Review Products

Posted by johnc on January 3rd, 2010 | No Comments

Some bloggers do not participate in paid reviews and product inclusion because it can be misleading if you do not state that you are being paid for your testimonial or recommendation. If you feel as though reviewing products or recommending them to your readers without disclosing that you are being paid is dishonest, then the practice is not for you.

On the other hand, if you think the products you review are worthwhile and are worthy of mention in your blog, what better way to make money then sharing these products with your readers.

There are a few different websites that will connect you with companies that will pay you to include their product or service in your blog. The pay ranges per assignment and you may be required to write a few sentences about a specific product or a few paragraphs, or even a whole blog entry.

Generally your blog has to receive a good deal of traffic to get accepted by these websites, and depending on how much work you do for them payment can be slight or substantial. If you want to try your hand at reviewing products for payment, check out these sites:

Creamaid – While this site is not solely dedicated to reviewing products, many of their opportunities are for posting your opinion in your blog for payment.

Different “conversations” are started on the site and you pick the ones that look interesting to you. Some require you to review a product or website in your blog and other require you to post comments elsewhere; of course you can always include a link to your blog which will bring it more traffic.

Reviewme – This site is dedicated to connecting bloggers with companies who want reviews written. You submit your blog and if it is accepted, companies will request that you write a review for them depending on the content of your blog.

Reviewme states that you get paid between $20 and $200 per review. Your blog does have to have a minimum number of readers to qualify but you can always resubmit if it does not meet the criteria the first time.

Pay Per Post – Pay Per Post is similar to Reviewme. You submit your blog for approval and when it is approved you can start reviewing products and websites in your blog for cash.

Pay Per Post has a market place where you can pick which opportunities you want to write about and payment varies according to the assignment you choose.

Sponsored Reviews – This site lets you submit your blog and then pick from a listing of review opportunities or lets companies contact you directly and request a review. Payment varies by assignment.

Smorty – Smorty is all about providing your opinion in your blog about an available advertiser’s campaign. You may not be reviewing a product per say, but you will be giving your opinion. Your blog has to be indexed by Google, older than three months, and have at least two new posts per week.

Posting your opinion or review for advertisers is a good way to make cash from your blog. You should remember, however, that like affiliate marketing blatant attempts to advertise to readers does not usually work as well as naturally including a review or opinion in your blog.

Affiliate Marketing

Posted by johnc on January 2nd, 2010 | No Comments

If you do not want to run ads on your blog, or you are looking for an additional way to monetize your blog, affiliate marketing is a good way to make money provided you have plenty of readers to market to.

Affiliate marketing does not have to be blatant “hey buy this” advertising, rather bloggers can subtly slip in a review or recommendation for a product and include their affiliate link in their blog.

If you can find an affiliate product that is relevant to the topic of your blog and you do a good job of slipping it in, you can stand to make some tidy profits. Affiliate marketing generally pays more per sale than you would make per click with other forms of advertising, but you have to have visitors that both click on your affiliate link and purchase the product.

The best way to make sure readers purchase the affiliate products you market is to pick products your audience will be interested in and that are relevant to your blog. If you blog about outdoor living, chances are no one will respond to your affiliate marketing attempts at selling PSP downloads.

Make sure the product you are trying sell will appeal to your readers and that you can do a good job of including it in your blog without seeming to preachy or desperate. Keep your marketing attempts natural and make sure they fit in with the flow of your blog.

There are plenty of places to go to find affiliate marketing opportunities. Many websites such as Amazon and eBay have affiliate programs. Your favorite website or company may even have an affiliate program and it can’t hurt to look, especially if they are related to your blog.

You can also find affiliate marketing opportunities on websites that specialize in connecting companies with publishers. The good thing about using one of these websites is that you have a huge list of products to choose form and the website will manage your payments and track your selling statistics. Here is a list of websites you can use to find affiliate marketing opportunities.

Clickbank – The most popular affiliate marketing website, Clickbank offers bloggers a dizzying array of products to market as an affiliate. All of their products are digital products, such as e-books and reports.

You can find things on virtually every product, arranged by category. So no matter what you blog about, chances are that you can find an affiliate product on Clickbank. Payouts range from a few dollars per sale to fifty dollars or more.

Commission Junction – This affiliate website operates in much the same way as Clickbank. Companies add their products to the Commission Junction marketplace and publishers add links to these products in their blogs. Commission junction offers a wider variety of products, however, some require visitors to buy a product for you to get paid and others require visitors to sign up for newsletters or fill out a form.

