A Fairy Tale of The Webmasters’ World, Google and How to Win His Love

The online world is a strange and peculiar place. If you have decided to become a professional blogger, a webmaster, an online marketer, or all of them, you will need to know the ins and outs of this Kingdom, Who’s the King, who to trust and who to follow. This short guide is by no means comprehensive, but a good read to prepare yourself into a new world.

Google is the king

In this kingdom, at one point or another, you will have to realize the power of Google. Yeah I know, there are also Bing, Yahoo and other big guys out there. But by all means, Google is the king of the online kingdom, with the ultimate power of raising your site to the front page on one night and decide to throw it to hell the other. All of your online activities will have to cater for his wants.

Google didn’t use to have this great Power Ranger power. Years ago people could rank keywords such as “buy Viagra” or “online surveys” on the first page with only throwing out spammy links everywhere over the net. Powerful “Viagra” or “online casino” wizards were in range spamming everyone.

There was a time that you can just stuff a web page mostly only with your keywords and Google would give you a high ranking only because of that.

But that era has now long gone and Google has gotten smarter and can detect if you are a good witch or a bad witch.

How does Google separate the good witches from the bad witches?

Google has this army of little spiders (aka. bots, crawlers) that crawl the internet kingdom all the time, finding new published contents to index and arrange them in order based on an array of criteria.

This array of criteria has gotten more and more sophisticated over the years to identify the good witches to put on its first pages and the bad witches to weed out and put into a cursed land called “Sandbox”.

And trust me, you wouldn’t want to end up there.

A good video to help you understand more about how Google and his army work:

Under Google’s eyes, there are good and bad neighborhoods in the internet kingdom.

In the good one, websites grow organically with fresh and original contents that are updated regularly, high authority websites love them and link to them and people share their contents to others cheerily.

The good witches (who wear white hats, by the way)  are the ones that use their magic to create great, unique and quality content that benefit people’s lives, build and maintain a trustworthy and recognizable brand.

Google the great loves the good neighborhoods and give them more privilege, put them in the first pages of the search engine so that more people could find them and read them.

Of course there are always those who kiss ass and bribe Google to get their way up to the front page and our king love them even more, as, well, the man has to eat!

The bad neighborhoods

On the opposite, bad neighborhoods are full of websites with crappy and thin contents that are linked to by spammy and also poorly produced websites.

Visitors make their way out quickly after stumbling upon these sites and never look back. You wouldn’t want to be associated with these areas.

Witches in the dark, or the ones who wear black hats, utilize all spammy tricks to get links and some are very good in disguising themselves. Therefore Google the Great also has to think of all tactics in the world to recognize and punish them.

Algorithm changes and the spam fights

Google the Great always tries his best to spot and “sandbox” these sites. He sends out his messenger, Matt Cutts, to every corner of the Kingdom to announce every one of his new rules and regulations.

If you want to be a part of this Kingdom, you should follow him too.

He rolled out several major campaigns per year to alter the search results for better user experience. One of the biggest campaigns is called “Panda” to find and weed out bad quality sites and reward good ones.

Moz, one of the most renowned wizards in the webmasters’ world, has recorded a list of all Google campaigns and spam fights since the beginning of history.  If you are into Google history, it’s worth taking a look.

How to stay safe and be loved by Google

No one wants to be penalized by Google, everyone wants to be on his good side and gets to his love list. So as a newbie in the webmaster world, how to make sure you are always in the good neighborhood?

Here are 5 golden points to keep in mind all the time when you are living in this Google kingdom:

Produce original and fresh contents regularly, Google is happy when your readers are happy
Make sure that your content is well optimized or other words, alter your content in a way that Google bot army understands it better.
Build links quality link partners, which mean with websites that have high pagerank, established history and good reader base
Establish a presence in social media and brand yourself. Google loves personal branding and social groupies
Do not use tactics that involve spamming of anyway (Yes, sending generic comments to a million blogs is spamming!)
Serious About Blogging will help you find your way around this kingdom, answer your questions and give you the best possible guidance so that you will always stay on Google’s good side, get promoted, and prosper in the webmasters’ world.

Upload and Tell: Earn from a Photoblog!

Pictures can sometimes speak louder than words. Photoblogs are the less staple but an increasingly cool way to build traffic for your business or for your affairs. The online world can be riddled with too much text, but pictures are a more welcome addition for gaining information. Some people grow tired of reading long texts, but few get tired of viewing pictures, especially pictures which tell stories about the one who posted it.

And sharing of one’s self through a photoblog is truly rewarding in a different way compared to normal blogs. It differs from a gallery in the sense that it has a chronology to it, not just a series of uploaded pictures but pictures that speak a thousand words. Any person with a good eye for detail can embark on an online career by means of a photoblog.

For one thing, when a photoblog has generated a considerable amount of traffic, you can be assured of a network who can help you plug your way up to a photoblogging career. Pictures which are excellent and well-shot can now be exposed for public viewing. You can also be assured to be exposed to other photo enthusiasts who are passionate with what they do and have probably acquired the skills that you have wanted to acquire for yourself. Signing up for a photoblog increases the likelihood that level up in your skill.

Experts in photography did not start out to be overnight success. They began somewhere, in one way or another. Photoblogging is a fresh way to begin a photography career. Your pictures may be appreciated by friends and family, but it can be even more rewarding if online people are able to view them. After all, the online people are currently rising to be the world’s best marketers.

