Video Round-Up of the past 30 days, I hope everyone continues to visit each day; as I will continue to post daily and will soon be moving across to the WordPress platform.
Weight Loss Challenge
I have been dreading this post.
After taking a personal weight loss challenge to coincide with Ed Dale and Dan Raines' 30 Day Challenge - today is day 30 and the final day, so it's time to reveal my beast of a body after a month of reduced sugar, less fast food and some light exercise.
While the pictures don't show a dramatic change in weight, I have reduced my weight from 108kg at the start of August to 99kg as of 30 August. My belt size has dropped 2 spots, and things are fitting slightly better.
I will be taking the good habits into next month and trying to keep the health diet happening moving forward.
Thank you to all the Thirty Day Challengers that supported me with motivational comments and some positive thinking! (Thank you Nello!) And to those that have visited my Blog daily thank-you too, I hope you plan on staying and continue to visit the blog.
(Red Briefs = Day 1, Dark Briefs = Day 30)
Front on Shot. I have found that weight around my neck/face is reduced and the upper thighs. (Love handles and pecks need work!)
Love handles are only slightly reduced. Tuck shop arms have dropped away a little. Mid section still needs plenty of work!
Side on probably shows up better than the others, flab from stomach, sides and upper thighs has dropped slightly.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a great post on a secret Google searching trick. I was shown this last night and was simply blown away. A video tutorial will walk you through how to use Google for super powerful direct file searching. See you then!
Don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking here
Winning the Lottery
Ever dreamed of winning that big competition, huge prize or even winning lottery? Hmmmm 'winning the lottery' sounds very nice!
I am sure many of us have stopped to dream for a few seconds about winning that lucrative competition or a free overseas trip giveaway. You are certainly not alone! Last night I stumbled on a website by a lady who has not only been winning competitions for years, she now runs a business teaching others how to win as many competitions as they can.
ContestQueen is her name and identity online, and now famous Carolyn Wilman has not only written a successful book on how to enter and win competitions - she now offers a course for willing participants to learn her trade and take their winnings into overdrive.
An amazing story, Carolyn Wilman rose to fame a few years back when she won three major contests in a single week. Winning a car, luxury cruise and other items - she quickly earned the name ContestQueen - declaring her contest entering as an addictive hobby, it has paid off big time for Wilman and she now is set to earn even more from her self written book and the offer of courses for interested contestants.
Now I have entered quite a few contests over the years and occasionally dabble in the lottery draws - however, I've had little or no success! I am very interested to find out more about Carolyn Wilman and how she does it, she talks about luck, persistence and knowledge of as many competitions on offer as possible. It's a good story and worth a look!
NB - For those of you who have been following my 'Thirty Day Challenge' weight loss challenge, stay tuned! I will be posting final pictures and results from my 30 days later today! Here's the original post for those that missed it, be warned photos my turn some people off their food! haha.
Who clicks your Blog ads?
It's a question not enough regular bloggers ask themselves. Who clicks your Blog ads? Why are they clicking certain ads? Are you targeting the right market with your blog ads?
Seriously, I don't think enough bloggers or marketers take this into account before throwing an ad program on their site. Of the blogs and sites I visit daily, only 1 or 2 have advertisements that appeal to me or would make me click. By my calculations, 80% of the blogs I read are displaying advertisements that I wouldn't be interested in clicking on.
Advertisement clickers fall into the following categories;
'Newbies' they are new to your site and click advertisements because they are lost and can't find anything else interesting.
'Drive-By' users that don't find your website interesting and simply click an advertisement to exit your site and rarely will come back.
'Supporters' these users find your site interesting, visit regularly and will sometimes click advertisements purely out of 'good faith' to reward you for your efforts. Personally I have done this a few times at blog sites where I have read a good article or found their information helpful.
Many of the more experienced readers will rarely click your advertisements. They either subscribe through a feed reader (many feeds don't contain advertisements) or they visit your site and read the content and then leave (many 'regulars' are virtually oblivious to your advertisements, as their eyes are trained to look directly at the content only - making them blind to the ads)
Its different and easier for the major Blogs written by the big boys. The larger and more popular sites are able to sell their ads directly for a monthly or weekly fee. They put the onus on the advertiser to develop a catchy banner that will attract clicks - so the blog owner gets his money and doesn't have to rely on Pay Per Click (PPC).
For upcoming blogs or sites, don't make the mistake of throwing up HTML code from every available advertising company. I strongly resisted going overboard with advertisers, I visit some blogs and sometimes see up to 20 or 30 advertisements all over the place - something which is a massive turn off.
I've also seen some negative comments about Google AdSense by some commentators. Google AdSense is the largest and simplest advertising network, while it has been tarnished by some newbies and spammers alike - the content matching system from Google is unrivaled in my eyes by other networks. AdSense might not pay quite as high as some others, by if placed correctly the chances of users clicking AdSense content is much higher than others in my eyes.
You may have noticed some other advertising additions here on my blog. I investigated both PerPerPost and Smorty for their opportunities to make money from Blog posts. Smorty seemed a little bit small time and took a long time for a response from their administrators. My blog took quite some time to get approved and the available opportunities and payouts weren't extremely high.
Personally, I have seen the PayPerPost program on many impressive blogs, I now understand why. PayPerPost uses a simple interface, they are very active and will offer you many opportunities to make money from reputable products. They also offer the 'Hire Me' direct advertising scheme which you will see on the right hand side of my blog. Anyone can sign-up, pay $10 and have me write a specific post about a desired topic, your blog site or your point of view. An interesting concept, I look forward to seeing how this works out.
I understand many of the readers here are Immediate Edge and TDC participants and focus many of their efforts on affiliate marketing. While affiliate marketing is powerful and brings plenty of high earning potential - the ability of PPC when done right, can turn a steady stream on low effort income.
