Make Blogs

Blog writing has become quite popular and with good reason you can reach literally millions of people across the world in a matter of minutes. Whether it’s for financial or personal purposes it’s a great way to get the word out.

There are a few things you need to consider when you’re writing for a blog. First of all it’s a good idea to write so that everyone can understand what you’re saying. Many people who read blogs know English as a second language so if your writing is overly sophisticated they may not comprehend it.

Try to keep it moving along and get to the point. Most people reading online want to move quickly on to the next thing. Don’t write long boring articles it’s better to write short ones more frequently than long ones every other week.

Another thing to remember when blog writing is that you need to write with your reader in mind. Give them what they want, make it worthwhile and keep it relevant to your topic. For example, if you have a blog on financial investments and decide to write on stamp collecting one day there’s a chance you might lose a few readers.

In addition, it’s a good idea to proof-read before you publish. Look for typo’s, spelling and blatant grammar errors.

This doesn’t mean you have to be a professional journalist to write good articles for your blog. In fact, blog writing usually works best when you add your own personal touch.

Blog writing can be fulfilling and fun. Even though you write with the reader in mind it’s important that you have passion for your topic along with knowledge to share.

There is so much to grasp in the beginning. Especially, if you want to make money with your blog. If you need help writing or monetizing your blog you should consider a coach.

That’s what I did to speed up my progress. Time is money as they say.

Amy Bass pays of her $72,000 debt blogging video click here

Get 3 free days at the Niche Blogger here

Whitehat backlinks are considered legit techniques that follow Google guidelines. A backlink is an incoming link created on another site that leads back to your site. Backlinks are necessary to gain rank on your site or blog, so that it will hopefully grab the attention of the search engines. It can be time consuming, but worth the effort.

A variety of quality whitehat backlinks is necessary, so that it will look natural. Otherwise, Google may penalize or sandbox you. This means your site will disappear for a while, however, it usually comes back no worse for the wear.

Many newbies panic when their blog is on the first page of Google and it mysteriously disappears. Where did it go? Only Google knows and only Google will bring it back.

Getting spanked by Google is part of internet marketing, so you may as well get over it. There is nothing you can do, but try to stay within guidelines best as you can.

Blackhat methods will get your site, or multiple sites, banned for good. Of course, all black hatters know this and don’t care. They create multiple accounts, change names, have several computers etc. They are into making money fast and that’s it.

So much for the blackhatters let’s get on with getting legit whitehat backlinks. Some of these are considered gray hat by some you be the judge and do what feels right to you.

Article marketing is a great way to get quality backlinks. Some of the top sites to use are Ezine articles, Articlebase, Buzzle, eHow and Goarticles for starters.

Forums are another great way to get whitehat backlinks just be sure that you stay relevant and use keywords in the links or you’re wasting time. This is a one really good reason to have keywords in the domain name of your site/blog.

Yahoo answers is good, but you must be careful or you will get banned. Use them once in a while and give good answers. Also watch out for competitors if they see your link often they will report you just to get you out of their way.

Submit links to social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Twitter, Yahoo Buzz, Mixx and Propeller. Also, create blogs or pages on Blogger, Squidoo, Hubpages and WordPress and link them to your site. Once again, stay relevant don’t link to non-relevant sites.

Do link exchanges with site/blogs that have a higher rank than yours. If you can’t do this then leave comments with a link to your blog and again stay relevant.

Always write good quality content that is well SEO’d. If you don’t understand search engine optimization then learn it NOW! You must understand keywords and backlinking.

If you use whitehat backlink techniques you will stay safe and not get banned by Google. On the other hand, if you decide to go blackhat then be prepared to get shut down.

Article marketing can be very rewarding if you can either write really good articles or write them fast. It’s better is you write good ones, but if you keep writing them you will improve. So, if you’re discouraged about how bad your articles are doing, no views or click through’s etc. don’t lose all hope, in time they do get better.

Article marketing can also be very profitable, however, we once again need to consider how good the article is written. Do you have a compelling title? What about the resource box, does it make a person hungry for your offer or product?

Another issue is search engine optimization. Is your article keyword rich? If not, in no time it will get lost in the abyss of cyberspace.

When you write your article you need to keep all of these things in mind. You just can’t space out and write whatever you want and expect it to bring in money, traffic, fame and fortune. It needs to be well thought out or it’s worthless.

You also need to think in terms of mass production. I see people all the time who think they can write 10 articles and get rich! Do you know you may have to write thousands of articles to be successful at article marketing? It’s true.

If you don’t believe me go to the Warrior Forum and check out Steven Wagenheim’s posts. He is a article marketing guru that makes a six figure income, but he’s written literally thousands of articles and climbing.

