Entries from June 2007 ↓

When I have left a blog for a few days I usually find it more difficult to come back. Once I get really involved in a blog, ideas usually come forward quicker than I can write. It might seem strange, but the more you blog, the more ideas you generate. Today I was struggling to think of topics for this blog and it wasn’t coming easily; so in rather disingenuous fashion I have written an article: “Finding topics to write about”

1. What is the Core Theme of your Blog?

You may have already written about the topics, but that doesn’t mean you can’t write more articles, or better articles. Often after writing several articles you have more idea about your topic. This is a good time to write a pillar article which combines the best of what you have written in various places.

2. Look at Your Core themes from a different Angle.

I always recommend stepping out of the blogosphere. Try to look at your topic from a different angle. For example, in this post “What blogging taught me about Economics” I combined my perspective as an Economist with blogging.

3. Respond to Other Posts.

In your reading of RSS feeds, you will be likely to come across new topics and interesting ideas. These can often be a springboard for a new post; however, I think it is important to offer something new and innovative and not just regurgitate the gist of someone else’s posts.

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A bit unexpectedly, I find myself overwhelmed with marking exam papers. It’s a bit dreary, unless you come across answers like these: funny test answers

Unfortunately, it means my posting frequency has been adversely affected. This post caught my eye: What to do when don’t have time to update your blog  at Blogging tips.

Luckily, this will just be a temporary blip, so I will have more free time next week.  In the meantime, maybe you might be interested in my first posts to this blog, including a look at when to use the comma and how to get more links.

As I work on several sites, I think I host 11 of my own sites, I spent alot of time looking around for a good hosting provider.

In the end I choose Host i Can reseller package.

For $10.95 a month you can have the following features:

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1. Information

How to …..

e.g. How to be a prolific blogger

2. Links to Resources.

Links to other external sites. Some successful blogs are collections of good, relevant external links. I am always looking out for good articles on writing, blogs. The problem is that searching the internet can be very time consuming. Well researched links to the best articles help alot. (It’s also a useful way to make contact with other bloggers.)

3. A conversation

Only a small % of visitors to a blog will make a comment, but those who leave comments have made a close relationship with the blog; it is in an indication the blog, at the very least, has stimulated further discussion.

4. Inspiration.

Sometimes we visit blogs for inspiration. This can be either in a specific sense; i.e. inspiration for our blog writing, or it could be general inspiration when we don’t feel like writing.

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1. No One Reads Your Blog and Your mother doesn’t know how to turn on a computer.

If you see you have 10 visitors in your statistics page, don’t get too excited, that’s just you hitting the reload button 10 times.
2. You have nothing to say.

If you have nothing to say, there is no need to write 5 paragraphs on how you have nothing really very interesting to say today - but maybe tomorrow you will feel a bit more like it - it kind of really depends on how your grandma is recovering from her latest infection of shingles…
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“I earn $6,000 per week, and only work 2 hours a day!”

No, unfortunately I cannot say this applies to me. However, there do seem to be quite a few such adverts floating around the internet. (Although, I can’t help but wonder - if it’s so easy to make money, why do they work so hard trying to sell these e-books?)

Anyway the model of earning a living through blogging is pretty enticing.- Write on your favourite topics, work from home - whenever you feel like it, and then just watch the dollars come flooding in. However, the reality is that earning money from blogging is not as easy as sometimes we would like to believe.
Part of the trouble is that A List bloggers such as John Chow, Darren Rowse, and Steve Pavlina seem to make big money effortlessly, yet it is worth bearing in mind, such bloggers are in the top 0.05% of bloggers. To match their income streams is not at all simple. The reality is that most bloggers trying to make a living online, don’t make it. For every A list blogger, there are maybe 10,000 would be aspiring blogger’s, struggling to make more than a few dollars a day.

What does it take to Make Money Online? 10 Tips.