Just make sure you pick the right advertising program, place them strategically and think about 'who' will be clicking the advertisements - when done right, the reward is obviously much greater. $$
Want to be the first to take advantage of my 'HireMe' option? For $10 you can ask me to review your site or blog, ask me to write about a topic of your choice and either way you secure exposure and a back-link from a PR4 domain. Click on the image below to get started:
Quit your job
Ever wanted to quit your job? It's a subject talked about regularly on-line and for good reason - estimates show that close to 60% of all workers dislike their current job and would like to do something different. Of course there is always exceptions to the rule, you hear stories of 'Joe the Janitor' who wouldn't trade his job for the world - but Joe is certainly in the minority.
Many of the on-line references to 'quit your job' refer to get rich quick schemes or exaggerated stories by webmasters in order to get their readers to buy something from them or paint themselves as a web guru.
I wanted to talk about this topic from a real world, personal point of view.
I am 29 years old and have been working full-time for over 10 years. After leaving school I immediately entered the workforce and began a trainee position in the telecommunications industry. While always enjoying computers after hours, initially dabbling with BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems) and the early 'text based' Internet in the mid 1990's - I found that turning computers and the internet into a full-time, decent earning job was a little tough.
In early 2007 my wife and I decided we would temporarily relocate from Sydney, Australia to a small town in Southern New Zealand for a year or two. My wife is originally from New Zealand and the opportunity to spend time with her family and take our young baby to a 'quiet little town' for a few years and experience a sea change was very inviting.
To prepare for the move, I quit my full-time job and began planning for the relocation. In the time I stopped working - I decided to spend my days working on-line, establishing some regular revenue. So I began channeling 95% of my efforts and daily activity into earning revenue on-line.
Through my Blogs; pay per click, backlink and affiliate programs have turned some small but interesting revenue. I have also been trading on eBay quite frequently, turning a handsome profit with minimal effort there and finally I have been buying and selling things like Domains and established Websites.
While the revenue earned won't allow me to retire just yet, the potential is certainly there and it has opened up my eyes to the power of 'making money online' - something usually thought of as impossible, but the opportunity is seriously there! Choosing to focus 'full-time' on earning money on-line made things so much easier and certainly within reach.
So in summary, I think so many of us can get caught up in the habit of: "Too busy making a living to make any money" - In other words, too busy working 8 hours a day in a job you don't like just to make ends meet - when really if you took a chance and focused all your efforts on-line, the potential to earn good revenue and enjoy doing it is certainly on offer.
Got a good story of successful on-line earnings? No matter how small, I'd like to hear what you've been able to achieve and the potential for the future.
Keep Blog Traffic Interested
Want to know how to keep your Blog readers attention for the whole post?
From daily blog posters to niche content publishers you need to follow these basic guidelines to ensure the traffic you get to your website or blog stays interested and keeps coming back. It's great to have thousands of visitors come flocking to your website on the back of a good post, but if the majority don't return you may as well go back to talking to yourself.
On average a staggering 80% of visitors will not only shy away from your site forever, but walk away after the first paragraph - if things don't grab them immediately.
We all know a powerful title or headline is critical in initially getting traffic to read your post, the title is also critical for search engine spidering - ensuring your post or article is picked up by search engines and listed correctly. Once you get the traffic through the doors with a good blog headline what next?
- The first paragraph is critical, ask the readers a question to engage them actively straight away. Somewhere in the first few paragraphs drop in some humor or a funny quote that relates to your story. The quick touch of humor helps hold the readers attention in the critical transition period as they begin to look more deeply at your content.
- Paint a picture, any good public speaker or copywriter will tell you they want to 'create the image' in the mind of their audience. Using words such as 'imagine' or 'picture this' - allows the reader to turn your words into a picture. Personally I like to attach a relevant picture to most of my topical posts - this instantly gives the users a feel and visual picture of the topic.
- Shock factor, don't be scared to be controversial in your view. This creates healthy debate, also use statistics to grab your readers attention and get the facts across. The more shocking the statistics the more power you are possessing.
- Smooth ending, the best way to finish your post is to tie it back into the beginning of your topic. A summary helps reinforce the main points of your post and allows the reader to finish with the critical thoughts fresh in their mind.
So in weighing up all these important parts to a Blog post - how successfully have I employed these tips in writing this article?
Facebook: Power of Networking
The power of networking in any industry is unquestioned. Most especially in the blogging world, networking can assist your marketing reach and bring a wave of industry insiders to your blog or website.
Even networking with your competitors is a smart move that can help you gain valuable information and bring attention to your work. Fortunately for us folks who work with the internet the amount of free tools available to assist networking is simply astounding.
We have massive amounts of tools available to us from email, to instant messaging, VoIP and now the social networking phenomenons such as MySpace and Facebook.
While MySpace was the early leader in social networking, the exploitation of this platform by spammers, hackers and predators - has seen many shy away from the website in favor of newer more secure frameworks such as Facebook.
There are various levels of networking, from initially 'introducing yourself' to friends to eventually speaking verbally on a regular basis - once you gain the initial trust of a new friend, try and keep regular contact and where possible leverage your relationship to speak through an IM client or programs such as Skype. Any verbal time you can get with an internet VIP is pure gold. The recognition and ideas exchanged will really help you in your ventures.
Personally, I find Facebook a very powerful tool for getting in touch with people on the Internet I wish to converse with. From very public and powerful identities to the average internet browser - Facebook allows you to introduce yourself and establish a relationship with anyone.
Where the true value lies for industry players is the 'access all areas' type of setup - allowing anyone to track down and get in touch with VIPs or successful internet identities. Using Facebook you can quickly search and 'touchbase' with the real influential people in the internet world.
