Real Work From Home

Affiliate Program: Money Making Opportunity for Website/Blog Owners

2011-11-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

Those who don't have the time to sign up for the numerous affiliate programs out there - well this opportunity may be just what you've been waiting for. The program is not new - just new to me and possibly to you.

How does this affiliate opportunity work you ask?

With this program it is quite simple. You don't have time to sign up with dozens of affiliate programs so this site does it for you. You add a simple code to your website and they will optimize your links or add links to content related affiliate products or programs.

Existing Links

If you have existing links on your site that are not affiliate optimized this code (program) that you added to your site will go in and optimize those links with an affiliate ID. You can also request (via a checkbox on the account page) the code to overwrite your current affiliate links with links they believe will preform better.

No Existing Links

A new addition to this automated affiliate program is the ability to link existing anchor text with an affiliate company, product or link.

What's the Catch?
No big catch. They take 25% of the commissions you make through the affiliate links and they do all the work. Seems like a decent trade and if you ever decide to sign up for all those affiliate programs yourself all you have to do is delete the code and optimize your own links.

But I use other Optimization Programs (Adsense etc)?

No worries, this program won't interfere with other monetization programs such as Adsense, Chitika etc. You are free to use it in conjunction with these other programs.

A forum of frequently asked questions and a quick responding customer service team will help you with any other questions you may have.

OK Already Give Me the Link!!

You got it here is this new Affiliate Opportunity- check out the program, read about it and tell me what you think!

Outsourcing Your Content Writing

2011-11-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

Life too busy? Not a great writer? Lose your passion to write but not your passion to make money online? Whatever the reason may be that is keeping you from getting fresh content online outsourcing may be just the thing you need.

Pro's and Con's of Outsourced Content

One of the biggest benefits of outsourced content is the fact that you don't have to do it. Outsourcing articles, blog posts and other web content needs takes the stress of getting it done, off your shoulders - no need to spend hours finding the right words to create an article or researching facts, SEO or keywords .

Whether you want a single article or 100 articles you can find writer's ready to take on just about any writing task you can throw at them. You are not the only one looking to make money online, so there will be little effort required to find someone to fill your writing needs. Another good thing about outsourced content is that when you are paying for someone else to create your content - you can be in control of what you want as far as word count, quality, quantity, topic, keyword density - you name it - you are in the driver's seat. So, if you are looking to get a lot of good content online and making you money all it takes is the right writer's (or resources) and a little investment.

Now on the other side (that'd be the con's) of outsourced content -- some of the obstacles that you may encounter are plagiarism and low quality content. Luckily both of these can be checked and prevented if you do it right and don't just randomly hire any old Joe to handle your outsourced articles. It may be hard to pass by the writer offering to write a 500 to 1000 word article for $1 or $2 but chances are at that price you'll get exactly what you paid for -- which is low quality, stolen or error filled content.

To be safe check out the reviews of any site that offers these services (don't forget to ensure that you retain full rights to the articles you buy as well) or stick with tried and true sites such as Elance or ODesk that provide somewhat of a safety net for transactions/jobs listed through the site as well as allowing you to add specifications for quality, originality and anything else you may need to your listings.

No matter who you outsource your writing needs to be sure to run your finished work through CopyScape or a similar program to ensure that the articles your are getting are unique and not plagiarized.

Article outsourcing should be researched and thoroughly thought through before jumping in, but once you have done your homework this can be a great way to get a lot of good quality content online and ready to start making you a regular residual income without all the time consuming tasks that come with creating the content yourself. .

How to find the name of your sidebar in Blogger (Blogspot)

2011-02-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

How to find the name of your sidebar in Blogger (Blogspot).

The process is actually pretty simple for most people whether they are experienced or not. Simply go to the "Design tab on your blogs dashboard. Then select Edit HTML. Now hold down the control button and hit F. This should bring up a search box that will enable you to search out your sidebar name(s).

In the search box type in sidebar and you will probably get a small handful of results. Simply use the up and down arrows to scroll through the results provided and ignore any that contain the word "wrapper". Your sidebar name(s) will look something like one of the below:

#lsidebar
#rsidebar
#rightsidebar
#leftsidebar
#sidebar1
#sidebar

Want to Know How to Remove the Sidebar from a Static Page in blogger?

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How To Remove the Sidebar from Specific Pages in Blogger

2011-02-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

How To Eliminate the Sidebar from Specific Pages in Blogger:

Warning: Always backup your template before making any changes and always preview before you save changes. This way you don't lose all the contents and layouts applied to your site.

The first thing you want to do is go to your Blogger Dashboard. Then find the blog you are wanting to make changes to and click on the "Design" link for that specific blog. Now up towards the top of the page you will most likely see: "Page Elements", Edit HTML and "Template Designer". Click on Edit Html.

Now that you are on the page hit Control F - this should bring up a search box function that will allow you to search the content of the page you are on for a specific query. Now type in /head . What should be highlighted in your pages HTML is the following tag/code </head> . Ok, don't do anything just yet - you will need the code below. But there are a few notes before we get there.

Sidebar names - many themes have different names for their sidebars - you may have to change the sidebar names to fit the names of your themes sidebars. Since my theme has 3 sidebars (named Sidebar, Sidebar2 and Sidebar3) I had to add additional "conditional tags" for each sidebar. Not everyone will have to do that.Not sure how to find the names of your blogger sidebar? Read here.

