Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last few years, you should know that social media has taken blogging to new areas that were once unheard of. With your help by sharing (thanks in advance), this post could be the most talked about post in the blogosphere.

With internet giants like Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg and many more, you can have something go viral in a few hours or days just by a few people liking it in the beginning.

With so many (I didn’t even name half of them) tt can be bit overwhelming trying to work your blog in with them to get a following and build traffic.

With the recent Google Panda updates, it’s a fact that authority will now be based more on social sharing which is why most blogs now have social share icons on them.

It’s not thanksgiving but one thing I am thankful for is for you coders that make plugins and share them with the world. Take a moment to thank them because without them, we (I know I would) would be stuck and out of luck.

The Best of the Best Bookmarking & Social Sharing Plugins

There are a lot of bookmarking and social sharing sites out there but there are 100x more plugins. Some work and some just piss you off and make you want to throw your laptop against the wall.

I’ve compiled a list of 13 of the best social sharing plugins for WordPress blogs (sorry Blogger users). Most of these I’ve used and then went on to another one and so on. One thing I’ll say; don’t install all of these. The trick is to find one that fits your needs and run with it. If it slacks, find another until you’re happy.

I just want you to share this

1. Digg Digg

Don’t think this plugin is all about Digg. It does have Digg incorporated into it but the reason I made Digg Digg number 1 is because it pretty much has all the below plugins in one. It has the scrolling sharebar on the side (both right and left), you can put share icons above and below posts and even on excerpts.

Now don’t let the pic below fool you. They no longer have Google Buzz. They have updated to Google+. As I’m typing this, I’m thinking of switching back to Digg Digg. I have 2 plugins doing what this 1 can do. That doesn’t seem smart.

**UPDATE** I’ve officially made the switch. Digg Digg now powers iBlog4Dollars.com.

Check out Digg Digg here

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

2. Tweet, Like, Google+1 and Share

This is made the list of great social sharing plugins because it’s easy to setup. After you install it, you go in the settings and tell it what buttons you want to show up and where you want them to show up (posts and/or pages).

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

One of the best features (for you theme hackers) is it allows you to throw your own PHP code in the theme so you can make it show up wherever you want it to.

It also supports shortcoding which can be used within single blog posts. This social sharing plugin has tons of support on the creators site. If you have a problem, you can just post a comment and they’ll get back to you fast.

**Quick Tip** You can use the shortcoding to throw a quick like button over a video and ask the reader if they like the video, hit the like button. Makes it almost effortless.

Check this plugin out here

3. Scrolling Twitter Like Google+1 Linkedin and Stumbleupon Plugin

This is one of the coolest social sharing plugins I’ve ever seen. You have to see it for yourself. It’s a miniature scrolling bar that activates when you mouseover it. That’s when all the sharing stuff pops out.

My only dislike for this on is on first look, it doesn’t show how many shares your post got. It just shows the ways the post can be shared. This kind of takes away from the “I want to do like everyone else” feeling. Most people share because they see many others have done it. It makes them feel a sense of accomplishment. I can’t explain it but it’s true.

I personally like for my visitors to see how many times my post has been shared; and thanks for adding to that number by the way.

Go here is you want to download this plugin or check it out for yourself.

4. Facebook Comments for WordPress

With Facebook being the #2 site in the universe right now and right on the heels of Google for that #1 spot, it would almost be blog suicide to not somehow incorporate Facebook into your blog.

Even though I did delete my Facebook account, I still have Facebook working on my site. I didn’t need this plugin because my theme already has it built-in. Now the reason I suggest this in my list of top social sharing plugins is because it’s simple to install.

A friend of mines recently added it to his and all it takes is creating a Facebook app and pasting the app id into the Facebook Comments plugin settings. After that, you go through and change some setting and it’s ready to go.

Having Facebook comments is great because it has a check box (that users have to uncheck to opt-out) that will post the comment to the commenters wall. This could get the attention of one of their friends and the process repeats itself.

Go here to get Facebook Comments or just check it out

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

5. Scrolling Social Sharebar

If you’re looking at this particular plugin like you’ve seen it before, it’s because it’s right to your left (as I’m typing this).

This is a really simple to install plugin that has 7 different social sharing sites. Not much to say about this one. It’s from the same people who brought you numbers 2 & 3.

This is like #3 but it shows the viewer on first look, how many shares your post has.

6. Social Media Widget

This is another plugin I’m happy to use on iblog4dollars.com. I was searching long and hard for a good social sharing widget that has too many options for me to name; and this is it.

I think there are close to 50 different social sharing options to choose from. You just paste your social profile URL and it’s ready for action.

It also has 4 different button styles which really got my attention. You can choose from sketched, heart, cutouts or just regular.

I needed something different from just regular social sharing buttons.

If you like what this plugin has to offer and think it will work out great on your blog, check it out here.

7. Tweet Old Posts

I got this plugin from Mitz on her post about building new links on old pages. She was saying how to make turn old posts into money makers and one way to do that is to have them continuously tweet out.

I haven’t installed this plugin as of right now but it’s coming. One project at a time. It Tweets to multiple accounts and it will even push to Facebook and Google+. Now if this isn’t an amazing social sharing plugin, I don’t know what is. Maybe it should be higher up on the list.

Get more info on Tweet Old Posts here

8. Like Gate

This is definitely one I’m liking so far (with a mischievous grin on my face). Like Gate allows you to reveal some hidden/secret content when the user likes the article.

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

All you have to do is insert some content between two shortcode tags and that information will be shown after the like. This could be an image, download link to an ebook for your blog, a YouTube video; whatever. This is pure social media domination.

One problem I found with Like Gate though is that is didn’t reveal the content. I soon saw a much better purpose. It doesn’t seem like a very powerful plugin so I use it to throw a quick like button in my posts in certain spots. Great way to get those extra likes.

I have quite a few social sharing plugins on my blog so it may have been conflicting with another one. I ended up having to delete it.

Go here to check out like gate

9. WP Greet Post

This plugin had to be on the list of social sharing plugins because it makes your visitors feel more welcome and entices them to share .

This plugin lets you show a different greeting message to your new visitors depending on their referer url.

For example, when a Digg user clicks through from Digg, they will see a message reminding them to Digg your post if they like it.

Another example, when a visitor clicks through from Twitter, they will see a message suggesting them to twit the post and follow you on Twitter.