It’s a hard pill to swallow because article marketing can be hard work and nobody likes that. It’s also very time consuming, unless you outsource it then you don’t know if you’ll get a well written article or if they’ll take off with your money and get nothing.

The good news is that article marketing is worth it if you continue to improve your writing skills or find a great ghost writer.

I love article marketing. Yes, I’ve had my share of dud articles that’s for sure, but I’ve also had good ones. Some of them I thought were going to be duds did well and vice versa. You have to test the market and in the process you get tested yourself. Then somewhere along the line you become a proficient article marketer.

I’m not there yet, but I plan to be. The more you write the better you write just like anything else. I’m saying this because people give up too easy and become article marketer statistics. Don’t give up and you will be a successful article marketer.

To be successful faster you need a mentor or coach, mine is Amy Bass of the Niche Blogger. She has shown me how to use article marketing to promote my blogs and she can help you too. You can start free with her 3 day offer.

You can try out the Niche Blogger free for 3 days just CLICK HERE.

If you would like more info by video then CLICK HERE.

There’s also a free report you can get by clicking on the green button to your right.

When you make a blog there’s a lot of blog info you need to know before you begin. I didn’t know this when I started so I made a lot of mistakes. The first mistake I made is that I didn’t have anyone to show or tell me step by step what to do. As I mentioned before there is an order to follow, a plan if you will.

Some of the mistakes I made like choice of domain name were things I got stuck with for at least a year. I did some research, but I didn’t know what to look for or the questions to ask. All the blog info I found wasn’t in any order, consequently, I wasted a lot of time.

A spent my time in forums and reading information blogs trying to find answers. And that worked to a certain degree only not like it could have if I would have had a coach or mentor. All the while I kept posting and writing articles without a clue as to what or why I was doing it. I suppose I did get writing experience which is good and I managed to not quit and I’m no worse for the wear.

No matter how much blog info you read whether its on a blog or anywhere if you don’t know what to do with it then it’s not much good to you. I found this out when I joined Wealthy Affiliate as they had a lot of info, but I didn’t know what to do with it or how to use it. As a result, my time there wasn’t beneficial.

While I was in Wealthy Affiliate I came upon the 30 Day Challenge and decided to join it as well. And it was much more on my level of understanding, but since I was still trying to grasp WA I didn’t have as much time for it as I would have liked.

However, the 30DC blog info on WordPress Direct didn’t work out as well as many of us wanted it to or as they taught it. WPD had and still has bugs which makes it difficult to work with and it’s a bit pricey as well. Therefore, I decided to not use it and opted for WordPress.org instead as it turned out I made the right choice.

In case you don’t know the difference in WP.com, WP.org, and WPD I’ll give you a quick breakdown. WP.com supplies your domain and hosting so you have no control over your blog. WP.org you pay for your own domain and hosting and have total control. WPD allows 3 free sites and to upgrade it will cost $37 for bronze, $97silver, and $127 for gold.

Additionally, WPD is set up with plugins and auto content which sounds good at first until the problems start. The content is scraped from the internet so it’s not original and the bugs make it next to impossible for newbies to deal with.

At this point I’m grateful to be with the Niche Blogger so I can get step by step instruction and set up my blogs correctly. Until I joined NB I couldn’t do it myself. If you want to make blogs and make money online sign up for the NB free trial here:
Try The Niche Blogger for FREE! Click Here for a FREE 3 Day Trial

Using keywords is something all web writers do or should do. If you don’t know how then you need to learn how. At least get the basics down and go from there. The goal is to write content that satisfies both people and robots or search engines.

There has to be a balance and it isn’t easy. Using keywords in content is a must and readers are equally as important. While many think that content is just the words on the page there are other factors such as titles, headers, tags and in and out going links.

Titles are very important the keywords need to be in the title. Also, in the first paragraph and preferably the first sentence. Other keywords relevant to the topic need to be in the body of the article as well. It’s called LSI or latent semantic indexing.

Additionally, use keywords in the ending paragraph and keep it short. Don’t dilute your SEO content use LSI words and phrases instead.

Use only one topic per page don’t confuse the bots. People may get it, but bots are not human, they’re machines. If you have google ads then you really need to stay on topic.

Using different topics on one page also affects ranking for your keywords. When using keywords stay focused and don’t go off on a tangent. Read it out loud if need be.

Writing for search engines and people at the same time can be tricky and challenging. It is also time consuming, since there’s so much research involved. It’s not writing the article that’s hard it’s finding the keywords. Once you have them you’re off and running.

It takes time to learn how to write well SEO’d content. Write and write some more! Practice along with testing is what will get you where you want to be.

A mentor helps as well as other marketers or web writers to give you feedback. Get constructive criticism, especially from those who have been there and done that.

