Lesson 4: Two Easy Ways To Create Blog Post Ideas…
by Anik Singal on April 21st, 2008 | Blogging | 112 Comments »
Alright, we get this question a LOT and I find that many are afraid of blogging because of this one intimidating question…
“What am I going to write about? I don’t know how to write…”
If you think you’re not a professional writer - PERFECT - blogging is the perfect fit for you. Trust me, I’m no professional writer, but I still manage very successful blogs.
On April 29th, we’re going to release a large video series (blogging A to Z), in that Rosalind and I will go through over 9 strategies that we use regularly to come up with great blog content.
To start, here are TWO of our favorites:
Video #1 - Generating Blog Content Material Doing What You Already Do - It’s EASY!
Video #2 - Using “Google Alerts” To Spark Unlimited Post Ideas…
Click Video To Start Playing…
(Video Will Open In A New Window)
Your Assignment Today:
1. Make ONE sticky note somewhere, a book, magazine, article, website - anything you typically frequent that has good content that gives you good ideas.
2. Sign-up for at least ONE Google Alerts right away.
To re-cap, here are links to the other lessons if you have not done them yet - get to work!
Lesson 1 - How to install your wordpress blog…
Lesson 2 - How to prepare your blog for the search engines…
Lesson 3 - Generating Traffic Through SEO (Long-Tail Keywords)…
LEAVE A COMMENT with a link to the new post you make. We wanna see!
Tags: Blogging, content ideas
Umm…I just noticed my pinky is up before I start talking - sorry about that, NO idea what I was doing (probably making a joke with Andrew before we started).
No, I didn’t need to pee
Anik
[Reply]
Hey Anik,
Is that what you call it? Pinky. Hhhmmm!
[Reply]
Anik Singal reply on April 21, 2008 3:52 pm:
hey, that is NOT the finger you are implying it is, I watched three times to confirm
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 21, 2008 5:10 pm:
He was going to “pick” his nose but the camera
started to soon.
[Reply]
Perhaps this will explain where I got lost: Ros downloads the SEO Plugin from Cheekyo, says wait a minute, then comes back with a page with the header WS_FTP Pro blogclassroom.com I’ve downloaded filezilla to my pc, downloaded the SEO Meta from Cheekyo… but have absolutely no clue how to find the page Ros is on, nor how to upload/ download these files to my blog! http://infomercialjoy.com/InfoJoyBlog/ (which I still can’t find on the ‘net, but is on my Bluehost/Cpanel/Fantastico/WP… what am I doing incorrectly?
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 21, 2008 6:28 pm:
Hey John,
Did you click on the installation link?
Did you fill in all the info it needed?
Did you go into files manager/your blog folder and change
the permissions?
Did you change the Sample-WP-Config file name to WP-Config?
(This auto-installer might have done this step for you.)
Did you get the conformation window?
(That’s the window that takes you to the login window of
your blog.)
Bill
[Reply]
John Leahy reply on April 22, 2008 4:16 am:
Hey, Bill! Thanks for your feedback. After four hours of
searching around (today, plus 3 hrs. yesterday) and trying everything I could think of and still getting nowhere (learned a lot about Bluehost and Wordpress, though), I gave up and watched the 2nd video of the day “Permissions”… AHA! That video should’ve been up First for the pc illiterates like me who know nothing about FTP, etc!. Grrr… Wait’ll I give Ros and Anik a piece of my mind: Ha! Ha! http://infomercialjoy.com/InfoJoyBlog/
[Reply]
I love Google Alerts. They are super helpful to see what the competitors are doing or like you said, seeing what’s said about ya…
[Reply]
Rosalind,
Thanks for another informative video about google alerts. I’ve been using google alerts for the past 6 months and it has been very helpful for me.
Bpaul
[Reply]
Hi Anik,
Do you have a software that you use or recommend that allows us to post to several blogs? If so, what is that software?
Thanks
Leo
http://www.bodymindsuccess.com/nsp (one of my blogs)
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 5:23 pm:
http://infinite-sushi.com/software/ecto/download/
Try this software out ?
Let me know if you like it?
[Reply]
Marsha reply on April 22, 2008 8:51 pm:
Leo,
I have been using Comment Kahuna to
post blog comments.
http://www.commentkahuna.com/commentkahuna.zip
Another good one is BlogFastFinder
[Reply]
I’ve been waiting awhile now and the second video isn’t loading for me. Tried multiple refreshes etc.., but it’s still trying to load.
How big is the video? Others have loading within 5 seconds or less.
Jason
[Reply]
Rachael reply on April 21, 2008 8:08 pm:
Mine took awhile to load properly as well. I went away for 20 minutes and came back and it had fully loaded by then.
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 21, 2008 8:51 pm:
Hey Jason and Rachel,
I’ve got the latest version of Flash and I’m on
a commercial 3 meg DSL Line and ’still’ this video
hung up/paused several times. But with that said
the videos in lesson 3 work perfectly…. must
be a Canada thing…
hehehehe
OH! OH! Am I in DEEP T-R-O-U-B-L-E NOW!!!!
Bill
[Reply]
Jason Michalek reply on April 21, 2008 9:04 pm:
Actually oddly enough I tried in IE first and it didn’t load, but in firefox it loaded just fine lol.
