Where To Find The Best Free Blogging Platforms

[category Blog, advertising, marketing, business]
[tags email marketing, online marketing, work from home]

There are a lot of questions out there today about blogging and all of the things that this trend has to offer. If blogging is something that you want to get into, then you don't have to look any further. This article and the tips inside can help you build and maintain a successful blog.

Since blogs are written on a more personal level, you should avoid writing in formal tones. This will make it easier for the reader to relate to you on a personal level. This will keep your readers coming back later on to read more of the blogs you write.

You should be adding new content to your blog on a daily basis. If you want to keep your site prominent with the search engines, then you must be continually post new entries. Make sure that what you write is actually useful, not just a lot of fluff to say that you made some kind of entry.

Think of your blog posts as travelers. When you have clicked the publish button, the blog post will continue to survive on its own. Your blog post then becomes a traveler. Try giving your posts what they need to deal with any harsh conditions, along with good instructions on how to prosper online.

Having active commentary on your blog is an effective way to maintain traffic. This is because comments are content just like blog articles. Readers will revisit your blog not only to read new articles, but also to see if anyone has left new comments. You can encourage commenting by asking questions and inquiring about your readers' perspectives in your blog articles. Responding to comments also encourages commenting.

Try participating in some online group projects. Attempt to do some collaborative writing challenges online. You can do things like guest blogging, or even writing some e-books. It can be a very productive learning experience. It's also great for promotion and it can help you experiment with various writing styles.

Be sure to use a dictionary when writing content. There are many online, or even desktop-based dictionaries out there that you can use. This can be very useful when searching for synonyms or other words. Brushing up on proper English can be beneficial to both native speakers and non-native speakers alike.

Link building is a great way to traffic to your blog. In order to generate enough quality links you need to submit your blog to web directories like DMOZ, Aviva and other blog directories. Doing this creates incoming links which help your site get spidered, indexed and ranked higher by search engines, all of which drives more traffic to your blog.

No matter the blog type you want to create, the tips from this article have provided you with ideas that you can use towards maintaining a successful blog. Just be sure to apply all of what you learned from this article to the best of your ability and you should have many people following your blog before you know it.

Cassandra Waller is the Owner of http://EternalIncome.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

Disciple - Dear X (You don't own me) lyrics

First time posting a music video but this song reverberates what I feel in my darkest times and how I over come it. Every. Single. Time.

10 Necessities For A Home Based Business

[category Blog, advertising, marketing, business ]
[tags email marketing, online marketing, work from home]
[delay +2 days]

When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for business.

Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.

1. Attitude

The key to your business success is your attitude.

Treat your business like a business.

This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. One of my colleagues is a mother who works from home around her family. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her business. She says, "I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude."

Put another way, "If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a business attitude you will have a business income."

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your "spare time".

2. Working Environment

A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.

A comfortable chair and organized desk.
Stationery supplies as required. For example:

- pens
- highlighters
- stapler
- hole punch
- sticky tape
- note book(s)
- a simple filing system
- ring binders
- manilla folders

Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

3. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or "significant others") and your business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self education ( reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

4. Describe Your Business

Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business.

5. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling ebooks then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it know it "inside out". You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.

It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won't be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

6. Administration

Use good record keeping practices.

This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.

You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Treepad available as either the free Lite version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions. http://www.treepad.com

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Roboform that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms. http://www.roboform.com

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.

You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

Some suggestions are:

AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org
Microsoft Anti-Spyware:
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net

8. A Domain Name

You will most likely need a domain name for your business and one cost effective registrar is GoDaddy, http://www.godaddy.com.

9. Payment Processing

You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as:
- PayPal https://www.paypal.com
- Storm Pay http://www.stormpay.com
- 2 Checkout http://www.2checkout.com
- Clickbank http://www.clickbank.com or others.

This is the most economical way to get started. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.

Consideration may also be given to other forms of online currency such as eGold http://www.egold.com

10. Email accounts

Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.

As a final comment on continuing in your internet business, conduct your business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term internet business.

Want to make money online? Here's 10 Proven Ways!

[category ]
[tags ]
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In tough and uncertain economic times, people are taking charge of their economic future and turning to the Internet to earn money. The Internet is filled with legitimate ways to earn from home if you know what to look for. This article provides realistic advise on how to earn from reputable online sources and run your own profitable home-based business successfully.

Let's get started. Here's what you need to know to make money online consistently and legitimately.

1. Do set yourself up with an online place of business - get a domain address.  For $10 or so per year, it's worth it to book your own domain name. It makes you look more reputable, permanent and more accountable. Separate yourself from the sketchy programs out there by having your own domain name. Your website with a domain name is your place where you do your business and the location for all your programs, products, services or resume.  If you have other websites from various affiliate programs you are involved, that's fine, you can add the links to those programs on your domain based website.

