Mommy Bloggers Guide: Make Money, Drive Traffic, Learn to Blog

How to Use iFrames with WordPress

2010-09-05T23:10:00.005-04:00

WordPress doesn't like iframes but there is a way to get these two to play nicely together. Sometimes you need to use iframes because an ad you are placing on your site uses it or maybe a chatroom plugin or the ShopStyle widget (if you are a fashion blogger or write about any kind of fashion).

If you just put the iframe code in the post (always in the HTML view) and then try to view it WordPress strips the code out and it won't work.

To get the iframe code to work with WordPress you need to install a plug-in called Insere Iframe

From your WordPress Dashboard, click Plugins from the Sidebar to find and install this plugin.

Or you can go to the WordPress Plugin page here and download it. Then go to the Plugin area on your WordPress Dashboard and upload it.

After you activate this plugin here is how to use it.

1. Open or create a new post.

2. Click the HTML tab and then paste your iframe code wherever you want it to show

3. Locate >iframe and replace it with [iframe:

4. Locate ></frame> and replace all of that with a ]

That's it. Now your iframe code will remain intact within the WordPress post or sidebar widget.

Get Your Blog Reviewed

2010-09-05T02:49:00.003-04:00

How would you like to get your own blog reviewed and also get a link back at the same time? As bloggers we are always looking for good ways to get people to read our blog, comment on it and also give a link back to it.

I stumbled across a blog entitled, The Kindle Blog Report, and Marguerite will review your blog, give her honest opinion of it's content and whether it has value to the public, and link back to you. Her blog is mainly about sites and books that are good to view on the Kindle, the popular wireless reading device from Amazon but she also touts her site as the Original Blog Review Blog.

No matter what kind of blog you run Marguerite has a category to put you in.

And, not only does her review share with the public what your blog is about, she also gives her honest opinion about the content of your site (her review is not about what your blog looks like), and gives her readers excerpts from some of your posts.

I suggest you check out her blog and contact her to get a review of your blog today.

Search Analytics

2010-04-12T18:38:00.002-04:00

Every blog owner should know just how visitors find your site and where they are coming from. You should also know what search terms are used to find your site.

It is VERY important to make sure the right visitors are finding your site. You do not want to waste your marketing efforts on trying to get just anyone to visit your site when you have a specific niche you serve almost exclusively. But how do you find out who is visiting and if they are finding what your site is all about?

The answer is simple, but simultaneously complex: search analytics.

A lot of people do not understand just what search analytics are. Simply put, search analytics comprise the study of:

what any given visitor does while they are on your website
what search terms they use to get to your site
and how they actually find your site (through searching, social media, or another site)

Every time someone finds your blog they may stay for a few seconds or they may stay on for an hour, depending on a variety of factors. Does your site offer great content? Or is it more like a classic “squeeze page,” with a little bit of ad copy and an entreaty to sign up for an e-mailing list? No two sites are precisely the same, and this leads to a great deal of different potential tweaks.

This is where search analytics companies come into play. There are several different companies, which offer a highly varied range of content. Most every type of software available (including that which is native to some web hosting providers) tells you the basic information. Three things that are very important to know are unique visitors, duration of visit, and user impressions.

Obviously, a unique visitor is just any person who clicks onto your site. A user impression is whether they clicked onto a particular page, where a particular ad might be displayed. And visit duration tells whether they stuck around long enough to really check out your offerings… or just gave it a once over, a shaken head, and a disappearing act.

Two of the best companies for identifying the more nitty gritty information on your site are Google Analytics and Omniture. However, they function in different ways.

Google’s software is just that – it can track “the numbers,” but it has no brain. If you have a marketing background, this might be enough for your purposes. However, Omniture stands out a bit because their professionals actually review the number their software puts up, and make specific recommendations based on their knowledge and your intended niche.

Knowing exactly how a visitor finds you is one of the best ways to start targeting what you write on your blog to help those visitors find you everytime they search for a keyword or keyword phrase.

Mom Blog Magazine Looking for Writers

2010-03-17T23:28:00.002-04:00

Are you looking for a way to get the word out about your mom blog and also make some money on the side? The New Mom Blog Magazine site just launched and they are looking for writers. Here is the scoop on this sweet job.

The Mom Blog magazine publishes articles, essays, book and product reviews, interviews, and short, sweet sidebar features.

We are more prone to accept your work if you bring a fresh angle to articles about social media, blogging and moms. We understand that a lot of the information in our community is often repeated therefore becoming stale and trite. We appreciate work with outside-of-the-box thinking.

Our editorial departments are: blogging, social media, breaking news, gadgets/tech, books, and interviews. We do not publish promotional pieces. However, if your work is accepted we will pay you for your great content and will also run a brief bio and a link to your blog or Web site and Twitter or Facebook page.

We pay $50 for articles, interviews, and thorough book and product reviews. We pay $25 for sidebar features. We are also open to paying more for in-depth articles. Pitch us with your idea first, though, with the angle, proposed length, and the names of those you will interview for your article. Also, if you can work on assignment when news breaks or important issues come up in our community please send us a letter of interest and clips.

To receive our full writer's guidelines, email us at editors@momblogmag.com.

Diva Mom Bloggers Behaving Badly

2010-02-27T19:38:00.004-05:00

The very definition of a Diva is to be arrogant and egotistical. Diva came from the phrase "prima donna" and Wikipedia describes that kind of person as "often regarded as egotistical, unreasonable and irritable, with a rather high opinion of themselves not shared by others."

Yes, there definitely are Diva mom bloggers just like there are Diva celebrities. They make money and have huge Fan-like followings and I could give you a few names but I won't. They think that because they make money and because they have huge followings that they can act and should be treated differently than any other blogger. It's all a bunch of crap!

Who says that because you make money and because you have a huge following that you are any more special than me or than any other blogger in the Blogosphere? The Diva blogger obviously. And why do we give them the right to act this way? We have put some mom bloggers on a pedestal and for what? So they can act badly at conferences?

Yes, they may be working with big brands to promote products, and yes, they may help people with their blogs but honey, what you write about on your mom blog that makes you a Diva is not brain surgery. Heck, most are writing about saving money at the grocery store. So what is so great and different about that? Does your blog give the cure for cancer? If not, then get over yourself!

Those Diva mom bloggers should thank their lucky stars that they have big readerships, make a lot of money, or get to work with big brands. They should be thankful everyday. They were at some point and still could be a struggling mom blogger who is just starting out and doesn't have a following.

There are struggling mom bloggers probably writing about the same topic but maybe no one knows about her. What she writes is just as valuable to someone. The Diva mom blogger just got out of the gate before she did. That Diva mom blogger started her blog years before and just happened to get in at the beginning of the mom blogger craze.

Kind of like someone who invents something first like the Snuggie. Everything after is a copy-cat and the first person to think up the idea gets the prize. But just why that prize puts someone in a different class I will never know.

But a warning to all of those so called Diva mom bloggers. Your day could be coming. What you do today could come back and bite you in the ass tomorrow. And, the Web and social media are changing everyday and you could find your inflated ego sitting on the side of the road if you are not careful. Even Mariah Carey and all of her Divaness - is that a word - can't go on forever.

I have heard horror stories about bloggers who went to a conference just to meet one of these Diva mom bloggers and have her snub her nose at them because they weren't part of the IN crowd. I even heard of a Diva mom blogger who looked at another blogger's business card and gave it back when she found out she wasn't anything special. I would like to see them try that with me. I will be the one wearing the I'M NOT PART OF THE DIVA BLOGGING CLUB t-shirt when I go to BlogHer in August. Feel free to come up and shake my hand. I dare you :-)

Are you reviewing products or just promoting them?

2010-02-27T18:54:00.003-05:00

Many times mom bloggers get products sent to them to review. In the first place let's go over why companies are willing to do this. Companies have found a cheap way of getting their products advertised - it's called mom blogging.

Companies are willing to send you a product to review in hopes that the people who read your blog will try it and buy it. Heck, even if they get new people to even see their product they are building and growing their brand so for them it is a win-win situation. Many times they don't care if you have 100 readers or 10,000. To them they are getting 100 new people to find out about their product. They are getting free advertising for a steal.

In the "real" world they would have to pay tens of thousands of dollars for this kind of advertising but we, for some odd reason, will do it for free. I am guilty myself. I love free stuff just as much as the next person. So, I take a product and review it to get it for free.

