Hi Iroko, thanks for this great article. You’ve just re-assured me of the fact that I’m a millionaire blogger because I’ve everyone of those traits! 🙂

Ok, I think you should have added “Persistence.” I believe millionaire bloggers all have the spirit of persistence. They never quit no matter the odds against them.

Thanks businessschoolblog. It’s a pleasure to share!

@cane furniture,

Except one or two software I use for daily planing I don’t really use goal setting software. I’m sure if you do a search on Google you will be able to found some useful ones. When you find one simply do another search for reviews. I hope that will help.

@cane furniture,

And that is why we must determine to be different. Let’s learn these lessons from Rev. King and be a blessing to the world!

@Cudjoe,

Of course, no one business idea is easy if you don’t know about that idea! Profiting with any business demands you knowing what you are doing. Creating software is not what everyone want to go into. You will first need to have the skills and right tools. The list for everyone to look into and then going for the one that better suit you.

Thanks for the comment.

@Leon,

It’s really clear that many more bloggers are thinking in this line also. Bloggers have seen that collaborating is better than trying to outwit the other person. Get it right and your blogging business will indeed be a thing of joy! Thanks for the comment.

I agree with you there on building quality backlinks. Do the wrong thing and all your hardwork will go down the drain! Thanks for the comment.

This is a sample comment used by Thank Me Later. It is not displayed on any blog posts.

You’re right on point Tim. Promoting affiliate programs that offer recurring commissions is a great way of putting in the work once and reaping the gains for years to come 🙂

Thanks for adding your voice to the piece.

Glad to hear that Stuart 🙂

Hi Donna,

Great to hear from you again. Wishing you a glorious and fruitful 2018!

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the comment. Yes, these tips may indeed be great for newbie bloggers. But the truth is any experienced blogger can take these and turn his/her experience into a lucrative business. And, in my estimation the target audience for this post is actually the middle to advanced bloggers, or don’t you think so?

Great to hear that. Can you send me the link after the translation? Will like see how it looks in your language 🙂

You’re definitely right Louis.Thanks for joining the conversation.

Hi Robin,

Indeed affiliate marketing is simply a no brainer when it comes to building your own business online. Even those who have their own products one way or the still promote affiliate products as an add-on.

Thanks for the comment.

Hi Arpit,
it’s really a sad thing to see many labor year to year on the blogs and at the end throw in the trowel because they couldn’t make things work. I truly believe if they work on their mindset from the beginning things could be better. Thanks for the comment.

It’s glad to know that this content resonate with you.

It’s really a pleasure to hear that. Thanks for joining the conversation 🙂

Hi Jack,

It’s a pleasure to see that the post was of help to you. On boasting about your product, I really do not understand what you mean by this. But it is worth noting that the prospect really do not care about you or your product. Instead of “boasting’ of what your product is, it is better to show what your product can do for the prospect. this way you can ‘arrest’ her attention and bring her to taking action!

Of course, it it Valentine. This allows you to have traditional mails sent to you digitally 🙂

It’s great to know you find this interesting. Can you let us know your experience of it after trying it out?

Hi Robins,

Fact is, if you are not putting in efforts to impress your site visit and that on their mobile devices, you are leaving money on the table, as they say it!

Thanks for the comment.

There’s actually more benefits in having a live chat on your business websites these when customers desire immediate response to their inquiries. Thanks for joining the conversation.

Hi Robin,

Thanks so much. I’m glad to know you love this post also.

Hi Dan,
Glad to have you add your voice. Truly love your explanation about the difference between a website and a blog. Many most times confuse the two especially since most people only have a blog as their online marketing tool. But for a business, you definitely will want to make a definitely line between the two so as to understand your focus.
BTW, I understand you want to say, “It’s almost unthinkable for any business to NOT have a website in this day and age.” 🙂
Regards.

@Pankaj, That’s exactly the way to go. Those who are already in your niche will be more willing to connect with you and of course when they do you gain more exposure.

@Pankaj, You can say that again! May be there being “weired” is just a way of getting the attention. 🙂

@Emmanuel,

Great to hear from you once again!

Now,is that not really funny? The truth is that many of us really do not know the purpose of schooling. They are condition to believe that getting an education is about taking up employment, get a fat pay check and then spend the rest of your life “slaving” to make someone else rich while they go on complaining about the government no taking care of us!

Btw, why not muse the idea of starting something online to him? That might save him wasting his life looking for what is not there!

Really glad to hear from you.

@Emmanuel,

That’s really good news! The fact is simply knowing what really works and then focusing on it. To know, you will need to test and track. Taking the initiative is really what matters.

I hope you achieve your dreams and thanks for the comment.

@Mitch,

It’s obvious why email did not work for you. You must understand that email marketing is not the same as “mass email broadcasting.” Email marketing is about permission marketing. You will need to build a list and nurture it to be responsive. Buying email contact from some email merchant and sending out email broadcast with the hope that some will click and buy your offers is a recipe for failure. That is not what I’m advocating here. You will need to learn the basics again before you can really say if email works or not.

@Sagar Nandwani,

It’s good to hear that Sagar. Wishing you well in your endeavours!

@Emmanuel,

That’s good to hear!

But if given the opportunity to use get a paid job as a blogger will you give up your blog business and take that opportunity?

@Theodore Nwangene,

I agree with you that many bloggers make these mistakes. At a time I actually fell into the same mistakes because I was trying to conform to the blogging mold. Why I have decided to write about them right now is that I have realized that that road is really not the right one follow. I only hope enough bloggers out there will care about these things as you are.

Thanks for the comment.

@Steven,

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I can’t find your reply. I didn’t receive a notification email of your reply and when I took a look at your site again to see your reply on the post, I couldn’t even find my comment there. I’ve taken time to view the scrolling comments but mine is not there.

I’ll appreciate if you can post your reply as a comment here or send it through my contact form : http://www.webincomejournal.com/contact-us

Thanks

@vanessa,

You can say that again Vanessa! It’s a pleasure to know that the article resonate with you.

Thanks for the comment.

@Reginald,

Thanks Reginald. Frankly, Google authorship is great. Ignoring it is throwing away a good opportunity to drive more traffic!

@Vincent,

Thanks for your comment. For information sake, Google keyword tool is no more. Keyword Planner has taken its place a few days ago!

Now, if Google’s keyword tool is just enough for your keyword research efforts, I’ll say it depends on what your target is. As an SEO Copywriter I’m sure you doing this at enterprise level which means you deal with different clients at different times.

If that is the case, I’ll suggest you get some paid tool in conjunction with the Google keyword tool. This will help you with bigger research needs and also you will be able to get things done right on time. However, if you don’t want to invest in such a tool for now you can download a free copy of a good one here: http://bit.ly/16F1J1s.

But. like I mentioned in the post all of these tools can only make a meaning to you if you apply your knowledge of the market to it. No tool can do all the work for you.

Regards.

@Jennie,

That make it about 8 days! Well, you may not believe it that sometime ago, my blog was actually down for about two weeks because this same issue 🙂 Today, I really don’t care whether my host is there to help or not. When I was moving away from the VPS host, I simply searched online for another host, purchased the package I wanted and then proceeded to moving the blog without any need to inform the previous host. I was only after moving and they were reaching out to know how far about the problem I was having with my account that I informed them I’ve moved my blog from that servers.They were surprised and simply had to let me go! 🙂

@Amrish,

I must say I very much aware of the “export” option in wordpress dashboard. I’ve used it a couple times. But I must say you cannot use that and get your site up within ah hour or less!

This post may be very long but that is because I wanted to give every detail so that anyone doing it for the first time can know what to do at every point.

Now, about using the “export” and “import” tool in the dashboard, you must understand that if you are using that option, you will need to upload or re-install all the plugins you were using in your blog one by one after importing the blog files. Again, if you want to keep your blog as it was before, you will need to work on the customization and if you are like me who most times customize my themes about 70%, that will take you another day or two!

But the method I have on the post here is so simple that if you work with it, you can get the blog back within an hour everything about the blog will be the same and anyone who is familiar with your blog will never know that the blog has changed hosts!

