Google Ad Manager Service

I’m about to fly out of Austin but thought I’d post a link to a story that broke this morning on the official AdSense blog - they’re releasing a free Ad Manager service.
I’ve been sitting on this story for a few weeks and even got a sneak peak at it and I think it’s going to fit with the needs of quite a few medium to larger bloggers who want more control over their ad serving. It’s able to be used with a variety of ad networks as well as your own direct sales of ads.
“If you operate a site with remnant ad inventory as well as reserved ad inventory that you sell directly to advertisers, then Ad Manager is for you. It can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure directly-sold and network-based inventory. Google Ad Manager offers a wealth of features, including an intuitive user interface, automated yield optimization, and proven Google speed and reliability.”
The service offers:
Inventory management
Yield optimization
Ad targeting
Trafficking, ad delivery, and order booking
Creatives and rich media management
Reporting
User interface navigation
Account administration
You can learn more about their Ad Manager and apply to be in the beta here.
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7 Tips for Beginners for Building Blog Traffic

I have been blogging for a living for a little over a year. In that time I have learned a lot about what it takes to build blog traffic. This is one of the main challenges that a new blogger faces. What is the point of having a blog if no one is reading it? And for those bloggers who want to monetize their blogs, having decent traffic is mandatory.
I am confident that if you follow the steps below you WILL begin to see a quick improvement in your blog traffic:
1. Learn the Bells and Whistles
Whatever blogging platform you use, whether it be Blogger.Com, Moveable Type, Wordpress, or many of the others out there, before you can become an effective blogger I think you need to learn what makes that puppy operate at maximum efficiency. That doesn't mean you can't start blogging, but to me that would be like trying to ride a bicycle for the first time without training wheels. You are gonna fall, but keep working on it and you will quickly be sailing confidently. In other words, read the instructions and do some research. Wordpress is my blogging platform of choice due to the fact that they have so many plugins and applications that can help you have an easier and more productive blogging experience and also help you gain traffic.
2. Titles are Crucial
There are several reasons that the title of your post is so important. One is that readers will be drawn to what you have to say if your title piques their interest. The second reason is that you want your posts to be picked up by search engines. Sites like WordTracker will help you find keywords so that you can phrase your title for better search engine optimization.
3. Content is King
I started hearing this long before I started blogging. When I was writing freelance and hanging out on writer's message boards three years ago "content is king" was being said and it is is especially true for blogging. If you don't have anything interesting to say, who is going to read your blog? Blogging is a relationship between you and the reader, just as reading a book is a relationship between the reader and the author. Be yourself, be honest and genuine, create original content that is interesting and informative, use keywords for SEO, create posts with ordered lists, offer advice, write post that invite readers to join in a discussion, and you WILL begin to gain a loyal readership. And EDIT! Don't dare publish your posts with grammar, spelling or punctuation errors. Treat your blog with professionalism in this aspect and you will be viewed as a professional.
4. Comments are Queen
One of the most exciting things about blogging, in the beginning anyway, is when you start getting comments. Then you know that at least someone was interested enough in what you had to say to reply. Be sure to answer all comments and keep a tight rein on getting rid of spam. There are programs in the editor of your blog software that will help you with this, but spam inevitably finds its way into your comment section., so keep your eyes peeled for it.
Trackbacks rock! That means that someone thought enough of what you had to say to refer to it on their own blog. You are definitely on the right track when you start getting trackbacks.
5. Submit Your Blog to Search Engines and Directories
Submit your blog and/or RSS feed to the search engines of Google, Yahoo, and MSN. This is free. And also list your blog is several big directories. One of best I have found is Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/ but there are tons of free directories you can list your blog with. This is time consuming but it needs to be done. You don't have to go overboard, just make sure you have spent a good bit of time hitting the top directories.
6. Comment on Other Blogs and in Forums
I can't count the number of backlinks I have gotten simply by commenting on blogs or in forums. Now when I say that I don't mean go around spamming these sites. Find a couple of forums where you really are interested and want to be a regular contributor and put your blog link in your signature. Comment on blogs that are in your same niche or that you truly find interesting. The relationships you form here will become the meat and potatoes of most beginning bloggers' traffic.
7. Tagging and the Social Networking Sites
Sounds kind of like the name of some new alternative rock band, huh? By tagging, I am talking about using Technorati tags in your post. This will ping Technorati and help you gain readership with so little effort. There are many plugins for Wordpress that will automatically create tags for you. I am not sure about other blogging platforms because I don't use them. As far as social networking sites, jeez, there are more out there now than I could ever list. But Stumble Upon has been the most effective for me, along with Blog Catalog. Each blogger has their favorites. Some people love Digg, some folks swear by MyBlogLog or Technorati (I consider any site that has a bunch of bloggers sharing information "Social Networking" so don't sue me for putting Digg and Stumble Upon in the same class as Blog Catalog, Technorati and MyBlogLog, it's all traffic building.)