Removing the sidebars is misleading what it does basically is makes the contents invisible but the space used by the sidebar is still there. So to increase the width of the page so that the content spans the entire width of the page you will need to add a conditional tag. That is why you see the following code below
#main-wrapper{

width: 900px;

}

If you do not want to increase the width of the page where the sidebars are being removed then simply remove the code above from your code snippet below.

Next Highlight the following code snippet:
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://your pages url goes here for the page where you want sidebar removed"'>
<style>
#sidebar{
display: none;
}

#main-wrapper{

width: 900px;

}

</style>
</b:if>

Here is what the code on my page used here (check out the difference between the main page and the Boutique) looks like and what I used to remove all three sidebars from my static blogger page and increase the pages width for this particular page:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://my pages url here"'>

<style>

#sidebar{

display: none;

}

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://my pages url here"'>

<style>

#sidebar2{

display: none;

}

#main-wrapper{

width: 900px;

}

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "my pages url here"'>

<style>

#sidebar3{

display: none;

}

</style>

</b:if>

Now go back to your page and right above the tag </head> paste the code. So it should look like this:

Pasted Code
</head>

If for any reason the above code does not work on your "Blogger" (blogspot) pages and you need help use the Contact me link at the top of the page to send me an email and I will do my best to find the code that will work for your pages.

Creating a Website for the Newbie: Sites

2011-02-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

A lot of the real work from home jobs you will find out there will call for (or be enhanced by) having your own personal website. A personal website can work to promote what you do, whether that be articles or products, it can also help promote the service or services that you offer.

Today I will be discussing some of the different site options that are available to you to create a website both free and paid. I will also briefly touch of the pro's and con's of the different options that you have available to you when you decide to create a website. Later on I will follow up with the following topics that will help you with your website creation; customizing your sites with CSS (for noobs - easy shortcuts), widgets, html and resource sites that can help you find what you need to create a completely personalized and customized site.

Where you can Create Free Websites

There are several free options that you have available to you. With most of these sites the url for your site will not be what is considered a pretty URL and will often be a subdomain of the site you are creating with i.e. yoursitename.blogspot.com. The best thing about these sites though is that a lot of them allow you to upgrade your site - meaning purchasing a hosting plan and or having your own domain name attached to the site yoursitename.com(.org, .net, .biz etc). <-- notice that the free website sites name is no longer a part of your domain url.

Anyways here are some of the best sites that allow you to set up a free website and offer a decent amount of customization.

Blogger.com has one of the easiest platforms to customize a site and have it look just about any way that you'd like it to (just as an example you can see some of the different layouts and styles you can create by viewing the sites I've created personally using this platform: here, here, here, here, here and here (and of course this one that you are on). Yes, I know that is a lot of sites, the sad thing is that is not the complete list. Unfortunately I am a bit addicted to creating different sites - keeping them updated on the other hand is not such an obsession.

Pro's:

Thousand of template/theme options both generic and theme specific (recipes, blogging, products, photography and more)
Customization/personalization of most any template (width, colors, layout, display...more)
Good selection of Sidebar widgets and content (links, pages, archives, blog roll, ads, html/java, text, pictures, 3rd party code...more)
FREE
Upgradeable - you can purchase or have your own domain pointed at your site for complete personalization
Offers 10 static pages and unlimited posts.
Free domain hosting
Can add Amazon and Google Adsense ads (and other 3rd party affiliate programs and adverts)
No site ads displayed on your page even with the free version
lots of professional looking templates
Create unlimited blogs

Con's

A lot of the customizations to templates is done through code. So can be difficult if you don't know what you are doing. (However, there are hundreds of cut and paste or step by step tutorials that are easy to understand)
All free sites set up through blogger without a personal domain will include .blogspot.com in the url.

Wordpress.com (not .org) offers free blogs with a lot of extra.

Pro's:

Like Blogger offers an enormous amount of templates a.k.a themes to choose from
Professional looking templates
Easy personalization through widgets
Free site stats to monitor traffic etc
Utilizes Askimet which reduces spam made to comments section etc
Large forum for questions and help
Offered in 50 languages
Can transfer over current blogs hosted on other sites
Make your blog private or open
Unlimited blog creation
Upgradeable

Con's

Can not add your own Google Adsense, Chitika or Amazon ads or affiliate links to a dozen specified programs (However if you get more than 25,000 monthly visitors they may allow you to display ads from Google Adsense, Chitika or Amazon but you have to split revenue with them 50/50 but you must first apply for this opportunity and be approved.
Displays their own self serving ads on your free sites and pages
Customizations can be difficult for a newbie. Most is done with CSS coding and what is required for one simple change can call for different code from one theme to the other.
Forums are full of unanswered help questions and some members are quite rude when responding to questions. (However, there are a few really great forum helpers)

Weebly.com is a drag and drop site builder that offers a free website platform. It comes with pre-made site templates. There are a couple dozen site templates to choose between but it offers less customization in its free form than sites like Blogger. However, this site requires little to no knowledge of website design or creation as you simply drag an element onto the page (most are self explanatory: Paragraph w/ Title, paragraph, media, html and so on).