In fact, yesterday after publishing this post, I went on to try it again on one of my blogs and within 30minutes I backed up the files, deleted the old blog and then re-installed it, load up the files again, deleted the database and uploaded the old one, and the blog was back without any stress! 🙂

When I said this is the simplest way to move a blog, I can tell you I have tried different methods and I’m saying this from experience.

I can say the only way of using the wordpress export tool is better is,if your database is corrupted either because of hacking activity and you don’t have a backup.

Any, thanks for the comment. It’s a pleasure for you to bring that up.

@Caleb,

I actually did not leave out the traffic part. This is a series and I’ve talked about the traffic strategies in another post. This post is all about setting up the niche site. You may want to read the post where I mentioned my traffic strategy here:

http://www.webincomejournal.com/7492/niche-site-strategy-duel-2-0.html

Of course, I’ll be going into more details about this later in the series.

Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation.

@Phil,

Glad to hear that. Frankly, the MWR is one strategy that many bloggers are not aware of. The good thing is that you can avoid of whole lot of mistakes from the beginning if you apply it to your blog setup. It’s a pleasure that you were able to overcome the challenges of choosing the right theme.

@Tom Nardone,

I truly appreciate your position. All of us are motivated by different things in life. But come to think of it, being rich or famous what is really the difference? When you make some people feel good and by adding value to their lives and they in return give you the high applause is not the same as paying you for what you are doing? (Remember riches is not just about money.) That of course is your own reward!

Again, that you will never follow any blog with advertisements because you would question its integrity or motivation, does that mean you will never listen to a radio station or tune in to a television station because they carry advertisements? Of course, they are there to entertain, educate and inform which is just what blogs are about. That is why blogs are today called the new media. And I hope you never follow any of the news blogs out there because they all have advertisements!

All the same thanks for adding your voice to the conversation.

@Amrish,

Thanks for joining the conversation. Truth is all of us are learning this game and any tip that will be of help is something worth sharing. I’m really pained to see that many bloggers despite the hours and energy they put in everyday, nothing much is realized from their efforts.

I think something more drastic should be done so that better results are realized.

@Phil,

It’s really good to see you around! Besides, it great to know that you are also taking this challenge.

Yeah, personally I cannot wait to see how things will turn out. For now we just have to put in our best hoping that it come out great! About my backlinking strategy, I’ll talk about that as we progress.

I’ve really noticed that many of those who are taking the niche site duel are focusing on building authority sites. Even Pat himself has come out to say that is what he is also building. I can understand that with the recent challenges in Google algorithm, authority sites will have some more advantages. But I don’t really want to take that route. Niche site is niche site while authority site is authority site! My time is already being taken over by this blog and other of my businesses and will not want another addition for now. I want to focus on real niche sites and hope to add more within the year!

I hope we will be able to monitor ourselves as we go on and of course make suggestions on what to do and not to do!

Thanks for the comment.

@John Barton,

It’s really a pleasure to see you around and thanks for the good words. i truly want to make this series as useful as possible. I’ll appreciate it if can let me know your thoughts after going through the ones you have “filed” away, if there is any other area you want us to discuss more fee free to point it out in your comments.

Wishing you well with your niche site.

@Michael Cordova,

Thanks for the visit. Glad that you are not disappointed. It will be a pleasure to see you around more!

@Ehsan,

Hi, glad to see you again! it’s really good of you to visit. I’m running this series as part of my participation in the ongoing Niche Site Duel 2.0 being hosted by Pat Flynn. I’m sure you did enjoy this post?

On linkbuilding services, I personally do not use those services. I believe in natural link building. By building relationships with other bloggers or webmasters in your niche you can develop a system where these people will begin to link to your content. Also once your content is good others will freely link to them.

Even link exchanges are not in my books. Many have contacted me to exchange links but I always turn them down. You must be careful these days with the what Google is doing with SEO. Don’t fall for any person who want to promote any link building services to you with the promise that it is legit. If Google has not done anything about them very soon they will be touched and you will be the one who is the loser. They have nothing to loss.

Beware!

Sorry for the late reply. Been busy with some other projects. Glad to see you around 🙂

@Adrienne,

I agree with you on the point of not having the right information. This is actually a big problem. During these years of marketing online I’ve come to realize that most of what we call free information, especially in the internet marketing circles, are nothing but covert systems designed at bringing more gains to those promote out them out there. And this being so, everyone of these information are skewed in way or the other because of that financial gain involved. So, when you get any information on the net you will need to have the wisdom and insight to sieve the information and then use the right one. I’m sure this is what many now call the problem of information overload! I truly desire to see more people know this truth. That’s the reason for posts like this one!.

On your point about those who do not want to make money with their blogs but desire to use such for connecting with others, I actually have problems with this. Yes, there are those who do not want to make money with their blogs. But most of the ones I have seen in this group use free blogging platforms. They never care to buy a domain name, buy hosting accounts, spend money on some premium wordpress theme and, most especially, spend everyday of their lives researching and updating their blogs.

If anyone will go into all this “trouble” then their “connecting with others” actually have some other motive. And if that is the case then I also believe that that motive or purpose should also be clearly laid out from the beginning. This is where being business-like is very important.

This post approaches this topic from the angle that those who spend money running their selfhosted blogs are actually building an asset they hope to make money from along the line and so they should settle this from the beginning. It’s really a pleasure that you recognize this also. I do hope many of us are really listening.

@Fabrizio,

From the report on Pat Flynn’s blog, thousands really took this challenge up. To me, it’s really an opportunity to up my game! I know many, like you are doing this niche of a thing for the first time, but from my experience people like you are more open to implement the lessons that will be learned! For someone who has done this before, I have my own style of setting my up but I’m looking forward to learn a few new ideas. I only hope that my knowledge will not debar me from seeing most of the good points that will come of this! 🙂

I look to seeing how you are progressing also. I’m doing a series that will also help me stay focused. You can also them you will learn a few things from them.

Have you been able to pick a keyword for your niche?

@Sue Price,

Oh that’s really some insight into this matter. Of course, I’m really surprised by those who want to blog and not make anything from it. Of course, when I see such a one using any of the free blogging platforms I understand but for someone who is selfhosted and yet do not want to make anything out of it? Ridiculous!

I must admit you have a great blog and for the purpose you starting it, I think you are progressing in the right direction. I’m also sure that you did not just want to learn internet marketing for its sake. There must be some reason for it? Now, that shows that your blog is to fulfill that ultimate reason which I can presume is also to help you build something that will bring in the money!

So, all in all, it’s about making money with a blog.

Thanks for joining the conversation.

@Theodore Nwangene,

That really is the truth, sit down and sort things out. I think if anyone will do this the picture will be more clearer and then the way forward will be easy. You definitely need to know where you are going if you must get there.

Good luck to you my friend. You’ll definitely get to your destination!

@Raplus,

I agree with you there Raplus. Laziness is really robbing many bloggers the joy of earning from their blogs. But, as much as that may be reason, I really will not say someone who researches topics every week, write content every week, runs around the blogosphere nearly every day posting comments and yet make nothing, is really lazy. The problem is deeper than that.

Like I pointed out in the post, I think it is just a matter of attitude. Once the right attitude is in place everything will fall into place.

Thanks for the comment.

@Theodore Nwangene,

It’s really great that you love this post. I do this every time I want to build a new niche site. It’s a simple strategy that when used properly can become a gem. About paid and free tools, I totally agree that they make things faster especially if you want to do a whole lot of niche sites in a matter of time. I only mentioned these tools in the post because I’ve heard many talk about them as if it is these tools that does the work for you. If you have these tools but have no idea of the basics as I laid it out here, there will be problem using the tools.

The Spyful.com tool I mentioned in the post also has a paid version but with the free version I think any one can get real good information for building niche sites.

Thanks for the comment my man. Hope you are set to put up your niche site for the Niche Site Duel 2.0?

@Aasma,

You’re right on point, Aasma! Providing the right content is what brings success. The problem is that most people think becoming an expert is a big deal but the truth is that with a little research and knowing how to create your own content from what you have seen online, you can become another expert in the subject. Like Squidoo would say, every one is an expert! 🙂

Thanks for the comment.