Earning from a photoblog is not just on a monetary aspect, since you earn exposure and more avenues for constructive criticism. Individuality in photos may be freely expressed, and comments of people from various backgrounds can give you a gauge on which markets dig your photos. After being given an idea on which groups are more receptive to your photo ideas, you can focus your work on that group and earn your bucks from there.

It is an insightful thing to maintain a photoblog, not to mention the fact that having it can be free for as long as you find a good host. Various passionate groups for photography even build incentive contests just to encourage photoblogger to keep on posting new content for their websites. This is different from galleries, which leave little or no room for encouragement of new posts.

Is there value of being a blogger?

Have your thought about these questions: What’s the value of being a blogger? What about blogging as a career? Would you be interested in a blogging career?

 Blog Image

Blogging, for me, is the advantage of having the freedom to choose what I write on. This means that I can mix my entrepreneurial desire with my knowledge or my interest. In fact, if you have expert skills or a burning passion, creating content in your “at home” time builds a long-term stream of revenue.

For example, look at a Peter D. Marshall‘s website, Film Directing Tips. Whether or not you have any curiosity in being a filmmaker, it’s worth a visit to his site to see how he is building a long term stream of income.

Mr. Marshall is a veteran filmmaker of over thirty years. He’s taken his knowledge and created expert content and made it available for sale via his website. The website’s blog is a good example of blogging as a career vehicle. The blog’s posts exist solely to promote his knowledge and his paid content, including audio files, video, and PDF reports, all geared to the aspiring director.

This is a blogging model you can adapt for almost any expert knowledge or skill that you have. If your blogging career is based around these skills, you’re likely to be something of an expert in them.

I would love to help you express your expertise or passion using Empower Network.

Major Ways to Drive Traffic To Your Business Blog

Blogs abound like daisies. Business blogs are becoming primary market norms for every aspiring online business mogul. But what separates a good business blog from a bad one? Simple. Good business blogs have traffic in them. No matter how lovely and unique your business proposal is, if it can’t be read, it is useless.

One of the good ways to build blog traffic for business use is to link up. Linking with other websites, forums and people who are related to the cause of your business blog can do wonders. They can contain tens, hundreds or thousands more contacts as you, especially if you are just beginning in field. Besides, they can provide good insight on how to further improve on your business blogging craft.

Forums are useful avenues for you to promote your business blog. Participating in these forums and merely putting the links in your signatures (if allowed, so you must read forum rules!) increases the likelihood of visit even just for curiosity’s sake.

Feedbacks are also important. Each visitor must be encouraged to give their feedbacks on your business blog, as well a link enabling them to tell their friends about the website. This is part and parcel of viral marketing, which made many popular websites today as successful as they are now.

Another thing to consider is content. The content must be highly relevant for it to rank high in search engines. Employing the help of search engine optimization agents can work wonders in increasing the visits to your website.

Blog directories are also useful. If you could get your hands on a good one which promotes the topic of your business blog, do so. These blog directories promote blogs by the dozen, depending on categories, topics and content.

Commenting on key websites can also help you build your business blog’s traffic. Comment in a way which sparks more interest. And be genuinely interested in the websites you’re commenting on, especially if you don’t want readers to think that you are just commenting to build traffic (something you must really avoid!).

Encouraging your visitors to bookmark your page is also a good way to build traffic to your business blog. While it’s true that typical users rarely use bookmarks, you are more likely to be revisited if they have stored your links in one way or another.

Lastly, employing media help and constant updates help keep your business blog up to date and on top of things.

Why You Should Choose the Best Web Host for Your Blog

A web host has servers that hold the files of your site or blog. When people type in your domain on their internet browsers, your web host pulls your files and shows your site to your visitor.

When you choose a web host, take time to review their hosting packages and gauge their customer support. Look for a reliable web host that offers the most value for money.

Here’s why…

When I was setting up my first site, I bought a hosting package that gave me about 150 MB of web space and 4,000 MB of bandwidth. I thought I was getting a good deal at only $4 per month.

Being a newbie, I had no idea how small 150MB was nor did I care about the bandwidth. Before long I was paying additional fees for my webspace to be upgraded. Later on, when I wanted to have another blog, I was paying additional fees to have another domain added to my account.

By this time, I already knew I needed to get a new web host, something that had everything I needed all in. Still I stuck with my web host because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of transferring files and I wasn’t even sure how it was done.

And then my site went down. First for a few minutes, then for a few hours, then for a few days a week.

That was the last straw. I googled like crazy to find a reliable web host, I learned how to transfer the site myself and I finally made the leap.

It was the best decision I ever made.

Lesson learned: If you want to give your sites a big boost, start it right and get a reliable web host.

Five things to look for in a reliable web host

Most web hosting providers offer different plans suited for beginner bloggers as well as big time businesses. When choosing a web hosting plan, consider the following factors:

Disk Space – This determines the amount of files you can upload to your site or blog, such as text content, images, and videos. The higher the disk space, the better. The top web hosts often offer unlimited disk space even at their lowest plans. If you’re not sure how much disk space you need for your site, it’s best to go unlimited.
Bandwidth – This determines how much traffic your web host will allow your site to handle at any given time. If you anticipate a high volume of visitors or you plan to offer downloads from your site, always go for the higher bandwidth. You can try computing how much bandwidth you need, or you can simply go for unlimited bandwidth.
Uptime – This determines how often your site will be accessible to your site visitors. This is a huge measure of reliability for me. Remember, downtime means lost visitors and, if you’re a business, lost sales. Ideally, you would want a web host that offers 100 percent uptime. Otherwise, go for the one who offers the highest uptime rate.
Scripts – Most web hosts now offer scripts that make it easy for you to install a blog, ecommerce or mailing list platform in a few clicks. Since I was already using WordPress, I only needed Fantastico which is one of the more widely used installation scripts for WordPress.
Customer support – Look for a web hosting provider that has 24 – hour customer support via live chat. Glitches can happen any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week so you’d want to have constant access to a tech support staff who can help you figure out site issues and solve them.