Find a membership site with a forum of people who are willing to help. If you want to make money blogging the Niche Blogger mentoring site is a great place to start.

You can start with a 3 day trial by following this link or get a free report by clicking on the green button to the right.

The web hosting and domain sort of go hand in hand, they’re best friends in the make money online business. They both have control over your visibility online, but one should never use the same company for both and you’re about to find out why.

The host’s duty is to make sure your site is up, running and responsive and to give you support when something goes wrong.

The domain registrar duties are to keep your domain safe, alert you if there’s a problem, and advise you of any wrong doing concerning your domain names. There are horror stories of the host shutting down sites and putting domain names on hold. Which means you can lose both in a matter of minutes. This is why you don’t want to have web hosting and domain with the same company.

When you keep the web hosting and domain separate you can set up your site elsewhere, that is assuming you keep back ups. Then if the site goes down you get another host, change the domain name server (DNS) and your site is back up in a matter of hours. If there’s a freeze on your domain you can’t do it.

If the domain is frozen by the registrar it can be a serious problem. If possible you should try to have multiple top level domains aka TLD’s, so that you can switch to the other version while you work out the problems. It’s good practice to own the .com, .org, .net so that you are prepared for the worst.

You may want to be extra careful and use separate registrar’s for your TLD’s. You can have your .com’s at your favorite company, the .orgs in a second one and .nets at a third. Thus far I keep mine in one place for the sake of simplicity. However, I may change my mind and switch them later.

As you can see it’s in your best interest to have the web hosting and domain with separate companies, especially if this becomes your full time job. Once you start making money online on a consistent basis you may feel like it’s time to put your total focus on internet marketing and quit the job you have now.

Once you have web hosting and domain taken care of you can focus on a plan to make money and the Niche Blogger has a step by step plan, you can try it free here:
Try The Niche Blogger for FREE! Click Here for a FREE 3 Day Trial

If you want proof check out testimonies here:
The Niche Blogger – Make Money Blogging

I do have separate web hosting and domain. I use One and One for my domains and Hostgator for my web host. Both of them have given great service from the beginning and their prices are competitive as well.

That’s right you have to learn internet marketing it does not come natural. It’s not like riding a bike you have to keep learning week after week, month after month and year after year. Why is this? Well, because the internet is subject to change minute by minute!

Worse yet, it takes a couple of four letter words nobody likes and those are WORK and TIME. When I first began my internet marketing journey I was so clueless, not that I know it all now, but I’ve come a long way, at that time all I had ever done was check emails.

You will also need a lot of persistence and be able to withstand disappointment and discouragement along with the ability to keep going no matter what.

There are many other things you need to be a successful internet marketer, but if you are willing to learn, do the work, put in the time, be persistent and get back up no matter how many times you’re knocked down then it will happen.

Working from home and being your own boss is great make no mistake about it. However, there is a steep learning curve, especially in the beginning.

The biggest mistake is info overload and info from the wrong people. Too many people fall for the make money fast scams and get caught up in black hat, which is a mistake. Yes, you may make more money faster, but it can come crashing down just as fast.

Remember as you learn internet marketing to learn from those who have the respect of their peers, are well liked and who have a good reputation and keep it that way.

I have a few that I trust and they are Ed Dale of the Thirty Day Challenge, Travis Sago aka Bum Marketer, Amy Bass of the Niche Blogger and Steve Wagenheim of the Niche Toolkit an amazing internet marketer who tells it exactly like it is.

I have learned what I know from a combination of these four and still do. However, I’ve been with the Niche Blogger longer than any of them due to Amy’s style of teaching.

You can try out the Niche Blogger’s free 3 day trial by clicking here.

If you would like more info on the Niche Blogger view videos by clicking here.

Or to get a free Niche Blogger blogging report click on green button to the right.

If you’re going to have a blog you also need blog ideas. After all, what are you going to write about? It could be inspirational, informative, funny, educational, newsworthy, gossip or any number of things, but in all of these it needs to be interesting.

If your blog ideas aren’t interesting then nobody will want to come back. So what are some things you can write about that will hold a readers interest?

Here’s a few ideas to get blog ideas. First of all you can check out these sites that have hot topics: ebay pulse, google trends, twitter, CNN, Amazon, Yahoo Buzz, Digg and all the other social sites. These are good places to start.

Then you make a list of your blog ideas so that you won’t have to do it again. After that you check to see if there are any of these that you could do a series on.

Place a check mark next to your choices and if you have a money making blog see if there’s any affiliate programs for those topics. All you need to do is google the name of the topic or product and add affiliate program after it.