@Theodore Nwangene,

Yeah, I truly look forward to seeing some good results. I’m pushing myself to see that I stay up with the challenge! 🙂

@Karina,

Well, Penguin 2.0 is already here and we don’t have to prepared for it now! If you have not done what is right before now, you definitely will be hit. That is ugly truth! We all don’t have to be on the same page on this, but one time that is sure is that Google is doing a good thing for the web. Cleaning up the webspace is helping us to get more useful content right now. A few years ago, a whole lot of programs were released into the market which does nothing but scrap the internet for content and then post those content online for all of us. Most times when you use the search engines the type of content you are presented with makes one really angry. But all that is changing now.

I believe what we need is co-operate with Google on this or don’t you think so?

@Adrienne,

I can understand your position here. Even Matt acknowledged this in the video. This is one of the reasons why in the new update it’s more about link building (webspam) rather than content (panda). They realized that the panda update affected a whole lot of innocent people while most content farms were minimally affected.

Indeed, it is clear that Google is using programs that could also make “mistakes” but for me I think Google is really trying in its bid to rid the internet of webspam. There is so much of it out there that, if not for Google’s efforts, we don’t know where we would have been right now.

It’s really said that you were hit in the last update. But since you’re very sure that the problem is not from your end, it will be a good thing to look into the sites that are linking to you. One big thing that Google is taking into consideration right now is “relevancy.” If there is too much links from un-related sites, Google could interpret that to be a “manipulative” attempt on the side of a webmaster.

I’ve always noticed that any time Google releases a new update, my blog gets a little push up the SERPs! Well, I’m still waiting to see what will come out of this latest update.

Thanks for the comment.

@Oluwaseun Babajide,

I agree with you, no one is perfect! We’re all learning in one way or the other. What we must not forget in our learning is that there is so much advice online. It is our responsibility to choose what to work with. Thanks for the comment.

@sapna,

Thanks so much for the mention. I tried making a comment on the post but then the site returned a 500 server error. I will try and do that again.

@Ryan Biddulph,

You have made this real clear enough. I’ve always wondered what is going on when a spike of traffic and yet nothing is happening in terms of ROI. Of course, money is not the only thing but like I said, if we are in business then every relationship should be handled in that light.

I quite agree that social media traffic is one that any business should aim for especially in these days. I also did a post sometime ago on how to combine SEO and social media sites for traffic generation.

Thanks for the comment.

@sapna,

That is a great idea. I’ll definitely look around if I can get one and when I do, I’ll make that another post. Thanks for the comment.

@Susan Harjehausen,

Its really glad to hear from people like you. Yes, this post was really intended for entrepreneurs who are blogging and not anyone who is playing around in the name of blogging. Every entrepreneur has an eye for ROI if it is not there then something has to be done. And that is why this post.

I’m glad that the post is really a wake up call for you. Thanks for the comment.

@John Barton,

You will be surprised the kind of dust this post has created on LinkedIn! Many are short of eating me raw for having the audacity to want to dictate what blogging should be.

Of course, I do agree with them that many blog for different reasons which I made clear in the post but these people wouldn’t accept it that if you spend so much time on your blog then it is also a wise thing to get something out of it. It’s really unfortunate but my joy is that there are people like you who understand these things. We are entreperneurs and no matter what, we want some returns for our inputs.

Thanks for the comment.

@William Jones,

Thanks for the comment. It’s nice to know the post resonate with you.

@Theodore Nwangene,

You are right on spot my man. Chinua Achebe has impacted most of us in a very special well. I’ve read not less than 5 of his works and he really never cease to fascinate me with his insight. Thanks for coming around to put in your piece.

Happy Easter and looking forward to hearing from you again.

@Adrienne,

I quite agree that the free classifieds can really be frustrating sometimes considering the number of ads that get posted each day. But not minding that I can testify that I’ve had some success even with free classified. May be the sites you are using also matters. If the site allows graphics, your choice of graphic will tell how much you get from it.

Thanks for letting us into your experience.

@Aasma,

It’s glad to know that this post resonate with you. Frankly, I testing this out and so far the results have been encouraging. I think why many people have overlooked classifieds is the fact that there are thousands of ads most times in a free classified site. But if you know how to target your ads and how to craft catchy headlines, you can make great impact with your ads.

Thanks for the comment.

@sarah,

Ok, that makes things a little clearer. But is there a particular software for building agile websites? That is, one to make things easier? And if you are using wordpress how easy can this be?

Btw. I’ve made your link “dofollow!”

@bjohn,

You can say that again. The truth is not everyone doing these things are ready to learn. Some just want to do what they want. Thanks for the comment.

@Aasma,

You are right on target Aasma. Anytime I read piece of content on a blog or any website, that is the first thing that comes to my mind, what is the purpose of this content? I doubt if many of the bloggers out there really understand this. Most simply publish a blog post because they need to meet up with their publishing schedule. I think every blog post should have a definite purpose, which is, helping the reader solve a pain while helping the blogger get her piece of the cake! 🙂

@Sarah Lamb,

From your explanations here, agile web design is much the same as split testing, where you test different elements of the web page and make changes in order to improve results, or am I getting it wrong? You said it’s not about the software but what you do in response to user interaction. And this is what split testing is about,right?

@Sandeep Kumar,

That is great to hear. To most of us it’s simply some new concept. Thanks for stopping by.

@Aasma,

I really don’t know if it’s the name really, but I know that web designers have over the years tried to put some form of interaction on website to make connecting with site visitors easier. I think this is taking that concept further. Of course, in these days when online interactions has become a must, adding things like this to your site make your business more “social” kind of!

Thanks for the comment

@Theodore Nwangene,

Frankly, when I first saw the title I couldn’t make any sense of it until I read it over and over again and when the meaning dawned on me I had no option to leave it as it is! 🙂

Thanks for the comment.

@Roger Weavers,

I’m really glad to hear that you are making money from SEO. Unfortunately, many online marketers thinks that it is a dead tactic not understanding what SEO really is.

And for inbound marketing, it is really the best marketing strategy for marketing online. Once you know what it is how to go about it making money from your content becomes much easier.

Thanks for the comment.

@Sue Neal,

Indeed, very few bloggers are taking to heart the issue of having a well defined marketing strategy for their business. Even among those who know the importance only a few are doing.

On what I think is the main components of a marketing strategy, I would say, it depends mostly on what market you are servicing and what your business is. Of course, there are some elements that cut across all businesses but like you said, that is definitely and idea for another blog post.

Thanks for the comment.

@Smith,

That is really great! Would you also advocate renting a blog (if there is really anything like that!)?

@Theodore Nwangene,

That’s really the truth. Most blogs on the blogosphere today are actually business blogs being used by savvy entrepreneurs to power their online businesses. Setting up only a static site these days is nothing. Only thing you have to be careful if not the blog will take your whole time!

Thanks for the comment.

@Lexi,

That is really the truth. One sure force on the blogosphere is the friendliness and comraderie amongst bloggers. But I must say this is one of the things that is also making it more difficult for many bloggers to make anything.

I must say, I got into blogging as a business and not just about friendship. I know this is hard to say but the truth just need to be said. Now, you will understand that when you begin to treat a business like some social gathering or when friendship now takes over the main aspect of business, making anything from that business becomes a problem.

Most bloggers who I interact have now come to take the friendship aspect of blogging as a bigger part than the business part. But I don’t really know how long they will be able to carry on with that.

For me friendship is not about making some profit so when I build only friends around my business it is going be difficult to sell anything to them. I don’t know if you understand my point here. But the fact, is that when you take blogging to be only about building friendships then you are not really in business. Or don’t you think so?

@Joe Hart,

For sure when you have your own product you can always earn more than selling ads on your blog. But the fact is that not every one who is blogging has a product or will be able to put together a product. If you can find some ways of getting more advertisers to buy ad spots on your blog, I think it is not much of a problem.

Well, I was wondering how affiliate marketing can give one a bad reputation, but then I think your reason is clear. This is why is important that before you promote a product try as much as possible to know what the product is all about. If possible try it out.

