Frugal Hacks » make money

Quick Cash

DeputyHeadmistress — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:11:25 +0000

Last week we talked about ways to bring in some extra money, specifically because I am looking for ideas to pass on to the members of my husband's Dave Ramsey class. Here are some more.

Have a yard sale- we have found that we make more money at a yard sale on Thursday. So we (or rather, my friend in charge) runs the sale from Thursday thru Saturday, and Saturday everything is half off. Location is also helpful- if you don't have a good location, see if a friend who does would be willing to go in with you and have a sale at her house. Also know your area. Many friends told me to just throw out the scads of 33 LPs my uncle left me because you can't sell records at all. But in my area, you can. We have a lot of vintage collectors, and they do buy. When we had a booth at the thrift shop we regularly sold records for a dollar each- we weren't getting rich that way, but it was nice to have it. I sold these for .20 each at the yard sale, and made nearly seventy dollars on records.

It may be true that you'll be better off in the long run donating to a thrift shop, getting a receipt, and itemizing on your tax return and taking the deduction. But some don't make enough to itemize, and sometimes you need cash for an immediate sprint, not down the road at the end of a marathon.

My oldest daughter makes some money from Savvy Survey. (link fixed) She says it doesn't take her much time and she's got a 41.00 check coming in right now. She's always wanted to stay home with her children, but it's especially important to her now, since her 7 month old son has so many special needs (and statistically, only 20-30% of babies with his condition survive early childhood). She really appreciates opportunities to make any cash from home.

Are you making the most of the weekly sales fliers and coupons? If you do this right, it's not about running from store to store to store. It's about organizing your list so that don't have to run from store to store, but you still get the best buys. That said, a friend of mine who lives in a town with a Super Walmart that promises to beat the lowest published sales prices makes her list, takes the sales flier to Walmart, and then she has them honor their promise to meet or beat the advertised price. Personally, I haven't ever done very well with coupons, but YMMV.

Pick your own fruit somewhere, package it in appropriate amounts for a quick/yummy dessert, attach copies of the recipe and peddle them in the neighborhood. (a friend's kids have done that rather successfully -- she says you should go about 5:30-6 pm for best results.)

The same friend whose kids sell fruit says to blitz everybody you know with an email/flyer offering to wash their windows for a set price/window. If a husband/wife or mom/older child can work together on this, it is "fun" and doesn't take too long. Take into account storm windows, need for ladder, etc., but a good set of extension pole, squeegie (sp?), bucket, etc. could be a small investment for a big payback.

Can you squeeze extra money out of your income by reducing your spending further in some area? Could you do it just for a week?

Look for jobs doing babysitting, yard work, housecleaning, pet sitting, sitting with an elderly person who can't be left alone (how successful this is will depend on your area). I think there's a big need for respite elder care. There's a particular niche for reliable, trustworthy people who dress and carry themselves in way that makes elderly spouses feel safe leaving you alone in their homes, caring for somebody with Alzheimer's. Start with somebody you know who is caring for an older family member, off to sit for them for free a couple hours a week, or just to come over while they are home and help out- that way you know if they can help or not. If you are good, they *will* pass your name and number on to others. Find out if there are any programs in your area for seniors, and visit them- our local nursing home invites seniors and their caregivers for lunch at a reduced price once a week.
However- if you're babysitting, don't make the same mistakes I did when I started running a home daycare from my house. Actually, even if you aren't doing daycare, some of the same lessons apply to any business.

I have never done this, but if you play a musical instrument, is there some event or busy street corner where you could play for passers by? Different areas will have different regulations and permits may or may not be required. If it's something you've tried, let me know how it works.

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Monetize Your Blog, part 10: Traditional advertising

kimc — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:07:17 +0000

If you want to learn how to monetize your blog, start here:

Affiliate advertising may be a natural fit for most blogs but it's not the only answer. Affiliate advertising works best a motivated blogger who really loves the products being sold and isn't afraid to pitch a sale at readers. If you're looking for a more passive way to earn, you might want to stick with more traditional advertising, though the returns will probably be less.

Most traditional advertising can be broken down into three main groups, based upon clicks, views or actions.