Link Share – Another affiliate website that connects affiliates with products to market. You can pick from a wide variety of products to market on your blog and like Commission Junction, you do not always have to sell something in order to get paid. Sometimes the required action is to get visitors to sign up for a newsletter or fill out a form in order to get paid.

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money from your blog. Remember to keep your marketing attempts natural and try not to “sell,” rather rate or inform. Most affiliate websites that connect you with products to market will keep track of your earnings and statistics which makes them very convenient.

Other Advertising Options

Posted by johnc on January 1st, 2010 | No Comments

There are plenty of other advertising options if you do not want to go with Adsense. A search for “Adsense alternatives” will net you a long list of other advertising opportunities.

Some work in much the same way as Adsense, others provide inline ads or banners. You should try a few different advertising programs to see which one works the best for your blog.

Some advertising opportunities are similar to Adsense and display text ads; others display contextual ads, the double underline words in the body of your text, and others work with graphic ads. Here is a list of other advertising sources for your blog, any of which may be the perfect advertising solution for you.

Clicksor – This advertising solution serves contextual ads within the body of your blog. These ads are simply words that are underlined twice and when clicked, send users to the sponsor’s website.

TargetPoint – Cost per click ads that display ads relevant to your content. They claim to pay out 50% of click revenue and offer many customizable features.

Adbrite – They have a few different advertising options including text ads, banner ads, inline ads, and full page ads.

Chitika – This advertising option is designed specifically for blogs and there are different advertising programs to choose form including text ads, inline ads, and graphic ads. Most of them operate on a cost per click basis.

Veoda – They also have different ad options including text, graphical, flash and inline ads. The good thing about Veoda is that they do not require a minimum number of visitors to sign up and do not require tax information which is good for small blogs that are just starting out.

Kontera – This is another inline advertising source where ads are placed as highlighted words that display a message when they are hovered over.

Text Link Ads – This site allows purchasers to buy text ads on blogs for a fixed monthly fee. The more popular your blog is, the more your ads will cost and the more money you will make.

Affiliate Sensor – This advertising solution combines the best of text ads with affiliate marketing. You earn revenue through Clickbank, an affiliate marketing program, without having to market directly in your blog. Text ads are placed, matched to your content, on your blog that link to Clickbank products.

AllFeeds – You can display a variety of ads through AllFeeds, from contextual ads, popaway ads, and text links. You can also display news and whether right form your blog with this service.

Bidvertiser – You only display ads from the highest bidder with this advertising soloution and you can block ads that you do not want to appear on your site. The payout level is set relatively low at just $10.

As you can see, there are plenty of other advertising solutions for your blog, and there are plenty more out there besides the ones mentioned here. You can always sell ad space directly, to companies or businesses that are related to your blog topic.

There are a few things you should remember before placing ads on your blog, however. Unobtrusive ads will seldom drive traffic away, but too many tacky ads will cause visitors to leave. You want to find a good balance where you can earn income but not chase off visitors. Make sure your ads are relevant and not annoying. Make sure that they do not take up too much space or become the focal point of your blog.

Using Adsense in Your Blog

Posted by johnc on December 31st, 2009 | No Comments

Now that you know ho to make your blog popular, it is time to profit from it. One of the best ways to monetize your blog is Adsense, and this advertising program will work with just about any blog and if you receive enough traffic, it can be very lucrative.

Adsense puts relevant ads on your blog after you sign up and insert a few lines of code into your blog; this requires some basic HTML knowledge and a blog that allows you to modify the HTML. Don’t be intimidated, it is easy to do. The good thing about Adsense is that the ads are displayed based on the content of your blog, so readers only see ads that will likely appeal to them, increasing the chances that they will click on them.

Adsense operates by pairing relevant ads with your content. As long as your blog has enough content to support a few text ads, you will be able to run a few non intrusive ads along the side of your blog. You will need to have a blog that allows you to add a few lines of HTML code into your blog in order to use Adsense. If your blog is hosted independently, chances are you will be able to make the necessary modifications. If you blog on a network or on another site, you will have to check to see if it is compatible with Adsense, many are.

To get started with Adsense, go to www.adsense.com and sign up. It is free to use Adsense and if you have an existing Google account you can use it as your Adsense account as well. Signing up with Adsense is free, but you must provide tax information and report your earnings.

