Written on May 19th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 01:05 am by Darren Rowse
Six Figure AdSense Publisher Shares How He Did It
Earlier in the week I was visiting a discussion forum (I don’t remember which one) and came across a product that I wish I’d stumbled across in my first months of blogging (and not now 3 years later). It’s called AdSense Videos (aff) and it’s produced and presented by a British AdSense publisher by the name of Michael Cheney.
Michael earns over $19,000 USD per month using AdSense (that’s more than $600 a day) and has obviously spent a lot of time researching how to get the most out of the ad network.
In this product he’s produced a series of 9 videos that take you from the basics through to more advanced tips.
As I wrote earlier today in my email newsletter - I like Michael’s videos not only because he knows what he’s talking about but because he presents in a non hyped up way. He also has a great balance between showing the potential that someone using AdSense can earn with it but also making it clear that it’s not ‘easy’ money (ie it takes hard work). He’s obviously put some hard work into it himself (as he has these videos) and over time he’s managed to build his earnings up from just a little a day (the way we all start) into well over six figures per year.
While I’ve managed to build my own AdSense earnings up to levels that I never would have imagined I can’t begin to imagine how much quicker I’d have gotten there if someone had put these videos in front of me three years ago.
So Who is it for?
I’m not going to recommend this for all AdSense publishers. If you’ve been in the game for a while you probably won’t learn heaps from these videos. While I always enjoy hearing different publishers talk about AdSense (especially those who make good money) I didn’t learn a lot that was new. However if you’re at the start of your AdSense journey you might want to seriously consider the investment. It will also be good for intermediate AdSense users wanting a brush up or wanting to see how others do it.
The beauty of a resource like this is you get to see and hear someone explain their approach all in one place. Those critiquing resources like this will always say that you can get most of it for free online in forums and blogs - this is true - but here you get it all in one spot.
So if you’re newer to the AdSense game or you’ve been at it for a while and want to hear and see someone who’s using AdSense successfully head over to AdSense Videos and get yourself hooked up either with the full product or his free taste and see 5 day video course (which will give you a taster to help you see if it’s the product for you.
Written on May 18th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 09:05 pm by Aaron Brazell
Alternablog: Podcast
This post has been submitted by regular contributor - Aaron Brazell
Recently, we began examining alternate forms of blogging. Mostly this is to stimulate thought on other methods of bringing content to the table. Last week it was mobile blogging, or moblogging. Another alternablog is the podcast. While podcast describes an entry more than a blog, it is another way to deliver content and it is far more popular than other alternablogs, in my opinion.
While I have personally experimented with the podcast (it sucked!), I’ve found it lacking for my situation. But for many others, podcasting is an extremely powerful medium to enhance a bloggers influence and reach.
Everyday I walk through the halls of the building I work in and I’ve noticed that, increasingly, people are listening to iPods while they work. Not just MP3 players. Real iPods. In fact, as I sit here in my cubicle and type away, my iPod is plugged up to my theatre system (yes, I have a theatre system in my cubicle!).
While any MP3 player or computer can play podcasts, Apple has made it natural and easy to “do” podcasts. Subscribe in iTunes, sync the iPod and away you go. Fresh media for the new day. It’s no wonder that podcasts have taken off.
What can Podcasting Do For My Blog?
So what exactly is the benefit of a Podcast?
- Podcasting works for on-the-go blog consumers. Interested consumers who perhaps run, work out, or just sit behind a desk and working away can take in what you have to say. Not everyone has the chance to “surf the web” at all times, but they want to know what you have to say. Others might commute in their cars for an hour or more (I commuted an hour and a half to work every day for two years). To these consumers who might listen better than they read, or who simply want to keep themselves up on some of the ideas you present, a podcast works well.
- Podcasting works well as a supplemental source. I know of a couple of people who will do a weekly podcast that summarizes some of the weeks activity on their show. It provides them an alternate way to reach an audience who just wants to catch up.
