I read and/or browse a lot of blogs (as a blogger, you should, too). I'm always on the lookout for new tips and strategies. Especially ones that involve earning money.

That's how I discovered Money4Blogs. It's a test link advertising service:

"We will give you money for a small link or post on your site for one of our financial companies. There would be no graphics involved, just a static text link. All of the links and related sites are to reputable finance webpages, with no illegal or obscene content. We can pay instantly via Paypal - no pay per click involved."

I signed up. What the heck, it's simple and free.

Within a few days I received this reply:

Many thanks for your submission; I would like to offer you $10 for a text link on your blog for a year, payable when the link is live.

Hmmm. $10 for a year. That's about 83 cents per month, less than 3 cents per day.

I can be bought, but I'm not THAT cheap!

I'm sure the offer would've been higher if my blog's PR and traffic were higher. But here's my point: my PR and traffic are steadily increasing. Why would I want to lock in a rate for an entire year based on today's stats, when I expect this site's value to advertisers to be much higher 3-6 months from now?

So I declined the offer. They didn't negotiate any further but invited me to check back again later "as your blog becomes more established." So I may do that.

Anyway, here's the link again in case you want to check them out: Money4Blogs.

earn money from a website earning money online internet marketing money4blogs online marketing text link advertising

If you're new here and like what you see, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up for my free email updates. Thanks for visiting!

I first read about the Z-List in this post at DoshDosh: Need Free Blog Traffic and Links? Try the Z-List.

In his post, Maki says:

The Z list is a blog meme, which sees bloggers creating and sharing a list of many links to blogs in a single post. Participants joining the Z list meme will have to copy and paste a list of blogs, while including any new blogs on the list that they feel should get the exposure they deserve.

Then he mentioned some of the benefits:

* You’ll help the blogs you like get some much needed exposure
* You’ll get to discover new blogs
* You’ll get a higher Technorati ranking. (Ironic but true)
* You’ll get new readers and potential RSS subscribers
* You’ll most likely increase your blog’s Google Page Rank
* You’ll get some incoming links and traffic
* You’ll get to meet and correspond with bloggers from all over the world

I have to admit, this sounded too good to be true. So I did additional research before jumping into this Z-List thing.

Read more

blogs free traffic get traffic incoming links incoming traffic z list

(This article is by Jimmy D. Brown of "Small Reports Fortune")

Idea Hangouts: Where to Find Hot Product Ideas to Use For Creating Your Next Best-Selling eBook

46,094.

That’s how many times I’ve been asked “Where can I find hot product ideas to write about in my next eBook?”

Really. I’ve been keeping count. )

OK, so it’s probably not quite that many times, but you get the idea.

I get asked that question a LOT.

And so, I’ve decided to share my favorite “idea hangouts”. That’s right … “idea hangouts.” It’s been my experience that there are specific places where hot product ideas are always gathered. I call them “idea hangouts.”

*** Idea Hangout #1 ***

One of the “idea hangouts” that I’ve identified is Amazon.com

Amazon.com is the web’s largest bookstore.

It’s also a community center for new product ideas. I use it as one of my top brainstorming resources. Again and again I visit this site to come up with topics to write about.

What makes Amazon.com so useful as a research tool for getting new ideas is their searchable database of books. There are thousands of great ideas lurking in there if you just know how to use it.

And that’s what I’m here for. )

I’m going to show you how to find hot product ideas with Amazon.com anytime you want.

It’s really a matter of three simple steps …

STEP 01 : >>> Decide Upon A Broad Category. When brainstorming ideas, you must begin with a broad category to work with. Some examples might be: weight loss, marketing, dating, travel, baseball.

So, you need that ahead of time. Figure out a broad subject that you know is popular (I.E. You know that losing weight is ALWAYS going to be a popular subject, as is “making money.”).

As an example for this article, I’m going to choose GOLF.

STEP 02 : >>> Search Amazon’s Database. After picking your broad topic to research, it’s time to visit Amazon.com.

Specifically, you’re going to SEARCH their database of books they are selling.

Upon arriving at their site, locate their SEARCH form. At the time of this writing, it was in the upper left hand corner of their main page. Pull the menu down and select BOOKS from the options.

