Why?

Plain and simple, the answer is networking.

Starting out on the internet usually follows a set pattern – especially if you don’t have a technical background.

First, you decide to give blogging a try. So you figure out how to set up a site and go for it.
Then, you start writing some awesome articles. And you wait for the droves of traffic that will stop by and realize your true genius. You wait and you wait and you wait.
Checking your traffic stats becomes an obsession and you celebrate each visitor as a victory.
But you realize that this little trickle is not going to make a dent in your “make money online” plans. There needs to be more action on your website. So how do you make this happen?
You need your webpages to rank high in the search engines. To achieve this goal – you need other people with sites similar to yours to link to your wonderful content.

And thus you need to know how to find a blog that has a similar subject to the one you are writing about. You can comment on the site, contact the author about exchanging blogroll links, and use social media like twitter and facebook to share the other site’s content. Once you get the attention of the webmaster – he or she may return the favor to you. It all comes back to the “to have a friend, you must first be a friend philosophy”.

So back to finding that related blog. I usually use one of three methods. First I will do a standard Google search. If I am looking for a weblog about widgets – I will type Widget Blogs as my search term.

Once I have processed these results I will use Google Blog Search to find more options. You have to dig a bit to find this feature. The web address is blogsearch.google.com – this will take you directly there. Or when you are signed into your Google account you will see a menu bar of sorts in the upper left hand corner. The last choice here is “more”. Click this and in the dropdown menu there is a link called blogs. This will also take you there.

The final way that I find websites is by doing a search on BlogCatalog. This site has tons of blogs and I usually am able to find relevant sites.

How do you go about searching for relevant info?

A couple days ago Lissie wrote a post called Site Build It Scam Review – which questioned whether paying $300 for an “outdated” website building service was worth it.

One of my favorite make money online gurus – Griz, called on his readers to post their opinions as well.

You can go ahead and read through both posts but I think it would be fair to say that the overall opinion of the SBI service was unfavorable.

Now, before I go on. It is only fair to say that I am both an SBI affiliate and an SBI owner. I know, many of you will call me a sucker. But before passing judgment on others, you must keep in mind that everyone’s situation is different.

I began blogging using sites like wordpress and Blogger – this site was built on wordpress. I have been following Griz and Court (at The Keyword Academy) for a long time and the information that they pass on is solid and free.

But my time is severely limited.

And I don’t want to hear about prioritizing and how many of “you” also don’t really have time but somehow manage to make time to build your internet businesses. It is all about making choices and the choices that I make keep me offline more than I would like – but it is what works for me right now.

I looked into SBI because I was looking for a way to make the most of the time that I had. The thing that attracted me the most to SBI was the keyword research tools that are included. I found them to be easy to use and they help me stay organized. I have found this aspect of the program to be very useful because I get both supply and demand numbers.

I know that Griz talks about Keyword Elite and SEO Elite, and that you can pay for the regular Wordtracker tool as well. But I haven’t had the time to figure these out and honestly, they may be as simple as the SBI tool.

I know that one of the negative comments about SBI’ers is that they don’t understand SEO and their sites don’t rank. To this my reply is that SBI alone is not an answer – it is a website building package. But it is up to the webmaster to learn SEO on their own. A good starting point is the materials put out by Site Build It. But you need to read other sites like Griz and Court’s sites as well to really understand how it all works. And trial and error is a big part of it as well.

Sure, you can do it all for free using Blogger or for less money using WordPress. But if time is a huge issue like it is for me then SBI is a viable alternative. Whenever WordPress comes out with a new version I cringe – updating several sites takes time as well. And the plugins need constant updating as well. SBI and Blogger don’t have this issue.

How is my SBI site doing? Well, it is new but it is doing better than several other sites that I have around for longer. I can accredit that success not only to SBI  – but also to the knowledge and experience – trial and (many) errors of the webmaster.

The bottom line is that I like Site Build It – it is a good package. And without giving it a try, I think the SBI bashing is a bit unfair.

People like Griz – who truly understand SEO and have a formula that works will have no use for it. But not all of us have the Midas touch.