Mom bloggers jump at the chance to review a product because it gives them "free swag" as I like to call it. I know all about getting free stuff. I write about entering sweepstakes to "win what you can't afford" on my Sweeps blog and the thrill of getting something free is too much to pass up. Many people don't want to wait to win it, although you wouldn't know it from the crowds at the casino, and they see the vast amount of free stuff coming through the blogging community everyday so they jump at the chance to get a free product to review.

Are you reviewing the product or just promoting it?

Too many mom bloggers are just pawns in the hands of companies because they are writing an obvious glowing, positive review about the product they received instead of giving the honest truth. If you bought the product yourself you wouldn't do that unless you totally liked what you got and there were negatives about it but you would have a definite opinion about the product. When you buy the product you are reviewing yourself you don't feel obligated in anyway to right something you wouldn't normally write.

When you receive a free product from a company you are afraid of writing what you really think because maybe you will tick off the company and then maybe they won't come back and offer you anything else in the future.

An Honest Review

I received some Pampers just last week to review and while I couldn't review them myself I ask my daughter-in-law to review them because she has a baby. The only thing I could have done in the review is tell you yes, I have a diaper in my hands and it smell good when it's not used :-)

Well the review was so-so and the company probably wouldn't want to hear what she had to say. She came up with a basic PROS and CONS list of things about the diaper. She said that it passed the "pee pee" test and worked well overnight but failed the "poo poo" test because it came out of the back of the diaper. And she said that if they weren't so expensive she would use them on a regular basis because they were overall a good diaper.

Now THAT is a real review.

Next time you get a product to review think about what you are doing. If you are not being honest then you are just "pimping" out your blogging services to the company willing to send you some free stuff in return. The company is getting the better end of the bargain. You, on the other hand, should feel like you aren't doing the right thing.

Affiliate Marketing 101 for Mom Bloggers

2010-02-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

Just what is affiliate marketing? Basically it is "Selling Other People's Stuff" and it is a great way for your to make money on your mom blog.

Affiliate marketing starts off with a merchant. That merchant has a product they want to sell. It might be a physical product like a pair of pants or a clock, a digital product like a music download or an eBook, it could be a magazine subscription, or maybe they are trying to sell membership to their membership site.

The next part of affiliate marketing is you, the blogger. A store like Old Navy might have an affiliate program and once you sign up you have the potential to make money promoting their sales and coupons. You share with your readers about the sale on the Old Navy site this week. Embedded in the link to the Old Navy site is your affiliate link. If that reader goes to the Old Navy site and makes a purchase you earn a commission.

As mentioned above, those products don't have to be physical but they can be digital like an eBook. A great place to find eBooks to promote on your mom blog is ClickBank.com. Sign up for their affiliate program and then start promoting them right now. There are so many titles that you will find something that appeals to the vast amount of people on the Internet. Every ClickBank product has a commission rate that is set by the vendor, ranging from 1% to 75%.

Leads vs Sales

As I showed you above, you can make money by selling other people's stuff like in the Old Navy scenario and that is called a Sales affiliate offer. But, you can also make money promoting "other people's stuff" through Lead Generation offers. A lead basically works the same way but you don't have to worry if the reader makes a purchase. You would still write about the offer that Old Navy has but if they have a lead offer you would earn flat price based on what they are willing for that person to click through from your site to the Old Navy site. I have found that leads pay from 20 cent in the low range to $3.50 in the higher range. I tend to see a lot of $1.10 lead offers. But, if you have a lot of readers then promoting one offer can still earn you a fair amount of cash in your pocket.

This was just a brief overview of Affiliate Marketing Basics but stick around for more details in the future about how to sign up, what is required of your the blogger to promote affiliate programs, what affiliate programs are good for mom bloggers, and more.

Free Books for Bloggers from BookSneeze

2010-02-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for things to review on your blog. Well, here's something you can get for free to review. BookSneeze is offering books for bloggers in exchange for a 200 word review. The book review can be positive or negative. You can post the review on your own blog or on one of the book sites mentioned below.

What a great way to get started reviewing books on your blog.

Here's how it works:

1. Apply at BookSneeze.com using the registration form. Once your application is approved, they will send you a confirmation email to confirm your registration as a BookSneeze Blogger.

2. Select a book to review. View the available books and sign up for a BookSneeze product that you are interested in reviewing. After you have requested a review copy, you will receive an email confirming your request that has links to additional reviewer resources. (Note that they will be shipping all physical books via USPS Media Mail which typically takes about 7-10 for domestic shipments.)

3. Read the book, write your review, and post it. Read the book and craft a 200+ word review. The review can be positive or negative, it just needs to be based on the entire book. Post your review on your blog and any consumer retail website (Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, booksamillion.com, borders.com, buy.com, christianbook.com, costco.com, lifeway.com, overstock.com, and walmart.com all have a section on each book's product page dedicated to customer reviews). To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, please mention as part of every Web or retail site review that Thomas Nelson has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy.

Not all book titles are available for review and some book titles will only be available in limited quantities.

Find more free stuff at Freebies Are Fun.

Top Blogger 2010 Contest from Free Baby Magazine

2010-02-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

ATTENTION Bloghers, Businesses, Coupon Clippers, Mom Bloggers and Mommas

Free Baby Magazine is pleased to announce the Top Blogger 2010 Contest.

Winners will be chosen from three categories and featured in the March 2010 issue of Free Baby Magazine!

The three categories are:

Discount/Freebie Blogs
Personal/Mommy Blogs
Product/Company Blogs

There will also be a random drawing for all entries. (Every blog that refers someone to the site with be entered to win, whether you refer 1 or 1,000,000)

Prizes Include:

The Top Ten Blogs in each category will be featured in the magazine.
The #1 Blog in each category (along with the random drawing winner) will receive a Full Page Ad in the magazine ($135 Value)
The Grand Prize winner will receive a Premiere Sponsor Advertising Package ($300 Value) ***(Includes a full page ad in between the cover and contents page in the magazine, plus a 150px x 150px web ad on our website for a month (estimated 10,500 web views), plus a 150 px x 150 px ad in our monthly email newsletter (4,100 email subscribers). There is a limit of three premium sponsors per issue.)

This contest begins on Friday, February 19, 2010 and ends on Friday February 26, 2010 at 11:59 PM

How Do you Enter?

Post an entry on your blog inviting your readers to read the magazine and subscribe. The more referrals you send to free Baby Magazine, the higher your chances are of winning. They will be tracking the referral with Google Analytics.

Increase Your Chances of Winning:

Place your post in a prominent area on your website
Repost every day
Tell your readers about the contest so that they will want you to win
Encourage your readers to follow Free Baby Magazine on Twitter @freebabymag
Encourage your readers to follow Free Baby Magazine on Facebook
Encourage your readers to follow the Free Baby Magazine blog

Mommy Businesses Blogging Their Way To Success

2010-02-21T14:17:00.003-05:00

More and more women are leaving the workplace to stay home and be full time mommies. Since most households still require the income that Mommy was bringing in prior to the birth of her child, these enterprising women are coming up with ways to work at home. This allows them a chance to spend those precious first few years with their children and still help pay the bills.

Companies employ some of these moms in “telecommuting” type jobs. Others, however, are striking out on their own to earn their keep. These enterprising “Mommy Entrepreneurs” are starting cottage industries and most of them are using the world-wide-web as their storefront.

If you are a mommy with an online business, your blog can be more than just an ongoing article or story. It can become a valuable means of drawing potential customers to your website. For instance, take the case of a neighbor of mine makes custom diaper-bags. She does beautiful work, and can add a compartment for this, or embroider the child’s initials on the outside of each bag. She worked at a textile plant before “retiring” to work at home and raise her son. Her bags are beautiful and each one is made to order. Still, even with a quality product, she had trouble finding an outlet for them in our small hometown. So, she turned to the web. Her website is simple, providing shoppers with photos of her work and a price list and contact information. She has email and, for marketing purposes, she writes an ongoing blog. Marketing? Blog? Yes. Marketing and blog can be a beautiful pairing. It’s really pretty simple, and quite profitable.

