I’ve had a Facebook page for a few years now but never really used it for marketing.

This week I decided to create a Facebook fan-page and I noticed there were so many applications which can be used to enhance your Facebook sites.

It’s a bit like WordPress plugins. We use plugins to enhance our blogs and with Facebook you use applications.

Facebook applications can make your page more lively, attractive, entertaining and engaging.

Facebook applications can help get you more friends and fans and help keep them coming back for more.

So, start to install Facebook applications now!

Let these posts that I have found help you get the best ideas on which Facebook applications to install.

I’ve also included some articles on how you can make your Facebook pages more engaging.

Read on…

The Top 20 Most Engaging Facebook Applications by Nick O’Neill

Top 10 Facebook Apps by HTML Goodies

Top 10 Facebook Apps for Fan Pages by Kristen Nicole

Top Facebook Apps by Missouri Business Online

How to Create a Powerful and Engaging Facebook Page by John Haydon

Building Brands with Engaging Facebook Pages by Tyler Willis

The Best Facebook Apps by Digital Trends

Best Facebook Applications 2009 by Million Ways

14 Best Facebook Applications by BashBosh.com

10 Tools and Best Facebook Applications by Twitteling

Best Facebook Apps for Social Media Lovers by Kirsten Nicole

Here’s my Facebook fan-page – take a look / become a fan:

http://www.facebook.com/WeBuildYourBlog

What do you think? All feedback and comment welcome.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Facebook Applications – The Best Ones To Use

I was impressed with the excellent service. The entire job was performed with total customer focus. Nothing was too much work and all requests were delivered with minimum fuss.

Not only am I very pleased with how my blogs work now but I have found as a bonus that my blog appeals more to my readers and my traffic has jumped up considerably (by 43% in one month). Not only that but my subscriber base has increased without my having to spend any effort on persuasive tricks. I would highly recommend We build your Blog.

Anja Merrit
Anja Merrit

Andrew is highly knowledgeable about blogs, and you can get your blog up and running successfully and fast. Andrew has helped me immeasurably with my blog and he is patient and good natured and a wonderful teacher. I recommend him as the blog mentor extraordinaire!

Marilyn Gordon
From the Heart of Marilyn Gordon

The end result is a fantastic site that is attracting a lot more attention and visitors than my old one.

Tanya Stocken
Nutritional Coach

Your "Income Blogging Guide" is wonderful. I was new at using a PC and having a blogging business. When you say; "The Quick and Easy Blog Fundamentals" that is just what you mean. I have done a lot of research in trying to figure out how to get my business off the ground and finally with your course this is possible.

Other courses just give you the basics then you get to read between the lines and figure out the rest. You have included the stuff most people miss and I am very grateful. Your course makes me actually feel smarter. It is like having GPS that tells you exactly when to turn and which way to turn.

Thank you very much for creating this course and being a great mentor. Now I know how success really feels when you have built a business from the ground up. I will be forever grateful. Thanks again Andrew.

Debbie Bills
The Happy Maker

Andrew has extensive knowledge about internet marketing, SEO and building web sites/blogs. His course explained everything in an easy to understand way and I now have a web site that is generating me new clients and producing income from internet product sales.

Tracy Mason
Clinical Hypnotherapist

Check out my Blogging services click on this link: WeBuildYourBlog Services

Post from: Blogging Guide

Testimonials

This month my blogging guide blog, WeBuildYourBlog is one year old!

One year ago I left the Corporate world after 30 years of working long days, travelling around the world, managing thousands of staff and earning a nice big regular monthly pay-check.

I look back and I admit I loved my Corporate career. The majority of companies I worked for, I loved. The majority of bosses I worked for, I respected and built excellent relationships with. The majority of staff I managed were excellent team members.

I did work hard. I ended up being the Manager who could turn things around. If there was a ‘problem’ department I was asked to go in and turn it around. Get it back to providing a great service again.

Of course, I had a great team around me. It wasn’t just my efforts.

Leaving the Corporate world was always my plan b.

Over the years, I had seen people leave and go off and do their own thing.

I remember one guy started a skateboarding park. I understand he runs a bed & breakfast place now.

Another started property development.

Another opened a pub.

Another a tea shop.

I admired them so much. For having the courage to leave the Corporate world and start their own thing.

“I couldn’t do it”, I thought.

A really good work colleague used to say to me, “I don’t know how you do it. Working 12 hours a day for this place. You need to start your own thing”.

Of course, fear was holding me back.

I had a mortgage.

I had 2 young children.

I was good at my job and I felt ‘safe’ and I didn’t mind the hard work. I’ve always enjoyed my work.

I was earning really good money in return for my hard work. My wife and I invested wisely. We purchased several other properties and rented them out. That brought in extra income.

But there does come a time when money isn’t everything as I explained in my worst decision post.

While still working for the Corporate Company, I started my own Management Skills site and on-line business…then after 2 years of working weekends and evenings, I left the Corporate world, one year ago and started this blogging guide blog, as well.

This was my very first blogging guide post on WeBuildYourBlog:

So, what is a blog?

No comments, no tweets on that one!

One year later, here are my current stats:

Blog posts: 232

Comments: 1592

Backlinks: 7670

Alexa Ranking: 52,753

PageRank: 3 (I think it should be higher but I just need to work harder, don’t I?)

Page one of Google for my 6 targeted keyword phrases

Twitter Following: 25k

Am I happy with my blogging results?

Yes but…

I am disappointed with my Google Page Rank. I did expect it to increase in the last update but I’m not losing sleep over it and I’m certainly not going to change my approach to blogging…as it now provides me with a decent income.

Most of my income does come from my own product sales

As I stated above I started off in the niche of ‘Management’ and in that area I have 3 products that I sell:

The First-Class Manager

Great Successful People

Mastering Public Speaking – Get Applause Now

By far, my best selling product in this area is the Mastering Public Speaking product. No matter which area you work, public speaking is crucial. Even blogging if you are making videos or on the seminar circuit.

And in the last year, I’ve created several blogging guide type products including these 2 with Anja Merret:

Article Writing Service

How to Write Articles for Maximum Effect

But the most exciting is my first ever Blogging Guide Membership site (currently closed for new members) that I created with Joel from Blog Tech Guy.

It’s a great success and hard work but it’s also been great fun creating the Blogging Guide course and helping others. That’s where the real fun and buzz comes from – when someone says we have made a difference to their blogging experience.

(By the way, we used Yaro Starak’s “build your own memberships course” to build our first membership course).

Have I had fun in my first year working for myself?

Absolutely YES!

Of course, I’ve made a lot of mistakes (they will be detailed in another blog post soon) but that’s how you learn, isn’t it?

I love working from home. I love the freedom I have. I love building reciprocal relationships. I love building new products that help others improve their lives.

The last year has flown by and I’m glad I took the decision to work from home.

Are you having fun?

I recently came across this video entitled: “The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun”

How are you having fun while blogging? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

My Blogging Guide Blog Is One Year Old

Social bookmarking is fast becoming a popular way of promoting your blog.

Although it is a relatively new concept, most blogs I visit offer numerous buttons for me to click in order to promote and socially bookmark the blog post I’m reading.

So why should you socially bookmark other peoples blog posts (and even your own, sometimes!)?

Relationships

Building relationships is an absolute must if you want to have a successful blog. I am going to say that again because I want you to be more successful than you are today and you can be if you build on-line (and off-line) relationships.

I’m going off tangent here but bear with me…just for a minute or 2.

I’m not saying I’m super successful or anything like that but I do make my living via my on-line business…and I would not be able to do that without relationships.

I have products which I sell on-line that have been created with business partners.

I have on-line friends who I can turn to for advice whenever I need to and they know I am there for them as well.

I have friends who are affiliates of my products and I am for theirs.

AND we promote each other’s blog posts via Social Bookmarking.

Why am I mentioning this?

Because one way to build relationships is via Socially Bookmarking other peoples blog posts. If you like a blog post, add a valuable comment and then socially bookmark. Do this over a few weeks and the blog owner starts to see your name appearing each time they publish a post.

Then you could ask for one of your posts to be posted on their site as a guest post.

Then they might guest post on your site.

Then you could become an affiliate of their products or services and the two of you build a great relationship.

That’s why I mention social bookmaking and relationships.

What else is there to say about Social Bookmarking?

It’s Free, Easy and Quick!

Most of the social networking websites are free to join. Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit, for example, do not have any joining fees. These 3 websites alone have a massive customer base. Thousands of individuals go to these sites for information and to see the latest news and gossip.

If you join up to these 3 sites, you will be joining thousands of others and will be able to start socially bookmarking blog posts you like. If you have a Digg account, you will be able to ‘Digg’ other peoples blog posts, just by clicking on the Digg icon. And it’s the same with all the other social bookmarking sites.

Sign up, get an account and start socially bookmarking. You could start off by having a target of writing 10 blog comments per day and then socially bookmarking each site. The owner will start to realise you are becoming a loyal visitor and may even come to your site and start commenting and socially bookmarking your posts.

Plus when you social bookmark a site you have commented on, someone sees it, likes what you are saying and clicks on your link to your site…voila – a new visitor.

Powerful advice: Do not over promote your own blog posts, otherwise you can be classed as a spammer and be banned.

Word Of Mouth Is Priceless

If a friend of yours recommends a restaurant or service, you are much more likely to try the restaurant or service yourself, right?

When you social bookmark someone’s blog post, you are saying to others, “I like this…I recommend you read this”. So others read it and also social bookmark it. That’s the real power of social bookmarking.

Also, make it easy for your visitors to social bookmark your blog posts by using one of the many WordPress plugins. I like the Sexy Bookmarks plugin. See below to see the icons I display. Click on one while you are there!

Popularity Wins

On many social bookmarking sites you can add sites as your favorites. With sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon, you can recommend sites. People browse these sites to see what other people recommend. Search engines also love sites that have been ranked well by visitors to such sites.

Getting Indexed

By having your bog posts added to Social Bookmarking sites, they will be indexed faster. This helps your blog posts get listed quicker which can create extra traffic.

However there are some downfalls to social bookmarking.

Everyone is Doing it – Meaning There’s More Competition

Social Bookmarking is catching on fast. This means that you are now competing against more and more people on the popular bookmarking sites…and that means there is less chance of your blog post being noticed. So the more relationships and people you can get to bookmark your posts, the better.

Spam

People are getting used to spam. Many people ‘spam’ the social bookmarking sites with crappy blog posts promoting the latest flavor of the month.

Don’t do it. Only social bookmark your best written blog posts. Simply write naturally and people won’t see you as a spammer.

Used sensibly, social bookmarking can bring you loads more traffic and help build relationships.

What experience have you had with Social Bookmarking? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

The Pros and Cons of Social Bookmarking

A list of contacts is one of the most important things a blogger can have. If you’re serious about making money online, you need to learn how to build a list the right way.

Getting people to provide you with their email addresses willingly can be somewhat difficult, so you need to prove to them that you will only send out informative emails and updates and not spam.

Furthermore, you also need to promise to keep their emails private and not sell them to a third party.

Getting people to sign up for your list or newsletter or free “give-away” willingly is referred to as “opting-in”. Your list should consist of as many opt-in emails as possible in order for you to successfully run your email marketing campaigns.

Here are some of the best methods for list building:

1. Offer a “freebie” to readers in return for signing up. There are millions of people out there who are looking for free stuff on the internet every day. You can give away anything from a free e-book to a software download. Just make sure it is of a high quality, otherwise your optiins will un-subscribe.

2. Hold a contest. I held my very first contest just a few months ago. From that contest, I received over 200 opt-ins. If it’s a nice prize, many people will be willing to give you their email just for a chance to win!