Thanks for the comment.

@Theodore Nwangene,

Exactly so. The fact is, when you part with money something in you is touched creating an attachment that will become a motivation. I discover that many bloggers who are quick to quit have not really invested anything into their blogs. Most of them were using nothing but free blogging platforms and free resources. Some do this with the mind of testing the waters before plunging in but if not done well that can really become a problem.

@Tim Bonner,

Pagelines? I’ve really not heard about that theme. But from what you have just said, it will definitely be easy to customize. I think a drag and drop responsive theme is just the right theme for someone who is not very skilled in these things.

Thanks for stopping by.

@Jack Milgram,

You really captured it the right way. When someone willing opt into your list it is clear that such a person is interested in what you are offering. Such a person is more open to becoming a customer than the one who simply took a look at your site and went away.

The actual problem why many thought email marketing was going away was that of this aggressive and annoying email promotions. Of course, many are still doing it today but if we want to succeed with it, we just need to learn the right things.

Thanks for airing your views on this.

@tressa knight,

I agree with you that depending on one source for your traffic needs is wrong. However, what we are really looking at in this post is the question of which of the social media sites drives more traffic? As we have seen from the different answers we know that it depends on different things. So, can you give us some insight into the one that is working best for you?

@Dev,

It’s really great to know your take on this. I’m sure that all of us are getting results based on our target audience and also how much we put into it. This is really clear from the various answers to this question.

Thanks for the comment.

@Chimezirim Odimba,

Another great point, Chimezirim. I must say I was fooled at the time but now I really see the power of email marketing. The difference is clear.

Thanks for this insight.

@patrick,

Of content is what the internet is all about. Without content the internet ceases to be what it is!

Thanks for the comment.

@Theodore Nwangene,

That really is the problem of email marketing. From the beginning it has always been that way. You must remember that it is carried over from the days of direct marketing. The list was mainly a marketing tool and nothing else. In those days mailing out to a list was not about building relationships but for the purpose of selling some thing and this is what they have taken into this age of the internet.

Personally, I was subscribed to different lists but one of the things I am doing right now is unsubscribing from everyone that have not added any value to my life and business. But even with that I must say there are many that I have learned from.

So, the wisdom is being able to decide if a list will be useful to you or not. Don’t just subscribe because the person behind the list is a big name. Many of them are in it for the business of selling those list. That is why you sometimes start getting emails from someone you never remember subscribing to. Most of those giveaways where they do nothing but collect your email address are worst. The simple word here is, be careful.

Thanks for the comment.

@Chimezirim Odimba,

I agree with you on this point of building a list for your affiliate promotions. Promoting affiliate products without building a list for yourself is not just a wrong tactic bu one of the biggest mistakes one can make as an affiliate. I did this sometime ago but now I try to find a way of building either a targeted list or a general purpose list for all my niche sites.

@Adrienne,

Hmm, I’m really impressed that you customized that your theme yourself. Frankly! One thing I must give to you there is the simplicity and look. From what I have seen from many of the blogs using the Thesis theme, it is one of the most customizable theme around. With the many child themes available you can do some pretty good things with Thesis. But without a child theme you have done a great work, I’m impressed.

About the offer, I knew very the beginning that it was to going to be something that could bug me down and that is why I have restricted the available slot to 5. I’m sure I can manage that number conveniently. 🙂

@Ehsan Ullah,

Yea, I have seen your blog theme and must say you have also done a great work with it. Like I said, I have seen different themes from Theme Junkie and when I saw yours I knew how much you have put in to make it unique. I also love Theme Junkie themes for that fact also. Many of the other theme providers restrict what you can do with the themes but not so with Theme Junkie.

About the particular theme I’m using, it is not the same with DearBlogger.org. I’ve visited that blog many times before but when I saw your comment I had to visit again but from all indication, they are not the same. I’m not using the Daily theme but Newswire!From the home page you will see that they are quite different.

Thanks for the comment.

@Jack Milgram,

Thanks Jack, it is really a pleasure to know that this post resonate with you. Ii is a desire that we make this best use of these tips.

@Kevin Carlton,

Thanks for pointing this out to me. =Fact is, I consider the comments section of a blog as the real community area where readers and the blogger can interact. I really love it when a reader say it makes them feel good whenever I reply to their comments.

Once again thanks!

@Jack Milgram,

You are correct there. Like they say, the only constant thing in the world is change! If so, we must be ready to use change for our own good. Thanks for the comment.

@candice michelle,

That is simply the truth. Without the traffic you cannot expect to make any useful impact. Thanks for commenting.

@Diane Clark,

Oh it’s good to know that I’m being able to do this very well.

It’s hard as hell to give readers what they want? Yes, it’s really difficult but I think it’s simply about knowing your target audience first of all. When you know what they want and give it to them from your own experience it becomes much easier to achieve your aim.

For example, in your niche you simply need a knowledge of what those who wants to write essay truly want to achieve. Begin with some basic questions and then take it gradually to a higher level. As you focus on writing content that provides answers to those questions, you will be able to provide value to your readers and connecting with you will be a pleasure for them.

Thanks for the comment.

@Dan Sumner,

It’s truly about your target audience. If your blog readers or clients/customers find your content useful then you have truly won with that content. But in a situation where you simply post what you want and not care about what the audience wants, you’ll simply be putting yourself up for failure.

I love that idea of putting yourself in the firing line. I think that makes it much easier for your audience to connect with you as they are able to relate with what you write.

Thanks for commenting.

@sapna,

It’s really great to know that the post resonate with you. I look forward to seeing you put these tips to work. Thanks for the comment.

@Kevin Carlton,

You truly got the vision of this post! 🙂 The internet is nothing but connectivity and collaboration. It’s about give and take. But many people look at it only on what they can take from others. I really think that why blogging is becoming so popular and successful on the net is because it has the spirit of the internet at its heart. It’s really about collaboration and sharing.

Thanks for joining your voice to the conversation.

@Theodore Nwangene,

You can say that again! Frankly, it’s been years of fun and satisfaction. I must say blogging is one great thing where you decide to hold up your head no matter the situation or get sucked in by the current and be drowned. The lessons of life I’ve learned as a blogger are truly more beneficial to me than the financial gains so far. I count them more beneficial because I know they will definitely be of great help to me in life.

I agree with you so much about that wise saying. You are true African teaching great lessons with a few words! May 2013 be great for you!

@Theodore Nwangene,

Oh yes my dear friend. I just wonder what those who advocate posting everyday have to say in their posts if not some of those ramblings you see on most blogs. When I did the 23 days of Christmas inspiration series, I know how much it took me to write those inspiring posts every day. Coming up with something worthwhile in every post is not easy and if you must be a helper then pushing out just your ramblings in the name of blog post is nothing. All the same it all bears down to your readers if they love those ramblings and feel good about them, while not. But if you must add value to the blogosphere, set a good time for your blog and give us something we can work with!

Wishing you all the best in 2013!

@Robert Koenig,

Oh you can say that again. Fact is, many are falling by the wayside even when they clearly see this note there! What do we do man? For me such comments simply get trashed!

But frankly, value is really the king. It has always been no matter what people have thought. People don’t just want content but value and so if anyone says content is king it is simply misunderstanding of the way things work.

Thanks for the comment and pardon me for this late reply!

@Sue Neal,

I must say you have learned so much even when you have not been in the game for long. Must be honest with you many struggle for years without learning anything. Those two, taking it step by step and consistently taking action is just the sure recipe for success online. If you can steadily hit on a particular strategy, tactic or method until you make good success of it and never give up no matter the situation of things, the god of success have no option than hand you the success you desire!

It’s a pleasure reading your comment.

@Sue Neal,

Hi Sue, first apologies for this late reply. Have my hands full of to do list that I’m finding it hard to keep up with things 🙂

I must say you got it right there. Hearing from a readers how your content have been helpful is something that surely gives you the satisfaction that you have not wasted your time. Lately, have been seeing a lot of bloggers simply pushing out content without caring to know what their readers truly want.

I must say may be I’m too fastidious but the truth is that having visited and read different blogs and sites the first paragraph of many articles gives me the idea of what anyone is writing about and if it is something I have read before, that is enough for me to know.