You then choose what type of ads you want displayed on your blog. You have the choice of text ads that run along the top, side, or bottom of your blog or graphic ads that display an ad with a picture on your blog, either in a size like a banner ad or in a smaller size.

Adsense is a cost per click advertising program, which means that every time that a visitor clicks on an ad in your blog you get paid. Google does not disclose exactly how much you make for each click before you sign up, but you can track your daily, weekly and monthly earnings once you have started running Adsense and calculate how much you are making per click.

If you do not have a large readership base, most types of monetization on your blog will probably not be successful and Adsense is no exception. The more people you have clicking your ads, the more money you make. Earnings will vary widely depending on how many visitors you receive and if your blog is very popular you can make a good income from Adsense alone.

Restful Sleeping with Guided Relaxation

Posted by johnc on December 30th, 2009 | No Comments

Do you have a hard time getting to sleep at night and waking up rested?  When you achieve a peaceful night of rest it is because the body and mind is relaxed. If you are overly stressed you will need to learn relaxation through practice from a learning process. Stress can cause you to lose sleep.

The first step in relieving stress is to take action. Once you take action, it will help you achieve a proper night rest. Eliminating stress is the first step. You have many options to relieving stress, yet you have to learn what works best for you. First, you may want to take time-out. Visit your library, bookstores or anywhere where books are sold. Check out the latest CDs, videos and books.

The Internet has many choices too. Search for stress or relaxation videos, audio and so on. Do some reading while you there just to give yourself some time-out space.

Listen to the videos and CD’s also. Read and you’ll start learning right from the beginning. It will take time so be patient and practice your learning everyday. It took time for you to get where you’re at and it takes time to teach your mind and body to turn back. Learning materials assist you, by guiding you to relaxation as you meditate and relax those muscles. Once you learn to relax, don’t stop, since it will take you back to what prompt you in the first place to purchase guided relaxation.

Get a CD with music that you can take into the bedroom with you. When going to bedroom be sure your surroundings are quiet and peaceful so you can have this time to learn how to have a restful night of sleep. You can turn down the volume low on your player and lie on your back, concentrating as you listen to the CD.

Perhaps you could benefit from CDs that guide you to relaxation. Letting your body do what the voice is saying will help you to drift in relaxation.  Imagine you’re off somewhere that is quiet and peaceful. As you listen to the voices or sounds of music or allow your body to start feeling heavy and tight as it is beginning to relax. Accept your discomforts. Soon your body and mind will begin to drift off with you into your imaginary place. As you begin to relax, you may find self-drifting into sleep.

Once you awaken to a new day, you’ll feel so much better after sleeping well. Being guided into a good night of sleep will make things look so much different and better in your life. As you sleep, better your health will improve. In addition, your diet will improve because you’re eating again and the stress isn’t taking the vitamins away from you. Due to the progress, you will enjoy energy-packed days. Imagine accomplishing your duties with a relaxed mind.

Now that your stress is minimized and you know how to relax you may enjoy working to fitness.

Join an exercise class to get fit and socialize at the same time. Exercising will make your body stronger and it will help keep stress at bay. Socializing is good for all of us to keep you up with the times by talking about the weather instead of the things that went on this morning or how tired you are. Exercising two or 3 times a week is a time-out session that will benefit your health and sleep too. So, if you are searching for guided relaxation, learn how to keep your stress at bay.

Creating a Popular Blog

Posted by johnc on December 29th, 2009 | No Comments

If you want to make money through blogging, creating a popular blog is the key to success. If your blog receives very little traffic, you will not have much success monetizing it. No matter which method you use to make money from your blog, you will find the most success if you have a large readership. Because of this, making your blog popular and growing readership should be one of your primary concerns.

There are many ways to make your blog more popular. The first thing you should consider is who your audience is and who you are writing for. You should always write about something that interests you, and that will interest others. You may think that your new kitten is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but there are probably not very many other people who want to read a blog about it. It is best to find a niche audience that is large enough to support a wide readership but not to vague.

One of the great things about blogging is that you do not have to be a professional writer to have a popular blog. You do have to obey common grammatical rules and at least be able to put together coherent sentences, but you do not have to be a highly skilled writer.

Blog readers are looking for interesting, relevant topics to read, not the next work of Shakespeare. Make sure what you write is interesting, edgy, or even controversial. Popular blogs are never boring and add value to reader’s lives either through information or entertainment. Make sure your blog adds something of value to your reader’s life otherwise you will not develop a large fan base.