Jason
[Reply]
If you use a rss reader like FeedDemon you can set up watches within so that when you pull up your feeds it picks out the posts that contain the search parameters you put in. I like the Google alerts because the content is going to be greater - its Google!!
Renee
[Reply]
Hi Ros and Anik, I’ve got a ski blog, but decided to blog about Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow 101 game instead, as I didn’t feel inspired to talk about ski trips today. Either way, have been able to follow all your instructions so thanks for that. By the way, I’d actually bought a themed wordpress blog some time back but have not used it yet. Will you cover uploading a themed blog? Yvonne
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 6:54 pm:
Yvonne
Uploading a theme is just like uploading a plugin
Go and download your theme you want and save it some where on your hardrive!
Then open up your FTP software
Goto your blog directory
then wp-content
then themes
Then upload your theme to the themes directory.
After a bit logon to your blog
Click on design you will see your theme you just uploaded under “Available Theme” click on it and then view site and you now have a new theme on your site!
http://www.nichetoprofits.com/blog
Hope this Helps
[Reply]
akento reply on April 29, 2008 3:19 pm:
Luis:
Thanks for your concise review of the WP plugin and theme FTP sequence. One question here: what is the best practice for replacing a theme; is it neccessary to unload a prior theme before uploading a new one?
Thanks for your expertise.
[Reply]
Thank you for the excellent free videos. It is helpful to keep them under 10 minutes each. Also having trouble with Firefox, have to restart the browser to watch the second video. The youtube vid seems to hold on to the computer resources so the flash video won’t load. Suspect Vista problem, again. It is encouraging to see someone successful in this business from my home province of BC. Looking forward to more.
Cheers!
[Reply]
Anik,
Nice Job on the Videos. Two questions -
1) what kind of camera are you using ? Any recommendations if we want to do video blogging ?
2) I see you are using YouTube and Rosyln is using camtasia ? Any particular reason. I am looking at vimeo as its a bit high resolution than youtube ..
Thanks for the posts…
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 7:00 pm:
Fields
Camera is basically your budget!
Youtube is the biggest and the best there are loads of other sites but why not add videos to other video sites too. It can’t hurt to be overexposed? unless you are a bank LOL
Camtasia is such powerful program really is worth the money.
But there is a free one if you want to start out with
http://camstudio.org/
I know I am not Anik answering this but thought I would give my two cents anyway!!
http://www.nichetoprofits.com/blog
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 23, 2008 3:41 am:
I’m not sure if this free offer is this available, but
give it a shot….
Here’s the cut and paste straight from the email:
The process is simple. Grab the downloads and install
them.
Then go to the links mentioned for the license keys,
give them your email address, and they’ll email you
the key needed to unlock the software. (Not limited
trials. Full licenses.)
Camtasia Studio regularly sells for $300. SnagIt is
$30. You get both for nothing.
….
Camtasia Studio download:
http://www.talkbiznews.com/r/camdownload.html
Camtasia Studio Key:
http://www.talkbiznews.com/r/camkey.html
SnagIt Download:
http://www.talkbiznews.com/r/snagitdownload.html
SnagIt Key:
http://www.talkbiznews.com/r/snagitkey.html
Like I said this was from an old email and not sure if
it’s still active.
Bill
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 6:02 pm:
——————————–
EXPIRED:
Due to an internet-wide leak of the Camtasia Studio 3 software that was intended exclusively for PC Plus readers, this offer has unfortunately been withdrawn. However, we encourage you to test out a free 30 day copy of the latest version, Camtasia Studio 5. Thank you for your understanding and interest in TechSmith.
——————————–
Luis:
Good look for CamStudio — its Free.
I’ve tried it out, its ok and does take good video. I’m using Camstasia Studio 5 (trial version) and I LOVE it so far. But I would recommend everyone to check out CamStudio. I’m sure it will get more exposure in the IM scene.
-Anthony
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 26, 2008 6:25 am:
I’ve got the full version of Cam5 ,but every time I try
to record my ugly face the sound dies.
Bill
I just wanted to let you know I’ve been tweaking, one of my blogs the last two days and they say imitation is the finest flattery. So, its generally feels like Ros’s site, but I would like to know how you removed the author, date and category from the top of the blog.
Oh, by the way, I had already posted in the blog before I watched the video but I had taken the info from a google alert, must have been psychic.
Anyways, I know I am on the right track, so bring it on.
[Reply]
Justin reply on April 22, 2008 7:44 pm:
Hi Iain,
Wow, what a great niche. I never would have thought about fish finders. Im kinda low tech though. Happy fishing!
Justin
[Reply]
Another great tip, thank you very much. I do a lot of my reading online so I was thinking that to “sticky note” a webpage or blog article I could simply start a draft post with a headline and a link to the article. Then jot down some thoughts and then I would have a whole list of starting points right there in my blog ready to go.
I also use a mindmapping software called Mindjet(there are other free versions around), and I use this to map out the categories and topics I want to cover under each. This helps me to plan out a clear structure for my blog
[Reply]
I like the material and suggestions. I’ve used them before.
[Reply]
I might be jumping the gun here but I have a few questions please…
1) How can I make my blog pages show the comments ALL the time without the viewer needing to press the ‘Comments’ link?
2) When I reply to someone elses comment on my blog, I want my reply to be threaded to the original comment and I want an email sent back to the person that left the comment. Can anyone recommend a good plugin that does BOTH — threads my replies to comments…AND…sends them an email so they know I replied to their comment?