There is a LOT more to traffic building than what I have listed here. These are just the main things I have found to get you started as a beginning blogger. Once you have gotten your feet good and wet following the steps above, my advice would be to follow the lead of blogs like Dosh Dosh, ProBlogger, and many other A list bloggers who will lead you further down the primrose path of blog traffic building.
Good luck and happy blogging!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_Grier
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Free E-Book just Subscribe to my Readers Feeds for Updates

Looking for some tips or solutions to impact your web design project? Or probably you have stuck for idea on how to create a more stylish, appealing and artistic website? Well, get some helps from this book:”The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques”. The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques is a useful Photoshop compendium for web designers. Now you have a chance to get this designer’s bible for FREE from site point. Sbscribe to my Readers Feeds and get this Free E-Book just click on this link http://feeds.feedburner.com/dotblogger.blogspot.com

What is RSS?

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. It is a simple way for you to keep track of all of your favorite websites and blogs in one single place. Imagine if you are following say 15 websites including this blog, are you going to come to each of the 15 sites just to see what new post has been posted. It’s so inconvenient, well no longer!

Think of it like a bookmark. In the olden days, we bookmark our favorite sites from our browser and we have to manually check the site for updates. Gone are those days of browser-based bookmarking. With RSS, you could now subscribe to automatically feed all the sites updates into one single place usually into what we call RSS reader. So, RSS makes it possible for you to keep up with your favorite sites in an automated manner through RSS feed.

What is RSS Reader?
It is a piece of software whether web-based or desktop-based that checks your subscribed feeds automatically and download any updates into a single interface for easy viewing. Here I’ve listed a few RSS Readers you can opt to use.

Web-based (Recommended)
1. Google Reader
2. Bloglines

Desktop-based (Windows)
1. BlogExpress
2. FeedReader

and their are others.
Note: If you are using any of the desktop-based RSS Readers, you need to manually set it up with the site feed url, the feed url for this blog is http://feeds.feedburner.com/dotblogger.blogspot.com Note that I’m using a third-party service FeedBurner to help me better manage my feed subscription. Apart from other useful services, Feedburner provides me with the statistics of how many people subscribe to my blog. I wrote an article about Feedburner and if you missed it and care to go and read it just look it up in the older posts it also is a big help in knowing about how FeedBurner works for us.

How to Subscribe to RSS?
They are two ways you can subscribe to RSS.

1. From the browser address bar

If you look up on your browser now, you will see a small orange icon on the right side of your address bar. Click on it and it will bring you to a preview page with an option to subscribe using your choice of reader. It’s really that simple.

2. Right on the site

The other method is to locate the RSS icon or a link that says Subscribe To RSS on the site, usually on the top right, click on it and follow the simple instructions.



Don’t want RSS? Subscribe via Email
If you find that subscribing to RSS is quiet a task to you. You may opt for a more familiar method of subscribing to the updates via your email. Upon subscription, a summary of the latest feed content from your favorite sites will be sent right to your inbox as and when there is an update. All you need to do is to enter your email address to subscribe and you are good to go. Altho I prefer the other method, I do not like all that email in my inbox. I prefer to click on that Orange gaget.

So what now?
OK! If you have not subscribed to this blog, may I suggest the less-hassle & convenience way of keeping up-to-date to what’s new here by subscribing to my RSS just clcik on the readers feed gaget its that orange gaget and thats it.. alternatively you could subscribe via your email. Either way, it works. Thank you.


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Free Money

Free $25 From Blockbuster
I don’t talk so often about money making opportunities, even though free money is about the best freebie of all. I just don’t have time to take advantage of all of the offers but, this one is very simple.
Here is what you need to do get the $25:
1. Sign up for a two week free trial of Blockbuster Online
2. Select the plan you are interested in ($3.99 per month is the cheapest)
3. You must choose PayPal as the method of payment
4. You must stay a member for one billing cycle
See, that was easy. Just remember to cancel after the first billing cycle and your PayPal account will be $25.00 richer (profit of $21.01)! Sorry, this offer is only valid for new subscribers. Ends 8/31/08.

Posted in Free Money on July 24th, 2008
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What's the worst thing that can happen

