tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61023950353498947202024-03-18T09:24:19.424-07:00Blogging for CoinsThis Blogging Guide will teach you how to make money blogging one lesson at a time. Get started now!Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-64831301653207127862010-01-26T12:36:00.000-08:002017-01-03T14:21:28.688-08:00Lsn #1: Gathering Coins adds up to lots of DollarsIn the world of blogging, it is essential to understand the "money-making" concept from the get-go. AdSense is an advertising program through Google. (An example is on the right hand side of this blog.) The ads will match themselves to certain key words in your blog content. Therefore, you want to focus on good "AdWords" (the term Google uses to describe key words that people search for, and therefore Advertisers focus on.) Advertisers bid on key words and are willing to pay a premium for certain words or phrases. Although this "premium" may be only 5 cents.<br />
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So how does this apply to you? I heard a story once about a taxi driver who did better than all the other taxi drivers because he picked up the "little fish". Most of the taxi drivers would wait for the "big fish", you know, the 30 mile drive to the suberbs, the big paying fares. They wouldn't waste their time with the short drives, like taking an elderly lady to the market or doctor's office.<br />
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But this guy, he would scoop them up. He would sleep in his taxi all night just so he'd be ready to grab that little fish when the call came in. And in the end, he was clearing $900 - $1000 a day.<br />
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I tell you this now, pick up the little fish. Gather the nickels and dimes, but gather them by having lots and lots of blogs (taxi fares). One big blog could collect the big money, but many, many blogs that collect nickels and dimes, in the end, will net you more money than just one.<br />
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Think about it... how could that be true? Well, if you have 100 blogs all collecting 10 ad-clicks every day at 10 cents, that is $1 a day in nickel/dime adwords. With 100 blogs, that equals $100/day. <br />
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But if you have only 1 amazing blog collecting $5 - $7 adwords, and getting the same 10 ad-clicks a day, that equals $50 - $70 per day.<br />
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Then you say, "Wait a minute... why wouldn't I just have 100 blogs picking up $5-$7 adwords? Hellooo.... not rocket science."<br />
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Answer: Adword traffic. The $5-$7 adwords are searched about 400,000 times per month. All the other fish in the sea want those adwords. That creates competition. What are the chances of getting your blog to show up at the front of THAT line? Zero to none.<br />
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The nickel adwords are searched about 700 - 3000 times per month. Do you see an opportunity opening up here? Less competition means you have a better chance of getting your blog to the front of the line, and more readers to your blog and more chances of them clicking an ad. This is a GOOD thing.<br />
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Think of the audience volume to your blogs. If I'm giving a blog seminar in one city, I get the audience available to that one venue. But if I post my seminar to 100 cities, then I get smaller, but more audiences, hence more clicks and more money.<br />
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Yes, folks, at this blog site we go against the tide. We teach you the opposite of what everyone else is doing. At this blog, you will learn how to pick up the coins, and still make more than the guys picking up the dollars.<br />
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You should subscribe to this post to receive updates as it is currently in creation. I will be updating and adding more posts as I have time to write them. You will be assigned homework. This is NOT an "overnight success" site. This is a calculated and targeted process so you do it right the FIRST time. (And I could be encouraged to write faster if I see people following my blog... hint hint.)<br />
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<strong>Assignment #1:</strong> If you haven't set up an account at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">http://www.Blogger.com</a>, go there now, (it's free). If you need some help with the sign up process, <a href="http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0_-4esFjaMZNmY1YWY2NjctOWM4Yy00YTg3LWFkN2EtYmJmZTBmMWMxMTM5&hl=en">click here</a> for step-by-step instructions (written by me for my classes).<br />
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Don't wait any longer because you will soon understand what's going on and you will get excited to start your own blogging business. You will hit walls if your blogging foundation isn't laid out from the beginning. So the first step to laying the foundation is to get your account setup at Blogger.com (again - FREE). <br />