A Beginner’s Guide to the Top 5 Best Blogging Software

The meteoric rise in popularity of blogs has subsequently led to the advent of several blogging software tools to arm the would be blogger. With all the blogging software available, it can be difficult to choose, especially for newcomers to the blogosphere.

In truth, there is no one blog software to rule them. There are several good blog tools that offer a wide variety of features. The secret is to choose one that best suits the needs of the blogger.

Some blogging software are more user-friendly, simple to pick up and use. Others might prefer blogging software that offers more features like RSS/Atom feeds, ping, and trackbacks.

Blogging doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. Some of the best blogging software are free or very cheap.

Here’s 5 of the best blogging software tools:

1. Blogger.com

One of the earliest and most popular blogging tools around. This free blogging tool is quick and easy to set-up and run.

It offers free basic hosting with Blogspot, though it does allow content to be transferred to other web sites using FTP. With it’s simple interface and a large array of features, Blogger.com is great, especially for newcomers.

2. LiveJournal

Another good blog for beginners. Like the name suggests, LiveJournal is geared towards those who wish for a more personal diary or journal styled blog.

LiveJournal has a great community and supports this with features like friends lists and personal profiles.

A downside is that Livejounal is limited in terms of customization compared with other blog tools.

3. Multiply

Multiply focuses more on the social networking aspect. It’s a fun way to keep in touch with people. It features photo blogging and other nice touches.

It’s mostly free, with some added features available for paying members.

4. WordPress

One of best blogging software tools for personal and commercial use. WordPress needs to be installed on a server. This can usually be done within 5 minutes.

WordPress allows lots of flexibility in regards to presentation and usage. It has a great interface, lots of built-in features, and being open source, easily expandable.

It’s one of the best supported blog platforms with lots of available plugins for added features, with more constantly being developed.

Best of all it’s completely free.

5. Movable Type

One of the most powerful blogging tools available, Movable Type is full of features, allowing full control over the blog.

Installing MT might be difficult for those without the technical know-how but many hosting services are offering MT pre-installed for a fee.

There’s a free limited version of MT with more license options available for varying fees.

Blogging for Profit – ProBlogger Book Review

Recommendation: Buy it if you’re a new or intermediate blogger.You’ll be inspired by Darren’s story – it does take time. There are plenty of how tos on the mechanics of starting to blog, but you can skip over those if your already online. Good tips on writing compelling copy and building traffic…which all lead to revenue (direct or indirect). Read below for the full review.
I just finished this book, part of a series of books I’m reading about blogging, email marketing and info products – more on those late. Pr ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Blogging for Profit   ProBlogger Book Review is the book by Darren Rowse creator of b5 networks and the popular blog how to site ProBlogger.com. His co-writer is Chris Garrett also a prolific blogger. Darren Rowse claims to have made over 6 figures a year from blogging (using Google AdSense), so we can assume they know what they’re talking about.
I read the book not because I want to or expect to make money from a blog via advertising. I was more interested in creating a blog with a high readership that would be a companion to my retail business, GirlMogul.com I have the blog, GirlMogul Magazine, and while I occasionally get a reader or a comment, most of the time I get tons of pharmaceutical spam. Though I do have Adsense and Adbrite on the GirlMogul blog I have not earned a dime from it and after the book I am actually considering taking it down. What did I want to get from the ProBlogger book -tips on building a high traffic well read blog. After all, there is little fun in posting, if no one is listening…
Here’s what you’ll get by reading: A quick overview of the author’s credentials. Darren’s story is particularly heartwarming since it took him well over a year to start making money from his blog(s)…and then it seemed to snow ball.
There are basic tips if you want to make money:
1. Find a niche (this is a common theme on the Internet)
2. Go for a how-to, instructional or focused topic blog rather than a personal diary
3. Post regularly. Expect to build up a archive of posts before you’re taken seriously
4. Advertising only brings in money if you have lots of traffic
5. Write compelling content
6. Write keyword and search engine friendly content
7. Use social networking and bookmarking sites to build your traffic
8. Get links from other bloggers (You’ll learn how)
9. Join the community and visit and comment on other blogs. Don’t immediately expect a link back or a recommendation,

What Makes Blogger SEO Tips Work

It is necessary for a blog to be search engine friendly if one wants to generate the desired traffic. A search engine friendly blog can help to boost online success. There can be least doubt about the fact that blogs are an effective part as far as implementing business methods and strategies are concerned. Blogs are an easy communication tool that helps to develop a sense of trust and credibility between the business organisation and the customers. One needs to realise the fact that Blogging makes it a lot easier for customers to locate the company on the internet. It is a good blogging SEO tip to include keywords in the domain name. If in the case, that domain name consists of keyword phrase, it is preferable to include dashes after every word.

SEO Blog Tips:-

The most important SEO blog tips are as follows:
• Include Keywords to Content of Post
• Add Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to Primary Keyword
• Write Original Articles for the Blog
• Include Meta Tags to Every Blog Post
• Hire a Back linking Expert

Incorporating Keywords:-

Blogging tips and tricks suggest incorporating keywords to the content of the post. There is no real point in trying to include excessive number of keywords in the post as it can induce spamming. It is always a good idea to include pod casts, videos, images, photos, free downloads and related type of files to make the blog look more interesting. Sprinkling latent semantic keywords throughout the post is also a good idea. LSI’s are primarily keywords that have similar meaning to that of the primary keywords. Such keywords can be determined with the help of the Google’s keyword tool.