- Podcasts make the bes interview mediums for blogs. Usually when a blogger does an interview with somenoe in their niche, it is really a whole lot easier to talk to the person, to hear the inflection and tone in the voice. It helps consumers understand the interviewee better.
- Podcasts take up a lot of bandwidth and after awhile take up a lot of server space. A podcast is typically not big in and of itself, but overtime, bandwidth restraints are often limiting. There are services, such as The Podcast Network, that will host podcasts for you but often times there are strict requirements on content.
- Less monetization value. There are not a lot of ways to monetize a podcast. If the podcast is being played from a browser, there is a chance (based on browser and server configuration) that the MP3 might be played directly on the blog on demand, in which case standard ad programs might have an effect (especially if the user stays on the browser window staring at the ads while listening). However, this is really unreliable in terms of revenue. On a standard blog, it is possible to insert ads into a page because a page is “multi-channel”… that is, ads can be consumed at the same time as content. However, podcasts, as an audio medium, offers only one “channel” - what is being heard right now. Ads can be placed at the beginning or end of a podcast and on a limited basis, in the middle, but its hard to maintain flow with too many ads in the middle.
There’s a downside, right?
Yes indeed.
Best practice, as far as I can tell from my experiences, is to have multiple people contributing to a podcast. It is a whole lot less awkward to have a discussion when there are more than one person contributing.
Your thoughts on podcasting?
Written on May 18th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 01:05 pm by Darren Rowse
Schedule Writing Times
One of the ways that I find helpful to get back into the momentum of writing a blog is to set aside specific times for writing.
I find it is very easy to get distracted by the many different elements of maintaining a blog, to the point where I find it hard to do the core element - writing posts. As a result setting aside time for writing has become increasingly important for me.
I do this by setting aside time each day (usually the same time each day) for writing but also setting aside longer times on a weekly basis (ie at present I’m experimenting with making Mondays ‘writing day’). I’ve also at times taken even longer periods of time to go away for the sole purpose of writing (ie for a weekend).
I find that setting this time aside away from email, away from IM and even away from being online altogether really lifts the quality and style of my writing.
Of course in the midst of the rest of my week I do write posts - but they tend to be more ‘newsy’ and ‘link posty’ in nature.
I guess ultimately this ‘tip’ is common sense. The things you are intentional about putting time aside for are the things which you have a good chance of doing. The same tip could be written in terms of ’scheduling time for design’, ’scheduling time for blog promotion’, ’scheduling time for Ad optimization’ and many other basic blogging tasks - but ultimately it is a blog’s content that is at it’s core and I’d recommend putting aside time for it’s creation as one of the first things a blogger should do each day.
Written on May 18th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 12:05 am by Darren Rowse
Building on Reader Comments to Maintain Blogging Momentum
Blogging is conversational in it’s very nature and one way to build momentum on a blog is to take the conversation a step further and let your readership set the agenda for your posting.
I quite often am inspired by the comments, questions and experiences that are contributed by enternetusers readers. I read each comment that is left and attempt to respond wherever possible within comment threads.
However responding in comment threads is not the only place to have conversations. The problem with comments is that when a post drops off the front page of a blog that the comment thread generally dies off off and momentum is lost. Tools like ‘recent comments’ and ‘comment subscription’ plugins can extend threads a little but not a whole lot longer.
I find that when I take a comment from a reader and highlight it on the main blog as a post that it can create a post that generates even richer and longer conversation. It also has the side benefit of acknowledging your readers and giving them a sense of greater ownership on your blog.
This creates ‘momentum’ in two ways:
- Firstly it directly gives you a topic for a new post. I quite often hear bloggers saying that they’ve run out of things to write about - dig in your own blog’s comments and you’ll find plenty of ideas for new posts.
- Secondly momentum is created in terms of the conversation on your blog. Instead of conversations dying quickly as the post gets old - the conversation gets a new spark and can go to another level when you draw your readers attention back to it.