Of course, I know there is nothing we write about that has not been written on but if you must write on that topic, make it unique to your situations and how it will be useful to the reader. Simply changing a few lines and phrases and thinking that you are creating content for people to read is simply a put away!

@candice michelle,

Promoting affiliate products is one of the biggest ways that many bloggers are using to earn some extra income from their blogs. In fact, many do nothing but affiliate marketing and so if you are not yet utilizing it i think it is time to look into it.

Thanks for joining the conversation.

@Adrienne,

I think a whole lot of content publishers truly know this. They must have heard it one way or the other. But the problem is that with the all the information flying around the net many simply lose track of what they should be doing. There is a competition to keep pumping out content without really caring to gauge what impact that content is having on the target audience.

Just as you said, even before I started blogging I knew valuable content is the route to making an impact with your target audience because that was the training I had. When I was doing article marketing, all my articles were “loaded” with benefits and I have always enjoyed big success with that. Most of my articles published in article directories then were picked up by ezine publishers.

I think bloggers as content publishers should really be the ones who should champion this call for valuable content. But if one does not know what it is all about, then championing that cause is out of the game. But like I mentioned in this post, the content publishing and content marketing game is changing and only those who will be prepared to go with the change will see good returns. I don’t know what Google will come with this year, but from all indication, the users experience will continue to be on the top rack!

@candice michelle,

Glad to hear that Candice. Hope Brett would find time to follow up on this! Thanks for the comment.

@Michael Chibuzor,

I agree with you 100%. Affiliate marketing is not really about selling. As an affiliate marketer, you position is that of a friend helping another friend. I simply recommend products or services you know will be of great help to your contact lists. And for them to trust that your recommendations are worth it, there should be that trust element. It is therefore important to build that trust before you recommend any product or service.

However, I will like to say building relationships with your email list is only a subset of content marketing. Content marketing is a whole lot wider than just email marketing.Content marketing comprises of piece of content you will ever create. The value you create in your blog posts, site content, free reports etc. will determine the success you will produce with your email marketing campaigns.

Besides, one other thing that will ensure your email marketing efforts produce the right results, is that any product or service you recommend should be targeted. This means you don’t just recommend any product because you know you will be able to make some good commission from it. It should be something that is related to what the list is about in the first place. So, if you want to use your email list to promote an affiliate product, you should build a list that is related to that product.

@Kumar,

You are right there. Ecommerce is here to stay and there is no way we can ignore the internet any more. Any business that is still staying away from the internet is only sabotaging itself.

Btw. the post is not from me. It’s a guest post by Brett Gold!

@Srinivas,

It’s really my pleasure!

@Krishna Parmar,

Oh that’s great. Must say you were fortunate to have entered for the contest just before it ended! Alright, we are just back from the holidays and hoping to announce the winner very soon. Hope you are one of them! Thanks and wishing you a prosperous 2013.

@Diane Clark,

Rightly said, Diana. In a crowded market place like the internet simply comforming to someone else rules is the worst way to find your voice. It is better to observe very well what others are doing and then find a way of making yourself heard.

Thanks for the comment.

@Martin Casper,

Thanks for the comment. It’s really a pleasure to know that you agree with the points raised. Wishing the best of the season.

@Neamat Tawadrous,

Oh thanks Neamat, it’s really a pleasure to have come around. I know the challenges of being new in a field where there are already so many big fishes. But the truth is that all of us are still learning in one way of the other. I sincerely wish you the best of success as you seek to implement what you learn from the blogosphere.

Once again, thanks for visiting.

@Martin Casper,

Hi Martin, I must agree with you there. When I first saw this article that was just my reaction: “this is something everyone must read!” I really do hope that more and more marketers will see this and read it. This is really different from what we have heard about tracking and testing. Kudos to Ruben.

Thanks for the comment.

@Pauline,

Oh thanks Pauline, it’s really great to see you around. Yes, giving back to those who have helped one way or the other is really something worth doing. This may not be much but I do hope those who have entered will benefit with the prizes.

@Sandeep Chaudhary,

Thanks for stopping by and finding time to comment and also enter for the giveaway. Yes, it’s just my little way of saying thank you to all our esteemed readers. Looking forward to seeing you among the winners.

@Theodore Nwangene,

Thanks for the good words. I have always considered the readers as the reason for the success of the blog and saying thank you in my own way is not really too much! All the same I’m glad you in. Really hope you win a slot.

@Kend,

Well said Kend, and that is really what the post has tried to lay out. I’m one who believes that if we will only listen to Google making good points with SEO is nothing really serious. Thanks for the comment.

@Chimezirim Odimba,

Wondering why many are selling those tools when you can get better versions for free? Then you will still have to learn a few things about the internet! Truth is, internet marketing is nothing but finding someone who is too lazy to do something for himself and doing that thing for him while he pays you for it. QED!

Frankly, with a little careful look you can get nearly everything free online. And like you said, over the years I’ve personally concentrated all my keyword research on Google tools. Why go for some monthly packages when Google (the biggest of the search engines and the big daddy of them all) is ready to provide you with data from their own databases? Of course, this may take you a little more time than other tools since those tools have a way of gathering and doing research on different keywords at the same time but if you are not doing SEO as a company or you are running too many searches at the same time, Google tools are just ok.

About SEO for Firefox, I have used it many times, in fact, I’ve it installed, and I can say it is ok. It has a way of giving some deep insights which can be useful.

@herb411,

You are definitely right about setting yourself apart from other affiliates. This is really the biggest secret to affiliate marketing success. I’ve seen many affiliate simply copying the marketing materials provided by the vendor and promoting with those same materials. I think affiliate marketing truly needs some creativity if one wants to succeed with it. Thanks for the comment.

@Raplus,

That is good to know. I can attest to that also that most India bloggers are really addicted to facebook. And for one, they really know how to connect. But have you devoted some time to LinkedIn or Google plus? Or, you have just concentrated on the one that is working for you?

@Salman,

Yes, I agree with there. That is what I really refer to in the post when I said the your target niche matters in this issue. I really think if your business is a b2b business, LinkedIn is really a good choice. LinkedIn membership are truly business minded individuals unlike that of facebook that are more focused on friendship.

Thanks for stopping by and adding your voice to the conversation.

@Theodore Nwangene,

Hmm, that’s really interesting. I’ve heard many people talk about how they are receiving droves of traffic from these social networks but it does appear that these results does not come easy!

I definitely know the importance of targeting your social audiences and updating at just the right time. For that, I’ve tried scheduled updates on twitter but the result was just the same. I must say that because of other things that needed attending to, I really don’t want a system that I will need to spend so much time.

The results I’m receiving from LinkedIn so far has not taken much of my time. I simply submit every new post to the site and most time I really visit the site since the submissions are done using the social buttons of the site!

So, you can see why I truly love LinkedIn. With a little work on my part I’m receiving more traffic than any other social network, can you imagine what will happen when I devote my time to it?

Frankly, I think there is something about LinkedIn membership that many of us have not been able to put our fingers to. This post was really an attempt to unravel that. I do hope someone will be able to let me know, or I’ll definitely look for it!

Thanks for the comment.

@Yeremi Akpan,

Twitter? That beats my imagination. Can you give some more details on what you are doing? Frankly, I’ve tried different strategies but I have seen any worthwhile results. If a comment will not be enough to give details, why don’t you make a post on it! Hey, that’s just an idea for you, yo know 🙂

@Tim Bonner,

The truth is as long as the internet remains a source of information and we rely on search engines to get that information, we will continue to hear of SEO. It’s unfortunate that many content writers are still living in the past by trying to over use keyword phrases in the content.

I agree with you that focusing on quality content should be our first priority. We should write first for the human readers before the search engines. This way, the search engines will reward us for our good works!

Thanks for the comment and I too wish you a wonderful weekend.

@Jack Milgram,

That’s great to hear. I’m really glad that this post resonate with you. Frankly, I will appreciate your mentioning us when you talk about SEO any time and why not, you can do that even now if you will only take a minute or so to share this post with your online friends!

