Creating a Blog for the Local Business

Some local businesses can benefit by providing blog. Accountants, lawyers and other professionals can gain a lot of credibility and traffic by regularly publishing articles to their own blog. The reason it is great for professionals, is that they get paid for their knowledge and a blog gives them an opportunity to showcase their work. Not every local business will benefit by a blog, but ones that can provide regular updates and informative posts will benefit the most.
It is very easy to setup a blog for a local business. Many webhosts have a push button install of all the popular blogging platforms or you can use an online hosted version. Maintaining a blog with a host takes a little more work, but gives you more control. A hosted version can shut down a blog for any reason and then the local client will be without a very valuable asset. Once the blog is setup then a theme can be installed to give it a nice look. There are many themes available to download for free or you can hire a designer to create a custom look for your client. Sometimes the blog can be the only web presence for the local professional or it can be a supplement to their main website.
It is important to train the local business owner on how to post content to the blog. Create an account separate from the admin account, so they don't accidently change any of the settings you have configured. Show them how to save a draft and then publish it for all to see. Once they understand how it works you can let them go on their own.
The local business professional should make regular posts to get the best result from the blog. The search engines love fresh content and it will help with their SEO rankings. The posts should be informative and give a reason for the reader to stick around. The idea is to show the professionals knowledge and establish credibility as a local expert. Many times a prospect will search the web first to find information about their situation. If they find a lot of information from a local source then they are more likely to hire them.
This is a great service for you to offer and can be highly effective in the right situation. Just remember that not every local business needs a blog and only suggest it for the ones that can provide regular and informative posts.

WordPress Blogging Checklist

Got a WordPress blog set up? Check and ensure these steps have been completed.

1. Latest WordPress version

When you log into your dashboard check whether there is an alert for you to update your blog
If you see an alert like this, you need to update your blog.

2. Similarly if you see a message next to the plugins you need to update them.


3. Check the plugins page to ensure you have got "Google XML Sitemaps".

Affiliate WordPress Theme

Top 3 Ways to Come Up With Topics for Blog Posts

The more you blog, the more difficult you might find it to come up with new topics to write about. You may start to feel burned out -- like there is nothing more you could possibly say about this niche topic. Thankfully, that is never true! Here are the three top ways you can always come up with fresh topics to blog about.

1. You might want to turn to Google first. Google has a great real-time search engine built into its regular search engine. Search for your keyword or niche, then click the "show options" link at the top. Then, you can sort the results by those that have happened with them last instant, 24 hours, week, and so on. Take note of the things people are talking about when the results appear. You can even sort by blogs, news outlets, and others. Take note of the latest news that has sparked some interest and debate. If you are interested in an article, blog post, news release, etc., read it and try to generate ideas for your own blog post.

2. Another way you can come up with topics is to head on over to Amazon.com and search for books in your niche. One of the great things about books on Amazon is that they often have a "search inside" feature. Look for the table of contents after you've selected to search inside. Publishers have spent a lot of money to research exactly what the table of content should include! These topics are what are of interest to those in your niche. Doing this can definitely spark some ideas for topics you might want to blog about, or even help you think of whole categories for your blog.

3. Finally, niche forums are amazing for idea generation. Look for forums within your niche and sort them by the most viewed or the most replied to posts. Take notes on what people are talking about -- think about why they get heated up, and why they are discussing this particular topic. Then, you can address some of these concerns on your own blog. In fact, this is an excellent way to generate some ideas for link bait topics!

Coming up with content ideas is not always easy on your own, but thankfully the Internet makes it simple. It's always a great thing when you can use the tools at your disposal to make sure you're covering the best topics for those in your niche.

Make Money By Setting Up Blogs for Others

The chances are good that you have learned a lot about blogging by now -- so much that you feel like you are an expert! There are many people out there who do not have the training that you have had. They think of the word "blog" and feel very intimidated about running one themselves. That means that you can make even more money by offering to set up blogs for people and businesses!

There are a few different ways you can make this happen. You can actually do all of the work; choosing a domain name, doing the market and keyword research, setting up the script, writing the content, and setting up the monetization. You can even maintain the blog on an ongoing basis for your clients. This can net you quite a bit of ongoing work and income! It all depends on how you present your offer, and what type of clients you go after (for instance, you will probably make more setting up a blog for an "offline" client than you will for someone who wants a blog geared toward affiliate marketing).