In the space provided, type in whatever broad category you chose. I’d type in “Golf”. (You don’t need quotation marks.)

If you did indeed start with a broad category, then hundreds (or even thousands) of book listings should appear as a result of the search.

STEP 03 : >>> Brainstorm Ideas From The Listings. Let the brainstorming session begin! Now it’s time to look at the books that are listed and write down as many possible ideas as you can find.

Look for the different TYPES of books written about the subject, identifying different THEMES, STYLES and SUBCATEGORIES.

Let’s look at an example …

When I searched for “Golf”, I was able to immediately spot dozens of great ideas. Here are a handful …

1. Becoming a better golfer. There are many golf books available in this area, covering everything from “A-Z of Golf Shots” to specific topics such as “Improving Your Short Game.” There were lots of different themes from “learning to break 100” to “shaving 10 shots off your score” to “7 shots that will change your golf game forever.”

2. Guides to Golf Courses. Again, we have many different ideas here. Specific golf guides like “Florida golfing”, “golfing in Tennessee” and “golfing the Robert Trent Jones trail” appear, as well as books on “the best golf courses in America,” “best kept secrets: great golf courses you’ve probably never played,” and “golf vacation guides.”

3. Profiting from Golf. More ideas pour in with “opening a golf repair business,” “becoming a golf retailer,” “learning how to caddy” and “buying & selling used golf clubs.” What about “running an online golf auction”, “organizing a golf tournament for profit” or even “writing information products about golf!”

4. Golf and Business. There are millions of dollars in business deals negotiated on the golf course every single year. And there are books available to teach folks how to get it done. “How to negotiate business deals during golf outings,” “Legal golf tax deductions for businesspeople,” and “business seminars and golf: how to mix training and fun for maximum profit” are just a few more ideas worth exploring.

5. Golf Products. My, my, my there are so many ideas floating around in here! Everything ranging from reviews of the latest golf equipment to ratings of golf courses to discounts on golf packages. Resource guides to finding the best deals on golfing products, how to negotiate discounts, and how to find the best products for your specific golf game also come to mind as product ideas.

One Broad Category (Golf)
+ Amazon.com Searchable Database of Books
= 28 Potential Product Ideas

See how easy that was? I found TWENTY-EIGHT potential new product ideas (and there were MANY MORE that I didn’t mention in this article) from a simple brainstorming exercise using ONE “idea hangout.”

There’s got to be a best-seller in that bunch somewhere. And certainly with a little “mix -n- match” I can come up with a hit product with these ideas.

Not bad, eh?

So, now it’s YOUR turn. It’s a simple system for coming up with product ideas anytime you want.

Like right now.

---

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of "Small Reports Fortune" - if you can write 7-15 page small reports, you can earn a living online working just a few hours each week from your home. Look for more "Idea Hangouts" in his EXCLUSIVE formula here: "Creating A Six-Figure Income With Small Reports"

---

creating information products ebook topics information products product ideas

If you've been involved with blogging or online marketing for a while, you've probably heard lots of SEO terms tossed around.

You probably know the meanings of these:

Above the Fold
Anchor Text
Backlinks
Linkbait
Keyword
CAPTCHA

But did you CAPTCHA stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart?" I had no idea!

Do you know what these mean–as related to SEO?

Flog
Hilltop
Stemming
Slurp
Minus 30 Penalty

Well, you're in luck. If you want to be able to follow online discussions of the search engine experts (or pretend you're one yourself), your first stop should be this page:

Apogee's Search Engine Marketing Glossary

It tells you the meaning of hundreds of words, phrases, acronyms and other SEO jargon.

Ah, enlightenment!

Now when someone tells you to put doorway passages on your site to get more traffic, you can tell them to take a hike because you'll know what they're talking about, and that it's a stupid idea!

Apogee Search is one of the 25 largest Search Engine Marketing firms in the world, so I think we can trust their SEO definitions to be accurate.

If you have an adequate budget, you can hire them to help you with your PPC campaign!

(You do know what PPC means, right?)

Apogee search engine marketing seo SEO Glossary

I've been an affiliate for Amazon for about three years. But not an active affiliate. All I did was put links on some of my sites here and there.

I never got excited about selling Amazon products. And my results show my lack of enthusiasm. Or maybe it's the other way around.

