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Reviews of any kind (paid or unpaid) are great ways for bloggers to generate traffic.

Today’s Lesson

Product and/or book reviews can help to increase traffic (to our blogs), and may even make us a few coins in the process.

Although I don’t do many product reviews on this blog, I have done a fair share on my Observation Mountain (OM) blog.

What I’ve found works best with product/book reviews, is to have the name of the product/book somewhere in the title.

We all know using keywords and/or keyword phrases is important to get your blog post indexed by the search engines, and for reviews to get found, it’s essential.

Here’s a product review I did on my OM blog that continues to get traffic.

The title is: Product Review: Ecos Laundry Detergent

Buying a “natural” laundry detergent like Ecos , is great for the environment. It’s biodegradable, safe for septic systems, great for sensitive skin, and is phosphate and petrochemical free.

Ecos laundry detergent is a plant based detergent.

I’ve used this product for approximately a year now, and find it works great at getting clothes clean. For stains, you can rub a small amount of the detergent on the stain, and wash as per washing instructions. It’s great for colors, and safe for all water temperatures.

Price per load is slightly higher than regular detergents, however, with it’s built in fabric softener (soy based), you save money on buying an additional fabric softener.

Ecos suggests using 2 ounces of detergent for a full load of clothes, and less for smaller loads. If you’re using a high efficiency (HE) washer, you only need 2 tablespoons.

I recently purchased a 210 fluid ounce bottle of the Ecos laundry detergent (Ultra Original Formula) at Costco. It’s scented with magnolia and lily, which leaves your clothes smelling fresh.

The best part of this product…I can pronounce all of the ingredients. Now, that’s natural.

And, making it even better…………….it’s made in the USA. Considering that, I give it, two thumbs up. 8)

Want to read more about Ecos. go to Earth Friendly Products, at www.ecos.com.

I do not write product reviews to bash products. If I do find something negative about a product I use, I try to find a positive to balance the negative. Note: in the above product review I wrote,

Price per load is slightly higher than regular detergents, however, with it’s built in fabric softener (soy based), you save money on buying an additional fabric softener.

I’m telling my readers they will initially pay more, but in the end, will save by not buying fabric softener.

You may ask, “why would you write a product/book review if you don’t get paid for it?”

1) I like to share my finds with others
2) It’s a way to get traffic to my blog
3) Since I have Google AdSense on my OM blog, after reading the review, a visitor might click on one of my ads and I’ll make a coin or two.

It’s a win-win. Others find great products, and I feel good about sharing. The money aspect is an added benefit.

When reviewing or writing about books, I use Amazon’s affiliate program (they sell more than just books). If someone clicks on your ad and completes a sale through Amazon’s shopping cart, you make a small percentage of the sale. You can see evidence of how I used Amazon at the top of this post.

Catherine recently wrote a post regarding the impact product reviews have on companies, and how many companies dismiss negative comments on their forums/blogs. To read more about this, check out her post titled: Don’t Preach To The Wrong Audience

Today’s Assignment

Do you, or have you done product/book reviews? Paid or Unpaid?

If so, did it help your traffic numbers? Sales?

Do you read and believe the reviews you read online?

2438005410 6100c23246 m Blogging   Year One   Lesson Twelve
I couldn’t end this series without talking about making money with blogs.

Most bloggers start a blog with money as part of the equation. I did.

However, the truth about making money with a blog is often misleading.

Search online and you’ll find many sites, e-books, or “subscribe to this” that claim you can make big money, FAST, with a blog. It will only cost you $X.XX. Sign up, share your credit card number, and you can make thousands in a short time. It must be true. After all, they show a copy of a check(s), made out to themselves, for an astronomical amount of money.

Pictures don’t lie. Or do they?

When I started blogging, I plastered ads on my two blogs. I signed up for Google AdSense, LinkShare.com, Commission Junction and Amazon.

I then proceeded to spend countless hours adding ads, moving ads, changing ads, resizing ads, and then constantly checking the statistics to see how many hundreds I was making. HA! That was a joke. I wasn’t making anything. Months passed, some of the ads remained, but my pocketbook wasn’t any thicker.

I didn’t spend any money by joining these “companies”, but I did lose tons of time.

To recap where I am 13 months later, from Commission Junction I received a $17 check. Linkshare shows I have a $14.75 balance, but they don’t payout until you have accumulated $25.00. I haven’t seen any checks from Amazon either, although they say I’ve earned $12.39.

Google AdSense was a slow starter, but the pennies finally added up and I got my first check from them. (They payout at $100.00+). I should see my second check next month.

I was also blessed with a donation from Mark, at Creative Journey Cafe.

All in all, what I’ve “earned” (not received) has covered my overhead for my BlueHost account, domain names + renewals. By doing the math, I’m a little ahead of the “game” as long as I don’t put a value on the time I spend blogging. ((((laughs)))))

Interestingly, the money I have made was the result of my second blog. It’s a blog that receives nearly all of it’s traffic from search engines (organic traffic), and does not have a “community” of commenters. This tells me, if you can get your blog to receive organic traffic (by using SEO and keyword phrases, etc…), your chances of making money will increase.

The one problem with using keyword phrases (keywords), it forces you to change your writing style. In some ways, it can hinder your creativity.

So what have I learned?

I’ve learned, I don’t know how to make money blogging. LOL

Lesson Twelve: Money can be made with blogs. I believe search engine traffic is the key, and you need lots of it (thousands of visitors a day). Your subject matter must appeal either to the masses or to a specific niche of people (not bloggers).

At this point, the money I make is irrelevant, however, don’t tell my husband that. He believes this “hobby” of mine will pay for itself, and maybe than some. Let’s keep this just between us. :)

As for those pictures of the big checks, could they have been a Photoshop project? You decide.