If you find that you enjoy writing the content but not the technical aspects of it so much, you can earn money by writing blog posts for people. You can even outsource this writing to others, and act as a middle-man. It's definitely possible to earn some excellent income as a ghost-blogger.

You may be wondering how you would go about setting up this type of business. First, people are going to want to see examples of your work. You might want to showcase your own blog so they know what you're capable of. Make sure they understand that you will take their wishes into account, and that your own blog is reflective of your personal style. Then, you may want to make a website offering your services. You can drive traffic to this website by putting it in your signature file on Internet marketing and business forums, and by talking about what you do on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

As you start to get some clients, they will hopefully be so pleased with your work that they refer you to other people. It's a great thing when you become a blogging master since everyone wants to run their own blog these days! You can even purchase reseller hosting and offer hosting packages for people so their blog is completely hands off for them. The sky is truly the limit when you take this on as another stream of income for yourself.

The Importance of Backing Up Your Blog

It can be very easy to get caught up in how fun it is to run your own blog. People do not want to think about the chance that something could go wrong. Unfortunately, sometimes servers crash, files get messed up or lost, or something else inconceivable happens. That is the main reason why backing up your content and your blog as a whole is extremely important.

At the bare minimum, you'll want to keep copies of your blog posts on your hard drive. That way you can get up and running quickly should anything ever happen to your blog. This is especially important if you're using a hosted solution such as WordPress.com or Blogger.com, since they can take your content down without warning.

Unfortunately, doing this will not be enough as your blog starts to grow and you put more work into it. That is why you'll want to make sure you make constant backups. This very easy to do when you have a cPanel host. There is a special area where you can backup your blog and even have the backup e-mailed to you! Save this on your computer's hard drive as well as on an external hard drive so you will always have it handy. Make it a habit to do this! There are even plugins for Wordpress that can automate a lot of this for you, such as saving the files to Amazon's S3 server for safe keeping.

In addition to backing up your actual blog, you'll need to back up your computer. Imagine if something happened to both your blog and your computer! While it's not very likely to happen at the same time, it definitely could. There are sites like Mozy.com or Carbonite.com that will back everything up for you so you don't have to worry about a thing. This can be very automated so you have to do is set up and let it run.

Remember, you are running a business. It doesn't matter how many readers you have or how much money you are making, things can always go wrong. Backing up your content is just smart for your business! You need to know, without a doubt, that you can get your blog running again in no time at all should anything happen to it. Blogging is fun -- just don't let yourself get carried away without backing up first!

Using Your Blog to Promote Your Own Products

One of the best things about running your own blog is that you can use it to promote your own products. Hopefully, you have built up a good relationship with your blog's readers. They will likely trust you and want to see what you have to say when you decide to release your own product!

When people read your blog, they are doing so because there is something unique about it. There are other blogs in your niche, but they choose to read yours! This alone should give you enough confidence to start thinking about creating your own product in the first place. You can involve them in the process once you decide to make your own product. Survey them on what they want included in the book. Giving them some ownership of the decision-making process will likely lead to increased sales later on.

You can also keep them updated on the book's process. Give hints and sneak previews as to what it will contain. This will whet their appetite for more! It is often the buildup that leads to more sales in Internet marketing. Build up your product and you will likely get many sales very quickly when it comes time for the launch date.

All of this is called a pre-launch. You can even use your blog to get people to sign up for your notification list so they can learn exactly when the product is going to be launched. People will come back for more once they realize how high quality the excerpts and teaser content is! The prelaunch is just as important, if not more, than the actual launch and sales page so do not forget about it!

In the meantime, you will want to be writing (or hiring someone else to write) the sales page. A good sales page will directly call out to those who are most likely to purchase. Many people like to give a special launch price right away to make the offer even more enticing. Perhaps you can create a special blog post where the special price is only available to your readers. You can even have a "grand opening" sale that you launch to your list.

You can continue to promote your product on your blog even after the launch is over. Get some custom graphics created to use as a banner or sidebar ad. Make it very obvious to people who may not have been around for the launch that you have a product to sell and that it is extremely high quality. The chances are good that regular readers will snatch it up right away and even recommend it to other people in your niche if it is good enough!

There is nothing quite like owning your own products, and going through the pre-launch process right on your blog. It can definitely lead to some great sales and keep your readers coming back for more!