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Then continue on to <a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-to-write-about.html">Assignment #2</a>. (with cheap adwords on the side panel... and I cherish each one of them!)Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-84240333788807783132010-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:002017-01-03T14:38:11.485-08:00Lsn #2: What to Write About...<br />
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ANSWER THE PUBLIC.<br />
I am asked this question every single time in a classroom, "What should I write about?" And I hear preposterous things like, “I don’t know anything.”<br />
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How can anyone say that?<br />
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So here is a good rule of thumb… what is your career? What is your hobby or interests? In fact, I recently received a magazine subscription list from my Girl Scout niece. I immediately realized that it was a fabulous list of topics to get your blog ideas from. <a href="http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0_-4esFjaMZZDk0NDUzNGMtOWY5NS00NzIxLThmYmYtMTAxMzdhODBkMDVh&hl=en">Click here to see a scanned copy.</a> If you see a magazine title you would read, then you've hit on a possible topic to blog about. Also, if you have 20 years of experience in “anything” then you are an expert of that thing.<br />
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I happen to have 20+ years of computer use. Guess what? I’m an expert! Does that mean I’m the smartest computer person in the world? Absolutely not. But I’m an expert to someone with only 2 years experience. <br />
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If you asked me to give advice about any random topic right now, surprisingly, my advice would have nothing to do with computers. My advice would be, “Don’t gossip. It will do more long term damage to YOUR reputation and not hurt the other person at all.” And then I would follow with a relevant story to illustrate my words of advice.<br />
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At the end of my story, I would have a blog post ready and I would name it “How to Gossip to Ruin Your Reputation”<br />
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And today's second topic on “What to Write About…” is that your title is vitally important. It should be catchy, more than 3 words but less than 10, Each Word Capitalized. Let's say I am scanning through blog titles because I have to teach on the subject at church next weekend and I’m looking for examples to bring up. The titles I see online are:<br />
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“Gossip Is Unhealthy”<br />
“Gossip Is Not Biblical”<br />
“Gossiping Will Hurt You”<br />
“It Is Bad To Gossip”<br />
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And then I see this one…<br />
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“How To Gossip To Ruin Your Reputation”<br />
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Now that one is interesting enough for me to click on.<br />
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An old way to find related ideas for your topic is by using Google's Wonder Wheel. Crazy name and it no longer exists. <b>It's been replaced with http://answerthepublic.com/. </b>It's an awesome tool to find subject matter that's talked about online.<br />
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Go to http://answerthepublic.com/, type your topic in the search box choose your country, and click "Questions". View the very cool results - which may vary depending on the topic.<br />
Then click a second topic to see other relevant topics.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CckUrYDZkkxFsj23i3zPy0eounNKT4TP1vc2pQ-0sZ3jFpKaWskI1l9g-crfZ_SkAOtlc96J6kFCezjm0PbuWRgfoFpOaMj3otCJHXecnv4FtYcEfb0ti9w4TAHNnNLhyphenhyphenQVgDKDFca3V/s1600/Gossip+circle%252C+answer+the+public+dot+com.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CckUrYDZkkxFsj23i3zPy0eounNKT4TP1vc2pQ-0sZ3jFpKaWskI1l9g-crfZ_SkAOtlc96J6kFCezjm0PbuWRgfoFpOaMj3otCJHXecnv4FtYcEfb0ti9w4TAHNnNLhyphenhyphenQVgDKDFca3V/s320/Gossip+circle%252C+answer+the+public+dot+com.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Lesson 2 Assignment</strong>: Give me some advice. Write it down in your blog and click “Publish Post”. In fact, be an overachiever and write 3 posts on the same subject.<br />
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We have to have words in place before we can move onto the money making portion. The more posts you have ready, the more words will be found by the advertisers.<br />