1. Focus.

If you are uncertain about whether to monetise your blog, it is important to clear up any ambiguity. It is no good trying to make money with slight feelings of guilt about having ads on your site. If you don’t like the idea of ads on your personal site, start a new site with a commercial purpose. The important thing is that if you want to make money from your blog, you should have this as a clear purpose. This will help you to do things, which will actually make money.

2. Choose Right Topic.

You need to match your interests with a commercial aspect. Whatever advertising you use, you will get paid more if you blog about products or services people actually pay for. If you blog about Mortgages, mortgage companies will be willing to pay a good amount to advertise on your site. This is because, if people click on the ad and buy a mortgage, it is a big profit margin. Therefore, the mortgage companies are willing to bid a decent amount per click.
If you want to make money from a personal blog site, you may need to attract 100 times the traffic of a mortgage site. See: Choosing right blog niche.

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If you are reading this, chances are you will already have a blog. However, you may feel that you have outgrown your first blog and would like to diversify into different areas.

When starting a new blog it is very important to choose the right niche and topics to blog on. Before starting a blog it is also worth considering what the purpose of the blog is for. This will to a large extent determine the approach of the blog.

If possible also make sure you can get a relevant domain name, to go with your blog.

When choosing a niche for your website, make sure you consider the following points.

1. Do you have knowledge about the subject?

Can you write articles without having to copy ideas from others? If the answer is no, the blog is a bit of a non starter.

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My main job is an economics teacher. One of my more successful blogs is an Economics Blog. It’s probably more successful because it’s a niche I find easy to write about.

Having a training in Economics gives you a certain perspective, this is few ideas related to blogging.

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity Cost means that when ever we do something there is a cost of losing out on an alternative that we could have done instead. In simple terms - The next best alternative foregone. The biggest challenge for a blogger is managing his limited time in the most effective way. If we have 2 hours per day, we have to make sure we don’t waste these hours. For example, we could spend 2 hours reading and commenting on other people’s blog. This has a certain benefit; however, the opportunity cost is that we haven’t written anything for our own blog. Generally, I feel it is more important to write for your own blog, rather than comment on others. If I do spend time reading RSS feeds, I limit the time because I’m aware of the opportunity cost. There are many things which will help your blog; however, you have to choose to do the MOST useful things first; only then can you do the less important tasks.see What to do with 10 hours for your blog
Economies of Scale.

My first attempts at blogging were hard work. I would spend alot of time learning about html, css and discovering what works. For all that effort you get little in the way of traffic, links and income. However, the more time you spend blogging, the more efficient you become. After several months of blogging, I can now use the skills I have learned for several blogs. Many blogs share the same template and similar traffic strategies. The point is that to succeed in blogging you have to make a really determined effort. If your blogging is half hearted, you will never really succeed. The more you blog the more successful you become. The really big blogs don’t have to spend anytime advertising their blog, readers do that for them automatically. If you feel your early efforts are not getting much return - persevere. Your efforts will begin to give an increasing return.

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I enjoyed reading this interview with A list blogger Steve Pavlina. Steve Pavlina blogs on topics of self improvement and has one of the most read blogs on the net.

The interview is here at Daily Blog Tips

I thought this question and answer interesting: getting inspiration for blogs - look beyond RSS feeds.
10. How many RSS feeds do you track daily?

About 5, but I don’t check them every day. The vast majority of RSS feeds are a complete waste of time. I find books, audio programs, seminars, and plain old conversation with interesting people a much better source of input

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 Some of Steve’s articles

• How to give up Coffee
• How to be an early riser 
• 10 reasons you should never get a job - sounds good :

It is worth submitting your blog to Outpost Earth

• Unlike other blog directories the site is done as a blog, so the link back counts in the technorati rankings.
• Another good feature is that your most recent posts get featured on the home page and also the different sub categories, such as your location.
• By chance I found a useful blog entry looking through the internet section.
• If you have more than 1 blog, you can still submit them, you just need to use a different username.
• Nothing to lose, Free links.