Moneblogging: Make Money from your Blog

Blog Review: Correr Es Mi Destino

2007-07-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

Correr es mi Destino: translated from Spanish means "to run is my destiny." This title comes from a Manu Chao song : "Clandestino," a personal favorite of the author.

The blog itself details the life and times of Zhu, a self proclaimed world citizen and avid traveler. Originally from France, she now lives in Ottawa, ON. She blogs about traveling, politics, hockey, and other random occurrences in her life. She does so with conviction, in that her posts are often emotional and grab the reader's attention.

Here are examples of some posts that caught my eye:

I don't feel it would be right to critique this blog based on Moneblogging principles, as Zhu is clearly not interested in blogging for money. Her blog contains no advertisements. She writes from her heart and that is evident in the length and quality of her posts. The blog does seem to have a significant amount of traffic, however, which could lead to revenue if she so chose.

In addition to the quality of her content, she is also excellent at networking with other bloggers. She has commented on my blogs several times prior to this review, so I have become more familiar with her blog. I have also heard her name come up several times in the blogosphere in a similar context.

My advice: Keep it up, Zhu. You love to write and are good at captivating your audience. If you ever feel like making money from your blog, I'll be here to help.

"A rolling stone gathers no moss."

The ABCs of Moneblogging

2007-07-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

A – Advertisements – The primary means by which blogs make money (Ex: Google Adsense).

B – Blogger.com – A commonly used blogging medium, allowing anyone with a computer and internet connection (minus some people in China I’ve heard) to get on the web and start blogging.

C – Content – The driving force behind any blog. Write content that your audience finds interesting and captivating. This includes Pillar Content, mentioned later.

D – Dough. Serious Dough. That’s what you’ll be making by implementing these tactics strategically and efficiently.

E – Efficiency – Avoid writing articles that carry on for too long, which lose the reader’s attention. The more time one spends on your blog, the better.

F – Formatting – Make your blog look appealing to the eye. Use colors that flow well and avoid cluttering in your sidebar.

G – Goal setting – Set modest, achievable goals for both the short term and long term. To start, one could comment on 5 other blogs per day or gain 10 figures in Google Page Rank.

H – Headlines – Important because they must capture the readers attention. These are also important for Search Engines. Be sure to have key words in your headlines.

I – Independent Income – There’s something to be said for making a buck for oneself the hard way. When it pays off, the feeling is combination of gratification and motivation, with a hint of arrogance.

J – Jimi Hendrix. I listen while blogging. Others included here are Tool, Atmosphere, Jedi Mind Tricks, Air, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, among others.

K – Key Words – Used for optimizing searches. They consist of major (key) words that persist in the title of your articles and text.

L – Lingo – Know your Moneblogging vocabulary (e.g. SEO, Alexa Rank, Google Index, etc.) so you be able to carry on conversations regarding your work.

M – Marketing and Monetization – Two of the most important concepts in moneblogging. Marketing, combined with good content, will produce traffic. Traffic, in turn, produces revenue. Monetization involves incorporating advertisements onto one’s blog, allowing it to make money.

N – Networking – Establish contacts with other bloggers and get them to link to your site, provided you link to theirs. One could even offer to exchange reviews of each other’s blogs.

O – Opportunity – Seize the Day. If an opportunity arises, such as a free blog review or otherwise, act on it immediately.

P – Pillar Content – Articles or other such content that draw attention because of their quality and value, in turn generating links, comments, and other such attention. Ex: Top ten lists, pod cast, video, how to article, etc.

Q – Quality – I cannot emphasize this enough: write quality content. The rest flows from this.

R – Revenue – Generated mainly through advertisements, but one could also charge to review other’s blogs, once the blog has enough traffic.

S – SEO or Search Engine Optimization – the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

T – Time Management – Key to avoiding burnout. Don’t forget you have other priorities in your life; think forward so as to manage them efficiently.

U – Unique – A key characteristic of blogs, in that they are inherently dynamic and tend to move up faster in ranking than standard web pages. Learn more here.