How to Gather Statistics for Your Blog

As a blogger, you'll definitely want to pay close attention to what the traffic numbers are for your blog. You will also want to know your conversion rates for affiliate marketing offers, CPA offers, and Adsense. The good news is that there are some easy-to-use tools that can help you track all of these statistics, and more.

One of the first things you'll want to know is what kind of traffic you are getting to your blog on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The most standard way of determining this is by using your Awstats in your cPanel.

Keep in mind that this level of tracking is only for self-hosted blogs. If you're using something like WordPress.com or Blogger.com you may not have access to this information, and will have to use other scripts or other methods instead. Awstats will give you standard information, such as how many unique visitors you're getting, how many hits you got total, when the search engine spiders visited last, and where your traffic is coming from.

Once you have this type of information, you can work on improving your rankings by focusing on the keywords you are already ranking for (sometimes all they need is a little push!). If you're not getting traffic from certain desired keywords, you will know to work extra hard on ranking for those as well. You'll also know where your referral traffic is coming from, and it's always helpful to know what is working and what isn't!

It's important to note that Awstats is limited in many ways. Many people prefer to use something like Google Analytics instead. This tool will give you wealth of information, including the top keywords used to find your blog in the search engines and how many people found your site using that keyword. You'll also get detailed information about your bounce rate, problems or issues with your site, indexed pages, and what actions were taken on your site by visitors.

Keep in mind that some bloggers do not like Google having all this information (many are worried it will affect rankings, especially if you're heavy into making affiliate sales). In this case, you may want to use a script called Piwik instead. This script works similarly to Google Analytics, but you host the script on your own domain so you know the information is safe and secure.

In addition to analyzing information such as your traffic and where the traffic is coming from, you will want to pay attention to your conversion rates. Note that in the back end of your affiliate admin area, you should be able to find how many sales you're making, what your click through rate is, which specific links are making you the most sales, and so on. You can find the same tracking information in the admin area of your CPA networks. You can even go deeper into tracking with products like Prosper 202 and Xtreme Conversions.

Analyzing this information can definitely help you to increase your conversions. It can help you determine what changes you might want to make if you're not making as many sales as you'd like. It can even help you decide when it's time to try another method of monetization.

If you manage this information well and pay attention to the statistics, you can become far more successful over time. There is definitely no reason to delay in starting to understand and utilize your statistics as early as possible for maximum success!

Using Private Label Rights for Content

Using private label rights for content is something that many bloggers do successfully. It can be a drain on your resources to have to either write content yourself or pay heavily for it through outsourcing. You might be thinking, "there has to be another way!" There is -- and that is using PLR.

Content sold with private label rights is usually released by writers to several different buyers. That means you do not get exclusive rights to the content. In general, you will be required to rewrite the content a little in order to make it stand apart from others'. However, the bulk of the work is done for you! You do not have to do any research or heavy formatting work.

You'll love that buying PLR content is quite a bit less expensive than outsourcing content. In fact, the standard market price for private label rights is usually around $1-$2 per article. This is something that most bloggers can actually afford! You will want to add your own voice and put your own spin on it, but it can save you literally hours of work. In some cases, you can even use the content as it is, if the writer allows for those rights. It's not always recommended to leave it as-is, but if you're short on time and want to have constant, fresh content, it can be a good option for you.

Though there are many perks, it can be hard to find killer content that will work for you. Some of what is out there is pure rubbish! There are definitely some providers that are better than others, so do your due diligence.

You can find some great PLR at the Warrior Forum and by doing Internet searches in Google. Be sure that you're able to see at least a small sample of the writing before you make your purchase. Also, check and make sure that the content has not been widely distributed to others. Fresh PLR content will not be saturated, and you're likely to see many more benefits with it.

This is yet another way to make sure you have killer content for your blog. You can write the content yourself, outsource it, or use PLR. The use of private label rights will help you stay fresh and relevant in your niche and in the search engines.

How to Turn Your Blog Into an Ebook

Repurposing your blog content is definitely something you will want to do. You've spent a lot of time coming up with exceptional content for your blog, so it's time to make the most of it. If you outsource, the chances are that you have paid a lot of money for this content. While it's definitely serving a great purpose on the blog itself, you can get even more from it by turning your blog into an e-book!

This works best for niches where people are constantly seeking out information. If there are other e-books already in your niche, then this is definitely a great idea for you. What you want to do is find your very best blog posts. Arrange them by topic (these will become your chapters) and format it into a book. It really is as easy as that!