2. Do book a website hosting account with a reliable hosting company. It doesn't matter if you use WordPress to create your site, or a Content Management System provided by your host, but DO get an account that gives you 100% control over your site to add content, pages, widgets, images, video, search engine optimization, stats tracking, sub-domains etc.  The days of a 3 or 4 page bland static website are long gone. Today, website owners can (and should) add  tools, gadgets, blogs and other resources on their site to make it more customer friendly, search engine friendly, and social media friendly.      Effective sites engage the visitor with live chat options, video, member areas, commenting and more.  If your hosting provider doesn't include site analysis and traffic tools, Google offers a free program that is very helpful for tracking important data related to your site traffic. It's called Google Analytics.  Website hosting will be in range of $10 - $50 per month.

Now let's look at proven successful revenue sources.

3. When it comes to earning from online sources here are some proven successful ways to making money online:

a)  Affiliate Marketing:  Affiliate marketing means that you sign up with a company as an Affiliate, refer business to those companies and you collect a commission for sales.   You  will be amazed at the growing number of large brick and mortar companies that offer affiliate programs. You've likely heard of Amazon but what about the Affiliate programs offered  by  WalMart, Pay-Less Shoes, Orbitz, Old Navy, G.I. Joes, ABT Electronics and American Express to name just a few.   How each company pays commission and how much varies but with a high traffic website and precision marketing you can generate tidy income from affiliate marketing sources.  Don't be afraid to look outside of recognizable retailers for good Affiliate Marketing ideas. ClickBank.com for example, allows you to promote thousands of digital products. Vendors post their digital product to ClickBank, you promote it, when a sale is made you collect a commission. ClickBank handles payments and refunds so your only job is to pick the products you want to sell, promote, and collect commission.  Pick a number of solid reputable affiliate marketing programs, but only a few so you can focus on those and only those to see success.  I have to include a shameless plug here for my own company, Worldprofit.com.  Worldprofit includes in our Earn-At-Home Program a number of Affiliate Marketing products, reseller opportunities as well as a comprehensive sales and marketing training  program.  As the economy has fumbled, affiliate marketing and work at home programs such as what we offer at Worldprofit have exploded.

b)  Blogging: Don't stop at Affiliate Marketing, money can be made from popular blogging sites by adding in advertising revenue from sources like Google Ad Sense, this is called Monetizing.  Food bloggers, celebrity gossip bloggers, expert columnists and many more are generating sweet advertising revenue by including ads on their high traffic blogs. The ads are generated from an Advertising program such as that offered by Google and many others.  They key to this revenue source is high and ongoing traffic. You will also need really unique frequently posted niche content to generate a following and get steady traffic.

c) Sale of Products: Of course you have seller options such as E-Bay for selling products either new or used.  E-Bay is not a new idea for making money online but it is a source that many people have been relying on for years. Wholesale items, overstock products, collectors novelties, bankruptcy sale items, fire sale items, garage sale items - even houses - are just a few examples of what people are selling on E-Bay.  Those who are reliable sellers earn status as trusted sellers and can earn significant money selling products.

d)  Site Flipping:  Flippa is a website that through an auction process, allows you to buy or sell complete niche websites, many with an existing customer base and verifiable traffic. If you are clever and have built up a successful online property you an sell it on Flippa.  It's a similar concept as buying a home, fixing it up and selling it. In this case though you create a site for a nice market, monetize it, grow traffic, a prospect list and a customer database, then simply sell the site.  For someone who doesn't have the interest in creating a site and all the work of building traffic and customers, a ready-made website can be purchased.  Take a click over to Flippa.com to see new for sale listings, active listings, browse, price range, sold sites and more.

e)  Freelancing:  If you have a specialized skill or knowledge, have a look at freelancing sites such as Elance.com. Over 1/2 a million jobs are posted every year on Elance. This is a site where you can post your unique skills. Both companies and freelancers (called contractors) can post their jobs/skills.   It's unique in that you can access specific jobs including work for programmers, writers, designers,  consultants and so forth. There are so many options, take some time to review these mentioned and keep an open-mind about what is available.  Other sites offering a similar service include FreeLancer.com and Freelancejobs.org     By posting your profile to these sites and taking on contact work you can earn considerable income.

f)  YouTube.com  Not everyone is destined for instant success like Justin Beiber after simply posting a video to YouTube.   There IS money to be made with YouTube, that fact is a certainty. YouTube's partner program allows you to post videos and earn revenue as your audience grows.  Remember the scared baby video? What about the talking dog videos?  Those videos and lots more are generating a steady source of income for someone due to the popularity of those videos. Initially the income can be very small, but if your video becomes hugely popular your commission checks will grow at the same time.  Get good at it, get a following and then release videos to keep that source of income growing.    Visit YouTube's Partner section of their website to read success stories and how the program works.

g)  Multiple Streams of Income.  Here's a final thought on earning from online  sources.  Multiple streams of income is the key to consistent revenue, pick a few programs or options and focus on those to EARN something before you move on to the next. Make sure you are not spread to thin and can devote adequate time to building those sources of revenue.  You need to have the time, commitment and an advertising budget to promote on a consistent basis.