V – Victory – Achieved through successful implementation of these principles.

W – Word Press – A commonly used web interface system for blogs with their own domain name. The templates are customizable and are available in several varieties.

X – Xenu – In Scientology, Xenu was the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. If there are any questions regarding validity of this statement, just ask Tom Cruise about it and he will confirm this information.

Y – Yes – The answer to the question “Can I do this?” It takes time, creativity, and hard work, but that’s what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. The former goes the extra mile.

Z – Zen – Get in the zone and act on the moment. Go out and get ‘em!

Pinkhatseo.info review

2007-07-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Next Review: Pinkhatseo.info

This is a newly established blog from Danielle, essentially a continuation of Pink Reviews from the previous post. Her new setup allows her more options for customization of her site and allows her to have a verifiable Alexa rank. As it is a new site, the Google and Alexa rank are relatively low. This will change drastically with time.

The content and monetization are about the same as Pink Reviews. What Danielle now needs to work on is marketing her blog through SEO and so forth, in which she is well versed.

Pink Reviews Review

2007-07-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the first blog review from moneblogging:

Pink Reviews, formerly shopautodotca seocontest

Pink Reviews was formerly shopautodotca seo contest, an SEO contest to promote used cars and their used car classifieds. The contest was sponsored by ShopAuto.ca, whose Google and MSN indexes jumped significantly as a result.

At the contest's culmination, the author, Danielle, started her Pink Reviews blog. This maintained the links she acquired through the previous contest, a very smart and clever tactic. Currently, the blog has a google index of 478; the Alexa rank is unavailable.

The content at Pink Reviews is somewhat random, containing information about ways to make money from one's blog (much like moneblogging) and random videos or articles that have sparked the author's interest. My favorite page was the Power of Schmooze Awards, which encourages and rewards blogger interaction through comments and links.

Pink Reviews is well monetized and marketed well, thanks to her Google rank. Danielle does need to work on getting more quality content up and establish more pillar articles. This will propell the blog forward in the future.

Alexa Page Ranking System: What is it?

2007-07-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Alexa page rank system measures a website's popularity by ranking it according to traffic volume. The most popular website on the internet (currently yahoo.com) is given an Alexa rank of 1, the second is given a 2, and so on. One stipulation, however: in order to obtain traffic measurements, one must be using an Alexa Tool Bar. Thus, it is impossible for Alexa to monitor all traffic coming into your site. Alexa is updated frequently (every 3 days or so) ensuring an accurate measure of a website's popularity.

In comparison, the google rank of a web page is determined by the number and quality of inbound links to that web page. Therefore, a higher google rank is better. Also, Google rankings typically take around 1-2 weeks to update (based on my experience).

Free Blog Reviews from Moneblogging

2007-07-10T16:17:00.002-07:00

To ecourage general discussion, I am offering free blog reviews to anyone that emails me with such a request. These reviews are absolutely free, and will be judged honestly based on moneblogging criteria (i.e. monetization tactics, content, etc.). Please note that text links back to your site will also be added and the content of the review will be published on this blog. This opportunity will not last forever, but for now, take advantage.

Time Management, Simplified: How to Be Productive With No Worries

2007-07-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you have several blogs you are constantly updating. Maybe you are blogging while still maintaining a full time job or while in college. Maybe you're in some crazy situation that I haven't even thought of. Either way, time management is key to a productive and organized workday. It allows one to not only organize ones actions and goals, but it also prioritizes them. The following article details these elements.

This guest post was written by Leo Babauta of the Zen Habits blog.

I’m a big fan of Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen, and adopted the system wholeheartedly a year and a half ago. This year, I’ve written a number of posts on GTD, but one of my habits is to take whatever I do and try to simplify it.

Slowly, I’ve been reducing my time management system (based on GTD) to its barest minimum.

And you know what? It’s not only simpler, I’ve found that it’s so much more productive, less hassle, and more stress-free than the official GTD system, or even other time-management systems I’ve tried.