The economy has gone south and there are so many home and out of work. Turning to the internet is a logical step. It’s there. Start up costs are low, non-existant even. But how? How does someone with little or no web experience turn a site into an income machine?

Let’s just say – it ain’t easy.

Writing about what you had for lunch and posting cute pictures of your dog won’t cut it. You can write posts all day long and the traffic just won’t show up.

You see, blogging for money involves 4 key components:

1. Writing about a topic that people are searching for. And here I don’t mean just one post – the entire site should be built around a particular topic. Even the big sites do it. A recipe site will be all about cooking and food preparation, not shoes and clothing.
2. A good, solid understanding of how to make money with Adsense. That is the ad program that is the easiest to get started with and will give the best returns on sites that are built around one topic.
3. Backlinks. Getting other sites to link to yours is more important than you can ever imagine.
4. Traffic. If people don’t visit your site then you won’t earn money from blogging, no matter how great the site is.

And all of the above take time, diligence, understanding and hard work.

But what about content? I believe the jury is out on that one. The niche bloggers (those that focus on one topic) may tell you that good content doesn’t really matter. But is far easier to get others to link to your site if it is even halfway decent. And a little pride in my work is important to me too, it makes creating a blog or website fun. If I strive for decent, credible content then I am happy.

But should you create a blog or build a website?

A blog is a journal of sorts – the latest post is a the top and everything you wrote previously filters on down. Well Ken Evoy at Site Build It would argue that learning how to make money blogging is not for everyone. In his article on whether to Blog or Build he outlines why a creating a website may be a better path to success.

My Site Build It reviews are always glowing because I really like the package, the educational materials, and the keyword tools. It is a great system for those that are just starting out with their make money online ventures. Everything is spelled out and easy to understand.

But once you get it – how online marketing really works, then you can make either a blog or a website work for you. The concepts and strategies are the same – lots of patience required!

On a site called Blog Resources, it would be wrong to not start at the beginning. The word blog is such a common term these days, that many people just assume that everyone knows what that is. And those that don’t feel stupid asking.

But not here. Ask any question you like. And let’s start at square one.

The term blog is short for weblog. It is basically an online journal. And it can be about anything.

Common types of blogs are as follows:

• personal blogs
• family blogs
• business blogs
• company blogs
• niche blogs
• team blogs
• club/group blogs

Think of a blog like a diary. In a diary, everyday, or so people write an entry. They start at the beginning of the book and continue writing until they reach the end. On a blog it is the other way around. Everytime an entry is added (these entries are called posts) the newest one is displayed first and the oldest last.

A blog can have one author or many authors.

A blog can be public or private.

It can be updated as often as the author chooses – anywhere from several times a day to once in a blue moon.

The blog type of website is popular for many reasons. The number one reason being that it is easy to set up. Anybody can start a blog for free from any one of a ton of free hosting sites. This takes a matter of minutes.

And it is kind of exciting to have an instantaneous presence on the web.

But days pass and the steam runs out. That is the inherent problem with blogging – they need to updated to keep readers coming back. Or do they?

Now that we know the answer to “What is a Blog?” (this site is one!), we can look into the different types of blogs and the reasons that people begin their online journey.

Call it Blog Confusion. Maybe I should upgrade this to a syndrome.

You see, I have spent the last few months reading, absorbing, and following information about niche blogging. A site should be about one niche and should not stray too far from that keyword and that topic, etc, etc, etc.

The total effect of all this advice on me was paralysis. A lack of focus on what to write about. If I write about this then the search engines will think my site is about such and such. How should I structure my titles, my keywords, and everything in between.

By the time I finished absorbing, I was too tired to write about it.

So here I am back at square one. With lots of information to share.

Hopefully this time I will be able to keep writing!

I even began detailing my progress through the days of the action guide.

Then a funny thing happened – summer vacation began. And with four kids home for few months, all of my web endeavors were shelved until the fall. That is why things have been silent here for awhile.

Ironically, the folks at SBI seem to understand my predicament because they are now running the Back to Work SBI Sale, just about the time that I am ready to go back to work.

From now until August 28, 2008 (yes – that is only three days away), the deal is that you can buy one SBI site package for $299 and get another for only $100.