If you are a mommy with a product to sell on-line and are writing a blog, make sure you include words that are in the address of your site, or in the byline it carries. In her blog, my neighbor frequently uses phrases like “diaper bag”, “customized bags” and “baby’s initials”. When someone does an online search for a “customized baby’s diaper bag with initials”, these phrases will cause the engine to pull up her site, and it will show up in the list of potentials provided for that shopper to choose from. The rest is up to her site and her skill. She is doing pretty well as of this writing, and enjoying the time she is spending teaching her son the alphabet in the process.

Using phrases that will refer customers shopping via search engines to your site has a name. It is called Search Engine Optimization. This means that you will optimize the amount of potential hits from search engines by inserting as many key phrases in the text of the blog as it will contain without being saturated to the point of becoming boring. Almost every blog on the Web has been written with SEO in mind. This makes the blog a valuable source of marketing for on-line businesses, including those businesses that are run by a mommy.

This is a guest post by Gavin

Free Publicity for Bloggers

2010-02-21T12:59:00.003-05:00

Do you have a story to share or something that is newsworthy? Maybe you write about a specific niche topic on your blog that isn't widely covered on other blogs. Maybe, just maybe, what you write about it hot, current, trendy, and newsworthy. But how to get the word out about your blog, your story, and your ideas.

In the past all we had to turn to was doing a traditional press release but now you can find out what the press is looking to write and respond to their requests. Here are three free publicity outlets that you may want to sign up for that could help you grow your blog and your celebrity as a blogger.

I have used all of these lists many times and have had great success, especially with HARO. Because of HARO my sweeps site was featured in an article on MSN and CNN online that made it to the front page many times. Because of HARO I was able to go to the Affiliate Summit as a guest panelist. Both of those things helped to make me the successful blogger I am today.

As a blogger you have a way of finding sources for articles you are writing as all of these lists will also allow you to put in your requests as long as you follow their guidelines.

All three of these free publicity opportunities are actual email lists that you sign up for. When you sign up you will receive daily emails that will list all of the requests made by reporters, TV shows, freelance writers, industry experts, and other bloggers like you. who are looking for a targeted audience that will respond to them.

On each of these email lists you will find:

TV shows that are looking for people to appear on their show
freelance writers who are in the pitch stage of an article and need ideas
other bloggers who are writing articles and need ideas
guest writer articles that someone wants posted
guest writer requests to write for a site
big magazines writing articles and looking for quotes or ideas for an article
bloggers who are doing gift guides and need companies to send them ideas for products to add
radio shows looking for guests
gift bag item requests

Set up a Separate Email Account

You may want to consider setting up a free email just to receive these media requests everyday because you can get a lot of them, especially from HARO. In the long run it is worth it though so you shouldn't see them as spam and you can always unsubscribe at anytime.

Stay on Topic

Whatever you read in these email lists is geared towards a specifically topic. The reporters, freelance writers, bloggers, and other industry experts do not want you to respond to the media requests if you do not fit the criteria or topic. They are busy people and are putting out a request to get information about a specific article or pitch they are writing.

You can actually get kicked off of the lists if you respond to requests that you do not fit into. Make sure you read the request carefully and only respond to those where you fit the need.

Requests Expire

Most of the media requests expire after a certain date. Sometime they are only available for a day but sometimes you have a week or more to respond. Make sure to get your response in before the deadlines.

How to Respond to a Media Request

Once you find a media pitch that you have knowledge of, you have good information to include to their article, you have a compelling story to share, or you even feel like you have an idea that would make their story better, you will want to write an email to the person listed for that pitch.

Make sure you include a descriptive title to the email. The reporters and other media contacts will get a lot of responses to their requests, especially if they are from a national magazine or TV show and you want your email to be seen.

Do NOT capitalize your entire email title. That is still considered shouting. You could capitalize one word for emphasis and you might want to put the name of the list in brackets or parentheses like this [HARO] and include that in your title. You could also put the name of the person's request in the brackets instead like this: Your title [Top Dating Tips HARO] - that helps the person to know you are responding to their request from the HARO list.

This is not a requirement, of course, just my suggestion to help your media response to get seen.

Getting Responses Back

Many times you will not get a response back from the reporter, blogger, or TV show. They may get lots and lots of responses, especially if they say they are a national magazine or TV show. Don't take it personally. Just keep looking for opportunities to respond to. If you fit the criteria needed and the reporter is interested in what you have to say they will reply to your email.

The Media Outlets

HARO

Founded in 2008, HARO or Help A Reporter Out, is the largest free publicity list out there. It was the first list of it's kind to be established. Created and own by Peter Shankman, HARO brings nearly 30,000 reporters and bloggers, over 100,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services.

HARO is entirely free to sources and reporters, and unlike a majority of social media services, is independently owned and funded and has been profitable since day one. In addition, HARO serves as

Since you will be responding to most of the pitches and not sending out requests you will want to sign up at helpareporter.com/sources. However, that doesn't mean you can't create your own pitch at some point. That option will be available as well in your control panel.

Once you sign up you can choose the types of lists you would like to receive each day. You will want to know how to use it properly because you will get up to 3 emails per day from this list. You can get the master list, which will have every media pitch and blogger request in it or you can pick from these industry categories:

Business and Finance
Lifestyle and Fitness
High Tech
Giftbag
General
Travel

Reporter Connection

Reporter Connection, established in December of 2009, is a free service that connects busy journalists with experts to interview or quote on a particular issue.

This list is much smaller and you will only get one email from them per day. Right now you cannot specify what you industry category you want to receive but the list is so small it doesn't matter because you will only receive one email from them a day.

Not already a member? Join now to get our free media leads www.ReporterConnection.com/JoinNowFree and please put my email (mommybloggersguide@gmail.com) or my name (Wendy Limauge) in the "Who told you about us?" box

Blogger Link Up

BloggerLinkUp is a service provided by Cathy Stucker and Special Interests Publishing. The purpose of the service is to help bloggers get exposure for their content and find content for their blogs.

This is also a smaller list and was formed in late 2009. It is setup differently than the other two in that it has a section for Guest Post requests and pitches. Right now they only send out one email per day and there is no way to pick your industry category. This list is especially good for bloggers.

Once you sign up for a free account you can use these links to submit your own request or pitch a story or article.

Request Guest Posts: bloggerlinkup.com/guest-post-ask
Offer Guest Posts: bloggerlinkup.com/guest-post-offer
Request Sources for Interviews: bloggerlinkup.com/sources
Offer Products for Review: bloggerlinkup.com/reeview

Now bloggers have a great way of getting the word out about their niche topic, getting themselves promoted by the traditional media, or getting seen on a national scale.

$78 in Free Facebook Advertising

2010-02-19T14:21:00.000-05:00

If you are a blogger or even a business owner looking for a way to get some free advertising on Facebook here is your chance because SeoFlexMedia.com is offering a $78 coupon right now. The coupon doesn't expire until June 30, 2010 so you have plenty of time to take advantage of this offer.

Create an ad at www.facebook.com/ads and use the promo code: 8HPY-3RYX-1T70-80YW

On Facebook you can:

Connect with Real People

Reach over 350,000,000 active Facebook users.
Attach social actions to your ads to increase relevance.
Create demand for your product with relevant ad

Create Your Facebook Ad

Quickly create image and text-based ads.
Advertise your own web page or something on Facebook like a Page or an Event.
Choose to pay per click (CPC) or impression (CPM) in your local currency.

Optimize Your Ads

Track your progress with real-time reporting.
Gain insight about who’s clicking on your ad.
Make modifications to maximize your results.

How to Hide the Navbar in Blogger

2010-02-05T15:54:00.001-05:00

When you use a standard template in Blogger you get a Navigation bar or more commonly called, NavBar, that shows up at the top of the screen.

The Navbar has things on it like search, Login/Logout, Dashboard, etc.

It looks a little unprofessional so to make your blog look more like a professional designed it you can hide the navbar. You can remove it but hiding it works fine.

Note: Always backup your template before you makeany changes to the HTML to ensure you can restore it if you make unwanted mistakes. For instructions on how to backup your template go to this post entitled, "How to Backup your Blogger Template."

Step-by-Step Instructions for Hiding the NavBar in Blogger:

1. Click the Layout tab.

2. Click the Edit HTML link.

3. Search (Ctrl + F brings up Find) for body {

4. Click just above that line of code and paste this code and press Enter once.

#navbar-iframe {
height:0px;
visibility:hidden;
display:none
}

5. Click Save Template at the bottom of the screen.

6. Click the Preview button and you will see that the Navbar is gone.

From now on you will need to go to www.blogger.com to log into your blog. You might want to bookmark the Blogger homepage to to make it faster to go to in the future.