3) Can we use html forms with Wordpress 2.5 like the kind found here http://www.emailmeform.com/ or my get response forms? Can I take the existing code from one of my Wordpress pages and paste it into my html editor - then paste the form code in - then reload everything WITHOUT messing up my original Wordpress code?
4) What is a good plugin that automatically adds a footer to the bottom of my blog pages with copyright, links to my main (non-wordpress site) like the home page, site map, contact page, about us, earnings disclaimer, etc?
5) I had a blog when my site was hosted by SBI and lost all my previous posts when I changed hosts. Can I create archives for previous months (where I currently have no archives or posts because this is a new blog) and put those old blog posts in there?
Thanks!
Steve
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 22, 2008 1:09 am:
Hey Steve,
You got some great points there. I too want to know about
#1 and #2.
My “GUESS” for #1 is a function command in the theme’s
editor. “BUT” with that said; if they click on the title
of your post then a new page opens with just that post and
the comments are at the bottom along with the comments
window. If all if your comments showed up on the main page,
that would make for a very L-O-N-G page.
#3 This one might be a problem as you will be fighting the
rules setup in the theme editor files.
#4 Here again you could edit the footer.php file in the
theme editor to include anything you want, even a graphics
file and use a url call-out to it.
#5 I’m going out on a limb on this one, but I think if you
write a new post doing a copy and paste of each post, (One
at a time), Then “change the stamp date” to whatever you
want. It ‘might’ post it in the archive files as it’s older
than present day. The part I’m not sure about is if you
still have to publish it or if you could just save it.
Bill
[Reply]
Daniel reply on April 22, 2008 3:24 am:
Actually I’ve an affiliate site. It does not make me rich, but decent income to maintain my life. I am working full time on it.
But recently the site was slapped by Google. My traffic and income badly affected, I am losing more than 90% of them.
So I am thinking of starting a blog with adsense as the main source of income. The main puporse is to supplement my current affiliate site income.
To be honest, I almost give up because I’ve been trying to revive the site to no avail.
I am now looking for alternative and more than one site to avoid such disaster.
[Reply]
Stephen reply on April 22, 2008 5:04 pm:
But see, they’ve got a “reply” button on the bottom of each of our comments on this page here. Apparently there are a couple plugins to add ‘reply to comments’ and automatically sending an email to the person that left the comment when you reply to it. Maybe Anik and Ros would be willing to spill the beans and let us know how to do this with our own blogs??
Steve
[Reply]
Thanks for the great tips. I have used Google alerts before, but have forgotten all about it. I’m not quite sure why.
Anyway, the tips are greatly appreciated. It does get hard trying to come up new things to talk about every day and these two things will really help.
[Reply]
I’m enjoying the videos. Keep up the good work!
The world sure has changed. My website is just a place to hold a navigation page for my blogs!:)
Take care,
KEvin
[Reply]
I am not a professional writer either.
But I guess I am a good writer and wish to start a blog for ages.
The problem is I do not know which topic to write.
I am thinking about strating a blog that talk about anything and everything.
What do you think Anik? Should I restrict to a particular niche?
Is it ok to start a blog talking about everything and anything?
My main aim is to mentize the blog with Adsense as the main source of income.
Hope you can give some guidance on this.
Thank you.
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 22, 2008 2:45 am:
Well Daniel,
If you want the cold hard facts… You will “NOT” make
a full time living off of Adsense alone. No matter
what the GRUUROOES tell you… IT TAKES WORK! and lots
of it.
For Adsense to bring in any kind of stead income you need
“TON’S” of traffic day-in-and-day-out. (That’s 50,000 or
more.)
IF you can find that “Golden Niche” (One that ‘you’ enjoy
and believe in), and you can find some affiliate programs
that will help supplement your income stream.
Another thing is “THEY” must be crazy/fanatical about their
niche “AND” Have ‘Spendable’ cash!
You don’t want a garden hose, (One big stream), You want a
Sprinkler! So if one hole plugs up you still have dozens
more pouring out the cash.
(FYI: I’ve been beating on computers since 1985 and have
had over 35 to as many as 50 domains and I’m still looking
for that “Golden Egg”.)
Bill
[Reply]
Online Marketing Fundamentals reply on April 22, 2008 7:53 am:
Well said Bill!
I second the comment, despite having earned the vast majority of my income from Adsense since it started in 2003… but that is ONLY because I HAVE those sites with lots of traffic!!!
But it is getting harder and harder to maintain those traffic and (modest) income levels with just Adsense alone.
Especially if/when you get Google slapped for no apparent reason (they aren’t spammy pages, I promise) and 30,000 visitors becomes 3,000 because your pages are no longer getting traffic from Google, and $700 Adsense income becomes $70.
And on my smaller sites, Adsense is really not worth a crumb! I have a suite of NINE sites in one niche with 20k unique visits which only earned under $20 total last month.
Much better it is to look for a variety (at least three) ways of monetizing each PAGE on your site… in a range of different niches.
Daniel…
Do some research into the things you are passionate about - see if there is a market for your knowledge in those fields.
Also - get a .name domain and set up WordPress on it and just start writing… about whatever takes your fancy!
That will give you practice and get the brain working and develop the habits you need to keep things moving along.