3. Join a forum and write intelligent, thoughtful posts. Participate in discussions and debates. It’s okay to stir up a bit of controversy here and there. Make sure everyone knows that they can learn more if they sign up for your list. You can have the link to your blog or squeeze page in your signature. It’ll show up in every single one of your posts.

4. Write articles, tutorials, tips, etc. and submit them to article directories and social bookmarking sites. Once again, make sure readers know that they can join your list for more information. You need to establish yourself as an expert so that people will want to listen to what you have to say. Don’t just write the same articles over and over again—be creative and make each one unique. Make your articles, tips, and guides stand out above your competitors.

5. Make sure that every single email or newsletter you send out is of a high quality. Even if you only have a few subscribers, you need to put a lot of time and effort into making the email campaign great. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to attract more readers. Your subscribers will be more willing to share and forward your emails to their friends and family if the content is of excellent quality and useful.

6. Make the list easy to sign up for. Some webmasters make subscribers fill out a questionnaire just to join a list! The only things you really need to get from potential subscribers are their names and emails. Also, make sure you add a disclaimer to inform them that you won’t give or sell their information to a third party. Once they sign up, make it easy for them to download their free gift. You can use tools and scripts to help you build, run, and maintain your list. The best tool around is Aweber.

7. Guest blogging. By guest blogging you can attract new visitors. Some of those new visitors will opt-in to your free guide or give-away. For more information on guest blogging, check out this previous post of mine: Guest Blogging

By using these techniques your number of opt-ins will grow very rapidly.

What ways would you add to improve your list building? Share you views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Seven of the Best Methods for List Building

If you ever want to create screen shots or short videos, then the easiest way is by using the free tool JingProject. Watch this short video and find out how easy it is. You can get JingProject from here: http://www.jingproject.com/

Post from: Blogging Guide

How to use the Free Tool JingProject to Create Videos

One can really earn money through blogging; it’s either through selling products of other people, also known as affiliate marketing, or selling your very own product/service. Either way, there are various Ecommerce plugins available that can make it easier for you to sell your stuff online.

I personally use the WordPress eStore plugin and it works really well. It does take a bit of getting used to and set up, but the support from the owner has been excellent.

Here are some links that I have collated that can tell you the best Ecommerce solutions around.

10 Best Shopping/Ecommerce Plugin Solutions for Wordpress by WebCoreStudio

http://www.webcorestudio.com/wordpress/10-best-shoppingecommerce-plugin-solutions-for-wordpress.html

Collection of Free Ecommerce Starter Kits for Wordpress Users by GuiDesigner

http://guidesigner.net/collection-of-development/collection-of-free-ecommerce-starter-kits-for-wordpress-users/

10 Best Wordpress Plugin for Ecommerce By Partho, Gaea News Network

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/10-best-wordpress-plugin-for-ecommerce/

7 Powerful Shopping Ecommerce Plugin Solutions for Wordpress by WPTemplates.net

http://www.wptemplates.net/2010/01/7-powerful-shopping-ecommerce-plugin-solutions-for-wordpress/

37 Shopping Cart Options for Developers by Vandelay Design

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/web-development/ecommerce/

Ultimate Ecommerce Starter Kits for Wordpress Users by WebDesignBooth

http://www.webdesignbooth.com/ultimate-ecommerce-starter-kits-for-wordpress-users/

8 Interesting CMS for e-commerce websites by Antonio Luppetti

http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/01/8-interesting-cms-for-e-commerce.html

16 Powerful and Open Source E-Commerce Applications by SSL matic

http://www.sslmatic.com/blog/16-powerful-and-open-source-e-commerce-applications/

Top 5 Online Shop Solutions by DevLounge

http://www.devlounge.net/webapps/top-5-online-shop-solutions

Post from: Blogging Guide

Top Ecommerce Solutions for Wordpress

Many people could benefit from some simple tips to improve their life, but those people who blog or work from home face special challenges.

From ways to succeed at work to how to relax, here are fifty tips to help turn your life around.

1. Create a healthy working environment. Long periods of typing in the wrong position can lead to repetitive strain injuries, headaches and other ongoing afflictions. A good desk and chair at the right height is essential.

2. Distractions cost you time, keep the TV off when writing.

3. Separate home and writing by not writing in a place where most of your daily activities occur. This can help you get into the right frame of mind to write.

4. Don’t be afraid to have an office full of toys if you have kids at home. They will need to be happy and occupied for you to have a chance to write.

5. Some noise and distractions can’t be avoided. Music or white noise can help to block them out.

6. Music affects your mood so careful choices are essential. Motivational music is helpful but soothing music may lull you to sleep or break your concentration.

7. Working from home removes one way of making contact with others. Make the needed effort to replace that by taking up a hobby.

8. Don’t let your day be an endless snack break. Being home keeps you close to your pantry-temptation is close at hand. Eat only at set times.

9. Keep healthy snacks on hand for when you give in to temptation.

10. Take proper meal breaks, away from the computer rather than grazing all day. A real meal is more satisfying and less likely to encourage further snacking.

11. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, eat a healthy, hearty meal, and don’t skip it.

12. Build in exercise periods to your week. Being at home may reduce your physical activity and so when combined with the risk to snack more, increases the chances of gaining weight.

13. Exercise can help you feel good by releasing endorphins and also help you concentrate. Make use of this to perk you up.

14. Learn to relax, and practice meditation if it helps.

15. Keeping work and home separate can help relaxation, as few people can relax at work.

16. Take note of when you are happy and why. These moments can be used as a focus for meditation and thoughtful relaxation, and once you know what makes you happy you can try to recreate those times more often.

17. Make a dedicated relaxation nook in your home. Soft lighting and furnishing, a few growing plants and your favorite books or music may help you unwind.

18. Don’t let clutter take over-have a clear out. Clutter causes stress and more work keeping things tidy.

19. Make time to be with friends and family, and keep up with their news and good fortunes.

20. Talk about things that are bothering you, be they work or personal. Solutions may be found, but if nothing else friends support friends.

21. Avoid jealousy when things are going well for others-this negative emotion can lead to more negativity.

22. Try to see the world through the eyes of a child. Their joy and love of life is contagious.

23. Learn from the wisdom of older people-listen patiently when they recount stories of their youth, as they may have a lot they can teach you.

24. Put time aside each day for time outside. The break from routine is refreshing, as is the fresh air. Take time to appreciate nature.

25. If something causes you stress try to let it go. When stress becomes the focus of your day then it is hard to get anything else done.

26. Learn something new every day to help keep your mind sharp.

27. Being your own boss is hard work when you are used to having someone tell you what to do. Set goals and aim to meet them on time.

28. Work hard to achieve goals-not meeting them can cause further delays in other work later in the week and can make it increasingly hard to get back on top. It also makes you feel bad.

29. Make your goals small and achievable at steps along a large project-too large a goal to handle can lead to failure, especially when it is hard to estimate the needed time. Reaching these goes makes you feel good.

30. Set goals for your life achievement as well as your work. Aim to fix up your home, lose weight, or whatever else is bothering you.

31. Be realistic. Aiming to rule the world within two years is destined to failure, and more negative feelings.

32. Set new goals when previous ones have been reached. Never leave yourself without the motivation of achievable goals.

33. Thought should precede action. Ill thought out action has a greater chance of failing or going wrong.

34. If something goes wrong with either your personal or work life, try to fix it before you go to sleep. Not doing so can spoil your sleep and prolong ill feeling.

35. Don’t dwell on your failures, now or in the past. Chances are you won’t remember them a few years from now.

36. When the day is over reflect on your achievements that day, and try to forget the rest.

37. Follow through on things that need to be done. Don’t put something aside with promises to yourself that you will do it later, because chances are you won’t. If it needs doing, do it now.

38. Money isn’t everything, and there are times when you have to cut back on the work that you do for your own personal good. After all what is the point in working 24/7 if you have no time to enjoy it?

39. Supporting your family involves more than just making money. Be there for their emotional needs as well, and spend time with them so that you know what is going on in their life.

40. Work isn’t life. Make time for fun and things that you enjoy, even if that is just a bubble bath.

41. Make work fun! If a visit to the zoo, or a wildlife reserve can be incorporated into what you do it can ease the stress and avoid monotony.

42. Learn when to walk away and take a break. There’s plenty that needs doing in the house if you want to change task, but don’t sit at the desk and idle. If your concentration is broken, learn when to walk away to refresh, so you can come back renewed.

43. Where you can, make changes to eliminate the things in your life that make you unhappy.

44. Learn to accept that there are things you cannot change and make peace with them. Don’t let them be a focus of your day.

45. Being optimistic helps you see the best in people and get the best from life. On the other hand people who expect bad things to happen normally find a way to make it so.

46. Find time for laughter. Read a joke a day to keep your mood up, and smile more.

47. Believe in yourself and your own future success.

48. Don’t listen to doubters if they tell you that you cannot do something-you are in control of your life.

49. Establish a good routine and keep to it so that you know when you are working and so that you don’t run out of time, and when you can relax.

50. Don’t stay in your pyjamas all day unless you are able to work well that relaxed. Getting dressed may help you find the right mindset for working.

What works for you? Any tips you’d like to add? Please share in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

50 Tips For Bloggers Who Work From Home

Since installing this plugin I’ve made my money back by approx 10 times…watch the short video to see how…

Here’s the plugin link: Ninja Affiliate

Post from: Blogging Guide

Make more affiliate commission with this plugin

One of first products I created to sell on-line was a ‘Management’ e-book.

I had 30 years experience of being a Manager and managing people so I thought that would be an easy and good start.

Thee years later, it still sells today.

“Create once, sell many times” is a motto I like!

I have updated it and added extra bonuses etc throughout the thee years but 90% of the work was the original creation.

I know that it can seem overwhelming and sometimes impossible to get started, however many people are making money on-line with e-books and you could be too.

As long as you have time to invest you can make some income selling e-books online.  How much will depend upon the niche you are in, the demand for such a product and how much perceived value you add when selling your e-book.

Here are five tips that will help you be successful.

Be Honest

Be honest about the product you are selling.

Of course use the features and benefits of your book to sell copies but make sure you don’t over exaggerate.

You don’t want too many people asking for refunds.

Also many of the places you may be using to sell will allow buyers to leave feedback. You are going to find it much harder to sell copies if your feedback is in the minus figures.

Also word of mouth works wonders in the marketing world and if people are not happy they will tell others – losing you sales and hurting your reputation!

Be A Tease

Once your e-book has been created allow the 1^st chapter to be downloaded as a preview. Make sure that this 1^st chapter has everything in it to draw your customer in. You need to make sure that just by reading this one chapter they are so convinced that they have to buy your e-book.

With another e-book I created recently on the topic of Article Marketing, I give away several of the chapters as a free extract. By giving away several of the chapters it helps increase the conversion rate to buy the complete product.

Make It Multi-Media

You don’t have to just stick with text. Make your e-book different and stand out. An easy way to do this is to add videos and audios. Or add a bonus offering unlimited email access to you for help and advice. Adding these ‘extras’ will make your product stand out and increase the perceived value.

Pretty As A Picture

It is all very well and good having an e-book that is packed full of great and useful information that helps people overcome their pain problems but it needs to be easy on the eye. Make sure that your e-book has interesting, high quality graphics. If you are selling something, screen shots of your stats, etc., really help, but remember be honest.

Promotion

You need to get word out there about your e-book – after all people can’t buy it if they haven’t heard of it!

Social networking is a great, easy and simple way to promote your e-book. A fan page on Facebook takes just a few moments to set up and if you make your page interesting enough it will promote itself as people invite their friends to join. Twitter, Digg and MySpace are also great places to promote.

Believe In Your Product

If you are selling something you need to make sure that you believe in it. After all if some one asks you questions you need to be able to give positive replies to their queries and convince them it is what they need. You can only do this if you truly believe that your product is a great one!

By following these easy steps it really is possible to create and promote your own e-books and make money by selling them online.

