Don't Use A Blog If...

I am a great fan of Lisa Irby, the author of this guest post.  As usual, I think she is right on the mark.

I have this blog as well as a blog on my Internet security and privacy website - Internet Security 101.  I have made many of the mistakes that Lisa has outlined below. 

For example, Lisa mentions the importance of blogging often.  I am ashamed to say that the last time I submitted a post on my Internet Security 101 blog was way back in April/2009...hardly keeping a blog fresh with new content and blogging on a regular basis.

Lisa also points out that you shouldn't blog if your blog is "an exact duplicate of what's on your site."  Well, I do have some unique content in Internet Security 101 Blog, a lot of the content can also be found in my website as well.

The other mistake I made that Irby says is a reson not to blog is "[not planning] to promote it."  Lisa goes on to tell us some ways to promote your blog.  I haven't promoted my Internet Security 101 Blog at all.

If you are at all contemplating blogging I highly recommend you read Lisa Irby's article below.

Don't Use a Blog If ...
By Lisa Irby


Some people think a blog is a magic traffic generator. There's nothing magic about it. You should treat it just like you would any website - update it often with useful, unique content. Bloggers that succeed have no secrets, they just produce good content.

You shouldn't blog if...

1) Your blog content is an exact duplicate of what's on your site.

In other words, it should be a nice addition to your site...not a duplication. Offer unique, relevant information that people won't necessarily find on your site. For search engine optimization, you should frequently link back to pages on your Web site (if applicable).

2) You don't plan to blog often.

If you want your blog to become popular, it's important you update it often...otherwise, what's the point? Just like a website, you want to keep it fresh with new content so it doesn't become stale and forgotten.

3) You have unrealistic expectations of what a blog will do.

Don't get me wrong, there are some very savvy bloggers out there getting thousands of visitors per day. However, that is not the norm for most bloggers. So many people think can just throw up a free blog and floods of traffic will come.

The majority of heavily trafficked blogs are owned by Webmasters who already have sites with decent traffic. A blog can be a nice traffic generator if you come up with a creative theme that offers relevant content to your audience. However, don't expect miracles overnight.

4) You don't plan to promote it.

Just like a web site, a blog needs to be submitted and promoted. There are tons of blog directories out there that will allow you submit yours for free. But don't stop there. Link it to your web site so search engines can spider it, submit articles and add it to your signature box, etc. Treat it like a website and promote it any place you can.


Lisa Irby is the author of http://www.2createawebsite.com/ - a site notorious for squashing myths regarding website creation and making money online. Lisa makes six figures per year on the web with "no hype" techniques or secrets. She just builds sites with informative content. Visit and subscribe to her website creation blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Irby
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SBI Is Now Only $29.99 A Month!

"I'm so excited...I  just can't hide it!"  Come on, sing along with me! 

"Has Chris lost his mind?", you ask. 

Well, though that subject might be up for debate, there is something I am genuinely excited about.

For the first time ever SiteSell is offering SBI for a monthly subscription of $29.99 a month.  This offer is for a limited time.  To take advantage of this exciting offer click on "Order SBI".  Under "Please Select Order Preference" please select "US $29.99/month".

SiteSell has never offered this before.  Up to now, you had to pay for a full year for your first year subscription of Site Build It.  This came to $299 US.

If you are like me, and going through tough financial times $299 is a lot of money.  In fact, it very well might be more than you can afford.

That is why I'm so excited.  This is going to open up SiteSell to so many more people, who can't afford the upfront charge of $299 right now due to tough economic times.

A month or two ago, I signed up for SBI.  Unfortunately, I took advantage of SiteSell's 30 day money back guarantee, because I wanted to save myself the $299.

To make a long story short, it was the worst decision I made.

I really could have used the extensive Site Build It Action Guide, to guide me through SBI's C-T-P-M process.  "What is C-T-P-M anyways?", you ask.  This stands for Content-Traffic-Pre-Sell-Monetization, in that order to create a successful e-commerce business. 

I "put the cart before the horse", like so many people do, so to speak.  I created some unique content, but skipped the middle two steps, jumping straight to monetization. 

I didn't do any keyword research - creating individual pages with profitable, targeted keywords. 

By the way, SBI's keyword tool, which is a powered by WordTracker and SBI's own keyword tool, is worth the $299 a year alone.

Anyways, I ended up spending over $400 in Google Adwords to get traffic.  Sadly, I only made two affiliate sales and just a few dollars in Google Adsense for a total of around $50.  So, in Google Adwords I have lost $350.  This alone is more than the annual cost of SBI. 