Before I get into simplification, let’s look at the main elements of GTD:

Capture - write everything down as you think of it.
Process - process your notes and inboxes, putting everything in its appropriate place.
Contexts - break your to-do list into several lists based on the context you’re in and what you can actually do right now.
Projects - Anything that takes more than one physical action is a project.
Workflow - This is really fluid in GTD … you can do whatever tasks right now that your context, time or energy allow. Basically, you decide what to do from moment to moment.
Weekly Review - This is the key to GTD — making sure you have everything in your system, and that it’s in the right place. By reviewing it weekly, you can ensure that you are in working order.
Tickler - A way to remind yourself about things coming up. Allen suggests using a system of folders, 12 for the months and 31 for the days of the month (43 total).
Filing - He recommends a simple alphabetical system, easy to use so that you actually file right away.
Someday/maybe & waiting on - Two additional lists that are very useful for parking projects you don’t plan to do now and for following up on stuff you’re waiting for from other people.
Goals - Not very emphasized in GTD — it does talk about higher altitudes, where you look at things like goals, and those should be done during the Weekly Review, but it doesn’t seem very important to the main thrust of GTD, which is more focused on daily actions.

Those are the basics — there are other stuff, but I think I’ve outlined the system fairly well. And let me say — it works very well, and if you adopt this system you will most likely become more productive (unless you focus (obsess) too much on the tools and keep revising your system instead of getting things done).

Simplifying the System
As you can see, GTD is a lot of things to implement and keep track of, which is why the Weekly Review is so necessary. But it can be made simpler, and by doing so, you will reduce what you need to do and the time you spend maintaining the system. Here’s how:

Reduce your tasks. My philosophy with everything is this: before you organize, reduce. If you only have three things to organize, instead of 20, you actually don’t need to organize. How can you apply that to time management? Reduce what you need to do. You can eliminate tasks, delegate them, postpone them, get out of commitments. For more on this topic read posts I’ve written elsewhere: on Zen Habits, FreelanceSwitch, and Lifehack.
Capture. I think this is one of the most valuable tools of GTD. Write down ideas as they come to you, tasks that you need to do, before you forget about them. Get it out of your head. I carry around a small Moleskine pocket notebook and write things down in that.
MITs. Of all the stuff you need to do, which are the three Most Important Tasks (MITs) you need to do today? Write those on the top of your little notebook (or on your computer) and only those. Those are the three tasks you are going to focus on. Single-task and don’t get distracted from them. If you get only these three things done today, you’ve been very productive.
Batch process. Besides your MITs, there are a lot of little tasks you need to do throughout the day. Don’t let them interrupt the more important stuff. To be more productive, batch them up and do them all at once, preferably towards the end of the day. Batch like things together — do all your email once a day, at 4 p.m., instead of throughout the day. Do all your paperwork at once. Process your physical inbox to empty. Don’t do them throughout the day. I keep a little list of batch process tasks at the bottom of my notebook page (MITs are at the top).
Goals. I think goals are very important. But having too many can cause you to lose focus, and you’ll end up not doing any of them. Instead, use a simple goal system: choose one goal to focus on this year, and a smaller sub-goal of your one-year goal to accomplish in 6 months. Then choose a smaller sub-goal to accomplish within the next week or two, and each day, work towards that short-term goal. Your MITs for today should include at least one task to move you forward towards your short-term goal. Focus on one goal, not many, and you will make it happen.

That’s it. That’s about as simplified as you can get while still getting stuff off your mind. This system allows you to focus on what’s important, to limit your workload to something a bit more sane, and to increase your effectiveness by focusing less on the busy work and more on the high-powered tasks.

Some notes on my simple system:

Actions Speak Louder Than Words In Fiction And Life

2007-07-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

The following is an essay regarding methods of drawing in readers and keping them interested in the content you write. The original context for the article is courtesy www.evolvingtimes.com and can be found here.
____________________________________________

I’m not one of Mark Joyner’s “test-monkeys” for his new 7-day Business Turnaround program. I was disappointed (though not surprised, as you’ll see) when I saw the list. But I am also grateful for the important lesson I learned from this experience. It seems that sometimes not getting what you desire can lead to the discovering of something even more important.