You can also set a default greeting message for new visitors (not matching any referer URLs) suggesting them to subscribe to your RSS feed.

Having these targeted suggestions will help your blog increase exposure, loyal readership, and reader interaction. Best of all, this plugin is compatible with WPMU and various WordPress cache plugins (so you do not have to sacrifice speed).

Go here for more info on WP Greet Box

10. Most Shared Post

When it all boils down, you need to know what your most shared content is. Track your most popular blog posts, sorted by those with the most social shares. It checks the number of Facebook Likes, Twitter Tweets, and Google +1s.

You can display them to your users or just view the data in the WP admin area.

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

Go here to check this plugin out

11. OnlyWire

I don’t think too many people know about Onlywire because I don’t see it on too many blogs but I see many people talking about social sharing and bookmarking.

This magic plugin is thee social sharing plugin of all social sharing plugins. First you sign up for an Onlywire account at https://onlywire.com/signup.

When you create a OnlyWire account and set up your social networking site logins, OnlyWire will submit your post to all of the sites simultaneously. Did you read that? All at one time.

best social sharing plugins for WordPress

OnlyWire does all of the submission behind the scenes on behalf of you. This is automatically when you create a blog post. When your readers use OnlyWire, they can also auto-submit to all of their networking sites.

Check out the Official plugin here

12. Facebook Likebox Widget

Now this is a great social sharing plugin for those that aren’t that good with HTML coding.

Having a Facebook LikeBox for your Fanpage is a great way to build your fans up. This plugin just calls for you to paste your fanpage URL, adjust the width and a few more options and you’re done. It also allows you to put just a like button.

Check out the Facebook Likebox Widget

13. ((WP Twitter))

This plugin does a few things but the only things I care about is it tweets out my posts as soon as I publish them. It will also send out tweets when you update a blog post. Those 2 features are gold in my eyes. You can then get retweets while you’re sleep or whatever you’re doing.

It’s really simple to setup too.

Check it out for yourself here

14. Simple Social Bookmarks (formally Sexy Bookmarks I think)

This plugin had more ways to share than you would ever need. The reason I said had is because I’m not sure why type of changes they made to it; why they decided to change the name from Sexy Bookmarks.

The great thing about this plugin (the one I used), it had handwritten words that encourage the visitor to share your blog post. Here are some

best social sharing plugins for wordpress

That’s liquid gold in my eyes for getting people to share you content. I haven’t tried the new plugin but this is what it did when I was using. It’s from a company called “Sharaholic” (those guys are really good at marketing I bet).

Go here to download Simple Social Bookmarks

If you don’t like the new plugin and would like to try the old one out for yourself, just contact me and I’ll download it from my servers on one of my other blogs and get it to you.

In conclusion

This is a pretty nice sized list of social sharing plugins. I could have taken it into the hundreds but I only wanted to talk about plugins that I’ve used, heard about others being happy with or they just seem right.

Not all plugins are perfect for every blog. Some plugins conflict with others so that’s why I said try them out and see what works best for your blog.

You may remember I did a post on my top 15 Favorite plugins. It’s one of my most popular posts.

The goal of these social sharing plugins is to make our lives as bloggers easier. As I said earlier, hats off to the developers who put these amazing plugins together because without them, I would be lost.

What are your exact thoughts on this list of social sharing plugins? Did you like them? Is there one or more on here that you love or hate?

What about one that you’re using that you absolutely love and would like to share.

I’m constantly looking for ways to make blogging easier and having the right social sharing plugins is a very important part of that.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found some plugins you can use on your blog. Please comment and make sure you share this. I gave you a nice sized list of social sharing plugins and all I ask is you share it after reading.

Thanks for reading social sharing plugins that ROCK.

Have a better day today than yesterday!

Do you want a better blog?

On my first official Podcast, I want to talk about the importance of taking minor steps that will make your blog better. This is especially for newbies.

Something I forgot to mention but it is very important is that you don’t try to fix every post or page on your blog in the first day. That would leave you with you eyes screaming for a break; trust me I know because I’ve done this before..

Set a number of pages or posts that you want to edit and update. This will put less of a strain on you and the work gets done.

The techniques I mention in this episode will greatly affect your blogs success in the future. If you incorporate them now, you won’t have much  to worry about in the future.

Enjoy, please share or I’ll never do another one again; Just kidding…. or am I?

To building a better blog,

PS. If you aren’t doing video or audio content yet, I suggest you check out my post “how to create amazing video & audio content“. I also suggest reading a guest post I did titled Video and Audio Marketing: Is It Important For Online Business Success?.

Both are great posts for taking your online business to the next level.

The basis of starting a blog and creating a successful online business is doing thorough keyword research.

Wikipedia defines Keyword research as:

a practice used by search engine optimization professionals to find and research actual search terms people enter into the search engines when conducting a search. Search engine optimization professionals research keywords in order to achieve better rankings in their desired keywords

If you didn’t catch that, keyword research is basically figuring out exactly what people are searching for whenever they hit the search engines.

Now as you should know, Google is the #1 website in the world partly because they are the most basic search engine on the planet but not only that; Google has plenty of tools for users.

The main one SEO pros use is the Google Keyword Tool. This resource provided by Google is very powerful and shows what people are searching for online by a number of factors:

• Monthly searches (both local and global)
• Adwords competition (shows you if the advertisers are fighting over keywords; with dollars of course)
• and many more that can be used but tend to be irrelevant

For my video, I want to show you the basics of keyword research using the Google keyword tool. I’m also showing you how to build a successful authority blog.

With the recent Google Panda update, SEO has changed. It’s a requirement that you know what tactics are good for SEO and which ones are a complete waste of times. Besides this video, if you need some tips on SEO, check out my hot new eBook, “How and Why Google Panda Kicked Internet Marketing 1.0′s Butt”

Watch this video on the basics of Keyword Research

Thank you for watching my short video on keyword research. If you have any tips or tricks on keyword research, I would really appreciate it.

As always, please comment and share. 

Deuces
 

Even though I strive to write informative posts, I sometimes forget how it was when I was a newbie.

You know; when you see these blogs with huge followings and then all the comments. I don’t know about you, but I was left asking “what the freak am I not doing that they are doing?”

I would even compare my content to theirs and just know without a doubt, mines was better.