Not to mention the cost of around $60 a year for a web host, plus another $10 to purchase a domain name.  The later two are both included in SBI. 

SBI also includes a "Block by block" website builder.  You can also build your SBI website using your own website builder, such as Dreamweaver, if you like as well.

What really impressed me about SiteSell was SBI Forums.  These are extremely active, friendly, and helpful forums.  There is no such thing as a dumb question here.   SBI Expert SBIers are more than happy to answer your question here.  I read somewhere that SBI Forums are the "place to be helped and to help."  SBI forums really live up to this.

I for one will be signing up for SBI tonight and taking advantage of the SiteSell time limited $29.99 monthly subscription.  I am really excited to be able to take advantage of all that SBI has to offer and develop a successful e-commerce business.

Blogging For Money - Pros and Cons

Below is a superb article written my Mario Remedios on the pros and cons of blogging. 

What I like about this article is that it is honest - it doesn't tell you that all you need to do is set up a blog and your on your way to making fortunes.

 Instead, he gives some honest, useful tips on blogging.

Mario also gives a nice summary of the pros and cons of blogging. 

I like that Mario that blogging is hard work - that you will have to work very hard and post consistent, good content to make money blogging.  Yes, boys and girls - blogging is hard work and can actually sometimes be quite boring - even if you love the topic you write about!  

Mario also mentions that "you need to pick a posting frequency and stick to it."  I've told myself and even my readers so many times that I will post regularly.  This very well is probably a primary reason that I am making very little money online. 

 I've said this before, but posting frequently is certainly something that I need to do.  Personal issues, business of summer, and lack of motivation seem to always get in the way of this though.

The bloggers that I have seen that make a lot of money online post frequently and obviously work very hard at it. 

Most bloggers sadly think that they should immediately start watching the cash flow in and they give up.  I've read so many blogs that have really good content, but have sadly been abandoned.  I often wonder if they stuck at it for just a little longer, perhaps they would be making a decent amount of money now.

Overall, this is an honest, helpful article on the pros and cons of blogging.  No Get Rich Quick Schemes here! 

Blogging is an effective way to earn money online. You could start by setting up a blog and makiing  sure that there is enough traffic going on. There are free blog hosting sites such as Blogger and WordPress that allow you to put up a blog of your own without paying. There are also other blog hosting sites that require you to pay some fees before you could set up your own blog.

If you don't want your free accounts, there is an option to upgrade to premium. Having a premium account is especially useful in network marketing because you would have more control over your account. By premium I mean owning your blog under your own hosting plan. Both free and premium accounts, however, can be effectively used in Internet marketing.

The pros of blogging in making money could convince any average person to set up a blog and start gathering traffic. However, there are also cons to blogging so it does not mean that once you have set up your own blog account, you would be able to earn money instantly.

One of the most obvious advantages of blogging is that it could be done for free if that's what you want. Even with a premium account, the fees are still very low. Also, using a blog in Internet marketing is essential for building credibility. People could easily read your posts and start building a relationship with you right on the spot.

Consider the fact that this is something that you are not bound to do forever. If you feel that it is not working anymore, then pull out, it's that easy. Your working time is also flexible since you are operating your own business, no one would tell you what to do and when and when not to work. Everything will be under you and you will have the freedom to do anything you want with your business. You want to sleep the whole day and work at 4 in the morning? No problem, you are free to run your business however you want.

You will also have the advantage of making money from what interests you. In blogging it is recommended to choose a niche where you would pick topics to write about. Of course, you would not choose a niche that you know absolutely nothing about, instead choose something that surely interests you. This would give you the opportunity to actually enjoy running a business by contributing in making it a profitable one.

There are many ways to monetize a blog. You could have Google AdSense ads on it, advertise with banners for other businesses, promote affiliate products, etc. Choose the method that you feel more comfortable with and continue to post frequently to bring the necessary traffic and establish credibility with your readers.

Now we get to the single yet really troubling con of blogging for money. Setting up a blog is easy but making it a profitable one is not. You have to work really hard in order to succeed in this field. Money is not a crucial factor in making it big in this business but hard work is. Without effort, you would not be able to drive traffic to your website, and without traffic, the existence of your blog would be pointless.

To avoid having a failed blogging business, just work hard and do everything you can to make your business thrive. Post articles and content that will help your readers in some way. Share valuable information, keep your readers entertained and always looking for more. Select a posting frequency and stick to it. If you are a beginner, I recommend updating your blog once or twice per week. But remember always post valuable information if you want to enhance your reputation and continue to bring traffic.