Mommy Blogger's Quiet Descent onto Affiliate Summit

2010-01-31T12:00:00.008-05:00

#asw10 Two weeks ago Affiliate Summit West took place in Las Vegas and a small group of mom bloggers quietly crept onto the scene. We came to share our interest in affiliate marketing, to learn, and to be introduced to this untapped world.

A group of us, which included Heather from Inexpensively, Carrie from Pocket Your Dollars, Kim from KIMarketing, and myself were invited by Deborah @Loxly from AffiliatesABCs. Deborah has been in the affiliate marketing game for 10 years and is very knowledgeable. She has even been published in the new book we received at the Summit entitled, Internet Marketing From The Real Experts. My husband is reading this now so he can be my affiliate manager :-) Kim goes even further back than Deborah, starting her affiliate journey back in 1999. Heather, Carrie, and I are the newbies in the group but we have all been using affiliate programs on our blogs and knew enough to get our feet wet.

Mom bloggers are really not a new addition to the Summit, just a quiet voice that will hopefully grow as more women attend. I think that the Summit was made up by probably 70% men. I think many mom bloggers haven't been exposed to these types of opportunities but once they learn how much money is waiting to be made they will be all over it. Right now only about 25% of my current income comes from affiliate marketing but since this conference I have plans to change all of that.

While our little panel was not the buzz of the conference we did get a chance to air our concerns and explain who we are and how we use affiliate marketing to make money to the audience.

This small mommy blogger group made a tiny crack into the world of affiliate marketing will hopefully widen the door as more mom bloggers start attending future conferences. I already have plans to go back to Affiliate Summit East this coming August in New York City and hope to attend as a blogger instead of a speaker this time.

Missy Ward and Shawn Collins

This is a expert pair who started and run the Affiliate Summit. Everytime I would see them in the hallways or at parties they would be calm, cool and collected and it must be because they are good at what they do. They are good at surrounding themselves with good people who take care of a lot of the details for them. You have to be a good leader to get people to work for you as well as they do.

I never did get to really talk to them. I only stood next to Missy (@missyward) at the bowling fundraiser but did get to meet Shawn (@affiliatetip) in the hallway after lunch once. They seem to be super nice people and I would love to learn more about how they started the Summit.

Shawn at his goofy best

The Mentor Program

If it wasn't for the Mentor program I wouldn't have gotten as much out of this conference as I did. I signed up on the site about 3 weeks before the conference and was paired with Stephanie Lichenstein @MicroSteph. Stephanie is well-known at the conference. She blogs about the event weeks before, during, and then afterwards. She was a wonderful mentor and I can't say enough about her and Jen Goode who setup and ran the program.

The mentor program helps newbies get acclimated to the conference and if you get a good mentor they will help you get on party lists before the event, show you whos who, help you get into parties at the event, and keep you on top of things. Stephanie was an exceptional example of a good mentor. I owe her big time :-)

If you decide to attend the Affiliate Summit East in New York City I highly suggest you sign up for the mentor program.

My mentor, Stephanie Lichtenstein (on the left)

The People's Conference and Lunch

One thing that struck me was the fact that I would meet multi-millionaires who had just sold their last company who would talk to me and ask me about myself. They seemed generally interested in what I had to say. There was no divide at this conference between the have and the have nots and that impressed me a lot. You are able to learn from everyone and anyone.

The conference ran as smoothly as you would ever want. There were never any glitches or long lines. Everything was in order during the sessions and as a newbie and attendee I didn't even have a care in the world. I just followed the summarized schedule they put in my bag and I was good to go. That schedule sure did help because it was all on one page.

@SteveHall of Adrants, Eric Schechter of Clickbooth, Murray Newlands - sorry, I didn't get the middle guy's name. Anyone know?

The lunch was magnificent! I wish I had taken pictures of it because it was just great. It was buffet style and there were trays of fresh fruit and then hot dishes from potatoes to pasta, rice, chicken, salmon and even Mexican food the last day. Then there was a long dessert table with all kinds of delectable treats. I met some great people each day that I had never bumped into anywhere during the conference. Lunchtime is a great place to network because everyone is so relaxed. Actually, everyone is relaxed all through the conference because Missy and Shawn set that kind of tone.

Janet @onlineprbook, me, and the ClickBooth dude

Some Highlights from the Conference

One of the highlights for me was meeting and personally thanking Peter Shankman from HARO. HARO is an email list that you can sign up for to submit your request for pitches made by reporters, freelance writers, bloggers, TV shows, and more. My success from HARO was based on a story a freelance writer wrote that included my site. I went from a lowly 1,000 readers to 10,000 readers and it made me an overnight success. I will be sharing more later. Since HARO is free I wanted to make sure I at least thanked Peter in person. I even got my picture taken with him.

Me and Peter Shankman - thank you!

As noted above, I sat in on the Site Review clinic - in the front row no doubt - and handed in my business card first so they would pick me to have my site reviewed. A fellow attendee, Bryan, suggested I do this and told me to sit in the front row and try to be first because they only pick a handful of sites to review. Besides, sitting in the front row makes you less nervous because you can't see the looks on people's faces because they are staring at the back of your head! The panel, along with moderator Sugar Rae, poured over my site and gave me a list of things that were wrong and gave me the fixes for them as well. I heard that a consultation like this could cost me $10,000 if I were to pay them for this advice so I found it invaluable. Anytime you are at a conference and can take advantage of an open door like this do it and don't worry about what people think of you.

Don't I look scary? I took my glasses off and am squinting to see the screen. This pic was taken by Dave Dugdale. Check out his Rental Houses Blog

The ShareASale party was the bomb! I went to a lot of parties and many were just people standing in a room or a bar drinking and networking. The ShareASale party was interactive. They had dancing, a great DJ, video games on huge screens in one corner, Karaoke going on in between dancing, tons of great finger foods, and then there was that bouncy room you see 5 year-olds get in at someone's summer birthday party. Well, 20+ adults don't really fit too well in there and I think some of the chandeliers got broken - whoops! It wasn't me!

During the party they also gave our boas and fun glasses and rings that lit up. In another corner there was a photo booth that you could get in with your favorite peeps and taken some fun pictures. It was the best party ever!

There were lots of things going on all of the time and I know I missed out one some awesome sessions but you really can't do it all. I found that the most valuable time during the Affiliate Summit was when I met people one-on-one. Whether it was ducking into a room to talk with an affiliate program manager face-to-face or meet up with him in the hallway for an impromptu meeting, or sitting next to someone in a bar, at a party or at dinner, I learned SO much valuable information that I would just go again for those networking opportunities. One night I went to Cafe Martorano to eat dinner (and no, that creepy looking DJ wasn't there), and I met Warren Whitlock (@warrenwhitlock) who told me I was a celebrity but didn't know it and that I should be using my celebrity to make money. On the other side of me I met someone who told me about 30, 60, and 90 day sessions and how I could make money if someone goes back to a site I suggest over a longer period of time. At yet another event I learned how to use Tubemogul.com to blast a video I want to promote to 10 sites instead of using YouTube to show it just on one site. So, you see, the networking alone is worth it's weight in gold.

And, I hope I was able to share some of the things I know that might help someone. What I find is that EVERYBODY has something to give, both newbie and old timer and everyone is in a friendly mode that there is a lot of learning going on.

Catch you at Affiliate Summit East in New York City - a week after BlogHer in August!

2010 Mom Blogger Conferences

2010-01-26T16:14:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of mom blogger conferences coming up sometimes in 2010. If you know of other blogging conferences that are a good fit please post them and I will update the list. They don't have to be specifically for mom bloggers but I would like them to be for blogging, networking, or learning how to make money online.

There are other types of blogging conferences that make a good fit as well. I have included whatever I can find and what others have sent me including fashion blogger and foodie blogger conferences

Will you be attending any of these mom blogging conference? I am attending BlogHer in NYC. I would be happy to hook up with you while I'm there.

January

Chicks Who Click
A one-day Social Media Conference for Women incorporating networking, education and empowerment with like-minded women, achieving great heights in the area of Social Media.

Denver, Colorado
January 23, 2010 (one day)
8:30am-5:00pm
Cocktail reception to follow-5:30pm
$225.00- includes, conference, breakfast, lunch and networking.