LSI Keywords:-

LSI keywords need to be found out after determining the primary keyword. The LSI keywords need to be sorted by relevance. SEO tips for blogs make it mandatory to include Meta tags to each of the blogs. The Meta tags to include in the blogs should include keywords, description and title as well. The keywords comprising the title should match the blog post title. It is always a good practice to set up categories using keywords. It is also necessary to post the blogs in such categories too. In fact, four surefire ways can help to make a blog an effective SEO tool.

Ways to Make a Blog an Effective Tool

The four surefire ways to make a blog an effective SEO tool are as follows:
• Choose an Appropriate Theme
• Make a URL with Words Related to the Theme
• Blogs Make it Easy to Link to Other Blogs
• Keep It Coming

Appropriate URL:-

It is necessary that the theme of the blog tie together all the posts/individual articles together. Search engines often assess whether the page simply has many keywords or whether the entire blog include the appropriate topic one is searching. Hence, it is always a judicious option to choose a theme that one will not feel tired of writing. Blogspot seo tips also suggest including a URL that has words related to the theme. It is a good SEO practice to name a blog using keywords relevant to a particular theme as well.

Blogs make it a lot easier to link to other blogs. Search engines to rank a particular result page use the above-mentioned concept. Hence, it is always a good idea to consult blogs of other people while writing on the blog. Blogger seo tips suggest creating links that generally point to other person’s blog and to other online articles related to the theme as well. This will prove to be helpful in creating links by other persons that point to the blogs. It is recommended to launch an exhaustive internet search to know more about SEO tips for blogger.

Success tips for entrepreneurs and Blog Business

This undertaking is in, so I’m sure you see tips for entrepreneurs and bloggers everywhere. But still I want to make my small contribution also about whether you are going around to open a small business or project.
In this post I want to give you the advice that, in my view, would be the most important:
1-Be Original
I will never tire of saying. Never, And recently I saw one of those little signs that people put on facebook. It said something like: “To succeed you have to be either the best or the first.” Thing with which I quite agree.
I see the creative pastries, I see with design / customize blogs, and I see everything. People see a thing, you see others doing well, and copies, not realizing he is thus closing doors from the beginning.
2- Get Started
See also projects or businesses in which they spend life planning. What if the business plans that if this and that. And although it is clear that we must think about things rather than jumping into the void without further (especially if money is invested) what is also true is that all those forecasts usually never resemble real life.
Also not only that, but start and has other advantages:
Allows us to make money from earlier, because although everything is not 100% perfect, at least the business is underway.
Allows us to improve and based on actual customer feedback and not changes in our thoughts and ideas gives us the push to go forward, because the project is already running.
3- Start in teeny
Yes, get started now, but do not dive into the pool. Imagine that you want to be fashion designers and have your retailer. Well, instead of looking for funding to design a clothing line, go market and open five stores. The money you win OMG, I turn back to invest, and so on.
I think it’s important not to lose sight of the ultimate dream, because that will help us work hard but always going for safe, little by little.
4- Put yourself time to do things
I have a friend a few months ago said he wanted to start a business. The first thing you need is a web, as it is a local business that provides a service. Basically all you need is a brand, a website, business cards or flyers, then go out there promoting it.
But it’s been three months and their website is like the first day. It is very easy to get into laziness and not doing something, especially when you do not have a boss or a client behind. So it is very important to set deadlines for everything, especially at first.
5- Focus on your make money
Okay, this seems obvious, but it is not. Once that business is already branded, sometimes we let our time was simply occupy the wearing of the business.
In my case would be to write posts, design blogs that I have earrings, answering emails, watch for the networks, answering blog comments, etc. etc. etc.
But it is important to do things that are going to make money: writing a new course out there to promote my blog (I let people find me on Google without doing anything, but I no longer actively move) think about new projects (new courses, classroom workshops, etc.)
6- Be flexible
Sometimes we have an idea, but that does not mean that idea any better. Perhaps it is that we want to have a clothing brand and one day we’re a design inspired jewels and sell well. And suddenly sold jewelry and clothing do not. Maybe it’s time to be flexible and decide that we could be like jewelery designers and no clothes? Zara always says that his success is based on giving the customer what they want / ask.
And that’s where the most important tips to start a project or business from my perspective. I hope that some will help, and as always, all your comments with more tips or what think you of which I have given.

Guide to Choosing Your Free Blogging Software

Blogs are the in thing these days! You can’t expect to make online negotiations without a blog or something you can consider to be your virtual home of thoughts. However, the real premium ones are expensive and not everyone earns the money to afford them.

In comes free blogging software, or websites which allow free hosting for your thoughts and aid you in building traffic. Now it does not have to be a privilege for a chosen few, but as normal as one can have his or her own email address.

There are a lot of free blogging software available online but how do you choose the one which is perfect for your blogging needs and preferences?

A good way is to check your computer leverage and skill. Blogging isn’t just about typing words.

You also need to have some skill on design. Some sites allow HTML experts to express themselves further. These are exciting sites to try out, but if you are a blogging newbie with no idea whatsoever, it is best to stick to the basics and get blogging softwares which don’t have to modify templates or what-have-yous just to be able to make a presentable blog.

Also, check on the blog samples that each blogging software community can provide. You might find yourself more easily having a niche if you can relate to the other members of that blogging software community. So much the better if you already have friends who use the same blogging software, which directly leads me to the next point.