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Get writing… then go on to <a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2009/11/lsn-3-focus-on-key-words.html">Assignment #3</a> where you will learn how to see if people are reading your prose.Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-52134714049757668602010-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:002010-08-18T15:31:11.260-07:00Lsn #3: Is Anyone Reading My Blog? Hellooooo?Your blog post is written and happily published. Now you sit back and wait for people to find it and read it. And you wait... and wait... and you never know if anyone is reading it. Hmm. There must be a way to know if people are reading it.<br />
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<em>Let me interject right here that this assignment is optional. You do not have to implement this into your blog. In fact, I didn't apply it until I had published 9 blogs. I encourage you to read about it, but you do have the option to skip it for now.</em><br />
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You can easily add a visitor counter to your blog. Generally, those are viewed as amateurish by seasoned bloggers. But if you want one, then have one. There are many free counters. I've chosen to use <a href="http://www.sitemeter.com/">Google's Sitemeter</a>. Another one I've heard that's good is <a href="http://www.statcounter.com/">StatCounter</a>.<br />
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Click the SiteMeter link above, and click "Sign Up".<br />
Hint: I use the same username and password for all these Google applications including my Blogger.com account. It's just too much to remember by changing it each time.<br />
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You will receive an email with your username, password and instructions. <br />
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Log back into SiteMeter.com and click the "Manager" link at the top.<br />
In the Manager window there are several options. You can start your counter at a higher number, (recommended), and you get the HTML code here (that will be used in the below steps.)<br />
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Just read the screen carefully and follow the instructions to get your HTML code. Then...<br />
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Open Blogger.com and sign in<br />
Click the Dashboard button<br />
Click Edit on your blog<br />
Click the Layout tab<br />
Click Add A Gadget<br />
Click HTML/JAVA Script<br />
Copy the code from SiteMeter and paste into this box.<br />
Save and Publish<br />
Take a look at your blog and you will see Sitemeter.<br />
To check on statistical charts later, sign back into SiteMeter and review.<br />
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A more advanced tracking system is <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">GoogleAnalytics.com</a>. Sign up for an account, (it's free), and follow the very easy instructions. Again, you will copy HTML code from Google Analytics and paste it into your HTML code in Blogger, as you did above.<br />
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The code will resemble and look like mumbojumbo. If it frightens you in anyway, then don't go there. Just back away slowly. But mostly, HTML is simply text that talks to the internet so you don't have to.<br />
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And with that, I'll leave you to your work. Next lesson: <a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2009/11/lsn-4-vital-role-of-key-words.html">Targeting KeyWords</a>Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-51735882959113622972010-01-23T15:01:00.000-08:002010-08-18T15:31:28.923-07:00Lsn #4a: The Vital Role and Rules of "Key Words"The secret to being found online revolves around Key Words.<br />
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From Dictionary.com:<br />
<strong>keyword </strong>also <strong>key word</strong> (kē'wûrd') n. <br />
1. A word that serves as a key to a code or cipher.<br />
2. A significant or descriptive word.<br />
3. A word used as a reference point for finding other words or information.<br />
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Other terms you'll run across regularly are:<br />
<strong>Keyword Optimization</strong> - placing key words strategically within your script<br />
<strong>SEO </strong>- Search Engine Optimization<br />
<strong>Targeted Keywords</strong> - The words people are typing into Google, also the words advertisers are looking for to match ads<br />
<strong>Long Tail Keywords</strong> - basically "a phrase" rather than a single word<br />
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Keyword Optimization is all about placement, which directly affects SEO. Ideal placements are:<br />
1. <strong>Title</strong>: a keyword phrase, 5-6 words, keyword in the beginning<br />
2. <strong>Content</strong>: try to use your key words at least 3 times in your content, but not more than 6. This rule is laughably broken in my content here, though, because guess what my keyword is? Oh! I used it again! <em>KeywordKeywordKeyword</em><br />
Also, try to place keywords within the top half of your content (above the fold) as Search Engine "spyders" (aka "crawlers") will look at the beginning more than the middle or end of your script.<br />