Once you begin establishing relationships with your targeted personalities on Facebook, you can then extend your marketing arsenal by creating 'Facebook Groups'. Creation of a group on any topic is simple, free and the creation notifies your contacts and instantly gives them insight into the topic you are launching.
With any internet venture, especially a 'blog' - you naturally want to give yourself an edge and employ marketing techniques that are unique, powerful and not too time consuming. Maybe take some time off Google optimization for a few hours and put some effort into growing your Facebook network and direction - if you haven't already.
If anyone has some good unique ideas the are employing with Facebook, feel free to reply below - any quality examples will receive a free back-link from me.
Get Free Blog Traffic
Want to know how to get a good amount of traffic to your Blog or website? Free!
For a moment, put aside the search engine ranking of your page, its optimization, your advertising methods and any other promotion you might think of.
I am purely talking about content and good unpaid referrals.
Now assuming your blog or site gets a steady amount of traffic, certain topics you post on will be much more popular with readers. For example, my last post was about how new, upcoming Bloggers can seriously make it in the world of Blogging which is really in it's infancy. I spoke of popular bloggers such as Darren Rowse, John Chow and Ades Tynyshov - guys that pretty much got in early and have achieved their standings and success not only by good content, but by limited competition. These top guns were able to grasp and understand the Blogworld before the masses got on the blogging bandwagon. These days there are plenty of new, younger up and coming authors that have the ability - they just need to consistently stick at their new trade and 'hang on' during the tough early times with only limited readers and web traffic.
The topic I spoke of "Successful Blogging and Earning Money" saw an amazing spike in traffic to my blog. Maybe it might of been the mention of John Chow or other popular blogging icons - but the topic certainly struck a chord with visitors. A lot of my traffic is from fellow 'Thirty Day Challenge' users (hello guys, thank you for visiting regularly!) - however the referrals and word of mouth from yesterdays post has amazed me.
My point being; not only was my topic of Blogging/Earning a popular one - but the referrals and word of mouth worked just as well as any search engine, forum or advertising method. So many bloggers focus heavily on backlinks, Google PageRank and highly expensive advertising. While these methods of traffic generation do have their place, good relevant content within a popular niche will eventually get the public into your blog and will encourage them to tell friends and others about your site.
Proof and encouragement for those new, upcoming Bloggers - hang in there, keep posts regular and interesting - the word will get out and traffic will come! (You don't have to talk to yourself forever)
Blog Disclosure Policy
This policy is valid from 26 March 2008
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.
The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.
The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
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Yes, Earn Serious Money Blogging!
In the past month or so, I have seen quite a few articles and blog posts that have taken a very negative view on the possibility of earning a decent income from Blogging or marketing on-line. Comments such as "You might make a few dollars, but you will never be able to earn a substantial income from Blogging or Websites." - fairly discouraging comments and thoughts; something I think is very misguided.
Yes, it is certainly possible to earn respectable income from Blogging or websites that are of good quality, well presented and are easy to find (ranked, linked or socially bookmarked)
Why and how is it possible you may ask?
The good news is for any aspiring blogger or niche website marketer, is that the industry we are currently involved in - Blogging; is very much in it's infancy. While there are many millions of potential customers on-line and actively using the internet, the trend of Blogging itself and the untapped potential of certain niche's are there for someone to grab hold of and make some serious money.
Quality of competition. Because the art of Blogging is so young, the competition levels aren't as large as they will be in say 2-3 years time. When you take a look at the most popular and most successful monetized Blog sites on the internet - sure, while they are impressive 'they certainly aren't unbeatable'. Some of the Internet's top bloggers that are followed by thousands of readers regularly receive handsome amounts in monthly advertising revenue - how did they achieve their standing? Many of them simply started out in the early period of blogging and by getting in on the ground floor, have established an early lead as the industry grows rapidly and daily.
Who are the major Blogging players or Power Brokers?
1. ProBlogger - an extremely popular website run by a former church minister named Darren Rowse. Kicked off in 2002, the timing for Rowse was perfect. His interesting articles caught a wide early adopter audience and Rowse's main topic revolves around helping Bloggers with their site through; presentation tips, templates and industry information. With a following of around 30,000 users by RSS feed, ProBlogger has some serious clout and would easily be earning upwards of $15,000 per month in revenue and other rewards.
2. John Chow Dot Com - 'the ramblings of a dot com mogul' is the catch cry for this popular Blog site. Creator John Chow has built a very dedicated following that worship the ground he walks on. The talented Chow is unmatched at monetizing his Blog, he is sought after by advertisers and charges '$400 US' to review fellow Bloggers sites. Chow has turned the topic of 'Making money from Blogging' into an artform - his daily posts discuss his quest to further improve, monetize and refine his blogging format. Chow deserves plenty of credit for building his Blog base, with English being his second language - Chow has climbed plenty of hurdles to forge his empire. Proof that it's possible to succeed. 
3. Ades Blog - a small time player in comparison to Rowse and Chow - Abdylas Tynyshov from Malaysia quit full time work in late 2005 to concentrate on his software development and his daily blog. His blog came from no where, on the back of a PageRank7 from smart link building - 'Ades' was easily found in Google and quickly built up a loyal following. Recent shady link trading exchanges on this website has seen the site 'slapped' hard by Google - but to Ades, his following is enough to turn a continual revenue stream from his popular website. Prior to the slapping by Google, the 'Ades Blog' website was receiving multiple payments of several hundred dollars a month from sites wishing to link from the homepage.
In summary, when you take some of the success stories here from some of the Blogging celebrities that are earning some decent dollars from their trade - you can see that it really isn't 'rocket science' and the path taken by these guys is very easily followed or improved by aspiring internet marketers or blogging hopefuls.