There are a number of ways you can build on your reader’s comments in new posts:
- Link to the thread: Perhaps the easiest way is to simply write a post saying ‘there’s an interesting comment discussion going on in the comments at XXX post’ (with link to the comments).
- Quote a comment: Take a specific comment from a reader (or a few of them) and highlight them as a post (with links to the thread and the commenter’s blogs).
- Write a Part II or update post: Do one or both of the above and then add some of your own thoughts, questions, ideas and invite further comment. I find that some comment threads actually change my opinion on a topic or at least show me another point of view that I’d not considered in my original post. Acknowledge these times in your post and it can be quite powerful for your readers to see the impact they’ve had on you.
I regularly hear bloggers talk about how important their readers are to them but I think taking this type of approach actually can show you mean it. Honor your readers for their contributions in this way and I suspect the flow on effect will be significant.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 05:05 pm by Darren Rowse
Apple Release Blogging Tool - MacBook
Apple today announced their latest notebook - the MacBook. It’s pretty much like the old ibook but it’s got an isight camera, has front row (with remote), is intel core duo based, has a glossy wide (13.3 inch) screen, thinner design and comes in white or black (among other changes).
I’ve had a Powerbook for a couple of years and don’t think I’d go back to the consumer model (I’m lusting after the MacBook Pros) but this new machine would certainly make a nice blogging tool.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 01:05 pm by Darren Rowse
Bloggers Reporting Changes in Google Traffic Levels - Sandbox Updated?
I’ve had email from three separate bloggers today asking me to explain why they’ve seen increases in traffic over the last 24 hours from Google.
I’m not an SEO expert and wouldn’t claim to really understand the ins and outs of how Google updates but there seems to be movement in the way they are indexing some sites in the last day or two.
Some are claiming that the infamous ‘Google Sandbox’ might have been updated to allow some sites that have proved themselves out to be included in their results pages. This explanation seems reasonable to me as each person who has emailed me is talking about blogs that are relatively new and that have never been indexed particularly well in Google.
Others will probably say that this is just a routine tweak of the algorithm or a roll out of a new setting in some datacenters - the truth be told, I don’t really know anything except that something’s happening.
Have you noticed any changes in traffic levels that Google is sending your blog in the last couple of days?
Update: I’ve just checked the stats of a number of my own blogs and the stats of a few other blogs that I’ve had dealings with in the last month or so and see evidence of this movement there in many of them also. In those that have had changes there is increases in traffic from between 80 and 500%. That sounds pretty massive but none of them were getting much traffic before yesterday so it’s not quite as spectacular as it sounds.
Of course this is not happening in all of the blog stats that I checked - my more established blogs have had no real change and I suspect that this will be the case for most blogs.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 12:05 pm by Darren Rowse
About About Pages
Brian at copyblogger today asks What’s Your Blog Really About? and gives some good tips for writing an about page, using mine as an example of how to write it:
“Of course, I’ve been reading Darren’s blog for quite some time. But if I had just stumbled upon it today, I would have clicked on the ‘About enternetusers’ link to see what was going on.
And that page would have done its job well. It caught and kept my attention, and it would have resulted in a subscription. All because he told me a story that demonstrated exactly the reason why I would want to read his blog, and at the end, he asked me to subscribe.
That’s what the ‘About’ page of your blog is for. Without a static homepage, and with numerous potential entry points via links or search results, the ‘About’page of a blog is an important opportunity to convert a new visitor into a regular reader.”
Keep in mind that like Brian says, writing an ‘About Page’ around a personal story like I’ve done is not appropriate for every blog. I use it because my story is central in my style of writing but also adds some level of credibility to the topic at hand. In fact I get a lot of readers tell me that the reason they keep coming back is because they somehow feel involved in the story of enternetusers.
