blog), a password, and a word verification. You’ll also have to check “I Accept Terms of Service”. Click continue.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Next, you will be taken to a page where you will choose the blog title, blog address, and another word verification (which is done to prevent auto-signups). When you type in your blog address, you can click a link that says “check availability”. This will tell you whether or not the desired name is available. If the first name you wish to have is not available, keep typing in different variations of the name until you find one that is available.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After you have put in all the information, click “Continue”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Choosing a Template</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After you click “Continue”, you’ll be asked to choose a template. The template can be changed at any time after you sign-up for the blog, so you don’t have to choose an “official” template now. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you scroll down, you’ll see a variety of different templates.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Click on the one that you like best and then click “Continue”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Your First Blog Post</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After you’ve chosen a template, you’ll see that your blog has been created and that there is a button to “Start Posting”.<span style=""> </span>Click that button.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">You’ll be taken to a page that is similar to the posting page at a message board. There is a “Title” field, where you can put in the title of this particular blog posting. Then there is a bigger field, which is the body of your post. Type all you want in this “Body” field, as there is no limit. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Note that there are options above the field to bold, italicize, underline or spell check the text. There is also the option of changing the size and color of the text, plus the ability to add bullet points, numbered lists and even pictures. For now, you’ll just do a simple “Welcome” post.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the “Title” field, type “Welcome!” In the “Body” field, type your message. You could start with a simple introduction, talking about yourself and the purpose of the blog. When you’re done typing the message, click the “Publish” button. It is worth noting that you can choose to save the post as a draft, if you want to go back and later finish the post.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After you’ve clicked “Publish”, you’ll see that your blog has been published successfully. Click the “View Blog” link to view the results of your work. You’ll now see your post.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Logging into Blogger after the first post</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">You’ll go to Blogger.com and click on the “Old Blogger” link at the top right of the page. Type in the email address and password that you signed up with.<span style=""> </span>You’ll be taken to the “Dashboard” of your blog. If you want to enter a new post on your blog, click “New Post”. Then follow the instructions mentioned in the previous section. Or if you want to edit the template, add/edit elements to your page, you’ll click “Settings” and then “Template”. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That’s all there is to it. Blogs, whether they are hosted at blogger.com or another free blog site, are incredibly useful and fun.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>Blogger makes setting up and running a blog very easy for those who have never done it before. So what are you waiting for? Sign-up for a free blog at Blogger.com today and enjoy posting!<br /></p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <br /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br /> <!--[endif]--></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-44092536082799991882007-08-27T09:59:00.000-07:002007-08-27T10:00:57.919-07:00<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Spectacular Tricks of Pinging</span><br /><br />You’re a blogger and are constantly hearing about pinging. The thing is, you don’t know what it is and what it can do for your blog.<span style=""> </span>Well that’s fine because a lot of bloggers don’t quite understand pinging.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>In this newsletter, we will explain what pinging is, how it helps your blog, and what the best pinging services are. After you’ve read this newsletter, you’ll know exactly how to use pinging to make your blog popular.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What is pinging?<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">When a blog is pinged, it essentially tells a web blog tracking system that the blog has been updated. Thus, pinging is the process of telling tracking services that a site has been updated.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">So how does pinging work? Well, a ping service scans regularly blogs for updates. Whenever there is a new update for a particular blog, that is reported back to the pinging service’s site. You can almost think of ping services being just like search engine spiders—both scan sites looking for information, and both report that information back to their specific site.<span style=""> </span>The difference is, a ping service only reports back new blog posts.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why is pinging useful for my blog?<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Pinging, in effect, tells people that there is a new blog posting available. Those who are loyal followers of your blog will see the ping and want to visit your blog. Those who haven’t read your blog before will see the ping and perhaps think “hey, there’s a new blog I haven’t been to before, I think I’ll check it out”. Pinging helps to increase your traffic because it tells people when your blog is updated. Those who visit sites with pinging services will see this information in the form of a scroll on the left or right side, or top of the page. The scroll is usually in XML format and typically includes the title and URL of your blog, as well as the date and time of the update.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">OK, so now I know what pinging is. Who offers pinging?<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">The answer is, there are several pinging services available which you can use to have your blog pinged. We’ll go over some of them right now.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Weblogs.com<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Weblogs.com is probably the most well-known pinging service.<span style=""> </span>Weblogs.com monitors sites for updates and then pings whenever there is an update to report. Virtually every blog software is available to use Weblogs.