Making your blog popular is a lot like driving traffic to a website. You can use many of the same techniques to drive traffic to your blog. Finding places to link back to your blog is a good way to drive traffic. Social sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and You tube provide lots of opportunities for this. You can also use social book marking sites such as Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg to promote your blog. Blogging on a popular blog site such as WordPress and Blogger are also good ways to make your blog more popular as these blogging sites help to bring in traffic for your blog.

Whether you blog on a blogging network or you have an independently hosted blog, you need to make sure your blog is designed well. It is true that content is king and if a blog has great content is may receive lots of traffic even though it is ugly, having a well designed blog that is not ugly or annoying will help to drive repeat traffic. You want your blog to look unique, but not too unique. Keep with internet formalities such as blue links and use large font for headings.

You should break your post up into small paragraphs each with a headline if possible as internet readers tend to scan the screen looking for relevant information rather than reading everything word for word. Make sure your colors do not contrast too harshly and that the text is easy to read. Using good design will make your blog aesthetically pleasing and make readers more likely to come back and remain on your page.

No matter where your blog is hosted, you should try to get it indexed by all the major search engines. Some forms of blog monetization require that your blog be indexed by search engines before they will allow you to participate in your program. The higher ranked your blog is, the more visitors you will receive and the more popular your blog will become.

All forms of monetization for your blog require readers to work successfully. Before you try to implement your monetization strategies, make sure your blog has enough readers to make your efforts work. If there is no one to click your ads, visit your affiliate sites, or read your reviews, you do not stand much of a chance of making money.


Can Your Business Survive

Posted by johnc on December 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.”

But when you’re starting your own business, there’s no guarantee that your “mousetrap” is going to survive, especially in today’s fast-paced business world.

Nearly half of all small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. The number one reason for business failure is inadequate planning. The second reason is under-capitalization.

So before you mortgage your house, or go into debt financing your business, you need to know if your business is going to do more than survive — you want to know if it’s good enough to thrive! Here are three things successful businesses that have stayed in business for five years or longer have in common:

1. The idea. A successful business start-up always starts with an idea. Something that makes your business stand out from all the rest. So how do you know if you’ve got a good idea?

You’ve probably got a good idea if you can answer yes to any of the following questions: Does your idea provide the solution to a significant problem for your target market? Does it satisfy a need or want? Does it create an opportunity?

The most successful businesses either fix problems (either real or perceived), or they increase your customer’s pleasure. They create a repeat need for a product or service among the target market.

2. The market. Your chances of survival are better if you can answer the following questions with a yes: Is there already a market for your product or service? (It’s much easier to fill a need than trying to create an entirely new market.) Can your target market afford to buy your products or services? (If they can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter how great it is, you won’t sell any!) Will your target market perceive your product or service as valuable? (If they want it, but don’t think it’s worth what you’re selling it for, you won’t make any sales.)

3. Your ability. Do you have the people, the resources and the knowledge to be able to consistently provide your products or services to your target market? Can you maintain a competitive advantage? Do you have enough manpower? Can you purchase the supplies and materials you need over the long run?

Your first step always is to create a solid business plan. Your business plan is more than an essay on “Why I deserve to get funding for my idea” however. Don’t spend all the time creating a business plan and then toss it in the bottom drawer of your desk. Your business plan should be a living, breathing roadmap that helps you make sure you’re on course and reaching the goals that you set for your business.

The second step to business survival is getting enough financing. Although the term “bootstrap entrepreneur” describes most small business owners, having enough capital to be able to keep your business afloat is vital to your survival.

When you’re creating your financial analysis of your business, make sure you’re being realistic about costs and expenditures, so that you give yourself the cushion you need to succeed.

If finding financing is a problem, either because you don’t have enough credit or equity, or there are other problems, take the time to look into the resources that are available in your community. There are a wide variety of grants and loans (including microloans) for entrepreneurs, if you know where to look.

Some great resources will be:

-The Small Business Administration

-Local Small Business Development Centers

-Women’s Organizations

-Local University or Community College

-Chamber of Commerce

-SCORE (The Association for Retired Executives)

-Nonprofit organizations that work on economic development in your area

Use other successful business models as a guide. When you’re getting started, look around. What businesses are successful? Why? What is it they’re doing that is working? What attributes do you admire, and why? You stand a better chance of succeeding if you’re modeling someone who is already successful.

