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Archive for January, 2010

Blogging, It’s Not What You Say But How You Say It

As a seasoned blogger I am no longer amazed at the amount of new bloggers entering the fray thinking there is a quick buck to be made. Most of them enter the blog tips or blog marketing niche thinking to capitalize on that aspect of the market. Where they fail is that all they’re doing is regurgitating what others have already said and I know it tends to rub some the wrong way.

Take my mate Mitch for example, who wrote The Secret Is There Is No Secret, where he’s bitching about all these types of posts that are offering nothing new, except possibly to someone who  may be considering taking up the blogging challenge by starting their own blog on blogging for money or ways of driving traffic to your blog.

The way I see it is that although this market is pretty well saturated, inroads into it can be made as long as you approach it the right way. I’ve been reading the blog of a bloke who hasn’t been blogging that long who has a unique way of explaining things. Jim, that’s his name, runs Blogging Tips, Tricks and Fun and although he is tackling a topic that has almost been beaten to death with a wooden spoon, I think he will go far because he isn’t simply regurgitating old ideas. He has introduced his own personalized writing style, one that I think may open the eyes of those who before may have left a post discussing the same topic none the wiser.

You see the problem with reading the same thing over and over again is if it

Irish Soda Bread - Mmmmm!

didn’t make sense the first time there’s every chance that reading it over may not make it any clearer. So if all your doing is copying a post and rewriting it in much the same way you’re not adding any value, and if your not adding value your blog is going to be lost in the multitudes of other blogs similar to yours.

The trick is to make the post yours. Write it in such a way that people know you’re an individual with unique ideas and writing skills. Jim does this very well, especially with his Blog Recipe series. The first in the series was his Baked Stuffed Post where he breaks down how to write a post. It’s simple and to the point and may be just what is needed to get the point across. As I said this was one of his early ones and so I can only imagine what Jim may come up with as time goes on. I like to refer to him as The Blogging Chef, and who knows, perhaps one day he will have his own show.

I’ve always said that the one thing that makes a blog what it is and gives it some worth is the people who take the time to comment on them. I want to thank Gordie who’s currently making a big deal over how Passionate Speaking Can Be Deceiving, for reminding me of another blogger who’s bringing a bit of originality to the blogging scene. Naturally he’s referring to Jordon of Not A Pro Blog, a blogger who likes to bring a bit of wit to his blog. Being a professional comic he’s not averse to pasting his mug all over the videos he’s so happy to paste within his posts.

I found his post on Are Your Blog Readers Your Customers rather intriguing. I think he’s trying to tell us that they’re not because they’re not buying anything, and he backs this up by saying that A customer is one that buys something, and while that is true I would like to ask what you call all those people who window shop or walk into a store without buying something, either because they couldn’t find what they want or because their service was so bad that they decided to go elsewhere. They didn’t buy anything so that means they’re not customers right?

Perhaps not, but they are potential customers, ones that could bring not only cash through the registers when they decide to buy but something more important than that. Apart from return business their recommendation can bring new business through the door.

I don’t look at my readers as customer because my blog isn’t all about making money. But for those blogs that are, perhaps it would be a good idea to treat their commentators, or future potential customers, with some respect, a respect that can be seen in the way you interact with them on their blogs as well as the blogs of others. After all your blog posts and more importantly your interaction or lack of can be seen as being a window into who you really are.

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Final Update On Snap Dollars

Why final you ask? Because once this post is complete there will no longer be a need for further updates. For those of you new to this blog, or new to Snap Dollars you may want to read my original posts. Making Money With Snap Dollars was the post that started it all and that was the post that I first reviews SnapDollars. I then followed it up with the Update On Snap Dollars which described how I wasn’t all impressed with it and how this prompted someone from SnapDollars to comment as how I was going about it all wrong.

This led to Updating The Update On Snap Dollars where I changed my approach and actually made some money. Naturally, until I actually have that money in my pocket I wasn’t prepared to give it my final seal of approval. That money arrived yesterday, and whilst it’s not a fortune it does at least show that these guys pay what they owe.

Check from Snap Dollars

So, that’s it, there will be no further updates, I’m off to find another way to make some extra cash so that I can pass it on to you guys. Oh, in case you want to know how Snap Dollars works, you’ll have to read those other posts. :smirk1_ee:

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Viddler And Why Some People Prefer To Use Them


I was just over at Gary Vaynerchuk’s site where he is talking about drawing lines in the sand where I noticed that where most people use YouTube Gary is using different video hosting service called Viddler. OK, so Gary is a pretty with it sort of guy and I have noticed other people using this particular and so I wondered why they used Viddler over YouTube. Could it possibly be that being a business orientated blog he wanted a host that that concentrated on online video for business?

So, I figure I should look into it and the first major difference I discovered was that you had to pay to host your video on Viddler! OK, so why would anyone want to pay for a service that you can get for free? :ponder_tb: Yeah, now that really got me wandering and the obvious thing that came to mind was that it offered something that YouTube didn’t.

One advantage that YouTube would have over Viddler would have to be exposure, as I figure seeing as how I’ve never heard of Viddler a lot of other people probably haven’t heard of it either so you wouldn’t get the same exposure as hosting it on YouTube, so it must have other underlying qualities.

One of the main difference is the size of video you can upload. Google limits your to a 10 min 1 GB video and there may be a lot of people, especially if they are uploading HD quality video, who find this very limiting. With Viddler, who have a monthly fee of $100, you get the capacity to store 50GBs as well as 50GBs of bandwidth. Seems to me that people would be wanting a hell of a lot more features for that sort of outlay.