CPM (cost per mille, or cost per thousand) usually states prices paid per thousand views on your blog.
PPC (pay per click) pay you each time a visitor clicks through one of your ads.
CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost per lead) pays you each time one of your readers performs a specified action, i.e. fills out a form, joins an advertised club or program, or completes a survey.

Another popular type of advertising might be referred to as "contract advertising." In this type of advertising, you allow a middleman to sell ad space on your blog at an agreed-upon price, usually based on traffic, page rank, and how desirable your particular niche is. They find advertisers for you and keep a portion of the proceeds as payment for the service, usually around 50%. Don't like giving away 50% of your advertising revenue? I'll talk more about DIY advertising in an upcoming post.

Examples: Blogads, Text-Link Ads (I have used both for years)

Be sure to read the small print when signing on to a new advertising program. When choosing an advertising program I recommend you stick with CPM ads that pay based on how many times they are viewed unless your site and readers are highly targeted. This way you guaranteed to make at least a little money. With PPC programs like Google Adsense, you don't make a penny unless and until somebody actually clicks that ad. This is why so many small blogs never see a penny in advertising income.

On the other hand, if you can find a perfect fit for your readers and you're willing to nudge them, you might find that CPA/CPL programs work well for you. But now you're back into sales, and you might want to take another look at affiliate advertising. :)

Within each of these groups, ads may be text or image; they may be anywhere on your blog including sidebars, header, footer, above and below posts, and even within the post itself. They might pop up over your blog, forcing visitors to click or close before they can read your blog. They might pop under your blog so that readers won't notice until they close the browser tab.

When choosing advertisers, you need to consider just how invasive your ads will be. Your readers probably won't like ads, but for the ads to be effective they do need to see them. How many should you use? How big? Should they blend in or stand out? You'll have to find the answers to these questions yourself. Be aware that most readers run away screaming when they see a popup ad. And whatever you do, don't clutter up your blog with endless ugly ads. Remember that real estate on your blog is limited and valuable, and readers' opinions count.

Look for answers to these questions when choosing an advertiser:

Will this these be text or image ads? (Images should pay more)
Will any of the ads be objectionable to me or my readers? (Most advertisers give the option to preview and reject ads)
How much must I earn to reach the payout threshold? (Most advertisers don't pay until you reach a preset minimum)
Are these ads relevant to my readers?
What are your requirements for ad placement? (Some advertisers require ads be placed at the top of your blog)
Am I limited in running other ads if I sign up with you?

Have you tried any form of advertising yet? What results have you seen?

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Your first $10 from blogging

kimc — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:05:39 +0000

Readers,

I've been writing a series on How to Monetize Your Blog, and here's an offer that you might be able to use. If your blog has a page rank of 3 or higher (check your page rank here), you can earn $10 or more by accepting a sponsored post from our recent guest poster, Monique of The One Income Dollar.

It's not much, but it's a start on one of my favorite ways to earn money by blogging: privately managed ads. Look for more on that in an upcoming post in my series!

This offer applies to mommy and daddy blogs, frugal blogs, craft sites, etc. If you're interested, contact Monique at oneincomedollar (at) yahoo (dot) ca. Be sure to give her your url, and remember to negotiate for more if your page rank is higher than 3!

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Monetize Your Blog, part 9: Affiliate advertising

kimc — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:44:21 +0000

If you want to learn how to monetize your blog, start here:

Beyond Adsense

If all is going well, you're probably ready to start considering some advertising. Adsense may be easy to install, but ease isn't everything. Most bloggers who have tried Adsense have earned just pennies they'll never receive, with no hope of reaching the minimum payout level . The plain truth is Adsense just isn't the best choice - or even a good choice - for personal blogs.

Don't let that discourage you, though. There are plenty of other choices out there. If you manage your blog well, most will help you make a little money. The right choice might help you make more than a little.

For most personal blogs, affiliate advertising is the best choice. If your readers visit your blog because they like you, they trust you, and they appreciate your opinions, then affiliate advertising is probably right for you.

Affiliate advertising

Affiliate advertising is commission based: you recommend a product or service, and you receive a kickback on any sales you generate for the seller. Affiliate programs are widespread on the internet among both large and small businesses. Most are commission based, and commissions vary wildly.