The skills you’ll develop will pay off when you discover the niches you want to monetize, because they will all fall into place much faster.
Cheers
Stephen
[Reply]
Daniel reply on April 22, 2008 11:44 am:
Stephen, thanks for the insight.
I’ve passion for football or better know as soccer in US. I can talk all days and all nights, non-stop.
But I don’t think it’s a good niche to go into. I myself has been going to other soccer blogs and never click on adsense or any ads at all.
That is why I am thinking of trying out with a blog talking about anything or everything come to my mind.
And from then on maybe I can pick up the niche that produce most results.
What do you say?
Daniel reply on April 22, 2008 11:38 am:
Actually I’ve an affiliate site. It does not make me rich, but decent income to maintain my life. I am working full time on it.
But recently the site was slapped by Google. My traffic and income badly affected, I am losing more than 90% of them.
So I am thinking of starting a blog with adsense as the main source of income. The main puporse is to supplement my current affiliate site income.
To be honest, I almost give up because I’ve been trying to revive the site to no avail.
I am now looking for alternative and more than one site to avoid such disaster
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 7:15 pm:
Daniel
Want a Hot tip?
Since you love sport so much and you can talk days and nights about it. You have no idea how you can make money off of that!! Let me give a silly example then you can expand on the idea. Only thing I ask is you is that you actually follow through with it!!
Sport Memorabilia ok you say like how am I going to make money off that?
Simple go look for affiliate programs on sport memorabilia(Trust me there is)eg. A autographed Manchester United shirt David Beckham sells for $599.95 excluding shipping. You blog about David Beckham and his achievements and motivate someone to buy a autographed soccer shirt(a die hard fan would want) you make 10% commission. That is one option there is baseball, AFL, NBA,Formula 1, boxing,golf and and and. Do you see my point?
http://www.nichetprofits.com/blog
Online Marketing Fundamentals reply on April 23, 2008 6:07 am:
So Daniel…
What IS the URL of this site of yours??? You’ve missed several opportunities to advertise it here
Point us all in your direction - or at least go visit my site and send me an email - I’d love to chat!
As far as the soccer goes… why not just do it? As I said before, setting up a wordpress site, learning how to do all the things you need to get it working for you, etc., will stand you in good stead (eventually)
And look into the suggestion given by Luis… check out that niche! Probably (perish the thought) even look at including ebay feeds on soccer related memorabilia - I’m sure there’d be one, and probably popular!
If you can chat about anything sports related… it’ll lead somewhere… And seeing you poms are also interested in cricket… well that’s something worth writing about too… (hope I’m correct in assuming you are a pom LOL).
BTW… ASK yourself WHY you don’t click on those ads or sign up for freebies, or buy stuff on those other blogs you visit - and then do something different!
Cheers
Stephen
Both those suggestions for blog postings are so useful…
Another tip that’s helped me structure some of my thoughts into postings has been to do a series of 5 or 7 tips/suggestions/obstacles/problems/about a particular area. Writing lists are really easy… and we can all come up with at least 5 things about something. And then you don’t have to worry about long paragraphs or whatever. This is really useful for those who have blocks about writing!
Jeanne
http://www.goalsnaspirations.com
[Reply]
Justin reply on April 22, 2008 7:15 pm:
I like your idea and I think you should use it in an auto-responder series. That way you can get thier email off the bat and keep them coming back to your site.
Justin Pote
[Reply]
Sticky labels and Big G alerts, a couple of simple but great ideas.
I have made my second post to my blog carrying on the “List Building by JV Giveaways” theme. Check it out and leave kind, friendly comments if you want. The address again is: http://your-traffic-booster.com/blog/
Keep up the good work, you rock
Ray Burton
http://www.your-traffic-booster.com/
PS. Please excuse the header. Still working on how to get my custom header in its place.
[Reply]
Hi,
Just wanted to commend you on the great job, you’re doing. I would have not thought of using Google Alerts for getting content ideas. Thank you so much for the tip!
To your continued success,
Kathy Pop
http://www.2make-money.com/blogging
[Reply]
Thank you for the ideas. I used the Google alert for Pomeranians and found a news article to stimulate a discussion about dog parks then used a quote from a book I’m reading and put the amazon affiliates link to buy the book.
http://www.littleabbysadventures.com
I love not having ways to spark topics thank you so much.
[Reply]
Claudia reply on April 22, 2008 4:26 am:
lol remove the “not” on the last line that’s what I get for commenting at 4 am.
[Reply]
Fred Holmes reply on April 22, 2008 9:03 am:
Yeah, (yawn)…
Know that feeling well (heh heh)…
[Reply]
Fred Holmes reply on April 22, 2008 9:08 am:
I’d remove the “temp-page” from http://thestylishmom.com/ I think.
[Reply]
Claudia reply on April 22, 2008 6:30 pm:
thanks fred yes I was holding it there for Ros. I finally deleted it.
hugs C
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 7:20 pm:
Claudia
Your blog looks wonderful now before it sucked
Now it is def worth the name “thestylishmom”
Claudia reply on April 22, 2008 7:40 pm:
Actually Luis you saw my blog when I followed the homework and changed the permissions that actually removed my themes.
I have had these themes up since March.
The permissions stopped the themes from showing and only showed the entries.
So they didn’t “suck”.
I have a blog on Wordpress Blog of a know it all
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 22, 2008 10:56 pm:
Great Edwin!