The one key factor I was missing was that it’s not always about creating the most amazing content. It’s about creating good content on a regular basis.

By the end of this post, you will have 14 methods at your disposal for making your followers think you are some type of psychic blogger. Some you may have heard or may already do. Either way, you’ll know just what your readers want and you’ll be able to give them what they’re looking for.

1. Forum posts

You know one thing I’ve learned about the internet? No matter how much information is out there, there is always a newbie that will ask a question that can be found in Google; and it never fails that there is always one of these questions on a forum that get no attention.

Whether or not you find some great topics in forums depends heavily on your niche. Best thing you can do is browse around and look at what types of questions are being asked.

2. Forum Comments

Inside of the numorous forum threads, there are questions that go unanswered. The difference between posts and comments is in the posts (threads), you’ll find something like “How I drove 15 thousand targeted visitors to my site in 24 hours“.

In the comments, you’ll always see a newbie say something like “wow. Wish I could do that. What can I do to get my site noticed?”

There goes a topic and if you know your niche, it shouldn’t be that hard to come up with a nice blog post.

3. Yahoo Answers Questions

Yahoo Answers is an absolute goldmine for finding topics. It’s filled with people who are clueless about a particular subject.

Just do a quick search and I suggest only looking at recent questions that are still open for answering. That way they are fresh.

Now being that Yahoo Answers rank high in Google, I suggest after you write the post, leave a link back to the new post in your “source” box.

If that question ranks high in Google, then every person that searches for that question will see your answer and that’s the potential for new traffic.

4. Use Yahoo Answers

Get in there and ask some questions. If you’re in the weight loss niche, ask people what were their biggest problems with losing weight.

Let them know you’re writing something important and would appreciate their feedback. You could get a flood of topics. Try it out and see how it works for you.

5. Google Keyword Tool

By far, one of the most advanced methods for finding out what people are looking for. I just type in a niche keyword and look at the searches. Find a subject that gets a lot of monthly searches.

I even suggest going after some of the smaller ones because if you can rank high for those, then you’ll get a huge majority of that traffic.

6. Blog Comments

I’ve personally seen tons of questions go unanswered on blog posts. I don’t suggest searching for them because you would be searching longer than fans have been looking for Elvis.

Just observe as you read blog posts. I’ll even answer the question. Makes me look like an authority.

7. Ask General Questions

Just asking regular everyday people about different problems they face will get you some great topics. Social media has pretty much replaced real social interaction but I suggest meeting with real people.

Depending on your niche, this would be a goldmine. Lets say you have a blog about college life and how to survive; yea I’ve heard some horror stories about making it through college.

Could you imagine the feedback you’d get from students and graduates about what they did to survive?

I remember my cousin showed me how to cook the most amazing Romain Noodles. Apparently, that was a college thing. I can’t cook so I occasionally cook those now.

8. Ask Your Followers

You should be building a following no matter what your niche is. People are following you because they like what you have to say and they want more.

What better way to give them more than to ask them what they are having problems with or would like to know?

If you have Aweber and/or are building a list, just email your subscribers and ask them to reply with problems they are having. Great way to further build your following and get some great topics.

9. Facebook Fanpages and Groups

Using one of my many marketing Facebook profiles, I joined a group for people with low self-esteem. Now I don’t market anything to them but I like to see what types of conversations go on.

People ask questions, tell how they feel and more. Social media has broken down a barrier of privacy where people reveal some of their most guarded feelings for the world to see.

Add yourself to some fanpages and groups and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

10. Search Twitter

Twitter is not my favorite method for finding topics; mainly because of my preferred niche being so freakin’ spammy; but just type in some keywords in the search bar and see what comes up.

I do have a weight loss site and once did a search and saw people struggling to lose weight and they gave their reasons why.

11. Search Tools (Psychic Search)

There are some plugins you can install to your blog to see what people are searching for while browsing your blog.

One of the most popular which I use on some of my blogs is a plugin called Psychic Search by MaxBlogPress.

It is great for seeing what your visitors are searching for but the only bad thing is you must have a search bar on your site for it to work.

12. Close Your Eyes & Think As If You’re A Newbie Again

Do you remember the days when you were just a newbie? I don’t and at times it’s hard to remember.

We get so knowledgable at our crafts that we forget the beginning days. If you can just close your eyes and see yourself as a newbie again and remember what problems you had, you will come up with topics; of course after laughing a bit thinking like “Wow I can’t believe I didn’t know that.”

13. Helping People

When I help people, I’m often amazed at how much I know. I like to keep a pen and pad around because as they’re asking questions, I’m writing topics down.

It’s basically the opposite I guess. I’m teaching and taking notes. LOL

14. Surveys

Surveys are a great way to get feedback on specific issues related to your niche. You can use the free service SurveyMonkey.com and create a survey.

I mentioned above that you can just email your followers and ask them to reply with their questions but all topics aren’t meant to be discussed in this matter.

Being that Survey Monkey can be 100% confidential, it will be easier to get information. You can create a survey and send the link to your list or install a plugin to your blog and allow anyone to fill it out.

In Finito!

The toughest part of blogging is knowing what your readers want.

There are millions of people out there searching for topics everyday and using these 12 methods, you’ll look like a psychic blogger to them.

Is there another method you use to find topics for your blog? Please comment and let us know because I would definitely love to try it out.

I want to thank you for reading. Please comment and share or I’ll be forced to do stand up comedy in my local library. How well do you think that will go? Yea so comment and share…

Thanks

Yea my plans are to eventually compete with some big names but not in a “throw down your weapons” type of compete but “hey I’m here definitely worth taking a look at” type of compete.

Creating an authority blog that does more than provide content is tough; especially when it’s just little old me behind the scenes.

No graphic designers on call; no SEO ninja experts; no master web designers. 99% of the content is mines and all web design was done by me.

In case you’re wondering about only 99% content being mines; when I started iBlog4Dollars, one of the very first articles I published was from a top blogger who gave it to his affiliates. You can read more about it in my very detailed About Me Page.

So what’s new with iBlog4Dollars.com

The New Logo

May have noticed my new logo. I’m so excited about this and looking forward to chopping it up and adding it to different ventures I dive into with my blog.