3. <strong>Hyperlinks</strong>: If you are linking out to another page or site, include your keyword in the text of the link. (On Blogger you do this with the "Insert Link" button above your typing box.)<br />
4. <strong>Blogger Labels</strong>: While typing, look at the bottom of the box. There is a section called "Labels for this post:"; type your keywords and long tails in here.<br />
5. <strong>Description</strong>: The Blogger.com description tag is found by clicking "Settings" and scrolling to the Description box. This applies to the entire Blog, not just individual posts. This is where you will enter all the possible long tail keywords.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NOsQagyob7ZJZpG1clwAPI8kDYt5wlKeE6p8122cYMIv7Duv5EsDlY1d9m7b9hZBjkWL15Eio5eMwZrC7JH3TRkPv-8b2Jh6yzrkjV7WEJ8QAJ4Z2Ba_qTJ1bqRF_OibQbo_kGFAo4GA/s1600-h/description_screen_print.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 274px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NOsQagyob7ZJZpG1clwAPI8kDYt5wlKeE6p8122cYMIv7Duv5EsDlY1d9m7b9hZBjkWL15Eio5eMwZrC7JH3TRkPv-8b2Jh6yzrkjV7WEJ8QAJ4Z2Ba_qTJ1bqRF_OibQbo_kGFAo4GA/s320/description_screen_print.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403585001802080018" /></a><br />
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This lesson was mostly informational, but would be WAY too long if I wrote it all here. The next lesson, #4b will teach you how to figure out what your targeted keywords and long tails should be. And you will also learn the strategy to the "small fish" analogy used in Lesson #1.<br />
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<a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2009/11/lsn-4b-keywords-unlocked.html">How to pick the RIGHT keywords</a>Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-5113701908430902122010-01-22T22:21:00.000-08:002010-08-18T15:31:44.854-07:00Lsn #4b: Keywords - UnlockedThere is a system to finding out what people are searching for, what they are typing, and how much advertisers are willing to pay. In fact, I can list 3 ways to find this info right now, but I’m just going to give you the one I use myself. It’s free, it’s fairly easy, and I know it the best.<br />
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This will be a step-by-step guide. And I am ‘assuming’ you have the keywords and phrases you think will work. <br />
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For example, I am about to post a blog about Computer Shortcuts, shortcut tricks, keyboard shortcuts. I’ll use this same list of keywords for the example.<br />
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It’s called the Google Keyword External Tool<br />
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1. Click this link, <a href="https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal">https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal</a><br />
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2. Enter information as shown in the screen print below: (Tip - click the photo to enlarge)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfQnRvxEYDZUeFyMqEiCfcpfKP-zMoBu3lU1RePRQuePy4CVxM5QC3S23xJs6tXePrJ9cD7C9dyjVHEKbihsNxOgLrkZt6XIYkXHpyk1XK0JHArBXcXeAXZzqW5tHXBoEnIdncIMWizoU/s1600-h/Step_2,_keywords_unlocked.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfQnRvxEYDZUeFyMqEiCfcpfKP-zMoBu3lU1RePRQuePy4CVxM5QC3S23xJs6tXePrJ9cD7C9dyjVHEKbihsNxOgLrkZt6XIYkXHpyk1XK0JHArBXcXeAXZzqW5tHXBoEnIdncIMWizoU/s320/Step_2,_keywords_unlocked.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403470265707243858" /></a><br />
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3. Wait a moment while Google pulls up matches. (And I’ve had some that never pulled up anything – so get creative if no results show up.)<br />
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4. When the results appear, the first thing you do is change the columns display to “Show Estimated Avg CPC”<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix0P1rhFw_TLfaFgfiA53awBC-Lt2Q3Rvny89_gbnaBWp_VAvfj03oulm1bsq7X90VOC5FvW7-PzWYR_e_5Unte3Gd4UKYlzUqtjPD4BrpQz3dc_aiJGRZUdyaxTbP4a4QcCHGV2QzKTw/s1600-h/Step_3,_keywords_unlocked.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 305px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix0P1rhFw_TLfaFgfiA53awBC-Lt2Q3Rvny89_gbnaBWp_VAvfj03oulm1bsq7X90VOC5FvW7-PzWYR_e_5Unte3Gd4UKYlzUqtjPD4BrpQz3dc_aiJGRZUdyaxTbP4a4QcCHGV2QzKTw/s320/Step_3,_keywords_unlocked.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403470628603338946" /></a><br />
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5. Now we can examine the results and make a decision on which keywords will net the most possible clicks. Here are my results, pay attention to the colored boxes:<br />
(Tip - click the photo to enlarge)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxF9qTF3zAvL5jgVY-uzTvoybqTzc9dAEGLC8RcLqnabeXzKluSlA6nVFpU0NCQq4-P8j8haPtF5d6FYhCfGQva8V7J7uW-yc-tVgYeSTMAPFvCpJPevFg5waY6p8q9LyPoK3Kjt4UG6Mk/s1600-h/Step_5b,_keywords_unlocked.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxF9qTF3zAvL5jgVY-uzTvoybqTzc9dAEGLC8RcLqnabeXzKluSlA6nVFpU0NCQq4-P8j8haPtF5d6FYhCfGQva8V7J7uW-yc-tVgYeSTMAPFvCpJPevFg5waY6p8q9LyPoK3Kjt4UG6Mk/s320/Step_5b,_keywords_unlocked.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403471168049808530" /></a><br />