Why is the sky Blue?
Why is grass Green?
Why is air transparent?
Why is water ‘wet’?
hehehehe
Bill
[Reply]
I’d like to add another suggestion on a tool you can use while you are surfing around…
Use Google’s NOTEBOOK tool to… well, make notes! It’s part of your free Google account, and it’s easy just to add little clips, make notes, copy urls and images etc as you surf!
There’s ALSO a web history thing you can turn on to track your surfing… and it’s searchable, for when you know… that site… with that thing… oh.. the one that you only went to yesterday, or was it the day before… oh what and where was it?
Search web history, and you’ve found it again!
Cheers
Stephen
[Reply]
Justin reply on April 22, 2008 7:05 pm:
Or.. you could catagorize it in your favorites… if that… seems easier. I use AOL and setting up folders in your favorites is as easy as ever and it should be on your ISP too.
If you don’t visit the site again for a while and find better info elsewhere than just delete the link with one click.
IMHO Google is good for many things but why complicate things when you can keep it simple.
Justin
[Reply]
Online Marketing Fundamentals reply on April 23, 2008 6:13 am:
Justin if you saw my bookmarks… you’d just die! And that’s the problem with them LOL
The best thing about the web history thing is that it is FULLY searchable - right through all the content on all the pages you went to.
I only have to vaguely remember what the topic was about… search my Google web history, and Voila! Found it again.
Now if only you could do that with bookmarks… assuming that you remembered to bookmark it in the first place. But then again, you mightn’t realise until later that you SHOULD have bookmarked it…
Stephen
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 7:17 pm:
Thanks for awesome tool!!!
[Reply]
Hey, Ros and Anik: as I explained to Bill, the “Cheekyo” video should’ve been the 2nd video of that lesson and the “FTP Permissions” 1st (for the dimbulbs like me in this program!). I knew something was missing… I was blind and I can see: whew! In my “research”, I found that Bluehost has their own editor “FTP Ultimate”. Does it matter which FTP editor I use or would it make it easier for me to follow along using “Filezilla”?
P.S.: I’m having so much fun! Thanks, John.
http://infomercialjoy.com/InfoJoyBlog/
[Reply]
Hi Ros and Anik!
Thank you for this great course, I think that it is very helpful to many of us.
I have a question to you about blogging - in this course you show how to setup and run a wordpress blog. What about blogs on blogspot which is a google service? I would like to know what are the advantages and disadvantages of running a blog there ?
Thank you.
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 22, 2008 5:29 pm:
Greg
Like Ros and Anik said you are doing it for SEO.
How will SEO work if your hosting it for free?
Sometimes things for free are actually more expensive!
Does that make sense?
Why build someone else’s ranking if you could build your’s by hosting it yourself. Believe in your idea enough to follow through with it. Put some money down man!!!
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 22, 2008 5:38 pm:
Hi Luis,
I agree with you. For a money site platform, Wordpress all the way. IF you intended blogging for backlinks blogger is a good method to add to your arsenal.
Free stuff is good, but you need to know how to leverage it to make it work for you.
-Anthony
PS. Nice looking site, I look forward to seeing more posts.
[Reply]
Greg reply on April 23, 2008 11:40 am:
Hi Luis,
It is not the money issue here. As you can see my site is built on private domain and paid hosting.
SEO and google search rankings are of my main concern in my original question.
[Reply]
Luis reply on April 23, 2008 6:20 pm:
Sorry for misunderstanding you there.
But what I think Ros and Anik want us to learn is that being independent is much better plus they are using other web 2.0 tricks to gain more traffic. Like Digg and twitter there is a formula they are using and it seems to be working for them. So I am not saying write off your idea on blogger. All I am saying is test their idea and your idea track it. Then make an informed decision.
Hope this makes sense?
Anthony reply on April 22, 2008 5:33 pm:
Hi Greg,
Here’s a great post re: your question for using WP vs Blogger.
optempo.com Wordpress vs Blogger
In anycase, wordpress would be ideal because of the control you have overall re: your site. Plus if ever you intend to cash out, you already have built up equity with your website. With all the free plug-ins and themes available, WP is the logical choice for those interested in building their online presence.
Good luck,
Anthony
[Reply]
Greg reply on April 23, 2008 11:38 am:
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for this link. It helped me a lot and reassured some of my own thoughts on the subject.
[Reply]
Great info… this can help anyone in any niche. I know I’ll start applying it to my business and watch my results go even higher.
thanks and keep it coming.
Ron
http://www.NoExperienceNeeded.info
[Reply]
Great lessons today - thank you. I love the bookmarking idea and the reminder to include your affiliate link when you are referencing a book or possibly a magazine. I know I don’t do that enough. Since I am writing a lot of tips using The New Earth, The Moses Code and others at http://www.prosperitytip.com I need to do that.
Regarding Google alerts I enjoyed the reminder about sincere copy on another’s blog and the link back that results when you do that. The other technique that is so important is to write an article based on a topic published in a high traffic site and link to that article. I often then briefly comment on the original article at the high traffic site which of course links back to me.
Great material - thank you again
Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com
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Justin reply on April 22, 2008 6:53 pm:
How are you sure that they link back to you? Do you check out their site to make sure. If you just leave a comment they could hold your comment in moderation until they read it, then decide to delete it because they don’t want to link to your site. Your left with a one wayt link to that persons site. Not good for you my friend.