There are many people already making their living online by selling e-books and you shouldn’t miss out just because you don’t know where to start.

What’s your experience of selling e-books? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

How to Make Money with E-books

I’ve mentioned this free tool a few times. By using it you can get more traffic to your blog. Watch the short video, download the software and see for yourself…I hope you like the relaxing music…

Go here to get Comment Sniper for free: http://www.commentsniper.com/

Post from: Blogging Guide

Get more traffic to your blog by using Comment Sniper

In the pre-launch phase of our Income Blogging Guide course (which is now closed for new members), Joel and I created a brand new squeeze page.

A squeeze page is a one-page website that is specifically designed to entice people to give you their email address in return for a free gift or “give away” product.

It’s a way to build a quality list, mainly for internet marketing purposes.

Depending upon the free give away you are offering, the design of the squeeze page, the niche you are in, will determine the conversion rate of your opt-ins.

The number of people who sign-up out of every 100 who visit the squeeze page is your conversion rate.

If 32 opt-in for every 100, your conversion rate is 32%.

Our specific squeeze page is getting a 64% conversion rate.

If you want to make this type of page, you need to keep two things in mind: simplicity and effectiveness.

You need to keep the content simple, yet at the same time, use words that will get the message across.

Now, you can’t publish a squeeze page and expect people to sign up for your list.  You need to make it look as attractive as possible with the right amount of content for it to be effective.

The 4 basic elements of the Squeeze page are:

1. Create a strong headline
2. Have a simple, clear design
3. Provide the reader with a list of benefits they can expect if they join your list or gain from the free gift/give away
4. Have a prominent opt-in form

These four elements are basically all you need (unless you want to add a video); however, you need to write everything in a way that will compel visitors to actually subscribe.

Here are some tips on how to create effective squeeze pages:

The Headline

The headline is probably the most important aspect of a squeeze page.  It needs to be compelling, as it will be the very first thing visitors will read.  Even if the rest of your page is perfect, not many people are going to bother signing up for your list if the headline is poorly written or displayed.

We use a headline of:

“The Ultimate Blogging Guide to Make a Blog Income”

and a sub-headline of:

“Get Your Free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint Now!”

The readers in our niche are interested in making a blog income and they love free guides.

The Freebie

You must offer something for free in return for the customers email address. You can offer an e-book, a video, audio, software…anything in order to get people to sign up.

Have a graphic of the free product. It can make a huge difference to your conversion rate.

Our freebie is a 95 page multi-media guide to setting up your blog and how to start making money from it. It took us many, many hours to create. Our view is give away some great content. You may entice people to opt-in but if the quality of the free guide is not good, they will quickly un-subscribe.

I came across an excellent squeeze page only recently. I signed-up only to receive a one page document. One page! It could have been brilliant but my first impression was not good. By the way it wasn’t brilliant, so I un-subscribed.

So make sure your free guide is of a high standard.

The Benefits

List as many benefits as you can squeeze onto the page without going below the fold. And when I say benefits I mean benefits not the features of your freebie.

I was on one of John Carlton’s courses a while back and I remember he said, “The fan is the feature the benefit is the cool wind. Remember that!”

And whenever I write bullet points I always remind myself of that slogan.

Your bullets have to mention the benefits. When writing your bullets, simply ask the question “So what?”

For example:

“You are getting a 10 inch fan made by hand in Spain”

That’s a feature.

Think, “Yeah so what?”

And come up with the benefits your customers would gain by having the “10 inch fan made by hand in Spain”

The Design

You don’t want too many distractions on your page.

You don’t really want flashing banners as it can make it look a little spammy.

Make it attractive and ensure the opt-in is in a prominent position and easy to opt into. Just ask for their name and email address only. Make it simple for the visitor to opt-in.

You should include a privacy policy. It helps build trust and people expect to see it. If they don’t most will not opt-in.

I would recommend you don’t link to anything else (other than your privacy policy), otherwise you can confuse your prospective subscribers and even lose then if they link to other pages.

We used the WordPress Squeeze Theme to create our squeeze page. It just makes things a little easier than having to play with loads of html, etc.

Videos

Some people use videos to get their message across.  Actually hearing a list of the benefits they’ll receive can entice some people into joining up.  A lot of people would rather watch a video than read a bunch of text.  If you choose to this, make sure the video loads quickly and smoothly in every web browser.

Domain Name

We purchased a separate domain name for our squeeze page. By having a separate domain name, the page can have it’s own SEO attributes and relevant plugins.

Then you can link to it via your main blog or website.

Hopefully, these tips will help you create a great squeeze page, so that you can build a huge of list of subscribers.

If you want to see our squeeze page, click here: blogging guide

What’s your view of squeeze pages? How do you design yours? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

How to Create a Super Effective Squeeze Page

If you’ve been waiting until the last minute… this Wednesday is the last day to sign up for the Income Blogging Guide Course.

It’s not a marketing ploy or anything like that. You see, we have an optimum number of sign-ups and we have very nearly reached it.

We weren’t expecting to close down so soon…

Perhaps our brutally honest, non-hyped up approach is working better than we ever dreamed it would…Income Blogging Guide Course

Access to Income Blogging Guide is removed this Wednesday at 11.59pm Eastern Time for many months.

Truth be told, we will NOT be re-opening soon.

If you are ready for a hands-on coaching course where we, Andrew & Joel, fully support, nurture and care about your online success…

…then come on board and join us.

Click Here: Income Blogging Guide Course

If you are concerned about being scammed…don’t be.

Just like you, we’ve purchased products that promise riches and all that stuff.

We are not promising riches…or flashy cars…or big mansions.

Instead, we are promising to show you exactly what you need to build a solid on-line business using a proven, tested, step-by-step approach.

We promise to be there when you need support via our Income Blogging Guide Members Forum and weekly teleconferences.

You have a 60-day guarantee and if you feel like the course is not for you then you get a full refund…no questions asked.

Do you possess the desire, commitment and focus to get your own on-line business up and running in 2010?

Simply take our course for a test drive. Try it out.

Remember…you have NOTHING to lose and everything to gain with our 60-day money back guarantee.

What could be fairer than that?

Go here now to sign up: Income Blogging Guide Course

Make 2010 the year you start working from home, have your own business while someone who really cares about your success is supporting you every step of the way. This opportunity is about to close its doors for many months. Jump on board…see you inside…here’s the link…you know what to do:   Income Blogging Guide Course

Post from: Blogging Guide

Income Blogging Guide Closing

Simply put, an add on domain allows you to share your web space and web hosting across more than one website. This means you don’t have the expense of buying more web hosting as you can have more than one website run from the same place. It also means that your accounts are all from the same place – no extra log ins, passwords and user names to remember. Everything is controlled from the same place which makes everything so much easier to maintain.

To have an add on domain you first need to have an original domain. Once you are logged into this you should be able to configure it for your add on domain. Depending on the company that you used to registered the domain with the process will vary. It should however be very simple to do and will usually be found under the control panel section of your web hosting service.

Both websites are independent in their own right however they are saved to the same server. For this reason you also need to bear in mind that any files uploaded and any visitors that you get to either site will affect your web space and your bandwidth.  They do however have their own FTP access, their own web statistics and their own email address. These are usually found under your main control panel and will need to be separate when you are checking stats, looking at traffic numbers, etc.

Some web hosting companies will limit the number of add on domains that are available to you. You should check with their terms and conditions to see how many of these you are allowed to set up.

There are a number of benefits to having an add on domain rather than a separate one. You can create several domains under the same web hosting log in details and it can save you money as you don’t have to pay out for numerous web hosting services. The add on domain still has its own site statistics, storage bins and its own FTP manager.  You can still upload forums, photos, and other files to either of the domains.

The process for setting up an add on domain will vary but generally you will need to:

• Register your new domain with a domain name register
• Allow up to 48 hours for this to settle before uploading any files
• Log into your main control panel, and click “add on domains”
• Fill in the details needed – Usually New domain, username and password
• A few minutes later you should be set up and you can start to upload your files

As you can see it is worth while setting up an add on domain and as long as you know your way around your websites control panel it is relatively simple to set up.

This saves you money in the long run and is well worth considering if you plan to own more than one website.

I personally use and recommend BlueHost. For just $6.95 per month and $10 per year per domain you can have as many domain names as you wish.

One domain and hosting will cost you $83.40 per year. Two domains just $93.40, three $103.40 and so on.

Do you use add-on domains? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

What Is An Add On Domain?

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week. I must lose some weight!

I get there nice and early – 6.30am – just as the doors open.

You’d think I’d be alone or perhaps just a few of us…but I’m not.

There’s about 50 of us! Young and old.

All wanting to get fitter, leaner or more muscular.

At the weekend, I purchased a great CD to listen to while I’m sweating away on the running and rowing machines.

The CD is called: 101 Running Songs

It’s brilliant. It really motivates me.

Today, there I was running away and the song “Rock Star” by NickelBack started playing and it’s the first time I’ve really listened to the lyrics.

Here’s a video just to remind you:

The lyrics got me thinking about us bloggers and for a bit of fun, I came up with my own lyrics:

“Blog-ger”

I’m through with not knowing what to do
With the technicalities of my blog
It’s like I never understand
And it’s such a hard slog
This easy work hasn’t turned out
Like the adverts said it would

(Tell me what you want)

I want an awesome blog
Like Darren Rowse has got
And by only working just the 4 hour week
And a great big mansion and a flashy car
For my wife and me

(So what you need?)

I need a million paying customers with their wallets out
Blogging buddies with a lot of clout
Gonna join the inner circle
And tour the world first class

(Been there, done that)

I want my own private jet
With expensive food on tap
First class service and then join the big boys set
Somewhere between Yaro Starak and
John Chow is fine for me

(So how you gonna do it?)

I’m gonna buy a $27 e-book that tells me everything
Gonna get on page one for Google and Bing

Hey hey I wanna be an Blog-ger
Hey hey I wanna be an Blog-ger

We’ll do nothing all day except drive flash cars
I’ll have a wardrobe full of Hugo Boss
Cause I’m a big blogger now
And I don’t give a toss
With just $27 I’m now one of the stars

(So how you gonna do it?)

I’m gonna buy a $27 e-book that tells me everything
Gonna get on page one for Google and Bing

Hey hey I wanna be an Blog-ger
Hey hey I wanna be an Blog-ger

(Words by Andrew Rondeau)

Just a bit of fun? What do you think? Think I have a number one hit? The lyrics are copyright, so if anyone records them and makes millions of dollars, I want half!

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Blog-ger by NickelBack and Andrew Rondeau

The ideas in this article are not new and they have been shared by numerous other blogs and bloggers.

So why am I repeating the same advice?

Because so many bloggers simply miss or don’t carry out these simple tasks.

Many bloggers think they can make a blog and traffic will come instantly. They don’t realize it takes a lot of effort to get traffic.

But it can also act as a reminder for experienced bloggers, as well.

Getting traffic is a challenge that everyone faces as even the most popular bloggers experience a decrease in viewers every now and then.

Some people simply give up altogether when the traffic doesn’t come and don’t even bother to update their blogs anymore.

Keep in mind that quitting is the worst thing you can do, as it’s the only real way to fail at blogging and internet marketing.

In fact, whenever you’re experiencing difficulties, you need to work harder than usual in updating your blog.

Here are some of the best ways to increase traffic:

1. Post comments and messages on other blogs and forums.

However, you need to do so in a way that doesn’t seem spammy.  You can do this by actually contributing something to the conversation other than just “read what I wrote about this by visiting my site.”  Your comments should add value to the subject at hand.  Even no-follow blogs are worth commenting on, just as long as you know a lot of people will see it.  Posting on public message boards is also a good idea, since anybody—not just other members—can read it and click on your link.