I wanted to embrace me and what I do. It’s a Macbook with money coming out of it signifying I make money with my Macbook. Can’t get any better than that.

iWorks: Internet entrepreneurs seeking and providing jobs.

iWorks is going to be huge; eventually. This is a job panel but only for those that provide an excellent service or those that may be looking for a particular service. In case you’re wondering who created my logo, he’s listed in iWorks. The guy is nice with the logos and only charges $5. He has over 300 orders and stays at 100%.

I invite any and everyone that has a special skill or are looking to showcase a special skill, to post a job in the job panel. We are in BETA testing stages right now but as this blog grows, it will be ready to become a paid service. Get active int here now while it’s free.

New Free Ebook

I recently sat down and wrote a new ebook to give away for free for those that sign up to my email list. It’s called “7 Huge Mistakes Online Business Owners Make“. Now don’t just join my list to get the ebook because I want people that actually want to learn and will take something away from my emails.

My emails will be funny and talk about things that we as online business owners need to be aware of. Also filing my subscribers in on some products that I use in my business and different tactics I’ve somewhat mastered.

About me

I went in on my About Dennis Marshall. I put alot into it and would love nothing more than for you to check it out. It’s pretty long so be ready to read. After I get over this darn cold, I’ll record myself reading it and make where you can read or listen to it.

Either way, it’s worth taking a look at.

Install WordPress for free

I’ve added a tab at the top called services. There will be more added as my blog gets more exposure but for now, all I’m doing is installing WordPress for those that may be techy challenged.

I’m can now install WordPress with my eyes closed so I think it’s safe to say that I’m an expert now. I’ll be sure to treat your blog like it’s mine; and I take extra care of mines.

Reviews

I’ve started doing product reviews. This is a great way to show people products I’m using in my online business. I will not be creating reviews on products I physically haven’t used myself. That kind of defeats the purpose of a review.

Products I review, 9 times out of 10, you can see them in action right on my blog. If not, I didn’t like it and deleted it or got a better one.

Check out all my product reviews here

Ads

You will see that I’m playing with some ads on my site. I’m doing this because I feel it’s time to turn iBlog4Dollars.com into an income producing blog. I’m only adding ads for products and/or services that I feel will help your online business. You won’t be seeing any “Free iPad” ads on this site.

What’s on the horizon for iBlog4Dollars.com

Guest writers

While I’m excited about the requests to be guest writers for my blog, I have to first, establish my blogs personality. I will soon open the door up for guest writers to showcase their talents on an authority blog as I know perfectly well, the benefits of guest posting.

iForum

Yea I’m adding a forum to iBlog4Dollars. I’m actually working on the ground work now but it will be here soon. This will create a way for internet entrepreneurs and online business owners, both new and seasoned, to converse and hook up online.

While there are tons of forums, there won’t be one like mines. I don’t know how I’m going to structure it yet but it will be different. Stay tuned for that..

iSearch

Frankly, I’m sick of Google and their cocky monopolysm. Yea I just made that amazing word up. They decide what goes into search engines and too many people are running around with their tails between their legs worried about Google. Even I do this sometimes.

Now I’m not intending to beat Google because that would be like a a mouse vs. 4 lions but I am creating my own search engine with a special spin to it. I’m not spilling the beans yet though. Lets just say internet marketers and online business owners are going to love it.

And plus I won’t be endangering your privacy for using my search engine. You’ll see..

Ebook

I was coming out with a full video course but realized, I could put most of what I teach in the videos in an ebook. Makes my life 15x easier. I’ll just save the video courses as an upsell because boy are they detailed…

Okay that’s enough bragging….

I’m not really bragging but I’m so excited. Never did I think I would be making moves like this and I can just see the success coming in a way even I couldn’t have called a few years ago.

I just wanted to make money online but it has truly turned into a passion and my super cool imagination has enabled me to see things better than they are at the time.

You can read all about my awesome imagination on my new About Me page.

Please comment if you have any questions or just want to say hi.

I wish you much success and thanks for reading and following iBlog4Dollars as it continues to grow.

Before we break down just what is social sharing, I want to go a bit into social media. This post is the first in a series about trust what social sharing is and how it can have a huge impact on the success of your online business.

This series will be coving Facebook (what you’re about to read), Twitter, Google+ & any other method that depends on sharing socially.

In the future, I will be doing a post on the best social sharing plugins for WordPress blogs, so I felt it only right to explain social sharing, how important it is to our online businesses and why you must get involved before you miss out.

Chances are, 110% of the websites you visit these days will have some type of social sharing capabilities.

With search engine results relying on social shares more than ever in their calculations for site authority, you would be walking on dangerous ground to not include some various types of social sharing plugins on your blog.

What Exactly Is Social Media?

According to Wikipedia, Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue.

I think good ol’ Wikipedia made it sound a bit harder than it really is. It’s basically saying we communicate with each other on websites using cell phones (iPads) and computers.

Social media is the most powerful tool business owners have available to them; well of course besides great content.

I want to break down every aspect of the social sharing scene for those that may be a little lost because even I, Dennis the Blogging Menace, am playing catch up when it comes to all this social sharing.

Don’t get me wrong; I did it like most online business owners do, but I thought it was one of those things where I do it and I would just see the rewards like a big sign in the sky.

If you’re thinking like that, forget everything you ever knew, grab a pen (or evernote) and get ready to learn just what social sharing is all about.

Sharing on Social Network Sites

Over the last few years, social network sites have grown to new heights. With people deciding to put more of their lives online, it’s been like a day at Disney World for savvy internet marketers.

A short time after deleting my Facebook, I started to wonder “could I be making a mistake?“. With Facebook being the #2 website in the universe and the #1 in the United States, could I really have been making a mistake?

Luckily for me, when you delete your Facebook, it only deactivates for 2 weeks so I still have time to think about it.

Welcome to the first series on social sharing where it’s all about Facebook.

Sharing on Facebook

Sharing on Facebook can be done in many differnet ways.

• the LIKE button – When you Like stuff, a link of the page you liked, will be plastered to your Facebook Wall.This is now on broadcast for everyone to see so be careful what you like because… well I’ll tell you a funny story about Facebook later and
• the SHARE button – Sharing is a way of directly sharing what you like and it allows you to even type what you want to say about your new post. I’ll show you a mistake that many bloggers make that costs them traffic and exposure simply because people don’t know what they do.
• the SEND button – Sending is a feature that allows you to send something you liked to the Facebook inbox of a friend. This is for private stuff that you may not want the world to see.