I just checked my Amazon stats. Over the last three years, I've gotten credit for selling 18 items (16 books, 2 software programs) totaling just over $200 and earning me almost enough money for a large cup of coffee and a bagel (about $8).

Amazon's commissions suck.

So I didn't get too excited when they sent me a message announcing their "Context Links Beta":

Dear Amazon Associate:

The Amazon Associates program is thrilled to announce the release of the Context Links Beta!

Context Links are a quick and convenient way to add links to your website and monetize your content. Context Links automatically identify and link relevant phrases within your page content to Amazon products, unlocking new ad inventory and saving you the time from having to manually create links. You can add the links to your pages in minutes, and we provide a wealth of options to customize how they are displayed.

You create the content. We'll link it.

I tried context links before (with a third-party software program) on my job interview site. I would write an article and specify keywords within it that would be converted to text links going to Amazon or Clickbank, with my affiliate ID embedded.

The program offered great tracking, so it was easy for me to track my results: ZERO SALES.

I tried it for about 90 days before pulling the plug.

My theory is that this sort of context linking system may be worse than ineffective–it may actually backfire and drive away visitors–depending on how you use it.

My interview site is an authority site. People go there expecting information and advice, not sales pitches. (I don't consider Adsense ads as sales pitches; those are unobtrusive yet obvious, and easy for readers to ignore. Fortunately for my bottom line, there are lots of readers who do NOT ignore them!)

Anyway, I think on this type of site, people reading an informative article who come across a word that is a link likely expect that link to take them to further information (a definition of the word, a link to more detail or another article on the same topic, etc.). When it instead takes them to a page that's trying to sell them something, they are surprised, disappointed, and ultimately annoyed at being "sold to" when they're trying to learn something.

I think this can cause them to lose their trust in you and your site.

As I said, that's just my theory. I have no real evidence to support it.

I think contextual links to products can be very effective in other circumstances… where readers are expecting such things. For example, on sites where visitors are looking for products, or information about products.

I've noticed John Chow has a lot of context links in his posts. I personally think he has too many, but it's hard to argue with his tremendous success.

So I haven't ruled context links out. I may test Amazon's new program on a few of my sites.

But then again, Amazon's commissions suck. So unless I target more expensive products, it's probably not worth the effort.

affiliate advertising Amazon Amazon affiliate program context links

Here's a page at CornwallSEO that you'll want to bookmark (the title pretty much says it all):

The Enormous List of Linkbuilding Tips, Articles and Resources

articles Linkbuilding Tips resources

I've recently installed a new WordPress Plugin called What Would Seth Godin Do?

Here's what it does: New visitors to your blog will see a small box above (or below) each post containing the words “If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!” After 3 visits the message disappears. It can be customized, too.

I'll let you know if it helps to increase my RSS feed subscribers after I've had it running for a while.

Here's where to get it: What Would Seth Godin Do? Plugin

Seth Godin Plugin

During a recent discussion in an private membership forum of which I'm a member, a question came up about declaring income and expenses for an online business. I mentioned:

"…advised to show a profit in 2 out of your first 5 years in business. 2006 was my 4th year with an online business, and the first year I showed a net profit. I plan to do the same in 2007."

Another member then posted this:

"…I am most impressed by your patience in hanging in there. To have only turned a profit after 4 years and still be in it says a lot about your determination. For me, I would probably have packed it in and moved onto another business venture…"

To which I replied, in part:

"Thanks, but I'm probably in a slightly different position than many people struggling to earn money online. I'm employed full-time, earn a decent salary, and actually enjoy my job. So there's been no real sense of urgency for me to turn a profit. I'm doing this because I want to, not because I need to. Plus I got married the same year I started my online adventures, and wasn't willing to devote a lot of my 'off-duty' hours to this business, at the expense of spending time with my hubby."

That online conversation must've been running in the background of my mind for a few days. Eventually it regurgitated itself.

And I realized how thoughtless I have been!

Unlike me, my hubby does not enjoy his job. He's got the "golden handcuffs." This means he's been there too long to quit, but not quite long enough to retire with a pension he'd be happy with. So he grits his teeth and keeps putting in his time.