Of course, you may want to add some text to tie the different pieces together, but for the most part your work is already done for you. Many people over-complicate the process of writing an ebook. Doing it this way can help you see just how easy it is. It can also encourage you to take action on releasing your own product since using past blog content makes it so easy to do.

There are a few things you can do with this book once you've put it together. You can choose to give it away for free as a bonus for opting in to your autoresponder e-mail list. You could also sell it to make some great, passive income!

You might be wondering why people are willing to pay or opt-in for content that can be readily found on your blog already. The truth is that people will pay for convenience! Also, the chances are that most people have not read every single post on your blog. If the content is high quality and there is enough demand, you shouldn't have any trouble at all making sales.

It's also the case that many people only value what they have paid for. While the information was just as good in the form of blog posts, it takes on a whole new meaning and power once people have paid money for it. People will actually take action with what they've learned!

It's definitely a winning situation for everyone involved. You get to do very little work and receive many rewards in return by repurposing your content. Your readers will get to pay a fair price for high-quality information that comes from a blogger they adore. Bloggers from all over the world do this successfully -- some even strike up deals with professional publishing houses to do so!

You don't need a publishing house behind you, however. All you need to do is assemble the information in a Word document. Then, you can save it as a PDF file. Add pictures and professional looking formatting to make it even more appealing. You can use PayPal to accept payments, and be on your way!

Turning your blog into an e-book is a great idea as soon as you have enough content to do so. You will be able to make more money from your blog with very little effort. You really can't go wrong when you have your own e-book!

Amazing Video Blogging

Do you prefer to read or watch content when you visit a blog? If you're like many people out there, then you absolutely love when people present information and opinions through video. You can do the same thing by running your very own video blog, or "vlog!"

There are some video blogs out there that are exclusively video. Every single blog post is a video with a short description of what is being shown. Many people like this format, but you do need to be careful that you do not alienate any visitors who prefer to read instead. It might be a better idea for you to intersperse written content with video content.

There are certain topics and niches that are more suited to video than others. For instance, if you're doing a product review or demonstration, then you may want to use video to do so. This will help give your readers a clear view of the things you have to say. You may also want to do some talking head videos. These are great because your readers will feel like they are sitting right across from you listening to what you have to say. It can help your readers connect with you. If you come across as likable, then your readership might increase as people will come back time and time again, and tell their friends and family members about you.

You'll need a of couple tools before you get started video blogging. First and foremost, you will at least need a WebCam. Thankfully, these come pre-installed in many computers. These are great for making talking head videos where you want to speak directly to your audience.

If you want to do product demonstrations, then you might consider getting a video camera, such as one from Creative Vado or Flip Video, since they are so small and portable.

One of the great things about doing a video blog is that you can simply upload your content to YouTube. Then, you can use your own YouTube channel as a way to draw in even more visitors to your blog! It becomes a traffic generation method all on its own. Also, keep in mind that YouTube is the second-most used search engine in the world (second to Google itself). When people are able to find your video content (which is why you want to use keywords in titles and descriptions) through YouTube, the chances of them finding your blog are very good.

In addition to these video blogs being posted on YouTube, you can embed the code within your blog posts themselves. That way, the people who are regular readers of your blog will have the benefit of being able to watch the videos right there while they are also on YouTube drawing in even more viewers and readers to your blog!

Video blogging is a must since more and more people love learning through video. Creating videos allows you to display your personality and expand your reach online.

Using Social Bookmarking to Get More Traffic

If you're just starting out blogging, it can be frustrating to just wait and hope that people start to find your blog. Unfortunately, Blogs that are just starting out may not get noticed by the search engines, or people in the niche, right away! That's why social bookmarking is essential to learn and use to start generating some traffic to your blog.

Social bookmarking was started as a way for people to bookmark the content on their favorite websites. Adding bookmarks to sites like this makes it easy for people to go back and reference whenever they need to. People still use it for the purpose of keeping track of their favorite content, but you can use these sites to your own advantage as well!

What you'll need to do is social bookmark your own content at sites like Digg, Delicious, Mixx, Clipmarks, Mister Wong, and others. Doing this will accomplish a few different things. First, it can often give you a backlink to your blog post, which is a great thing for search engine optimization. It will also help get your content out there in front of people in your niche who are interested in what you have to say. Other people may start to bookmark your content as well, if it is worthy, and you might find yourself with some regular readers. This will help even more people find your content -- it can start to take on an viral effect!