If you want to follow do-follow blogs (i.e. the ones that provide you with a back-link), here’s a great list: http://niceblogger.com/2009/08/21/dofollow-list/

2. Social networking and messaging sites are definitely great sources of traffic.

Sites like Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook have millions of members all around the world.  Even if your blog isn’t about a popular or trendy subject, you can still meet many people who have an interest in the niche.  Now, don’t sign up as a member just so you can advertise your blog.  People will get tired of being your friend if all you do is go on and on about your site.  Participate in conversations and link to other blog posts as well.

3. Guest Blogging.

Try to get a blog post you have written (and not published), published as a guest post on someone else’s blog. Only pitch your best posts to them and explain why you feel the information is relevant to their blog.  Be personal with your request so that they don’t think you’re spamming the same email out to every blogger on the internet.  If they’re unwilling to publish your blog post, move on and try another blog. Be warned, you will be rejected several times before someone says ‘yes’.

4. Search Engine Optimization.

No matter what you do or do not try, always optimize your blog for search engines.  Search engine optimization is a long-term commitment, which means you won’t see results from your SEO techniques overnight.  However, you should always optimize as best you can.  In your blog posts, use a variety of keywords and make sure they look like they fit in to your content naturally.

Use the All-in-one-SEO-pack plugin.

See my video on how best to set-up this “must have” plugin:

How to use the All in one SEO WordPress plugin to your advantage

5. Advertising.

As a last resort, you could always buy an advertising spot on a larger blog that’s more popular than yours.  Some bloggers are fair with their advertising rates, and your site’s ranking will improve if your banner is placed on a site with a higher PR.  If you’re not good with graphics, get somebody to professionally make your banner.  Yours should stand out among the other logos or banners on the page.

In summary…

Make sure your blog is optimized for the best keywords. Here are my videos on finding the best keywords for your site:

The tool I use for keyword research and helps me on the first page of Google

Get into a daily plan of commenting on say, 10 different blogs and social bookmarking.

On at least a monthly basis, get one of your best-written unpublished blog posts, published as a guest post on someone else’s blog.

I know these are simple pieces of advice, so what would you add to increase your traffic? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Increase the Traffic to Your Blog Using These 5 Ways

I get quite a few comments like “Nice post”, “Thanks”, “Agree with you” and over the past few months I have been deleting them.

If you want to comment, please say more than “Nice post”.

Add your experiences, feelings, views, thoughts, arguments, advice…and so on.

Commenting is a good way to get traffic back to your site not only with the backlink but also with what you say. If you say something worthwhile, then other people who see your comment will want to visit your site. The more value you add, the more visitors you’ll get.

The Commenter Name

When you comment here you get a backlink but please use your real name as part of your “commenting name”. Don’t just use “SEO Guru” or “Product launches”. If you want to use “Fred @ SEO Guru” that’s fine but have your real name in there as well, please.

More Traffic For You

I’ve also have the  CommentLuv plugin installed.

With CommentLuv, the title of your previous post is displayed. If you sign up with CommentLuv you can choose which of your blog posts titles is displayed.

Depending upon the title, other visitors may be drawn to it and click through to your site. But of course, you have to comment first!

Extra Back-Links

I’ve also installed the WordPress plugin KeyWordLuv.

If you enter “YourName@YourKeyWords” in the Comment Name field you’ll get a link-back to your site using the “YourKeyWords” you use.

For instance, add “Andrew @ Blogging Guide” in the Comment Name field and you’ll get a link back to your URL using the text “Blogging Guide”.

That’s another reason to add an insightful comment.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Comments Policy

Security is always top priority.

Why?

Because hackers are now everywhere and it pays to be cautious as well as protected and prepared.

I am reading in forums about so many people where their sites are being hacked, so don’t wait till your site is hacked but start protecting your site right now.

Here are some of the best Wordpress Security Plugins and tips that can help you in securing your own personal space, which is your site. You would not want anyone destroying it, right?

1. Secure Wordpress.

This is a very useful plugin because it does a lot for your wordpress blog. It removes error-information on login-page, hides your wp-version in backend-dashboard and much more.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/secure-wordpress/

2. WP Security Scan
This plugin will scan your entire WordPress installation and will suggest improvements regarding security vulnerabilities like passwords, database security, file permissions, admin security.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-security-scan/

3. Login Lockdown

It takes note of the IP address and timestamp of every failed WordPress login attempt. If more than a certain number of attempts are detected within a short period of time from the same IP range, then the login function is disabled for all requests from that range. This helps to prevent brute force password discovery. Currently the plugin defaults to a 1 hour lock out of an IP block after 3 failed login attempts within 5 minutes. This can be modified via the Options panel. Administrators can release locked out IP ranges manually from the panel.

Download Link: http://www.bad-neighborhood.com/login-lockdown.html

4. AskApache Password Protect

From the name itself, it is a plug-in that protects your wordpress blog password. It protects everything from your wp-admin directory to your wp-content, plug-in and much more. You can always edit it right from your own Wordpress Admin Panel.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/askapache-password-protect/

5. WP-DBManager

This is one of the plugin that is most widely used to optimize database, repair database, backup database, restore database, delete backup database, drop/empty tables and run selected queries. WP-DBManager also supports automatic scheduling of backing up and optimizing of database.

Download Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/

6. WP-SpamFree
An extremely powerful anti-spam plugin for WordPress that eliminates comment spam, including trackback and pingback spam. It works invisibly without CAPTCHA’s, or other inconvenience to site visitors. The plugin includes spam-free contact form feature as well. Finally, you can enjoy a spam-free WordPress blog!
I recently installed this plugin and I hardly get any spam nowadays

Download Link: http://www.hybrid6.com/webgeek/plugins/wp-spamfree

7. Angsuman’s Wordpress Guard Plugin

Angsuman’s Wordpress Guard Plugin is a Wordpress security plugin that protects the vulnerable areas of your blog from outside access with an additional layer of security.

Download Link: http://taragana.com/products/free-wordpress-plugins/wordpress-guard-plugin/

8. Password

Make sure you create a password that is made up of lowercase, UPPERCASE and symbols.  If you have kept the password that was generated for you when you installed WordPress, CHANGE IT NOW. There have been many cases where hackers have gained access to sites via the passwords which are generated by the hosting company.

9. Username

Change your Administrator username from “Admin” to something else. Most hackers realize that for 99% of blogs, the username is ‘admin’. Make it harder for them and change it.

10. WordPress Versions

Keep your WordPress version up to date. Especially when WordPress issue a minor upgrade from within a version. For instance, if you are on version 2.8.4 always upgrade to WordPress 2.8.5 and 2.8.6.

When WordPress 2.9 came out recently, I didn’t upgrade as it was a major upgrade i.e. 2.8 to 2.9.  I always wait until WordPress issue the minor upgrade i.e. 2.9.1 to the major upgrade. There could be security and other problems within the major version. I am now on version 2.9.1.

Remember to backup your blog before upgrading.

11. Plugin Versions

Keep your plugins up to date. Often plugins are updated due to security reasons. But before you upgrade, ensure the latest version is compatible with the version of WordPress you are using?

It is very important to keep your blog secure. Thirty minutes work now can stop you having to experience many hours of frustration of recovering from a hacked blog.

What experiences have you had with these plugins and are there other security tips you’d recommend. Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Best Wordpress Plugins to improve the Security of your Blog

Last night Joel and I facilitated our first live teleconference as part of the support for the Income Blogging Guide delegates.

We used https://www.hidefconferencing.com/ for the teleconference service.

With this service, as moderator, you can mute all other callers. They can request to speak through a “hand-raising” feature, and you can mute and un-mute individuals online. It’s real simple.

Last week we tested it and all worked fine.

We sent out the invite email to all the membership sign-ups.

Yesterday, we tested it again. Being our first one, we wanted everything to go well.

“First impressions count”, we thought.

“How many do you think will turn up?” I asked Joel.

“Hopefully, all of them!”

“I doubt it. It would be nice to have a few on, to get the questions started”.

The time was getting closer to the actual start.

“Shall we test again?”

“Yeah – let’s”

We did and all was working fine.

We wrote our opening script and decided who would open and what we would say.

We both logged into the teleconference service, 10 minutes before the actual start time.

We waited, nervously.

Someone joined us.

Another joined. Then another. Then another. Then more and more.

We were up to capacity. There were no more lines available.

Joel pressed the ‘record’ button and we were off!

Over ninety minutes of keen and eager individuals asked us question after question after question. It was great fun.

Just some of the topics we covered included:

-         Advantages of premium themes

-         How to start Guest posting

-         How and where to get great header banners designed

-         How to reduce your hosting overheads by using add-on domains

-         The tactics to triple your back-links, every time you post a blog

-         Choosing a niche

-         Having a hook and how to be different to the competition

-         Traffic getting plugins

-         Using a static page as a home page

-         Transferring a site to WordPress

-         Getting e-book covers designed

We finished.

“I hope I pressed the record button” stated Joel

“Yeah, so do I!”

He had.

We added the recording to the private forum for all those who couldn’t make the live call.

I came off the call on a high. The adrenaline, I suppose, of being able to help people and being able to answer all their questions.

It’s such a great feeling when you have very keen and excited people wanting to progress their on-line business. It makes it easier when people are positive, energized and thankful.

Joel and I hold our next one in a week’s time and I cannot wait. I hope it goes as well.

Check out all the support bonuses and get yourself a free premium theme by checking out the complete Income Blogging Guide Course.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Our First Live Blogging Teleconference

Only yesterday I mentioned the importance of having a plan ‘b’ in case of being made redundant.

I’ve received some great comments, so thank you.

Watch this video (only 2 minutes) and see if it changes your thoughts!

Post from: Blogging Guide

What would you do if you were laid off?

Before becoming a full-time blogger, I worked for large corporate companies for 30 years.

I’ve worked through the good economic times and the bad economic times and over the years many of my friends have been made redundant.

There is no easy way to tell someone they are redundant but there are better ways than others.

I remember once being gathered together by the IT Director and he said to all of us, “We are going to have to cut some staff. Next week we will tell you who stays and who goes.”

The day arrived when we were going to be told whether or not we survived.

The Human Resources Manager entered into the open plan office and called one person into her office.

We didn’t know whether the person called was being made redundant or was a ‘survivor’.

They returned. They were redundant. They packed their belongings and went home to tell their families.

The Human Resources Manager returned again into the open plan office and called one another person into her office.

They were redundant, as well.

There was a pattern emerging.

If your name is called out, you are being made redundant.

The Human Resources Manager returned again into the open planned office. She looked at me and said, “Andrew”.

I swallowed hard. My stomach went into my mouth.

“Do you know where Alan is?” she carried on.

I didn’t.

She called someone else’s name out.

No work got done.

Eventually the IT Director appeared and said, “All those who have been made redundant, have now been told. The rest of you all have jobs”

Relief!

I rang my wife. We were happy.

I experienced this situation about 6 or 7 times in my career and it’s a horrible feeling.

But what about those who were not so lucky?

They were angry, concerned, worried, bitter, and fearful.

Can you imagine it?

You are working at a company, busy and doing a great job. You have been there several years, know numerous individuals, know how the company works and have many friends.

Than one day, you are no longer wanted!

No wonder the individuals are bitter and angry.

I am still in contact with some of those individuals who were made redundant and every single one of them is now working, which is just brilliant news.

They were confident in their abilities and they stayed positive during those worrying times.

Some had setbacks, no doubt. Not getting the first job they applied for. Many had not updated their resumes for years. Where do you start?

But they picked themselves up, dusted themselves down and started again.

Some still work for other large companies. Some started their own businesses. Some retired.

Many had invested in themselves.

They kept learning and discovering.

That is what winners do.

Investing in yourself gives you confidence in your abilities. It might be a $20 personal development book, it might be an audio on success, or it might a public speaking course.