Meanwhile, he's been very supportive of my online business pursuits.

How could I have been so… clueless?

I've been focusing on learning more than earning. The online marketing world is a fascinating one to me, and I have never been motivated by money.

When I've thought about how my online business may affect my husband, I've only worried about the amount of time I spend doing this versus being with him.

What I should've been thinking about is this: How can I boost our income enough so that my husband will feel comfortable leaving (retiring early from) the job that's stressing him out every day?

There's that… and the title of this blog. The word EARNING is right there in front of me!

And yet, until now, earning wasn't as important to me as learning. I have been earning, but not near as much as I would be if that had been my focus.

Well, that's changed. I had an "Ah-ha!" moment. I'm going to focus on making money with this blog and my other sites.

Not at the expense of my visitors. Not at the expense of continuing to provide quality content.

I'm rolling up my sleeves and intend to get busy bringing in more money. I've added a category on Earning Money. It's about time, right?

Expect to see more posts on specific money-earning strategies… what I'm doing, what's working, what's not.

Here's an example. I've signed up as an affiliate for Best of the Web and put a banner on my left sidebar. BOTW is one of the internet’s oldest and most authoritative web directories. They pay a 25% commission on referrals. I'll let you know what sort of results I get just from the banner. That's a passive approach and probably not the most effective, but with limited time for my online activities, I'll try that first.

OK now… let's get busy–and get wealthier–together!

earning money online internet marketing making money online online marketing

I recently discovered an interesting blog by Nathan Metzger: NotSoBoringLife.com. While browsing Nathan's site, I came upon his Not-So-Boring Challenge and decided to participate.

Here's the gist of the challenge:

NotSoBoringLife is a brand new blog and trying to make a name for itself. Obviously stellar content is the best way to achieve popularity but coming in a close second are links to your blog. The Not-So-Boring Challenge attempts to handle both these important aspects in one simple challenge. Post an original story on your blog about a hobby or adventure you’ve participated in. Include a link to NotSoBoringLife.com and this Not-So-Boring Challenge post.

I've taken up the challenge for four reasons. First, it gives me an excuse to write about something not related to this blog's niche. Second, it allows me to share a bit about my offline life with my readers. Third, I'll get a link back from Nathan's blog. And last but not least, I'll get Nathan's opinion on whether I'm boring… or not so boring.

So, on with the show…

Bonnie's Adventure in Mongolia

In a previous life I worked as a Public Affairs Officer for the Army (as a civilian employee) in Okinawa, Japan. In 1993, one of the activities I participated in was a humanitarian assistance mission to provide much-needed medical supplies to Mongolia.

I reported to Kadena Air Base before dawn to catch my ride on the Air Force C-5A Galaxy cargo plane. Have you ever seen a C-5… up close? Those suckers are huge!

My first challenge was getting into the damn plane. The cargo bay was closed. There was no gantry. No mobile stairway. There was a ladder attached to the side of the plane. It went up two stories to the crew's hatch (just behind the cockpit). I had to climb up it. Alone. With 40 pounds of camera gear slung over my back. Did I mention I hate climbing ladders?

As the only woman on this mission, I was determined to be "one of the guys" and didn't ask for help. I somehow managed to get into the plane without losing my gear, falling off the ladder, or making a total fool of myself.

The flight to Mongolia from Okinawa took five hours. At one point the pilot announced we were flying over the Great Wall of China. There were no windows in the crew's quarters. I took his word for it, though, and thought, "Wow! This is so cool!"

We had a somewhat rough landing at the country's biggest airport, in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. For some reason, the pilot and several crewmembers were in a big hurry to get off the plane. When I finally managed to climb slowly and carefully down the ladder (with all my gear), I saw why.

They were standing around one of the massive wheel assemblies. One guy was spraying it with a fire extinguisher!

"Don't worry!" said Captain Flyboy when he saw me staring at them in shock. "Everything's under control. The runway's not quite long enough and we had to hit the brakes pretty hard. There's no serious damage."

While I wondered about his definition of "serious," I looked around to see if any fire engines were approaching. Nope. I guessed that was a good sign.