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A question you should be asking: Why not take the nickel keyword? After all, I told you in the beginning to pick up the nickels and dimes, right? Right. And I WILL take the nickel payer, too. I happen to be blogging in a field with high paying advertisements. <br />
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6. Sort the columns: click a Title and you will sort by that column. Click it again and you will reverse the sort order. A-Z, then Z-A<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bkuJuEWSRg9Lwe2PN7EpxxaKgrAv0B0L6cgYjnu27pJrgGtKsdmj-dPGUtiSbOaWUEqqMOsmwnFt2lX1CTl902Ph7Y7DKgjbuel0mVHmInKoJZxbHcg0z8W0WuSfW_8LZc9Rshj7BYI6/s1600-h/Step_6,_keywords_unlocked.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 96px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bkuJuEWSRg9Lwe2PN7EpxxaKgrAv0B0L6cgYjnu27pJrgGtKsdmj-dPGUtiSbOaWUEqqMOsmwnFt2lX1CTl902Ph7Y7DKgjbuel0mVHmInKoJZxbHcg0z8W0WuSfW_8LZc9Rshj7BYI6/s320/Step_6,_keywords_unlocked.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403471385915386530" /></a><br />
The end result:<br />
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<strong>My original list and results: </strong> <br />
Computer Shortcuts: $0.84 - 6,600, Yes<br />
(This one is a keeper and made the list.)<br />
Shortcut Tricks: $0.05 - 590, Nope <br />
(You want at least over 1,000 hits per month)<br />
Keyboard Shortcuts: $0.74 - 246,000, Nope <br />
(No hope of getting to the front of this line.)<br />
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<strong>The List I’ll use:</strong><br />
Computer Shortcuts: $0.84 - 6,600<br />
Keyboard Shortcut Keys: $1.65 - 6,600<br />
Computer Keyboard Shortcuts: $1.35 - 1,600<br />
Computer Shortcuts Key: $1.76 - 1,900<br />
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If I wouldn’t have known about this tool, my original keyword list results would have been a waste of time, (with the one exception).<br />
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Summary,<br />
Lesson 4a tells you where to type your keywords in your blog. And lesson 4b shows you how to find which keywords will benefit you the most.<br />
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Now spend a couple hours on these and then move on to <a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2010/01/lesson-5-monetize-your-blog.html">Lesson 5… monetizing your blog</a>.Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-91767024436874799782010-01-21T17:46:00.000-08:002010-08-18T15:31:58.793-07:00Lsn #5: Monetize Your Blog<div>Monetize means to put money making links on your blog. There are many, many ways to do this and I have tried most of them. So I'm going to give you the Pro's and Con's of my experiences and you just make your own decision and don't look back.<br />
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Is there a perfect system? Nope.<br />
Is it a hassle to get set up? Yep.<br />
Will it be worth my time to do it? Who knows.<br />
Will it "potentially" be worth my time to do it? Yes!<br />
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I don't care what anyone tells you, if they made money and got rich overnight with blogging then they were an anomaly (or a liar). It is a slow and sometimes discouraging process. One day you will check your accounts and there will be more money in there than the day before and your hope returns!<br />
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Here's how to get started:<br />
1) <a href="http://www.adsense.com/">Adsense</a> is Google's Pay-Per-Click program. <em>(Example on the right side of the screen.)</em> Basically, if someone visits your site and clicks an Adsense link, you get paid. Sounds awesome, (yawn), but the reality is that you split it with Google. If the advertiser is willing to pay $1.00 per click, you will only get 50 cents. And if, after awhile, Google notices (and they will) that you are getting lots of clicks that don't "convert" to sales, Google does this cute little thing called "Smart Pricing". You don't want to be Smart Priced. All your clicks go down to 5 cents whether the advertizer pays $1.00 or not.<br />
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If you think about it, it makes sense. Let's say I'm an advertiser and I'm paying $1.00 per click and I've just paid Google $500 for 500 clicks. (This is called Cost-Per-Click.) Out of those, I can expect 2% to convert to sales. That's 10 sales. But I get no sales. So I spend another $500 and no sales again. Who am I mad at? I am mad at Google for not converting to sales! Now if Google keeps paying you for sending clicks through but none ever convert to sales, they're going to say to you, "You're just getting people to click links but they aren't real shoppers." So Google will Smart Price you as punishment for lousy click conversions.<br />