Since affiliate advertising relies upon your readers' trust, be careful about what you recommend. To maintain your credibility, it's usually a good idea to only recommend products you are familiar with. Many vendors will provide a free item for review so you don't have to go out of pocket. No matter how you acquire it, it's a good idea to stick with products you actually use and own.

Expect to fill out a w-9 tax form for most affiliate programs now; if you make enough, your income will be reported.

Amazon is omnipresent and carries everything under the sun. Commissions are stingy, topping out around 4%, but some bloggers find that it's still worthwhile. Amazon makes it very easy for affiliates to promote their favorite items, and you can also create your own virtual store on your blog full of your favorite Amazon products.
For Christian books and homeschooling materials, Christian Book Distributors is a huge resource with deeply discounted prices and very generous commissions to affiliates. The high-paying commissions are partially offset by the fact that they don't pay out on orders placed with coupons and promo codes, but it's still a good program with lots of potential for a Christian blogger.
The affiliate program that has been far and away the most profitable for me is Vision Forum. That's not just because of the generous commission levels, though it certainly helps. We also know and love the products and can recommend them enthusiastically to our readers. They are relevant to our core audience, so our readers enjoy hearing about them and often make purchases on our recommendation.
Clickbank, Commission Junction and Share-a-Sale each bring together affiliate programs for hundreds or thousands of smaller vendors, making it easy for you to promote a wide variety of products. Commissions vary wildly, and can be very high on digital products like ebooks. Take time to browse for items relevant to your blog and to your readers, and find some products you can really stand behind if you choose to go this route.
Smaller companies like Paperback Swap and Swagbucks don't pay cash, but can still help you benefit from your blog in very tangible ways.

Tip: think of services and websites you already love, and check to see if they have an affiliate program you can join to help promote their product.

We've used Covenant Eyes internet accountability software for years, and were thrilled to learn that we could earn some money by telling others about a service we already believe in.

We have also referred many Christian friends and readers to Samaritan Ministries, which has been our alternate to traditional health insurance for 3 births and 5 or 6 years. Interested? See my posts about Samaritan here.

Here are my own favorite affiliate programs. Disclosure: some of the links above are affiliate links. Some programs will also pay me a commission if you become an affiliate, and you can benefit by encouraging others to join as well.

Work it

Don't expect sales to magically flow in once you join an affiliate program and toss a few links into your sidebar. You need to convince your readers that this is a worthwhile purchase for them (isn't it?). This is another opportunity to add some useful content to your site.

Don't turn your blog into a sales blog, but also don't be shy about recommending something you truly love. Remember to follow FCC rules about disclosure of financial interest: tell your readers you'll get a kickback if they buy. If your readers like you, they won't mind.

If you join several different affiliate programs, this article has some very useful info about managing your affiliate links.

What products could you enthusiastically recommend to your readers? Have you already joined any affiliate programs?

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Monetize Your Blog, part 8: Keep an eye on traffic

kimc — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:42:20 +0000

If you want to learn how to monetize your blog, start here:

Keep an eye on traffic

If you already have a way to watch the traffic on your blog, you're probably already addicted to watching your stats. Don't be embarrassed. You're in good company. We all want to know how many people visit our blog and where they came from. Some of us also want to know how long they stayed, which pages and posts they visited, how many came from search engines, and what search terms they used to find you.

If you didn't know you could do all that, you're in for a treat.

Ways to track your stats

There are many different ways to track your stats. All 4 options mentioned below are free, though some offer even more features if you want to upgrade.

Statcounter has always been my favorite, though I'm not crazy about the recent redesign. Fortunately it's still in beta so you can stick with the old version. The interface is clean and intuitive, and it's easy to keep an eye on as many of my blogs as I want. It's packed full of features and info on who visits your blog. For watching stats on multiple sites, Statcounter is an easy winner in my book.
Sitemeter is another popular free stat counter. Though it doesn't offer as many details and features as Statcounter, all the basic info is available in 1 click, something that can't be said about Statcounter.
WP Stats - If you have only one WordPress blog, try using the WP Stats plugin. It will give you all the info you're likely to want, right there in your own dashboard.
Google Analytics is for power users who want information overload. Need to know how many of your readers are red-headed males aged 20-35? You might find out. If you're really serious about making money online, this might be the stat counter for you, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Confused? They're all good, and they're all free. Just don't try them all at once because you will slow your site to a crawl. One or maybe two counters is plenty. If you must try them all, do it one or two at a time.