Also, if you wrote the article to put on the “high traffic site” then there would already be a link back to your site via the authors byline. Don’t create a link out of your site without monitizing it first. One way links to your site are what you should focus on and if you are a good writer and people like what you have to say they will link to you without you having to link back.
Justin Pote
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Justin reply on April 22, 2008 6:56 pm:
Never mind, Im a dumba**
LOL,
Justin
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what are all you guys talking ab out ?? i just got this computer about christmas and have no idea what all this is.
im a newbie.
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Anthony reply on April 22, 2008 5:49 pm:
Hi Robert,
Welcome. Congrats on the new computer… Well, not to worry, we were all newbies at one point or another. :0) I suggest that you watch the video from Classroom Video #4:
—————————————–
Classroom Video #4:
Video #1 - What’s Coming Next & Why Blogs?
- Benefits of Blogging
—————————————–
Then recap and review from the beginning on how to start.
If you are a newbie, blogs enable you to have YOUR OWN website online in 20 minutes. Yes, correct in less than an hour you can have a site up.
Blog = Your Website
So, this pre-course and course videos teaches you how to prepare your blog, build up its presence (a.k.a. web traffic/visitors) and monetize from it (a.k.a. $$$ moola).. sound good?
The best thing to do is NOT GIVE UP. Just try your best to review and post a reply to the comments if you got additional questions.
Good luck,
Anthony
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I’m no expert, but know a little of everything
As this saying goes it is very common among affiliate trying to make a living online.
What do we write about on our blogs if we aren’t an expert in a subject and the topic i’m refering to is affiliate marketing.
Everyone wants to promote ebooks, new products, service, membership programs etc… showing people how to make money online.
You really can’t show proof of how much money you made and it seems that is a common theme from affiliates then all the sudden they are writing their own ebook to sell or products.
Can anyone of the normal affiliate without any products of their own or making over $5000/month in commissions share their insite of what you are doing with your own blog?
Sure I can write reviews of x, y and z, but after that I’m stumped of what I can write about and i’m not the type of person who purchases ebook after ebook either.
Examples please?
I’m not a newbie, but sure do feel like it as I don’t have my own site up and running getting consistant readers.
Jason Michalek
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Claudia reply on April 22, 2008 6:43 pm:
Check out Rosalind Gardner… lol you know the lady teaching us?
http://superaffiliatehandbook.com/
This is where she teaches you how to earn the money from exactly what you are talking about. Ros is the real deal. She has other blogs/sites that are how she learned and earned her income before blogging about blogging. lol She earned her knowledge selling other peoples “Stuff”.
If you are asking what I think you are then IMHO you need to know how to do it yourself before you should try to sell other people on how they can make money doing it. Once you do that you will have the topics to write about. Try choosing something you enjoy to sell and promote before jumping into trying to sell affiliate marketing. I think that is why you are frustrated.
hugs c
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Jason Michalek reply on April 22, 2008 7:19 pm:
Well that’s the obvious answer…
Thought I would ask ask cause well for example you are going to join blogclassroom.com join as an affiliate, but how are you going to market it?
Hmmm the perfect idea would be put it on your blog as a review of how it works. That’s what i’m getting at. Coming up with ideas of what to do with your affiliate blog.
Other ways of course are forums, email marketing, PPC etc…
I would like to start a blog, post reviews and when I do have success then give updates.
Thought I would ask to see what others are doing before i started.
Yes I’ve been following Ros for a while now and the stuff she puts on her site seem so simple that i can do it, but don’t want to go in the wrong direction before I even start.
Jason
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Claudia reply on April 22, 2008 11:51 pm:
Have you sold other peoples items on the net before?
An honest blog stating what you have just said is the perfect place to start. People strust blogs becasue they trust peopels honesty. You aren;t going to get huge amounts of traffic and aren’t going to sell huge amounts of anything until your blog has been active. You need entries and to write about this process as you go through it is prefect for your first entires.
I think you are jumping ahead of the point of this blog classroom itself. You questions are legitimate. However, I feel you are premature. Hang tight and see what these classes have to say. You just may get your answer.
Claudia
Claudia reply on April 23, 2008 12:04 am:
lmao sorry about the typos I have long nails.
James reply on April 22, 2008 8:23 pm:
I have Rosiland’s book that is why I am taking this course because I know she know what she is talking about.
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Write about your experiences with the products and write about topics that relate to the product you want to sell.
Personally I just started as an affilliate a month ago and I have made no money yet, but my return visits to uniques visits ratio is growing; which means, even though I don’t have a way to capture their email(I know, dumb me… I can’t afford it rigt now though) people are returning to my site to see what I have to say.
Hopefully, in time, I will start to profit but if not, hey I kind of like what I’m doing anyway, even if I am helping out people for free…so be it.
I know, that’s not exactly what you wanted to hear, but hey it’s worked for me so maybe give it a try. If it doesn’t work out at least ya tried, right.
Justin Pote
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Hey team,
I’m having trouble understanding how to change the basic WordPress template, including the right side navigation. Please advise. Thank you.