Are you using Facebook for personal or business?

This is something I just learned and it’s valuable. You have to decided what you want to use your personal Facebook page for.

Do you want to get on the race to max out at 5,000 people you don’t know or keep it personal and only invite real friends and family.

If you’re main purpose is to use Facebook as a business, I don’t suggest posting anything political or religious unless that’s you’re niche. I’m not saying to not voice your opinion; just understand that if you build a following, you’re going to have every walk of life in your circle.

Speaking on touchy subjects like religion and politics may cause you to lose some fans. That’s when you get an email “sir I loved your blog and all your content but when you said this about that, you lost me. No go **********”

Now that didn’t happen to me but it’s happened, I’m sure. If you want to talk on serious subjects, I suggest starting a Facebook Fanpage or a Group.

What are Fanpages and Facebook Groups

Facebook Fanpages and Groups are ways to connect with people interested in what you want to say.

This is part of the reason Facebook is so popular. A nobody can create a Fanpage and if one person likes it, they now have a fan. Turns them into a total rockstar; in their eyes.

I create a fanpage for almost everything. If you want to talk about UFOs, start “Bob’s UFO Page“, setup some advanced Facebook Advertising, and you’ll be getting fans left and right.

Facebook Fanpage

Fanpages run solely on someone liking your page. You can suggest your Fanpage to your friends and there is no security. You can’t block someone from posting on your Fanpage as I figured out recently one of my fanpages.

You should see some of the things “Fans” of Justin Bieber post on his Fanpage wall. Lets just say i didn’t know you could use that word like that.

Facebook has a huge advantage over groups in the customization depart because you can totally trick out your Fanpage like I did with the iBlog4dollars Fanpage.

Facebook Groups

Groups run a bit differnet than Fanpages. You are able to keep them private so only invited users can join. Another great feature is you can physically invite people to be in your group. Just add them and they are ready to recieve your posts.

The great thing about Groups is if you’re able to build a following (shhhhhh), you can use your group like an email list. You can send mass emails to everyone in your group; this can be “check out my site” stuff or even affilate offers. If you don’t have a group, you may be missing out.

What you need to do right now; not later!

If you haven’t already, you need to make yourself a member of Facebook groups in your niche. I only go for groups that are around a thousand members. You’ll see how many members are in them when you use the search bar.

Just posting your content in a few established groups is a great way to get exposure. I do this on a regular basis as I’ve seen it bring me a great deal of traffic.

The Mistake Bloggers Make That May Cost Them Viewers

Most bloggers just create a blog post and share it. The problem with that is you’re allowing technology to decide your copywriting.

On my new list of recommeded plugins, you’ll see WP SEO Yoast which is an absolutely amazing SEO tool for WordPress blogs.

It allows you to see just how your title will be seen in search engines and when you post to Facebook. Along with the title, you can edit the META description which is the black text that appears under the title (gray in Facebook).

It only takes a few minutes of thinking as if you’re the reader, to come up with a nice headline to grab the attention of Facebook users.

Be Careful while posting

This is the funny story I was telling you about earlier. What ever you do, don’t get the Facebook search bar confused with the sharebar. I saw a young lady that posted what she was looking for to get her weekend rolling. Funny to me but not for her.

Summery Of Sharing on Facebook

Facebook is the most popular site in the universe after Google but they are right on Google’s hiney.

Decide what your focus will be while using Facebook. Are you going to use your Facebook for personal or business? Make that decision and stick to it. Business is business and everything else has it’s place.

Get involved in groups and like some relevant fanpages. Share your content with others and build your brand.

Also don’t forget that Facebook has the most advanced advertising system in the world. With that being said, it’s not just point, click and make money.

There is a proven system that works and many that have grown to be outdated. It would be smart to learn how to use Facebook Advertising from an expert before diving in head first. Trial and error is expensive and it will cost you in the end.

In conclusion:
Secret to sharing on social networking sites

The secret to mastering social networking sites is you have to connect; be social. Through my 2 years of internet marketing, I’ve gotten the best return from actually connecting with people.

Social media is here to stay as our society has gotten a bit confortable with giving out information.

Facebook is the big dog of the social network scene and it’s important that you use it efficiantly. Many go about it the wrong way which ends up being a lot of time and sometimes, money wasted.

This is part of the reason why I rarely use my fanpage which has close to 900 fans. None are targeted and they rarely respond to anything I post. I think I paid for most of them.

You don’t pay for fans in any way but by hard work and having a brand. That leaves the question of are they really fans if they recieved an incentive to like my page? No!

I want to naturally build my following so I know that when I share something on Facebook, my followers are going to be onto it like money is coming out of their computer monitor.

Once I successfully build a following naturally, I will be creating a free report detailing how I did it and what tools I used.

It’s important that we know just how powerful Facebook is. It can be the best thing to happen to your online business or it can be a part of the talk in forums on how Facebook is a waste of time.

Only thing that’s dead is internet marketing 1.0. It’s time to grab this bull by the horns and ride it like it’s 1999. Make sure you check out my ebook How and Why Google Panda Kicked Internet Marketing 1.0′s Butt. It’s free for the time being.

I want to thank you for reading this post. This is the first in a ongoing series on how to using social media to build  a natural following for your online business.

My blog is all about being successful through internet marketing running an online business. Social media is the most powerful tool we have availble to us and with Facebook being at the top of the social sharing ladder, it’s now time to use it.

Being that this post is all about social media, I rest assured this post will be shared many times over…. Hint hint.. Thank you in advance..

Thanks again for reading and I wish you much online and offline success

What are your thoughts on Facebook? Have you had success marketing and/or advertising on Facebook?

For those that don’t know, a blog broadcast is a way for you to have Aweber messages go out automatically to your subscribers via RSS, when you publish a new blog post. Great thing about it is you can set them up to go out at specific times. Ex: mines go out on the following day at 9 am.

Create Custom blog broadcast message

I’ve also stumbled on a method, through using blog broadcasts (it’s pretty logical) to get crazy open rates. That’s a blog broadcast message for this blog. If you’re asking yourself “How do I create an Aweber blog broadcast message” or “how do I add a custom header to my blog broadcast message” then you’re in the money. This video shows you just how I did it.