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And they don't just Smart Price your blog, they do it to your "Account", so all your blogs, websites, etc. just took a hit. Stay on the high road, don't covertly send in friends to click links, keep it all above board and you will never be Smart Priced. (And you can bet they are watching your click and conversion volumes.)<br />
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2) Affiliate Programs</div><br />
<div><a href="http://www.cj.com/">www.CJ.com</a>; <a href="http://www.linkshare.com/">www.LinkShare.com</a>; <a href="http://www.googleaffiliatenetwork.com/">www.GoogleAffiliateNetwork.com</a>; <br />
<a href="http://www.shareasale.com/">www.ShareASale.com</a><br />
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Affiliate Programs pay ONLY when a sale has been made, but the payment is much higher than a few cents. For instance, I'm an affiliate of all the above providers, and one of my affiliate links happens to be NetFlix. If you click the NetFlix link below this paragraph, I get nothing. But if you sign up for a free trial offer, I get paid $9 from my affiliate provider. Now we're talking!<br />
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<a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=Uxj7il3rJM0&offerid=173504.10000395&type=4&subid=0"><img alt="Netflix, Inc." border="0" src="http://cdn.netflix.com/us/affiliates/banners/0804/120060A_599.gif"></a><img border="0" width="1" height="1" src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=Uxj7il3rJM0&bids=173504.10000395&type=4&subid=0"><br />
Well... there is more to know. Again, you have to rely on that 2% conversion. In fact, it's the proven industry standard. You can always expect 2% of clicks to convert, hopefully more. So if I get even 1 click to convert, that means I had to get 50 clicks onto that little link. 50 clicks on one little link is quite a feat. So the obvious answer is to have lots of those links on many blogs, web pages, send out with emails, post onto your FaceBook. Whatever way you can get people to click through and purchase, go for it! <br />
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And it's ok to encourage people to click your Affilite links because if they make a purchase, everyone is happy! But I can't buy many groceries with $9. So based on the 2% rule, I would need 555 possible clicks just to make $100, and 5,550 to make $1000. That means I need traffic coming in like gangbusters to my sites. (See Lesson #6)<br />
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3) <a href="http://affiliate-program.amazon.com">Amazon Affiliate Program</a><br />
Now this is an interesting twist to the affiliate program in #2 above. This allows you to target specific "products", not just a company's website. And it pays a percentage that increases with the more you sell. You can actually build your own site of products from Amazon and they will take care of the shopping cart, etc.<br />
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<em>(Note: Residents of North Carolina or Rhode Island are not eligible to participate in the Amazon Associates program.)</em><br />
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If you have a blog post talking about a certain book club, you can actually post a list of those books on the right side of your blog, each as an affiliate link. It can be books, music, products, etc. You don't have to find who makes the items, then find which Affiliate provider that company belongs to, then find the link for that item. Amazon makes it much easier, but they don't pay as much as the other affiliate providers above.<br />
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Summary: What system do I use? All three above. It depends on what your blog is focused on, what links you choose to post, and how much time you want to sink into the process. <br />
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Short and sweet: Adsense, but very little control over the type of ads that appear.<br />
Time consuming: Affiliate links, and total control over the ads that appear.<br />
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The homework for this lesson is to download the document below and get signed up with these accounts. It takes time, it's a hassle, but when you're ready to rock-n-roll and get your money flowing, it's so nice to have the foundation in place.<br />
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Homework link: <br />
</div><a href="http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0_-4esFjaMZYmJhZWNiZmEtNGMzOC00NDg0LWE3OGUtZTJmODVmNTA2OTUz&hl=en">ECommerce Accounts You Must Have</a><br />
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Lesson 6... driving traffic to your blog in order to gather up those money clicks!Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-60094175971283437582010-01-20T18:54:00.000-08:002010-08-18T15:32:24.796-07:00Lsn #6: Driving Traffic to Your BlogThis is the hardest part of the process, not because it cannot be done, but because it takes T I M E. And we as humans are impatient creatures. The best you can do is apply these lessons, get everything in place, start posting more and more blogs, and suddenly one day your blog impressions will start growing. It's an aging process like fine wine and cheese. <br />