Pro's

Easy page and element set up using the drag and drop feature
No html or css coding knowledge needed
Free Version
Upgradeable with personal domain and hosting options
free hosting

Con's

When editing an element sometimes the edit box gets placed too far up which prevents you from successfully editing the element in question. (I've used Weebly for a couple of sites and this was an ongoing frustration)
Not enough options to customize certain elements and aspects that help make a website personalized (not all templates allow personal/custom logo's, header customization is limited and not available on some templates, limited design styles, generic font customization, media limitations on free accounts)

Webs.com is another option for those who want to set up a website without investing any money into it. Like the other options mentioned above set up can be quick and easy.

Pro's

No HTML/CSS code knowledge required
Easy click to add and edit elements
Several templates to choose from
Can preform simple customizations to layouts and pages
Upgradeable to premium paid services
Decent looking site creations with both free and paid versions

Con's

Can not utilize Google Adsense and some other 3rd party affiliations on free account
Limited customization on free accounts
Site displays self serving ads on your free website pages (unable to opt out of this it comes as a condition to using the site for a free site set up). However these can be removed with an upgrade to the paid premium services which also opens up more customization options.

COMING SOON: Customizing your site CSS, Widgets, HTML and more for Noobs or Newbies. Will include resources.

Getting Paid to Write on a Paid for Views Site

2010-12-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago I signed up through a site that is pretty well known. The site - which just recently was taken over by Yahoo!, has been around for quite some time. That site - which many of you may recognize already - is Associated Content or now referred to as The Yahoo! Contributor Network .

How does the site work?

Like most other sites out there where you can get paid to write all you need to do is create good quality original content. However, unlike a lot of other sites out there you do not have to base your content on high paying keywords - instead you simply need to find topics with steady search traffic.

What Can you Write On?

There are very few topics that can not be written on so basically it is an almost completely open platform for you and your knowledge. Like mentioned above though your best bet for optimal online writing and income generating potential through Associated content is to write on topics that are popular after all views equal money!

How Much Will I Get Paid to Write?

Well there is unfortunately no clear cut answer to this question. Their basic pay scale on their Pay per view system will vary based on the amount of views that your content has received (not monthly but over the course of time). You start out making $1.50 for every 1000 view and then can increase to as high as $2.00 per 1000 views. You also receive little incentives for adding new articles - such as a % bonus on each new accepted submission once you hit a clout 7 (which means getting overall 50,001+ views on your content). Don't forget that is overall - not monthly views that open up that opportunity for you.

Upfront Pay and Exclusive
Some articles, reviews etc can be submitted for what is called an upfront pay. This can range anywhere $ wise but often falls between $3 and $15 upfront. This is only allowed on content that is submitted as exclusive to AC - meaning you can't edit it (without going through AC), remove it or anything. If you opt to list your content as exclusive and request upfront pay you will be notified via messaging with an upfront offer and you can choose whether or not to accept it or publish it under a different means. Exclusive content also opens up doors to getting your content published to other Yahoo sites where it will earn as well.

Non-Exclusive
Submitting your online content as non-exclusive allows you to change, edit and remove the content any time you so choose. So if after 6 months it is just not performing as you'd like it you can delete it and place it on a site that allows content of this nature. You will not qualify for upfront pay however and only earn through PPV - which all content: exclusive and non exclusive will earn.

But I Prefer Ad Revenue Sites for my Passive Income! Should I still Write at AssociatedContent?

Absolutely. The benefit to having a site like this is it is a great place for all those articles, reviews, pictures and videos that just don't have what it takes to earn via an ad revenue share site. Take for example you were to do an article on a news topic that is highly searched but there is no real competition as far as advertisers go. What would you do- put it up on an advertising revenue share site and watch those $0's keep rolling in even though you are getting hundreds or thousands of views? No Way! That is the perfect type of article for a pay per view site.

What are you waiting for? It's 100% free to join - No Hassles, No Commitments only an additional place to add to your get paid to write arsenal.

My Current Online Income Streams for Revenue Share Sites -Earnings Report

2010-12-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Earnings Report for Current Online Income Streams for Revenue Share Sites

Below you will find a chart documenting just some of my current and past earnings. I do and have used other sites that bring in revenue but you will not find those in the information posted below. The information you will find is for revenue share sites that are some of the most recently discussed or currently focused on sites that have appeared on this blog.

Site	Articles/Posts	Current Month Earnings	Yearly Earnings	All Time Earnings	Time On Site
InfoBarrel	102 (11 this month)	$53.28	$180.89	$180.89	1 Year
InfoPirate	20 Bookmarks	$8.23	$8.23	$8.23	Under 2 Months
eHow	344	$120.23	$2,288.90	$3,870.53	2 Years+
Hubpages	11 hubs	$1.69	$1.69	$1.69	Under 3 Months
SheToldMe	30 bookmarks	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	1 Year
BestReviewer	5 bookmarks	$0.00	$0.02	$0.02	Under 6 Months
TOTALS	512	$183.43	$2,479.73	$4061.36	--------------------------

Notes: On InfoBarrel - which I must say is my favorite revenue share site to write on - you are given the opportunity every month to increase your 75% revenue share to 90% or anywhere in between. I would also like to note that of the 102 articles I currently have up 36 of those were just added this year, mostly in the last 1 to 6 months. This obviously means that they have not had time to necessarily mature which needs to happen for them to reach real income potential.

InfoPirate - Is a quality revenue share bookmarking site that allows you to post "Web Tips" (bookmarks) or quality blog posts and in turn you earn via your personal adsense account.

eHow - No longer accepts writers or offers a writers compensation program as they once did. For those interested in similar opportunities - InfoBarrel, Hubpages and Demand Media Studio's are alternative options.