OK, what other features apart from quality and storage do they offer. Perhaps there is a way you can make money from people watching your videos, and this can be maximized when people embed your video on their site? Yes, people can indeed embed your videos. From what I can gather you can embed your ads into the video as well as having the facility to enable people to click on the video and be directed to your site. Could be some SEO advantages here?

There is actually a lot of other features and I know that some of you may have a lot of questions, and I’m certainly no expert on the matter, so perhaps a link to their FAQ page is in order.

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My Take On Having Ads On Your Blog

Today I was reading a post on Extreme John’s Blog about how Bloggers Should Clean Up Your Crap. Now John’s main gripe is that some bloggers have so much crap ads on their blog that it takes away the main purpose of having a blog, their blog posts! I have to admit I have seen a lot of blogs full of more crap than just ads though, there is so much going on in the sidebars that it can be pretty distracting because everything is so disorganized.

I also notice the other day on one of Mitch’s post, Six Figure Blogger Blueprint – A review where David makes the following point;

Both you and Sire really load up your blogs with ads and widgets and things in a desperate attempt to gain a click from a visitor. My point is that, with an email list, you won’t have to try so hard. Monetization is much easier, more efficient, and less about interruption of the user experience on your blog.

What’s that, David who, you ask? Well, you’re going to have to check out Mitch’s post to find that out because ever since my famous Why I No Longer Link To The Likes Of ProBlogger And John Chow where people accused me of name dropping for link baiting purposes, which was absolute crap, I am very careful of even mentioning those guys.

In answer to David’s comment, the only widget I have that has anything to do with money is OIOpublisher, something that he promotes on his blog but doesn’t seem to use.  Also, they’re not there because it’s a desperate attempt for gaining clicks at all, but there is a reason why I have them there, and I will get to that shortly.

I’ve also been accused that I’m blogging simply for the money side of it, and once again that is far from the truth. I blog because I enjoy it and if I can make some money on the side, and I’m not referring to online payday loans, what’s wrong with that? Also, ever since I was ripped off some years ago by an Internet scam I made a commitment to myself that I would endeavor to find all the legitimate ways of making money on the Net and I would share them with my readers. If I find out later that the site is a scam, like the post I did on The great American Photo Contest I will remove the link and add a little edit to the post.

Coles South Richmond Isle
Image by aagius via Flickr

As to why I have those ads, you need to know a bit about my background. I have been in business for some 30 odd years and a lot of that has been in the retail sector, and some as a salesman in an hi-fi / electronics store. I found that when you pay so much per square foot of space you need to capitalize on as much of it as possible without making things look tacky.

A great percentage of sales from these stores come from what is known as impulse sales, and usually these impulse products bring in a greater margin. They are placed in such a manner that even if a customer has not come for that particular product it get’s their attention and a lot of the time they do purchase it. The amount of added revenue these impulse lines bring at the end of the day can be quite substantial. Probably the most popular area is around the checkout and the items placed there range from lollies and gum to magazines.

I’ve also read that having too many ads etc. can confuse people and they will probably leave buying nothing at all. This may be true for blogs but in real life people will not shop in a store unless there is a good range to select from. Some of our major retail chains are cutting down on other companies products and selling more home brands thinking people are more worried about price than branding. This has actually forced a lot of people to the smaller chains who have a greater selection as they want to be able to choose branded products if they so wish.

So, seeing as how this is my background it’s probably why I choose to run my blogs in such a fashion that I try to utilize as much of the blogging real estate as possible. Right or wrong, I believe that space in the sidebars or header is exactly that, prime real estate, and as such I should use them to my best advantage. I use rotating ads so that it constantly provides newer content and I believe I have placed them in such a fashion that it doesn’t detract from my posts at all. The fact they produce hundreds of clicks just proves to me that they are doing their job.

 

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Using Your Website As A Marketing Tool

I was lucky enough to get hold of an eBook written by Mitch, a well known blogger who amongst other blogs runs the popular I’m Just Sharing Blog, and I thought only fitting that I write a review of it.

In Mitch’s eBook, Using Your Website As A Marketing Tool, he outlines the importance a website can play as part of any marketing campaign and how as a small business you could be missing out on the huge potential by not having one.  Mitch also stresses that while it is important to have a website you don’t want one that is poorly designed or looks cheap, for obvious reasons.

Unlike some eBooks that I’ve read that tells you to do something but doesn’t tell you why you should do it this eBook states reasons for why things should be done, starting off with the reasons as to why you should have a website. I find that this will be more acceptable to the average reader as the reason for getting any book is to learn all the ins and outs.

Mitch then asks the same question but states that perhaps some people shouldn’t have a website. At first I found this a little unusual, but once I started reading I understood what Mitch was getting at. There’s a fair bit involved with having a good website and that perhaps some people could not afford to have a professionally designed one. Rather than opt for a cheesy cheap one they’d be better off not having one at all.

The eBook then goes on to explain everything that’s involved in owning and maintaining a good website. Something that everyone who is thinking of starting one should know. You will learn about domains and their relative costs, hosting and even the importance of design, with some samples thrown in for good measure.

Considering it’s just over 50 pages long Mitch has managed to put a fair bit of information into the eBook, including simple HTML coding, discussing CSS, SEO, Keywords, just about everything you need to know if you were thinking of starting your own website.

What this book doesn’t do is to show you how to actually build a website from scratch. What it does do is show you what’s involved in having a website and how a good website can help your marketing strategy. Armed with this book you will have a better idea as to what avenue to follow when the time comes for you to have your own website.


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