Why count heads?

Monitoring your traffic can be fun and affirming if the numbers look good, but it may feel like you're just wasting time building up your ego. You're probably wondering how it contributes to monetizing your blog. Here's the logic behind it:

You need to know where your traffic comes from, so you can build on those sources. If you find out what is working already, you can make it work better.

Make the most of incoming links

For example, if somebody linked to you and visitors are coming from their blog, there are several actions this could or should lead to:

You should probably thank them, either in a comment or in a personal email.
You also might want to return the favor by linking to something of theirs that you think will interest your readers.
You could think about how to encourage them to link to you again in the future.
You could also try to establish a relationship with other similar blogs that might find your material to be worth linking.
You might want to tailor some of your future posts toward that particular audience if it's a good fit.
If you're using the WWSGD plugin, you might want to customize your message to greet those particular visitors. For example, "Thanks for dropping in! If you came here from ___, you might like to see my post about ____"

Use your keywords

You also want to see which search terms people use to find your blog. With a little planning and some SEO savvy, you can turn these keywords into a significant source of traffic from search engines, often considered the most profitable type of traffic.

Hear "Yes" more often

Knowing your numbers will also help when you request products for reviews and giveaways. If you can tell a potential sponsor how many visitors/day your blog receives, you make it much easier for them to determine whether a deal with you will be profitable for them. Anything you can do to make the process easier for them is a point in your favor!

Don't forget internal links

I encouraged you to link to your own older posts, and here's another good reason. Every time a reader clicks from a new post to an older one, you just scored another pageview. Your stats just crept up a notch.

The more internal links you use, the longer you keep that fish on the line, and this is often good not just for your readers and for SEO, but also for advertisers. A reader who sees an ad 6 times is more likely to take the bait than a reader who sees it just once, so pageviews matter nearly as much as unique visitors.

What else?

Talk to me. What do you look for in your stats? How do you interpret the info you see?

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Monetize Your Blog, part 7: Make it sticky

kimc — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:33:30 +0000

start here:

If you've been following this series and working the points, you should have a good amount of traffic arriving on your blog now. But what good is a visitor who pops in and leaves, never to be seen again? To benefit from traffic, you've got to make sure you catch the interest of your visitors and give them a reason to stick around for as long as possible. And when they finally do leave, you want them to remember to come back. You need to make a great first impression.

You've got to make your blog sticky.

There are lots of ways to do this, and it should be a never-ending process. You should always seek to make your blog more interesting, more engrossing, stickier. You want visitors to look at the clock, smack their forehead, and be shocked to realize that they just spent 2 hours on your blog!

Here's how:

Fast loading - If it takes too long to load, they may give up before they ever see your beautiful design or your magnificent content. Check how fast your page loads, pare down the java and other scripts to the bare minimum, and don't run too many plugins. How many is too many? Put yourself in your readers' shoes and do your best to balance form and function.
Esthetically pleasing design - If first impressions count, the first glance is the most important of all. If your site is too cluttered or just plain ugly, many of your visitors won't even hang around for the page to finish loading.
Media players - Please, if you really must have one, don't set it to auto-play. I don't think I'm alone when I say nothing makes me close a page faster than uninvited music. Besides, those players will slow down your load time, and you don't want that, do you?
Landing page - Consider creating a special landing page, where you will direct new visitors, instead of letting them land on the front page and see whatever you happened to post most recently.
Greet new visitors - If you're using WordPress, check out the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin. This lets you put out a virtual welcome mat which is only seen by newcomers, not your regular readers. It's very easy to customize with your own greeting, and if you use it you should definitely take the time to do so.
About page - Make sure your About page is clear and informative. Over time, you'll likely find that this page receives more visits than any other single page or post on your blog except the front page. Make it your best, and update often to keep it...well, up-to-date.
Clear navigation - If you expect people to stay and look around, make it easy for them to find what they're looking for. Navigation should be easy and intuitive. Don't be too quick to try something new and different. Do make sure your visitors have an easy way to contact you (a Contact page with a contact form).
Good post formatting - Make your posts inviting by creating content that is easy to read and easy to scan. It may be a little counter-intuitive, but if you let your reader quickly scan past the content that doesn't interest them, they can more quickly find the content that does. Short paragraphs, bullet points, and headings are all reader-friendly.
Highlight your pillars - Make your very best timeless content easy to find. Consider highlighting these posts in your About page and/or in your sidebar. Impressing casual visitors with the good stuff gives them a reason to stick around and come back.
Photos - Photos are an important part of an aesthetically pleasing design. It takes time to find and insert a good photo, but it's time well spent.
Internal links - Link to your own posts whenever appropriate to encourage readers to dig deeper into your blog. This keeps older posts alive and also improves your search engine ranking, something we'll touch on later in this series. With WordPress, the YARPP plugin will do this automatically at the end of every post, but make sure you work these references into your post as well.
Subscriptions - The best way to make sure your visitors come back is to get them to subscribe to your blog feed. Ask them, remind them, make it easy for them.
Subscribe to comments - Use the Subscribe to Comments plugin or something similar to make sure your commentors come back to a discussion they've participated in.
Be a reader - Take time to think like a reader. Go blog-hopping and ask yourself what you do/don't like about the blogs you visit. How long do you stay on each one, and why? What makes you reach for the little X at the top of the page?