For those not familiar with SBI, this is complete website building package that includes web hosting, domain name registration, and the key part is the awesome web tools.

After all, a successful site relies on traffic. And traffic comes from search engines. To harness this traffic, the right blend of keywords and content is absolutely necessary. If not done correctly, the traffic just won’t come.

SBI holds your hand through the entire process of building your site. Their Brainstorm It tool helps you choose a profitable yet interesting topic. Their block by block page builder helps the novice as well as the experienced webmaster develop a site that gets the click.

Personally, although I have experience building sites, I have found the block by block builder to be a breath of fresh air. It is so easy to use. And the Analyze It tool is a comfort since it reviews my final page for all SEO elements before it goes live.

My SBI site still has a far way to go. After the initial push in the beginning of July, it has sat dormant for the remainder of the summer. But surprisingly it is already indexed by the major search engines and is getting search traffic. Not too shabby. Imagine the results that I will get with a little more effort!

Anyhow, the Site Build It Back to Work Sale ends soon. Click over to SBI to check it out.

If you are an SBI owner already, I would love to hear your opinions and advice on the program.

Day 3 is all about creating a site blueprint. On this day I did what is referred to as lateral brainstorming. I used the Brainstorm It! tool again but this time set it to lateral brainstorm. On day 2 I did a vertical brainstorm that returned keyword results that contained my main keyword term. A lateral brainstorm examines the top 20 Google sites for your site concept and returns keyword results that are related to your site concept but do not contain your keyword term.

At the end of all this brainstorming I had a lot of material. Again I had to weed out the unrelated stuff. But it was harder this time because Site Build It does not provide a concrete outline of how many keywords should remain. At the end of Day 2 I had 300 keywords in my database. There can be a maximum of 1000. At the end of Day 3 I am close that number which seems like too many. Is my site concept too broad? That is a question that I am still grappling with.

I completed a site blueprint. This is a flow chart of your main keyword broken down into seven to 15 sections which will constitute my Tier 2 pages or what is better known as the table of contents for my site. Each of these tier 2 pages are then broken down into 7 to 15 tier 3 pages which is the meat of the site. Taking the time to outline the site in such detail before even starting to build the site is eye opening. The best part – I will never have a day where I won’t know what to write about (a common problem for bloggers). At least for a long time.

Again, my site concept is rather broad – so I have a lot of material. While SBI! does a good job of giving you guidelines to make sure that your idea is not too narrow (not enough material to build a site) there is not much guidance to help you decide if your idea is too wide.

At this point I am at Day 5 and am still revisiting Day 3, which SBI encourages you to do if you are unsure. I plan to plow forward and not wallow in “analysis paralysis” but I will take the rest of the day and into tomorrow to think about the site logically. How would a visitor to this site perceive it?

SBI does put monetization last – and it is examined in more depth on Day 4. But at this point I think it is useful to think a bit like the adsense bot – which I do plan to use on my new site eventually. I want to make sure that the adsense bot will deliver highly targeted ads to my readers. So, if my concept is too wide and covers too many topics then the bot will be confused and adsense won’t do well for me. This line of thinking may help me narrow down my topic.

If you would like to follow along with me as I make my way through the SBI Action Guide here are some links to the SBI! Video Action Guide and the SBI! Action Guide in pdf format. These resources are free.

I will be back tomorrow with SBI! Day 4. Read about SBI! Days 1 and 2 here:
Site Build It Review Day 1
Site Build It Review Day 2

I didn’t get very far.

Apparently a requirement of the CANN Spam Act is that you must display a mailing address on each email that goes out to those that sign up on your list.

To me this was a deal breaker. No – I am not a spammer. Just an honest person who works from home and  values privacy. I spoke with an AWeber rep about this rule and he said that many people get a P.O. box – something that my fledgling business cannot support and does not need at this point. And no, my honest Abe side cannot enter a bogus address with a clear conscience.

The end result – I pulled the plug on an awesome blog resource because of a ridiculous rule that is designed to protect… I really am not sure what. Obviously, if you are a spammer, you will not put a real address in this field anyway. So, those of us who are not spammers must complete this section honestly and give up our privacy. Thousands of strangers could potentially have our home address. Do you see my point.