That code again is <img src=”yourfile.com/image.gif”>

Please click the LIKE to unlock download link below. Thanks

Click here to download broadcast message text

This is known as Bradying

Don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but the Patriots lost the Superbowl. I didn’t watch the big-game because I had better things to do but  good ol’ Tom Brady has gone from being this super quarterback to a catch-phrase.

After losing 21 – 17, Tom Brady was left on the field in his own world “Bradying”.

He feels like he let his team down because from what I heard, he was playing like it was regular season. You’re in the Superbowl dude; you have to bring. I can’t talk too much because he does have 2 already; correct me if I’m wrong.

Don’t get caught Bradying…

I admit; blogging can be tough. Coming up with fresh content on a daily basis, then having to put in work to get traffic to that blog, doing SEO work to rank in search engines, building an email list and maintaining it and the list goes on.

I haven’t reached my point of blogging happiness with iBlog4Dollars yet but I have accomplished one of my ultimate goals for 2012. I’m now one step closer.

The idea is to not give up; and i know that’s easier said than done for some but trust me, I’ve been there. I never thought I’d be making money for typing words on the internet and sending off some emails.

So what keeps me going?

I was listening to an audiobook on public speaking and it said something that really touched me and had a huge impact on not just my online business, but in reality; in my life period. Here’s what I got from it and make sure you keep this in mind always.

You have knowledge that many people thirst for. There are people crying their eyes out for what you know; what’s up there in that little brain of yours. You would be SELFISH to not share it with them.

Now whether you sell it or give it away for free is up to you but truth is, you have to get it out there. That’s why I do it. That’s why you’ll never see me Bradying. I’m in the biggest game ever and the only way I truly lose is if I give up.

This game is not decided by who can run 100 yards the fastest. Thank goodness because I would do what’s considered tackling myself. Blogging has made me lazy. I admit it. LOL

Here are 15 Quick tips to keep you from Bradying

1. Know your outcome. Build a brand and see your success.
2. Plan to win. Never plan to fail because when you do, you usually will. This can be backed by a famous quote: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”
3. Get active on social media. Get to know people. It’s great when you can talk to people who have the same interest as you. Makes for great conversations.
4. Make sure you do keyword research. It’s so simple.. I have a video detailing how to do keyword research. It’s not really that hard.
5. Create good content. Depending on your niche, you have to give them something different. Being that I’m in such a competitive niche, I’m going to have to use my personality more. It’s great when you’re passionate about a not so competitive niche. You’re in the money.
6. Include visible social sharing plugins on your blog. People need to be able to see them. Many will share with their favorite sites. This is how you go viral.
7. Consider guest blogging to build your name, brand and authority. Trust me when I say it works.
8. Be knowledgeable of your niche. Don’t just regurgitate content. Visitors can tell if you’re really walking what you’re talking. You don’t have to know everything; you just have to know more than most people.
9. Don’t just focus on making money. If you build a nice blog with great content and work on building your brand first, it will be easy to make money.
10. Build an email list from the start. If you’re not that good at email marketing, you need to consider taking an email marketing course. I took one and what I learned from it helped me out a lot.
11. Think about the future; not about now. That’s why most online business owners fail. They want to make money right now and can’t so they end up Bradying
12. Consider audio and video marketing. Video and audio content not only helps create good content fast but it improves your bounce rate. The longer people are on your site, the better.
13. Do some good on-page SEO. Always try to link a new post to an old post. On occasion, edit old posts to link up with new posts. Search engines go absolutely coo-coo over this.
14. Don’t be scared to try something new. I’m actually trying something new with this post. Get out there, make mistakes and learn form them. True champions are the ones to rise out of adversity.
15. Make yourself an authority. Leave killer comments on on blogs and get active on forums. This can also be done by guest blogging which I mentioned above.
16. Never lose site that your online business is in fact an online business. Many people don’t treat their online business like one and when they fail, their left asking questions.
17. Stay focused. There are many distractions on the internet. I deleted my personal Facebook for this very reason. I have self-diagnosed ADHD so I have to make drastic changes for the sake of my time. If you have trouble paying attention, I suggest you make some drastic changes too.

In conclusion

We are the Tom Bradys of our online business ventures. Every internet venture is the Superbowl in my eyes. Of course advertising is a bit cheaper but everything we involve ourselves in is big and has the potential to be something huge.

If you want to avoid Bradying, make sure you stick to these steps. Success isn’t easy for most. You ask any successful online entrepreneur and they’ll tell you about a list of times they’ve failed at online business ventures.

Don’t sit around Bradying though. Get over it and on to the next. Don’t spend time regretting already made decisions because that’s just wasting time thinking of ways you can change the past.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Please like it; share it…. All that good stuff..

Do you have some funny failure stories? I’m going to tell one of mines first to get the ball rolling.

Thanks for reading
 

PS. I was browsing the net the other day came across a guy by the name of Danny Brown. While dropping a few comments on his blog, I came across the most inspirational song I’ve heard in a while on his post titled “Something Old, Something New, Something Blue“.

Do you know what one of the most powerful things on earth is? The happiness and smile of a child. I was immediately overwhelmed with joy watching his son totally take the internet by storm dropping early morning vocals for his favorite song.

If you’ve been through a lot, you’ll appreciate this song because it made me 10x happier. I’m actually turning it into a MP3 and make a alarm clock ring tone out of it.

Listen to it for yourself and before you press play, lighten up. Be a kid again. They bring us so much happiness because they are so happy. Lets put some of our adult feelings to the side and just enjoy life as kids do.

If you want to avoid Bradying by  hearing some mistakes that most online business owners make, here they are and will the solutions to fix them.

Unless you’ve been living on the moon for the last couple years, you should know that videos have taken blogging and internet marketing in another direction. This played a huge role in my decision to use Easy Video Player for all my blogs.

When including video into your internet business, there are 4 things that are very important to remember:

• Branding for your online business (logos, watermarks, etc)
• Delivery to viewers (able to share)
• Quality (amazing in viewers eyes)
• Ease (easy for you to setup and easy for users to navigate)

In searching for a plugin or some software that took care of all these tasks, I came across many that just didn’t quite do it the way I wanted.

My overall favorite, which didn’t make my most recent “useless plugin sweep“, allowed me to add YouTube videos to my blog using a shortcode but I soon ran into a road block when the person who uploaded the video didn’t allow embedding.

Why allow me to get the embed code if I can’t embed?