Talk to me. How sticky is your blog? Which of the points above have you tried? Which one do you think would give you the best results if you tried it on your blog? What would you add to the list?

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Monetize Your Blog, part 6: Giveaways!

kimc — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:40:37 +0000

start here:

Have you read all 5 parts in this series so far? I hope so, because this is where it begins to get exciting!

Part 4 mentioned 13 ways to bring traffic to your budding blog, but I purposely left out another highly effective way to generate blog traffic: giveaways! Combined with a product review as in part 5, a giveaway can be hugely exciting for your readers - and for you!

How to host a giveaway

Hosting a blog giveaway doesn't have to be complicated, but you want to do it right. Like a review, you want your giveaway to be beneficial for your readers as a group, because you want them to come back to your blog, and you want them to tell others about your blog. They are the traffic you're working to gain.

You want your giveaway to be beneficial for your winner. If word gets out that the winner didn't receive her gift, or had to follow up 6 times to get it, or had to wait 4 months, or her gift arrived broken and she never received a replacement, who will want to enter your next giveaway?

You want your giveaway to be beneficial for yourself, because the whole reason you're doing a giveaway is to promote your blog.

Last, and perhaps most importantly, you want your giveaway to be beneficial for the sponsor who is providing the gift. A well-run giveaway provides a great return on investment for your sponsor, and that encourages them to provide you with future giveaways.

For your readers:

Choose gifts that are interesting and relevant to your readers. Make sure it's valuable enough to be worth their time and to get them excited about the possibility of winning. Bonus points if it's something they were already thinking of buying.
Ask for one for yourself. When you are hammering out your agreement with the sponsor, offer to do a review in conjunction with your giveaway. This adds credibility to your giveaway because you can personally assure your readers that the gift is worth having!
Make it easy to enter. If it's too complicated or there are too many strings attached, many people simply won't bother to enter - even if the gift is something they really want. Keep it simple.
Give extra entries. This is where you reward those who are willing to go the extra mile. Give an extra entry for posting about the giveaway on their own blog, another if they share it on Facebook, another if they "like" the sponsor's Facebook page. You get the idea. Get your readers to help spread the word and generate more excitement about the giveaway.
Don't forget to wrap it up. If anyone from my personal blog is reading this, they're probably laughing right now. I am so bad at remembering to end my giveaways and choose a winner, I now give an extra entry to the first commentor who reminds me that the deadline has passed.
Thank everyone for entering. Remind those who didn't win this time that their enthusiasm and willingness to participate makes it easier for you to host bigger and better giveaways in the future, increasing the chance that they will win something in one of your giveaways.