Don't let anyone tell you it's not possible, 'Keep motivated', 'Keep Posting' and 'Keep Networking' - your web project, blog or site will find its way to the top if it's quality that is advertised in the right placed.
Power of eBay vs Blogging
I saw a really interesting eBay auction link today; and those people participating in the 30 Day challenge will be aware of this link too - see below: Have a quick look and read the auction below via the link, then pop back to see my take on it.
eBay Pokemon Auction Link
The item for sale is simply some basic Pokemon trading cards. What makes the auction so interesting is that a regular American mother has advertised the cards and written several pages of hilarious text about how she came to receive the cards and why she is selling them on eBay. In summary her kids nagged her into buying the cards while grocery shopping and after writing a long, funny review of her grocery store trip - she is now selling the cards on eBay.
Due to the amazingly funny story, the viral effects of the internet went into overdrive. Suddenly as people found the funny story, they began to email the link to their friends, bloggers (like myself) started writing about the saga and the rest is history - classic viral marketing. The mother of 6 responsible for the auction is seeing close to 10,000 hits a day to the eBay auction page and now seeing traffic requesting her personal blog address.
The whole example for me shows how the power of 'pre-text' or a good write-up can not only introduce plenty of traffic to a blog or an eBay auction - but it will also help sell a product.
Regardless of what you are trying to sell, monetize or offer to the internet public - you must accompany it first with a good 'pre-sell' -
1. through a 'Humor story' such as the example we're talking about above.
2. 'Passionate Product or Service review' if you've used the product or recommend it or by someone you know.
3. 'Personality Link' - while the quality of what you're trying to sell is important, if your audience (be it eBayer viewers or blog audience) can relate to you, they will tend to buy or use your services (be it PPC adverts or affiliate recommendations). To achieve this you really need to interact with your audience - build up rapport through regular communication and more importantly pictures and video in your blog and where possible the comments.
To summarize, the method used by the American mother of 6 on eBay to fetch possibly upwards of $100US for a simple pack of used $3 Pokemon cards - can be applied to blogs all over the internet. Whether your goal is to make revenue from eBay or revenue from Blogging.
Attract an audience through interesting topics or stories that are easily related to real world happenings; either through humor or through a 'personality link' you might have. Having a photo on your Blog, Instant Messaging, Auctions and other forms of communication is good to help establish a 'link' to the person you're dealing with.
Once you have that connection and two-way communication street with your audience, the chances of them buying blog based services from you are much higher. (Services such as 'ReviewMe', Suggested Affiliate Links or even your basic PPC adverts.) For me personally, when I visit a blog with good content I will tend to view their PPC adverts out of respect.
Internet Failures
Why do so many Internet e-business ventures fail to make an impact and essentially don't earn any money on-line?
Just like in the real world, any attempt to be successful on-line - whether it be in Blogging, selling on ebay or affiliate marketing - requires hard work and a persistence that many budding on-line hopefuls just don't have.
There is such a vast array of free information on almost every niche on-line; giving anyone the basic knowledge to get started in their own internet enterprise. Free blog services with endless storage supplies for not only text but video and audio, powerful networking and social tools reaching multiple millions of on-line users and courses such as the 30 Day Challenge to virtually create an on-line business for anyone - free of charge.
I have read some interesting Blogs where the owner will simply get bored and go missing for a few weeks, naturally - as a reader, you will move on and find a new place to get regular and interesting information. Most people in the blogging world are only too happy to lend a hand to newcomers and get them started - it seems many simply want the quick buck and aren't prepared to watch their PPC (Pay per Click) or ad-space earnings grow.
To give some examples; I kicked off two brand new Blogs in March of this year (2007). With absolutely no experience in blogging, SEO or AdSense - I was able to build up niche content on these sites (both sporting related topics that I am passionate about) and get them to an earning point of $10 to $20 in AdSense revenue per day in around 3 months (Part Time).
Ok, so it might only be $10 or $20 dollars a day - but for a few hours part time, writing about a sport I enjoy - it's given me a good platform into the Blogging world and allowed me to explore the potential of even more powerful niche's and future earnings.
I discovered guys like Joel Comm - an AdSense guru, who with his free information and tips on AdSense - was able to get me up to speed with the tricks of the trade. He posts daily about industry happenings and also has a good free forum base and a community ready to help fellow bloggers. Check out AskJoelComm for his must see free videos.
I also got some great tips when I found Ed Dale and Dan Raine. These guys took my basic knowledge of SEO and Google rankings to another level. They showed me great techniques for free through their previous experience and free forums. (The only criticism here - these guys have made me think about Web Marketing 24/7 - I have too many ideas to process these days! haha)
My overall point here is; to succeed on-line for some additional income or to take your earnings to a much higher level - you must put in daily effort. Albeit a single hour or two each day, the content will amass and your attractiveness to search engines increases. This is also your best protection from spammers and competition - you can 'own' your niche or totally dominate your field by keeping content fresh and updated regularly.
Tumblr turns visitors away
Upcoming blog provider Tumblr (www.tumblr.com) - has over the past 3 days deleted tens of thousands of it's customers blogs in an effort to intercept what they see as 'spammers' abusing their free service.
After being touted as a 'good, free service for basic content hosting' by Internet marketers from the Immediate Edge Group and the Thirty Day Challenge (www.thirtydaychallenge.com) - many saw the referral by the Immediate Edge; as a big positive endorsement of Tumblr and a chance for the new upcoming blogging service by Davidville Inc (Davidville is a privately held New York-based development company) to compete with the big boys of the blogging world: Google's Blogger.com and Wordpress.com.
Fearing spamming issues; Tumblr pulled the trigger and deleted in the region's of 20,000 accounts, blocking new and existing customers they felt maybe using their service for financial gain.