In fact one friend who was made redundant said to me recently “I would not go back for all the money in the world and would absolutely say it was the best thing that could have happened to me”.

WOW! Now that’s a statement.

The newspaper headlines stated “1 in 4 employees would be in financial dire straits if they lost their job”.

Those situations got me thinking. If I were in that position, what would I do?

I needed my own plan ‘b’ for when the company said bye-bye to Andrew Rondeau.

That’s when I started my own on-line business. While still working full-time, I would work evenings and weekends. It built up and after 2 years I decided to leave the corporate world and am now my own boss!

So what emotional state would you be in if you lost your job?

What would be your financial situation?

How much do you invest in yourself?

Are you investing enough?

What is your plan B?

It’s a competitive world out there!

You could try your hand at blogging with  my
free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint.

Have you experienced a lay off or know someone who has? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

What is your plan B?

The Famous Bloggers website have kicked off the year with a free contest and we (Joel and I) are proud to be one of the sponsors of the prizes on offer.

You can win our complete Income Blogging Guide course.

These are the prizes on offer:

The First winner will get: $377 $424 worth of prizes:

$75 via PayPal from Making Money Online Social Network

$282 worth “Income Blogging Guide Course” from WeBuildYourBlog & BlogTechGuy

$67 worth Ultimate Blogging Theme package from Carl “Kidblogger” Ocab

The second winner will get: $122 $142 worth of prizes:

$25 via PayPal from Making Money Online Social Network

$97 worth 3 Day Money course from David Risley

$19.95 worth ElegantTheme membership for one year from Lawmacs of Blogging The Future

The contest is running now and will end 31 January 2010.

Check out the contest by going here:  Famous Bloggers Contest

Good Luck!!

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Post from: Blogging Guide

The Famous Bloggers Contest

Every now and then I am asked if I allow guest posts on my site.

And the answer is: YES.

I accept blog posts related to blogging and Internet Marketing in general. Blog posts sharing advice, tips, lists or simply your experiences are all accepted.

However before being accepted there are a few simple guidelines.

1. Your post must be a minimum of 400 words.

2. Your post must be unique, original and not be published anywhere else on the Internet

3. You agree not to publish the post anywhere else (i.e., in your own blog or as a guest post in other blogs). You can refer to the guest post from your blog, if you wish.

4. You can include up to two links in your bio, which will be displayed at the bottom of the post.

How do I submit my guest post?

If you have a post that meets the guidelines above, you can send it to me by email Andrew (at) WeBuildYourBlog.com.

Normally, within 48 hours I will respond informing you that I will accept the guest post or not.

That’s it.

I look forward to your guest post submissions.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Guest Posting

Over the New Year I’ve been so busy with the Income Blogging Guide Membership Course launch I’ve not written any ‘reflecting’ or ‘looking forward’ type blog posts.

You know the sort of ones where you talk about your mistakes and success in 2009 and what you hope to achieve in 2010.

I will get around to writing such blog posts because 2009 was a life changing year for me and I am hoping for a great 2010.

But today I want to discuss ‘comments’.

This blog is a ‘DoFollow’ blog, which means every time you comment, you get a back-link from my blog to your site and Google loves back-links. The more you have the more Google loves your site.

And before we get into the conversation of quality back-links etc, and poor quality backlinks…let’s just agree Google loves back-links and it loves some more than others.

Now back to my views on comments.

I get quite a few comments like “Nice post”, “Thanks”, “Agree with you” and over the past few months I have been deleting them.

If you want to comment, please say more than “Nice post”.

Add your experiences, feelings, views, thoughts, arguments, advice…and so on.

Commenting is a good way to get traffic back to your site not only with the backlink but also with what you say. If you say something worthwhile, then other people who see your comment will want to visit your site. The more value you add, the more visitors you’ll get.

The Commenter Name

As I said, when you comment here you get a backlink but please use your real name as part of your “commenting name”. Don’t just use “SEO Guru” or “Product launches”. If you want to use “Fred @ SEO Guru” that’s fine but have your real name in there as well, please. Plus see the new plugin I have installed which helps even more with back-links (see below).

More Traffic For You

I’ve also re-installed the CommentLuv plugin. I had a few problems with it a few weeks ago. It simply stopped working. Now I’ve upgrade to WordPress 2.9.1, I thought I’d give it another go and it seems to be working so far.

With CommentLuv, the title of your previous post is displayed. If you sign up with CommentLuv you can choose which of your blog posts titles is displayed.

Depending upon the title, other visitors may be drawn to it and click through to your site. But of course, you have to comment first!

Extra Back-Links

I’ve also installed the WordPress plugin KeyWordLuv.

If you enter “YourName@YourKeyWords” in the Comment Name field you’ll get a link-back to your site using the “YourKeyWords” you use.

For instance, add “Andrew @ Blogging Guide” in the Comment Name field and you’ll get a link back to your URL using the text “Blogging Guide”.

That’s another reason to add an insightful comment.

In Summary

Basically I am trying to encourage you to add insightful comments, right here and in return I’ll give you some link-back juice for your time.

What’s your view? Have I done the right thing in deleting such comments like “Nice post”, etc. Share your INSIGHTFUL comments below and get some link-back juice in return.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

“Nice Post”

Delivered in weekly step-by-step lessons

As an extra bonus, when you join the Income Blogging Guide Course, we will install a WordPress Premium Theme on your blog for free.

Premium themes make the managing of your blog much, much easier. They are more flexible. They make changes to your blog much easier. They save you time and they improve the Search Engine Optimization of your blog.

And that’s why so many people buy them and rave about them.

But you don’t have to buy the premium theme…we will and we’ll install it for you as well…all for free, after you join the Income Blogging Guide Course

The premium themes on offer for free are:

The Headway Theme (value $87) – Click here for more information: Headway Theme

The Flexx Theme (value $79.95) – Click here for more information: Flexx Theme

This is an extra, unadvertised bonus on top of the 5 bonuses promised already.

All you have to do is come and join us at the Income Blogging Guide Course, choose which Theme you’d like and we’ll install it for you – all for free.

We also have the Thesis Theme on offer for just $40 including installation. If you were to purchase the Thesis Theme yourself it would cost you $87 plus installation.

You can have the one theme of your choice installed on an existing blog or a brand new blog…the choice is yours.

Now that’s a bonus worth having!

Join up now and get your extra bonus of a free premium theme. Here’s the link to join: Income Blogging Guide Course

The sales page doesn’t mention the free theme bonus but that’s because it is an unadvertised bonus.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Free Premium Theme

Since we launched the Income Blogging Guide Course, Joel and I have received quite a few questions. So I’ve created a video answering them. We’ve had a lot of snow in the UK this week – so check out the snowman!

Seriously, I answer all the common questions and if you have any more, just let me know. Simply click on the button in the middle of the video screen to start. It takes a few seconds to load.

Here’s the link for all the details on the Income Blogging Guide Course.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Income Blogging Guide – Your Questions Answered

Firstly what is the meaning of ‘blow your own trumpet’?

Answer: To act in a boastful, self-promoting manner.

Don’t you think “blowing your own trumpet” and boasting about yourself, is a bit tricky?

Do you find it hard to do?

If you do, you are not alone.

The vast majority of us do.

But one of the most crucial skills in today’s world is to be able to sell yourself. If you are trying to sell a service or to get new business you will need to sell yourself.

We see people telling everyone ‘how brilliant they are’, blowing their own trumpet, when in fact, they are useless.

We see that on every TV episode of ‘Pop Idol’ or ‘Got Talent’.

The unknown singer says, ‘Yeah, I love singing. I sing everyday and everyone says how good I am. I’m good enough to win this contest, in fact I think you are looking at the 2010 winner of this show’.

We’ve all seen them.

Then get onto the stage and just cannot sing.

We also see people telling everyone ‘how brilliant they are’, blowing their own trumpet, and in fact, they are. They are brilliant at what they do but no one likes them because they are so arrogant, conceited and we want them to fail.

Remember Muhammad Ali in his hey-day?

His battle cry, “I am the greatest!” was known across the world long before he was considered the finest boxer of all time.

He was a fantastic boxer. The worlds best ever, some would argue. But didn’t you want him to lose? To get knocked-out?

So how do you blow you own trumpet without coming across as bigheaded and arrogant?

One simple way is to get someone else to do it for you. This happened to me personally.

I completed some changes to a clients website and as a result within one month the website traffic had increase by 32%.

The owner of the website was so thrilled she actually took the time out and created a blog post just on my excellent services.

You can read the full story here: thank you for a great service provided

How else?

Through Your Passion.

People will listen (and be inspired) when you have an outstanding eagerness and passion for whatever you do. When you talk about what you do, be passionate.

Go The Extra Mile

Your actions can speak louder than your words.

When others see that you work hard and see ”Y” being delivered as well as “X”, you often don’t have to say anything.

You are blowing your own trumpet through your task deliveries.

Talk The Team Up

If you are leading a piece of work and it is delivered successfully, one way to blow your own trumpet is by letting the team and any peers have the credit. Always mention that the staff did all the work and mention individuals by name.

You will still get the credit because you are the leader, but always mention/communicate who has completed the work.

A truly first-class Leader gets things done through others and people know that.

Think How Others See You

People can assume a lot about your abilities from the way you look or the way you present yourself. They may think a scruffy, sullen looking person is disorganised, bad at their job and generally unreliable. Look smart, smile and act positive. That can go a long way in blowing your own trumpet.

So you don’t have to act like Muhammad Ali to blow you own trumpet, you can still do it quietly and with purpose.

“Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment

Would you capture it or just let it slip?”

Eminem

What’s your view? Please share your views in the comments below.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Post from: Blogging Guide

Sometimes You Have To Blow Your Own Trumpet

Want to know what the most common 4-letter word that individuals say when they buy some sort of ‘making money on-line’ product?

No, it’s not a swear word.

It begins with ‘H’.

“HELP!” is what they say.

They buy the product, realize it’s just a load of theory and the seller is no where to be seen.

And guess what most customers then do?

Buy another product and so the vicious circle starts again.

Now is your chance to break out of the vicious circle because our Income Blogging Guide Course is now live.

Everything you need to build a solid on-line Internet business that will generate income for you on autopilot AND enable you to reduce your working hours so you get some freedom and time back into your life…but NOT overnight and with some hard work.”

You don’t need to buy anything else.

No “super-duper” traffic products.

No “make me a million dollars by the morning” special secret programs.

Just our course if you want a solid on-line and real business that you own and run.

BUT before you do…we are not promising to “make you a million dollars by the morning”.

We do tell you how much we expect you to make and you might be surprised because it may not be enough for you. That may make you go and buy a product that does…but that is your choice. We cannot promise you millions of dollars…sorry!

Before we starting creating this course Joel and I spoke to numerous individuals who have spent a fortune on ‘making money on-line’ type products and they have delivered one thing…NOTHING.

Of course, we have purchased some of those so-called ‘get rich quick’ products. We know what it’s like to be scammed.
Today, you could break free and not have to say ‘HELP’ anymore.

You are getting access to a complete step-by-step course that shows you in minute detail exactly how to build your own on-line business making you some extra income and allowing you to get some freedom back.

Simply check out the amount of support you are going to get once you sign up:

Income Blogging Guide

We are going to show you the way. We are going to support you ALL the way. We are going to motivate you.

We personally care about YOUR success.

Income Blogging Guide

Now the choice is yours…we hope to see you joining us.

Post from: Blogging Guide

What is the most common 4-letter word used by Bloggers?

What are your biggest desires from an online course like the Income Blogging Course?

Following on from yesterday’s blog post regarding our recent survey results, today we’d like to share with you the responses to the second question:

What are your biggest desires from an online course like the Income Blogging Course?

Again, we took the answers and created the following categories and the percentage shows the number of answers for that category.

