7 Stairways to Blog Heaven -for newbies wanting to make money

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*NOTE* This article assumes that you already have a ‘widgetizable’ blog. If you are using Google’s blogger, I highly recommend switching to a WordPress blog as they seem to be faster loading as well as being easier to get along with by the search engines.

One thing that you will notice is that I will emphasize over and over again is QUALITY. When I first started this blog I basically had no idea what I was doing. I thought blogs were boring and menial, but that changed as I grew to understand and enjoy writing my own.

Recently, I’ve been asked a lot of questions by folks who are just starting out over on Pat O’Bryan’s Portable Empire Forum. So I decided to share with them a few things they should start to focus on as a newcomer to blogging with the idea of making some money from it. Here are some of the tips I gave them:

1. Social Networking/Social Media Marketing.

If you aren’t using these new ‘democratic search engines’, you are going to be left in the dust in this new age of Web 2.0 and 3.0 SEO tactics. Second Life, MySpace, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, etc. are all cookie jars of potential traffic you should get your hand in. Create a fun presence that people like and respect. World famous Internet Marketer Marlon Sanders is a good example. I call him the “Mad Scientist” of Internet Marketing. Just watch a few of his videos and you’ll see what I’m talking about. But aside from his sometimes zany personality, Marlon has been in the game for a long time and has created oodles of wealth for others with his seemingly endless stream of knowledge.

2. QUALITY daily posts and content updates.

Content is king and quality content that is generated by self (not stolen or copy/pasted ad hoc from another site) that appears daily on your blog is king. Duplicate content is trackable and the search engines can tell who posted what first. I’ve made this mistake myself in the search to provide content. Original, unique and insightful blog posts are king, and writing them can be chore. You have got to be learn to believe in yourself and reach deep to think of ways to innovate and bring something to the table that people can’t easily find elsewhere.

3. Post QUALITY comments on other blogs, sites and forums.

Try to add something to the discussion. Drop some knowledge and be recognized as an authority in your niche. Better not to make a junk comment and wait until you have something to add. Yes, be a blog rockstar, but be genuin, friendly and helpful.

4. Share the Link-Love.

David Ledoux in his epic traffic generating post called “7 Sexy Blogs I read everyday” demonstrated how to do this. You can also blogroll relevant links. Embedding videos is a good way to add content and spiff up your posts while providing link-love. Providing links to others is a good way to get them to link back to you.

5. Write QUALITY articles for other blogs as a guest writer, as well as submit articles to article websites.

Joint Venture with other bloggers to provide content. You can write a free article for them and vise-versa. You can also submit articles to article database websites. Articles are a great way to promote yourself and get traffic. Always write relevant to your niche with your own personality and flair.

6. Create and offer freebies as well as do contests for your visitors.

You can create and offer free ebooks, other products (free ‘ecourse’ via email). You can also create subscription services (like a membership service with an audio CD a month sent by snail mail). Use an opt-in provider like Aweber or GetResponse to capture email addresses and build what is called a list. Purchase Pat O’Bryan’s book: “Your Portable Empire- How To Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love.” as he is the master of how to ethically build a list. Keep in mind that you can offer your ebooks and products as free bonuses for other people’s products and services. Just make sure you embed them with links to your blog.

7. Monetize with new (what I call) “link-love” services like ScratchBack.

Besides being an awesome way to make money, It allows you a way to get tips and “give back” links* or images* in return.

Name your price on the tips, and you earn money from every interaction through their easy to use system that’s completely automated. It’s a free to sign up service, and you can have a TopSpot widget on your website or blog in minutes.

Blessings, Carl

P.S.- BONUS: If you have a WordPress blog, click HERE to check out “7 Crucial WordPress Hacks: Video Tutorials”.

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