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First, let's review some terminology:<br />
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Impressions: the number of times your page is opened or 'crawled' by a search engine. No clicks are necessary to get an 'impression'.<br />
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Money Site: The ultimate goal is to have people visiting your money site. This is the site where all your products are for sale, where your affiliate marketing links are located, and where you have the best Pay Per Click (PPC) links.<br />
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SEO "Search Engine Optimization": A strategy used by you - the blogger or site owner - in order to manipulate your blog or money site to the front of the line.<br />
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SEO Strategies:<br />
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Reverse Search Tool: A free tool to help you pick keywords instead of guessing.<br />
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Target Marketing (aka 'Organic searches'): Getting traffic via keyword searches rather then Direct Marketing which is getting traffic via direct links to your site. Google rewards Target Marketing higher PPC (Pay Per click) dollars.<br />
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Backlinks or Linkbacks: (The same thing depending on who is saying the word.) It is getting your link(s) on someone else's site in order to get their traffic to come back to you. Backlinks are given alot of notice by Google who thinks if a bunch of sites are posting your link, then you must be important.<br />
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Email Marketing (aka 'Permission Marketing'): Using an email campaign to deliver free information to subscribers. And that information contains backlinks and affiliate marketing links.<br />
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Affiliate Marketing: Not necessarily SEO, but definitely a way to earn dollars online at no cost to you.<br />
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Vertical Portals: a comparison website used to research pricing on your product niche. A Horizonal Portal is a wide range of goods, i.e. "Health Care"; a Vertical Portal is a narrow range, i.e. "Hospital Beds".<br />
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E-Publishing: Posting articles that other sites can syndicate (use on their own web publication at no cost.) E-Publishing provides thousands of viewers, and so the strategy here is Backlinks to your money site.<br />
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Page Rank (PR): This strategy is recently losing its clout in the SEO world. Basically, Google assigns a numerical weight (0-10, 10 being the best) to a site. But Google won't release how they compute the ranking system. It is increasingly unreliable to use within an SEO strategy if the judging process is kept secret. Also, in Oct 2009, Google had removed Page Rank from its Webmaster Tools. I only mention it here as a warning that some online sites will try to sell you a "secret formula" to get a high page rank. In reality, it was once worth chasing, but is no longer relevant.<br />
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And on that note, "once worth chasing, but no longer relevant", so goes the internet age of new strategies and ideas. It is a changing formula because it is still in toddler mode. The internet was born in the 1960's, and corporate websites became prominent in the early to mid 1990's. But only in the last decade did you - the home user - decide to begin posting to the world. <br />
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Now, even as I type this, there are whispers and chatter of websites becoming irrelevant. I can't fathom it today (2010), but I also can't see why not. It is an evolving technology. Twitter was only born in 2004. Now it's the way Iran and Haiti are communicating with the world when all internet lines are down. It only makes sense that we will abandon hard lines and go through all telecommunications.<br />
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When you finish this Blogging for Coins course, you will know as much as I do. But don't bet that these lessons will apply forever. They certainly will not. Keep learning and researching. When you hear of something new, apply it immediately so that you beat the hundreds of thousands that haven't heard of it yet. (And please remember me and share your new found knowlege!)<br />
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Following this terminology lesson will be posts describing the above strategies, including links and examples. You may feel overwhelmed and perplexed at this point, (I sure did when I first ran across all these terms). But soon you will learn when and how to apply them to your particular blog or site.<br />