Ease of use – 51%

Over half of those who responded wanted the course to be easy to use and follow.

Responses like:

“Easy step by step instructions”

“Clear steps for those new to coding.”

“Getting all the details so it’s a cinch to do it myself.”

“Real examples that we can see live”

“A step by step action list. What do I need to do first, then what, then what…”

“To have enough information to get started but not be overwhelmed”

“Step me through in baby steps. A set of task to complete before the next lesson”

So many of you mentioned the words “step-by-step” and that’s exactly what we have made it. The course is delivered in weekly lessons. Each lesson details exactly what tasks you should carry out that week which move you closer to making an income via blogging. The tasks are provided via text, screen shots and videos.

Within the course we are building a brand new blog as part of the course so you’ll be able to see our progress as we go.

This comment really summed up the feeling of the majority of comments:

“I’m too tired…put me on the right path without the lies, BS and don’t tell me “it’s sooo easy”. Way too many of the “Guru’s” coach to the advanced person, leaving the rest of us in the dark”

We are not saying it’s easy but with the course and our crucial ‘success’ bonuses we are making it as easy as possible.

Technical Support  – 26%

26% of you wanted a strong support system in place for when you get stuck with the technical details.

We listened and we are just finalizing some crucial ‘success’ bonuses that will provide what we believe is one of the best support systems around. Remember Joel is technical blogging mentor to some of the world’s most famous and largest bloggers.

We are working hard and can’t say more until we have finalized the bonuses – sorry!

Income – 11%

Of course, you want to make some extra income via blogging. That’s the whole point of the course!

This is a great response:

“No nonsense, just straight talk without the BS, on how to be online, blogging & earning an income”

It’s been an eye opener for Joel and I during these last few weeks. We have come across so many people who say, “Just give us what works. No BS, no padding, no promising the earth, no promising us boat-loads of cash…just tell us exactly what we could be earning without exaggerating. A little extra income would be really helpful”.

We’ve had so many emails and responses from people who have wasted their money on $27 products where you see people standing in front of their flashy cars and big mansions on their sales pages. Such products have sucked in so many people.

Joel and I have taken a different approach and we know we shall lose some sales as a result of it. Those sales pages that promise the earth, obviously sell but we decided to be upfront with you. You wanted no BS. So we tell you up front. We told you in yesterday’s post and we are gong to tell you again today…

The “Income Blogging Guide” is about showing you how to build your own on-line business and generating an income BUT the course is NOT a quick way to generate income. You are not going to earn an income on autopilot with no work whatsoever. If you believe that you can make fast money blogging then this is NOT the course for you.

We have never met anyone who has made fast money by blogging.

To make an income via blogging you’re going to have to work hard.

If you think you are going to retire on millions of dollars overnight…this is not the course for you.

If you think you are going to build an on-line business overnight…this is not the course for you.

What the course does show you is how to build a solid on-line Internet business that will generate income for you on autopilot AND enable you to reduce your working hours so you get some freedom and time back into your life…but NOT overnight AND it will take some hard work.

Time – 5%

5% of you want us to help you free up your time so you get some freedom back. Again, being totally honest with you, it will take you a few months of hard work before you start being able to free up some of your time.

But you will get some freedom back by following our weekly lessons. One of the stages is dedicated to Outsourcing, which is absolutely crucial if you want to gain some extra time in your lives to enable you to do anything you wish.

Traffic  – 4%

4% of you said …“How to get lots of traffic to my blog?” (or similar)

The same answer as yesterday…

You may have the best blog in the world but without traffic no one will ever see it.

We show you the exact steps to take to gain as much traffic as possible for your blog. In fact, one of the stages within the course is entitled “Easy Traffic Generation”. It can be easy when you know how to generate traffic.  The traffic at this blog has grown by over 500% in the last 6 months alone. We only use the tactics we know are proven to gain you more traffic.

Cost  – 3%

Joel and I spent many hours discussing the cost of the course, especially after your responses. It was very interesting that only 3% of you responded with a ‘cost’ type desire.

Two of you who responded wanted the course for free.

Sorry to disappoint but it won’t be free.

When you see the price I believe you’ll agree it’s very affordable for what you will be getting in return.

Remember this is not a $97 pdf guide simply giving you all the theory about blogging.

We cover blogging including article writing, list building, traffic generation, product creation and launching, copywriting and outsourcing.

How much would you pay to have your own on-line business automatically generating you an extra income and allowing you to free up some time?

$1997?

$997?

$497?

Are we happy with the results of survey?

Most definitely. Again thank you to everyone who filled out the survey. Your opinions have helped us shape the course for the better.

If you have anything to add or just respond, feel free to add your input through the comments below.

The Income Blogging Guide goes live on Wednesday 6th Jan. Click here to check out all the details:

Income Blogging Guide

Post from: Blogging Guide

Income Blogging Guide – Survey Results Are In Part 2

Back in December Joel and I asked for some help in preparation for our Income Blogging Guide Course.

The course is focussed on helping individuals and small businesses make a full time income via blogging while working part-time and get some freedom back into their lives.

This is exactly the position both Joel and I are in now, and the course is a total brain dump of our years of making a living on-line.

HOWEVER, we needed some help. We wanted to be sure we had covered everything that individuals expected from such a course.

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey. We really appreciate it.

This is the feedback we received…

The first question in the survey was:

_______________________________________________________

What are your top questions about making an income via blogging that we MUST include in this course?

_______________________________________________________

By asking this question we wanted to make sure the course covered everything people were looking for in such a course.

We took the answers and created the following categories and the percentage shows the number of answers for that category.

_______________________________________________________

Blog Technicalities – 41%

_______________________________________________________

41% of the questions were related to you wanting the technicalities of blogging made easy.

We realize that a lot of individuals would love to blog but they get stuck with the technical side of blogging. Joel and I have invested huge amounts of time and money learning the technical side of blogging.

We have both purchased numerous ‘blogging type’ courses but they just cover the theory and the fact they don’t cover the technical side is one of the main reasons we created the course.

Other courses may say, for example, install this great plugin. Our course not only tells you but also shows you via screen shots and videos. Sometimes installing a plugin but not making the necessary tweaks and adjustments can make your blog worse.

We received comments like:

“Make the techie stuff understandable”

“Address all the technical aspects of setting up a blog”

“Understanding the technical side of blogging. The coding and the plugins that help make my blog easier, cleaner and overall more productive”

Plus:

“How to get Google to increase the Page Rank of your site”

“Make sure I know the mechanics of uploading, downloading, posting, adding video, images”

“How to quickly identify the best key words”

“What are the best SEO techniques?”

“How to find the easiest cheapest shopping cart.”

“How to capture a customer base in easy steps”

“What can I do to make everyone know about my blog?”

“How to optimize my blog to get the most best from the content”

With Joel being the technical mentor to some of the world’s biggest bloggers, we have gone to great lengths to show you the exact technical steps to take when building and maintaining your blog. You’ll never feel alone again!

_______________________________________________________

Exactly how to make an income via blogging – 34%

_______________________________________________________

The second highest response is in relation to making money.

Comments like:

“Where is the best place to start? I.e. Google Ads, affiliate products, own products?”

“How to maximise monetization without compromising ethical values or falling foul of the FTC”

“What are the best avenues of income?”

“What can a person realistically expect to make from blogging?”

“What are the BASIC, ESSENTIAL things to have in place in order to start making some money? “

“What is the best step by step method to make money via blogging?”

“How to correctly, efficiently and quickly create affiliate income”

_______________________________________________________

PLEASE READ THIS.

We may lose many customers as a result of the following message…

The “Income Blogging Guide” is all about generating an income BUT the course is NOT a quick way to generate income. You are not going to earn an income on autopilot with no work whatsoever. If you believe that you can make fast money blogging then this is NOT the course for you.

We have never met anyone who has made fast money by blogging.

To make an income via blogging you’re going to have to work hard.

If you think you are going to retire on millions of dollars overnight…this is not the course for you.

If you think you are going to build an on-line business overnight…this is not the course for you.

What the course does show you is how to build a solid on-line Internet business that will generate income for you on autopilot AND enable you to reduce your working hours so you get some freedom and time back into your life…but NOT overnight AND it will take some hard work.

_______________________________________________________

How to gain more traffic – 12%

_______________________________________________________

12% of you asked the same (or very similar) question:

“How to get lots of traffic to my blog?”

You may have the best blog in the world but without traffic no one will ever see it.

We show you the exact steps to take to gain as much traffic as possible for your blog. In fact, one of the stages within the course is entitled “Easy Traffic Generation”. It can be easy when you know how to generate traffic.  The traffic at this blog has grown by over 500% in the last 6 months alone. We only use the tactics we know are proven to gain you more traffic.

_______________________________________________________

How to pick the right niche – 4%

_______________________________________________________

4% of the responses were specific about finding the best niche. It’s true – finding the right niche is one of most crucial steps when blogging. Get it wrong and you are wasting all your future efforts and money.

We both know bloggers who are working 12 to 18 hours a day and not making a dime and all because they have picked a niche that just does not sell on-line.

Finding the best niche is so crucial, the first lesson of the Income Blogging Guide Course is dedicated to helping you find the right niche for your blog.

_______________________________________________________

How much time will this take? – 4 %

_______________________________________________________

4% percent of you were concerned over the amount of time it would take to start generating an income.

“How much time needs to be devoted each week in being able to earn an income from blogging?”

The Income Blogging Guide course is delivered in weekly lessons. We expect each lesson to take between 5 and 10 hours per week to complete.

There are numerous factors that determine how much money you make via blogging. Most of all, how much effort you put in. As we say above and want to re-iterate…The “Income Blogging Guide” course is NOT a “get rich quick” course.

We don’t and will not promise you will make millions of dollars. We can confidently say you should be able to make $500.00 a month by the end of the course but we cannot guarantee that as there are so many factors involved.

But once you learn what works and what doesn’t work, increasing your monthly income from $500.00 to $1000.00 to $2000.00+ is much easier, while working the same number of hours.

_______________________________________________________

Copywriting – 2%

_______________________________________________________

To make money via blogging you need some marketing skills and that includes Copywriting. That’s why we have included a complete section on Copywriting. Not only does the course show you how to create your own products we show you how to sell your products via Copywriting.

_______________________________________________________

Outsourcing – 3%

_______________________________________________________

Outsourcing is crucial if you want to enjoy the freedom that blogging can give you and that’s why we dedicate a complete section on outsourcing.

Imagine you wake up whenever you feel like… stroll down to the local coffee house, open your laptop and check your bank balance. It’s grown by $200.00 or $500.00 or perhaps $1000.00.

You read a few emails, scan your Twitter account and check your blog stats. You talk to your outsourcers, making sure that they understand what you want them to do today.

You see, The Income Blogging Guide Course is not just about blogging. It shows you exactly how to build your own on-line business and when you have your own on-line business along with outsourcing, you can spend your time doing exactly what you want.

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey, we really appreciate it. With your responses we have extended the course and made it bigger, plus we have added some crucial support bonuses…more details to follow.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover the second question from the survey:

What are your 3 biggest desires from an online course like this?

If you have anything to add or just respond, feel free to add your input through the comments below.

The Income Blogging Guide goes live on Wednesday 6^th Jan. Click here to check out all the details:

Income Blogging Guide

______________________________________________________________________________________

Post from: Blogging Guide

Income Blogging Guide Course – Survey Results Are In

If you’ve been marketing for long and hard enough, you are probably aware of the fact that money is in the list.

But what I learned from a devastating experience is that money is in a responsive list. A list that actually opens and reads your emails. A list that responds to your calls to action.

Real money is made of a list that is receptive of your marketing. If you mail 2000 people and only 100 of them respond, that’s only 5%. 95% of your potential revenue is wasted.