Thanks for visiting and for adding your voice to the conversation. Look forward to seeing more of you!

@Suzanne Day,

I totally agree with you that quality and useful content is the only way to survive any of Google algorithm changes. And frankly, this is what Google is actually looking for. If we all will commit to create only valuable content, Google will not have any reason to bring any more algorithm changes, except those that will improve our experiences!

What do you mean by, new content based on old content? Do you mean re-written content or spun content from old content? If that is what you mean, then of course, you don’t expect such content, no matter how “new” you may term it, to rank compared to the old!

Though I don’t really understand what you term as old original content, but I can say any content that is original, never been published any where before, will do very well any day any time if the right SEO tactics are applied. This is actually the time for originality!

@Veer Modi,

Wow, thanks for that comment! Frankly, I never knew Matt did something about Google’s view on guest blogging. I only did this post after observing what is happening in the market right now. Thanks for pointing this out. I’ve just updated the post with that video with the compliments going to you!

@Christopher Roberts,

You have totally expressed my view on this subject!. No matter what others want to believe, I still maintain that SEO is not going any where, not in the near future. Writing good content is great, but what Google is doing right now is a total endorsement of SEO best practices. Remember Google’s business is nothing but search engine. They are only strengthening this area because they know that’s only way their business can make more impact.

Ignoring SEO because of what is happening is ignoring a good source of free traffic. Like you said, SEO is common sense.

Thanks for joining the conversation and it’s really a pleasure to see you around again.

@erda,

I agree with you erda. Site design also plays a significant role in search rankings as it is one of the factors that determine the experience your site/blog visitors have when they visit. If your site/blog is different to navigate or not easy on the eyes, visitors will quickly click away and your bounce rate will increase giving Google a red flag about your site/blog.

Thanks for the comment.

@Smith Warnes,

That’s great to hear! Guest blogging is truly a great way to build backlinks and drive traffic and it’s good that you were able to achieve all these with your guest posts. Is it too much if ask if you would love to write a guest post for us here? 🙂

Any way, I must say as much as guest blogging has these good points, we must be careful because I’m seeing a scenario that may not be too pleasant in the near future. I’ll soon publish a post on what is wrong with guest blogging in the face of these Google updates.

@Joe Clark,

You are just a few who agreed with me on this issue. I really think that Google is doing a good thing and must therefore be supported. For too long SEOs have bastardized the search engine optimization game but Google is really out now to ensure that its business does not die and in doing that, they are helping all of us.

Thanks for the comment.

@Shalu Sharma,

Yes, for now this tool is a hope for those hit the previous updates. But on the area of too many updates in a short period of time, one can only say that it appears Google is really in a hurry to correct the problem in hand. Too many ‘bad’ SEO is in the market and to correct the situation, these different updates are really necessary. In the past when Google was releasing these updates with years in between, SEOs were quick to uncover loopholes in each of the updates and then push in their own blackhat tactics giving Google a lot of headache. But with these updates pushed into the market in droves, many of them are now confused which I think is much better for all of us.

Thanks for the comment.

@Yeremi Akpan,

I quite understand your point here. But like I mentioned in the post, this issue of negative SEO can really be handled with this tool with ease. Remember, Google made it clear that you can ‘disavow’ a single link or a whole site. When such an issue arise therefore the simple way to go about it is to ‘disavow’ the whole offending site!

Now, consider what the situation would have been if Google has not come up with this tool. Since you are concerned about negative SEO, so if this tool is not there and you got hit, what will you do? How long will it take you to take care of the situation?

So, can you see why this tool, though it is not a solve-it solution, has its own good?

Let’s us encourage Google for the good work it is doing and I’m sure we will see more good in the days to come.

Thanks for the comment and it’s really a pleasure to see you around.

@Smith Warnes,

It’s a pleasure to know that this post resonate with you. Indeed, Google is doing a great job despite the fact that many want to frustrate that good intentions. I’m sure that very soon, webmasters will know the power of this tool and then the web will be the better for it!

Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation.

@Tim Bonner,

I agree with totally. When I first learned of the tool and what others were writing about it, I just thought what is really in the minds of these people? I think Google actually did a great thing by creating this tool especially for those who were hit by the Penguin update. At least, with this not only these people but any other person who may be the target of negative SEO can use the tool to ignore those links.

Thanks for the comment and it’s really a pleasure to see you around again!

@AddieRonald from How to start your own Blog,

Of course, everyone wants that coveted position. But not every one can be there at the same time. Or don’t you think so?

@Link Building Services,

This is what Google is really trying to make us understand with the many updates. SEO is not really a thing that is to be gamed. Do the right thing and the search engines will reward you with high rankings. Thanks for the comment.

@Mohammed Abdullah Khan,

Thanks for congratulating me for ranking at #354 🙂

Frankly, I agree with you that keyword research is necessary to rank high on the SERPs. As you can see on the other two graphics, many of my pages are ranking on the first page with some at #1, #2, #3, #4 and least at #7!

My point in this post was to really know why someone will take the time to browse the results until he gets to #354! That is really what beats me in this post. I was thinking may be you will have some ideas you want to share with us. Or don’t you seeing that you are really good in this SEO of a thing!

Pardon for the late reply.

@Bhushan,

You are right there. I think a freelancer who takes his/her business seriously should be able to respond with ease. Customer service is a big part of business success. Unfortunately, not many freelancers sees themselves as being in business.

On demanding more money along the line, I think in every contract there are terms. Once these terms are agreed upon, both sides are expected to respect them. However, where there is the need to review these terms both sides will of course do well to look into them again.

No freelancer will want to just demand for more pay without any cause. Anyone doing that will only end up failing because clients will understand what he is doing and then stay away from him.

@Recruiting Solutions,

Hey, do you mean, you need not spend or waste your time in installation?

@Bhushan,

I agree with you about self-hosted videos. As much as Bill shows there is so much to gain from that I must say not everyone of us have the capacity to host of own videos. I think turning to sites like Youtube.com can do all of us a greater good.

Thanks for the comment.

@Bhushan,

Thanks Bhushan for the comment. I truly believe that Google is helping all of us to benefit more from the internet. As a content publisher, working within the rules of Google will help you gain more and info seekers, they get just what they are looking for instead of browsing through tons of content without any any hope.

@Adrienne,

Yes, Adrienne. I really think the internet has opened up the space that with a little thinking, you can turn just any idea into a business. And frankly, I see more people taking up ideas like these and turning them into big business.

In fact, I’m even considering a few of them in the new future! 🙂

Thanks for the comment.

@Richard,

I agree with you. During my research I discovered that the problem is not really lack of business idea out there but how much we are ready to put everything into making it work. The internet has truly opened up the space for all of us.

Thanks for the comment.

@Bonnie Smith, It’s mine pleasure!

@Scott Dudley,

I agree with there when you said most of these may be classified as jobs. But what really is a business? You could offer a service as your business model. As long as you are in control of your working hours, you are in business. Truth is you can decide who you want to work with.

@business card

Thanks for the comment but I would have loved it if you let us know why this person spent time clicking to the 354th position!

@neha,

I’m glad to know that the post resonate with you. Thanks for stopping by and adding your voice to the conversation.

@Jess Brown,

Hey, you made some very good points there. Yes, it could right that the person is very inexperienced about using the search engines. But I must say he/she must have really have much patience prowling through that content! 🙂 And about maybe the person was looking for my content I think that sounds really flattering. But if that is true then I must give an award to this person. LOL!

But I really think there was something the person was looking for that he/she did not see in those first pages. What is really baffling me is the patience of clicking from one page to the other when we all agree that people will only spend seconds on a page and if they do not find what they are looking for, they would click the back button!

Ok, this is a rare case, I agree. Thanks for the reply and pardon me for replying this late.

@Bonnie Smith,

Hi Bonnie, well sometimes you need to build up things before you start seeing the results. So if it is not working for now don’t lose heart. Learn more, act more and very soon you will be seeing the results.

Thanks for visiting.

@punta cana,

Yea, it’s true how time flies. You were just a young smart kid, right? Now that his is on top of the world, where are you? Weren’t you able to strike some deals with him?