Last week, after submitting my audition, I was reminded of a key creative writing lesson: “Show, don’t tell.” Most beginning writers, and many not so beginning writers, fall into the trap of “telling” their readers what’s happening rather than leading their readers into an experience by describing the key elements in the scene. In most cases, when a reader is “shown” what is happening, the impact is more powerful and memorable.

Compare the following two examples:

Example 1.

Johnny went to the convenience store to buy a drink. He was feeling exhausted as he walked to the soda case at the back of the store. He got a soda and walked to the checkout counter. The cashier rang him up. Johnny paid and went outside and took a big sip.

Example 2.

It was dusk by the time Johnny finished work and made it to the 7/11. With the light fading outside, the flickering of the fluorescent bulbs overhead was immediately apparent. Johnny walked the familiar path to the drink case in the back, the same path he took every day at this time. He reached out, resting his hand on the refrigerator handle, while deciding if this was a Mountain Dew or a Coke night. After a moment he realized that he was no longer looking at the drinks, but staring down at the floor, his whole body leaning against the refrigerator door.

Which one draws you in more?

All right, this is a bit of an extreme example. But you get the idea.

When you show readers what is happening you give them the opportunity to enter the scene. You open a door for them to step into the world you are creating. And, most important, you allow them to become the co-creator of that world with you.

A writer can never fill in all the details of the world he or she is creating. And that’s a good thing because it leaves space for the reader to enter into the process of creation. The reader gets to flesh out all the details that you, the writer, leave out.

This creative writing lesson can be applied to the Law of Attraction in life as well.

It is often said that the Universe is our co-creator. Well what if we used the metaphor of writing? It’s not a stretch to say that each of us is the author of our life and the Universe is our reader.

Every time we become aware of a desire we have the choice of showing or telling the Universe what it is that we want.

We “tell” our desires through visualization, setting intentions, stating affirmations, creating vision boards, etc.

We “show” our desires by taking the specific, focused, actions that will make them happen.

The speed with which desires manifest in our lives depends on the clarity of the desire and the intensity of the energy fueling that desire.

Telling tends to have a low emotional/vibrational intensity. Most of us are not yet able to generate and sustain a significant level of intensity through telling – visualizing, intending, etc.

Whereas taking consistent, focused physical action does tend to generate a significant amount of intensity.

The Universe is just like a reader: It wants to be brought into the scene of your desire. It wants to be brought into the act. And it wants to experience the emotional/vibrational intensity of action.

When the Universe is brought into the active, high intensity, creation of your desire, there really is no stopping it!

But when we get stuck at the level of telling there is rarely enough intensity to catalyze the manifestation of your desire.

This lesson was driven home in a powerful way last week.

When I heard that Mark Joyner was going to choose 7 people to work with, one-on-one for a pre-launch test of his new Business Turnaround program, I was totally jazzed. I really wanted to be chosen. So I “told” the Universe.

And then I sat around and twiddled my thumbs for two days waiting for the “inspiration” that would help me create the perfect audition.

Well the inspiration never came. That happens sometimes.

So, on Wednesday morning, the day the audition was due, having done nothing other than think about what I was going to write and say, I hiked up to a quiet spot in one of my favorite parks, and recorded a five-minute video using my digital camera. Then I hiked down, went to a café, filled out the application form and submitted it.

The instant that I pushed that submit button I knew I had screwed up!

Think about it. If you’re Mark Joyner, someone who can probably charge $1000/hour or more as a business consultant, and you invite people to audition to get 7-days of focused, one-on-one attention to rapidly grow their business, are you going to choose someone that throws together a quick video and dashes off some answers to the questions? Or, are you going to choose people who clearly have put some serious thought, time and effort into their audition?