Today’s Assignment:

Are you blogging for dollars? If so, is it working?

Have you discovered a great way to make money with a blog?

Or are you like me, and the money part of blogging has lost it appeal?


Photo Credit: d70focus’ photostream

14388744 1767c6eb1a o Google AdSense   Arrows For More Ads

If you use Google AdSense, you may have noticed arrows on the ad unit.

Today’s Lesson

Just recently Google added two small arrows to their AdSense ads units.

What this does, is gives the potential ad clicker, more advertising options.

Whether a reader on a blog will notice these arrows is another question, so all may be for naught.

However if a visitor is looking closely at the AdSense ads, it could mean you’ll earn a few coins from a click.

I normally don’t use Google AdSense on this blog, so for those of you who don’t use AdSense, you can check out the arrow display on my Observation Mountain blog.

Today’s Assignment

If you use AdSense, had you noticed this arrow feature?

Do you think it could help to increase your AdSense earnings?

If you don’t use Google AdSense, will it convince to you start using it, knowing there are more ad options to generate revenue?

Photo Credit NOTICIAS-TIC’s photos

Many bloggers are being careful not to monetize their blogs too soon. Why? Because a few big name bloggers said you should wait to monetize your blog until you build up a loyal readership. Yes, that makes sense. After all, we don’t want other bloggers to think we’re only in it for the money.But…are we only writing for other bloggers? Or are we writing for the masses?

Should we wait, and then when we have a big readership, totally change the look of our blog by adding some AdSense or a few banner ads? That doesn’t make sense. Our loyal readers may think they’re on the wrong site and leave.

I say, if you want to monetize your blog, do it from the beginning. Readers come to your site for the content. As long as the content isn’t overpowered by advertisements, I don’t see how they would be offended. Plus, they might click on an ad or two.

Emulate a favorite website, and monetize your blog from the beginning.

It is written, act like…..and become like…

Learn from those who came before you…

If a blogger wants to make a few coins, is that so wrong?

Photo Credit fdecomite’s photos
514748067 e46c125da0 Why Wait   Blog For Dollars Now

Today’s Lesson

To prove this point, I went on some big name websites. Here’s what I found:

On Oprah’s website, she has ads on every page. including her home page. Click on a link, and there is a full banner ad on the top of the page, and a skyscraper ad (rotating ads) down the side. They actually don’t look bad.

NBC’s Today Show website, has two rectangular ads. One is a picture ad, the other is verbiage.

Fox News follows the same format with ads in their sidebar, as well as at the bottom of their home page.

The Washington Post website has ads

So does target=”_blank”CNBC The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch ,About.com, ,Lost the TV series, and CSI Miami, a CBS primetime series.

The Whitehouse website does not have ads, nor do other governmental websites I have visited. (Maybe they should)

On none of these sites am I “put off” by the ads. They blend in, and the ads do not take away from the content.

You may ask, why would these big name websites have ads? For the money, of course. Granted, some of websites are being paid big bucks to display these ads, but even with the AdSense ads, these webmasters know incorporating advertisements, will help to subsidize their website costs.

Should we be any different?

In this world of millions of people searching, and millions of searchers not knowing the difference between a website and a blog, do you think an ad will distract them. Apparently not. They’re seeing them where ever they go.

So, what are we waiting for?

Today’s Assignment

Do you monetize your blog, or are you waiting until you build up readership?

Do you have a problem when you see ads on other blogs?

Have you seen blogs that over do it with advertising?

Yesterday I wrote how we often marry our blogs, by becoming consumed with blogging.

Today, I will share time saving tips I use on a daily basis which streamline my blogging activities..

Today’s Lesson

1) Install a good spam blocker. I use Akismet, however, there are others available which will alleviate wasting time deleting spam comments.

2) With WordPress, use the post timestamp. Write when you are feeling creative, and use the post timestamp to schedule the publishing times.

3) If you have a particular aspect of your blog you want to track, check to see if there is a plugin available to do the job. A good plugin can save tons of time.

4) Check statistics no more than once a day. Less frequently is better. Stat checking can put you on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, thus affecting your creativity.

Photo Credit fdecomite’s photos
406635986 fa8da57692 m 15 Time Saving Tips For Bloggers

5) Set a realistic blogging schedule based on your daily work load/home life. If need be, use a timer.

6) Subscribe to you favorite blogs via an RSS feed. Catch up on them all at once. I use Google Feed Reader and it works well for me.

7) Refrain from Stumbling or Digging posts if you are under a time crunch. Social networking can become very time consuming

8.) With WordPress, take time to watch or read tutorials. There is a great list of them published on Business Blogging 101. Understanding your blogging platform, along with all of the available shortcuts will save you many hours of frustration.

9) Set a specific time to check your comments. Use that time to answer new arrivals.

10) Leaving comments on other blogs is important, however, do not feel obligated to comment on each post. Your favorite bloggers know you have a life too, and don’t expect daily comments.

11) When researching for posts, use your bookmarking feature to save a page you may link to in the future. I often use the RSS feed for this purpose, although that’s not what it’s intended for.

12) If you are signed up for Google AdSense, use the AdSense Notifier, available with Firefox. Your earnings will show on your task bar, thus eliminating the need to check your AdSense account.

13) Use your center click (on your mouse) to open a web page in a new window. I like using the “tab” feature Firefox offers, a center click will open new tabs at the top of your screen.

14) Use a split browser to grab links. I use the one that is available with Firefox. It takes a little practice, but is a real time saver.

15) Use the Firefox split browser when answering comments. Open your blog on both halves, answering comments on one half, and use the other half to view each comment. This saves time from continually scrolling up and down the page

Today’s Assignment

What time saving techniques do you use when blogging?

Care to share?

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