I won’t get into the details of how this blog resource works but basically you create a 125×125 card (think of it as a business card or calling card) and drop it onto the entrecard widgets on other people’s sites. You get entrecard points for every card you drop and I think for cards that are dropped onto your widget (?). You can use these points to buy the ability to display your card on someone else’s widget for a 24 hour period. The amount of points this advertising costs depends on how many cards are queued up waiting to be displayed.

Some people think the whole process is a waste of time. After all, many people just go a-card-dropping without staying to read your content. I do it. This drives up your page impressions and if you are using adsense it will decrease your click through rate.

On the other hand I like Entrecard because I have discovered some new sites who are (surprise, surprise!) interested in networking and are very open to blogroll link exchanges. The increased traffic has not hurt my overall click through rate yet.

I started out with the intention of just having an Entrecard. I figured I would just drop it whenever I naturally came across a site that displayed the Entrecard widget. But what I discovered was the “you drop, I follow” movement. Sounds kind of creepy, doesn’t it? Actually, it is rather addicting. When someone drops a card on you, you drop one back as a sign of reciprocation and appreciation.

After doing this for a week or so, I am finding this to be a bit of a time commitment. I have it down to a science though. Once a day I go to my drops inbox for the previous day. I click “open in a new tab” on each drop from the previous day and return all my drops. Very tedious. I wish there was a way to just select all the previous days Entrecard drops and then click open in new tab and all of the sites would open up. Maybe there is and I just don’t know how to do it yet.

Any time saving insights when it comes to Entrecard would be helpful!

Update: for you eagle eyed visitors, I don’t have the Entrecard widget on this site but rather display it on my parenting advice site. You can now have more than one Entrecard but one is all that I can handle at this point in time.

Day 2 involves brainstorming. The ultimate result is a single Site Concept that will be the basis of your Site Build It! business. Nerve wracking stuff.

Days 2 and 3 of the Site Build It! process are probably the most important ones. The Action Guide states this out right and tells you that these two days could take days, weeks, or even longer.

Brainstorming for a site idea is nothing new to experienced internet marketers. But finding an idea that you are passionate about, that you can create a whole site about, and that has the potential for monetization is no easy chore. At this point the Site Build It! process is not that different from what you could do on your own.

You write down everything and anything that comes to mind that you are interested in. Then you evaluate your extensive list for demand using free keyword tools. After all, if no one is searching for it, then it is unlikely you will get any traffic.

The Action Guide recommends that you narrow it down to three ideas. And then things heat up. You see, Site Build It! has this awesome Brainstorm It! tool included in the package. This tool draws on data from the full price Wordtracker keyword tool, and other sources. You plug your site concept into this and you get numbers and data for demand, supply, and profitablilty. Wow!

You could probably do this type of analysis on your own, for free. In fact, the Affiliate Masters Course, tells you exactly how to do it. But the time saved is huge!

One caveat is that there are only 25 of this type of search included with the SBI! package. You can buy additional searches relatively inexpensively – the best deal is to buy a set of 500 searches for something like twenty bucks. But honestly, you probably won’t need more than the 25 that are included, at least initially.

Anyhow, you use Brainstorm It! with each potential site concept to come up with a list of related keywords. You spend a lot of time here pruning your list so only the highly related ones remain. And you evaluate your site concepts based on the data you get. Is your choice too broad, too narrow? It is here that you will have the data to help you make that decision.

Then SBI! has a Niche Choose It! tool that will help you decide amongst your three site concepts. At any time during this process on Day 2 you can scrap a potential site concept and start over. This is the time to explore, evaluate, analyze, over and over again. In actuality, you can go all the way to day 5 (when you register your domain) and still backtrack and change your mind. This is why days 2 and 3 will take a lot of time. You want to be sure of your site concept before you register your domain.

So, I finished day 2 in one day. But really, I spent a lot of hours on it. I already had some ideas going into the brainstorming session. And now I have a site concept. I am a bit nervous about my choice, because I know I have a lot of competition in this niche. But rather than tackle it on my own, I am happy to have SBI! to support me along the way.

So onward to day 3 of the SBI! Action Guide.