For your winner:

Make sure gifts are truly free. No strings attached - no sales tax, no shipping charges, no additional purchase required. A winner should never have to fork out cash to claim a gift.
Make it easy to claim the gift. Not everyone comes back to check every giveaway they enter. Do your best to notify your winner directly, and tell her exactly how to claim her gift.
Mediate if necessary. Some sponsors are slow to respond to winners for one reason or another. Be willing to go to bat for your reader if she needs help, since you have already established a relationship with the sponsor.
Take a hit now and then. Did you forget to mention that the sponsor will only ship inside the US, and now you have a winner in Korea? Offer to pay the extra shipping if the mistake was yours.

For yourself:

Promote your blog. Remember those extra entries you were going to offer? Use this opportunity to promote your blog. Offer an extra entry for anyone who subscribes to your blog, links to you in their sidebar, etc. Be creative!
Make it easy to track entries and choose a winner. Require entrants to leave a separate comment for each entry, then use a random number generator (like Random.org) to pick your winner based upon the number of comments you received.
Turn visitors into readers. We're going to talk about making your blog sticky next. This is the essence of how you benefit from hosting giveaways - or from any new traffic.

For your sponsor:

Drive traffic to them. Show them that your giveaway was worthwhile by driving traffic directly to their site. Example: I often tell entrants to visit the sponsor's website, then leave me a comment saying which product they would choose if they won, or what is their favorite feature. Give them a reason to browse the site and get to know the product(s).
Promote it. Do whatever you can to make sure your giveaway receives plenty of interest. Email your friends and family, asking them to enter. You'll be doing each other a favor! Ask online friends to help you out by mentioning the giveaway. Tweet it, Facebook it, mention it on your favorite message board. Start with your own circle of friends, wherever they may be, and move on from there.
Extra entries help. Remember those extra opportunities to enter? Many of them are directly helpful to your sponsor, but they also serve another purpose. A casual looker might assume that a giveaway with 100 comments had 100 individual entrants. This isn't the case, and I'm not encouraging you to mislead your sponsor, but more entries do suggest and demonstrate a higher level of interest and participation, and this is good news for a sponsor.

A well-run giveaway is very much like a review, whether or not you actually review the gift yourself. Take another look at my tips on requesting free products and creating a review, because most of them apply to giveaways as well. Make it interesting, exciting and easy for your readers, and you are on your way to seeing plenty of new faces around your blog.

Ah, but what next? How can you encourage all those new visitors to come back?

Answer: You've got to make your blog sticky. If that makes you cringe like grape jelly on the kitchen cabinet, you've got some learning to do. Come back for part 7, and learn why sticky needs to be your new best friend.

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Monetize Your Blog, part 5: Getting the goods

kimc — Tue, 17 May 2011 07:04:11 +0000

start here:

Now you have some good content, and you are probably receiving modest but growing traffic. You might not be ready to start advertising in earnest, but it's not too early to start reaping some of the fruits of your labor.

One of the best ways to do this is by requesting products for review on your blog, but proceed with care. Consider your readers, and make sure the reviews you write are relevant to your audience. This is more than just free stuff for you. This is an opportunity to provide more quality content for your readers, and to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between you and a vendor, manufacturer, or publisher. It's a win/win/win situation, and unless you start off requesting $200 worth of electronics, you will seldom hear "no" as an answer.

However, you have to ask if you want to hear "yes." Here are some tips on making your request:

Be brief. Don't give them your life story. Just tell them what you want to review, and why you think they should say yes.
Be realistic. Don't aim too high by asking for expensive goods when you're just getting started. First post some reviews of a few products you already use to get some practice and give examples of your work. Then get started by requesting inexpensive items and work your way up as your blog grows.
Be smart. Target small business owners, little-known or self-published authors, creators of original products that are not yet in the big-name stores. Those who have a smaller advertising budget are more likely to find your offer worthwhile
Be enthusiastic.If you are initiating this contact, chances are you already know a bit about their product and are enthusiastic about it. Be sure to communicate this and explain why.
Be ethical. Don't overcommit, forget, or procrastinate. Reviews can be awkward if you find you don't like the item, but don't leave the sponsor hanging: address problems privately and honestly if you don't feel comfortable doing a negative review.
Include your shipping address. Why make them ask for it? Do whatever you can to streamline the process for them so they are more inclined to say yes.
Use this sample form as a framework for writing your own requests, and get that thing you were already thinking of buying - for free!

Once you have received your first free goodies, you are ready to form an opinion and share it with the world!