4. Realize you must work your business every day to expect to see results.  Don't expect overnight success, or even success after a few weeks. If you are in this for a hobby fine, but if you want to build an online business with a steady source of full time income realize that it will take time. It's a slow build and a lot of work.

5.  Understand  that CONSISTENT marketing and promotion is critical to your success. Ever notice that Coke is always advertising? Coke is continually in your face reminding you they are there. They sponsor events, they run TV ads, Super Bowl commercials and taste-test booths.  The reason is simple. Every business, big and small must constantly promote their product or service.  Your online business is no different. Promotion is a daily task. How much you earn is directly related to how much time and effort you invest in marketing your product.  Learn about the power of social media including FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, YouTube, and so many more.  If you don't have a blog get one, and post unique content daily with rich key words related to your products/services/business and include integrated links to social media for maximum exposure.

6. Factor in that you will have to allocate and  spend some of your hard earned money on advertising. Any successful business requires that you put money back into it. If you think you will build your earnings relying  exclusively on free methods of advertising you will be disappointed. Yes, you can promote your business using free sites, and free services, but accompany that with actual paid ads at reputable sites.  Don't limit yourself to the major search engines like Google and their Ad Words program. Also consider Safelist Advertising and Traffic Exchanges.  Safelist advertising once spurned as the poor man's advertising vehicle has gained popularity and is free to get started with very low cost advertising options.   Traffic exchanges work in a similar way and are worth consideration. For best results in either Safelists or Traffic Exchanges be prepared to pay for ads to see the best results.  If you are on a tight budget combine both free and paid methods of advertising, and make sure you have an Ad Tracker software program so you know which ads are generating clicks and from which source.

7. Set goals.  Are you going to make $100 today?  $500 this week? How much?  Once you have set your goals, set your plans for how you will accomplish this. What are the daily, weekly, monthly tasks you will do to make your financial goals a reality?  Don't allow your self to get distracted or pulled down with tasks that don't get you closer to where you want to be.  If your day ends with no commission report or sales report that says you earned SOMETHING today, rethink your plan for tomorrow.  Get up early and get busy.

8. Have a positive attitude, I can't stress this enough. Put a smile on your face, believe, then do.  In my work as a trainer and consultant, I talk to people everyday who have had mixed success in building an online business.  The people I have watched grow and build their own successful business are those who think positive and take action.   Don't be brought down by negative people, the know it alls, the ones that rain on your parade.  Be mindful that while they are talking you down, you are doing something to improve your financial situation. Let that negativity slide off your back and propel you forward to work harder, and smarter.

9. Accept that you will have failure. Get over it. Learn from your mistakes. Move on.  If it was easy to build a successful online business everyone would be making millions.

10. Find a mentor or training program that fits for you.  The web is filled with software, e-books, training programs, webinars and more. You have all of this information at your fingertips. Find the best sources and get started. Don't make the mistake of learning, study, analyzing but never actually DOING anything. You won't find success thinking about it, success is the results of DOING something to make it happen.
 

Copy. Paste. Promote. Repeat. You've got to be kidding right?

[category Blog, advertising, marketing, business]
[tags autoresponder, learning, online business, how to, work from home, internet marketing]
[delay +1 days]

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

How do you build an online business? Copy. Paste. Promote. Repeat.

I really hate using the first expression because I LOVE elephants but to make a point sometimes you have to be blunt.

This blog is meant to be direct and maybe make you a little irritated so you will REACT. A reaction is better than nothing. Hopefully that irritation leads to a reaction which leads to an action.

Forgive me if the tone of this blog sounds a bit tongue in cheek. My purpose is to try and get you to simplify tasks so you can get the results you want. I'd like you to think about things from a different perspective.

Every day I talk to people all over the world who are trying to build their online business. Some are having no success, some are having mixed success, some are just getting started, some have been working an online business for years. The ones who are hugely successful, I never hear from  - hmmm strange.

What's the difference between the successful and the non-successful?  Well it depends on who you ask and your definition of success. Here's my take on it.