Keep in mind that there are an incredible number of social bookmarking sites out there. It can be tedious and overwhelming to have to bookmark your content at every single one of them. That's why there are some automated tools that can help you. Some of these include: SENuke, Social Bot, Synnd, and Bookmarking Demon.

Social bookmarking your blog posts can be highly effective, but you do have to be careful. You'll find that your account is quickly shut down if you do not pay attention to the rules and if you're overly scammy about doing bookmarking your sites and pages. Be sure to bookmark other people's content you find interesting as well as your own -- you really want to be an active user of the best sites so you don't arouse any suspicion.

Unfortunately, social bookmarking has lost some of its power recently. You'll find that some social bookmarking sites come and go, which is why you want to focus on the very best of the best at the very least.

Still, it's worth your time to bookmark using the top sites or to run automated software to help get the word out there about your site. There are definitely great things that can come from doing so, such as increased search engine exposure and relevancy in your niche.

The Importance of Having Fresh Content on Your Blog

It is incredibly important to update your blog consistently. There are way too many people who get started blogging and let their blogs die a slow death. Some people simply do not update on a regular basis and the readers lose interest. Other people stop posting altogether! Keep it in your mind that you are running this blog as a real business. You need to have a regular schedule of posting so that your readers stay interested and your rankings stay strong in the search engines.

Note that the search engines love fresh content. They know that people are looking for the latest and greatest information. That means that if your blog is updated consistently, the search engine spiders will visit more often! This can help to improve your search engine rankings. Not only that, but you will also have more content out on the web just waiting to be ranked and found by people in your niche. The more content you have, the more keywords your blog will tend to show up for in the search engines. All of this can lead to improved rankings and more people finding you through the organic listings.

In addition to SEO, you should update your blog with fresh content for your readers. People love to visit blogs where they know they will always get new information from the bloggers they love best. It can be frustrating to visit a favorite blog, only to find that it has not been updated for quite some time. No matter how strongly your blog started off, the second you stop updating regularly you'll probably find that your readership and earnings drop off.

Unfortunately, it's not always easy to find time to blog every day. That's why many people choose to schedule blog posts for future release. You don't need a post for every single day, but you should attempt to have them at least a few times a way. That way, people will know when to expect the content and they know that it will always be there when they visit. There is nothing quite like knowing that you are fulfilling your reader's needs by always having something new and interesting for them to read!

You also need to stay up-to-date with the latest information related to your niche so you stay inspired to write these posts. Read industry magazines, visit other top blogs in your niche, read the news, take stock of the latest products, and so on. Doing this will always give you good ideas of things to blog about and it will help your readers -- your blog will be seen as highly relevant and up to date.

Take the importance of having fresh content into consideration -- the chances are good that your blog will be much more successful as a result with both your readers and search engines.

Writing Link Bait to Attract New Readers

Nobody likes to read a dull blog! If your blog is simply boring, there is no way for you to develop a strong readership. People will simply read other content that interests them more. If you've been feeling like your blog content is getting stale, then it's time to introduce some link bait!

Link bait is basically content that is controversial or highly interesting in nature. People naturally want to link to it because it is so interesting, and fires them up in some way. Link bait pieces often get many comments as well-- some agreeing with the writer and some disagreeing. There are even some interested commenters in the middle. The most important thing is that link bait generates reader interest so your link is passed around in a viral fashion all over your niche!

You might feel a little bit intimidated to write a lengthy piece such as this. There is no reason to be! Take a look at other blogs in your niche. Then, find the most commonly commented on pieces. You'll likely find that they are link bait pieces designed to garner a lot of attention. Take notes on the blogger's style, what they discussed, and how they discussed it. What could you do generate such interest on your own blog? What got people so interested?

While you do want to be careful to not lose your own style and voice, don't be afraid to be a little bit controversial or even highly controversial. People love drama and well thought out content. Your regular readers will probably appreciate the chance to debate and discuss. They will also be more likely to pass your link along to friends and family members who will be interested in reading the piece as well. You will probably also find that your post is being discussed on forums, other blogs, social sites, and so on!

What this does for you is put out "feelers" in many places on the web. People will stumble across your link and start to read your blog. If the piece is interesting enough, they may want to go back through your archives and see what you had to say on other topics you've written about. If they like what they see, they will likely subscribe to your blog feed and even sign up to your opt-in list!