Positive change can be something as simple as changing your customary approach to a typical problem or situation. Is there something you've been doing for a long time because "that's the way it's always been done," even though you haven't been getting a good result from it for ages? Consider letting go of what's familiar or comfortable, and move on to a NEW solution or approach that has a better chance of providing a good result!Or, are you one of those people who worries that if you take time to stop for lunch, you'll be lunch?For you, a positive change can be something as simple as making a few alterations to your personal life. You'd be amazed how much MORE productive you can be if you actually switch things up, and start taking some time off to have a bit of fun!But BEFORE you start throwing out the old and bringing in the new, remember that change -- even small change -- can be a bit scary, unless you've prepared yourself beforehand. Successfully managing change is all about your attitude and expectations. So if you ARE thinking about making some changes to your business to shake things up break away from the same ol', same ol', here are THREE things to consider before you take the plunge... 1. What will it cost NOT to make the change?I'll bet that whenever you consider the possibility of making a change, the first thing you think about is what it's going to cost you to do it. And if you're like a lot of people, that potential extra cost is a deal-breaker. So I'd like to encourage you to turn that around: how much money are you LOSING by sticking with the comfortable or familiar, even though it's no longer really working for you?! !!!!!! 2. What's the WORST thing that could happen?Many people let fear of the unknown stop them from making changes. After all, nobody can really say for SURE that a particular change will be as successful as you think it'll be -- and it could be a downright failure!So before you make your change, ask yourself: what's the worst thing that can happen if the change goes south? Be realistic in your answer! Often, even if things do go off the rails a bit during a change, the net benefit STILL outweighs the short-term problems it presents, and any glitches can usually be a lot more easily managed than you might think........ 3. Who can you count on for help and support?Let's face it: some changes can be scary...If you're prone to feeling worried or stressed out by change, then you'll definitely want people you trust nearby, to "talk you down" when you're feeling anxious about what's happening to your business. Knowing you've got a solid safety net beneath you can make it MUCH easier to commit to implementing your changes. Change can often turn a stagnant business into a more dynamic (and profitable) one, but it can also be a time of uncertainty. By spending a bit of time BEFORE you make any change preparing yourself mentally for that period of instability, you'll successfully manage any change, and enjoy the rewards of an invigorated business!Be Sure to Leave Your Comments!

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Free Wordpress Theme for your blogs

Here is a free wordpress theme for your blog.. Good for creating a MMO blog.
Meethere - Free Wordpress Theme - Adsense ready
3 column , adsense ready, widgetized, clean, unique wordpress theme
Features:
Tested on Wordpress version 2.5
3 columns
Widget ready
Fixed width
Cross browser compatible with IE, FF, Opera, Flock & Safari
Demo DownloadIf above links dont work, try : Demo Download

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What is gravatar?

What is a gravatar?
A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?

Stay up to date with The Gravatar Weblog
How do I get a gravatar?
Signing up for a gravatar.com account is FREE, and all that's required is your email address. Once you've signed up you can upload your avatar image and soon after you'll start seeing it on gravatar enabled weblogs!
Sign up now!
How do I get gravatars on my weblog?
Setting up gravatars on your weblog is easy, you don't even need an account! Plugins are available for leading weblog software, and our tutorials will have you running gravatars in no time. To request a gravatar from our servers, you simply add an image to your comments area with an "src" attribute that points to our gravatar image generator and includes an MD5 hash of the commenter's email address. Since all gravatars are rated with an MPAA style rating, you can restrict your site to show only gravatars whose content you are comfortable with.
Learn more.
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7 Ways To Marketing Success!

Please forgive me for not posting my articles everyday like I usually do but as I explained to you all ... Im having alot of trouble with my computer and this is why I have been asking for donations for a new computer so I can keep on blogging. My compujter had crashed onme for a few days and I could not post a thing nor get online till now so you see this is why Im asking for donationd from you all to help me stay online and continue blogging and I hope you all will open your hearts up and help me out.. Thank you... These tips will show you how to work smart, but don’t forget that the more effort you put in the greater the reward!

No matter how much effort you give, or how much money you spend, none of your ventures, online or off, will EVER succeed unless you believe they will! Erase all negative thoughts or nothing you do will work. Believe in yourself first and foremost! You CAN be whatever you choose!
Whether or not what I give you has worked for others, it will NOT work for you unless you believe in yourself! You must have the I AM attitude.

You CAN make ANYTHING possible! Inspired yet!?! I hope so! Now let’s get on with it!

#1 Choose your product or service:

Holy Hell, the market is so vast right now with everything you can possibly think off! You can choose actual physical products, in which case you must set up a distribution
network for delivering said product, digital products, which if your reading this you have the means of delivering, business opportunities, etc, etc.

#2 Locate your Target Market

Any particular product or service you choose will have a very specific group or groups of people interested in that product or service. For example, say you choose to market online video games, your target market will be gamers.
There are also secondary markets (such as gamers parents), but for now you should stick with your target market.

#3 Create value for your product or service

Whether or not you believe in karma or fate, Helping someone achieve something they need or want will Always come back to you ten-fold! The Universe has a funny way of keeping everything in balance! The more value you create in not only your product or service but also yourself, the more you will get in return! Always make it so that the consumer gets more for using your product or service than you do! Confused? The more value you have, the more you are wanted!
“Hey man, I just got 2 free game downloads just to look at this site!” Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising anywhere in the world!

#4 Set-up a distribution method

Once you have your product or service, you have located your target market, and you have created huge value, you need a system in place for delivering said product or service. If your just starting, digital products are a good way to go as you don’t need any special delivery methods other than your computer! I won’t go into too much detail, but anything you choose to market MUST have a sure-fire, reliable way to get into your customers hands!

#5 Advertise to your Target Market

Now this is the tricky part! In this day and age it’s very possible to reach millions world-wide right from your own home!

There are so many different ways to go about it that I cannot begin to cover it now! Remember though, once you have built value in yourself, it only takes reaching a few people, who in turn tell others and so forth!Your own circle of family and friends have their own circle of family and friends, you get the point right? Experiment and don’t be afraid to fail!
Learn from your failures.