HubPages - I signed up long ago but just recently added my first Hub. The site is a bit confusing when you first start out but it appears it may be a profitable addition to my main focus with is InfoBarrel. It does get easier after you publish your first one to two hubs and get the hang of using the capsules, url tracking and promotional tools.

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More Great Revenue Share Bookmarking Sites

2010-12-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

More Great Revenue Share Bookmarking Sites

Over the past few weeks I've stumbled upon - or more accurately put was referred to a few more bookmarking sites that allow you to make money off of a revenue share platform. It has not been that long but I am already seeing my bookmarks getting picked up in the search engines and have accrued over $5 - simply from bookmarking my own articles and content.

As with any site like these I would expect to see a boost in traffic and earnings fairly quickly and then typically they will die down a bit. Which is fine when you consider that you are earning an additional income online for promoting your content which in turn is getting a decently ranked backlink - which we know by now tells the search engines that your content is important and helps increase your chances of ranking higher in results.

Sign Up and Start Earning

On one of these sites I actually earned my first click within just a day or two of submission and that one click made me $1.07 - that was having a total of 5 articles bookmarked at that time. Seeing how on a typical low CPC article I can get 6 clicks and make around the same amount that is not so bad! I have found that so far when you bookmark your content to have the best earning opportunities you want to include a unique title and description - don't use the regular article title, instead use a new title and just slightly different keywords that support your main article topic and add a unique description, based on the keywords for both titles, of at least 100 to 150 words. Don't cut and paste your first paragraph - if you want better results create a completely unique description.

Revenue sharing bookmarking site #1

InfoPirate - Check them out, submit some bookmarks (or even articles) and start earning right away! Bonus is that you use your own Google Adsense to earn so you can track just how well your bookmarks are preforming. (You can friend me there - my username is WritingMom)

Revenue Share Bookmarking Site #2

Seekyt - Sign up submit your bookmarks or articles and get recognized by the search engines. This site too is based on a revenue share that utilized your own Google Adsense so you can track what you earn and see just how well it is benefiting you. (You can friend me here as well under the same username: WritingMom)

Email Marketing Successfully - A Program that Works

2010-11-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

If you work online whether you have an internet business, freelance or provide niche related content that is dependent on followers, customers or the likes then you should already be familiar with email marketing and what it entails.

For those of you who are not familiar with it - email marketing can be as simple as providing a contact form on your site or an auto response to emails sent in from customers, consumers or subscribers. It can also be as extensive as regular newsletters sent out online via email, building a subscription platform for your site or information, obtaining and managing subscriber sign ups right on through to tracking how well your email marketing strategies are preforming. These can all be important aspects to increasing your online and offline success.

What successful email marketing is not: spamming a bunch of people information that they are uninterested in; sending emails to random people in hopes you find someone who is interested.

Successful email marketing is: allowing people to choose to receive information from you that interests them, sharing products/info related to niches of interest, building a relationship and trust with subscribers while providing them requested information, making sure inquiries are acknowledged immediately, building revenue opportunities, expanding your follower base and much more.

Email Marketing Programs - Be Warned!

There are a lot of programs, software and services out there claiming to maximize your email marketing strategies and potential. What you need to watch for are the ones that utilize unethical practices to build a following i.e. spamming, list buying, false advertising etc. Online these services are a dime a dozen.

Succeed with What Helps Others be Successful

Instead of flying blind a good plan of action to take full advantage of the possibilities that email marketing can bring you need to - go with an email marketing program or service that is trusted by people out there doing exactly what you are and succeeding at it.

One of the top companies - and you've probably unknowingly seen them if you've subscribed to a site/blog or receive a regular newsletter via email - is AWeber. Currently they are running a $1 trial for those who are interested but not willing to commit without test driving the service.

AWeber provides: Auto-responder emails to internet inquiries placed to you via: email contact forms etc; as a client you get templates, advanced scheduling settings. customer support and are able to track preformace.

Website Sign up and subscribe forms features: Templates, form designed, animated effects and graphics and split test sign up forms.

Collect and Manage Subscribers (amazing time saver): Sign up forms, subscriber tracking (how many people unsubscribed, opened your email etc), Subscriber segmentation and 3rd party integration.

Newletters & Emails: Over 100 easy to use email templates, sign up forms, great selection of color schemes, RSS to email, works with all major blogs ability to send weekly digests, blog to email, performance tracking, Facebook and Twitter integration and the ability to publish emails online.

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How to Get Quality Backlinks - What to look for

2010-11-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

Quality backlinks are not just random links to your website or content on some random website. Though not everything is known as far as what the search engines deem valuable one thing is for certain - link quality COUNTS!

Here we will go over some of the basics you need to consider before taking part in link exchanges or signing up with some backlink building service (more on these services below).

Quality backlinks to your website, content or blog should consist of the following:

>Placement on a well ranked site
>Linking site should contain quality information
>Linking website should contain information relevant to your sites niche/topic
>Website where your backlink is placed should contain original content and not content that is plagiarized, infringing copyrights or illegal in any other manner
>Your quality backlinks should never be placed on spam sites. Sites which contain more links and/or self promotion than actual content. *Rule of thumb is approximately 3 quality non-duped links per page of content.
> Keyword optimized anchor text used for links (optimal but not mandatory)
> Ideally for quality backlinks your back links should be placed on sites such as the .edu, .gov which hold high trust with search engines

A word of caution if you are debating trying to get quality backlinks through a link building service. There has been a lot of speculation online as to whether or not the search engines frown upon a large quantity of links going up in a short time or not. However, even if they do not "frown" upon it your chances of getting your site marked as "spam" increase.