Mario Remedios is an accountant and business coach who enjoys helping entrepreneurs improve their bottom line. Learn how to take your business to the next level and take advantage of the latest business tips by visiting MarioRemedios.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mario_Remedios   http://EzineArticles.com/?Blogging-For-Money---Pros-and-Cons&id=2346956

Free Content For Your Website or Blog

Are you looking for free content for your blog or website. You might want to consider Ezine Articles, which has 100,000's of free articles. I have used two or three Ezine Articles on my Internet security website.

You can search for Ezine Articles either by Category or by using there search engine.

When you find an article that you like simply click on the Ezine Publisher icon.

Than simply copy and paste a HTML or text-based version of the article for your website or blog.

You are required to include the signature at the end of the article that the author is allowed to place. You are also required to publish a link back to the origin of the article on the Ezine Article website.

Don't expect to get traffic from search engines such as Google for these articles though. Google will have the article on Ezine Articles on the search engine results. This is because Google will put the article on the search engine results that was published first. This, of course, happens to be Ezine Articles.

If you are trying to find some free content for your website or blog you might want to consider Ezine Articles. I've used Ezine Articles as both an author and a publisher.

Royalty Free Stock Images For Your Blog or Website

I think the saying a "picture is worth a thousand words" certainly rings true when it comes to blogging. Plus it makes your blog post so much more attractive and interesting - not just a long string of text.

I use iStockphoto for inexpensive royalty free images on both my web site and my blog. IStockphoto has millions of stock photographs, illustrations, video footage, audio tracks, and Flash files.

One of the things I like about iStockphoto is that the photo's and illustrations are nicely categorized. This is handy when you are searching for a photo or illustration in a certain category, such as "computers" or "dogs".

You can also search for files by "most recent" or "most popular". Alternatively, you can use the Search box to find images that you are looking for.

I am really impressed by the quality of images that iStockphoto has as well. I feel that the photo's and illustrations that I have purchased at iStockphoto have really improved the appearance of my website and blog.

You are probably wondering how much it costs to purchase photographs and illustrations at iStockphoto. I have found that the cost is surprisingly inexpensive.

You can purchase images and photo's from x small for 1 credit to xxx large for 28 credits. I find that for my blog and website x small, the most inexpensive, is more than sufficient.

How much are these credits are you ask? Pay-as-you-go credits range from $1.16 CAD a credit to $1.83 CAD a credit. The more credits you purchase the cheaper the cost per credit. I'm not a wealthy person and don't have a huge amount of images on my web site and blog. Because of this I purchase 12 credits at a time for $22.00 CAD(1.83 CAD a credit).

If you plan on using many images a day, a subscription might be for you. They start at 10 credits a day/three months for $1,195.50 CAD.

Images really enchance the quality of your web site or blog. It is good to know that you can purchase royalty free stock photography and images at iStockphoto for a reasonable price.

Is Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions a Scam?

If you, like me, have been up late at night, flicking through the channels, you have probably seen Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions.  This is the infomercial around a pool with gorgeous woman, fancy cars, and people claiming to make over $10,000 the first week using Jeff Paul's simple system.

Are you wondering if Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions is a scam?  From watching the infomercial late at night and the research I've done on the Internet, I'd say that it is a Get Rich Quick Scheme.  If something sounds too good to be true than it probably is.

There are indeed people that have made a lot of money through the Internet.  However, they earn there money online through a lot of hard work, perserverance, and skill.

In Jeff Paul's infomercial it is suggested that you can make money online through just "three simple clicks".  Well, if it was that easy than everyone would be making money online and we could all quit our day jobs!

Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions system is $39.95 a month - being billed on your credit card at the end of the first month.  The shipping and handling if you live in the USA is $14.50.  If you are like me and live in Canada the shipping and handling is a whopping $21.95.

Jeff Paul's system includes ten free "instant" website Businesses every month  up.  "You'll be making money as you sleep!"  If making money with websites really was this easy than everyone would be making money with there own websites.

However, in order to have a successful website, you need to create unique, informative content.  The websites that you'll be given from Shortcuts to Internet Millions will hardly be unique, with likely thousands of the same websites being online.

Google and other search engines will penalize you for duplicate content, so you are likely not going to get any search engine traffic.

Not only that, from what I've read on the Internet, once you receive your start-up-kit, you'll be getting phone calls from telemarketers who say they work for Jeff Paul.  They will claim you need costly packages of $5,000, $10,000 and so on "if you are serious about making money online".  How pathetic is that!

