Book Review: Start Your Own Blogging Business
Date: Saturday June 27, 2009Posted in: Book Reviews & Lists, Building a Blog with Traffic
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Start Your Own Blogging Business
by by Entrepreneur Press, J.S. McDougall
Pros:
- Excellent basic information given in a no-nonsense way.
- Step-by-step organization of your blog plan, something many bloggers fail to do.
- Quick tips given throughout the book.
- Loved the straight-forward, useable information on internet advertising.
Cons:
- Could stand to dive deeper in some subject areas to attract more intermediate bloggers.
Denise’s thoughts: Denfinatly a must-read for the new blogger, or someone who needs to organize their blogging business.
Book Description: Blogs are one of the internet’s fastest-growing phenomena-and one of the best and easiest ways to make money online. Learn how to choose a topic, start a blog and attract thousands of avid readers. Then use your blog to generate income from advertisers, promotions, affiliate links and other techniques-all from your own home.
This book reveals how to:
- Attract visitors and hold their interest
- Entice advertisers to promote their products on your blog
- Earn an affiliate fee when your visitors shop at some of the most popular websites
- Promote your blog and get listed on top blog search engines
Successful bloggers reveal their expert strategies for maximizing profits. Pick up this book and get started on the road to riches-without leaving your desk!
The Pros and Cons of Blogging While Watching Your Children
Date: Friday June 19, 2009Posted in: Blogging Tips, Working From Home, Working Moms
Being moms, we have kids – it’s part of the definition. Watching our kids doesn’t take all of our brains, all of the time. But is it true that if your brain is otherwise occupied, your kids will need you? Sometimes. Therein lies our quandary for our pros and cons list: Should you blog while watching your kids?
I am pro blogging while kids run around behind me, crawl over me and sing. I have written some of my best posts/web articles while doing all of those things. I know to be productive I need to work. My kids do not have off switches, so trying to tell myself that I will do it later ‘when I have more time’ is a joke. At the end of the day, I feel good about what I have been able to accomplish, even when it was hectically completed. I also feel good about watching my kids and singing along with them.
As for the con of this issue, if you are unable to think and well, sing with your child at the same time, you are going to have a hard time blogging while watching your children. Also, some feel that taking away your attention from your child with hurt them developmentally. I’ll agree that, you do have to work more slowly, checking and rechecking grammar and spelling and checking and rechecking that your preschooler isn’t in the cookie jar. You may even lose your sanity from time to time.
If you are an organized person and your child takes naps or lets you have some time each day, then blogging while watching your child is not something you have to do. If you are like the other 90% of us, take it slow. Make a list of small tasks for your blog, pop in a Kids Bop CD and start multi-tasking! lala…
Blog Posting Ideas: Writing a Pros and Cons Post
Date: Friday June 19, 2009Posted in: Uncategorized
No matter what your blog is about, there is some issue you can find that has a pro and con – the pros and cons of punishment for parenting, the pros and cons of thimble use in hand quilting, the pros and cons of recycling – really, there is no end to this list. But there is a right and wrong way of making a pros and cons blog post, here are some tips to help you get it right:
- Pick a real issue that affects your visitors, unless you are doing a humor post. (Then just make sure it is funny.)
- Pick a side and be honest about your reasoning for taking that side.
- Explain the opposing view of your opinion in a fair manner.
- Support both sides with links to other reliable resources.
My example: The Pros and Cons of Blogging While Watching Your Children
Lists make your informative post:
- Simple to read.
- Scannable for needed information.
- Digestible in small chunks.
- Useable as an example in other blog posts.
- Easier to remember.
- Straightforward by making the writer’s thoughts uncomplicated.
- More actionable.
Did you enjoy my list of things that lists do as a blog post? Tell me about it – or share your ideas in the comments area.
Related Resources Around the Net:
Blog Post Idea: Review Your Favorite Sites
Date: Friday June 12, 2009Posted in: Blogging Tips, Building a Blog with Traffic
Whatever your blog is about, odds are you have found sites that have content you have enjoy about that topic. One excellent idea for a blog post is to review that site(s). Tell all of the things you like about it, deep link into your favorite pages on the site and share the reason why you have it bookmarked. This could turn into a series of blog posts for you. (it may turn into one for me!)
After you post your review, send a note to the webmaster of your reviewed site and let them know with a link to the review. Networking like this will not only bring you pageviews, but also credibility.
Use Bing to Drive Traffic to Your Blog - Just Submit
Date: Thursday June 11, 2009Posted in: Building a Blog with Traffic, Money Saving Tips
Have you taken a look at MSN’s Bing.com? I like it. I also like that someone is actually going to try and compete with the 800-pound gorilla Google. I like Google too, but I’ve been around the Net long enough to remember times when it was Excite.com, Altavista.com and Infoseek.com vying for eyeballs. It made for excellent SEO competition and if you lost a link on Excite’s first page, you still had one in Infoseek… all was not lost as it is when you get bumped off the first page of Google.
Here is my blog listed on Bing. Be sure to submit your website to Bing.com if it isn’t already listed. Once it is, as long as you regularly update and use keywords, it will pick up your new pages and listr you in the results. Here is the submit rules and regulations page.
Did I mention this? Submitting to Bing is free!
What Should the World Know About You? …Or Important Things to Include on Your About Me Page
Date: Wednesday June 3, 2009Posted in: Blogging Tips, Building a Blog with Traffic
Creditability lends itself to making a blog a success. If you aren’t a real person, with real experience in what you are writing about, no one wants to read what you’ve got to say. So here are four things you should be sure to put on your About Me page: (more…)
5 Imperative Places to Put Keywords in Your Articles
Date: Tuesday June 2, 2009Posted in: Blogging Tips, Building a Blog with Traffic
Doesn’t matter if you are writing for blogs or for web sites, your keywords have to show up in certain places in order for search engines to recognize and use them. Here is a list of the five most important places to put your keywords: (more…)
10 Basic Things Moms Need in Their Home Office - Checklist
Date: Sunday May 31, 2009Posted in: Working From Home
Your home office can be a spare room in your home, or the corner of your family room. Wherever you choose to set up your internet business will have some pros and cons to it. Simply weight your options as best as possible. Some of the things you need will differ, but the basics are the same. Here is a checklist to get you started: (more…)
I’ve been reading and reading about trackbacks and I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, we want them. They are hard to explain and I find a little confusing unless you have an example staring you in the face. But I found a really great guest article at problogger.com! Here is a quote:
“You don’t have to know how TrackBacks work in order to use them, you can simply set a post to be able to receive trackbacks and set your blog to send them when you publish new posts. Your blog platform should do all the heavy lifting…” Read the article here.