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 3:04 am:
Hi SassMan,
EDITING BASIC WORDPRESS TEMPLATE:
———————————-
In order to change or edit the Basic template, you need to set the permissions to the theme (template) files to 777. This will enable you to save your edits and changes. As for editing the right hand menu - when logged in go to:
DESIGN > THEME > THEME EDITOR > Sidebar (sidebar.php)
This is the template for the right hand side, NOTE*** If you are not comfortable editing, take your time. There is alot of code in there.
NEW TEMPLATE INSTALL: (THEME)
———————————-
You need search google for “free wordpress themes”. Download zip and unzip theme files. Then FTP (upload) to your site into the “themes” folder. (Change permissions to 777)
Then login to wordpress i.e http://www.domainname.com/wp-admin and click to: DESIGN > THEME > Scroll to Available Themes.
Then click on the theme you want to use. You should see thumbnails of the available themes. aha! then check out your new Wordpress Theme. NOTE: Some themes may need some tweaking for entire template to work correctly.
Good luck.
-Anthony
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SassMan reply on April 23, 2008 12:29 pm:
Anthony,
Thank you. I will be working on this later today.
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SassMan reply on April 23, 2008 12:48 pm:
Anthony,
FYI,
I just went to change the permissions and you said change it to 777 and Rosalind said 666. I wasn’t sure what numbers to use so i went with the 777. I will be editing the site later with a friend of mine who know some HTML.
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Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 4:57 pm:
Hi SassMan,
I think Rosiland meant 666 for the .htaccess file. I set mine at 666 too.
As for me and the themes, I just set it to 777 since it make everything accessible and writable. Maybe someone can chime in and let me know if making it 777 is a BAD THING.
Let us know how it goes with the editing.
Thanks,
Anthony
OK - I’m following along - but HELP! I am still stuck with installing the all in one SEO. It shows in Filezilla - on the right side - and it is unzipped - but when I go to wp-admin to activate it - it is not listed.
[Reply]
Bill reply on April 23, 2008 12:35 am:
Did you put it in the right folder? (Plugins)
Did you go into that SEO folder and set the permissions?!?!?!
(Mark of the devil= 666)
Bill
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 3:14 am:
Hi Nan,
Re: The “All-in-one SEO” Plugin FOLDER
Upload the FILES to correct folder level. You might have the files one level too deep.
————————————————–
Your FTP should look like this: (right side)
public_html> wp-content > plug-ins >all-in-one-seo-pack
- readme.txt
- pclzip.lib.php
- all_in_one_pack-zh_TW.mo
- all_in_one_pack-zh_CN.mo
- all_in_one_pack-uk_CN.mo
…
…
… etc.
————————————————–
See if that helps and let us know.
Regards,
Anthony
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Online Marketing Fundamentals reply on April 23, 2008 6:23 am:
Hey nan…
Check to see you are in the right place! Depending on the settings you put into your FTP program, you could end up in the “user” web directory, instead of the public_html directory (which is where you need to start).
Check the path that Anthony suggested above… more complete version would be:
/home/yourusername/public_html/wp-content/plugins assuming WordPress is installed at the top/root level of your domain, OR
/home/yourusername/public_html/****/wp-content/plugins if you installed WP in a directory called **** (something)
Stephen
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nan reply on April 23, 2008 7:25 am:
OK - I’ll try later today - I have to do the 8-5 now.
I have loaded other plugins - and it was very simple - Ill check this evening -
Thanks.
Nan
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Hey Anik,
I did a reply to post 11 and it didn’t post.
It did have 4 links it the reply — would that be blocked?
Bill
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I would like to start a blog talking about policit in my country.
My monetizing strategy would be Adsense. But I am not sure if its violate Google terms & conditions. Anyone know about this?
Of course, Adsense would not be an ideal income generator, but I really don’t know what other source of income can be generated from a political point of view blog.
Hope to hear some good advice
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 5:11 pm:
Hi Kim,
Adsense is an easy way to start monetizing your blog, but definitely NOT the only way to do it. You can start selling advertising space on your blog, once it picks up in web traffic and subscribers. Also, re: politics, there are TONS of ways to associate your blogs with politics… take a look at a current US gas crisis ($4 a gallon?).. you can tie in with a digital ebook or how to buy a “hybrid” report(nudge nudge).
Affiliate marketing and CPA offers would also work with your politically charged posts. Like, “take a survey,” or “Yes or No banner ads”. There are alot of CPA networks…. This stuff is a whole other ballgame.
But first things first, build a blog that gains traffic and build it well so you grow a following.
I’m sure Anik and Rosiland will how to monetize any type of blogs. As for politics and any niche, you have to match up the possible products that your audience would be interested in knowing more about….
—————————-
Politics can relate to:
Lawyers
Health Issues
Women Rights
Privacy
Child Care
Energy Crisis
—————————-
Thats my two cents.
-Anthony
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Hey thanks for helping those of us with little knowledge of blog and blogging.
Now you’ve taken the veil away for me
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Don’t be mad at me!
Since I will be a future affiliate to your products,
I thought might as well use your videos too.
Here is my site.
http://blogs-2go.com/
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Okay guys and gals…I’m way behind here but I need your help! I’m just working on the SEO plugin. When I open Filezilla, the file to be uploaded from my computer is all there on the left. However, the right side (ie the ‘remote site’) is all empty. At the top it’s asking for host, username, password and port(what’s that??). Is the username,etc for my blog (brassringboomers.com) or for bluehost? I’ve tried my website, username, password (and left ‘port’ empty since I don’t know what it is!) multiple times and get “Could not connect to server’ every time. HELP! (And many thanks!).