If search engines such as Google see a good quantity of links to your site pop up in a day or even a week red flags will possibly be raised. To search engines the chances of those being quality backlinks based on informative information or simply a great website is highly unlikely and they are likely to view it as a scam or spam site.

So, do your homework. Know where your sites backlinks will be listed and make sure the service is designed to slowly build links to your site over a longer period of time rather that all at once.

My recommendation would be to do this job yourself or pay some to find sites that follow the criteria above that are willing to give you quality backlinks. This can be time consuming but in the long run quality can pay off big time.

Related Articles and Sites you May find Useful
Best Do Follow & No Follow Social Bookmarking Sites List For SEO, Internet Marketing, and Dofollow Backlinks
Free Backlinks: Quick, easy traffic builders that get results!
Understanding web page linking - links, backlinks, nofollow and all that

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A New Project with Old Content

2010-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

After following the steps in The Niche Blogger program that I signed up with and the advice of other professional bloggers and site owners I am undertaking a fairly time consuming task in hopes of increasing my passive income revenue.

This project consists of interlinking related articles on the sites where I publish content. One of the my currently active writing sites that holds my largest quantity of content is Infobarrel. So what I will be doing is going through the topics and articles that I've written and adding contextual anchor links to related content.

So basically my articles on working from home (only one of many topics I write on) will now contain links to my other articles on the same site that are relevant to any online opportunity that stands to create a steady income stream whether that be a passive residual income or actual employee based jobs that offer at home positions.

What I am hoping to see from this is both increased acknowledgement to "often overlooked articles" from both reader traffic and search engines. This is not an overnight success as with anything that deals with search engines it may be weeks or months before I notice any significant increases in traffic and/or revenue.

Had I been doing this all along then the time would be rather minimal but since I am starting so late with so much content already published I've added a bit to my workload. So a suggestion I would like to pass on to those of you who create content for passive or residual income is to do this process as you publish content to limit both; the amount of work and the time it will take for search engines to find your content.

A Better Understanding of the Google Adwords Keyword Tool

2010-11-10T03:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a video I ran across that may be of help to those of you out there who use Adwords for advertising or merely use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool for your keyword research for your online websites or articles.

As many of you know keywords are an important part of SEO which is crucial for many of those whose livelihood is based on their online income. If you work at home writing, run your own online business or anything related getting noticed by the search engines = traffic which = a bigger revenue opportunity.

Best-Reviewer Review

2010-11-09T01:41:00.000-08:00

WOW~ Not happy at the moment with SheToldMe.com or Best-Reviewer. Though they both may still be beneficial for adding additional backlinks for your content, and I haven't decided if I will continue with them or not, the contributor appreciation is lacking - to say the least.

I wandered over to the Best-Reviewer site and clicked on the "forum" link (found at the top of the page). Boy, I wish I hadn't done that.

What I found was interactions from the creator of both sites blatantly saying that they don't care if their contributors are happy or not , pretty much they could care less. For a site that I am sure earns far more than the average contributor (judging off the way the site is monetized 1 ad for you 3 to 4 for them on each page of content) that is simply poor behavior.

I can't say at this point in time that I could recommend either one of these sites. I definitely think that it needs a complete makeover from the site design and layout right down to the owners attitude.

Building Backlinks: Examples

2010-11-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

There has been much ado about whether or not you can or should use the introduction to your pages and/or articles when linking them on other sites. Though there does not appear to be any answer that Google is coming out and backing up the facts are that there are tons of well ranking sites who's intro's can be found in search on other sites linking to them. This does not appear to get you penalized as long as you are just using a sentence or two.

One thing you want to remember though is you are looking primarily for "do follow sites for backlinks". This means the site allows Google and other search engines to "crawl" their sites and sections where your backlinks are found.

Recommendations for better Backlinks:

1) Change the intro/first paragraph by about 30% but make sure to keep it on topic- think S.E.O (search engine optimization). This eliminates the worry of duplicate content and provides backlinks that Google and other search engines can use to verify that your site is about a specific topic.

2) Don't always use intro's or cut and pasted snippets from your site or articles. Instead try linking keywords as backlinks. If you are commenting or creating content on another site and the topic is related to other work/sites that you have then hyperlink the keywords.

Example can be seen in the second paragraph of this article (do follow sites for backlinks). Though the link won't take you to an article that I've written you should get an idea of what is meant by back linking keywords or relevant and related words. What I did there was create backlinks using keywords that are found in the linked article. You should notice that both the chosen article and keywords were all related to this post - therefore making it "relevant".

3) Never spam your links. Posting your url's on forums, comment sections or anywhere else is considered spam if: the subjects are unrelated, there is no helpful information accompanying your link, it is done in a rude manner (such as posted repeatedly or with negative commentary) or it specifically states that outside links etc are not allowed.