Exactly!

Now take it a step further: Imagine that you’re the Universe. And you’ve got a library of more than 6-billion “books” to read even as they are in the process of being written. Are you going to be more interested in the books that are telling you what they want? Or are you going to pay more attention to the books that are showing you what they want?

Here’s the bottom line: If you really want something, show the Universe that you’re serious. Give the Universe the opportunity to become your co-creator.

The doorway to co-creation doesn’t open by telling. It only opens through showing, through action.

If you show the Universe that you’re going to create this desire, with or without its assistance, then the Universe really starts to pay attention. And that’s when things start to hum!

25 Action Words for Writing a Newsworthy Headline

2007-07-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

The original text for this article is courtesy www.blog.prleap.com and can be found here.

Think about the following article in the context of your blog. It gives some solid information regarding words to utilize when writing a headline for a press release, which can be an important part of marketing your blog. This information is also important for search engine optimization and readability purposes.

Use action words to craft a newsworthy headline. Seek words that communicate the news value of the story. The following is a list of 25 action words and 25 sample headlines from the pressrooms of Apple Computers, Yahoo!, Google, IBM and T-Mobile:

Announces - Apple Announces iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition
Launches - Google Inc. to Launch Transferable Stock Option Program for its Employees*
Acquires - Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock*
Introduces - Apple Introduces MacBook Pro
Releases - Google Releases 2006 Google Earth Election Guide*
Unveils - Apple Unveils Mac mini with Intel Core Duo
Appoints - Yahoo! Appoints Jill Nash Chief Communications Officer
Celebrates - Google Celebrates Geography Awareness Week with New Innovations for Google Earth*
Enters (enters into agreement) - Fox Interactive Media Enters Into Landmark Agreement with Google Inc.*
Opens - Yahoo! Search Marketing Platform Opens Online Sign-up for New Customers
Ships - Apple Ships Final Cut Studio 5.1
Signs - IBM Signs IT Services Agreement With Scotiabank Mexico
Makes - Yahoo! Makes Strategic Investment in Right Media
Participates - Google Code Jam 2006 Programmers Worldwide Invited to Participate in Google’s Fourth Annual Global Coding Competition*
Showcases - Yahoo! Showcases Internet Time Capsule at the Site of One of the World’s Oldest Communities
Joins - The University of Virginia Library Joins the Google Books Library Project
Expands - Yahoo! Go for Mobile Now Available for Windows Mobile Devices; Expands Reach of Service to Millions of Windows Mobile Devices Globally
Adds - Google Adds New Features to the Google Toolbar for Firefox
Now - CBS’s “CSI” & “Survivor” Now Available on the iTunes Music Store
Hosts - Seattle Hosts Top High-School Basketball Teams in First-Ever T-Mobile Invitational
Closes - Google Closes Acquisition of YouTube*
Issues - Google Inc. to Issue 5,300,000 Shares of Class A Common Stock*
Presents - Google to Present at the Goldman Sachs Seventh Annual Internet Conference*
Reports - Apple Reports First Quarter Results
Partner(s) - Helio and Yahoo! Partner to Offer Mobile Access to Internet Services; Relationship Includes Comprehensive Integration of Yahoo!’s Properties Throughout Helio’s 3G Service

26 is a Bonus

Tests - Google and Viacom’s MTV Networks to Test New Online Video Distribution Model*

Stop Words

Spam filters are automatically triggered when certain words are used in the subject line of an email. You can confirm this by observing how many emails in your Junk folder are from the bestoffering new and amazing health products!

Use alternative action words for “New” and “Offers (to offer)” whenever possible.

Punctuation marks like periods, exclamation points and question marks are typically used in advertisements and articles. News headlines almost never include punctuation marks.

2 Key Principles for Monetization

2007-06-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

In terms of monetizing your blog, we are operating under this principle:

Content + Marketing = Traffic.