#6 Be Ready for Success

You will not ever get what you want until you are ready to receive it! Visualize yourself with everything you want, see it clearly in your mind, live as if you already possess it and the universe will comply! These are the things EVERY millionaire does and are vital to your success!

#7 Use the Law of Attraction

I could write for hours about this, but here it is in a nutshell! If you were to take everything in the universe and break it down to it’s singular core what would you have? Energy! It’s all around us all the time! What goes hand in hand with energy? Magnetism! What happens when you try to push opposite ends of a magnet together? They push apart! Just like magnets, we attract exactly what we put out! Positive attracts positive and negative attracts negative!

It’s not just about thinking positive, you must FEEL positive! Some examples: You don’t feel like going into work, so you call in sick even though your not, and a few hours later you start feeling all crappy! Why? Because you put it out there that you were sick and the universe complied! Not a believer yet? How about this one:

You’re thinking about an old friend and out of nowhere they call you! Little things like this we have all experienced at some time or another, you can dismay it as coincidence, or you can begin to see how the universe really works!

Sell your Entrecard Credits

Not to long ago I came across the EntreCard site and started reading what it had to offer and what I read I liked for it offers more traffice to your sites, new eyes will stop by to see what your site is about thats if you have the EntreCard widget you see these new visitors are Entrecarders and belong to Entrecard they show they are members of EntreCard by placing the Widget on their site. Your site of course is made known that you are a member of Entrecard by having the EntreCard widget on your site so the other members can stop by and drop their EntreCards on you, and then you can stop by and visit their sites and Drop an EntreCard on them. ITs a Fair Exchange, you Drop, I Drop and so on. EntreCarders will surely stop by to Drop their EntreCards. And now ENtreCard has something new to offer the much talked about and long awaited Entrecard Credit Exchange was partially implemented on June 3rd, 2008 and it is now possible to buy Entrecard Credits (ECs) directly from Entrecard. Coming soon will be the full implementation of the Credit Exchange where individual Entrecarders can sell their own ECs anonymously to other Entrecarders, which is even a bigger and more important development. But for the time being, let’s congratulate Entrecard for their boldness and wish them great success in their attempt to create a viable web currency with real dollar value.

To be sure, Entrecard isn’t going to get rich from the spread they are making on the sale of Entrecard Credits. Currently they are buying the ECs they are offering for sale from trusted Entrecarders at $7.50 per 1000 and they have Paypal fees to account for when they sell them at $9.50 per 1000. The small profit they will make will help pay for servers and other necessary expenses, but isn’t going to be what makes Entrecard a financial winner. No, the reason that this is a big move for Entrecard is that it provides a reason to stay in the Entrecard community for years instead of just a few months, and that’s what will help build Entrecard into a viable web property, ripe for the picking by cash-laden Internet biggies.

The mere fact that Entrecard could sell approximately 40000 ECs at $9.50 per 1000 shows that a captive market is more important that good market information. The current price of ECs via 3rd party vendors is around $3 per 1000, although that price should rise and needs to rise if the Credit Exchange is going to work. The big advantage Entrecard has isn’t the “trust” or “convenience” they are touting, but instead is the ability to advertise on each member’s dashboard. The Entrebank and other 3rd party EC vendors have been selling ECs since January and most–if not all– of the transactions have been completed quickly and without a hitch, using Paypal just as Entrecard does. However, I believe the point will soon be moot as once the Credit Exchange is fully functional there will be little need for 3rd party vendors and Entrecard will likely ban the practice so as to control all the sales of Entrecard Credits and reduce the likelihood that someone will abuse the system by creating splogs specifically to farm and sell ECs.

So, the first shoe has dropped and hopefully we won’t have to wait another 3 months for the other one to hit the floor heralding the arrival of the Entrecard Credit Exchange. What a great day to be an Entrecarder!

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An EntreAxe Falls
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Remove No Follow Attribute on Comments

All Blogger templates have the No Follow attribute built into their comments. This is done to discourage comment spam. However you can, especially if you are a new blogger, encourage people to comment onyour blog by removing this attribute. The Nofollow attribute instructs the search spiders not to follow the link thus preventing the spread of "Google Juice"...........You can encourage people to comment on your blog once they recognize that links in comments are being followed. Also put a prominent text widget in your sidebar proclaiming that links in your comments are followed by the search bots. This will act as a freebait by sharing your link juice with fellow bloggers.
MODIFYING THE TEMPLATE To do this login to dashboard and click on layouts of your blog. Then click on Edit Html subtab of Template tab. First backup your template by clicking on the Download Full Template link. Put a check in the Expand Widgets Template Checkbox at the top of the Edit Template text box. This expands the Blog Posts Widget Code within which is the comments code. Then scroll down till you come to : the words in the code rel='nofollow' Delete the words rel='nofollow' and save the template. What can you do about it? Turn off “nofollow”. Show your commenters that you appreciate them. Spread the link love.
Turning off the “nofollow” on blog comments has become a sort of “movement”.Well, if we’re going to have a movement, we should have something to show our readers that we’re part of it, don’t you think? these logos were created by Nanieku and you can place them on your sites once you remove the No Follow attribute:

Make Money Blogging with MoreNiche

Here are some more money making deals and here is another one that you can make money online right away as soon as you sign up you are making money. Make Money Online with MORENICHE its similar to the google ads you post but this program right out of the gate will earn you $45 dollars for signing up and also pay $20 dollars per person you refer into their program. So, there is a huge incentive to join and invite your friends. The program itself appears to be great. They have tons of products, such as Aloeride, Wasspoker, Proactol, etc. that you can promote and market on your site. Some will pay you up to $300 in commission. It sounds to good to be true? But it is so go and check it out for yourself now and start earning some money today. Click on this Link http://www.moreniche.com/join.html?w=115744&ttp=3
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Bloggers need help with your Blogs

At some point in our journey with a blog all of us need help. It could be that you have no idea about how to get your blog started. It could be that along the way you hit an obstacle that you just can’t overcome. It could be that you would like to know how to make money with your blog. It could be that you need to know how to make your blog easier to find on the search engines. It could be that you are a business realizing the potential that blogging offers. It could be a lot of things.
The Importance of a Domain Name
After you have decided that you want to start a blog, choosing a domain name is one of the first decisions you have to make (The other early decision is whether you want to use a paid service to host your blog or use one of the free services available. We will talk about this in our next article in the series) . A domain name adds a lot to your site and is also valuable in helping you get noticed on the search engines. For this reason, the choosing of a domain name requires some thought. Here are some questions to think through:
What will your blog be about?
How do you plan on marketing your blog?
Would your name be a good choice?
Is it easy to remember?
Dos it make a difference if it is .com, .org, .net, .info, or .biz etc.?
And you thought choosing a domain name would be easy. Let me walk you through the questions.
What will your blog be about? Your domain name should most likely reflect the content of your blog. If I was going to write a blog about chicken wings (I really like chicken wings) I would consider getting a domain name with chicken wings in it. A name like chickenwings.com.
How do you plan on marketing your blog? In other words, how will you attract visitors to your site? Most blogs rely on the search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.) to bring traffic them. If you will be depending on search engine traffic then your domain name really needs to have your blog content in mind.
Would your name be a good choice? For most people the answer would be no. Unless your name is already very recognizable, or you plan on using advertising to bring traffic to your blog and not rely on the search engines, you should probably stay away from your name. Having said that, some people have very successful blogs which use their name as the domain name. If you think that your name will eventually be the best brand for your blog then you can go with it. It will require more work up front.
Is it easy to remember? Stay away from long complicated domain names or domain names that are initials. For example, Ireallyreallylovechickenwings.com is to long. IRRLCW.com is impossible to remember. Where the process gets a little tricky is that even after you settle on a domain name, it is probably already taken by someone else. So you have to get creative. Instead of chickenwings.com you may have to go with chickenwingsoline.com.
Does it make a difference if it is a .com or .org or .net etc.? If you can get a .com that works for you then you should get it. However, if the .com isn’t available then the other extensions are fine. This site is a .biz because the .com is being used by someone else.
Once you begin to settle on a domain name you need to see if it is available. I suggest you go to Good News Domains (www.goodnewsdomains.com) and use the free domain checker service. It is simple. Go to the site and where it says “Start Your Domain Name Search Here! just type in your proposed domain name and hit search. Let’s try it with chickenwings:
And here come the results:
Chickenwings.com is taken. So are all the other chickenwing extensions. However, the people at Good News domains have provided you with some options that might work. Chirckewingsonline.com is available, as is chickenwingsblog.com, etc. So there are always options. Sometimes you might be able to find the domain name you really want if you are willing to pay an exaggerated price. I wouldn’t recommend it for most bloggers. You can find a variation of the name you want if you get creative. Why pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for something that shouldn’t cost more than 10 or 15 dollars a year?
Be Sure to Leave Your Comments! Author: Stephen Lawes

Blogging Tips - Trackbacks

Introduction to Trackbacks

The following post has been submitted by Andy Wibbels: A topic constantly asked for information about.

Summary: TrackBacks automate the interlinking of blog posts, but often don’t contribute to search engine ranking.

TrackBacks are notoriously difficult to explain and is an exercise that makes a great judge of the skill of any self-described ‘blogging expert.’ So here I go!

You get comments right? Easy enough. You write a post on your blog. Someone reads it and thinks you’re either sliced bread or vile ooze and comments accordingly. Just like having a mini-guestbook for each post.

What if I want to leave a comment about your blog post on my blog? That’s where TrackBacks come in.

Let’s say I read something pretty fantastic on your blog and so I write up a post about on my blog: “Hey you gotta check this out, here’s a quote from it and here’s the link to it.” And I link to that particular post on your blog. And I click publish.