@Jess Brown,

Thanks for the comment. Well as a newbie to SEO with results like these would you say there is some flaws on the advice from these SEOs?

@Mohammed Abdullah Khan,

The pleasure is mine!

@Mohammed Abdullah Khan,

Good observation there Mohammed. Actually I touched this in detail when I replied to Harleena’s comment which you can read above.

Not to repeat myself, I’m quoting a part of that comment here:

“Now, here is another thing which I did not mention in the post. As a blogger you are commenting using your name in the name section which links back to your site. Now, your name in the comment link has nothing in common with your domain name, keyword-wise, neither are you trying to optimize your blog for the keyword, “Harleena Singh.” While in the commentluv link every of your comment links back to a different post and with different keyword phrases.

You see that you are not in any way going against any of Google terms. But these e-commerce sites do not know this. If you have looked at this blog there are many of them doing this. They put their keyword phrases in the name section and because they do not have commentluv all they are having from this blog as backlinks is that link in the name section. Now, they may be posting valuable comments warranting me to approve their comments, but from these recent happenings from Google’s end I think many of them will come to understand the mistake they are making.”

I hope this answered you question?

@Ehsan Ullah,

Sorry, missed this out. I’m using StatCounter for this particular report.

@Md Firdosh,

It’s a pleasure to know that the post resonate with you. Thanks for the comment.

@Mohammed Abdullah Khan,

You are definitely right there Mohammed. However, the issue we are treating here is that of an e-commerce business that got knocked by Google because of the links they have acquired through different means most of which are blog comments.

Indeed, blog commenting is good for us all but from what we have seen here, it does appear, it is not good for some! 🙂

@Mobile Device Management,

Yea, finding related blogs to comment on can really be effective but there is a problem we are discussing here which I think you will benefit from if you take the time to read the post and the comments. I’m very sure of that. Read the discussion again if you really want to understand how this post will help you. Well, you don’t have to take my word for it!

@Christopher Roberts,

Really glad the post resonate with you. Of course, it is an experience that all of us can learn from. I must repeat again that I believe this will not affect blogs the way is affecting the e-commerce sites. However, because Google could be funny sometimes, I think you may just need to reconsider the use of your name in the comment link. In my reply to Harleena just before this one, I mentioned this issue.

I can see that you are using your name as your domain name though I don’t think you are trying to rank for that keyword! So it is not much of a problem. However, trying to use yourname@keyword phrase in the name section of the comments will be on the safe side.

Btw. glad to see you again.

@Nik,

You are definitely correct about the many occurences. You know one of Google’s updates was against link building networks which caused a whole lot of trouble for SEOs. What Google simply look for is too many links from a particular domain, and of course if the anchor text are the same that is another big flag. And for the fact that this site have over the period of 2 years built links from this site with the same anchor text, Google knew something was wrong.

I must say, that I’m really lucky that all this did not affect my blog because Google could have also looked at this site and thought something funny is happening here. But I know this blog has not been affected in any way because I’m actually receiving more traffic from the search engines in the recent times.

BTW, how did you handled it when you were contacted about this problem especially the ones that concerned the competition contacting you to remove them?

@Scott Dudley,

It’s interesting to know that you have also been contacted on this issue. Indeed, most of these businesses are really over-reacting but do you blame them? Most of them don’t really know much about SEO except what the SEO companies are telling them. Frankly, if I’m the one affected by this problem, I’ll handle it a different way instead of paying more money to remove and again try to build links sometime later.

On your observation that Google don’t put much importance on links on blog comments but on links on content, I think that is not really the case. I perssonally have some backlinks from blog comments that Google count for this blog. And of course, as we all know, we all love to use blog commenting to build backlinks. If they do not matter to Google we wont be wasting our time to post comments.

I must say I don’t have authority on this but this is just my thinking. Besides, this person made it clear that his site is already under Google’s ban and his is losing money as the site is no being returned on the SERPs!

Now, as I mentioned in the post, it will be very difficult for this to affect blogs so you may not worry about this. But for this e-commerce sites they just have to find a way around it and I hope my suggestions in the post will help.

Thanks for the comment and please pardon me for the late reply.

@Martin Casper,

You are correct about their SEO team botching things up. Actually, I’ve just researched the problem again following a question by Harleena on this post. I’ve found out that it’s a result of the new changes and updates that Google is introducing every day. The SEO never envisaged what will come up in the near future and went ‘wild’ with his blog commenting tactic.

I have just done a new post with some insight into the whole thing. It really an eye opener for me also.

Thanks for the comment.

@Paul,

It’s glad to know that you are learning from this. I’ve also learned one or two things from this. About links for your blog, I’ve just done another post on that. I don’t think this will affect blogs in any way. You can read this post linked with commentluv below for the details.

@Agi,

Thanks for drawing my attention to that. I have re-sized the graphic and it is better placed. Why don’t you take a look again?

@bj,

Thanks for that. Please do share!

@Bhushan,

You are welcome! Can look forward and give us some idea of where the internet will be heading in the next 10yrs? Can you give a try? 🙂

@Susan Cooper,

Yea, I too found it rather long but the message was really clear. You know things could really change in just a space of 10yrs. Now, wouldn’t that be some incentive to begin to straighten your operations looking forward to something greater in the future?

Btw. I have reduced the size to fit into the blog space. Thanks for the comment.

@Jenni,

Yes, good luck to entrepreneurs! I indeed agree that planning is necessary but not a written business plan where you are expected to follow some specific format. Those are text book requirements!

Thanks for the comment.

@Tim Bonner,

Hi Tim, I can also say I don’t have a plan right now though I actually know what I want. And about blogging ever changing, I’ve over the last 3 years have course to alter both the look of my blog and also the marketing plan but in all of these I have remained on what has been in my heart. This is what I’m really pointing out here. Fact is, not every person who has a business idea really knows about business plans. I think in this our type of business where most of our operations are online and you don’t really need some financing from some corporation to run your business, trying to draw up some business plan before you begin is really a waste of time.

Thanks for the comment. I apologize for this late reply. I’ve been engaged in other things all this while.

@Richa,

Well said Richa. Frankly, this is really the experience of many. Most of us never had an idea of what online business was about. We had an idea of what we wanted but not how we are going to make, which is one of things you need to lay out in your business plan. Following your heart as outlined in the post will get you on your feet and when the picture gets clearer you can map out your business plan.

Thanks for the comment.

@Patricia Weber,

Great to have you join the conversation. I quite understand your point there. Business plans are important but the question is are they imperative in creating success in your business? Do you really need to write a business plan before you start your business?

@Rick Salas,

Sorry about the long comment? Never! I truly love it that way!

Yea, leadership is indeed important when it comes to building a successful business. You need people to succeed as made clear from the post, “The team is more important than any idea or plan. The top three priorities should be people, followed by people, and then people.”

Thanks for the reply.

@Paul,

Good to hear that this post resonate with you. Only thing is, did you committed to writing your business plan before you started or you started and working with what was in your heart, you then detail out your business plan? Will love to hear from you.

@Rick Salas,

Hmm, another lengthy one from you there. Though you have raised a whole lot of issues that has to do with the work place, I will try and restrict myself to running a business and that I want to pick up your point that, “Just because people [have] the best business plan doesn’t make them the best candidate for the job!”

And I agree with you 100% here. In fact this is the cruse of this discussion. It is not the business plan that will make you succeed it is your ability to handle the every day affairs and challenges of the business that will. And this is why focusing on trying to draw up a business before you start off will most times become a hindrance.

In fact starting off with what you know and then drawing up a plan along the way will better help you draw a business plan that is all inclusive and better designed to help you succeed.

Thanks for your input.

@business broker,

Make some interesting quotes about that business? What has quotes got to do with starting a business? Yes, you need planning but do you know planning take different forms? Let’s learn from those who are in the trenches rather than some classroom theories. In fact, I know of many who have wonderful business plans but till this day, they have not done anything about them.

Your getting up and doing what is in your heart will drive you to your success more than flexing out some business plan!

@Ehsan Ullah,

I quite understand your point, but I don’t know where we get the impression that it is those who make out a plan at first that have the quickest success. That of course is nothing from the text books!