4) Link exchanges. A lot of people use link exchanges to try and build a reputation and ranking in the search engines. If you do this it can be beneficial but be careful. Relevance and content makes a big difference. Your automotive site is not going to gain positive recognition with backlinks from a site for recipes or holiday decorations. On the same line - if the site that links to you is spammy or looked down on from search engines this also will not help your ranking. So be careful and ensure you check out any site before you offer to do a link exchange.

5) Building backlinks through additional content. Backlinks to your sites can be put in your profile on most writing sites and/or are allowed (based on content and quality) within the content of articles, reviews etc.

So, consider throwing up some related articles on other sites that you can link back to your content. Some such sites include: Squidoo, Infobarrel, Hubpages, Xomba, RedGage, Best Reviewer, ListMyFive.com, Ezine, and Associated Content.

The added bonus to doing this is that you can also get paid for the content that you write on nearly every one of the above sites.

Don't hesitate to ask questions if this doesn't give you the answers that you were looking for. I am here to help in any way that I can.

New Site for Building Backlinks

2010-11-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

There is a new website online (see banner above) that looks to have some potential for site owners and content developers who are interested in building backlinks which in turn can boost their rankings in the search engines and help drive traffic to their websites.

The site is driven by user content on a broad range of topics. Outside of its 100% Adsense revenue share, one of the features that has peaked my interest is the fact that it allows you as a content creator to write up reviews or comparisons in a top 3 to 20 format and link each section to a relevant site.

This basically means that if you can write on topics that are relevant to your online sites or articles you can provide a backlink to help boost your sites importance in the search rankings. Granted rarely will one site alone take you to the top but if the content on the site remains primarily that of quality then it can help and while you wait for the benefits of a backlink to kick in you can find comfort knowing that you are also opening the possibility to bring is some additional ad revenue.

Though I am not 100% happy with the Best-Reviewer layout as it appears quite large and a bit cluttered with the ad sizes and placements - I'll definitely be giving it a try. I can't think of a reason not to!! Best of Luck and if you have any luck with the site or your own opinion to offer please stop in and let me know!

What is Blogging? Getting Started Making Money Online

2010-11-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

If you have ever wondered "what is blogging" then chances are you've heard about it from a friend or perhaps seen it mentioned on an internet forum. Which is extremely likely if you've ever looked into ways to start making money online or work at home opportunities. (Something that we will discuss towards the end of this article)

A blog is actually a way to pass along stories, opinions, share information and even more importantly make money.

When blogging first came about it was more of a personal platform for individuals to share what they had read or learned online and eventually what you could compare to someone's own personal (yet these are obviously public) diary. They would share stories from their lives, work, kids relationship issues and so on and before you knew it people started dedicating blogs to information on very specific topics (a.k.a. niches).

That ingenious move (niche blogs) is probably what brought you to this blog as it introduced us to something so simple yet so appealing, It gave us the opportunity to share information that we are passionate about and actually make money and for some of us that money actually pays the bills and then some.

Blogs give you the opportunity to cater your knowledge to individuals out there looking for that information and if you provide what they are looking for you in turn are creating a loyal following.

The more followers you get the more pumped you are about sharing content and the more kindly the search engines will look upon your site. And if you are actually asking yourself "what is blogging" then this is exactly what you want. Once you are recognized by the search engines you are now accessible to a far bigger base of individuals who are interested in your niche topics. Therefore, creating more opportunities to generate a healthy passive income.

If after reading this your interest is still peaked and you know a little more about what is blogging then lets talk about how to get to the point that it pays you to do it.

Merely creating a blog and throwing some content on the pages is not going to bring you a steady passive income stream. Though with some monetization you may see a few pennies here and there it takes more than that. It is not a difficult or extremely time consuming process but it is one that takes know how and requires certain things to be implemented to be successful and start bringing in real money.

Some of the things you will need to know are:

what pays (topics, keywords etc)
how to promote
Search engine optimization (S.E.O)
how to keep a readers attention
how to make your blog stand out
how to monetize
the different ways to monetize properly
ad placement for optimal performance
and so on and so on

Luckily instead of spending the next year and a half reading through a bunch of half truths and mumbo jumbo searching for the real tricks to making money as a blogger you can do what I did and get it all in one place - courtesy of someone who was just like you and I and is now extremely successful.

What I am talking about is a site I stumbled upon not too long ago and that has already taught me more in less than a month than I learned in nearly two years of trying to figure it out on my own.

That would be The Niche Blogger site. It is a membership site that was created by Amy Bass. She started out like us, learned like us, now brings in thousands of dollars a month because of the tricks she's found to be successful and she shares that with you in a very clear step by step way.

I'm not talking pages and pages of stuff to read through - I am talking about step by step video tutorials, screen shots, forums, articles, that walk you through everything from what is blogging, ad placement, niches that pay right down to creating and promoting your content. Where else can you find that? I can tell you in two years I never found that anywhere else.

If you are truly interested in staying home, working and making money online then I highly recommend the site. You won't be financially set over night but if you follow the steps, heed the advice and just do it you could find yourself in a position to eliminate your 9-5 job .

List My Five's User Support

2010-11-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

If you read any of the previous postings on ListMyFive.com then you know I had a concern regarding their Google Advertising. Well, finally I emailed the sites support team and am delighted to tell you that I had a response back in less than 24hours.

The reply was clear, timely and very informative. Definitely another positive being laid on the side of this new and unique online revenue building site. I was very satisfied with the way that they handled what could have easily been considered a "harsh" inquiry.