The decision by Tumblr is an interesting one; not only has it cost them a massive influx of new accounts and a wave of free advertising and web recognition - they have reportedly killed some of their existing users in their haste to delete new blogs created.
After being alerted to the backlash from Tumblr - the free tuition course creators from The 30 Day Challenge came out to discuss the situation and clam their anxious followers. In response Ed Dale has asked his patrons "To respect Tumblrs decision and urged web marketers to use many of the other free and capable services online from Google, Squioo, Wordpress and others."
The 30 Day Challenge run by Ed Dale and his Immediate Edge team has seen traffic figures many webmasters and companies only dream of - their website going from 0 to the top 5000 online according to the Alexa Online Ranking systems. Dale and his team are teaching average internet users how to profit from generating good unique content and getting it ranked highly by Google.
The forums at the 30 Day Challenge HQ have seen in excess of 20,000 posts - simply unheard of within 20 days and the web traffic they have generated will simply be pointed in another direction after Tumblr have closed their doors on the possible new wave of accounts.
So not only was Tumblr given an influx of 20,000 new user accounts virtually overnight - all of these accounts had the potential to explode Tumblrs recognition online due to highly ranked content within Google as coached by Dale and his team. Tumblrs domain would be there for all to see as they searched terms on Google.
It's amazing in the day and age of Web 2.0 that some companies simply don't understand the concept of traffic, brand recognition and future asset value. It seems Tumblr has a good product; their decision to turn away approx. 20,000 accounts and miss a future traffic generation possibility of several million through Google rankings - is simply jaw dropping.
Those guys over at YouTube took a few years to get their first large batch of accounts, and what followed was a brand now recognised the world over - but hey, they only made a few million dollars when they sold YouTube to Google.
The team that run Tumblr must already have plenty in the bank.
Tumblr Blog
The first secret ingredient of the 30 Day Challenge has been released; the 'Tumblr Blog' apparently is well liked by Google and in lab testing by the search engine team over at the 30 Day Challenge when compared to blogs from Blogger (Google), Wordpress and Squidoo - a blog from the Tumblr domain is apparently the best to get ranked quicker and with more 'authority' within Google.
The art of picking the best ingredients to get listed in Google quickly and effectively is certainly a black magic. Not to be confused with black hat SEO - by black magic I mean, the rules aren't known (as Google don't let on) so with plenty of trial and error - on a playing field where the goal posts are being moved almost daily; things can get tough.
In testing the power of the tumblr blog and is attractiveness to Google - I setup 3 near identical blogs. A tumblr blog, a Blogger.com blog and a Squidoo Blog. After creating these test blogs; throwing up a quick few paragraphs of my own content - I then submitted them each to social networking outlets. (Digg, Netscape and Stumble) I then continued to monitor the domain in Google regularly;
here are the results:
1. Blogger.com Blog: 39 minutes until listed and ranked on Google.com
2. Squidoo.com Blog: 8 hours until listed and ranked on Google.com
3. Tumblr Blog 24 hours until listed and ranked on Google.com
Now this little test is not to disprove the guys at the 30 Day Challenge. Heck - Ed Dale, Dan Raine and the boys are all successful and have some talented propeller heads at their disposal - and this is only 'listing and initial ranking testing' In the following weeks; we may see a change in authority from either of these Blogging vendors and how the Google search engine sees them (similar to what happened when Squidoo got slapped by Google recently)
How has everyone found the Tumblr.com Blog in terms of getting Google listed?
Feel free to reply with any speed timeframes you may have.
Free Advertising
Whether it be your daily blog site, an item you might be selling or even your business (real world or internet) - nothing beats 'free advertising'.
Take blogging as an example; you're writing quality articles and you're writing regularly - so you obviously want as many people as possible to visit you and of course you want to keep that traffic coming regularly.
One of the angles I had some success in this week is 'real world' free advertising. By this I mean getting off my butt and finding ways to get free advertising on the street, not just on the internet.
For me, it was as simple as sending a letter to the local newspaper. At first I thought, "The chances of the newspaper ever being interested in a small time internet blog - would be remote to none!" - However, around 4 weeks later I got a call from a junior reporter who even sent a photographer over to get snaps to accompany the story which would be published on my blog.
I may have mentioned it before; but my Sports blog 'NRL News' has really attracted a strong following in a sporting field dominated by big boys and media darlings.
The photographer has not long left actually; and I am quite excited about the exposure that the blog will be getting when it is circulated to the newspaper readership of in excess of 300,000 people.
So to summarize - it's a good example of how going that extra mile (writing a snail mail letter) in the real world can help boost the profile of your blog. Depending on the 'theme' of your blog - even things like signs, flyers or stickers may work for you. For example; if your blog talks about 'making money' as many blogs do these days - a bunch of 'flyers' or 'cards' distributed at a finance conference or similar gathering might get some interest.
I'd love to hear similar stories from fellow bloggers - if you've had some real world advertising success, drop us a comment.
Power of Video on your Blog
The power of video in todays Web 2.0 environment should really not be underestimated. 'Viral Videos' have been common for some time, initially across email channels - but are now well entrenched in todays internet.
The power of video was there for all to see, when Google bought YouTube for several million dollars. Everyone's talking video, but is anyone really positioning to take advantage of video?
In the blogging world, my thoughts are not enough regular and high profile bloggers are taking on and harnessing the power of Video, Vidlog or VideoBlog which ever way you want to coin it.
What are the reasons for this?
Google Rankings: My first thoughts were that many of the high profile Bloggers don't like video within their blogs due to it's inability to rank in Google listings. With video, no matter how good the content - it can't be indexed or opened by search engines; hence there is no listing value. (Sure you can have text describing the video, but it cannot go into full depth of what the video contains)
Fear: Are bloggers scared of showing their face in the Blogsphere? Maybe vanity plays a part - scaring pro bloggers away from putting their face on the mini screen.