Unbeknownst to most, your blog platform - whether it is WordPress or Movable Type or TypePad, scans all the links in a post each time a post is published. It finds my link to your post and then goes out to your blog and checks to see if your post is accepting TrackBacks. If so, my blog sends a little ping! to your blog as if to say, ‘Hey! Andy’s talking about you over on his blog.’ and your blog answers the ping and says ‘Alright, I’ll make a note of it.’ And then your blog makes a little note on that particular post that in effect says, “Besides all these comments under this post, here’s someone talking about this post on their own site - and here’s the link to it.”

So readers of your blog can see not just what the commenters are saying about it on your blog - but what other bloggers are saying about. I’ve seen a post’s list of TrackBacks described as ‘Other blogs linking to this post.’ Many blog tools, like WordPress, lump comments and TrackBacks into the same list.


You don’t have to know how TrackBacks work in order to use them, you can simply set a post to be able to receive trackbacks and set your blog to send them when you publish new posts. Your blog platform should do all the heavy lifting and email you when there are new TrackBacks - just like it does when there are new comments to a post.

TrackBack was first created by Ben and Mena Trott during the early days of Movable Type and has gradually been integrated into the features of most popular blog platforms. A similar technology is pingbacks which has the added security of checking to see if the pinging site actually exists.

Of course like anything fun or cool online, the evil bastard spammers got busy funneling their sewage into automated TrackBacks pingbots that left everyone’s blogs with dainty messages about mortgages, online poker and Viagra. Most comment spam blockers are now configured to also scan TrackBacks to help stem the tide of spammy TrackBacks.

One of the best parts about TrackBack is that it helped to increase your blog’s linked-ness and search engine ranking. With the introduction of the ‘no follow’ attribute, links in comments and TrackBacks are usually often not included in the calculation of your blog’s Google PageRank. I presume this applies to the other search engines as well. Still, the findability may not be in the search ranking - but links from other blogs is always a Good Thing.

In TypePad:

To enable TrackBacks by default in TypePad, go to Weblogs > (Your Blog) > Configure > Preferences > Comment and TrackBack Preferences: Check the checkbox ‘Hold comments and TrackBacks for approval.’ And set Default TrackBack Status set to ‘New posts accept TrackBacks.’ (for receiving TrackBacks)

In WordPress:

To enable TrackBacks by default in WordPress ,go to Options > Discussion: Check the checkbox ‘Attempt to notify any Weblogs linked to from the article.’ (for sending TrackBacks) Check the check box ‘Allow link notifications from other Weblogs. (for receiving TrackBacks)

In Movable Type:

To enable TrackBacks by default in Movable Type, go to (Your Blog) > Configuration > Preferences > Publicity/Remote Interfaces/TrackBack: Check the checkbox ‘Allow TrackBack Pings On by Default.’ (for sending TrackBacks) Check the checkbox ‘Email New TrackBack Pings.’ Check the checkbox ‘Enable TrackBack Auto-Discovery.’ (for receiving TrackBacks)
Source:
Andy Wibbels is an award-winning blogger and author of Blogwild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging. He has helped companies all over the world use blogs to market their businesses through seminars like Blog Your Way to a Bestseller, Easy Bake Weblogs, RSS Essentials, Podcasting Bootcamp and Business Blog Basics (co-creator). Andy is co-creator of the Six Figure Blogging seminar, with Darren Rowse.
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Animate your Photo with Animoto

We are sure most of you already know about Animoto, but the fact that it is so amazing the main objective of this site is to allow you to create a video or a trailer, using your images which animates or moves along with the tune of the music you provide. You can also select tunes from their library which currently has Indie Rock, HipHop and Electronica... Animoto is a web application that lets you create video using your images. It is extremely easy to use. You upload images from your computer, add music from their library or from your computer and create videos. You can either create a 30 second or a full length video. If you are looking to create professional looking videos for your business you have an option to purchase a $99.00 for 3 months or $249.00 for a year package.
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Choosing the right keywords

This may be the most difficult part of your journey, especially if you don’t fit the target profile. That is, picking the keywords they will use to find your site.You can start by using free tools like Yahoo!s keyword suggestion tool. It gives you a good place to start picking keywords.Start with a phrase you know your site is about (i.e. if you sell widgets, then simply put “widgets” in the search box). The tool will then not only spit out other related words, but also the search volumes associated with each for the previous month.A word of caution however: Sometimes, depending on when you use the tool, the search volumes are from a couple months ago. So if your product is seasonal based, the numbers may actually be lower or higher than represented.Don’t be afraid to get a few hundred words to start. Remember, right now you are just gathering ideas – phrases that could drive traffic to your site. They aren’t all necessarily being used by your target customer.You can also go to Google’s Adwords site and perform the above steps. Start with a phrase or two which describe your site or product and use Google’s suggestion tool to help expand your list.At this point you want as many phrases on your list as possible. Don’t worry, you will cull the list pretty quickly.Once you have a huge list of words, the next place to go is a site like Wordtracker, which has a keyword analysis tool. This tool can be used for a one time fee, or if it’s something you might want to return to you can purchase a subscription. It is a fairly simple tool to use and will give you a good idea of just how likely your site will be able to compete for a phrase.A warning about Wordtracker: The software uses search volumes from some fairly minor sites such as Dogpile, so the estimates could be a little skewed. But again, unless you deal with an SEO firm that has their own proprietary software, this is about your best alternative.