You don't have to put out lengthy link bait pieces all the time, but it is a good idea every once in a while. It will help keep your blog fresh and keep your readership expanding. Link bait content is definitely a great idea if you want to attract new readers to your blog consistently -- just be ready for people to disagree with you!

Build a List With Your Blog

Since you're a blogger, you may be more focused on writing your blog posts and monetizing them than you are with anything else. This is especially true if you use a self-hosted option since you usually do have more control over your business. However, what would happen if you suddenly lost your Google rankings? What if something else unforeseen happened? You would want a way to contact your readers and continue making money, wouldn't you? That's why it's so important to know how to create a great opt-in form for your blog so you can start to build your list.

The chances are good that you belong to some marketing lists yourself. Perhaps you signed up on another blogger's page, or after you'd purchased a product. Think about which lists you like belonging to, and what made you decide to join in the first place. Emulate this process with your own blog!

Your first step is to sign up with an autoresponder service. The service will keep track of the details of those on your list, and let you sent out follow up and broadcast e-mails. AWeber, E-mail Aces, and Get Response are all popular options. Any one of these services will give you the tools you need to generate an HTML or JavaScript opt-in form for your blog. You'll simply paste this form in on the appropriate spot on your blog -- perhaps even using a pop-up to capture even more e-mails.

You will need to give people a reason and an incentive to sign up for your list. For many marketers, this comes in the form of a free report. You can give this free report away in exchange for their e-mail! People love to get things for free, so you should find that you get a lot of sign-ups with a regular readership. Make sure the free report is finely tuned to exactly what these people are looking for, whether it be an answer to their problem or something that fuels their passion.

You may want to create a dedicated squeeze page as well. The squeeze page can be linked to from your blog -- you can also promote it using article marketing, pay per click, and other traffic generation methods. The squeeze page will have one purpose, and that is to get people to opt-in to your list.

You'll want to have a series of follow-up messages that will be sent after someone has opted in to your list. The first one should include a welcoming message, as well as the free report that you are giving away. The rest of the content is up to you! Some people like to take a more informational stand with occasional promotional e-mails. Other people like to send more promotional e-mails. It's all a matter of what your readers are used to, as well as your personal style.

Examine what other marketers do for list building in your niche to see what might work best for you. Having your own list is a great thing as an Internet marketer because it can encourage people to keep reading your blog (since you stay in their minds with your e-mails) and gives you a way to contact them no matter what happens with the search engines!

How to Host a Giveaway or Contest for Your Blog Readers

As a blogger, you always want to find ways to get people to stay interested in your blog. People lead busy lives! That means that there truly needs to be something in it for them when they visit. A great way to maintain their interest is to host a giveaway or a contest for your blog readers.

The main reason for that is because people love to get things for free! If you can secure an item to give away, you'll find that readers flock to your blog! They will share the link with their friends and family members who are also interested in the topic. There's something about the words "free" and "win" that just draws people in!

The product you give away doesn't even need to be expensive. In some cases, you can even get sponsorships from companies who will give you the product for free in order to generate more interest in their products from your readers. You will have to disclose the relationship when you accept an offer to do this, but it is an awesome way to get more readers for your blog in the long-term (that means more money for you!).

The first thing you need to do is think about what you're going to give away. Perhaps you know of a very popular product that would be a great fit. You can contact the owner or manufacturer of the product and see if there is some kind of deal you can work out. If you can afford it or if the product is not too expensive, you may forgo this process and just purchase the product yourself. Another thought is giving away digital products -- product owners usually won't mind allowing a copy for a giveaway since there is no additional cost for them!

Your next step will be generating some buzz for your giveaway. Give hints that you're going to give away a product in a blog post very soon. Start to pique their interest more and more. Whet people's appetites so they go crazy once the giveaway is launched.

Finally, you will want to write the contest post. State all the details; including what is being given away, when, and how people can win it. Perhaps they need to make a comment answering a certain question, and you'll give the prize to the winner. Perhaps it is going to be more subjective and you're going to choose the answer you think was the best -- or perhaps you'll use a random number system to choose the winner from all of the comments.

Be sure to leave a little window of time to let people pass the contest link to friends and family members so they can enter. Don't let it go too long, however, or people will forget what you're doing! Finally, you'll want to announce the winner and possibly even give out some consolation prizes. Make everyone feel great about having entered!

You will find that people start to link to your blog and come back to visit over and over because they love your giveaways, and what you blog about. It's an awesome thing to do because it can help you expand your regular readership and make more money over the long run.