February

Blissdom
February 4-6, 2010
Nashville, Tennessee
Cost: $299

Evolving Influence Fashion Blogger Conference

February 15, 2010
Conference 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Wine & cheese reception 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Helen Mills Theater
137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)
New York City

Mom 2.0
February 18-21, 2010
Houston, Texas
Full Conference: $449
Networking Events Only: $150

March

South by Southwest
March 11-16, 2010
Austin, Texas
Prices range from $325 to $920

Bloggy Bootcamp
March 6, 2010
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Pier 5 Hotel in Baltimore
Cost: $89 includes lunch
Registration Form: You can find that Here
Limited to 85 registrants

Fitbloggin (for fitness, diet and healthy lifestyle bloggers)
March 19-21, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland
Conference: $99.99 (ends March 1, 2010)

Camp Blogaway (for food bloggers)
Foodies, chefs, caterers, Mom Bloggers, cookbook authors and more, take note: May 14-16, 2010 is THE weekend when bloggers from across the country will convene near Big Bear in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains of sunny Southern California for intense learning and sharing.

May 14-16, 2010
San Bernardino Mountains, South California
$325

June

EVO Conference
June 24-26, 2010
Park City, Utah
Full Conference: $249 Early Bird until Feb 23rd
Networking Events Only: $75

August

Blogher
August 6-7, 2010
New York City
Full Conference: $198 Early Bird until Feb 28th
Cocktail Parties: $50

September

Type-A Mom
September 23-27, 2010
Ashville, NC
No registration info available yet

October

Blogalicious
October 8-10, 2010
Miami, Florida
No registration info available yet

Blog World Expo
October 2010
No registration info available yet

Izeafest
October 2010

2010 Mom Blogger Conferences

How to Copy and Paste HTML in 3 Easy Steps

2010-01-26T15:50:00.001-05:00

Even though you can setup and run your mommy blog without the knowledge of HTML it is definitely something you should learn a little bit about.

This lesson will teach you the basics of how to copy and paste HTML code. You don't really need to know anything about how HTML is constructed to copy and paste it. Just make sure you are always copying exactly what you are given if it is for a gadget, widget, ad, or script.

This lesson will not teach you what HTML is and how to use it. I will be writing another lesson on that topic.

Step by Step Instructions:

1. Select all of the HTML code that you want to copy by either:

Dragging your mouse over all the text from the top left and then straight down, or holding the CTRL + A keys down on your keyboard at the same time

2. Copy the HTML code to your computer's clipboard by either:

Right-clicking on top of the selected HTML code and then left-clicking Copy, or holding the CTRL + C keys down on your keyboard at the same time.

3. Paste the HTML code by switching to the screen where you want to paste the HTML code and clicking your mouse on the space where you will be pasting the code and either:

Right-clicking in the blank space and left-clicking Paste, or holding the CTRL + V down on your keyboard at the same time.

Download this Lesson for Free:

To download this lesson in PDF format click on the picture to the right. The lesson is free to save, print, distribute, and share with friends and family. Please keep the copyright information intact when sharing it so I get the credit for writing it and hopefully get more visitors to my site. Thanks!

Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Copy and Paste HTML Code

Using keyboard shortcuts is the easiest way to select, copy, and then paste HTML code.

Here is an example in pictures to show you how copy something in a new post in your blog at Blogger.com. In this example it shows how to copy and paste Google Adsense HTML Code into a post.

Step 1: Select the HTML Code

Click in the window or box where the code is located and press CTRL + A.

Step 2: Copy the HTML Code

With the HTML code still selected press CTRL + C.

Step 3: Paste the HTML Code

Click where you want to paste the code and press CTRL + V.

Just make sure you are always copying exactly what you are given if it is for a gadget, widget, ad, or script.

Click Save Now if you want to save the post if you are following along in Blogger.

You can use the 3 Easy Steps to copy and paste just about any text or code anywhere. It doesn't have to be HTML.

Just remember:

CTRL + A
CTRL + C
CTRL + V

Step 1: Select all of the text of HTML code

Step 2: Copy all of the text of HTML code

Step 3: Paste all of the text of HTML code

Mom Blogger Business Cards Trick

2010-01-25T18:15:00.006-05:00

#asw10 When I went to the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas last week I made sure I had brand new business cards to carry with me. I also setup a new email address with Gmail. I didn't want to give out my regular email because you had so many cards out when you go to a conference. Many times you just drop your business card in a bowl to try to win a prize and your email address ends up on someone's list. Gmail is free so you might want to consider having a separate email address just for this purpose.

I came up with a little trick too. On my new business cards I advertised all of my blogs on the back. I put the name of my blog, the URL, and a one line phrase that told what that blog was about. Then, on the front, I put my regular contact information and a photo of myself. It only cost an extra $4.99 to have it put on 250 business cards.

Everyone gets so many business cards when they attend a conference that when you get home you forget who gave it to you. Now, those people will see that picture of me and immediately remember they met me.

Vista Print just came out with Mom Contact cards. They cost $1.99 and you get 100. You could use these to advertise your blog as well. Or, just go with their traditional business cards which are usually free for the first 250. I think the mommy contact cards probably have more mom related graphics to choose from.

About the Mommy Contact Cards from VistaPrint

Our mommy cards are great for busy moms on the go. They’re like business cards, but for moms! Hand out to babysitters, teachers and parents. Socialize in style! Share all of your important 411 to everyone you know and meet. Perfect for networking, dating and more.

The cool way to share your contact info:

Great for busy parents, kids and coaches
Create in minutes; receive in as few as 3 days
Full-color printing on matte or glossy card stock
Perfect if you are a mom blogger too
Get your Mom Contact cards for $1.99 now

About shipping: Even if they tell you that the slow shipping method will take 3 weeks, don't believe them because they often come in half the time. So you can save yourself some money by choosing the slower shipping method. Of course, if you need your purchases quicker you will have to opt for the faster shipping.

About Vista Print
Vistaprint offers small businesses everything they need to market their business. We offer high-quality printed marketing materials, promotional products and marketing services such as copywriting, design, websites and postcard mailing. Vistaprint keeps their prices low because over 8 million people use them every year. Volume selling keeps them competitive.

How to Add Search Box to your Blog

2010-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Many templates come with a search box already added but if your template does not have this feature you may want to add it. You can also add a Google Search box but personally, I don't like the way it returns the results. It always opens the results in a new window. I believe readers would rather stay on your site and see the results in the same window. Ultimately, though, it is up to you. This is instruction for adding a simple search box to your blog.

This simple search box can be added to either Blogger or WordPress in just a few easy steps.

Blogger instructions:

1. Click the Layout tab from your blog Dashboard.

2. Click Page Elements.

3. Click Add a Gadget above the section you want to put your search box in.

4. Click the plus sign next to HTML/Javascript.

5. Type Search this blog (or whatever you want) in the Title box or leave it blank.

6. Copy and paste this HTML code in the text area. Do not modify anything.

7. Click Save.

8. Click Preview.

9. You may have to drag the search gadget into a new area until you get it positioned where you want it.

10. To test it click View Blog.

WordPress instructions:

Note: this will not work on WordPress.com You must have a self hosted WordPress blog to use it.

1. Click the Appearance link from the sidebar.

2. Click Widgets.

3. Drag a text widget from the left to the sidebar on the right.

4. Click the down arrow on the text widget to open it.

5. Copy and page this HTML code in the text area. Do not modify anything.

7. Click Save.

8. Preview your blog.

9. You may have to drag the search gadget into a new area until you get it positioned where you want it.

10. To test it click View Blog.

Now if you want to make your search box wider you can modify the line that reads size="25" changing the number 25 until you get your search box as wide as you like.

How Much Money Do Mom Bloggers Make

2010-01-22T14:15:00.001-05:00

So, just how much money do mom bloggers make? I see this question coming in all of the time. Realistically, there is no way to know what each mom blogger out there makes. It all depends on how much traffic each blog gets and how they are monetizing their site.

If you are a mom and have found my site you are hoping that maybe, just maybe, you can blog like other moms and making money too. It is definitely possible and I will tell you just some of the ways you can make money by becoming a mommy blogger.

You should know though, that some mom bloggers don't make money. Either they blog because it gives them an outlet, they don't know how to monetize their blog, or the topic they choose is harder to monetize. You will find a vast range of money flowing through the mom blogging community. One mom might make $100 a month while another will make $10,000 a month. Yes, there is huge potential for making money in our community if you know how.