Friend recommendations are the best. You can find happy blogger among your friends and ask them what their respective blogging softwares have to offer. If they are all using the same blogging software, it would be most apt and practical to follow suit and have instant blog traffic coming your way.

Some sites capitalize on community-based entries, some on freedom in expressing one’s self by words and design. Still, others are quite difficult to navigate but are most appealing due to their non-mainstream quality. Finding that perfect blogging software is just like finding the right shampoo for your hair. One software may not exactly work for you as well as it had worked with others.

Trial and error is the best. These software materials are free and you could register to all of them and give them a try. Hands-on experience is way better than what your friends recommend. Eventually, when you have to make your selection, you will not regret not having tried the others.

How to Make Money Doing What You Like

So you have decided to make money doing what you like…now how do you figure that out?  Use this 3-step process:
Before you begin brainstorming possibel markets to target with your internet business, stip and consoder the following:
What are you interested in?
What are you passionate about?
What subject or topic do you have a lot of knowledge about?
What are people always coming to you for advice about?
If you stat your business based on something you know and like you’ll enjoy it more, will stick with it through the tough times, and at the end of the day, truly enjoy it more – while it pays you money.  What could be better than that?
And it will be easier to start you business on something you already know, rather than trying to become an expert (though that’s not too hard either…)
Sometimes I hear that moms think they don’t have any skills or interests…or just their kids.  That’s baloney.  You used to have skills and interests way before you had kids – remember that time…and you still do – they may be new, or it may time to dust off an old hobby.  Are you an expert on getting your kid to eat his or her vegetables, clean her room or get straight A’s or more time on the playing field.  Can you feed a family of 6 on 50 bucks a week… guess what – people want to know how to do that and they might  be willing to pay you for it.
So start with this:
1. Consider your interests, hobbies and areas of expertise.  Think about your life experiences – all the jobs you have ever had  even the unpaid ones, and the volunteer work and the hobbies you’ve tried.  All the times you have helped people and enjoyed it.  Keep a notebook handy and keep adding to the list over a day or two.
Our Next post will be list of questions you can ask yourself to help find your interests and passions – stay tuned.

Make Money Blogging – Step 2: Choosing a Niche

What is a Niche Market?

So what exactly is a niche market? A niche market is a subcategory of a larger market. For example, dentistry is a large market that encompasses many smaller markets. Such as dental care, (i.e. toothpaste, dental floss, and mouthwash), and cosmetic dentistry would be two separate niche markets  within  the  dentistry  market. So if you want to blog about dentistry, it is a good idea to choose a niche market to focus on within the dentistry market. Choosing a niche market within your main market makes identifying your target audience much simpler, and makes creating specific content, specific advertising, and specific products which your audience will gladly purchase from you.

Now that you have decided on the general topic you want to discuss on your blog, you’ll need to narrow that topic down a bit, and choose a niche. Choosing a niche is about more than thinking about what you’re going to discuss on your blog. Choosing a niche requires you to do some research on what subareas of your topic are profitable. The reason bloggers choose a specific niche within their topic, is to create content that is very specific and relevant to a specific audience. This is an important step in choosing your niche, as it will help increase the profits you will make with your blog. When people search the Internet, they are normally looking for something very specific, and more often than not, what they are looking for is a solution to a problem. If you focus on a specific niche, or niche market, you’ll see much better results than just discussing a topic in general.

How to Choose a Niche Market

So now that you know what a niche market is and why you should focus on a specific niche, you may be wondering how to choose the right niche for your blog. This is where keyword research really comes in handy. There are actually a few good ways to choose a niche, but the easiest way I have found is to do some simple keyword research. As I mentioned in Step 1, Google Keyword Planner and Market Samurai are great tools to use to help find the right niche. Both tools offer insight into how popular a niche is by showing you how many people are searching for the keywords that will ultimately lead them to your site. Finding profitable keywords that people are searching for will bring in more traffic, and everyone knows that more traffic equals more money in your bank account. If you’re not familiar with how to use keyword finder tools, The search engine journal has an excellent article explaining how to use Google Keyword Planner, complete with screenshots to walk you through finding the perfect niche.  If you prefer to try out Market Samurai, Perry Rosenbloom has written a similarly awesome article explaining how to use Market Samurai. Once you find out what’s profitable and what’s not, you can narrow this list down based on your knowledge level, experience, and interest, then simply choose the niche you are most interested in. If you can’t figure out how to find a good niche using the keyword planner or Market Samurai, click here for help.

Tips To Make Your Corporate Blog A Success

Blogs are no longer limited to personal use. Many corporations have caught on to the blogging craze. They have discovered corporate blogs to be powerful marketing tools. This has led to a need for skilled corporate bloggers.

Here are some tips for those who wish to become successful corporate bloggers.

- Practice Professionalism

Writing a corporate blog is different from writing a personal journal. Certain etiquette must be practiced.

Think carefully before posting. Be careful not to offend customers.
It’s okay to mention rival companies when needed but don’t slander them. Don’t be afraid to address controversial issues, but do so with tact.

Remember, a corporate blogger, and everything that they write, represents their company.

- Honesty is the Best Policy

Always tell the truth. Everything that a corporate blogger writes reflects heavily on the company that they represent. Getting caught in a lie can have tremendous ramifications on the company. If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to admit it, and promise to do better.

Be open about all things, good and bad. Sincerity goes a long way in gaining a customer’s trust and that feeling will pass onto the company.