This point is discussed previously in Moneblogging Basics: Content and Marketing. In other words, the number of viewers/readers of your blog is a function of your marketing methods and quality of content. This brings us to our next monetization principle:

Traffic = Revenue

Thus, the more physical viewers you have, the chances of a successful advertisement venture (click, lead, sale, etc) increase, leading you to make more money. Utilize these principles and you will be well on your way to being a successful moneblogger.

Adsense Overview for blogger.com

2007-06-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent overview of how to place adsense into your blog:

Add AdSense, Make Money!
Blogger provides a simple way for you to make money with your blog. AdSense is Google's content-targeted advertising program. This means that you do not select keywords or categories for your ads. Instead, Google's servers determine what your posts are about and display the most relevant ads to your readers. So, if you blog about baseball, there might be ads for Major League Baseball memorabilia next to your post. If you blog about painting, there might be ads for art supplies.
[source : Blogger.com]

Putting Google AdSense on Your Blog
You can place AdSense on your (blogspot) blog quickly and easily. Follow these steps:

1. Sign-In to your blogger.com account

2. Go to the Template tab and you'll see an "AdSense ads" tab below it:

3.If you don't have an AdSense account already, you can sign up for it right here within Blogger. Just enter a valid email address, choose a password, fill in some contact information (so you can get paid!) and then Blogger will register your account for you right away. If you do have an account already, just use the "sign in" link instead.

Once you've completed the sign-up form, or logged in to an existing account, you'll see a special preview version of your template, showing your blog as it will look with your new ads:

4. Using the menus above the preview, you can easily change the size, shape, and color of your ads, without ever needing to edit the code directly. The color menu has some preset color schemes, but also some flexible options that try to match, contrast, or blend with whatever template you happen to be using. Try them all out and see which setting works best.

5. Once you've decided how you'd like it to look, just save the changes and republish your blog. Then go check your email.

While you were deciding on layouts and colors, you probably received a confirmation email from AdSense. Find that email and click on the link it gives you to confirm your email address. Be sure to read the rest of the confirmation email as well, since it will contain other information on finishing the registration and approval process.

Note :Until your email address is confirmed and your AdSense application is approved, your ads will only show public service announcements (PSAs) rather than targeted ads. Since you don't get revenue from PSAs, you'll want to be sure to do this soon, so the AdSense bot can crawl your site and determine appropriate ads to show.

And now you're done! Congratulations -- you've got AdSense!

To take full advantage of other AdSense options and settings, you can sign in to the AdSense site and have a look around. That's where you can see how much money your ads are earning and all that good stuff.

What makes a Blog Unique?

2007-06-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

So what separates blogs from webpages? Here are some ways:

Chronological listing of pages - Pages are listed in chronological order, starting with the most recent post first.
Blogs are free to setup - If you use blogger.com or another similar site, anyone can get online and start writing for free.
Blogs are easy to use - One doesn't have to worry about the technical aspects you would using a normal website, such as html, java, etc. It is only an issue when you need to develop additional features to you blog, in which case most hosting sites have step by step instructions on how to proceed.
Blogs are inherently dynamic - Newly updated content keeps readers interested on a day to day basis, whereas a website is traditionally more static. This results in a blog's page rank status to climb faster and higher than a typical website.
Comments - The ability to leave comments is also unique to blogs. This allows for increased interconnectedness between bloggers, resulting in increased traffic and interest.
Blogs can be trusted sources of information - Whereas a typical website is more concerned with the public image of a company or product, a blog creates a dialogue that is intrisically genuine, and thus trusted.

This information allows one to use the strengths of a blog to his/her advantage, e.g. if you just started blogging, you will know to publish content frequently to increase your page rank and that you can be seen as an authority figure on a certain subject (with the right content).

Moneblogging Basics: Monetizing your Blog

2007-06-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Thus far, we have reviewed content, marketing and choosing a blog. Now it is time to put the physical moneymaking items in place. Traditionally, you are acting as an affiliate (middle man) in a marketing scheme, in which an advertisement agency pay you to host their ads. These advertisement items accrue money in different ways.