Comparing one mom's blog to another mom's blog and trying to figure out how much each one makes is a tough and frustrating task for sure. It sure would be nice if there was a simple way to compare because we all want to know if we are progressing and if we are on the right track. But, just like in a "real" job you really don't know - and probably don't want to know - what your coworker is making. Finding out exactly what another mom blogger makes can either make you fell really great or really depressed depending on what your idea of how much money you think will be enough to be a professional, and paid blogger.

If you are a mom with a blog and have 100 visits a day, you are going to make less than a mom blogger who has 5,000 visits each day. The more traffic you have, the more money you can make. The blogger with the most traffic almost always wins. That is why we are all looking for traffic and trying to figure out how to get it.

It works the same way with a traditional "brick and mortar" business who needs physical bodies coming in the door. Some shoppers will buy and others will browse. Only a percentage will make money for your business and only a percentage of visitors will make money for your blog so more traffic is better.

Also, the topic that you write about has a lot to do with whether you will make a lot of money or a little. It also can decide how much traffic that blog gets. If a mom blogger picks a broad topic that is highly saturated in the blogging world (Blogosphere) then the amount of traffic she gets could be diminished because of so much competition on the topic. Less traffic means less income.

If you are a mom blogger and want to make money blogging or make more than you are now with your blog you will want to focus your topic into a more narrow niche. If you write about coupons and grocery store savings why not focus in on the topic and maybe write about a specific grocery store to narrow down your potential target audience. Instead of trying to grab all of the traffic out there spend time getting all of the traffic for a smaller niche and it will help you become more successful. Work on one smaller niche and then branch out overtime. It is less overwhelming and you will be rewarded faster.

Here are some of the ways moms make money with their blog:

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting a product or service through an ad or link within a post and having the reader pass through your site to another and make either a purchase or fill out an offer form. You make a flat amount of money when they fill out the form - called a lead - or a percentage if the reader makes a purchase - called a sale.

Affiliate marketing can be a huge money maker. The amount of money you make is decided by the company you are promoting. A lead can go for 20 cent up to $20.00. Many leads average around $1.50. You make this amount for each and every person who fills out the offer form on the landing site you send your reader to. Sales are a paid by a percentage of the total (does not usually include shipping). You could make from 2% to 10% (or potentially more) depending on what the company promoting the product or service wants to offer you.

Google Adsense

When a person or company wants to advertise on Google to get their site to appear at the top of the search engine they will often using Google Adwords. They bid on keywords and build ads around that keyword. Then their text ad appears at the top and sidebar of Google.com.

Google allows blog and website owners to embed some HTML code to make those ads appear on their sites as well. Ads are generated by what the blog or website owner writes. If you write about coupons your will get coupon ads, etc. You make money when a reader or visitor clicks on an ad - called CPA or Cost Per Acquisition (or Action).

What you are earning is a percentage of what the person or company pad to get their ad shown. No one knows for sure how much you earn but it has been mentioned that you earn 25% of the total.

So if an ad cost someone $1.50 then you would make 37 cent for that click. Some ads cost a lot more. It all depends on the topic that keyword is centered around. A keyword phrase like "how to make money" could cost the person $10.00 for one click through and then you would make $2.50 from just one click through. That is why everyone wants to write about making money because the potential to actually make money from Adsense is huge. However, I would never suggest you go in that direction because it is very, very, over saturated niche. I made $3.07 once from one click so that tells me that person or company paid a little over $12.00 for one ad to be shown if the 25% calculation is correct.

At the time I am writing this article I am making 70% of my online income through Google Adsense. It is definitely possible to earn a living just through Adsense but your blog needs to be completely optimized or the ads won't generate correctly.

Coupons

There are many sites you can join that will allow you to promote their coupons and when a user clicks and prints that coupon you make money. However, one click and print isn't enough to even buy a cup of coffee. One coupon printed from your site will earn you from 2 to 4 cent. You need a lot of visitors to make money from online printable coupons.

Paid Posts

Some sites will actually pay you money if you write a post. Whenever you do accept payment for a post you would want to be sure you know who is asking you to write this post and if they want you to include a link to their site make sure it is to a good site and not a link farm or one that is on the shady side. Sending links out from your blog to sites like that can actually hurt your ranking.

If someone comes to you directly to buy a post on your site you can charge whatever you want. I have charged $150 for an article to be put on my site and I have heard that $250 isn't too much to ask. It all depends on how much traffic your blog gets and how important your blog ranks.

There are sites you can join that will pay you $2, $5, or $10 to post articles on your mom blog but you are also in competition with other bloggers to see who is chosen. This is a viable way of getting paid posts for your site if no one is directly coming to you asking for a paid post.

In-Text Link Ads

This is another valid way mom bloggers make money. There are some reputable companies out there that you can sign up with to get started. You will embed a piece of HTML code in your site (this is why it is so important to know a little bit about HTML) that will pull the advertisements from their server. You may have seen these in-text links on other sites. Sometimes the links will have a double underline and when you hover you mouse over them an ad pops up.

You earn a flat fee for the click throughs from these types of ads but I don't have any figures to give you for this right now.

Direct Advertising

Once you start to have good traffic on your blog and companies see that you have traffic that you can send to them you can start charging for ads to be placed directly on your site. It is up to you as to how much you charge for these ads. The 125 x 125 small square ads might go for $25 a month but if you start to have thousands of visits a day you could charge $100 or more for those ads. This is where you start to negotiate.

Ads near the top of the page - above the fold - will usually go for more because that is prime real estate property. Every business wants to be seen at the top of the page. as you go down the page the value goes down because companies know readers don't always make it to the bottom of a page. So you raise the rates a bit. I have sold a prime spot for $200.00 for one week. So, you see that the potential for direct advertising can be very lucrative.

As I mentioned, you will never make money on your blog without traffic. And, the more traffic you have the better. So, your prime objective should be spending time learning how to get that traffic. Once you get people to your site the sky is the limit for making money with your mom blog.

I will get into each way of making money in depth in future articles so stick around for that. I will show you how you can sign up, embed HTML code, and start making money with your mom blog from each of these avenues and others as well. You don't have to be locked into just one way of making money when there are so many options out there to try.

Terms used in this article:

Affiliate Marketing: promoting products or services on your blog or website to make money through sales or leads
Brick and Mortar: a physical store you go into like Walmart, TJMaxx, etc.
Monetizing: whatever you do to make money on your blog or website
Blogosphere: the collective blog community
Niche: The main topic of our blog or website.
Leads: When you send a reader to another site through an ad and they sign up for an offer.
CPA: Stands for Cost Per Acquisition or Cost Per Action. When a reader does an action, usually by clicking, on ad.

Martha Stewart Blogging Show Update

2010-01-21T14:46:00.005-05:00

Deanna, one of my readers, was chosen to be a part of the Martha Stewart Blogging show on January 13, 2010. She attended and blogged during the show. Deanna invited me to go with her but since I was going to Las Vegas to the Affiliate Summit I just didn't have the time.

In the future, if I find out ahead of time about blogging opportunities like this I will make sure to post about it so everyone can get in on the action. Because of my trip I just didn't think enough ahead of time and there was a cutoff date to apply months ago.

Here is a recap of Deanna's experience.

Deanna is a riding instructor, horse trainer, and instructor trainer with over 15 years professional experience in the Horse Industry. She blogs about these topics on her blog, Professional Horse Blogazine.

It was fun and I met some really nice people. I didn't realize the shows were aired the same day they were taped. Everyone was so nice, and we did get a beautiful cookbook. Alexis Stewart was there and asked her Mom why she didn't give us laptops. Which I thought was funny. I enjoyed it, it was a really nice time and the most beautiful set I ever saw.

Here is Deanna's post written during the show.

Follow Martha Stewart on Twitter and on Facebook.

What Mommy Bloggers Think About Affiliate Programs

2010-01-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

#asw10 Last week I ran a survey to ask some mom bloggers how they are using affiliate programs on their blogs. Here are some of the results of my survey. This is very helpful information for bloggers and affiliate companies alike.

I asked mom bloggers what kind of affiliate programs they use on their site, what they would like to see in the future, what kinds of problems they face, and what they would like affiliate managers to know about them and their blogs.

What Affiliate programs do you currently use on your site?