Equipment: Do bloggers have the equipment and knowledge to record and launch a video online? - Surely most professional bloggers are able to create a basic video, and at least have access to a basic YouTube interface to get the content online?
Time Constraints: My other major thought was time constraints, this personally affects me. I love using video to get my point across on this blog - however, I have been lacking video content lately and it's purely because recording something is not as quick as jotting it down in text format.
To summarize, I personally feel video provide massive leverage for bloggers. Whether your blogging to make money from Google Adsense, sell an eBook or just wanting to reach out to a group of people in a similar interest niche - video is a great tool to get your point across in more depth and allows blog readers to relate to the author much more.
Like anything, getting in on the ground level is crucial. So start building your videos and drive your quality and following upwards. It will give you an edge over competing blogs and in some cases the effect of 'Viral Video' can be felt. So while videos might not ranking in search engines, due to no text - if something within your home made video catches on - it can go viral and you will find a massive audience overnight.
Happy Blogging.
The Secret
The worldwide best selling book, and now DVD - 'The Secret' was something I have heard a lot of marketing and hype about. The book by Rhonda Byrne and the following DVD by Prime Time Productions have received plenty of coverage - both positive and negative.
If you haven't seen or read 'The Secret' - the basic principle revolves around the 'Law of Attraction'.
Initially I was skeptical, fearing just another 'self help' type scam - however after hearing several of the scientists and researchers discuss the theory of attraction and how it relates to frequencies of the mind I became quite interested.
I would certainly recommend a read of the book, or a look at the DVD - even if this kind of stuff usually isn't your cup of tea - it will get you thinking.
Many self help publications preach - 'believe and achieve!', 'think and it will come' so to speak, however 'The Secret' is the first matter to explain the science of the thought patterns.
In it's simplest explanation - it's pretty much, 'Positive Thinking' - but it really rams home the power of this mindset.
The evolution of 'The Secret' and its supposed knowledge throughout history seems a little far-fetched, the story suggesting the powers of yesteryear dating way back to the ancient Babylonians through to Albert Einstein - all having secret knowledge of the power. This stuff was very wishy washy, but I can image this really added to the theater and hype surrounding the release of the publication.
Summary - an eye opening insight into 'The Law of Attraction', providing some scientific backup to the theory. I came away feeling very motivated and keen to put some of the thoughts into practice.
Would love to hear from people who have seen or read 'The Secret' - so feel free to comment on this post with your thoughts (good or bad) on the Secret.
30 Day Challenge Pace and Delivery
I was interested to read some comments over at 45n5 suggesting that he is a little frustrated with the overall pace of the 'Thirty Day Challenge'
The Thirty Day Challenge will be into it's 12th or 13th day soon and probably due to its aim of targeting internet marketing newbies; it has frustrated some of the seasoned campaigners slightly.
From a personal point of view - I can see both sides of the argument or discussion! :)
I have had probably only 6 months months experience in which I have picked up a little bit of most things the blogsosphere has to offer. From getting listed in Google, to minor SEO, to PPC advertising to affiliate marketing - I have just touched the tip of the iceberg for these things. So I spose I would probably prefer a faster pace from the TDC crew.
But hey, it's a free program! There are literally thousands upon thousands taking part; so I am more than willing to ride out the bits that I already know. Even up to this stage, some of the minor web browser addons have been very handy and made my life easier. So if I was to walk away early or fail the challenge - I have plenty of things already in the memory bank that will help in the future.
Finally I want to quickly mention a blogger advertising program that might interest those who don't already know about it - 'Blogging Ads' is a concept I am about to test out. Your blog once approved is issued with up to 3 topics / themes per month; where you can write and link about a certain thing or website and be paid for the task - nice and quickly through paypal.
I will let you know how things go with 'Blogging Ads' in the next month or so.
To those participating in the 'Thirty Day Challenge' good luck and keep at it!
Internet Copyright Legal Pressure
Sorry for the delay in posts here folks, but unfortunately I have been in discussions with an Australian television and production company over video copyright infringement on one of my blog sites.
One of my sports blogs, NRL News which attracts around 15,000 unique hits per month had a link to an uploaded Google Video that was an infringement of copyright. The video was a direct recording of a local ABC television documentary program that is being aired locally in Australia.
Even by my link post association to this illegal video - unfortunately I have become implicated in the situation. So my time has been taken up furiously defending the position of the blog I run. This is also my highest earning PPC blog, the visitors in general to this site are much less internet savvy than general internet users - hence my AdSense CTR is extremely high on this blog - so any shutdown or interruption of service seriously affects my bottom line!
Anyhoo - 30 Day Challenge update, finding it hard to keep motivated for Ed Dales challenge, personally the pace of the delivery and content has been a teeny bit slow for my liking. However I have some exceptional team members in my group and catching up with them on a weekly basis keeps me in the zone.
This coming week I hope to touch on Squidoo lenses and their power in attracting high Google rankings and a good source of backlinks and traffic. I am waiting on some content on Squidoo and will report it through shortly.
Hope you 30 DC ambitions are tracking well - chat soon.
Free Keywords at WordTracker.com!
Just listened to Ed Dale's latest PodCast - and the advice from Friday was about Wordtracker (freekeywords.wordtracker.com) and the ability of word tracker to assist you in finding the power of individual keywords.
Previously I had used Google for Keyword tracking and investigation. Specially at the address: www.google.com/keywords
However, Google doesn't give exact figures on search volume on the keywords you choose. A very approximate indicator is the result from Googles Keyword Search tool.