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<a href="http://bloggingforcoins.blogspot.com/2010/01/traffic-lesson-1-your-big-fat-mouth.html">SEO Strategy 1: Tell People!</a>Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-10246064761240390412010-01-17T18:00:00.000-08:002010-02-15T04:52:45.812-08:00Lsn #7: Drive Traffic via Your Big Fat MouthSpread the Word! Talk about your blog! For goodness sake, don't keep it a secret. I swear I have used SEO strategies for over 3 years now, and yes I'm getting checks from advertisers. But the most clicks I get on my sites are when I talk about it in classes. <br />
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Ok, Ok, I have an advantage. I am a computer instructor. I purposely post helpful documents and information free on my site so that people will go there. And I track the traffic to my sites. So I have proven over and over and over that I get the most clicks the day of and the following week after I teach a class. All my traffic declines in December (because school is out) and in the summer (again, school is out).<br />
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I also learned a lesson from the book, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki, (read it if you haven't). That lesson was, "Don't take financial advice from poor people." LOL! Makes perfect sense, and yet how many times did my deadbeat cousin try to advise me on my online business? (Lots, but I ignored him. He doesn't HAVE a business.)<br />
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=wwwcompute0d5-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=044656740X" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
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Instead, I take notice of a few prominent websites and I pay attention to their layouts, colors and advertiser links. They are successful so can afford graphics designers and SEO strategists. I'm just lil'ol'me. So I watch their designs and try to copy them as much as possible. (Grandma always said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.")<br />
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For instance, radio personalities make a ton of money on their advertiser links. I listen to Dave Ramsey's Financial Freedom talk show. I have been to his website which I "heard" him talk about. On his site he features his books, his financial strategy plans, and it is loaded with advertiser links. Dave Ramsey makes more money than I do. But would I have ever found his site without his Big Fat Mouth telling the world about it on radio? Maybe, but probably not.<br />
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I have come to the conclusion that the best SEO strategy you can use first is: YOU HAVE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR SITE! Print it on business cards, your checks, put it on your rear windshield.<br />
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And once someone visits your site, have back links to your many other sites prominently displayed. You want them to think you are an expert about your topic. So when they finally click onto your welcome page, entice them with more information at "these links".<br />
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Take a look on the right hand panel of this blog near the bottom; see any more links there? You bet! I've learned alot and creating my very own back link system is Brilliant Idea #2. I'll talk more about it in the next lesson, Traffic Lesson #2: Big Fat Back Links!<br />
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LOL! Happy Clicking!Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6102395035349894720.post-63206947005680619002009-10-25T13:23:00.000-07:002010-01-28T09:39:24.306-08:00Privacy PolicyBlog Privacy Policy script:<br /><br />Privacy Policy for BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com <br /><br />If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at super_secrets@aweber.com. <br /><br />At BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com and how it is used. <br /><br />Log Files<br />Like many other Web sites, BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. <br /><br />Cookies and Web Beacons <br />BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com does not use cookies. <br /><br />DoubleClick DART Cookie <br />.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com.<br />.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet. <br />.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html <br /><br />Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....<br />Google Adsense<br />Commission Junction<br />Clickbank<br />Linkshare<br /><br /><br />These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see. <br /><br />BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers. <br /><br />You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. BloggingForCoins.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites. <br /><br />If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.Chief Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02618589046980181996noreply@blogger.com0