What’s the big deal about blogging?

Not too long ago “blog” wasn’t even a word. Then it seemed over night blogging became an obsession. Lots of people jumped on the blog band wagon. Some people thought this was just a fad which would disappear, but it didn’t. Some people resisted blogging and couldn’t figure out what the big deal was…then they eventually understood and started blogging themself.

The reason why blogs are great is because the content is fresh and often updated, it’s easy so anyone can do it, and search engines love blogs. It’s easier to get search engine traffic from blogs than it is websites. This is because of the constant content updates.

A blog can be for personal or business reasons. Some blogs are monetized, while others just want to blog and don’t care about bothering with trying to make money from it. Some people blog simply because they want to. They want to share their opinions or write about what’s going on in their life, kind of like an online journal. A Mom may start a blog just to write about the trials and rewards, the good and the bad of motherhood. She may give advice on parenting and just write about what’s going on with her kids.

A politically active person may blog on politics, trying to persuade people to vote a certain way. A blogger from a certain city may blog about events happening in their area and an investment blog will inform people on investment opportunities and give investment advice. Some blogs are set up to review certain types of products trying to persuade the reader to buy certain products and of course will contain affiliate links so the reader may purchase them.

Basically a blog can be just about anything and anyone can start one for any reason.

There are a few different ways to monetize a blog. 1-Pay Per Click ads such as google adsense or Yahoo. 2- Text Link ads. 3- Selling links for other blogs and websites. 4- Affiliate ads. 5- Paid blog posts.

If your blog gets a certain amount of traffic, there are companies that pay bloggers to write a post. So if you have a blog in a certain niche, a website in that niche will pay you to blog about their website/product/service. Some bloggers are getting paid hundreds a month just writing blog entries.

There are many free blog sites out there you can sign up for. Blogger.com, owned by Google and is one of the most popular. There is also blogspot.com. You can also do a search for blogs and see all the listings that appear. If your blog is going to be professional however, it’s recommended you get your own domain and hosting and install wordpress blogging software.

To improve traffic to your blog, try to exchange links with other blogs. Also to get readers to keep returning to your blog, plus for better search engine rankings, you need to update your blog regularly. Don’t add a new post every month or every 2 weeks.

Comment Here If You Want A In Depth Blog Review

I have decided it is time to not only talk about ‘Stand Out’ blogging from a hypothetical perspective, but to take real blogs, with real bloggers and do a full analysis of what they do right and what they can improve on. This will not only benefit the owner of the blog, but it will be a great opportunity for all our readers to learn how their blog can be improved also.

I Am Planning On Reviewing A New Blog Every Week!
Starting with a four week trial to test the results of the reviews. Especially your comments on whether you like it. I think this is a great way for me to give back to you, my readers, something that is valuable and will help improve your blogging.

What Areas Of The Blog Will Be Reviewed?
Great question. I will be looking at the blog as a whole, starting with an introduction of the blog explaining a little bit of background information. Then I will start looking at the pros and cons of the following key areas:

Target Market
We will take a look at exactly who this blog is targeted at. This needs to be identified if we are to correctly analyse the following four areas.
Design & Branding
Here we will spend some time looking at the blogs theme and logo as well as how brandable their blog currently is and what they can do to improve it.
Content
Content is king, as everyone says, so we will spend some time analyzing the content of the blog, posts and pages, and the based on the target market of the blog see what can be done to improve conversion of visitors to subscribers and subscribers to raving fans.
Marketing/Networking
How active is this blogger in their niche? This is what we will tackle in this section. We will look at the bloggers current marketing and networking efforts to see how they can increase awareness of their blog in an efficient manner.
Monetization
What is being done to make money from this blog? And how can the monthly income generated from this blog be improved? We will look at ways to optimize revenue and increase the blogs earnings.
Would You Love An In Depth Blog Review Like This?
If you want to be the first blogger to get their blog reviewed on StandOutBlogger.com then don’t expect it to be easy. No you don’t have to be a subscriber to enter. This is open to every blogger but I expect a level of effort from the winner.

Answer A Few Simple Questions About Your Blog
Before I visit your blog and start working on the review, I will want to ask you a few questions about your blog so that I can look at things like your target market and your current promotional efforts. This step is important and I will need the info emailed back to me within 48hours of receiving.
Be Prepared For Criticism
I am a big believer in constructive criticism, however I am a positive person and love to focus on the good things, as well as the ways that good things can come from current bad situations. However, my readers may not be so kind, so be prepared a chain of readers opinions
Simple… So How Do I Enter
This part is so easy all you have to do is:

Comment Below, Nominating Your Blog For A Review
Tell Me In 100 Words Or Less Why Your Blog Should Be Reviewed
Post Comment
How simple is that!