The majority, around 90% like using Amazon to refer people to and make money from. Amazon has an affiliate program. You sign up and then you can promote all kinds of products readers like. During the holidays I did well promoting free music on Amazon and magazine deals. I earned money when readers went to Amazon and purchased what I suggested or saw something that caught their eye and make a completely different purchase. As long as I sent them to Amazon I earned a commission whether they purchased the product I suggested or not.

Three other top affiliate programs for mom bloggers that ranked high on the list were Commission Junction, Logical Media, and My Savings. I will be writing an article about affiliate programs that work well for mom bloggers in the future and I will cover each program in depth.

Next on the list were Coupons/Brandcaster, Escalate Media, Juicebox Jungle, LinkShare.com, and ShareaSale.

The full list of affiliate programs that I listed along with others that were suggested by bloggers will be featured in my post on affiliate programs for mom bloggers.

Remember, this is just a list of affiliate programs by rank. That doesn't mean these programs work for mom blogger. If I were to do a more in depth survey asking what they like and don't like about each of these programs you would be surprised at some of the answers I think. The programs available versus the programs that work are two different topics.

What types of affiliate offers work on your site?

I also wanted to find out whether leads, sales, or impressions (CPA) worked the best for mom bloggers. An overwhelming majority said leads worked the best. And, as a follow-up question about what they would like more of, the overwhelming majority said leads once again.

A lead is a type of program or individual offer you promote on your site through either an ad or within a post that earns you a flat rate when the reader clicks and fills out a form on the destination website. I will be writing an in depth article on what all of these type of offers are and how you can use them on your mom blog so stay tuned for that.

What kind of products or companies would you like to promote on your blog?

Here is just a sampling of what some of the mom (and one Dad) bloggers told me. There were a wide range of answers for this question. I think the offers that each mom blogger wants depends on what works for either their target audience or what they write about. A mom blogger who writes about coupons and grocery store savings might not need fashion offers and vice versa.

Free samples
free e-books
coupons/discounts (mentioned multiple times)
free trials of services, contests/giveaways
Low-cost items that offer real value to readers
Educational
household
consumables
natural
planners
online shopping sites like Target.com
Food
health and wellness
weight loss - quality companies that don't seem "fly by night" or spammy
beauty
fashion
technology
contests and sponsors that are legit; nothing where the end user has to complete a bunch of offers to enter or participate
Children's clothing
educational
home management tools
photo deals

What specific problems do you have working with affiliate programs, if any?

Connie from Brain Foggles writes:

My biggest complaint is that pay limits are too high. For a blogger who focuses on writing and can only promote once in awhile without spamming my readers, I'd like to see smaller payout minimums like $25. I've dropped programs who won't pay until I reach $100. I'm not offered programs based on impressions or leads. That would inspire me even more (I am already working on this) to increase traffic to my blog if I was involved with programs like these.

Here are other random responses to this question.

Ad codes with flash that won't display within blog posts.
non-payment, too long of a wait, impressions being "off"
takes too long for them to pay!
They definitely take too long to pay out. Most affiliate programs are not consistent. They offer a lot of great things one month and nothing the next. Affiliates want bloggers to write about their products and then ask that no text links be used.
As a blogger, using flash ads just looks hokey. I'd love more ads geared toward our readers...which means no flashing neon lights!

Can you see a trend here? Some affiliate companies take too long to pay. I know of one who is notorious and I have all but dropped them. I was making about 20% of my affiliate income through them and because they take 90 days to pay and often have to be sent an email reminder they are wasting my time. I can bet you they don't accept that from the companies that advertise through them. Why are we expected to wait 90 days when you probably get paid sooner? We are the ones making money for them. And this company is one of the biggest mom blogger favorites out there. And, I work with many affiliate companies and my experience is almost all pay on time but a select few.

And why is this affiliate company a favorite? Because no other affiliate company is offering what they do. Are you listening affiliate companies? I see a niche marketing forming.

Another problem that plaques many of us is this:

They offer a lot of great things one month and nothing the next. Affiliates want bloggers to write about their products and then ask that no text links be used.

Christina from Northern Cheapskate

What affiliate offers do not work and why?

From Lori Loomis Moms by Heart

Moms are pretty savvy today - and our credibility as bloggers would be compromised if we promoted anything that was not in their best interest. For the most part, moms want to learn, improve themselves, save money and find shortcuts. If offers don't appeal to these needs, they won't work. So "as seen on TV", credit card/mortgage stuff, get rich quick stuff. Items with high shipping or full retail prices don't work for me either.

Here are other comments from bloggers.

"Ones that don't have a large selection of products or that don't offer enough products for my readers. Also programs that don't offer sales that I can promote."

"I have not had success working with affiliate programs outside of Amazon."

"Programs that look scammy to readers."

"Insurance, software downloads (toolbars), and dating offers."

"Anything that sounds remotely like a scam... i.e. Cash For Gold, Lose 30 Pounds in 2 weeks, get rich by working from home, etc."

Conclusion

When we (mom bloggers) offer something on our site, whether through content in a post or in an ad, we take responsibility, for that content. If the offer is not legitimate, is scammy, or does not provide value to the reader we definitely hear about it. If the reader clicks on something and they do not read the fine print; their credit card gets charge; or they start receiving tons of junk mail, we hear about it. Yes, it is not our fault but we feel responsible in some way. This is why we are so picky about what we are provide both through content and advertisements.

As you see from these results, mom (and Dad) bloggers are smart, savvy and understand that what they offer is a direct reflection on them and that the offers need to fit with their blog's overall intent. Affiliate companies need to pay attention to this huge group of bloggers who have growing power and influence. More quality offers need to be created around this demographic and if the current affiliate companies cannot provide this then new companies need to be formed.

As mom bloggers we pick from the pool that is available to us and at this point more mom-related affiliate companies need to come out of the woodworks to find us because in my opinion many programs are not even geared towards what we write about. However, I know I have limited knowledge of what is available and as I learn and find new programs I will share them to my fellow mom bloggers.

Other Bloggers who participated but were not directly quoted include:

Anne-Marie from This Mama Cooks!
Heather from Freebies4Mom
Angela from A Simple Kinda Life

Do Butt Ugly Blogs Make Money

2010-01-16T10:00:00.002-05:00

While I am still perplexed as to what I call the "rhyme or reason" of why some blogs make money. I have seen some "butt ugly" blogs doing extremely well.

I used to be a web designer and the goal of creating a website was make it the best looking site it could be to please my clients and the public viewing it. However, I am learning that sometimes the uglier the site the more money it makes.

When I am talking about money for these kinds of sites I mean with Adsense, not affiliate programs. It is very easy to blend Adsense ads into an ugly site.

There are blogs that are crammed full of ads

ads on the left
ads on the right
ads in the middle of the page
ads at the bottom of the page
ads in between posts
and ads anywhere else the person can cram them in

Are those butt ugly blog making money?

Let's break it down. What would someone visit a blog for? If the blog is setup correctly and they get search engine traffic then there is a good chance a butt ugly blog will get as much traffic as a esthetically pleasing blog.

Maybe the person who designed the blog doesn't know how ugly it is or even care. If I end up on a site like that I don't usually go back most of the time because it drives me crazy. Either the ads are annoying or the colors are off. I know there is nothing I can do to fix it so I just don't return. I don't even care if they have good content if the site is that annoying. Kind of like when I go to someone's house and the picture is crooked on the wall. I want to fix it so bad I could scream and sometimes do when they aren't looking :-)

But, are butt ugly blogs are offering their readers something they need? Are they are solving a problem, answering a question, or fulfilling a need of some kind? They could very well be doing the very thing that brings in traffic but the visitor might not stay around long enough to find out because the design makes them cringe or annoys them so much they want to leave.

The ugly blog could work to your advantage. If the visitor doesn't like the design or the blog is too busy with ads then they just might click on one of those ads and leave. The ads could be the thing that sticks out the most. I think many times that "butt ugly blogs" do make more money than pretty blogs for just this reason.

Remember, we come to the Internet basically to solve a problem, fulfill a need, or look for answers. If your blog can do any of these things you can make money and be successful in attracting visitors and loyal readers.

However, many bloggers strive to make their blog looking pleasing to the reader which is totally understandable. Your blog represents you and your personality. This is a good thing and it is what I tend to do but sometimes I know it is hurting me in the long run because visitors tend to find a home on my site and never leave. Readers don't make you as much money as visitors - well that is true with Google Adsense.