The Blogroll -- Exchanging Links With Others

You'll probably find that there are many other bloggers in your niche. You may as well take advantage of that! Some of them will have many readers and high rankings in the search engines. If you're able to exchange links with these high rollers, you can benefit greatly.

You'll notice that there is a "Blogroll" or links section in your self-hosted Wordpress. This is where you can add links to other blogs or sites that you are interested in. It can be of great benefit to you to add other blogs in your niche to this Blogroll. Then, you'll have a lot more bargaining power when you ask if they want to exchange links with you!

You might be wondering how you approach people to exchange links. In many cases, all it takes is a friendly, professional e-mail stating that you've added their link (if you have), and would love for them to add yours somewhere if they find your content to be interesting. Some people will decline your offer, but others will take you up on it, seeing as how you're already giving them a link. Others will not want the links to be "obvious" to Google (which doesn't like link manipulation), and may put your link on another site they own. In any case, you can definitely come out a winner!

Don't worry if they decline your offer -- you can simply move on to the next blogger! Also, keep in mind that you can contact website owners in your niche. You might even want to branch out a little bit more.

Instead of just contacting those who are directly in your niche, you can see if any bloggers with blogs related to your niche are interested. This will still give you highly related links, and the webmasters will not feel like you are direct competition. You might get more of them to agree to the exchange!

This is sometimes a time consuming process, but exchanging links can be a great way to get more people to your site. Targeted people will click through from the other blog and you will gain more authority in the eyes of search engines like Google.

Using RSS Directories, Feed Aggregators, and Pinging

It's essential to use as many high quality ways to drive traffic to your site as you can. Some of the best ways to do that as a blog owner are to use RSS directories, feed aggregators, and pinging. Understand and utilize each of these in turn, and you should see your traffic start to increase!

RSS directories are sites where bloggers and readers can submit feeds from their favorite blogs from around the web. These syndicate your content, and make it easy to find for those who seek information in your niche. In many cases, your submission can count as a backlink -- this means good things for your standing in the search engines! Some of the most popular out there are Feedage.com, Feedagg.com, MillionRSS.com, and others. You can see a more complete list at: http://www.toprankblog.com/rss-blog-directories.

A feed aggregator is also known as a feed reader. This is a place where people can collect their favorite RSS feeds from around the web. Favorites include Google Reader, My Yahoo, FeedBucket, and many others. You can see a more complete list at: http://www.newsonfeeds.com/faq/aggregators.

There are some SEO experts who believe that adding your feed to a feed reader at Google, Yahoo, or MSN can get your content spidered and indexed more quickly. Test this out for yourself to see what you think! In any case, you'll want to include an RSS icon or link on your blog to make it easy for your visitors to subscribe with their own feed aggregator.

You should also "ping" your blog when you submit new content. If you are using self-hosted Wordpress, this is done automatically for you. You can even add more sites to ping (in your settings), or use an outside service such as http://Pingomatic.com or http://Pingoat.net. Both of these are excellent ways to alert the services that your content has been added to or changed. Be careful! You don't want to "over ping" or you could be banned from these ping engines.

Part of the appeal of blogs is that they have RSS feeds and so many great SEO benefits. Being able to promote your RSS feed (and not just your blog address) is a huge benefit! When you do it in the right way, you should start to see some great traffic as a result.

Submitting to Blog Directories

One of the biggest concerns people have when they get started with a new blog is getting as much traffic as possible. While you may be aware of some of the standard ways to get traffic to your website, it is also important to understand how beneficial it can be to belong to blog directories. Submitting your blog to directories can help get you more backlinks, become more well known in your niche, and expand your authority.

The best way to fully understand what blog directories are is to visit them! The top ones on the Internet are BlogCatalog.com, Blogarama, Bloggapedia, and Blughub. There are many, many others, so be sure to submit to many of them to expand your reach online. You'll find that they generally allow you to search for different types of blogs, join groups comprised of other bloggers in your niche, set up your own profile, and add links and descriptions of your blog.

As was already mentioned, submitting to blog directories is great because the links you are allowed to leave can count as a backlink to your website. The more backlinks you have, the more likely you are to rank highly in the search engines! Many of these have a high pagerank as well, so these are high quality links.

Many people also use these blog directories as search engines to find blogs they might be interested in. That means that you will be exposed to more potential readers from your niche! This is a great thing. The more you are "seen" around the web, the more popular your blog is bound to grow. People will start to recognize and appreciate your blog as a result (as long as it is high quality!).

