Written on November 13th, 2005 at 10:11 pm by David Shawver Stanton
The $10,000 Hour
Have you ever has a $10,000 hour?
Steve Pavlina has a post on $10,000 hours where he talks not about hours where you actually earn $10,000 in an hour but hours where you do things that in the long run have the potential for that type of earning capacity.
One of my first such hours (and I’d value it at a lot more than $10,000) was moving my Adsense ads from sidebars closer to content - something that took just a few minutes work but that was a defining moment in me becoming a professional blogger.
Maybe $10,000 hours are a bit illusive for many bloggers - but what have been the defining moments for you as a pro blogger (or aspiring one)?
Written on November 13th, 2005 at 08:11 am by David Shawver Stanton
Affiliate links Outranking Official Links on Google
I’ve noticed in the past month a number of times when affiliate links in Google rank higher than official sites. The most prominent of these at present in the ProBlogging community (I get an email about it every day or two) is illustrated by when you do a search for Chitika in Google at present (in fact it’s the same story when you search for ‘eminimalls’ and ‘chitika eminimalls’).
Some Chitika affiliate with the id of ‘aglan’ is ranking first for the term so anyone who searches for Chitika hits their site and give this affiliate 10% of their earnings for 12 months not because he or she recommended it but because they have either been lucky or good at SEO.
I first noticed this phenomenon about a month ago when a search for ‘chitika’ resulted in my own affiliate link being number 1 - something I was both perplexed and if I’m honest, a little excited by.
This is not an isolated incident. On my digital camera blog I have noticed a similar thing with some of the affiliate programs that I promote where I rank first in Google as an affiliate in front of the official sites. I’ve spoken to a few of the affiliate program owners and to say that they are not happy about this would be an understatement - to not rank 1st for your own site’s title is a frustrating thing.
This is one of the down sides of running an affiliate program. Few people ever link to your site using it’s actual address so Google tends to rank which ever affiliate link that is most powerful as the highest one. Of course the product owner still gets sales but they have to pay the commission to affiliates.
The interesting thing is that once you’re in the top position as an affiliate you can actually have it reinforced by other people using your affiliate link to link up to the official site.
Take for instance a recent post by Robert Scoble who uses the aglan affiliate link to link to Chitika (at the time of writing this it’s still that way). I presume what has happened here is that Robert has looked up ‘Chitika’ on Google and has simply copied and pasted the link that Google serves (complete with affiliate link) into his own link - thus sending the lucky ‘aglan’ quite a few potential 10% commission possibilities (quite ironic considering the nature of Robert’s post). The other thing that Robert’s link does is reinforce the ‘aglan’ link at the number 1 position in Google for that term.
Written on November 11th, 2005 at 11:11 pm by David Shawver Stanton
Weddings, Blogging, Intentionality and one Whopping Big Tangent
Warning: Tangent Ahead
I have a secret life.
Actually it’s not really a ’secret’ because I’ve not hidden the fact and I have spoken of it a few times at enternetusers - maybe I should refer to it as my ‘other life’.
It might surprise a few newer readers but for the ten years before I went full time as a blogger I was a paid Minister of Religion (Pastor).
In fact while today I’m not paid as a Minister I still perform the tasks of one in a little church that I run in a voluntary capacity called LivingRoom (which is what my LivingRoom blog is about - among other things). It’s a roll that I am passionate about and enjoy thoroughly.
As part of that job I’m a marriage celebrant. Every now and again someone form LivingRoom (or one of their friends) gives me a call and asks me to marry them - something that I love to do (although it can be a bit nerve wracking).
Weddings tend to happen over our summer - and this year I have six weddings to perform (including taking part in my little sister’s) between now and March. It’s going to be a busy season. Tomorrow is wedding number 1.
Over the past few days I’ve been putting a bit of time into the preparation of tomorrow’s ceremony - getting all the forms together, working on the order of service and preparing a short talk - my ‘words of encouragement’ for the bride and groom - something I include in all my weddings.
Tomorrow in my words of encouragement I’ve decided to talk about ‘intentionality’.
I know the effort that goes into the pulling together of a wedding both as someone who has been married but also as someone who has married many couples and been the photographer at many more (another ‘other life’…). Weddings don’t just happen - there is a lot of thought put into where to get married, what to wear, who to invite, what to eat and drink, who will do speeches, what the flowers are going to be like, who will be the bridesmaids etc etc etc. The day of a wedding takes a lot of time, energy and effort.
My encouragement to the couple tomorrow will be to take the same intentionality, the same time and effort, into the rest of their relationship. Good relationships don’t just happen - they take effort - sometimes they ‘feel’ easy - but in most cases there comes times when one has to choose to put the effort in and love the other person - to make it work….
So what does this have to do with making money from a blog? Have I finally gone to far with my tangents?
Here’s what I found myself reflecting on today as I drove home from the wedding rehearsal….
In a similar way that a relationship with a partner takes intentionality - so too does building a successful blog.
This week I’ve had a number of people approach me in IM conversations asking me to tell them how to make a blog that makes them lots of money without much effort. One person (I hope they’ll forgive me for sharing it) told me that they need an ATM like money making system.