However for some blogs a personal story is not appropriate. Brian sums it up well:
“The necessity of understanding exactly what your blog is really about is why we examined remarkable benefits, how to find them, and how yours must be expressly communicated before we started with this series. Because if you are not crystal clear on why your blog is worth paying attention to, potential subscribers are not going to figure it out for you.Most blog ‘About’ pages tend to be about the author, not about the blog. And most of the time, that’s where visitors will click away, never to be seen again, because they were provided with no compelling reason to ever come back.”
I always head to the “About” pages on blogs that I visit for the first time. What I find there often helps me determine whether I’ll return. It’s worth putting significant time into writing it and making it as engaging as possible. It’s also worth considering what action you want the readers of your About pages to take once they’ve read it and to leave them with something to do at it’s conclusion.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 10:05 am by Darren Rowse
Stylegala for Sale
One of my favorite web design sites, Stylegala is up for sale over at Sitepoint. David, it’s owner, just emailed me to let me know the news and I’m going to be fascinated to see how the auction goes.
If you’ve got a spare $30,000 (USD) you could just pick yourself up a pretty well respected site with 4.2 million monthly page views.
I’m sure there are a few web design junkies breaking open their piggy banks and counting out their pennies since this was announced.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 09:05 am by Darren Rowse
Using Posting Schedules to Maintain Momentum
Another strategy for planning ahead that many bloggers use is to create a postings schedule for themselves. This can happen on a range of levels (from informal to very structured) but is often a great way to give some level of structure and motivation for posting. Here’s a few quick ways that I’ve seen bloggers do this:
- Numerical Goals - set a daily/weekly/montly posting level that you want to achieve.
- Topical Goals - set yourself a number of topics that you want to cover over a period of time. These can be ‘general’ topics (ie you want to write 5 posts this week in a certain category on your blog) or can be quite specific (ie you want to write 1 post on XXX topic, another on YYY topic and another on ZZZ topic).
- Post Style Goals - set yourself a type of post to write each day. Some bloggers have a weekly rhythm that they stick to (ie on Monday I’ll post an interview with someone, on Tuesday I’ll write a rant, on Wednesday I’ll do a review post, on Thursday I’ll do a link post style wrap up on the news for the week and on Friday I’ll write a tip post) For ideas on different types of blog posts - here’s 20.
Make your goals reasonable enough to be achievable as well as big enough to stretch you a little.
Using posting schedules works brilliantly for some people and gives them a wonderful framework for their blogging, but for others it can squash their passion for blogging. It’s worth experimenting with though and seeing if it fits with your personality.
I tend not to use posting schedules in day to day blogging but do find them very useful in those times when life threatens to get on top of me and I find maintaining momentum most difficult. In these times I attempt to set a goal for each and then on a piece of paper in front of me tick off each post as I write them.
Public Posting Schedules - some bloggers not only have personal or private posting schedules but have public ones and tell their readers what to expect on their blog. This makes the blogger accountable to their goals and can create a sense of anticipation among your readers but is also risky if you don’t meet the expectations that you create in your regular readers minds. I do this if I’m writing a series of posts and I know I’m going to follow through on my goals - but don’t like to set many more expectations that that as my own style of blogging is reasonably spontaneous.
Written on May 17th, surf Active Apparel website Sell Homemade Video zone.at 12:05 am by Darren Rowse
On the Go Planning - Maintaining Blogging Momentum
This week at enternetusers we’re covering the topic of how to Maintain Momentum in your blogging. Yesterday in part two I covered three factors to consider when planning a blog that will help to create a sustainable blog for the long term.
Of course most enternetusers readers already have blogs and so many of you will have found yesterday’s tips for PREbloggers a little untimely.
Today I’d like to focus our attention on a number of factors to consider in terms of planning a blog while it’s ‘on the go’ that will help to maintain momentum through many of the things that might often bring blogging to a halt (many of which I covered here).
Planning for Life Events
What ‘life events’ do you have coming up that could potentially break the momentum of your blog?
Most people can only maintain a certain level of activity in their life at any given time. This is true both on a time basis (there are only 24 hours in a day) and also on an emotional basis.