So I have really taken to Wordtracker tool (Thanks Ed!) and have begun throwing plenty of keywords into the freekeywords.wordtracker.com website.
The market research ability of this tool is amazing. And it will surely save me plenty of time in the future when I am searching for keywords; forget Google - I will now be harnessing Keyword Power at wordtracker. (In a side note; I did mean to post about my gaming website but haven't had time yet. My site caters to World of Warcraft. For those of you that know the game, it's very popular (9 million online users) and I am hovering at around 2,000 hits daily. Which is not bad for a 2 month old blog with no PR and basic setup. More info on this, and how I achieved the following soon)
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For those of you following my progress in my weight challenge - (My TDC side event) I am doing very well. I will be posting some body photos probably around Wednesday; to show my progress. I have been doing mostly cardio stuff (walking) ; have been eating well too and continuing to do light weights. :) So going well.
My workout music was a little weird tonight - my iTunes randomly threw up the following songs: Michael Bolton (How am I supposed to live without you), Michael Jackson (Black or White) and finally MC Hammer (Pray) - ahem - yes, some interesting tunes for sure. All we need now is some Milli Vanilli to complete the picutre!
Now a glass of red wine for me; then bed!
Now, go and play with your keywords and freekeywords.wordtracker.com!
Badder Adder v2 MySpace Friend Adding
Many internet marketers are realising the power of social networking websites and tools such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.
The reason for their power - is these sites contain millions of targeted web users all detailing their location, interests and even more intimate info.
Adding friends on all of these social networks is a good investment for any internet marketer. These services are free - the only investment cost is your time. However, a little tool called 'Badder Adder' is an automated 'friend adder' for Myspace.
An automated friend adder or adder bot such as 'Badder Adder' allows you to literally add hundreds of friends on MySpace, Facebook or Bebo daily. You chose the niche or segregation of users you would like (sex, age, location) etc and let Badder Adder do the work.
Myspace, Facebook and Bebo are doing plenty to combat the prevalence of adder bots such as Badder Adder - however the latest version of Badder Adder v2.0 + outsmarts MySpace and is once again a great tool for marketers.
So check the software out, start adding plenty of friends and build your marketing list - creating powerful selling tools.
Advertising Information
30DayMan.com is able to reach on average 3000 unique readers each month, including an RSS subscribed base of around 50 readers.
The advantage of advertising at 30DayMan.com is the value of a permanent PageRank 4 backlink to your website, blog or company. All advertisers receive a feature post and discussion about their product when it's banner is placed on the blog.
Some of the chit chat covered here at 30DayMan.com ranges from: Marketing, SEO, Self Motivation, Blogging! and internet trends from Facebook to eBay - with some personal real life stories and disasters thrown in along the way!
Example and Rates:
125x125 Ad Square - Top Left Hand Corner of Blog - $1 per day (Special)
468x60 Banner - Centre Page above Main Blog Post - $2.50 per day (Prime Position)
Text Links
eg: Your Blog - Left Hand Column below Ad Squares - 0.50c per day (Bargain PR4 Link)
Setup and Payment:
Payment in advance by PayPal is requested, simply transfer the amount required to
PayPal ID: asutcliffe@gmail.com
and then send me an email confirming your: advertisement type, length of time and the banner of your choice. (We can have banners made free of cost for you if needed)
I will ensure any advertisement requests are added and 'live' within 24 hours of payment into PayPal - following the simple steps above gets you listed quickly and easily.
I look forward to partnering with you and watching your business grow with ours.
Regards,
Adam Sutcliffe
asutcliffe@gmail.com
30 Day Man
Content Generation = Real Estate Online
Let me explain; when you buy some land in the outer regions of your location - you generally are able to get it cheaper as it is further from the city, without infrastructure and population is low. You buy the land and wait for time to pass and the value to increase as the 'urban sprawl' occurs - population and traffic are driven towards your land. Hence you have a higher value and are able to make money on your land.
Building a niche website (in an area with little on-line competition) is very similar to this in my mind. You register a domain for your niche, (www.godaddy.com - $2 US for a domain!) and you begin to generate stories, journals or reference photos for instance on your website. Now initially you will have very little traffic and obviously a limited revenue stream from the site. However, as you continue to add 'daily and unique content' - (as in your own words and articles, not copied from elsewhere) the search engines will begin to discover your website (assuming you have built up links with other sites) and the value of your patch of dirt on-line starts to grow.
As you add more unique articles there is more chance of people finding you through search engines when they key in certain terms. With every article your value grows. As your value grows, so does your Google Page Rank and the opportunity to make some revenue from systems such as AdSense or Affiliate Marketing.
The final angle is the option to sell your website. Just like 'real estate' you can use your on-line patch to generate money for you OR once it achieves great heights - you can literally sell the whole website (your total article database) to another on-line buyer for a handsome sum (provided you have successfully built up good content) - this is another angle that can generate large money and allow you to create another successful niche!
Hopes and Dreams Shattered
It hit me like a Rocky Balboa punch. The words of Ed Dale "DO NOT DO WEIGHT LOSS, Yawn Yawn!" - As he podcasted his latest 30 Day Challenge session discussing niche markets and their importance.
While this blog is not my 'Thirty Day Challenge Project' - Ed's sledge about weight loss struck me down. I considered my options and quickly thought - 'I must go on!' So today I continue my regimen of healthy food, plenty of exercise and some light weights. Heck, it's made me even more determined to show the difference in myself and my body in 30 days. Ed Dale has just unleashed more of the beast in me - bring it on! Give me a pink thong too - yeah baby!
I want to give a quick shout out to 'Mark' over at the 45n5 Blog most of you guys will already know Mark, but his tips for site promotion and general marketing are always quality. I've got a tonne of good tips from him and his site is worth subscribing too.