To prevent such a horrible thing from happening, you need to be building a responsive list from the ground up. Earning the trust of a non-receptive list is much harder than building a new one from scratch.

1. Confirmed Double Opt Ins

Confirmed double opt in is when the prospect needs to confirm his subscription by clicking on a confirmation link which is delivered by email.

Although it lowers opt in rates, confirmed opt ins do more good then damage, because they ensure that the subscriber is a real person and that he actually wants to be on your mailing list.

From a SPAM policy standpoint confirmed opt ins are the best way to prevent SPAM complaints. If someone’s accusing you of being a SPAMer, all you have to say is:

“You have double confirmed when you opted in to my list, so just unsubscribe and have a nice day.”

2. Quality Content

During the first week, you have a chance to impress your subscriber by giving him lots and lots of quality content he can immediately apply and get results.

By doing that you will create a sense of trust, establish rapport and gain respect of your subscriber and he will be much more likely to open your next email with an offer attached to it.

3. Ask For Their Opinion

Use online poll systems and blogs to ask your subscribers questions and opinions on different matters.

It will make them feel important and they will be much more likely to stick with your list simply because you want to know their opinion about subjects that interest them.

4. Split Test Subject Lines

Email subject line is like outside car design-if you like it, you’ll be more likely to check out the interior of the vehicle if you like the outside. On the other hand, if you hate it-you’re going to move on without thinking twice about it.

Make your subject lines irresistible by using proven copywriting formulas and by split testing different ideas.

Each and every subscriber you get is a real, live, talking, walking and thinking being. You need to remember that each time you make contact with your list.

Don’t approach them as a leader, be a friend and they will connect with you more than you would have ever thought possible.

Author Byline: Igor Kheifets is a 21 year old genius who’s hooked on personal growth and peach vanilla tea. Check out Igor’s blog at Internet Marketing Tips For Online Entrepreneurs and follow him on Twitter.

Post from: Blogging Guide

How To Build a List That Actually Opens Your Emails

The contest is now closed.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.

Joel and I have picked the TWO winners using the tool http://www.random.org/ and I have written to both of them.

One has confirmed and he is a guy called Tim Cooke. Well done Tim!

If the second winner doesn’t claim their prize within 48 hours. I shall pick another name using the same tool.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On 6^th January 2010, Joel Williams (www.BlogTechGuy.com fame) and I will be launching our brand new Income Blogging Guide Course and to celebrate we are holding a free contest.

First, let me tell you a little about the Income Blogging Guide Course.

It’s not just about blogging…

It’s a six month course and covers all the stages required to build a successful online business, generating income and giving you some freedom back.

The stages covered in the course are:

1. Blogging Essentials

2. List Building

3. Traffic Generating

4. Product Creation and Launching

5. Copywriting Secrets

6. Outsourcing

The key to our step-by-step “Income Blogging Guide Course” is the way and format in which it is delivered.

Each week we provide a single lesson, with a few simple tasks to be completed, and it takes no more than a few hours per week. We provide the specific and detailed instructions to follow.

Each lesson assumes you have no blogging or technical knowledge at all and shows you exactly what to do in a step-by-step approach, using screen images and videos.

No overwhelm, no guessing, just an uncomplicated straightforward plan to blogging income that anyone can follow. You will literally have your first blog set up in under an hour, and have money-making traffic within weeks.

Plus we have several ‘critical extras’ that make the difference between success and failure when creating an on-line business.

The Prize on offer:

One winner will get access to the whole Income Blogging Guide Course for free. (prices to be finalized but easily worth a few hundred dollars).

Entry Rules:

Download our updated free report, “The Income Blogging Blueprint” and your name/email goes into the ‘hat’.

The updated free report, “The Income Blogging Blueprint” is a multi-media guide and includes all of the following chapters:

Choosing Your Niche

Choosing the Best Blogging Platform

Keyword Analysis

Choosing A Domain

Buying a Domain Name and Hosting

Installing WordPress

WordPress Overview

Adding New Themes

The ‘Must Have’ WordPress Plugins

Getting Your Blog Indexed

Blog Security

Adding Content to your Blog

Making Money

Managing Your Day

Having The Right Bloggers Mindset

The Next Steps

You can’t win if you haven’t downloaded our free report (if you already have downloaded the new free report, then you will be automatically entered into the free contest).

Sign up here:

FREE “Income Blogging Guide Blueprint”
The Step-by-Step Approach to Building a Successful Blog and Making a Blog Income

I hate spam as much as you. I will never rent, sell or otherwise share your information with anyone! You can unsubscribe at any time.

If you’d like to increase your chances of winning you can gain extra entries of your name/email into the ‘hat’ by completing the following tasks:

Re-tweet this blog post by simply clicking the re-tweet button at the top of the post (1 extra entry)

Digg this blog post by clicking here: Digg (1 extra entry)

Promote the contest on your blog (5 extra entries) (Please email me when you have, andrew at webuildyourblog.com)

Time Frame:

Saturday January 2, 2010 until Tuesday January 5, 2009 at 12 noon EDT (click here to see current EDT time)

Winners Announcement:

The winner will be picked using the cool free tool http://www.random.org/ and they will be notified immediately after the contest has closed and have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Winners will be posted here as soon as they have claimed their prize.

IMPORTANT:

You must download our free guide to qualify. The additional tasks will provide extra entries.

Thanks and good luck.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Free – The Income Blogging Guide Contest

If you are new to blogging…you may wish to check out my free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint.

If you want Google to love your blog…you may wish to check out my free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint.

Check out my video to find out exactly what my free guide covers…

Simply click on the corner of the video to get the free guide:

Post from: Blogging Guide

Free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint

I added my first blog post on this site on 10 February 2009. I now have 205 blog posts and that tells me that I blogged on average 4.5 times every week.

These are my top ten most visited posts this year:

1. Read my story of how I became rich overnight:

The Definitive Internet Marketing Technique

2. Find out if you can make money online:

Can You Make Money On The Internet?

3. Check out this short video to see and hear the do’s and don’ts of website names:

How To Choose A Website Name

4. Thanks to everyone who entered my first contest. I really appreciate everyone who took part:

Free Contest Giveaways including Premium WordPress Themes

5. How to build your own web market strategy:

Creating Your Own Web Marketing Strategy

6. Generating traffic and backlinks via Social Book-Marking:

The Benefits Of Social Bookmarking

7. How to get as much traffic as you can for every blog post:

How to increase blog traffic with your blog post

8. Recommended WordPress Plugins:

WordPress Blog – More Recommended Plugins

9. Even more recommended plugins:

WordPress Blog – Which Plugins Do You Use?

10. Watch this video and I’ll show you a strategy I’ve been using for over a year to increase my website traffic…for free:

Increase The Traffic To Your Site

And here are my favourite posts as well as those listed above. My favourites because I enjoyed writing them – it’s as simple as that. In no particular order:

1. This is pretty hard for me to admit but I may have just made one of the worst decisions of my life:

I May Have Just Made One Of The Worst Decisions Of My Life!

2. There it was in plain daylight a Google page rank 3! But… but… but… the site is only 3 weeks old! My immediate thoughts: they have made a mistake. It’s not April Fools, it is?

Web Page Rank 3 in 3 weeks? Has Google made a mistake?

3. A little rant over companies who promote free website design services:

Get yourself a FREE website – yeah right!

4. Having one of my posts published on ProBlogger.net:

what is the point of Guest Posting your Articles

5. How I launched a product and it didn’t do well:

My product launch formula goes wrong

6. The truth behind blogging and what to expect when you start:

Is It Just a BIG Lie?

7. So many bloggers think you just install WordPress plugins and that’s it. That’s not true for the majority of them. They need tweaking. Here’s how I tweak one of the most popular plugins, All-In-One-SEO-Pack:

How to use the All in one SEO WordPress plugin to your advantage

8. We all suffer from procrastination. Here’s how you can overcome it:

What can you do about Procrastination?

9. What do you do when you are not blogging?

Life is not just about blogging, is it?

10. I missed being able to use StumbleUpon on this site. I’ve been banned! Read my story here:

StumbleUpon bans my site

And one fun one…

I just had to include my funny video I recently created:

What’s blogging got to do with dancing?

What’s your favourite? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

My Top 2009 Blog Posts

Not me or Worthing Beach (unfortunately!)

This is pretty hard for me to admit but I may have just made one of the worst decisions of my life!

In fact, now I’m writing about it could be the second worst decision i.e. telling the world about the fact, I may have just made one of the worst decisions of my life!

Some of you know my background. Just a real quick summary for those that don’t:

Worked for 30 years in the corporate world, had a pretty successful career, received some amazing pay rises and just before I gave it all up, I was earning over $250,000 every year.

Then out of the blue, someone said to me, “Have you thought about making a living on-line?”

That was 3 years ago. I worked full-time, long hours and then worked on my own on-line business the evenings and weekends.

Then 6 months or so, ago I gave up the corporate world. I was ready to be a full-time blogger (or Internet thingy person, as I often say!).

Possibly the worst decision of my life!

So what is it?

I’ve kept in contact with several of my ex-work colleagues and one of them rang me recently. He offered me a 3 month contract, working for him…wait for it…for  $1500.00 a day.

Yes, $1500.00 a day!

Working 20 days a month, $90,000.00 in 3 months!

That’s a lot of money.

At fist, I was thrilled.

It’s nice to be wanted.

“Let me think about it”, I said, trying to stay calm.

I got back to him and said, “I’m going to have to say ‘no’. Sorry. You see I’m right in the middle of a new blogging course launch and I just can’t stop and put it on hold.”

There was no way I could do both.

You see, I love working for myself. I love knowing I can work when I want to. I love my walks to the coffee shop in the morning. I love coaching and mentoring others about blogging and the internet. I love my afternoons off. I love the freedom.

I have no debts and I easily make enough money to keep me living pretty well.

BUT…I keep thinking “$90,000.00 for 3 months work”

But I’ve made my decision

I’ve now got to ‘get over it’ and go ahead and release my new blogging course.

But that scares me as well!

I’ve still got loads to do but I’m loving the creation side because it revolves around everything I do on-line…blogging, list building, gaining traffic, product creation and launching, copy-writing, outsourcing…all the things I do to make a blog income so I can enjoy my freedom.

And that freedom would have been taken away if I had accepted the role and it’s not just about money is it? It’s having the balance between the two.

I don’t want to say much more about the blogging course as I’m still finalizing things.

Anyhow, I just had to get that ‘off my chest’ and now I’ve told the world I do feel better.

I’m looking forward to the comments on this one – what would have you done? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

I May Have Just Made One Of The Worst Decisions Of My Life!

My final blog post before the holiday starts.

I wish you a truly wonderful and relaxing holiday wherever you are. See you between Christmas and the new year break!

Got your Christmas tree up yet? Need some help? Check out the funny doggy Christmas video:

Post from: Blogging Guide

Happy Holidays

Today I looked at my Google Analytics and noticed a ‘spike’ in traffic every 10 days or so. After investigation, I found the traffic ‘spike’ coincided with my blog broadcast automatically sent out by Aweber.

You can set up Aweber to automatically send out a Blog Broadcast newsletter which contains links to x number of blog posts on your blog (where x is a number you can choose).

I’ve chosen 10. So after 10 new blogs posts are published on my blog, Aweber sends out an email newsletter to all my subscribers.

Subscribers who may have missed a few of the posts can click on the link and come back to visit. Hence the traffic spike.

Here’s what you need to do to set up your blog broadcast:

1. Sign in to your Aweber account. If you do not have an existing account yet, then sign-up or register for a new account. You have to make sure that you have selected the correct Current List. The current list is the broadcast list where you wish to send the blog to.