If you are just now coming into things then I'll explain what ListMyFive (LM5) is. LM5 is a Top 5 site - meaning their content consists of Top 5 lists for everything. The content is created by users - mostly a compilation of some serious freelance writer's, SAHM's and WAHM&D's. Once created and published the lists, like articles you may have written in the past, have the potential to bring in readers and in turn give the contributors a source of residual income.

Suggestion: The LM5 site is new - so if you choose to sign up and start creating lists then you will want to promote them. Submit them to your favorite social networks and social bookmarking sites!

Monetizing your Blog

2010-10-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

Tips for Monetizing your Blog

I ran across a list from LifeisSweet, a fellow ListMyFive writer, on Ways to Monetize Blogs and just had to share. For those of you just starting out - this list will give you a good idea as to how you can make money with your blogs.

For those who are not just starting out with blogging but perhaps needs help turning their blogs into revenue building income streams I'd recommend finding a site that offers very detailed and step by step methods, such as the Niche Blogger, to help get you and your website where you want to be. .

Update on List My 5

2010-10-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm still just starting out on the ListMy5 site and before I continue I have to say that I do like this site. I have every intention of continuing to use it as a means for residual income and plan to see how things go.

So far on the site I've only created about 14 shorter lists spread out over the course of the past 3 weeks and have started to see some pennies trickling in (48 of them so far - screen shots below). Considering the newness of this site that's not too bad. It won't replace other online revenue streams but it looks to be on a path to being a great addition to the other means of online residual income that I use.

I've added screen shots below just to provide a bit of validity and so you can actually how spread out the lists I created actually were: Note I've included screen shots of my lists page because the overview shows 23 articles but 9 of those are drafts - leaving only 14 published. The green circle entails published - orange circle - not published.

Advertising -

I've noticed over the past 2 days that the ads I see on my own articles and those of fellow freelance writer's articles are all the same (I've included screen shots below). 3 ads for the same political candidate - this made me curious so I posted on the forums and found that others are not seeing the same ads as me - it appears that some of the ads that they are seeing are ones associated with things they've searched or things perhaps popular in their locations. Now I know that the political ads are not showing up based on my search history or on my article topics so I'm curious to find out just how these ads are being selected.

At this point in time I'm thinking that this means of advertising is not going to pay off. Hopefully they will make a change to this in the very near future, as in my personal opinion - having dealt with many sites where you earn off of advertising revenue - I've yet to seen ads pay consistently that are based on such criteria. Seriously, if my daughter searches out Barbie and I therefore see Barbie ads on an article I'm reading about health those are not going to offer me additional information on what I'm looking for nor are they going to grab my attention.

(Note the article screen shot below is not mine it is actually a great list contributed by BestMommy - here is a link to the original article: Friends to Have on List My 5 part 1 )

UPDATE: I am happy to report that for today I am seeing new advertisements on the freelance lists. No longer just the 3 ads for the same thing. And a few of them even appear to be related to the actual article topic!! This for me is wonderful news!

Update on previous Update: OOPS spoke too soon the unappealing trio is back!

Make Residual Income Creating Lists

2010-10-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

There is a new site on the internet horizon that some freelance writers are saying is going to "go big". The site layout and set up has a strangely familiar feel for many who use to contribute to the, no longer existent, eHow WCP program.

All you have to do is merely create Top 5 lists. These can be anything from the the Top 5 ways to Improve your health, Top 5 Nostalgic Christmas Movies, Top 5 Places Kids Eat Free in Stillwater Oklahoma, Top 5 Reasons to Fly on the Airbus A380, Top 5 Work From Home Jobs etc etc - you get the point. And by creating and submitting these "lists" you can earn residual income.

FYI's
As previously stated this work from home site is new and if you've been on the internet for any amount of time you know that it takes a while to gain recognition from search engines. This basically means don't sign up with high expectations just yet - but definitely sign up (some of us are already earning). The more quality contributors and contributions on the site the better and faster the search engine rankings will come.

If you are a freelance writer and are interested in another potential residual income site then you need to check out ListMy5.com and sign up. It really is simple and if you can make a few extra bucks that's even better.

(Don't forget - just in case you missed it to check out The Niche Blogger Course)

Data Collection

2010-10-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a real work from home position there is a company out there called Westat.

What is it?

This work from home job is a part time and temporary position with the possibility or something a little more long term. You get paid by the hour for collecting data via the phone. A lot of the call are cold calls but for an hourly wage, that you can get paid working from home, it is definitely something to consider!

Once you are accepted on at Westat for a home based position and you get your schedule they will route calls through their network which will then ring in to your home phone. This will ensure your personal privacy as well as ensure that the company covers the cost of any calls placed.

If you have the stomach for some cold calling, have the desire to work from home you can apply here for this home based job.

Guest Posting and Content Opportunities

2010-02-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

Are you signed up with affiliate programs or have a blog/website that you would like to promote?

I am currently looking for quality guest posters or content submissions for the following site niches : work from home, dog related blog, Home Beauty recipes/Beauty tips blog, frugal living/save money blog. Anyone who would like to guest post or submit an original article or content (for exclusive use one of these sites site) please contact me via the contact me button.

How you can optimize your content:

Content posted or submitted can be optimized using your affiliate/referral codes and personal links for all quality services (Amazon, CJ, CB, E-Junkie, personal sites etc) except Google Adsense and Kontera. There is a limit to 3 links per 1000 word post to prevent the content from being deemed as spam. For this blog there is absolutely no work from home scams, pyramid schemes or other content permitted. Only true tested or verified opportunities that can help people make money at home.