* In my next post - I want to talk briefly about some niche's I have had personal success in. Very quick success in fact and limited competition there - that ultimately turned into high traffic and an adsense windfall for me. Currently my biggest successful niche is computer game - but more on that in posts to come
* From there I want to also talk about content building and why it's akin to 'real estate' acquisition in the real world. :)
See you soon TDC people.
Google Page Rank Update August 2007
Is Google planning their long awaiting PageRank update for August 2007? Obviously many of us tied in with the 30 Day Challenge - understand and monitor PageRank; Google hasn't updated their PageRank for around 90 days now and many keen bloggers and webmasters are expecting the latest Google Page Rank update for August 2007 to happen within the next 12 days.
The mass update in PageRank for August, has many webmasters crossing fingers and others hoping to get listed in Google for the very first time.
Many of you built new sites in the beginning of 2007 and still have no Google page rank after all the hard work you put into building quality back links, optimizing and adding new pages, and every other tedious detail involved with properly optimizing your site for the engines.
Well the word is that the wait is almost over. Google will be updating all its servers and handing out grades in the very near future. All the speculation about what will work and wont work for the best results in your website's placement are about to show themselves.
Once the Google page rank update starts, it will take a couple of weeks to complete so you will probably see some fluctuation in your Page Rank on different pages of your site for a while but things will settle down and your new Page Pank will be good until the next update.
Will your Google Page Rank go up or down on the next massive Google update ? Only time will tell. If you have done all the work required to rank well, then you will mostly be rewarded with a pretty reasonable Google Page Rank and the other search engine will follow right behind the master.
Hows your Google PageRank look? Even a regularly updated PR2 or more these days will ensure Google visit your site and spider it almost daily - and your content has a chance of rating high in the Google Servers. Love to hear from everyone on their PageRank stories and theories - so feel free to post!Light Weights, Good Food = Win on Day 2
As Day 2 of The Thirty Day Challenge and my personal weight challenge comes to a close - I am happy with the progress. Heres a very quick summary of todays activity and food intake
* Brisk 30 minute walk (Mid Morning)
* Two plain white rolls for lunch (Round Rolls)
* Browsed TDC forums during the day, some good Stumble Upon chatter there. (Ideas!)
* Did some eBaying and some file transferring with a friend of mine in the afternoon
* Had grilled fish and a tomato, avocado and carrot salad for dinner (very nice!)
* Finshed with some light weights and some time on the stepping machine (30 minutes)
Its been good - I feel a lot fresher and got some good vibes about me. About to head over to the TDC forums and also check out some other bloggers who are tracking their own progress.
Tonights Video
See you tomorrow all!
Whats it all about?
Listen real closely. If you join my list of RSS Subscribers, here's whats going to happen:
- You'll date the women of your dreams
- You'll own the fastest most expensive cars on the market
- You'll become filthy rich
I do like to try different techniques to see which are the most successful in generating online traffic and income. Thrown in along the way are my personal stories of laughter and shame; along with discussions about my personal collection of websites of which bring me residual income in the form of advertising dollars online.
Glad you visited, click here to grab the RSS feed
Reality! Weight watch and TDC Day 2
Reality really kicking in for me now - its the morning of Day 2. (TDC and Weight Challenge) - After a late night waiting for the 11pm kick off from Ed Dale and co - it has been VERY tough getting going this morning.
Shot the video, now it's time for a decent breakfast and a decent walk. (Hopefully start some light weights tonight - to assist with toning)
Getting A LOT of unsupportive comments from family and friends about TDC and my Weight Challenge - meh, they have never understood the power of on-line marketing anyway!
Will have some still photos later today of the exercise routines I took on (plus food eaten today)
Another Blogger / TDC site worth checking out is - Income Hero he has created a challenge within the 30 Day Challenge as I have. Only he is GIVING his first Google Adsense Payout ($125) to the most consistent Blogger during the TDC (Period of 30 days) - a great idea and sure to attract some attention from blog people everywhere.
Sporting Activity, Reduced Fatty Food and the TDC Update
Already after only Day 1 of the Thirty Day Challenge, and my own personal challenge - I feel a positive vibe!
My TDC Team 'Team Dent' - caught up on Skype (SkypeCast) and introduced ourselves. It seems we have a good mix of experience and new blood. It was a little shakey getting the SkypeCast going - but we got there in the end. Now, we wait for the green light from Ed Dale and his team.
On the personal side of things - I had some GREAT feedback on the Thirty Day Challenge forums from 'Nello' a Singapore gent. Nello gave some tips on positive thinking and how to focus on my goals at hand. (Namely the weight loss!) Here they are:
1. BE SPECIFIC: write down current weight - what regimen you are going to follow - how are you changing your lifestyle - what is the optimal weight you want to achieve.
2. FOCUS: keep these hints all over the place as a remainder of what your priority is - getting in shape - so that whenever the occasion arises for you to fall in "temptations" you brain is going to kick your ass and keep you in track.
3. DESIRE: Have a burning desire to lose your weight - a desire that can keep you awake at night and that consumes each single moment of your spare time. Explain to your subconscious mind WHY this is so important - and from there 'LIVE AS YOU HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED YOUR GOAL' and your goal will ultimately be realized.
Thanks once again Nello for your words - I am certainly taking them on board!
Tonight I have started with some basic cardio stuff - a medium level of action, 30 minutes of slow jogging. 5 minutes of aerobic type activity and 10 minutes of basic exercise (push-up, sit-up etc)
Photo from tonights little workout stint:
My goal for tomorrow; eat a hardy breakfast to reduce large food intake during the day. Lunch and dinner to contain less meat - preferably fish and salads. (I will also be increasing my water intake - hopefully something like 1.5L + of the good old H2O tomorrow and each day of this month)
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