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yahoo’s Blogs<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Another popular pinging service. This one is offered by Yahoo and has a built-in integration with movable type and other tools. One cool thing about this service is that it offers the ability to give out updates via Instant Messaging services like AOL and ICQ. It is a direct pinging service, so those who sign up for subscriptions to your blog will be sent an email anytime your blog is updated.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Blogrolling.com<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Blogrolling allows its bloggers to manage their blogrolls(updates) through a web-based interface. Recently updated blogs are also highlighted on Blogrolling’s web site.<span style=""> </span>Data is automatically retrieved from other sites like blogger.com and weblogs.com every 5 minutes. Often times your blog is already being pinged by Blogrolling, so you might not have to sign up for it. Search on the site first for your URL before signing it up.</p> <h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Technorati<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Available at <a href="http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping">http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping</a>, Technorati is another service that pings blogs. It gets its data from a variety of places and is definitely a site you should go to for blog pinging.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">These are just 4 of the many different blog pinging services available. A quick search on Yahoo or Google will reveal many other possible blog pinging services to use for your blog. It is best to sign up for as many as you possibly can to ensure that your blog is well-pinged. A well-pinged blog will definitely help your blog attract more visitors. So sign up for as many as possible and watch your blog traffic increase.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Pinging tells people when your blog is updated. It is an incredibly useful, and easy to sign up for service, so be sure to sign your blog up for pinging!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-55845153711521532642007-08-25T18:59:00.000-07:002007-08-27T04:18:32.169-07:00<h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tips on Increasing traffic to Your Blog</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p>Is your blog collecting dust and not getting enough traffic?<span style=""> </span>It’s a common problem for bloggers. Their blogs are good, but no one is coming to visit.<br /><br />Blog owners want to know how to increase traffic. Increasing traffic is actually easier than it seems—provided you know how. In this newsletter, we will go over 7 specific methods of increasing traffic. These are guaranteed methods to draw more visitors to your blog.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #1: Sign up for pinging services</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">It seems pretty obvious, but most bloggers, even those who are more experienced, don’t sign up for pinging services. If you’re new to blogging and don’t know what pinging means, pinging basically means that when your blog is updated, a “ping” is sent out by the service to let pinging sites know that your blog has been updated. People who are visiting sites with pinging services will then see your blog flash across the side of the screen as “newly updated”. Pinging services include Yahoo’s blogs, weblogs.com, Google Blog search, and ZingFast. </p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #2: Sign up for Technorati</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you go to technorati.com, you’ll see an option on the left side of the screen to “Claim Your Blog”. Doing so allows you to get updated link counts, add your photo or branding to Technorati, and see your Technorati link. Having your blog claimed on Technorati helps to increase traffic because the millions of people who go to that site will have a chance to see your blog on there.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #3: Sign up for FeedBurner, a RSS service</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">What FeedBurner basically does for your blog is it helps you to promote your blog’s content, build your audience and measure your audience. In other words, it helps you increase your blog’s traffic.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #4: Bookmark your blogs at places like del.icio.us</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">You can set up an account and profile at del.icio.us. Then, using that, you can add links to your blog along with excerpts from your blog. Anytime someone visits your profile on del.icio.us, they will see a link to your blog and excerpts.<span style=""> </span>There are other social bookmarking sites that you can use in much the same way. The bottom line is, using these social bookmarking sites can help you increase traffic.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #5: Post comments at other blogs</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">No, this doesn’t mean you should go and spam other blogs with comments that are only there to promote a site. It means that you should visit similar blogs to your own, post legitimate comments and then sign your name(along with a link to your blog). This way, people know you aren’t there just to promote your site—you’re there to post a good piece of feedback and also say where you’re from.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #6: Ask owners of other blogs to post a link to yours</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Find other blogs that are similar to yours. If they seem to be decently popular(that is, they have a good amount of comments for each post), you can try to contact the owner of the blog to add a link to your blog if they have a links section. To make them really want to do this, you can offer to link back to their blog on your blog. People do this reciprocal blog linking all the time and it does help to <a href="http://www.majon.com/">increase website traffic</a>.</p><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ></span><p class="MsoBodyText">.</p> <h1><span style="font-size:100%;">Tip #7: Use keywords in your blog</span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Like regular web pages, having a good keyword density on a blog is a terrific way of getting search engine spiders to notice your page. (FYI: Search engine spiders are programs from search engines that browse sites and report back their findings to the search engine database, which then lists that site. The more keywords on your site, the more likely it is for a search engine spider to pay a visit) </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If your average blog posting is around 200 words, try to use 2-6 keywords per blog post. 2-6 keywords in a blog posting of 200 words is a keyword density of between 1 and 3 percent, a respectable number. Remember that you don’t want to use too many keywords, as that will make your blog look bad. Also be sure that the keywords used are relevant to your blog. Before even making a blog posting, decide what the post will be about and then select a keyword or two to use in your post. Then do it.