Here are some examples of affiliate marketing methods

Pay Per Click (PPC) - Accrues money when an individual clicks on your advertisement.
Pay Per Lead (PPL) - Accrues money when a lead is generated for the advertisement. Usually, the person is required to enter their information to the advertiser's system to obtain revenue.
Pay Per Sale (PPS) - Commission based. Accrues value when someone buys the product or service.
Pay Per Impression - Acrues money when an individual views the web page with the advertisement in question. This is a rare feature in advertising.

Next, you have to choose an advertising agency/company's products you can display on your website. While I don't currently have much advice to give you on this subject, Google Adsense seems to be a simple and effective way to start. It uses the PPC method, and contours the ads presented to the content of you pages.

Here are some Affiliate references:

This is a place to start your search for affiliates. There are countless agencies available, so choose wisely.

Moneblogging Basics: 10 Ways to Market your Blog

2007-06-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

We've established how select a blog and determined that content is key. We now must fill the other part of the equation, marketing. Here are 10 ways to successfully market your blog:

Create a marketing plan - identify your audience, plus how you will reach them. There are several resources out there for this, here are a few:

Time your marketing correctly - wait until a you have established a certain number of Pillar articles (10 is good) to give your potential readers something to indulge in.
Start Small - Tap into smaller communication channels first, creating links back to your site. These should eventually yield some greater attention from a site with greater traffic, if done frequently over an extended period of time.
Format your Blog Correctly - This entails modifying your blog application settings: Be sure to enable comments, post pages, site feeds, etc. If you have a blogger.com account, this information is available here.
Comment Marketing - Make it a goal to post on others blogs several times each day. Be sure to put in your blog URL when posting, as it is not always required.
Utilize Social Networking Sites - MySpace, Friendster, Ryze, Facebook, etc. are all ways in which you can discuss your ideas with others and draw attention to yourself.
Utilize Social Bookmarking Sites - Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit, and Del.icio.us are also ways to increase traffic, given that readers are interested in your content.
Network with peers - In addition to leaving comments, try and establish relationships with fellow bloggers. Start out with an email and go from there.
Put your blog address in you email signature - This gives people access to your blog whenever you email them. Though a small communication channel, it's a place to start.
Advertise your blog or pay for reviews - Though there are more creative and cheaper ways to go about doing this, you may not have the time. There are scams out there, so be wary of offers that seem to good to be true.

Moneblogging Basics: Pillar Content

2007-06-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

The following information is presented from Yaro Starak's Blog Profit Blueprint and this article at www.dailyblogtips.com.

Pillar content is what separates your blog from others. Essentially, they are articles or other such content that draw attention because of their quality and value, in turn generating links, comments, and other such attention.

Characteristics of Pillar Content:

Have interesting, bold content.
Generates new readers
Increases traffic through search engines and social networking sites (if you have marketed correctly)
Generates backlinks to the site from fellow bloggers
The subject matter is withstanding in time, meaning that the Pillar will most likely be relevant a year or two down the road. Readers will thus still be interested in it.
They are generally more difficult to produce, in that they take more time and thought.

Examples of Pillar content:

Free Reports
Theory or Argument
Article of Controversy
Definition Article
How to Article
Podcast or Video
New and exciting ideas

Moneblogging Basics: 7 Ways to Write Stellar Content

2007-06-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Review: We've established that writing good content is essential to the success of a blog. Good content is usually compelling to the reader, making them feel attached or otherwise interested in what you have to say.