- Be at One Mind with Your Employer

While it’s important to express the company’s thoughts and ideas, a manager must be able to trust their corporate blogger not to post something stupid.

Revealing confidential information is a fast way to lose your job, although, some companies might actually want you to leak corporate “secrets”, as a means of promotion.

Know what your employer wants of you and implement it.

- Corporate Blogging and Public Relations

Blogs have changed the way that companies relate with customers. A blogger would do well to foster these relations by responding to comments. After all, blogging is all about interaction.

Don’t be afraid of negative feedback; this information can be useful in the long run. Criticism encourages conversation, and will make a blog more interesting.

- Be Aware Of World Around You

Keep up with all the happenings in the blogospere by visiting other blogs. This will give precious insight on important issues to discuss on your blog.

It’s also a good idea to leave comments on other blogs and is a great way to promote your own.

Don’t try to tie down readers to your blog. Provide plenty of relevant links and use various feeds to constantly provide new content to your blog.

Above all is a successful corporate blogger should always keep their readers in mind. Don’t bore your readers with endless corporate lingo. Provide interesting and relevant content that will engage and inform.

How to Start A Blog from Scratch

“Do you have a blog?”

“Blog what?”

“You know, it’s like an online journal where you write about your thoughts and stuff.”

“Why would I want to have an online journal that’s open for anyone to read?”

The idea seemed so weird to me then when a friend asked me if I had a blog. But I signed up for a Blogspot account anyway. I wrote a short post about “how I wanted to be an angel when I die” and published it on November 26, 2004.

Three months later, I closed down the blog, created another one with a different name and poured my heart out for two years.

In 2007, I finally decided it was time for me to become a “serious blogger”. I bought my own domain name, grabbed a cheap hosting package and put up a free theme I found through Google.

Back then, I didn’t know a thing about choosing a domain name, getting quality web hosting or designing my theme. I had no idea I could use my blog to gather subscribers, to earn an income or to sell products.

I just knew I wanted my own space online and I will write about anything and everything under the sun. Besides, this was the time I suddenly became a mom and I felt like having a fresh start.

My very first post:

Moving here from Blogger was difficult because my old blog chronicled more than two years of my life. Some of it I would consider the most important turning points. Leaving my old blog felt like leaving all of that history behind me and I wasn’t sure I could let go.

But I realized that is exactly what I’m supposed to do: leave the past behind.

No doubt there were great memories that I’d like to reminisce over again. In the end though, they are just that, memories that can never be returned.

I am entering a new phase in my life and it is time to let go and move on.

I am building a new home here just as I am building a new home with my new family.

I did read somewhere that having a self – hosted blog opens up more earning opportunities. So I thought maybe I could also earn a few cents from Adsense.

I jumped right in without a definite plan or goal for blogging. Later on, I realized I was definitely far from being a serious blogger and it took me quite a long time to really get it.

A few lessons

Seven years, two hosting accounts and more than 20 domains since I started, I have learned a thing or two (or three) about blogging.

And if I were to start a blog from scratch now, I am going to do things a lot differently.

I would:

Brainstorm a strategic plan to set objectives and goals for my blog.
Get a brandable domain name.
Buy quality web hosting that’s reasonably priced.
Design the look of my blog.
Create a posting calendar for all my blog topics.
Implement strategies to get more traffic.
Plan how to grow my blog more.
Whether you’re new to blogging or you want to start another blog, I think these steps will help you go in the right direction.

Do you want a blog?

I know it’s tempting to just jump right in (I know, I did) and just learn the lessons along the way. But if you want a little boost when you start your blog, it would be worth your while to create a strategic plan for your blog.

Before you go buy that domain name and web hosting, spend a few minutes crafting your blog’s objectives, your online brand and your strategy.

I say a few minutes because I’d rather you spend more time on doing than planning. If you want to spend more time planning, that’s fine too.

Take a sheet of paper or open a new text document on your computer and answer these 5 Ws and 1 H of blogging.

What you come up with will come in handy when you start building your new site or blog.

Neglecting the Blog…Upcomming

I have been quite lazy lately, in everything I do, but especially here. I am going to do some style changing soon, to make things a little more readable, not the layout. I love the way the structure of this blog, the colors contrast very well and the reading is easy, except for the actual literature, that could use some work. Some of the navigation will change a little, like adding the RSS feed, who forgets to have that?
Anyways, I have something that I am still working on in another form, but very Ducks related. No one else has this, I can guarentee you that. A Ducks fan-centric base of people is who it will serve, with the community being the driving force. It looks visually appealing already, matching the look of my blog perfectly. I have to learn how to use it a little more and then document how to do this and that so everyone else can add to it. It is gonna be bitchin…
One of my biggest hurrddles is to integrate the 2 or maybe 3 different products together with one authentication method. So you sign up once and you can have access to interact on all three platforms, I think I have the medicine…
While looking for an update to WordPress, I found this. Similar to how all the blogging services work, but it could be handled by individuals, without advertising. I would love to create an online Ducks community.

Quick Update, Flipping Challenge & Major Success

I know that I’ve been a little quiet on the blog front and that really isn’t something that I want to continue.  I need to make sure that each day I make time to keep everyone up to date, especially since I found out that people are actually interested in the journey I’m taking!

Over the last two weeks I have been on a massive learning curve and at times I felt like throwing in the towel, I’m not going to lie, it really has been a tough ride but I do feel like I have achieved so much.