<span style=""> </span>It’s a surefire way of getting more traffic to your site!</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Signing up with a service like Technorati is a quick, painless way of increasing traffic to your blog. So sign up today!</p><p class="MsoBodyText"><a href="http://www.majon.com/blog">internet marketing news</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-2336943204964491412007-08-20T19:36:00.000-07:002007-08-20T19:40:14.404-07:00<h1>Why Trackbacks are Useful to Blogs</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you’re a blogger, chances are you’ve heard of trackbacks.<span style=""> </span>Most likely, you probably don’t know what these are and what they have to do with your blog.<br /><br />If not, that’s alright, as most people don’t quite understand how trackbacks work and why they are useful for a blog. In this newsletter, we’re going to go over trackbacks—what they are, how they work, why they are important to blog traffic, and how to get more trackbacks. After you’ve read this, you’ll know practically everything there is to know about trackbacks.</p> <h1>What are trackbacks?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">The concept of trackbacks is a bit hard to explain. So we’ll use an example to explain it in the best way possible.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">OK, say you see a great blog post on another person’s blog and want to link to it on your blog. You could do this the old-fashioned way by manually putting a link on your site to that blog. However, if you do it this way, the person whose blog post you are linking to won’t know that you are linking to them unless you tell them.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">This is where trackbacks come in. A trackback is a program which will notify the owner of a blog when one of their posts has been linked to at another blog.</p> <h1>How do they work?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">A blog that has a trackback system set up will have a link at the bottom of every blog post. This link will say something like “Blog This!” Anyone who clicks the link can then put a link to that blog post on their site. The person who posted the original blog will then be notified via email that their blog posting has been linked to. Additionally, the link that was clicked(“Blog This!”) will change to “Trackbacks”. From that point forward, the “Trackbacks” link will keep track of how many people have chosen to blog about that particular post. So after the first trackback, it will say “Trackbacks: 1”. The number of trackbacks recorded will be updated as they occur.</p> <h1>Why are trackbacks important to blog traffic?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">The easy answer is that trackbacks are important because they increase awareness of your blog. Trackbacks also make a blog seem more credible. After all, people have to think your posts are good enough to be trackbacked.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Anytime a person makes a trackback on your blog, they make a post on their own blog about your blog. This, in turn, lets their readers know about your blog. Chances are, their readers will want to visit your blog to see what the big deal is. If they see something on your blog that they like, they’ll keep coming back for more, which means you’ll have a whole new fanbase of readers. That means more traffic for your blog.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Can you imagine what would happen if 5 different bloggers trackbacked a post on your blog? Depending on how popular their blog is, that’s potentially as much as hundreds of new readers for your blog! Pretty incredible, right?</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Also, every trackback made, assuming it is a legitimate one (and some trackbacks are spam, especially if they are there only to link to another site) adds credibility to your blog. Blogs with high amounts of trackbacks look credible because lots of people like the posts enough to trackback them.</p> <h1>How can I increase the number of trackbacks I get?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">The easiest and best way to increase trackbacks is to frequently post. If you post frequently (2-3 times a week), people will have quite a few posts that they can trackback. However, it is important to make sure that your posts are of a good quality.<span style=""> </span>Quality blog posts are those that people can relate to and are easy to read. If you post a long boring rant, people probably won’t want to trackback that. But if you post a decent sized rant that is entertaining (and that people are likely to agree with), you’ll get trackbacked.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The number of trackbacks you get is totally dependent on the number of visitors your blog receives and how frequently you are able to make quality posts. If you’ve got a good amount of visitors and write good blog posts, you’ll get trackbacks. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><br />Trackbacks are a wonderful thing for every blog. You are able to know when your blog posting has been posted about at another blog, plus you potentially <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">of <a href="http://www.majon.com/trafficpack">increase web traffic</a></span>. It’s a win-win situation for you!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-62754502922365384442007-08-18T04:43:00.000-07:002007-08-18T04:45:32.354-07:00<h1>What are trackbacks?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">The concept of trackbacks is a bit hard to explain. So we’ll use an example to explain it in the best way possible.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">OK, say you see a great blog post on another person’s blog and want to link to it on your blog. You could do this the old-fashioned way by manually putting a link on your site to that blog. However, if you do it this way, the person whose blog post you are linking to won’t know that you are linking to them unless you tell them.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">This is where trackbacks come in. A trackback is a program which will notify the owner of a blog when one of their posts has been linked to at another blog.<br /><br />Trackbacks are great <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.majon.com/websitepromotion">website promotion</a> tool.