Be honest. This is the number one rule. Your readers must know they can trust you, and why would you lie to them? Tell the truth if you weren't entirely thrilled, and help your readers make an informed decision.
Be courteous. I like to offer to let manufacturers preview my reviews before publication. If I can't give a highly positive review, I let them decide whether they prefer my honest opinion or none at all. I don't think it's fair to expect manufacturers to pay for negative reviews by providing free product for me to complain about publicly. This also gives them a chance to correct mistakes on my part, which may affect my final opinion.
Be interesting. Too obvious? I don't think so. Make your reviews appealing, so that manufacturers will see previous reviews and want you to write about their product. Be expressive and enthusiastic. Be specific about what you like. Use photos.
Don't overdo it. If you are choosing relevant, interesting products, your readers will appreciate your reviews. But unless you are trying to establish a review blog (not a bad idea for monetizing!), you need to space your reviews with other content in between.

Are you ready for this? If you have already done reviews on your blog, share a link in the comments. Have you ever requested an item for review? What response did you receive?

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Monetize Your Blog, part 4: 13 Great ways to build your traffic

kimc — Tue, 10 May 2011 07:02:06 +0000

start here:

Part 1: Don’t do it for the money
Part 2: Take your time
Part 3: Get your own domain

You love blogging, and you've been pumping out the content. You put a lot of thought into choosing the right domain and are now blogging at www.myblog.com - or working on getting there.

Now the fun starts. You built it. Now it's time to see if they will come. You're ready to start building traffic in earnest.

There are a million ways to do this and everyone has a different opinion about which ways work best, but here are some of my favorite tried and true methods that won't cost anything but your time.

Write great content. You can't stop here, but you should definitely start with great content. Make it unique, useful, rock-solid. It's not hard to get someone to visit your blog, but you've got to give them a reason to come back to your blog. That's why content comes first.
Be SEO aware, but not obsessed. Learn the basics of Search Engine Optimization so that Google can find your material and point potential readers in your direction. SEO is huge, but don't let it eat you. Don't spend too much time and brain power on it, and certainly don't spend money on it.
Identify the competition. Now cross out the word "competition" in your mind and think of them as allies. Many of the best ways to draw traffic to your blog are related to networking with other bloggers like you, so start getting to know them. Add them to your daily reading list.
Comment on other blogs like yours. This lets you network with other bloggers and with readers, raising general awareness of your blog and getting your name out there. Make sure you leave intelligent comments that contribute to the subject or conversation at hand so others will want to follow your link and see what else you have to say.
Comment on high traffic sites. Again, make sure you have something worth saying and include a link to your blog.
Use social media. Use it yourself to promote your posts: tell friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, etc that you are starting a blog and you would love their help in spreading the word. Share links to your posts there. Encourage your readers to use it. Plugins like Sexy Bookmarks for WordPress - don't let the name scare you - are free and easy to install, and they give your readers a fast easy way to share your posts with their own circle of friends. Because you are writing posts that people will want to recommend to others, right?
Show some link love. This is what people call it when you link to other blogs inside a post of yours. It's a nice thing to do, sending your traffic their way, and they will appreciate it. They might also reciprocate, like when you have a friend to dinner and receive a dinner invitation in return. Even if you don't have much traffic yet, the other blogger will see that you linked to them and probably pop over for a visit. So when you find a great post on someone else's blog (or even a moderately good one), say something about it on your blog. Your readers will appreciate it, the other blogger will appreciate it, and you'll make friends on the web. You'll be increasing the net happiness in the universe.
Write guest posts. Offer to post as a guest on other blogs to help get your name out there. Be sure you give your best so that both you and the host blogger benefit. Make him glad he said yes, and make his readers want to come over to your blog and see what else you have to say.
Publish guest posts. Invite other bloggers to post on your blog as guests. Not only will you do your guest a favor by sending some of your traffic their way, but you'll do your readers a favor if your guest provides solid content (don't accept anything less) and your guest will bring his/her own readers to your blog. Again, everyone is happier.
Participate in group blogging projects and events. Some are privately arranged among a group of bloggers, like the 4 Moms 35 Kids posts that I do with 3 blogging friends every Thursday. Start one with your allies! Others are open invitation, like blog carnivals, Menu Plan Monday, and Works For Me Wednesday. Choose a few lively events in the right topic and jump in!
Interact with your readers. Respond to questions via email or in the comments. Make friends. Engage in conversation. Make your comments a place for fun, lively discussions so that readers will return again and again to the same post to see what's being said.
Add a signature to your email. Place a link to your blog at the bottom of every email you send. Not only will your friends and family be reminded of your blog, but their contacts might see your link if they forward a message of yours.
Make it easy to subscribe. Visitors may enjoy your blog, but don't let them forget about you when they leave. Make sure you have an easy and obvious way for them to grab your feed and/or subscribe by email.