A pretty blog will encourage visitors to come back and be regular readers. When that happens you have to be more creative in the way you make money. A butt ugly blog will definitely make more money with Adsense and probably less with affiliate programs. Affiliate programs do better when the visitors turns into a reader and sees you as someone to be trusted. The loyal reader will tend to listen to you when you are promoting a product or service and that is how you make money through affiliate programs.

Do you have a butt ugly blog you love or hate? Tell me about it.

Are you a Fashion Blogger? Join IFB

2010-01-15T12:58:00.005-05:00

If you are a fashion blogger you will want to join the IFB, or Independent Fashion Blogger where you can talk with other fashion bloggers in the Forums and get help with how to:

Create Your Media Kit: This is the year you get serious about monetizing your blog... here's some tips on creating a media kit that will help you get sponsors!

Note: Even if you aren't a fashion blogger you will want to read this article on how to create your media kit. This is something every blogger should have in case they are approached for direct advertising for their site.

How to Cover NYFW... When you are not there: You'd love to cover fashion week...but you may not be able to actually get there, check this post out to get some handy advice on what you can do to have unique fashion week coverage on your blog.

IFB Poll: What gadgets to use for your blog? Are you glued to your desktop? Blog straigt from your blackberry? Find out what other bloggers use.

More about The Independent Fashion Blogger site

Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) cultivates a community for fashion bloggers to share their experiences and create a resource so everyone can build a better blog. We do this by posting helpful articles, host a community linking group, forums and our newest feature, LittleBirdie, a platform to connect bloggers and PR in a safe an mutually beneficial way.

Some of their current services include:

The IFB Social Network – Find other bloggers in your niche, city, country or just find other like-minded fashion bloggers to share your content with. The IFB social platform gives you a place to ask questions, get answers, as well as set up events and promote your blog.
Links a la Mode – a weekly round-up where bloggers submit their top posts for consideration. Approximately 20 stories are selected each week. This has been a huge traffic and SEO driver for participants.
Weekly member e-newsletter – features a blogger spotlight, highlights from the forums and Links a la Mode. This is how IFB became monetized (through a sponsorship with Gilt).
Fashion Week Dress Up Soirees in New York and London earlier this year – over 100 bloggers at each event – prizes donated from independent designers to consumer tech companies like HP and T-Mobile. Modepass sponsored the NYFW event.
Little Birdie – a query service where bloggers submit story interests and the information is sent to subscribers every week via e-newsletters (generally PR and independent fashion companies). To date there are over 300 subscribers and there are around 70 blogger submissions per week.

You don't have to join to read the fabulous articles they have on their site or even the Forum but you do need to join if you want to post on the Forums or receive their email newsletters. It's free to join so why not join now!

photo credit: Independent Fashion Bloggers IFB

Pimp your Mom Blog with Free Blogger Templates and Free Blog Background Images

2010-01-14T15:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes all your mom blog needs is a pimping to give it more of a professional look.

Maybe you are a mommy blogger who uses Blogger and have been looking all over for some free Blogger templates that will make your site POP! The Cutest Blog on the Block has just the thing - free background images and matching buttons. If you want to set yourself up with a custom mom blog look then you will want to check out their Custom packages. Those blog design packages start at $15.00 - amazing!

Pimp your Mom Blog with Free Blog Background Images and Free Blog Templates:

This is a wonderful resource for free backgrounds for your blog. For $30 they will create a custom header to match the background you choose. They also offer help for adding a background to your site and offer custom blog packages as well.

Here are some of my favorite backgrounds for use with a Blogger mommy blog. The tones are muted just enough so not to shock the viewer. Visit their site for a lot more free mommy blogger backgrounds to choose from.

For 2 column blog layouts that are centered.

These are for wider, 3 column blog layouts.

You will find many categories of free mommy blogger backgrounds to choose from including:

The Cutest Blog on the Block has some nifty backgrounds to Pimp your mommy blog. While some of them are themed or holiday based they do offer a wide variety that would suit as backgrounds for a blog so do take the time to check them out.

photo credit: Cutest Blog on the Block Free Blog Background Images and Free Blogger Templates

SEO Friendly Post Titles and Permalinks

2010-01-11T04:30:00.000-05:00

The title of your post is the 3rd most important thing you can do to make your blog SEO friendly. The first is the name of your blog and the second is the URL of your blog.

You need to make sure your blog is optimized so search engines can find it. When you do anything that helps search engines find your blog like I am going to teach below, you are using SEO techniques.

When you create a title for your post and then publish that post your blogging platform gives that post a PERMALINK. A Permalink is the permanent link to that post you just wrote.

Creating SEO Friendly Post Titles in WordPress

WordPress will allow you to write super long post titles and include lots of keywords in them and then it will turn your post title into a nice long URL that includes all of those keywords. This is one of the best built-in SEO feature WordPress offers. WordPress will also allow you to change the Permalink of a post if you decide you made a mistake or want it to be something different later on. Blogger does not allow you to change your URL. This is the only real thing that bugs me about Blogger but I have a work around (see below).

Example: what if I wrote a post with this title

How to Save Money By Clipping Grocery Store Coupons

WordPress would turn it into something like this:

http://www.nameofyourblog.com/....how-to-save-money-by-clipping-grocery-store-coupons

Do you see what WordPress did?

It kept your entire post title in that post's URL even though it was super long. It put hyphens (dashes) in between each word. This is very important because now not only does your title have keywords in it, the title matches the URL.

How to Create SEO Friendly Post Titles in Blogger

While WordPress allows you to edit your post's permalink, Blogger does not offer this feature. For this reason some thought should go into what you want for your permalink for EACH AND EVERY POST YOU WRITE because you can't change them later. The most you can do is delete the post and start over. And, once people read it you don't want to do that. Take a few extra minutes and think about how to match up your title with what Blogger is going to turn it into and it will go a long way in making your blog SEO friendly.

Blogger cuts off the title you write after 35 to 40 characters (a character is a single letter, number or space). That means that if you write a super long post title the URL will be cut off after around 40 characters. In that case just make sure the most important keywords are near the beginning.

Post Example: using the same example above

How to Save Money By Clipping Grocery Store Coupons

Blogger would turn it into:

http://www.nameofyourblog.com/...how-to-save-money-by-clipping-grocery.html

Do you see what Blogger did?

One of the most important keywords, coupons, was cut off. Those dashes that were inserted are considered part of the 35 to 40 characters because they represent the spaces you put in between the words in the title.

A better choice for title would be: How to Save Money By Clipping Coupons

Blogger Post Title Trick:

Write and rewrite

Here's what I would do in that case. I like my long post titles so I would write the title as How to Save Money By Clipping Coupons and then I would publish my post. Then I would click Edit Post and go back and change the title to How to Save Money By Clipping Grocery Store Coupons.

You see, once you publish the post the Permalink is set and now you can go back and change your title to a super long one and it won't effect the permalink.

A Winning Combination

Now your next step is to make sure you are using the same keywords in the post you write. Include the words you have put in your title like "save money", "grocery store coupons", etc.

When your post title matches the post URL (or permalink) and what you write in the post matches you have a WINNER! Now that post can easily be found on search engines because it has the winning combination.

How to I find and copy the Permalink for a particular post?

If you wanted to send someone to read that post you just wrote you wouldn't send them to your homepage. You would send them directly to the post by giving them the Permalink, or permanent link to the post.

There are two ways to find the permalink to a post.

Go to the public view of blog and find the post. Hover your mouse over the post title and then look at the bottom of your screen in the taskbar and you will see the permalink to the post. If you want to copy the permalink to send to someone then just right-click on the post title, and then left-click Copy.
On the backend of your blog where you write your posts click Edit Post. Find the post you are searching for but do not open it. Hover your mouse over the View link and then look at the bottom of your screen in the taskbar and you will see the permalink to the post. If you want to copy the permalink to send to someone then just right-click on the View link, and then left-click Copy.

Terms used in this article:

SEO: Search Engine Optimization (things you do to your blog and blog posts to help your blog get found through search engines)
Permalink: the permanent link to that post you just wrote
Taskbar: the gray bar at the bottom of your browser that indicates when something is going on such as a page is loading, the URL of a page when hovered over, or if a page is Done loading
Character: a single letter, number or space