<br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-28165296510441309892007-08-16T15:44:00.000-07:002007-08-16T15:45:44.785-07:00<h1><span style="font-size:130%;">Making Cash With Your Blog </span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>Believe it or not, but it’s actually possible to make money from blogging. One teenager has, in fact, earned $5,000 a month just from making posts on his blog! Of course, not every blogger is this lucky. It does take some skill, and some luck to make money from blogging. What it also takes is some knowledge of how exactly to generate income just by posting blogs. In this newsletter, we will go over three specific methods of making money on your blog: Adsense, Pay Per Lead, and Affiliate Links.</p> <h1>So how exactly do I make money on my blog?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">You do it by working with another company that wants to use your blog as a form of advertising. It sounds like selling out, right? Not exactly. The advertising can be as in your face or subtle as you want. And it can still make you money, provided you have enough visitors to your blog.</p> <h1>What is Adsense?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Adsense is a program offered by Google. The program, if installed, will display ads provided by Google.</p> <h1>How do I get Adsense?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">You’ll need to go to Google.com, first. At the bottom of the screen is a link for “Advertising Programs”. Click on that. Then click on the link for “Adsense”. Scroll down on the page that comes up and click “Click Here To Apply!” You then fill out the form with information about yourself. After 12-48 hours, Google will notify you via email whether or not your site has been accepted. When you’ve been accepted, set up your ads by doing either of the following:</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">1.If your blog is hosted on Blogger.com, you can set up your AdSense ads by going to your profile, selecting settings>template>add an element. Then select AdSense and login with your account info. Next, you’ll configure your ads and save the template. That’s it.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">2.If you are self-hosting your blog, you’ll have to set up AdSense in more of a manual way. You’ll create your ads (which can be as small or as tall as you want) and then copy the HTML/Javascript code Google gives you. Then you’ll paste it into your blog (on the left, right, or top of the screen).</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">For the first few days, the ads displayed by Google will be Public Service Announcements. After the ads have been up a few days, though, the ads will switch to ads that are relevant to your blog. </p> <h1>How does Adsense work?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Every time a visitor clicks an Adsense ad, you get a little bit of money (usually around 30-60 cents). The amount you get for each ad clicked depends on the number of unique visitors you receive on your blog. The more visitors, the more money that can be earned.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Google will then send a check or pay you through Paypal once you’ve made at least $100 from the ads.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">It is important to remember that Google will penalize you if you click your own ads, or if you ask visitors specifically to click ads. So don’t do that!</p> <h1>Pay Per Click</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Pay Per Click is basically just like AdSense, except you don’t just work with Google—you work with multiple companies.<span style=""> </span>BidVertiser is one such company you can sign up with to do Pay Per Click advertising.</p> <h1>How do I get Pay Per Click</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">You sign up with a site like Bidvertiser and then follow their instructions to set up the Pay Per Click ads on your site.</p> <h1>How does Pay Per Click work?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">It works by paying you money each time someone clicks an ad that you display. You won’t get paid for multiple clicks from the same user in the same visitor, nor will you get paid for someone simply visiting your site. You only get paid for legitimate clicks.</p> <h1>Affiliate Links</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Affiliate links are basically links which people pay you for.<span style=""> </span>Companies will actually pay owners of popular blogs to post links on their blog. You can do as much Affiliate linking as you want.</p> <h1>How do I get Affiliate Links?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">You can get Affiliate links by searching for “Affiliate Link Programs” on the internet. Once you find an Affiliate link program that looks good to you, sign up for it. Then you can follow their instructions for putting the link(s) on your blog.</p> <h1>How do Affiliate Links work?</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Like the other two methods mentioned above, Affiliate links work by paying you money each time they are clicked. You get paid for each click per unique visitor.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">So that’s it. There’s three legitimate ways to make money from blogging. It is important to keep in mind that the amount of money you are able to make depends on how many visitors your blog draws. If you draw a lot, you’ll make a lot. If not, the money you earn will be modest. But it’s still extra money, so why not do it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Making money using Adsense, Pay Per Click or Affiliate Link programs is easy and effective. Start monetizing your blog today!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-84387589576489384112007-08-15T05:21:00.000-07:002007-08-15T05:22:41.107-07:00<h1>Stop Blog Spammers<br /> <!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Blogs are now an extremely popular and important part of the internet. Millions of people blog every day. As blogs have evolved over the years, so has the commenting system.<br /><br /><br />Now anyone can make comments on a particular blog posting. As blog commenting has grown more popular, so has spam commenting. In this newsletter, we’ll go over why comments are a great form of feedback for your blog, how they help the credibility of your content, what spam comments are and how to prevent them from happening. </p> <h1>Comments – A great form of feedback</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">When blogs first came around, they were simply online journals.<span style=""> </span>No one could post comments on a blog posting. That all changed in 1998 with OpenDiary, a site which allowed people to comment on blog postings. Now every blog, whether it is remotely or self-hosted, includes this option to comment.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Commenting is great because it allows real people to tell you what they think about your form. It gives you feedback on what you are doing right and what you may need to improve. Comments can be encouraging to you and motivate you to post more quality blog messages. Or they can be constructive criticism to make you work harder to get better at writing content.