Kelly came through for me on the ‘I need income now’ situation and gave me the idea of site flipping.  I could do something that I like (building niche sites) and then sell them to get some income coming in again.  My initial response was that no one is going to want to buy a site from someone who has no experience etc.  After following some of the links that Kelly sent, it soon became clear that there are people who buy just the service of installing blogs (I know I can do that now), creating content (I can do that) and any site that is on page one of Google can sell well – even with no income!

I know that I can do those things and I have really worked hard creating six niche sites over the last two weeks.  The work itself wasn’t hard and now I have a much better understanding of how WordPress works.  Its almost like I became a sponge and wanted to suck up all the information I could on WHY and HOW.  It was because of that need to learn that I soon ended up with information overload, I followed The Challenge tutorials to put together the first site but then found that sites that were much more passive in nature will sell for much more money.

Adsense sites sell really well (and there was me thinking that Adsense was dead!) and can be very profitable for both the buyer and seller.  So my second, third and forth site were Adsense sites.

Two of my sites are on the first page of Google as of this morning and I am really pleased about that.  I am well aware though that this could change over the next few days/weeks.  Instead of going for the large niches I have aimed for the ‘low hanging fruit’ and targeted long tail keywords.

The main problem that I have had over the last two weeks was ME!  I basically lack confidence in what I was doing which I’m sure was caused by lack of experience.  At every step I  needed to be reassured that I was doing things right.  As much as Kelly has pledged to support me, there is no way that she could keep up with the constant demands that I put on her.

Today though things changed.  I realised that the hours I have put in have paid off for me.  I achieved something great, I have taken action, regardless of how worried I was, I stuck with it and got results.  Two of my sites are on page one and getting found for the main keyword.

Next problem is that I don’t want to let them go now.  The adsense sites are not making money YET but I am hoping that by the end of the week that will change.

At the end of last week Kelly showed me a WSO that she had purchased.  Cut Copy Cash and I found it a real eye opener on the different methods of site flipping out there.  I was that excited by it that I built two more sites following the method there and I am looking forward to finishing them off this week and attempting my first ever FLIP!

I’m fully recharged after taking yesterday off (it’s been at least 12 hours per day at least) and spending it with my family and I have lots more that I want to share with you.

How I Plan On Making Money Online

My plan started out as a simple one, I was following The Challenge and documenting everything as I went on this site.  As of today though, I seem to have had a bit of a wakeup call from my mentor and I think I might have been being a little naive!

Now my plan was always going to revolve around blogging, I’m comfortable blogging and feel that it’s something that I can improve on over time.  When I started looking at The Challenge I was really pleased with where it was leading, niche sites are something that I have worked on before (albeit very limited) and I do feel that this is the way forward for me.

As The Challenge is progressing (I’ve just finished Module One – Day Two) I have a ton of ideas going on and I want to jump forward all the time.  The last thing that I need to do is to get carried away and head off in the wrong direction!  For anyone who has not signed up to do The Challenge I strongly recommend that you do, in a nutshell, it will give you the tools you need to make your first $1 online.  For those of you that have, please feel free to add me to your ‘friends‘.

Where I think I may have been very naive is with this blog.  Kelly called me today and asked me why I hadn’t included a ‘plan of action’ for it.  My reply was that I thought it was just for me to document my progress and we were both of the same view that another ‘how I make money online’ blog was old hat now and the little fact that I clearly DON’T make money online yet!

It seems that it would be a little silly to completely rule out ProBloggingPlan from making (or at least contributing to) my online income.  As my journey progresses then it would be silly of me to ignore a potential income stream.  I think I’ll have to sit down and give some thought to a ‘plan of action’ for this blog.

As much as I am loving what I am doing and I am very confident in where I am going I do still have the worry that Christmas is just around the corner and my income took a nose dive when I lost my job.  What cutbacks we had left to make have been made and although we are not going hungry I am concerned.

I spoke briefly about this today with my mentor and she said she has a plan for that too!  I am to carry on and when we next catch up in a few days she’ll let me know, how very mysterious.

Keep going and good luck for those of you doing The Challenge.

The reason The internet Generating The higher Numerous?

Not online reproduction were the only method to advertise product and merchandise. For thousands of years, old classic hard copy lorded doing it extra as there is really thats just complementary. Nevertheless with some beginning pointing to over the internet print, visibility that belong to the vintage strategy is in fact drastically changed slowly and and in addition different you can do.

Right now, patients organisations and businesses prefer to do their specific create function during online impressing consequence of lucid pluses it gives subscribers.

Right away, within the net producing allows users not very difficult nav. Contemplate that old opportinity for driving out of the paths to make the entire joomla templates ones self through your mail on to a company. By doing this uses a huge your efforts whenever you aka a persons courier bodily or emotionally manifest the main email templates onto the printer. Can help you save studying the concept might be of interest with the existing indicates going through topics. But then, a fairly easy click on on is it will obtain regarding marketing duty ended.

New, the internet impress provides you a good attractions. At the same time original impressing however is quite prohibitive because of a number factors like area, amount, workers events, tetrameter., world-wide-web printer slides open door panels at possibilities to dieters. Including a energetic web similar to Search engine, you would navigate to several marketing retailers if you dont have in fact escaping your place or just home or office. You only need to then click their duck understanding go to your printer a way to purchase magazine tests and as well as website templates that you should change for your own personal. Youre able to do a comparison of stamping , go shopping for unique, seek most appropriate produces when glass the Daiquiri for the poolside accommodation. Recently which will wouldn’t want that kind of employment?