You Have 48 Hours To Enter…
So start getting creative with your 100 word answer as this will be how I chose the winner. Here are some ideas that I might like:

A Funny Answer
A Serious Answer
A Suck Up Answer
A Self Sacrificing Answer
In other words ‘be creative’. Make your answer Stand Out from the crowd and get noticed - then get reviewed!

I Will Only Be Reviewing One Blog A Week, so comment below to give your blog a chance to get an in depth blog review for free!
Posted by TOm : StandOutBlogger.com
I ran across this post and thought thoose of you who read it might be interested in getting your blogs reviewed , if you are stop by there and leave your comments, I did! Oh and Be Sure to Leave Your Comments here as well: thank you Lilyruth

Tips to Increase Your Adsense Revenue

The brain trust over at Google has come up with a little wacky, off-the-wall idea about Internet ads. Make them less annoying.

No, that’s it. That’s the whole plan. Seems like someone should have thought of that one a little earlier.

But bloggers can cash in with Google’s AdSense network. Instead of posting blinking lights, cheap animation and a bobbing and bouncing monkey (or the paper football, although I totally rock at that one) Google matches vertical or horizontal blocks of text with the content of the web page. The ads don’t blink or jump around. Instead, they match or relate to the topic at hand, so the reader isn’t seized with the immediate need to get it off the screen right now no matter what it costs.

Traffic goes up, income goes up. Making money on the Internet - it may be the World Wide Web’s Holy Grail. Still, despite the simplicity, there are several steps savvy bloggers can take to give AdSense added oomph.

Here are some other almost obvious tips:

* Don’t make it boring. Boring equals bad. More importantly, boring drives readers away in two clicks. No one wants to read for three days straight why organizing your closet via season, not color, makes sense. Try to keep content fresh and continually updated. The more often people check in to see what else is going on in your world, the more often you hear cha-ching. Wash-rinse-repeat a few times, and you have created a loyal and happy reader.

* Make it easy to read. People cannot read blue text on a black screen! Keeping the layout simple and clean is the easiest way not to screw anything up. A general rule calls for placing an advertisement “above the fold,” or in place on the first portion of the screen before any scrolling is required.

* Think about ad placement. Don’t try to squish a horizontal advertisement into a vertical one. Google provides plenty of ad options from including a link to placing an ad in the middle of some text so no need exists to use the wrong ad. If you don’t know what size to make an idea, going too wide will look the best.

* Listen to your readers. Most of them are not to hesitant to give an honest opinion of a new advertisement type or content or anything else for that matter. If moving all your ads to the bottom of a rambling ode to your dead parakeet causes income to crash, then, well, maybe you shouldn’t do that. Consider making small, gradual changes and watching your traffic numbers.
* Remember why you started blogging. Bloggers blog for fun, for release, for a creative jolt and any other number of reasons. But, usually, not because the idea of sitting at the computer makes them think of a dentists’ drill. If it stops being fun for you, your readers will likely realize it. And who wants to be around that guy? If you find your self in a slump, give yourself permission to take a day or two off. Then, think about why you do this and what you want out of it. Plus, it’s totally an addiction, so after a day or two you will be itching to get back.

Just because it took surfers years to almost literally rising up in arms against pop ad is no reason your blog can’t start earning money now. Follow these tips and let Google’s AdSense do most of the work.

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Five Ways to make Passive Income on your site

This is not the first time I have talked about these different forms of revenue but I always like to revisit the list. This time I also decided to list the pro’s and con’s along with companies who provide the services.
Affiliates -
Positives - Tons of Money, tools to get creative.
Negative - Most people do not trust Affiliate companies to pay out. In a recent poll conducted here of 730 people 58% voted they did not trust their affiliate company. I think this is due to a lack of transparency but I think we will have another poll soon to dive more into this.Popular Companies: AzoogleAds, Commission Junction, CPA Empire, Max Bounty, XY7, share a sale, performics , linkshare
Skill Level To Implement - High skill required and a lot of imagination . Everyone one of the affiliate marketers I know doing over 1M/year in profit are great programmers and also very creative. To reach the top level of this monetization method you will need to learn how to deal with datafeeds and APIs
Contextual -
Positive - Easy to implement and setup. Cut and paste code.
Negative- Little editorial control for you, money can be hit or miss, hard for a site to start with contextual advertising because users have to leave for you to get paid.
Popular Companies - Google Adsense, Yahoo Publisher Network, Chitika
Skill Level To Implement - A monkey can cut and paste code with contextual advertising where the real sauce is is creative implementation.
Subscription -
Positive - Implementation is pretty easy.
Negative- Takes a while for income to build up. It can take a while to find the right pricepoint and length
Popular Companies - Paypal ccbill
Skill Level To Implement - Medium skill required. Most forums have subscription integration for quick and easy setup.
Direct Ad Sales -
Positive - Highest payouts generally
Negative- You have to deal with people… hunting them down to pay there bills.
Skill Level To Implement - Easy.
Donations
100% profit
none
Skill Level To Implement - Easy.
Source: ShoeMoney