How is good content achieved? I found 7 major ways thus far:

Coin a term or phrase e.g. "moneblogging." This makes your blog/site unique.
Blog about a topic you care about and/or have knowledge in. This not only stimulates an interesting (and accurate) discourse, but also aids in motivating one to write more. For more information on choosing a blog, click here.
Write "Pillar Content," or content that attracts a multitude of new readers and backlinks (bloggers linking to the article). Examples of these are top ten lists, free reports, a "how to" article, etc. For more information, click here or visit Yaro Starak's website at www.entrepreneurs-journey.com.
Be brief, yet informative. Paragraphs that trail on too long lose the reader's attention, causing them to navigate away from your site.
Include a symbolic, funny, or otherwise appropriate photo for your post. This helps liven things up a little. See the example in this post.
Use correct punctuation and sentence structure. Also, spell words correctly. This is generally more pleasing to the reader.
Organize your content and present it in an according manner. Again, it is not only pleasing to the eye, but helps to keep focus on your topic. Take this blog for example. The information starts of basic, explaining the basics of moneblogging (as I learn them) and working to more complicated topics.

Please note: These are general rules of thumb, and there are exeptions to every rule. Use common sense when determining the content and layout of your blog.

Moneblogging Basics: Content and Marketing

2007-06-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Based on research thus far, this seems like a good foundation of knowledge to start moneblogging:

To be a successful moneblogger, you must learn to master two important concepts: content and marketing. Here they are defined, relevant to blog promotion:

Content - the physical words, sentences, and syntax that comprises your website/blog
Marketing - tactics used to increase the traffic and/or the popularity of your website/blog. Ex.: blog commenting, utilization of social networks.

These skills are intrinsically inseparable: without good content, you can have an excellent marketing scheme, however no one will want to read what you write. Conversely, if you have excellent and dynamic content with no marketing, your blog will go unrecognized.

This raises two important questions:

What makes good content?
How do I market my blog successfully

These questions will be addressed in the near future.

Moneblogging Basics: How do I chooose a blog topic?

2007-06-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most crucial elements in getting a blog rolling. In terms of moneblogging, where you intend to market your blog and eventually profit from it, it is a careful balance between your desires and the monetary capabilities of those ideas/desires.

Here are some tips for choosing a Blog Topic:

Choose a topic that interests you. Whereas content is the driving force behind one's blog, and whereas one is more inspired to frequently write good content on a topic that interests him/her, one is therefore more likely to be a successful moneblogger when writing about a topic of interest to them.
Find a niche for your idea. This entails researching similar blogs to yours, and selecting an idea/topic that is not yet addressed to fill that void. Example: Say I was to choose to create a Hiking Blog. There is no doubt several blogs already dedicated to this topic. There may be fewer blogs, however, on "Hiking the Pacific Northwest" or more specifically, "Hiking in Washington." Here is a look at how some other ideas could break down, some reasonable, some not :

Dancing - Exotic Dancing - Strippers and a Strip Clubs in Seattle
Collectors - Doll Collectors - My Little Pony Collectors - My Little Pony Collectors of Canton, OH
People - People with Low Self Esteem - Drug Addicts - Hookers
Soccer - FIFA Soccer - English Premier League Soccer - Arsenal Football Club - Thierry Henry
The College Experience - Staying fit in College - Drinking in College - College life at the University of Washington - University of Washington Fraternities

Moneblogging defined

2007-06-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

First thing first, we need a concrete definition for Moneblogging. Here is what I have settled on, based partially on the work of Yaro Starak and his website www.entrepreneurs-journey.com:

Moneblogging - The process by which an individual markets, promotes or otherwise increases the traffic of their blog for the purpose of obtaining revenue or other such recognition.

This definition operates under the assumption that Traffic = Revenue, in that most all of the money you will earn on a website will come from advertisements at a cost per click (cpc), commission, or otherwise. Thus, with more individuals viewing your site, a higher probability of revenue arises.

Introduction to Moneblogging

2007-06-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

I termed "Moneblogging" after doing research on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Affiliate Marketing. Several of my friends have done this, and have had success. I want to give it a whirl, so join me to learn how to master the art of making money online through a blog.

Here is why I started "Moneblogging":

Possibility for Extra Income
I like writing, and am good at it.
My current job lacks intellectual stimulation - try being a "Sales Assistant" sometime, and you will know what I mean.
Interaction with new people and ideas - interesting conversations, creative solutions to problems - sounds like fun to me.