All submissions must be in English and show proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. I can and am willing to edit submitted content for minor errors.

Social Bookmarking Sites

2010-02-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Social Bookmarking sites are a great way to drive traffic to your content and help get it noticed. There are dozens of social networking or bookmarking sites that can be used and some of those you will find below.

Note: It is not always going to be beneficial to submit your content to sites such as these, few things you will want to pay attention to when choosing which websites will work best to drive traffic to your articles and content are: 1) what type of ranking does it have on the popular search engines? 2) how many people are "really" going to have the opportunity to see your submissions via the site? 3) how easy is the submission process? 4) Will it really allow you to promote your articles and other content?

The first site you will find is one that does not necessarily have a great ranking just yet but it is one of the ONLY social bookmarking sites that allows you to earn revenue off of submissions:

SheToldMe - Add links to your content or website along with a short keyword rich description and earn 100% Adsense revenue off of your submissions. SheToldMe not only gives you the opportunity to create a beneficial backlink that can help drive traffic to your website or content but they also give you the opportunity to earn off your submissions and even pass along a bit of benefit for referring others to the site, too.

Redgage - Get paid to promote your articles, website content, video's, links, blog posts and more...

Digg - Another popular, well ranking and frequented social bookmarking site for your content. Submit an array of popular content that interests you - be sure it is a mixture of your content and others - and the more people Digg your submissions the kinder the likes of Google and other search engines will look upon you.

Twitter - Tweet your way to content success! Many freelance writers have found Twitter to be a successful way to share both their days and their content.

Google - Not a social bookmarking site but allows your information to be submitted directly to Google in hopes of getting it picked up and indexed faster on their search engine! Google can't be beat when it comes to popularity so getting Google to notice you will get you noticed by others too and help you to drive traffic to your website or other online content!

Ehow Vows to Make Things Right with their Freelance Writer's

2010-01-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

It has been a long grueling few months for many freelancers who write for eHow.com. If you have followed the on-going eHow gossip, that has appeared to spread like wild fire across the world wide web, then you have probably already heard the uproar surrounding the launch of the ehow UK site and the rapid decline in US writer's online earnings.

The eHow's forums have been bogged down with threads surrounding this beta expansion and writer's have made their concerns known, and hard to ignore. For awhile it appeared that those concerns would be swept under the rug but just when things started to get hairy eHow appears to have stepped up and is making an attempt to right their wrong.

In a public appearance, made in the way of a video blog that was released today, to the eHow community - eHow has acknowledged that their members compensation did (as claimed by writers) suffer with the UK release and that they have intentions of making things right by compensating their dedicated freelance writer's. This, to many affected writer's, is a small victory and a step in the right direction for eHow and its reputation. With the exception of a few of the sites freelance writer's - who appear unappeasable - this acknowledgement and promise has started the much needed mending process.

This move in the right direction will not replace the trust that has been lost or damaged in the process and freelance writer's will continue to be leery of future deception but the urge to write and earn has again been revived in many. Yes eHow - we are watching you ;-)

So, in conclusion, as a member and freelance writer, I'd like to send out a special thank you to eHow for finally listening and stepping up to the plate! I hope this truly brings an end to the frustration and is an acceptable fix for all involved.

Has eHow Gone Crazy?

2009-12-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

For those of you familiar with the paid writing site ehow.com then you are probably already familiar with the numerous glitches, bugs, vague answers and responses, and several other irritating issues that seem to constantly be plaguing the site. Well, if you have been at this paid to write site for any amount of time at all or at least long enough to earn some ad revenue from your articles then chances are you have found a way to "deal" with the issues.

However, eHow's most recent vague response and "enhancement" seems to be causing a great deal of angst with a majority of users - several who are usually quick to minimize other users issues.

It seems that eHow had an epiphany and decided to launch a mirrored site for the UK - Hey that is great!! Wait, maybe not so great!! IT SEEMS that this mirrored site contains user submitted articles but it does not appear that those users are actually compensated for their articles appearance on this new high ranking site! <-- If you failed to catch that last part "high ranking" well let me clue you in on why that is such an issue. It appears that when their articles are searched for the UK (unpaid) listing is out ranking the US listing where these articles have been maturing for months if not longer. What this means for those "users" is that they are most likely missing out on those views but also on the potential ad revenue that they have become accustomed to earning off of those articles. And so far the best response members (or should I say users) seem to be getting is an even more side stepping vague response along the lines of: well when the site gets older then we can tell you when or if you will get paid - but for now it shouldn't be affecting your earnings!! -- Ummm HELLO - did you not read that the site that users are not getting paid on is out ranking the site that they do earn off of?? Seems hard to fathom that they are not losing out on some earnings - last time I looked a reader can't be interested in an ad that they never see - which means less to no earnings for those work from home writers!! It bares mentioning as well that during this issue an article has been uncovered that discusses the launch of the UK site and the possibility of looking more to professional content. Begs the question as to when and if they intend on actually notifying writers who have put years and their heart and soul into content that was used to build eHow and make it what it is today!! IF the boot is coming even in the not so near future the stand up thing to do would be to give ample notice so writers can focus on other revenue earning sites and places to place their content!!