Next, via the internet producing comes with deeper ability. Together with web based printing photos, are not restricted merely by timeframes because you can with no trouble unit this art print use the internet 24/7. Comply with you are put order placed by contacting where to get color appointment cards online
your incredible company or even due to delivering your ex the best brick and mortar thoughts. Conventional way in which, still, bounds your main contracts to finally office hours primarily. Well consider a process that you simply need to get your hands on my printer loads of little swings prior to when arrival To likely most likely give thanks the heavens suitable for printing photos .

Screen-print online is immediately reproduction made easy. An manual are clearly spelled out requirements at your projection screen. Decide on the particular web design, type in your prized standards and moreover file its. Maintain track of your project everywhere you look there is an internet access as well as take over entire big day through. Products now is what you would achieve with both free time.

Website Content Writing

Introduction:

Our company has taken huge steps in providing website content writing services to our customers who were looking for a similar solution in the past. Web content writing has proved to be one of the most important packages that are offered by our company to the clients. Besides we also engage in freelance web content writing that is a reservoir of meaningful information which would enhance your online prospects of doing business successfully.

Web Content Writing:

Definition:

It is a process of writing contents for web pages that would be read by the user. It is one of the most critical components because unlike the blogs or other tools it represents the ideology and reputation of the company.

Contribution by Our Company:

Website content writing services have been a hallmark of our quality and reputation in online world. Our organization has deployed various methodologies that have helped users to get interested into your business domain.
It has proved to be one of the biggest assets for our enterprise that has won many customers because of the timely delivery of services.
Advantages of Web Content Writing:

There are thousands of websites in a particular business domain that has led people to opt for solutions which would provide them prominence in search engine results list.
Due to the usage of keywords it might be indexed by prominent search engine which could provide an opportunity for better rankings as compared to other organizations in same category
Because of better visibility more users would browse your website that may result in better revenues in near future. Freelance web content writing makes sure that contents are regularly updated that keeps user curious to know more information.
Guidelines and Terms Associated with Web Content Writing:

 There different sets of rules that you must follow which would help in marketing of your websites and enticing users to visit them.

Information:

It is one of the most important criteria that are followed by the users to attract visitors. A particular web page must pertain to certain information and should be to the point. It should be relevant because if the user is not able to find requisite data it may result in poor ranking for the customers.
Our Website content writing services upload contents after doing extensive research on the business domain of the company. It helps us to furnish exact information that is viable to the users.
Short Sentences and Paragraphs:

You must avoid sentences that are long and cumbersome because they might be confusing to the visitor and lead to a poor user experience. Our company offers content which is short and crisp. In fact it is organized in paragraphs which are not long. We also express main ideas in the form of list which is intuitive and appeals to the user.
Proper Usage of Keywords:

It is imperative that keywords are properly used because they help in improving search engine ranking of the website. Our Freelance web content writing service performs a rigorous check on syntactical errors before publishing the content on web.

Create a Free Blog Why it’s a bad idea for Online Blogging Career

There are millions of blogs on the internet. Every day thousands of different blogs create new goals and eager to share information, thoughts, reflections and learning with the world. However, of all those millions of blogs out there, most abandoned the project quickly and have no success someday they wanted. There are many causes of many failures and today we will talk about one important: do not create a professional blog (or in other words, create a blog with a free platform).
The moment anyone raises start posting your entries, you have two options:
Use a free platform (WordPress.com, Blogger, Tumblr, LiveJournal or any other)
Use WordPress.ORG, the platform is installed on a domain with own web hosting.
Many people dismiss the second option either because they want to spend on the domain or hosting, because they prefer the “easy” way of a blog or simply because they know they can have their own domain WordPress.ORG, which offers many advantages and unique benefits.
Disadvantages of using a Free Blog
Using any of the various free platforms to create a blog is not a bad option, however, has several limitations and disadvantages. Let’s look below:
Few design choices. With Blogger, WordPress.com or any other option have little choice of design, as they must use the preset templates. In WordPress.ORG templates are also used but can be modified in all respects.
No plugins. Plugins help expand the possibilities of WordPress to unimaginable levels. If you create a blog, then you can go forgetting them because they do not offer this option.
Limitations monetization. Using Blogger or any other similar software greatly limits the user if they want to monetize your site in different ways.
Decide your Purpose and Use WordPress.ORG
Unless you want to create a blog where you are going to write 1 or 2 times a month and do not want to promote too much (which I doubt), then your option should always be WordPress.org in your domain and hosting.
These tools are the basic requirements to get started with WordPress.
The cost is very affordable. $ 10 annual domain and $ 10 monthly hosting service (approximately).
Many people argue that a free platform is all you need and do not want to monetize, or use your blog to position more advanced form. This may sound valid, but one never knows what may happen in the future and plans or ideas that arise.
With a domain and web hosting is always possible to move forward and create any type of project in the Web; something with a blog is impossible.
When you have WordPress on your domain, you have more customization options, design, marketing, monetization, positioning, and a much more professional image
The investment is really low ($ 20 to start), so it should not be an excuse.
“But I cannot use WordPress! So I prefer Blogger “(or any other option)
Do not worry! To do this Advanced WordPress and all the tutorials that are posted every day on the blog. In addition to courses, guides and tutorials available specific for you.
Learning to use WordPress as a whole is not complicated and can be achieved in no time. The first phase involves the installation and configuration (which includes purchase of domain and hosting), then come the basic settings of the platform, plugins, design and everything else.
The best thing is that all you can do yourself. No need to know programming, codes or technical language. Anyone with basic computer knowledge can create your own blog on your own domain and enjoy excellent results from day one.
I hope this article has helped to clarify the issue of the free blogging platforms, which are not a bad option, but it should never be treated as priority or pillar of a business or to create a professional blog.