People who are successful are DOERS! 
They don't over think, they plod in and get busy. 
They make mistakes, they learn, they try again. 
They fall down, they get up again as often as it takes to get the job done. They simplify; they don't overcomplicate. 
They have a unique way of looking at things, and attacking a task. 
They FOCUS on what needs to be done, eliminate distraction. 
They understand that small tasks can lead to big results. 
They find what works and stick to it. 
They have a patience many of us just can't fathom. 
Failure is not an option. 

I had the honour of playing a round of golf with a Professional Golfer last week. This guy was good and had won numerous tournaments.  I asked him how he got to be such a good golfer and this is what he told me. He said, "I've played golf since I was 4. I'm 24 now. I've played golf pretty much every day my entire life." I then said to him, "so you did the same thing everyday and got really good at it?"  He looked at me for a moment to make sure that I was being serious about something so obvious then he said. "Yes, I got some lessons and instructions then practised every day and here I am."  

So if I can draw from that, if you want to be good at something - successful at something - do it everyday - over and over and over again!

Could it be that simple?

Building your online business is as simple as   Copy. Paste. Promote. Repeat.  Everyday?

What do you think? Post your comments below. I'd like to see your thoughts. 

21 Recommended Books for Entrepreneurs

[category Blog, advertising, marketing, business]
[tags email marketing, online marketing, work from home]
[delay +1 days]

Often when I am consulting with clients, I am asked to recommend books for entrepreneurs. I have compiled a list of titles on my shelf that I think are worth reading. Success in business means constantly learning and evolving, what better way to do so than sitting down with a good book. These are in no particular order.  I hope you enjoy them as I have.

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

The Intelligent Entrepreneur by Bill Murphy

Cash Copy by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns By David Chilton (these will appeal especially to Canadians reading this article)

Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don't by Donald J. Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Micalowicz

7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness by Jim Rohn

Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack by Donna Fenn

Illusions of Entrepreneurship by Scott A. Shane

Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim

Magic of Thinking BIG by David J Schwartz

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (His book, The Outliers is really a good book too but less related to Entrepreneurs)

Why We Buy by Paco Underhill

The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Screw It, Let's Do It by Richard Branson

Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed by Brian Tracy

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth About Starting and Growing Your Own Business by Barry Moltz

Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar

Of course these are print books.  There are lots of superb blogs and websites targeted at entrepreneurs. I will save that list for another post as it will be a very long list.  For now I think you have some reading to do? Enjoy.

NOTE:  Let us know what you think. We've love to hear which are your favourite titles. Open minds invite new ideas, sharing ideas makes us all a little smarter. 

Feeling Frustrated and Discouraged about your online business? 20 Ways to Get Motivated.

[category Blog, advertising, marketing, business ]
[tags email marketing, online marketing, work from home ]
[delay +1 days]

Building an online business can be tough, frustrating at times, and it can be easy to get discouraged. Know that you are not alone!  Everyone who has ever had the courage to try something new, to take risk, or attempt something that is difficult has felt the same way you have at some point.

Here are some quotes from people who did not start out successful, they had to earn it like the rest of us. I hope they help get you motivated again. Print them off it like and post on your wall by your computer as you are working away turn to it in times of doubt. Hey! Make up one of your own quotes, and add it to the list with YOUR name. Maybe some day YOUR name will appear on the list with other greats of our time.

“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.” ­ Author Unknown (Sandi says: This one is my absolute favourites!)

“When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum.” ­ Author Unknown

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” ­ T.S. Eliot Poet

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.” ­ Theodore Roosevelt

“Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” ­ Louis D. Brandeis, Honourable Supreme Court Justice

“Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.” ­ Marian Wright Edelman, Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” ­A Buddhist Saying

“The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” ­ Robert G. Ingersoll, Poet

“We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.” ­ Helen Keller

“The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.” ­ Abraham Lincoln

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."  Henry Ford

“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” ­ Jacob A. Riis

“The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle­the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.” ­ Douglas MacArthur, American General

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”­ Japanese Proverb

"Plan for gradual improvement, not spectacular leaps. . .A slow and steady stream of water will, in time, erode the hardest rock." David Campbell, Ph.D

“True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher.” ­ John Petit-Senn, French Poet

“The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.” ­ George Santayana, American philosopher and poet

"We all find ourselves in situations that at times seem hopeless. And, we all have the choice to do nothing or take action." Catherine Pulsifer

"Want to get what you want? Get up off your butt and do SOMETHING to get where you want to be!  Smarter, thinner, richer, whatever.  None of those things are on or near your couch." Author Unknown.

"Put YOUR QUOTE HERE! " - Add your name to it. Why not!? Let your inspirational quote come from within.  I bet this one will be THE most motivating. Create it. Post it.