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Whatever the style of comment is, it is still very useful to your blog. High numbers of comments have the ability to make a blog look credible because they show that the blog is being read by a lot of people. That’s something that every blog owner wants, and comments help to let them know just how many people enjoy their content.</p> <h1>Bad comments</h1> <p class="MsoBodyText">Unfortunately, spammers have now started to use comments as a way to spam. How do you know what a spam comment is? Well, a spam comment is a comment that only advertises another site or product. If the comment seems bland/generic with a cheap link thrown in, then it’s definitely a spam comment.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Here is an example of a typical spam comment:</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">“Hey, this site is really cool. Check out my really cool site at spamsite.com.”</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Of course not all spam comments will be this blatant, but you get the point.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Fortunately for bloggers, as spam comments have grown, so has the ways to prevent it. Here are a couple ways that you can prevent spam comments from even being posted on your blog.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">#1: Close off commenting on older blog posts</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">There are options for you to stop comments from being posted on any particular blog post. Lots of times, spammers will post comments in weeks or months old posts. So take away this opportunity from them to keep it from happening. Most blog hosters now offer this as a standard option in the tool panel.<span style=""> </span>If one of your posts has been up for a couple weeks, close it up.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">#2: Take advantage of software offered to prevent comment spam</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">If you host your own blog using WordPress, you can use an option in that software to prevent spam. Even if you aren’t using WordPress, you can still use other Spam comment blocking software like Spam Karma, Akismet, and Bad Behavior. While these aren’t 100% effective, they have proven to be quite effective in preventing spam from happening.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">#3: Take a look at your settings and see what can be tweaked to toughen your protection</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Lots of blogs now have settings to help prevent spam. If you already have a spam blocker on in your blog and are still experiencing spam, take a closer look at the settings to see if there’s anything that can be tweaked to make your protection stronger. However, if you do this, you should closely monitor your posts to make sure legit comments aren’t being blocked out.<span style=""> </span>If they are, you might have to lighten up a bit.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">#4: Regularly read your blog comments</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Be sure to keep an eye on your comments. Even the best software or setting can’t prevent everything, so you will have to occasionally manually remove comments on your own. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">By applying the above principles, you can ensure that your blog is full of only good, quality comments, which will help your credibility tremendously.</p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comments are a great form of communication between yourself and your readers. They help the credibility of your blog!<br /><br /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br /> <!--[endif]--></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37315896.post-13686845477039438362007-08-12T17:41:00.000-07:002007-08-12T17:47:46.742-07:00<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:130%;" >Deciding on a Remote Blog or Self Hosted Blog</span><br /><br />There are<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>pros and cons to both, which makes the decision difficult for<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>many. Neither is perfect, and neither is for everyone.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p></o:p>So you’ve decided to blog, but aren’t sure whether you should<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>host the blog yourself or sign up for a free service like<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>blogger.com. It’s a dilemma that many bloggers face. There are<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>pros and cons to both, which makes the decision difficult for<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>many. Neither is perfect, and neither is for everyone.<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"><span style=""> </span></ins></span>Fortunately, you should be able to make the best decision for<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>you if you are armed with adequate knowledge of both. In this<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>newsletter, we’ll go over services like blogger.com and others,<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>plus software that allows you to host your own blog. We’ll also<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>go over the pros and cons of each. After reading this, you will<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>know which is best for you.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:130%;">Who offers free blog hosting?</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Many sites offer free blog hosting. Among them are Forumer,<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>Blogger, BlogEasy, Aeonity, BlogThing and Blogates. A quick<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>search for “free blog” on Google reveals many possibilities.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:130%;">What software can I use to host my own blog?