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 5:52 pm:
Hi Sharon,
“Could not connect to server’ because of wrong login info.
Here’s a quick run down, this info should be from your Bluehost:
—– FTP Information —–
Host: http://www.brassringboomers.com
Username: brassrin ?? (you set this up when you set up your domain)
Password: XXXXXXXX (typically 6-8 characters)
Port: 21 (mine says ‘21′ so maybe you should try that)
———————————
NOTE: Your username and password for Wordpress is different an is NOT used to http://FTP. Its only used to login to /wp-admin
As for being behind, you are not that way behind…you should be able to catch up in no time.
Let us know how you make out with the FTPing.
Regards,
-Anthony
[Reply]
Well, I started playing around with Filezilla and it appears it’s having problems connecting to the server. I’ve run the Connection Wizard repeatedly using both Active and Passive modes and it still can’t connect. I’ve never had any kind of connection problems with my router or server so I don’t know what’s up. Any of you tech-types have any thoughts on the matter?
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 5:55 pm:
Hi Sharon,
Perhaps you are right with the FTP software giving you issues. I use Smart_FTP. Also, you can check if you can login using your ftp details for the cpanel to the site.
http://www.brassringboomers.com/cpanel
username: <—- Try this in the FTP program
password: <—- Try this in the FTP program
Update us on your progress.
-Anthony
[Reply]
Sharon reply on April 23, 2008 7:09 pm:
I keep getting a “login attempt failed”…grrrrr!
[Reply]
Anthony reply on April 23, 2008 7:18 pm:
Hi Sharon,
Hmmm…try reseting your login details from your BlueHost Panel. Login to your Bluehost account and see if you can reset your FTP information for brassringboomers.com.
I had similar issues and ended up just reseting my account info to enable me to FTP and login to capnel of site.
-Anthony
Sharon reply on April 24, 2008 4:36 pm:
Success — finally!! When all else fails, read your hosting company’s instructions and follow them step-by-step
Many thanks for your time and efforts, Anthony.
Now I’m back to my original concern (not posted) that for some reason it installed the old WP version. The SEO plugin is all I’ve added. Thoughts on whether I should just start over or should I attempt an upgrade. At least if it crashes I’m not losing much.
- Sharon
Hey Anik & Rosalind,
I had used Google Alerts before but never for information for my blog. This is such a great idea. I also like the idea that you can post comments on other blogs that you get alerts.
Thanks again,
Rick
http://www.GolfSwingImprovements.com/golfblog
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What a great idea and a great tip. I love this site thus far…..
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Your webinar last night was not that good lots of people are saying bad things about just hype .. just thought I would let you know… paying for a call and not getting much is not a good idea…
like your videos on site they are of value…
just my opinion
[Reply]
I’m sorry that I missed last nights webinar. Any chance that it was recorded and available later?
To CandyW. Sign up for Skype if you have a high speed internet connection. The long distance phone calls will cost you nothing. You will need a headset with mic like a Logitech USB headset. If you only use it for webinars, you don’t even need a headset. Play the audio thru your computer speakers. You will only need the headset and mic if your actually plan on talking to someone.
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FYI:Google-Alerts video
I just try to watch this video again, but after 4+ attempts
and sitting at 80% complete for over 20 minutes — All I
had was the black screen. (And I tried everything) I’m on
a commercial 3 meg DSL, so speed and connectivity isn’t the
problem.
Bill
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hey, I launched my new blog almost around the same time your pre-course started. I’ve been trying to hard to get traffic to it but nothing seems to be working.
It’s a free blogger blog by the way. sorry if i didn’t take your advice to start a wordpress.
my blog’s http://www.spyadware101.blogspot.com by the way
or was it because i slapped on some google ads too early and google thought it was a splog?
[Reply]
Hi Anik and Rosalind,
Carmelo here…I had a tough day going through all
the videos and the assigments jajaj…but let me tell you the feeling of satisfaction was incredible…the blog does not meet yet my likes in regards to lay out and graphics…but I hope that can be improved.
You both always make awesome jobs…you are blessed persons and deserve your success…God bless you.
Saludos amigos,
Carmelo Humphrey
http://affiliatebizgems.wordpress.com/
P.S:I loking forward to see traffic hitting my blog with selected long tail keyword…
[Reply]
I have been using Google alerts for a while now and LOVE it -there’s never a shortage of topics to write about- but it can use up a fair bit of time if you’re a slow skimming newbie like me with several alerts to check out. Other tasks including reading emails, researching and collecting info with Google notebook, writing articles, completing on line ‘education sessions’ and writing other posts regularly see me ‘doing time’ at the pc. with hardly time for a cuppa or a thought for dinner!
Is it more efficient to assign separate tasks to each day or follow a daily routine through multi tasks, starting with a blog post first? My biggest ‘weakness’ (can’t say timewaster as discovering new info is great) _ is that I get side tracked following links within other websites. Am I EVER going to move from ‘tail wagging’ status to fully grown dog Ros?
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Hi, I am enjoying all of the assignments very user friendly. Here is my first blog I wrote after assignment number 4. I had to sign up with wordpress.com something is wrong with my hosting account I can’t get back into my blog that I downloaded. Anyway love to hear your feedback.
http://dyessman.wordpress.com/
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