To me, it sounds like the only one that is making a lot of money with Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions System is Mr Jeff Paul himself.

There are indeed legitimate ways to make money online.  However, not through a scam like Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions.

My advice would be to run, not walk away from Jeff Paul's Shortcuts to Internet Millions.  It has "scam" and "get rich quick scheme" marked all over it.  Keep your hard earned money in your pocket.

Comments Are A Crucial Part Of An Interactive Blog

Comments are such an essential part of a blog. It allows users and the Blogger the opportunity to interact with each other. This sets out the difference between a blog and a website.

Probably the biggest mistake I made with my Internet security blog is that I have no way for readers to comment on the posts of my blog. This is because I used Joomla to build my blog, which doesn't have a comments function at the end of the post.

Blogs are supposed to be interactive. How can my blog be interactive when I have no way for readers to comment on my individual blog posts.

My Internet security blog is really more like an article directory than a blog.

I think it is very sad too, when some bloggers turn off "comments" on there blog because they don't want to deal with negative comments, spam, and the time to respond to comments.

I really enjoy both reading and contributing comments in a blog.  I think that most other readers of blogs do as well.

Darren and Chris in ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, say that blogs are "conversational in nature". They go on to say that "You as a blogger start the conversation and others respond in comments on your blog..."

Unfortunately, my Internet security blog fails to be "conversational in nature" because there is no opportunity for my readers to comment on my blogs.

In fact, I had a reader of my Internet security blog recently asking me why there was no way to comment on my blog posts, as he wanted to write a comment.

I've decided to move my Internet security blog over to Wordpress, so that my readers will have an opportunity to comment on my blog.

Every popular blog that I have visited has lots of comments on the individual posts. The blogger also often personally respond to the posts, which encourages comments.

I know it makes me feel important when a blogger takes the time to respond to a comment that I have made on there blog.

Allowing readers to comment on your blog is crucial to working your way to having an interactive and dynamic blog.

Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income Review

I am a huge fan of Problogger, so I was excited when ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income arrived in the mail from Amazon.com. I read this information packed blogging book cover-to-cover and it did not disappoint.
Whether you are a newbie blogger, like myself, or blogging for years, Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett teach you how to earn money from blogging.

If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme, look elsewhere. The authors make it very clear that making a lot of money blogging does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of both hard work and dedication.

It took Darren Rowse 2 1/2 years to become a full-time blogger. When he first started out blogging he was working three jobs to make ends meet!

Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income is not full of fluff, like some other books on blogging that I've read. It gets straight to the point of how to make money blogging.

The book starts out with a nice introduction of how Darren and Chris became professional bloggers. I especially found Darren Rowse's story both inspiring and encouraging.

The information packed chapters include:

• Blogging for Money
• Niche Blogging
• Setting Up Your Blog
• Blog Writing
• Blog Income and Earning Strategies
• Buying and Selling Blogs
• Blog Networks
• Blog Promotion and Marketing
• Secrets of Successful Blogs
• Creating Something Worthwhile

This superb book covers everything from finding a niche to write about, choosing a blogging platform, step-by-step instructions of how to set up a Wordpress blog, monetization methods, creating content, how often to post, promoting your blog, and so much more.

I learned so much about blogging from reading . Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett are a wealth of information. I plan on implementing some of the many tips that I learned in this book.

The authors discuss in length both direct monetization methods such as affiliate advertising and indirect such as getting a deal to write in magazines. This book covered methods of monetization that I had never even thought of!

I agree with another review that I read, that the 20 Types of Blog Posts in Blog Writing alone is worth the purchase price of the book. It gave me so many ideas of what to write about!

Reading Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income convinced me to use Wordpress for my Internet Security Blog.

The authors urge anyone serious about making money on there blog to self host the blog. They highly reccomend using a web host, with a one-click install of Wordpress. This is exactly what I did. I found the instructions on how to install Wordpress on my web host extremely helpful. Now, I just need to find a theme for my Wordpress blog on Internet security.

Not to worry, if you choose to host your blog with Wordpress, there are step-by-step instructions on how to do this as well.

I still got to import my content over from the Joomla blog platform to Wordpress though.

Darren and Chris reaffirmed to me one of the things I'm doing wrong with my current Internet Security blog. It has no way for readers to leave comments on my blog. Problogger stresses the importance of "building an interactive blog by encouraging comments." How can I do this when there's no way to leave comments on the Joomla Blog Platform?