Some of these blog directories even take on a social media aspect. You can join groups with related blogs in your niche. You can interact with other blog owners, and really start to establish your authority and make connections. Some of these connections can lead to even more links for your website, guest blog posts, and even JV deals that can net you some great income.

It's important to belong to as many high quality blog directories as you can. There is nothing better than knowing that your blog can be found at all of the best directories from around the web. Your traffic and readership should increase, and your sales will likely follow suit!

Turning Your Blog Into a Membership Site

If you start finding that you're getting a lot of traffic and regular readers, you may want to turn your blog into a membership site. If you've been in Internet marketing for any length of time at all, the chances are good that you are already a member of a membership site yourself. You can run your own as well and make some great money!

Note that there certain niches that are good fits for membership sites, and others that will not work quite as well. The best choices for membership sites are niches where people are desperate to solve a problem, have a hobby they are obsessed with, or have some kind of passion they seek information about. Membership sites are a great way for them to get even more out of what you're offering, and it can also give them other people to talk to if you add a community aspect to your site.

Before you get started, examine whether there are membership sites in your niche already. This will help you see if there is a market for one -- or a need for one. See how they are set up and what kinds of things they offer. You'll need to set yourself apart in the market. If there are no other membership sites, you will need to do some market research and possibly survey your audience to see if this is a good step for you. You can save yourself a lot of headache, time, and money by doing the research upfront to see if running a membership site is a viable option for your niche.

After you've decided that a membership site is a good idea, you will need to find a way to set it up. Thankfully, this is done easily with WordPress! There are many great membership site plugins for you to choose from, such as MemberWing. Some of these do everything for you from taking orders, to keeping track of member details, to keeping nonmembers out of protected areas. There will generally be some upfront investment on your part, but it is usually well worth it in the end.

Now, you likely do not want to completely abandon your blog, especially if you have a great readership base. That's why some of these plug-ins allow you to keep certain blog posts public and make others viewable only to your members. This is the perfect solution so you can have the best of both worlds. Those who are avid readers and fans of your blog will definitely want to join your membership site to see your premium content!

This is a step that is a great, additional monetization option once your blog starts to get fairly popular. Turning it into a membership site is a great way to establish your authority and make more money doing what you love. It's time to evaluate your options today, because a membership site is a great way to go!

Monetizing With Adsense and Selling Ad Space

Many people who want to get started making money online are thrilled that they can monetize with Google's Adsense. Adsense works differently than promoting affiliate products or even CPA offers. That's because you get paid every single time someone clicks on an Adsense ad on your blog!

Some people find that the niche they have entered is better suited to Adsense than to affiliate products. Perhaps you're having difficulty increasing conversions on the product you are trying to promote. In this case, you can switch those links out with your Adsense code to see what will earn you the most money. There are certain ways you'll need to place your Adsense in order to increase your clicks.

It can be helpful to visit sites that are successfully monetized in this way -- pay careful attention to how they lay everything out. In many cases, bloggers place Adsense above their post, somewhere in the middle, and somewhere at the end of the post. In general, you can only have three Adsense blocks per page, or you can get your account suspended.

You will also want to pay careful attention to which colors you choose for your Adsense ads. You don't want to trick your reader, but there is no harm in making the Adsense block links the same color as other links on your page. This can have a subconscious effect that can dramatically increase your click through rate!

There are an incredible number of people who make steady, full-time incomes with Google's Adsense. Some people love the ease of it all and the fact that they don't have to worry about people making a purchase after clicking through their link. Test and track this yourself to see if Google's Adsense is right for you. You will want to study best practices for ad placement to increase your click through rates to earn as much money as you can.

If you want an even more guaranteed and steadier form of income, you might even consider selling your own ad space. This works best when you have a steady flow of traffic already coming in. Other webmasters love getting links back to their websites because it can boost their rankings in the search engines.

When you sell ad space, you can give them a high quality link and promotional text or banner right on your blog. In general, they will pay you a flat rate per month, or per week, for as long as they advertise there. You will have to negotiate a deal and come to terms with something that will work out best for both of you.

Monetizing a blog with Adsense or selling ad space gives you even more ways to monetize above and beyond affiliate marketing and CPA offers. It is all about maximizing your conversions and increasing your income in any way you can! Definitely give these methods some thought, because they can be highly lucrative options for many bloggers.