The problem I have with YouTube…

While YouTube has a great service (not so sure after their recent policy changes), they can be a thorn in the side from time to time. I’ve had videos removed and they even block them in some countries.

My other problem with YouTube is every single time you place a their video on your blog, you’re helping them brand themselves.

Nothing wrong with sharing a little love but when you’re the #3 website in the universe, you don’t really need that much love anymore; Do you agree?

Not only does every video you embed on your blog have the YouTube logo in it; when the viewer mouses over it, this huge hyperlinked title shows up for them to click and they can be taken away from your site.

This takes a toll on “time on site” calculations. I need people on my blog as long as possible because how many times have you been to YouTube and watched another video, then another and another and so on? I do this all the time.

Another thing that drove me away from YouTube besides seeing that most of the big names are not embedding YouTube videos on their blogs, is my buddy. His reason for getting Easy Video Player was that having the YouTube logo in his videos made his site look cheap.

While EVP doesn’t remove the YouTube logo from embedded videos, it does take the linked title bar away. If they scroll over the YouTube logo, it will ask them if they want to watch it on YouTube. I just found this out today and I’ve been using Easy Video Player for about 6 months now.

In comes the best video player for blogs!

Easy video player review: best video player for blogs

I can’t say it’s the best for you but for me, it’s the best video player for blogging I’ve ever used. Easy video player can be used a few different ways.

First off, Easy Video Player installs directly to your server. Besides giving you complete ownership of your videos, you can access them from any computer. Once installed, you will have a special login URL; ex. yoursite.com/videos.

There are 3 ways you upload videos to Easy Video Player.

1. If you want self-hosted videos with excellent speedy playback, it works great with the popular & incredibly cheap cloud service, Amazon S3.

2. If you’ re just looking to upload a few videos here and there, you can upload them right to your server. Both of these methods ensure that you control all rights to your videos.

3. The last is you can import videos right from YouTube. While their logo will still appear in the corner,  the hyperlinked title bar doesn’t show up  during a mouse-over which helps a lot with your “time of site” calculations.

I personally use all three of these options. My favorite is to import from YouTube. If I can find a video that says what I want to say, I’ll just use Easy Video Player and add it to my blog.

EVP is easy to use

Another reason I feel Easy Video Player is the best video player for blogs is the WordPress plugin it comes with. No fumbling with messy coding which is great for newbies.

After you create a video, you just paste the code inside the popup box after hitting the EVP icon. You then hit insert and that’s it.

Easy video player review: best video player for blogs

Your video shows up as a blue box that is basically like inserting a pic.

Easy Video Players is designed to work with…

I could make this short and just say everything but because this is a review, I’ll go down the list.

• Paypal
• Clickbank
• Aweber
• Infusionsoft
• Kajabi
• GetResponse
• Icontact
• Mailchimp
• Constant Contact
• HTML 5
• and of course WordPress

Creating sales videos with Easy Video Player

Easy video Player takes creating sales videos to another level with security. You can lock videos so they can’t only be used on certain sites. This is great to counter video thieves.

While I don’t recommend this too often, you can also create password protected videos where on special people  can view them. Great way to create some exclusiveness; and yes you can do this with an imported YouTube videos too.

Another great feature that I’ve only seen with Easy Video Player is the ability to have a clickable buttons (pre-installed or your own custom button) appear in the video after it’s finished. You can make this button go directly to your sales page or checkout area.

Branding

If you’re going to be creating videos for your blog, you can easily (as I’ll show in the video) add a watermark to your videos. This will deter thieves from recording your video content

It also allows you to upload your own video intro which I showed you how to get for 5 bucks on my list of things you can get done for $5.

Great for outsourcing

If you’re big on outsourcing, no sweat my friend. It’s a fairly easy to learn system and you can setup up to 4 different levels of access.

• Administrators can access any part of Easy Video Player 2, including settings and user management.
• Managers can access everything except for settings and user management.
• Clients can upload, delete and view the statistics of any video in their assigned folders. Split tests aren’t available to clients.
• Simple clients can only view the statistics for the videos in their assigned folders. Split tests aren’t available to clients.

This will ensure that your video content is safe with the people you trust.

Some more misc. features of Easy Video Player

• Video analytics allow you to see what videos are the most popular
• Split testing allows you to test multiple videos  to see which is the best converting (great for sales videos)
• Allows you to add share buttons inside your video (Google+, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg and more)
• Video lightbox popup allows you to make video popup after clicking an image.
• 20 video player themes to choose from.
• It’s fully compatible with iPads and iPhones. This gives you immediate access to the millions of iPhone, iPad and mobile device users.

Now here’s the bad part

Being that I want this to be the most honest Easy Video Player review you’ll ever see, I have to tell you that installing Easy Video Player is not a walk in the park. I’m pretty good with installing stuff but I had a hard time installing it at first.

Once you pay for Easy Video Player, you do get access to their help center which has a very detailed video on how to install it. They have a video for both Mac and PC users and they walk you through using FileZilla.

After doing it a couple of times though, it gets to be much easier. As a BONUS, if you buy Easy Video Player through one of my links, I’ll help you install it to your servers. Just contact me with your receipt number and I’ll be happy to assist you as I’m pretty much a pro at it now.

Another feature I would like to have that I just realized as I’m finishing up this review is a copy video feature. A way to copy a video I already have in EVP and save as a separate file.

Summery of Easy Video Player Review

My overall thoughts on Easy Video Player is that it’s a great product and well worth the price. It will make your internet marketing business look more professional as your videos can be branded to look exactly like your website and you can put logos in them.

It takes all of the technical stuff out of video marketing so you can focus on what matters; creating amazing content for your blog.

If you’re selling products, Easy Video Player is perfect as you will have control over every aspect of your videos; from controlling them 100% on your servers to what websites can actually play the video.

Easy video player also provides a way for you to go viral. In a time when social sharing is more dominant than search engine optimization, having social sharing buttons in a video is a no-brainer.

I almost forgot to mention you can even add opt-in forms inside your video. If you’re a marketer, I don’t have to tell you how valuable that is.

YouTube has gotten us use to pressing buttons in videos if we like them. Only difference is now you can hog all those likes to yourself.

Whether you’re new to internet marketing/blogging or seasoned, you have to see that video marketing is quickly becoming more popular.