In this book the authors stressed the importance of keeping your posts "granular" - having each post focus on "one tightly targeted topic". This is something that I definately have to work on, because in case you haven't noticed I tend to ramble and get off-topic on my posts!

I could go on and on about all that I learned in this book. It really has renewed my energy and excitement about blogging.

In fact, this book is so full of useful, indespensible information that I will be keeping it close at hand as a reference book.

I highly reccomend ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income for anyone serious about making money blogging.

Promote Products That You Have Used & Believe In

A few weeks ago I purchased Site Build It! SBI happens to have an affiliate program that pays a commission of $75 - $250 per first-purchase commission. This really excited me, so I signed up for the SiteSell.com 5 Pillar affiliate program.

In case you are wondering, Site Build It! is a web host that provides the tools, a domain name, and a detailed ten step guide to create a successful e-commerce website. It costs $299 US. However, there are many loyal SBI owners that swear by the product.

Anyways, before even making a firm decision on what my niche was going to be, I wrote a post in this blog all about SBI and what a wonderful product it is. Of course, in this blog post I had some affiliate links to SiteSell(SBI).

Almost immediately after writing the post I had a bad feeling about it. How could I promote a product, going on and on about how superb it is, when I have not even created a successful e-commerce website with SBI. In fact, I was only on Day 2 of the 10-day Site Build It! Action Guide.

I just didn't feel right about promoting SBI, when I had barely even started the program.

I was especially bothered that I had written a very positive review about SBI, without even having a SBI website. I think in order to write a fair review of SBI or any other product or service you need to have used that service. Or as in the case of SBI have created a successful SBI website, that is making money.

I felt like I was writing a book review, where I'd only read the back cover, and skimmed through the first couple pages. How can you write a book review on a book that you haven't fully read?

I am currently reading Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. It is written by the successful bloggers Darren Rowse and Chris Garret.

One of the points that they make is not to not to "reccomend products that you don't fully believe will benefit them[your reader]". I agree with them 100 percent. I've read some wonderful reviews on SBI. However, I've not personally had success with SBI, so I can't deep down honestly say that I fully believe SBI will benefit the reader.

Darren and Chris also say, "suggest your readers purchase a lousy or disreputable product and expect to lose your good reputation very quickly." Truer words have never been spoken. I certainly dont want to take that chance, even though I am quite certain SBI is a good product.

There is yet another problem with promoting any product or service that you have not personally had success in. That is, you lack the credibility, compared to someone that can personally tell you their experience with a product. It would be hard for me to sell SBI to others, when I have not created a successful e-commerce business with SBI.

In fact, I was recently talking with a SBI affiliate. She told me that it took two years to make a single SBI sale prior to her purchasing SBI. She also told me that all the top 10 affiliates of SBI all have successful SBI websites themselves.

It is so much easier to promote a product that you've had success with, that you truly believe in. You can than give a personal testimony on the product. The lady that I mentioned above now can tell the reader in her various websites how successful and profitable her SBI website has been. This makes her so much more credible than someone who doesn't have a SBI website.

Problogger actually says that "the best results I've had from affiliate programs are where I give an open and honest appraisel of the product, including both its strengths and weaknesses." He goes on to say that "people want to know what they are buying. consider your own experience of shopping at Amazon or anywhere else that displays reviews."

This makes a lot of sense to me. People want honest and fair reviews. How can I write an honest and fair review on SBI when I have not personally had success with the product?

Needless to say, I've deleted the post promoting SBI. I have no plans on promoting SBI until I myself have a successful SBI website.

I want to build a solid reputation with my readers. I want my readers to be able to trust me.

Blogger Tip: How To Publish Your Blogger Post At A Later Date

I discovered yesterday that using Blogger you can actually set posts to be published at a later date.  I found this useful yesterday when I wanted to write a second post, but I didn't want it published until the next day.  Here's how to publish a Blogger post at a later date. 

1. Once you have completed your post left-click onto the hyperlink "Post Options".  This is located above the "Publish Post" icon on the bottom left-hand of the screen.

2. You will now see several Post Options.  The last option you'll find is "Post date and time".  Below that you'll see two options - "Automatic" and "Scheduled at".  Select "Scheduled at" by left-clicking on the circle to the left of "Scheduled at".
3. Below that you'll see two forms.  The first one you select the date you want your post published.  The second one you select the time you want the post published. 

4. Now, simply left-click on "Publish Post"

You have now set your post using Google Blogger to be published at a later date/time.