The reality is that profitable blogs don’t just happen any more than great lifelong relationships do. They take a significant investment of time, energy, effort and often money before they become anything approaching sustainable - and even then there are no guarantees.
I think some new bloggers fall into the trap of getting their launch just right with a wonderful design and a few excellent posts but then after the initial buzz dies down they wonder why things are not working - where is the mountain of cash they’d dreamt about?
That’d be like the couple I marry tomorrow putting everything into their big day and then expecting everything in their marriage to work just because it was the ‘perfect day’. Life doesn’t work that way and neither does blogging.
I hope I’m not being a complete grump when new bloggers approach me asking for the ATM blog secret - but I’m increasingly finding myself responding to their enquiries with a few hard questions about how hard they are willing to work before I even begin to talk about some of the ‘how to’ stuff. If I don’t do this I suspect I’m just wasting both their and my time.
Written on November 11th, 2005 at 08:11 pm by David Shawver Stanton
Interview
Hone, a fellow Melbourne blogger, asked me to answer a few questions in a mini interview - he published my answers here if you’re interested.
Written on November 11th, 2005 at 02:11 am by David Shawver Stanton
Blog Hooks - Elements that Draw Readers Back
After my earlier post about linkbaiting I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘hooks’. The idea of a developing a ‘hook’ (or hooks) for your blog is brilliant advice.
I remember talking to a successful song writer a few years ago and he said the same thing - all good songs have some ‘hook’ to them - whether it’s a guitar riff, a memorable lyrical line or one of those melodies that you can’t get out of your head - a hook is what gets people both into the song when they hear it but that also draws them back to it over time.
This is what all successful blogs have also. They have something about them that stands out, that draws you into them in the moment but that also draws you back to them over time.
We are blogging in a context where there are literally millions of blogs, in some niches there are hundreds (if not thousands) of alternatives for people to read. Successful blogs do something that makes them distinct from the rest.
They are not ‘just another blog on ((insert topic here))’ - they are ‘the blog that….((insert ‘hook’ here))’
Blog Hooks can come in all shapes and sizes - they can happen on both a micro level (ie hooks within posts as discussed in the linkbaiting article at performancing) but also on a macro level.
Some of the hooks that draw me into blogs include:
- personality of blogger - I read a few blogs not because of what they have to say but because of who writes them.
- design elements - I’m a visual person and love some blogs simply for the way they look and the feelings that they create in me when I read them.
- readers participation and community - I have a few blogs on my daily read list that I’m probably more interested in because of the comments of readers and the community that they have than the posts of the blogger themselves.
- thought leading content - some bloggers have a knack of continually breaking new ground in their field with new ideas and commentary. To miss one of their posts can mean missing a massive opportunity.
- latest news - Similarly some blogs have a knack of being the first to break stories in their niche. If something is happening in the industry you’re certain that they’ll be on top of it and have links to the relevant news sources.
- practical tips - I have a few blogs on my news aggregator that hook me into them by giving me practical tips that enhance my life so much that I don’t know how I ever lived my life without them. They are overflowing with useful tools and tidbits on improving a particular area of my life.
- readership levels - There is something exciting about reading a blog that you know that thousands of others are reading. Some blogs draw people in just because that’s what everyone else is reading.
So coming out of this discussion on hooks an important question might be to ask ‘what is hooking readers into your blog?’ What is it about your blog that draws people back? Also What hooks draw you into other blogs? I’m sure I haven’t developed the definitive list here and would be interested to hear more of what you think.
Written on November 10th, 2005 at 03:11 pm by David Shawver Stanton
Essential Blog Advertising Systems - Poll Results
The poll I’ve been running this week on which Advertising system you find ‘essential’ has just been closed with some predictable results and some that are perhaps a little surprising. The question asked was:
If you could only have one - which Advertising System would you use?
The unsurprising results were that Adsense came through as a clear winner with 66% of the 597 votes. Adsense has long established itself as being a quality ad system that many many bloggers use as the primary income stream for their blogs.
The surprising element of the results is the dominance of Chitika’s eMiniMalls in the race for second place with 23% of the vote.
This could be partially explained by my own love for this ad system (I know a lot of you have taken them up on my recommendation and this might have skewed the results a little). But for an ad system that has only recently become quite popular with Bloggers I’m surprised by how many would be willing to give up Adsense over it if it came down to an either/or choice (which thankfully shouldn’t ever happen).
It will also be interesting to see how these results change in the new year after YPN comes out of beta (hopefully) and when MSN rolls out their publishing network.
Thanks to all who participated in this week’s Poll. If you have a suggestion for the next poll let me know.
Written on November 10th, 2005 at 01:11 pm by David Shawver Stanton
Google Automat
Interesting post over at Inside Google on a patent that Google has filed for a product called Google Automat which looks like an extension to their AdWords program where advertisers can not only place an AdWords ad but can get their own free standing page to serve as a product description.
Inside Google have some pictures of Automat from the Patent which uses an example of someone trying to sell their Digital Camera (see below - click to enlarge).