Find a mentor. Most entrepreneurs have great skills and abilities, but no one does everything well. You probably already know what your strengths and weaknesses are. (If not, there are many resources and tools that can help you figure it out!) Rather than ignoring your weaknesses, find a mentor who can help you either build your skills in your weaker areas, or offer advice for getting what you need.

If you take the time to plan to succeed, you could be creating a legacy that will be enjoyed by future generations, and that other entrepreneurs will look at as a model for building their own businesses.

Faster Home Business Profits

Posted by johnc on December 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Way too many people believe the Internet is a place to get rich quick with no effort or sweat needed. You just publish a web site and poof you have a home business. Please do not hold your breath waiting on results from an Internet business started with that thought process. Home business owners turning blue or choking are signs that they did not read this article.

The good news is starting an online home business is worth every second it takes to do it right. Imagine being your own boss for incentive, then use your brain and motivation to make it work. The lack of time will always be a factor in creating your business, given the fact we all have jobs, kids, family or some other distraction. To add more time to your business day use the proven techniques and strategies not shortcuts!

Imagine being able to sit down at your computer and find your home business already built in a box just waiting for you. By using content sites and article sites, you can easily find ready to go ebooks, software, products and even complete web sites, ready to build a business with. They just do not include the marketing any business requires.

Take a tour of sites like Infogoround, Surefire Wealth, and SiteSell. You will find ideas and solutions for any home business. None will be successful overnight. Success takes considerable effort and motivation and it all starts with you and a great idea.

And do not overlook your greatest asset which is the skill and knowledge you already have. Business online takes passion and chances are passion on the job got you many years of experience that you can easily share for profit. The book “Make Your Knowledge Sell” can be found on any search engine. Get a copy of it and see just how much money your knowledge can make.

Many topics and themes great for home business and affiliate sales have already been built. Take advantage of that by joining sites that sell content and ideas you can modify to suit your specific purpose. These days you can start a home based business in just minutes to hours, but above all things, have a marketing plan before you start. Then use content sites, article sites, and proven marketing tactics to get the job done.

In all cases however, the lack of an action plan is the fastest way to a home business failure. “Look before you leap” is a well known phrase and the answer for faster home business profits.

How To Choose A Home Business Computer Opportunity

Posted by johnc on December 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Whether technology like computers is your forte or not, it is a means to make money if you have some skills to offer in specific areas.  Some people are great at marketing, or at building web sites, so they sell online design and SEO services. Others are handymen, great with a toolkit and can build houses, perform expert carpentry tasks and so could setup an online business that sells their own style of furniture or offer an interior design service.

There are two paths towards a home business computer opportunity – a home based job, or a home based business.

If you wish to work from home, in your own business, you will need to establish your skill strengths. No need to know how to create a web site as there are plenty of hosts such as Hostgator that will provide tools that can enable you to set up a site in minutes.  All you need to do is draft a business plan, whom will you sell to, how will your reach them and what’s the competition? Do you have an edge on the market? Can you offer something that is missing with your competitors?

So these are the first steps towards your home business computer opportunity:

1. Since you will be operating from your computer, are you updated with the use of word processors, spreadsheets and email? I suspect you are already, though if not, and you don’t have Microsoft Office then download the openoffice.org set of tools. It’s also a professional choice.

2. This is a home based computer opportunity and not just an office based business, you will be operating from your PC or Mac. Ensure it is reliable, been checked for spyware, and has an anti-virus program running. Don’t struggle with an old pc that is problematic, invest in a new one – you are investing in your business.

3. It is a common question in blogs – what is the most successful business idea? The business of working online is a changing one and it is best to focus on long term plans rather than making a fast buck. A home business computer opportunity starting from home has a great chance of success due to its low start up costs.

There are plenty of home-based jobs available particularly in the freelance sector. If you have specific skills, this is a great place to find work. Sites that can help you move along are craigslist, freelancers.com, freelanceswitch.com and flexjobs.com. It may be a good start if you need capital and more flexible time to seek out work while your business is building. Be prepared to diversify right away if you don’t have a specialized skill. One of the most popular choices initially is freelance writing. Many use their writing skills to increase their business exposure writing press releases, and articles containing sales copy to promote their products or services.

Common home based businesses include affiliate marketing programs, freelance writing services, design and programming, franchisee options selling products and being a reseller.  Choose one that suits your long term interests carefully, this is a life changing decision and needs careful thought. Do this and you will reap the rewards. Good luck!