Another blog idea is to write the pros and cons or a review. People are interested in the good and bad of most anything whether it’s a product or just plain gossip. They want to hear the juicy details it’s human nature so why not give it to them.

Additionally, it’s always interesting to tell a story. We all like stories, especially the inspirational or motivational ones. If you have stories that capture interest use them for blog ideas. One way to find out is tell it to someone and take note of their response.

These are just a few blog ideas that can help you get unstuck when you’re mind goes blank or if you’re a newbie who is clueless. A little food for thought that will hopefully prompt you to take action. No action = no results.

You have to do it not just think about it. If you don’t know what to do then you need a blogging coach or mentor to show you how. One of the best ones online is Amy Bass of the Niche Blogger. She blogged her way out of a $72,000 debt.

If you want to see how she did it see her story here.

To try it out click Here for a FREE 3 Day Trial.

When you write articles on the web then you need to know how to write search engine friendly. This is so important that you need to study it whenever you get a chance. Otherwise your articles just disappear in the abyss of cyberspace.

What is the point of writing an article whether it’s for Ezine Articles or for your blog if it’s not search engine friendly? I’m not an authority on the subject, but I do know that when I write a keyword optimized article it keeps working for me and if I don’t then the article fizzles out after a few views and disappears.

I’m not advocating just writing for search engines either, so don’t think that or do that. There has to be a balance of writing for people and writing with SEO in mind.

Of course, I didn’t know anything about this when I began writing on the web, so my articles were not search engine friendly. Now, however, it’s a different story. I go for balance sometimes I don’t get it just right, but how does one know what that is?

Nobody knows exactly how Google’s algorithms work or what they will do next. So, some of this tends to be a guessing game. I do know if you keyword stuff it doesn’t go over too well. On the other hand, you can blow it by not using enough keywords.

Then there’s the LSI way of thinking which is using synonyms or relevant words to the keywords. I do this too, otherwise the article is repetitive and doesn’t flow.

The bottom line is this you need to research and study search engine friendly use of keywords if you plan to make money on the web writing articles. If you don’t you will be spinning wheels for years, if you last that long. Do yourself a favor and study now!

If you’re a complete newbie then I suggest you join the 30 Day Challenge it’s free and you will learn the basics of internet marketing.

I also recommend the Niche Blogger if you plan to blog for profit so that you can cut your learning curve down by several months. This way you make money faster and easier instead of losing money and wasting time trying to figure it out by yourself.

You can try it out and see how you like it for 3 days free just Click Here.

Or if you would like to view videos for more info Click Here.

For a free report on blogging for profit click on the green button to the right.

WordPress blogs are great for anything you want to do online. There are three types of WP blogs. There is WordPress.com, WordPress.org and WordPress Direct, which many people learn about through the 30 Day Challenge that just started the 1st of August.

Before I move on to explaining these three blog platforms let me quickly send newbies off to do the 30 Day Challenge. It’s a great way to learn affiliate marketing and it’s free.

WordPress blogs can be used as a completely free platform on WordPress.com. However beware they do not allow monetizing and will shut you down. This may change in the future who knows, but as of right this moment don’t try it unless you want problems.

Moving along to WordPress Direct they give you three blogs free that are set up and ready to go. You can opt for auto content if you so choose, but be advised that this is a controversial issue among bloggers. Those who write their own content call them spam blogs because the content is scraped. Be prepared to defend yourself!

This is true I suppose, but who am I to sling mud at those who either can’t or don’t want to write their own content. It’s a good way to test the market and for newbies to get a start. I say do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

Also, know that WP Direct has upgrades that you can purchase if you want more than three blogs. I do not know the cost I’m sure if you research the info it’s out there.

The last WordPress blog is WordPress.org. You can get free WP themes/templates, but you have to pay for web hosting and a domain name. This is the best of the three choices, since you will own it and can do pretty much as you please.

The issue here is that newbies have to learn how to do all the basic level techie stuff. All the info is online if you do the research. Youtube has video demonstrations on all the WordPress blogs on how to set them up and FTPing and all that.

I didn’t do it that way, however, but it is possible. I had to get step by step instruction, since I was so computer illiterate. In other words I chose to get a mentor.

I already had Blogger blogs, but they’re extremely simple compared to WordPress blogs. Anyway, I needed more help than most, so I joined the Niche Blogger to get it.

Now WordPress blogs aren’t intimidating to tackle or any of the other techie things that need to be done. If I need help I get it in the Niche Blogger membership forum.

If you’re struggling online to make money and techie stuff is holding you back then opt for a mentor. Follow this link to try the Niche Blogger free for three days.

Or get the free blogging report by clicking on the green button to the right.

Don’t struggle and waste valuable time like I did in the beginning. A mentor or coach saves you money and time in the long run.