</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Like free blog hosting, there are many possibilities for<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>software that makes hosting your own blog easy. Most of them are<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>free to use. These include:</p> <p class="MsoList">Word Press(the most popular software)<br />Apache Roller<br />Blosxom<br />Geeklog<br />Textpattern<br />LifeType</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>There is also blog software which you can purchase for use on<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>your site. These include:</p> <p class="MsoList">Community Server<br />Movable Type<br /><st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Radio</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">User</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Land</st1:placetype></st1:place></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>One negative about using software and hosting your own blog is<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>that the process can often times be complicated. You have to<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>download the software and install it to your server, which<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>doesn’t always go easily. It’s particularly hard for those who<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>don’t have a lot of experience installing things on servers.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:130%;">Why should I remotely host my blog at a place like Blogger?</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Places like Blogger allow you to host your blog there. It’s a<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>good option for many people. </p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Pros</span></p> <p class="MsoListBullet"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->It’s easy to set up and maintain a blog. You don’t have to go<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>through the trouble of installing software and configuring it to<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>work on your server. All you have to do is sign up for an<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>account and start posting.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->It’s friendly for beginning bloggers. Sites that host blogs<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>offer good tutorials on how to make your blog postings, so that<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>even someone who is completely new to the concept of blogging<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>can do it easily.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Most blog hosting sites are completely free to use. There is<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>no need to pay for things like a domain name and hosting.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Monetizing your blog is easy. Rather than having to manually<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>put HTML/Javascript codes on your blog to manually set up things<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>like AdSense and Pay Per Click advertising, you can select an<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>option on most blog hosting sites that does much of the work for<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>you.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >The Cons</span></p> <p class="MsoListBullet"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->You don’t have as many options to customize your blog.<br />Remotely hosted blogs are admittedly somewhat limited in terms<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>of what you can actually do on them. You have to stick with what<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>is provided to you in terms of look and features.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The URL you get is always yourname.BLOGSITE.com. You don’t get<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>to have a custom domain name like YOURNAME.com. This can<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>possibly hurt traffic to your blog.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Blogs hosted on free blog sites don’t look as professional as<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>self hosted blogs.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Why should I self-host my blog?</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Pros</span></p> <p class="MsoListBullet"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->You have more options and more flexibility. You are able to<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>tweak the blog to your liking.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Your URL is your address for your blog. Rather than having go<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>to where your blog is hosted to read it, they can read it right<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>from your site.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->The ability to make your blog look professional. Blogs that<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>are hosted on sites of their own tend to look a lot better than<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>those hosted on free sites.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->More space for your blog. Free blog sites usually place a<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>restriction on how much space you have for things like photos<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>and music. By hosting your own blog, you are able to use as much<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>space as you need.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Cons</span></p> <p class="MsoListBullet"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->There are sometimes problems with setting up blog software to<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>run on your site and server. If you aren’t experienced when it<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>comes to working with mySQL, the process will be hard.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Updates aren’t as easy to post.<span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style=""><br />·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->You have to manually set up programs to monetize your blog.<br />However, if you are good with HTML/Javascript, this shouldn’t be<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>too hard.<br /><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->You have to pay for your own hosting and domain</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>As you can see, there are pros and cons to both. Which should<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>you choose? Well, it depends on who you are and what you intend<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>to use your blog for. If you intend to use it for business, then<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>a self-hosted blog is the best idea. If it’s a personal blog,<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:SJP" datetime="2007-08-09T08:34"> </ins></span>then a free hosted blog will probably be fine for you.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><o:p> </o:p>Closely examine all of the pros and cons mentioned above.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">That way, you’ll be able to make the best decision for you!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0