2. Point your cursor at “Messages” in the tab menu. Don’t click. A drop-down will appear containing 3 options:

“Follow Up”

“Broadcast”

“Blog Broadcast”

3. Click on “Blog Broadcast”. The Blog Broadcast Edit Page will appear.

4. Click on the big green button, “+ Create New Blog Broadcast”.

5. This is where you start to build your automatic Blog Broadcast. Firstly, enter your blog’s RSS feed URL.

6. Select a template and click the ‘Load Template’ button.

7. By clicking the ‘Load Template’ button, the necessary code for the automatic links will be added to the template area.

8. You may wish to edit the automatic loaded code by including a welcome introduction and close. This is mine:

9. Change the subject line of the email.

10. It’s best to create another message in the “plain text” box because not all html messages are accepted. So you can just copy/paste the text from the HTML box.

11. You may now schedule your blog broadcast.

Set how many times you wish to send your blog broadcast. You can choose on which day and at what specific time it is to be broadcast.

Furthermore, you can also choose to automatically send your email or preview it first before sending. All you have to do is check or uncheck “Send Automatically” box.

There are also additional features available like tracking clicks on blog broadcast links and blog broadcast syndication.

I set mine to be sent automatically whenever 10 blog pots have been reached.

12. Finally, don’t forget to save your blog broadcast.

Once set up and saved, that’s it. Your blog’s newsletter will be sent out automatically to all your subscribers.

Have you used the Aweber Blog Broadcast facility? Seen any positive results? Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Increase Your Traffic With An Aweber Blog Broadcast

You may have seen a number of blog posts saying WordPress 2.9 has arrived. It’s true it has. The WordPress team have included some extra facilities like:

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and they’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv.

All cool functions to make us more effective and efficient but don’t upgrade yet because there will be bugs in this version and upgrades will be coming out very soon.

Wait until WordPress 2.9.1 or even 2.9.2 and then upgrade. That’s what I’m going to do.

Are you going to upgrade now? Share your views in the comments.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Do NOT upgrade to WordPress 2.9 yet…

Some of you know that for almost 2 years now, my wife and I have been learning ballroom and latin dancing. We don’t think yet it’s a talent but we can do a few steps in the Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Quickstep, Pasodoble, Jive, Rumba, and Cha-cha-cha.

And it’s very much like blogging.

You never stop learning. You make mistakes. You trip up. You ask others for advice. And if you want to improve it’s hard work, takes total commitment and positive results take months.

Those ‘adverts’ promising quick riches by guys standing next to their big houses and flashy cars have fooled some of us bloggers.

“Look what I’ve achieved just by blogging. So can you. Buy my e-book and I’ll tell you how. $27”

Yeah right!

They don’t tell you it can take many months to earn your first dollar.

I remember the first conversation with our ballroom dancing teacher. She said ‘It will take you a few months to learn just a few steps”.

I didn’t believe her! I used to be a great disco dancer in my teenage years dancing to groups like Earth Wind and Fire (my favorite group ever).

But the dancing teacher was right, it did take us months of weekly lessons and weekly practice nights PLUS practising at home and last night we attended the Christmas ball.

Ball gowns and black ties everywhere!

It was a chance to dress up, have a few drinks, let our hair down and escape from the ‘mad rush’ world we live in.

It was great fun dancing to a live band, especially as we coped admirably with the crowded ballroom floor.

Here’s a video of my wife and I dancing the Tango:

Only kidding!

Did you like the mock up?

Yes, it is our faces but not our bodies doing the dancing.

Keep blogging (and dancing!)

Post from: Blogging Guide

What’s blogging got to do with dancing?

There are literally thousands upon thousands of blogs on the internet. There are blogs about every niche imaginable.  As such, there is a great deal of competition out there.  Bloggers all have a variety of techniques they use to obtain traffic.  However, most people agree that nothing beats organic, natural, search engine traffic.

Blogs and web pages are picked up regularly by Google and ranked in order of relevance.  Google crawls some blogs more quickly than others, depending on relevance, backlinks, etc.  The pages that are indexed quickly referred to as “authority” pages.  If you want your blog to be indexed quickly, you need to increase its relevancy and value.

Here are a few tips for optimizing your blog so that Google will crawl it more often:

• If you can, update your blog every single day with unique content. Web pages with duplicate content are indexed very slowly, if at all.  The content should be informative, have some targeted keywords (a keyword ratio of under 2%), and consist of no “fluff” or “padding”.

• Optimize even the images on your blog. Don’t just label them as “pic1.jpg” or “pic2.gif”, describe what they are.  You could also name each image as an important keyword.  Use the WordPress plugin, SEO Friendly Images

• Make sure your posts are internally interlinked professionally (i.e. link from one blog post to another), and that your blog is easy to navigate through.  The more posts your blog has, the better.  However, don’t compromise on the quality.  It’s better to have ten informative, well-written, and unique posts than twenty bad ones.

• Turn on the trackback and pingback options for every single post. Many people don’t realize the importance of this, especially in regards to a Google crawler.  With these options on, you will be directing a Googlebot to crawl and find your new posts. Use the MaxBlog Ping Optimizer plugin.
  You can see exactly how to set up the plugin here: Increase blog traffic

• Try getting as many quality backlinks from relevant sites as possible. One way you can do this is publish some good articles in article directories and add your link to the “resource box”.  Some directories will let you add two links, and some even three.  These sites get ranked very high by Google, so your articles (with the links) will be indexed rather quickly.

• Keep your URLs simple, yet effective. Long, complicated URLs take longer to find and index.  You need to make them easy to remember and to the point.  And, as mentioned above, all of the URLs within your blog need to be organized, easy to find, and directly linked to the relevant content.  All of your old posts need to be linked to all of your new posts. Use the Clean Slugs plugin. You do have to join Yoast’s newsletter to get this plugin but it’s well worth it.

• There is some dispute as to whether black hat SEO methods are worthwhile. While using such methods probably will get your blog indexed quickly, they’re extremely risky and your blog can end up being banned.  It’s therefore safer to use white hat methods, as they will ensure that your blog will be indexed more quickly over time.

In summary, you can get Google to crawl your blog more quickly by making it as search engine friendly as possible.  This means all of your URLs need to be organized, your content needs to be unique, the keywords need to fit in naturally and not overstuffed, etc.  Google loves authority websites, so try to make yours as relevant as possible.

What tips do you have to make Google crawl your blog more often? Share them in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

Tips for Making Google Crawl Your Blog More Often

Yesterday I wrote a blog post entitled “How to make a blog stand out with brilliant blog posts”

Within that post, I spoke about sharing some stories about yourself to make your blog stand out and be different to all the other hundreds out there.

Last night I was talking with a client with regards to adding videos to blog posts.

The conversation and the blog post reminded me of a video a friend created of me a couple of years ago.

I’m not saying this is a brilliant blog post…but what talent do you have other than blogging?

Share yours in the comments below and let’s discover more about you. Anyone remember the name of the music being played?

Here’s my talent (by the way the domain name that appears is the name of my other blog):

Post from: Blogging Guide

What’s your talent other than Blogging?

One of the hardest parts of blogging is creating great content that gets picked up by fellow bloggers, social networks, and aggregation services.

The blogging world is overflowing with bloggers, but despite this concentration there’s still a massive shortage of quality blog content.

Making a blog isn’t just about churning out post after post, and while there are thousands of people that can tell you how to make a blog, very few can guide you through creating brilliant posts and high quality content.

That’s why you’ve got to look for inspiration outside the typical blogging circles.

There’s a problem that pops up when you only ever use the same places for inspiration; blogs are relatively insular, especially when they’re ultra-focused, and after a while the content that they generate becomes relatively stale. Looking to these blogs for inspiration isn’t the best way to create great posts.

To create great blog content, you’ve got to look to less obvious, more creative sources.

Start by turning the events of your own life into blog stories.

If there’s one thing that the blogging world is missing, it’s personality and real connections. There are thousands of blogs out there, packed with people posturing and pretending they’re something that they’re not.

By focusing intently on what your life is really about, you can create ‘evergreen’ content that draws links, comments, and discussion, no matter how old it is or when people end up finding it.

Here’s a good way to test whether or not your blog posts are brilliant.

Publish a post, and bookmark it to reference later. Six months later, go back and read it. Is it still relevant? Is it interesting? Does it inspire you to get up, get out, and go and change things?

There’s a feeling that writers dread, and that’s when you look back on your previous work, and just wonder “what?”. We’ve all seen work that we’ve created in the past and wondered what we were thinking, and if your blog content doesn’t inspire that feeling, it’s definitely a good sign.

Of course, when you’ve got a small audience it’s easy to trick yourself into thinking that your content is better than it really is. Small groups can be remarkably insular, especially when they discovered you for something other than your writing.

As much as it hurts, you’ve got to discard what your friends and family think of your blog, and focus on the picture that it presents to the wider blogging community. If you find yourself drawing praise and approval from the blogosphere, take it as a compliment and keep on writing what works.

Of course, generating great blog content isn’t easy. When you work out how to make a blog stand out, you’re already there. The journey starts with a dedicated approach to creating great content, and non-stop work until you arrive there.

Work hard, keep on writing, and don’t lose inspiration.

How do you keep your blog content great?

Share your views in the comments below.

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Post from: Blogging Guide

How to make a blog stand out with brilliant blog posts

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been ‘re-branding’ my free blogging guide.

I’ve teamed up with Joel Williams of www.BlogTechGuy.com fame and together we have combined our blogging and on-line expertise and experience to put together this step-by-step free guide.

We’ve called it, “Income Blogging Guide Blueprint”.

It covers many topics in step-by-step detail with screen shots and videos. These are the chapter contents:

Your chosen niche

Discover the 2-step process you need to choose a proven money-making niche…get it wrong and you’ll never make any money.

The Blogging Platform

What’s the best blogging platform to use and, even more importantly, why?

Keyword Analysis

Find out why Keyword Analysis is so important.

Plus discover the 3 golden rules of keyword analysis…get one rule wrong and ALL your future efforts are wasted.

Getting a Domain

The exact step-by-step methods to find the best domain name for your blog …99% of bloggers miss this crucial “Search Engine Optimization” step.

Buying a Domain Name and Hosting

The most reliable and inexpensive hosting companies to use.

Installing WordPress and WordPress Overview

Shows you in minute detail how to install WordPress – it takes less than 5 minutes.

New Themes

All the facts around Themes and how to install one on your blog within minutes.

WordPress Plugins

Step-by-step guides and images of each ‘must-have’ plugin you must install on your blog (plus all the tweaks necessary – it is not just a matter of installing).

Getting Indexed

The 2 steps you need to take to get Google to index your blog…and don’t believe all the hype…they take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Blog Security

Don’t be one of those blog owners whose blog is ‘hacked’…follow these 6 tasks that keep 99% of hackers at bay.

Adding Content to your Blog

How to add pages, posts and images the right way, to pick up Google “link-juice” and without being penalised for duplicate content.

Making Money

The 5 quickest and easiest ways to start making a blog income…including the step-by-step approach.

Managing Your Day

How to split your working day into the 3 crucial elements of making money via blogging.

The Right Mindset

The 3 crucial traits of every successful blogger.

The Next Steps

So what next? What makes the difference?

This is what one person said about the new Blogging Guide Blueprint.

“Wow, the guide is awesome. I already had a domain and WordPress installed but you have clarified all the steps I did not do right, and had no idea how to.

And the plugins I installed were giving me some headache. For someone like me, not technical at all, it is the best guide I have come across. The others gave me some good ideas, but were omitting the ‘how to’ details.

You gave me a lot of answers to my questions which I could not find. Your guide answers them all.

I cannot express how grateful I am.

Again, I cannot stress enough what a great guide you both have created. Thanks so much.”

If you want the free Income Blogging Guide, sign up below.

Post from: Blogging Guide

Get The Free Income Blogging Guide Blueprint Here