In my own experience and from watching many other bloggers over the past few years I know that blogging is often one of the first things to be put on hold when a significant event happens in a person’s life.
This is natural and in many instances is a totally appropriate thing but with some forward thinking the impact of such events can be minimised (and even alleviated).
Ask yourself - ‘what planned life events do you have approaching you?’ and ‘what might I do to prepare for these events as they impact my blogging?’
These might included everything from taking a holiday, to starting a new job, to the birth of a child, to getting married.
All of these things are ‘planned’ to some extent (ie I take time to book a holiday, we’ve spend the last few months getting our house ready for our new baby, we put a lot of planning into our wedding) and there is no reason why bloggers should can’t do a little planning around how their blogs will operate in and around these events.
Strategies of what to do in the lead up to, during and after events like these can vary from ‘blogging as normal’, to getting a guest blogger to fill in, to advance posting, to announcing a pause in blogging etc. All are legitimate - but it’s important to know what you’ll do, to communicate this to your readers and to especially think about how you’ll reengage with your blogging after the event (more on this shortly).
Contingency Plans for Unexpected Events
What would I do if some unexpected life event made it difficult or impossible to blog?
Of course there are some events in life that are unplanned like the death of loved ones, sickness, relationship breakdowns etc. These are often sad or ‘crisis’ events that can rock our world completely.
The are difficult (if not impossible) to plan for but it is worth considering how you might deal with them before they happen.
I don’t have specific contingency plans for my blogs for these events but have given it some thought. I do know that on my main blogs there are other bloggers that I could approach to take on some of the load (voluntarily or paid) in an emergency. I also have a couple of people who have administrative rights to my blogs in case of an emergency (sort of like giving a friend a key to your house in case you lock yourself out).
For some the contingency plan might simply be a post telling readers that there will be no blogging for the next period of time due to whatever reason you might have. For others it might mean involving others in a blog, having some backup posts ready to go, having a series of questions for bloggers to discuss on your topic, a lighter blogging frequency etc.
Reengagement strategies
How will you reengage with your blog after a period away from it?
Taking a break from blogging is important. I try to do this both on a micro level (breaks throughout the day and days off each week) but also on a macro level (extended breaks/vacations).
I’m pretty good at taking extended breaks - but find it difficult to get back into the rhythm of blogging when I return.
Here’s generally how I attempt to reengage after time off:
- Take it slow: I’ve learned that going from a complete break from blogging to getting straight back to a full time level (it’s my job) is not realistic. When i return from time away the level of ‘catch up’ in terms of dealing with comment moderation, reading unread RSS feeds and dealing with a full inbox can be very overwhelming. To start posting at a full rate on top of this is enough to drive me into rocking back and forth in the fetal position.
- Give extra time: As a result I attempt to give myself extra space to get back into the swing of things. I generally get a guest blogger/s to fill in while I’m away and always try to get them blogging a day or two before I leave and a day or two after I return. This is not just to extend my break - but to help me cope with the ‘catch up’ scenario. It allows me to clear my inbox and deal with comments almost completely before needing to start posting.
- Set a deadline: The other strategy I use is to give myself deadlines to start blogging again. I do this simply by announcing before I leave when I’ll be back and telling guest bloggers the date I don’t want them to blog past. This means that my blog will simply be inActive on a certain date which is a motivation for me to get back into the swing of things. Telling people that you’ll do something adds an element of accountability into things and is also a motivation.
- Gradual Posting: Even with a deadline and a couple of days to clear the admin created while away it can be difficult to reengage and so I don’t go to a full posting schedule immediately after my deadline. Communicate to your readers that you’re catching up and will take a few days to get back to ‘normal’. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You might want to have a guest blogger continue on in this period to help out or even to have a few pre-prepared posts that you can use to help out.
Tomorrow I’ll turn my attention to a number of practical tips that bloggers might like to try to help maintain their blog’s momentum.
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