With stricter copyright laws on free public sites like YouTube, it’s causing them to delete videos left and right so I think it’s best you make the move as quickly as possible. Be your own YouTube.

Take a look over my shoulder at Easy Video Player in action

Easy Video Player’s price

Easy video player has 2 options and both are one-time fees meaning you own Easy Video Player for life and get access to all future updates.

You can get the Easy Video Player 2 software which doesn’t allow you to remove the EVP watermark from your videos. You also won’t have the option to store videos for others (clients, friends and family). This option is only a one-time fee of $127. 

The second option (which is of course the most popular) is the commercial license which allows you to remove the EVP watermark allowing you to put your own and also host your client’s videos if you have any.

Get enough clients and Easy Video Player pays for itself. You can get the commercial license which allows you to install on as many sites as you can think of for only $77 more for a one-time grand total of $204.

Both options come with a 30-day trial to the EliteMarketingFoundation; a membership site provided by Easy Video Player to aid you in your video marketing ventures.

Still Undecided? Check out this official video from EVP

Hope you enjoyed my Easy Video Player review. What are your thoughts on EVP? Do you use it for your online business? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading

To your online success

And here are some big name internet marketers who use Easy Video Player

It’s just a good blog.

You start to read and as you get further down, you notice more spelling and grammar errors than a 5 year-old’s first spelling test.

I don’t know if you noticed, but when there is a spelling error, you catch it almost immediately. You can see them for reasons that I’ll disclose below.

This post will show you methods I use for my blog that have tremendously cut down on my spelling and grammar errors. You’re talking about a guy that used 3 words in 1 and didn’t think anything of it. You’ll see what I mean.

Some are automatic while a few will take a little commitment from you. Just remember that when readers see spelling and grammar errors, they may for a quick second (or for the whole blog post), think they’re smarter than you; or is that just crazy old me?

Make sure you’re using the latest WordPress

If you haven’t already, make sure you update to the latest WordPress. I think it’s 3.1 or something but the new WordPress has built-in spelling and grammar checker that kicks in just before you publish a post. It will mention that you have spelling and grammar errors and to fix them, hit the cancel button.

That feature alone has made me smarter than most of my readers; it’s a joke people. Best part about WordPress’ spelling and grammar checker is it is customized for the actual user (just incase you have or plan to have multiple bloggers). Check yours out at users > your profile.

If you like a word like “Dagonit” and WP keeps telling you it’s spelled wrong, you can right-click and “ignore always”. You’ll never hear a peep out of WP again.

Read thoroughly before and after posting

This is something you should be doing anyway but truth be told, I didn’t in my beginning days. I would write a post and act as if I had just won the National Spelling Bee the day before.

After you hit that publish button, it’s too late to save your “smartness” (correct errors) in your RSS feed; this also goes for an RSS broadcast which I’ll speak on shortly. RSS is like Vegas; what happens in RSS, stays in RSS. As far as I know, you can’t edit RSS but correct me if I’m wrong.

If you have incorporated the RSS broadcast feature into your online business (which works great with Aweber), then you should be on your own list and get your broadcasts and should be the first to open them. I don’t know about you but I get excited every time I see my broadcast message sitting in my inbox. I’m always guaranteed to get at least 1 unique open…

Use spelling and grammar checking software

With ton’s of different tools out there for to help your internet experience, I’m sure there is something to help you with your spelling.

What I use that helps tremendously is a Macbook and Safari. Now I don’t know about any other browsers (you’re welcome to test them out) but Safari has a built-in feature that corrects your spelling automatically. You know one word I just can’t get right is guarantee. I spelled it wrong just now and Safari corrected it for me.

I heard a joke once if you come across someone who spells guarantee wrong in a sales pitch, DON’T TRUST THEM. Every since then, that has been a huge focus of mines. I probably account for 25% of the searches in Google on how to spell guarantee.

Have someone else read it

Now this is something that helps out a lot. I have people write me and tell me they don’t mean to hurt my feelings but they found a spelling or grammar error. BRING IT! I welcome them. Once my blog becomes a top-level blog, I’m going to give away prizes for catching spelling and grammar errors.

This someone else can be a friend, family member, colleague or another blogger. You don’t want your readers constantly telling you that you have spelling and grammar errors but a thousand eyeballs is better than 2.

If you check out Fiverr, you can find people who will proofread your article for $5.

The reason you may want to have someone else read it is because they don’t know what you’ve typed. As you type a blog, your mind kind of records it and you get use to what you see in front of you. You know what you typed basically. This will have you skipping over spelling and grammar errors like crazy.

eirs, ere and ‘re

This had to be my toughest battle yet in my blogging career. Remember above when I said I’d use 3 words as 1? Well this is what I was referring to.

Their, There and They’re (and also your and you’re)

When I wrote my first book, I had a friend proofread it for me. I love her because she keeps it real and boy did she come through this time.

When she told me I had spelling and grammar errors, I thought it was a few. Boy was I wrong. Ended up nearly rewriting the entire book. I used those words wrong 99% of the time they were used. She explained to me just what they meant and how to use them.

Now, I’m a sniper for just those words. Every single time I type them on anything, I think twice on if I’m using them correctly. That helped me out tremendously.

I’ve never been huge (I sucked) on all the verb and noun stuff. I forgot them the minute they stopped teaching it. Here’s how I distinguish the meanings:

• There: Pointing to something; ex. There goes the that boy again
• Theirs: Something owned or in possession. of; ex. That money is theirs to keep.
• They’re: Short for They are; ex. They’re going to the store

In conclusion

I hope you found this post helpful. I sure this enjoy writing this one. I’m on my balcony looking out at the world. Funny thing just happened; a hawk just flew down and grabbed something off the tree. Scared the crap out of me. LOL. Never been scared so bad this early in the morning.

Anyway, what methods do you use that help you cut down on spelling and grammar errors? I would love to hear what you have to say. I’m always trying to improve on something; especially my grammar because I make a living off of writing.

Now please know that we are all human and we still make mistakes. Being perfect is not the goal but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive for perfection; is that one of those oxymorons? You know what I mean.

Hey as always, I want to thank you for reading because without you, my blog is nothing. Please comment and share because that would help me out alot.

You have a great day; a better one than yesterday; and stop writing with those dog paws.

And here’s that funny video I promised. I saw it on another blog and sense this post is sorta about dogs, I figured, I’d throw it on here. Enjoy!