Publicizing your blog and building traffic is a longterm project, but remember to keep writing high quality posts while you are getting the word out about your blog. All of these activities can become addictive and turn into time-wasting traps if you're not careful to stay focused.

up next: Getting the Goods. It's not quite time to start taking ads, but there are still ways to reap material benefits from your blog at this early stage.

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Monetize Your Blog, part 3: Get your own domain

kimc — Tue, 03 May 2011 07:59:29 +0000

start here:
Part 1: Don’t do it for the money
Part 2: Take your time

Well, you are sure you are passionate about blogging. You're not just doing it for the money.

You are ready to start pumping out content - good content, on a subject you really know. Maybe you've already started.

Now it's time to get serious.

GET YOUR OWN DOMAIN

As a serious blogger, its time to move beyond yourblog.wordpress.com or yourblog.blogspot.com. You need to be at www.yourblog.com. This isn't the easiest thing on the web, but it's not too hard either, and it's important if you want complete power over your blog.

Go Daddy is a popular place to buy your domain, but I don't recommend them because they are...well...less than family friendly. Let's just say the founder would get along well with Howard Stern or Hugh Hefner. Maybe they're already friends.

There are plenty of places on the web where you can buy your domain, and it should be less than $10/year. Think carefully about the domain you choose. Make it easy to remember, not too long, and don't let the price tag fool you into anything other than a .com name, because that's where people will look for you.

For the sake of simplicity, you'll probably want to the same company to host your website. We use 1 & 1 Webhosting because it was highly recommended by many of the geeks we know and love in real life. Hosting starts at $24/6 months, and guess what: your domain is free!

Setup isn't difficult, but you definitely have to be computer literate. There are other options but WordPress is our platform of choice for power, customization, flexibility and advertising opportunities. If DIY installation is beyond your abilities, there are at least 3 other ways to get a WordPress blog up and running on your own domain.

One click installation. You can choose a webhost with easy one-click installation for WordPress. Just look for Fantastico in the features. Hostgator is one well known and highly rated option with Fantastico. Packages start at $43/6 months. It's more than 1&1, but still very affordable as a business investment, and you'll be up and running in no time. If you've been using a free blog already, you are tech savvy enough to handle this.
Cut rate webhosts. There are cheaper webhosting options that include Fantastico's one-click installation, but be wary and check reviews. We had a bad experience with a cut-rate webhost, and all of my blogs were down for several days through absolutely no fault of my own. That's when I switched to 1 & 1 .
Geek for hire. Here's one more option: sign up with 1 & 1 , and for $50 I will personally set up your wordpress blog for you on the domain of your choice. It will cost you a little more up front, but your monthly savings will make it worthwhile, and you can have a blog on your own domain up and running in about 48 hours.

Want to try a platform other than WordPress? You're on your own, but you'll be fine. There are plenty of resources out there in the wide world of web. Just do it!

Resources:

Want more detailed info on the whole concept of monetizing your blog? Blueprint For How To Make Money With A Blog will save you months or years on the learning curve with its clear, concise instructions and checklists. It's not free, but neither is your time, and you get both an ebook and an mp3 version for one low price. At under $20, this one will pay for itself many times over in no time at all!

If you're really serious about making money from your blog, consider the $97 quick-start video course from MaxBlogPress, WordPress Wizard 2.0. This extensive series will walk you step-by-step through every facet of creating, promoting and monetizing your new or existing WordPress blog. Don't buy it if you just want to give blogging a try, but if you're motivated and determined, this course will help you speed straight through the learning curve.

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