So what we’re seeing here seems to be a system for smaller advertisers who don’t have their own web pages. It’ll be interesting to see if and how this develops and what impact it will have not only on publishers using AdSense but also on sites like eBay who could stand to loose by Google getting into more of a classifieds type industry with their ads.
Written on November 10th, 2005 at 11:11 am by David Shawver Stanton
Chitika adds eSupport Area
Chitika has quietly been developing an eSupport area where they have latest Chitika news, Downloads (currently just a couple of plugins for MT and WP) and a knowledgebase area with a collection of tips on a variety of Chitika and eMiniMall topics. They also have opportunity to submit a ticket if you can’t find the answer to your question in the knowledgebase.
It looks like being a helpful area for publishers. Hopefully they’ll add RSS feeds (there seems to be an attempt at one in the news section but my news aggregator can’t seem to find it). There is also an option to subscribe to their news via email.
Written on November 10th, 2005 at 10:11 am by David Shawver Stanton
Linkbaiting with Attack
Nick writes an interesting post on The Art of Linkbaiting or on getting other sites to link to your blog - a necessary part of building traffic on your blog (both in getting direct traffic from the links and in building search engine ranking). Nick writes:
‘In order to bait a link, you need a hook. Hooks come in variety of flavors, some of the more popular would include:
* News hook
* Contrary Hook
* Attack Hook
* Resource Hook
* Humour Hook’
He goes on later in the post to expand upon each of them - with some excellent advice. I’ve especially found the ‘resource’ and ‘news’ hooks to be very powerful in the building of my own blogs.
I would give a word of warning though with the ‘attack’ hook (and even the ‘contrary’ one).
Over my time of blogging I’ve noticed a lot of blogs attempt to build their profile through ‘contrary’ and ‘attack’ posts. The strategy can work well at getting attention of others in your niche if you write in this way in the short term - but in my experience this approach can have some pretty negative consequences if you’re not careful.
While it may well bring you links (both from those you attack and others in your niche) it can also bring down your own reputation unless you either:
• are a brilliant writer who knows what you’re talking about
• already have a profile and the respect of others in your niche
• have the ability to not only attack the weaknesses of others but the ability to provide positive and constructive alternatives
It is this last point that I feel is most crucial. It is pretty easy to attack another blogger’s opinions and ideas - but it’s another matter to provide an valid alternative. If you’re trying to build your profile in an industry the last thing you’ll want to be known as is ‘the grump’ who is always tearing down others and their ideas. When I look at most industry leaders I see that most of them tend to be visionary types who are often extreme optimists, dreamers and visionaries. While they have a healthy view of what doesn’t work in their industry they are always pushing the boundaries and are more known for what they’ve built than what they’ve torn down.
I think it’s very dangerous to build a blog solely upon a negative vibe. While a few bloggers do the angry cynical thing quite well - it’s difficult to build a popular and sustainable blog on this type of approach. I’ve seen quite a few of these blogs come and go and suspect that they don’t tend to last for one of two reasons (or some combination of the two).
Firstly I suspect that most people just don’t like to hang around with (in the long term) angry, negative and bitter people. I know people in real life like this and while I appreciate their honesty and ‘what you see is what you get’ type attitude I don’t gravitate towards them on a regular basis. Life’s too short to hang around with grumps. Most blog readers seem to get a bit over the negative approach of the attacking blogger if this is all they do and will move on.
Secondly I suspect that most bloggers themselves don’t have what it takes to always be negative. While the initial exhilaration of writing something that gets others stirred up and brings some traffic might be fun - I’m not sure how many people are wired in a way that allows them to always be negative and at the centre of controversy. Perhaps it’s just me - but I find even after 24 hours of getting into a ‘blog fight’ (I rarely allow myself to be drawn into one these days) I’m ready to move on to something else - I don’t like what it does to me and think it would take it’s toll on my emotional well being to be that way all the time.
So if you’re considering using the ‘attack hook’ approach to build your blog (and I do think there are valid times and places for these types of posts) I would always advise considering how to balance it. You might want to do this through providing a positive alternative, attempting to attack in a dialogical /conversational way with the one you’re critiquing or by balancing it with other posts of a more positive nature. I personally keep ‘attack’ posts to a minimum - they are something to season your blog with rather than dominate it with - but then again I’m constantly told I’m ‘too nice’ so what would I know?
Written on November 10th, 2005 at 09:11 am by David Shawver Stanton
Web Moments That Changed The World
The Webby Awards have come out with their 10 Web Moments That Changed The World - many of which were revolutionary to blogging also.
Hat tip to Dave Johnston who has written a post bouncing off the Webby Awards list and adding his own comments.
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enternetusers Sponsors
Team Blogs
Blogs from b5media management and staff members.-
internetusers
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Active Apparel website Men's Online Clothes Shopping 1
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Active Apparel website Men's Online Clothes Shopping 1
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network Apparel website Men's Online Clothes Shopping 1
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enternetusers
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Active Apparel website Men's Online Clothes Shopping 1
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b5media Mobile RSS
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