Later I wondered if there were any fire engines to respond. There certainly weren't any facilities where a C-5 could be repaired. Heck, this "largest airport in Mongolia" didn't even have a forklift to unload the plane! Good thing we brought one with us. But with only one (there hadn't been room to bring more), it took nine hours to get all the cargo off the plane.

As I was filming part of the operation, I noticed a couple of young Mongolian guys staring at me. Blondes were pretty rare in this part of the world. I smiled. Then I was educated. "They've never seen a video camera before," explained the Mongolian liaison officer. Oh.

Then I watched a Mongolian pilot walk around the C-5, staring up at the huge jet engines in awe. In the distance I saw what had been the largest plane to land here before us. A small twin-engine prop job from Russia. The C-5's engine was nearly as big as that entire plane.

While the Air Force crew and about 50 Mongolian men and women of all ages were still unloading the plane, I accompanied the mission commander to meet the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia. In a cute little ceremony, he signed over the medical supplies to Mongolia's First Vice Minister of Health. Smile! Shake hands! Click, click!

Then there was the banquet. Oh… the horror!

Have you ever gone to a Mongolian Barbecue restaurant? Trust me… that is NOT Mongolian food. I'm not sure exactly what I ate. I'm sure I asked, but I must've blocked it from my memory. It was something you'd see contestants struggle to keep down on "Fear Factor." It was scary and gross. And not to eat it would've been a serious insult to our hosts. Heck, if I'd gagged and spit it out, I might've caused an international incident! I managed. I survived. Barely.

Then it was time to go. I struggled back up the ladder and buckled myself in as tightly as I could. I kept my fingers crossed during takeoff. Yeah! We made it!

Nineteen hours after the mission had begun, we landed back in Okinawa.

I was very tired and happy to be back in the modern world. But I was glad I'd gone. The Mongolians are very friendly people. I always enjoy experiencing other cultures. It makes me realize how much we Americans take for granted. And I knew the cargo we'd delivered would literally save lives.

Overall, it had been a great (long) day.

It certainly wasn't boring!

This is an interesting and informative video by WebProNews that explains link baiting and other linking strategies.

Here's the description of the video:

Few can speak about link building and link baiting with the experience and authority that Eric Ward brings to the table. He’s been doing this sort of thing since 1994, before the vast majority had even heard of a hyperlink.

In this WebProNews: The Insider video, Managing Editor Mike McDonald connects with Ward via webcam to discuss the finer points of link building today, what constitutes good link bait, and creating a good balance of organic and paid links.

What is linkbait? Linkbait can be anything – anything that inspires somebody at another website or blog to link back to it. The only boundary is creativity.

What makes something linkable? We can only speak with examples and general guidance, but–whatever it is, it should be clever and useful to the end-user, either by “interestingness” or by its ability to solve a problem. Widgets, then, make sense as great linkbait. Good linkbait is pure, not coming off as slimy or cheesy. “In the long run,” says Ward, “the end user votes with the mouse.”

How do you develop a linking strategy? Strategies should mesh with the intent and market of the website being promoted. Any link is not necessarily a good link. Quality links matter. The right audience matters. Timing is important. If you want to promote something for next week, organic SEO isn’t going to work. You may need to buy some links or bid on some keywords. Use organic SEO for promotions far in the future (if for the Christmas season, begin in September). There is no optimal balance of paid and organic links. It depends on what the end goal is.

Get the content in front of the audience you care about.

The video's about 12 minutes long.

Enjoy!

link baiting link building linking strategies video on link building

How do you feel about the word "blog?" Is it hideous?

John Wesley of PickTheBrain.com recently wrote an entertaining post declaring that "Blog is a hideous word!"

According to John,

"Blog is a hideous word. I cringe every time I read it. And I’m a blogger. No wonder regular people don’t take blogs seriously."

Personally, I have no problem with the word. It's short. Easy to spell. Hardly anyone mispronounces it. And it does double duty as a noun and a verb. What a handy and hard-working little word!

But would I rather introduce myself as a blogger or a writer? No contest–a writer.

As John points out, bloggers are not taken seriously (except by other bloggers). Writers usually are.

Not all bloggers are writers (though most think they are). Not all writers are bloggers (though most think they could be if they so chose). I love it when I find people who are both. Like John.

Which are you?

Blog blogging John Wesley Pickthebrain.com writing