Go out there and get to know from those in the trenches the story is the same. Of course, a business plan will be necessary in the course of the business but if you want to sit down at the very beginning and lay out that plan before you start you will only be wasting precious time.

Ok, you may want to say that is sharpening the ax so you could chop down the tree in record time, but that is not really the fact. The ‘sharpening’ you need is the knowledge to run that business. Take a look at those 5 points again and you will see that if you truly have that in mind when starting you will be heading in the right direction.

@port st lucie physical therapy,

Then we are on the same portal! 🙂 Thanks for the comment.

@Kate Brown Wilson,

It’s a pleasure!

@business broker,

That’s great to hear! Congratulations to the people of India!

@Mohammed Abdullah Khan,

Hmm, that’s great to hear. But come on, we are talking about making good returns as entrepreneurs and just about seo and traffic generation. In fact, we never inferred that in the post. don’t you think it will be good for you to let us know what you are a blogger or entrepreneur? Will want to hear from you!

@Simmeon,

Hmm, what an insight! Entrepreneurs focuses on Money; Bloggers focuses on People! 🙂

That’s really a good way to put it. But the fact is that entrepreneurs do focus on people because ultimately they know it’s people who matters if you must make a profit. The main difference is what you first mentioned, the mindset. The bloggers mindset is greatly different from that of the entrepreneur.

The blogger, because he is not focusing on making a gain finds it most times difficult to make a sales pitch instead he will want to share and share! Thanks for the comment.

@Holzprofi,

Indeed well said! Really expected some valuable and original comment from you 🙂

@praveen,

Yea, that has always been the mind with which many took to blogging. But now that we are the wiser, it is definite that we put in more seriousness and of course do it as every entrepreneur would!

@Android App Developers,

The pleasure is mine. Thanks for stopping by.

@list of social bookmarking sites,

That is really the trick, getting good images to share with your network and more and more people are getting addicted to the site, or don’t you think so? You sound as if you are already addicted 🙂

@seo birmingham,

What’s confusing about the pinterest? Is it getting the right graphics to post or you just don’t know how to use the network?

@bj,

That’s great to hear! There is always a difference between entrepreneurs blogging and just any other blogger.

Btw. in your response to the post about monetizing blogs, you specifically stated you don’t go for it. Now, considering that fact that many bloggers are entrepreneurs don’t you think such a one will always want to monetize his blog?

@Rick Salas,

Indeed, many quit too early. But it’s just because they have a wrong perception about the whole thing from the beginning. It great to know that this is really helpful!

Thanks for the comment.

@Susan Cooper,

I truly agree with you! That’s what I tried to put in as perseverance. Of course, it is patience that will help you to persevere. And like you said, this is really the biggest reason why many abandon their blogs. You never understand that Rome was not built in a day.

Thanks for your thoughts.

@Amanda,

That’s great. Personally, I’m really finding the site an interesting place. Really good pictures and I’m sure that’s why the place is so addictive for many! 🙂

Thanks for the reply.

@Adelaide trike tours,

Frankly, it will be very hard to find any internet marketing forum where you will not find any form of spam. The internet marketing niche is biggest when it comes to spam. But if you have not tried the warrior forum, I think you can try it. At least it has more reputation and because of the top level of moderation, it is really the right place where you can find usable information about internet marketing.

Thanks for your comment will be glad to have you around again!

@Asma Khan,

Wow! That’s great to hear. I think you are the only one who has given a good report here so far. We’ll love to have more details from or wouldn’t help those who are still finding it difficult to find a foothold on pinterest?

@Tim Bonner,

Frankly, the copyright issue was one of the reasons for me staying away for this long. When I first heard of pinterest early this year, that was the first thing that came up in the article I read then.

However, from my research and what I can deduced so far, if you can use these graphics in your site and give due credit to the rightful owners, pinning the graphic on your pinboard is not really a problem. And if you’re pinning a photo from the web, the site showing the photo you want to pin definitely must have also given the credit to the rightful owner. So, you can see that somehow the issue of copyright has been taken care of. 🙂

On using pinterest for business, I mentioned this on the post. I want to say it is just like any other social media site. Selling directly on the site or any thing like that will not work. I wrote a post sometime ago about using social media for selling,I think it does apply to pinterest also. Read the post here:

http://webincomejournal.com/5510/3-scientific-steps-to-social-media-selling.html

Using pinterest for business will demand you finding a way to lead the traffic back to your site and then “selling” them on your site!

Of course, I don’t know how long you used the site before you decided to look to twitter. But all the reports I’ve received so far speak well for pinterest when it comes to e-commerce sites. Of course, I can’t say much for myself for now since I’m just starting with it. But I look forward to creating some good results also. 🙂

Thanks for joining the conversation.

@Bhushan,

You’re definitely correct. Successfully using Pinterest to drive traffic demands some creative use of graphic on your site/blog. But I don’t really think you will need to be a great graphic designer before you can use it. All you need is to search online for graphics you can use commercially or freely. As long as you give credit where neccessary, you can always pin these same pictures on pinterest and they will link back to your blog.

Thanks for the great comment!

@Kevin,

That’s just what I’ve found out. Thanks for stopping by and for the comment.

@Michael Chibuzor,

Oh thanks. Love doing this.

@bj,

Thanks BJ. I’m glad to know that this post was helpful in a way. I do hope you will not be disappointed with the use of pinterest!

@Myra Kirbi,

The issue of copyright is really a big problem on pinterest. But this is so because we have become used to just taking any graphic online and using it on our sites.

However, the fact is, if you have been using photo from flickr.com for example on your sites and attributing credits to the owners, doing the same on pinterest is not really a big deal. Or don’t you think so?

@LLB Coaching,

Hmm, I think by your own estimation. But can you give us details why you think so? You know, we all are learning and your opinion may just help some of us. Will you care to give details?

@Bryan,

It’s just the way it goes most times. You hear of a tactic or strategy that can help your business but you really never care not because you don’t want to but for the fact that you may not be really ready for it. Of course, as long as it is something that will be of benefit to you, there is definitely going to a way that providence brings it around to you again.

I believe this is one of those things. Your being reminded of it again shows that it is time for you to explore it further. Will be glad to know if you will run with it this time!

Thanks for the comment.

@Amit Shaw,

Oh what a joy to see you around again mate! Yea, I can understand that as the days goes by we just sort of get more busier because of more commitments.

I’ve read Michael’s posts on your blog and I can say his on this blog are still doing great also. Frankly, among the guest bloggers I have featured on this blog, his posts are only the few that I rarely edit because they simply agree with the standards on this blog!

Thanks for joining the conversation.

@Giovanni Baele,

It’s really great to hear from you and your thoughts really put me to some more thinking. I truly agree with you that you don’t have to quit now because as they say, winners never quit. You must start from somewhere. You may not be there right now but you can still get there if you are ready to learn.

Having said that, Giovanni, I think I’m getting you wrong somewhere. You began by saying, “I do believe that being Self-taught can be one of the biggest advantages to succeed with social media marketing,under one condition and that is, learn from people who do excel in their domain.” Do you mean here that we should learn from those who are already a success in the field or you want us to believe learning on our own is the best? Will appreciate you will expatiate on this.

Thanks for the comment while expecting to hear more from you.

@RC Helicopter for beginner,

Glad to hear that. I do hope you are implementing these strategies right now!

@Scott Dudley,

Thanks for the comment and I’m really glad that the post resonate with you.

Actually, this is my first time of doing an interview. Though I’ve attempted a couple of times before now, but they didn’t really work out. I’m looking forward to doing more in the new future.

I think a podcast that is focused on interviewing guest is really a great idea. But I don’t really have any experience in that! 🙂

@Adrienne,

Yea, I also went WOW! when I heard Michael has done 531 guest posts. Like you said, I have also been blogging for about yrs now and have never done that on my blog! 🙂

I actually think it is the business model kind of a thing. For Michael his model is really working for him and I can also say your commenting strategy is also working for you because right now you are making a great success of your business. So, one has to really consider what he/she wants to accomplish and then seek out a route that help with that.

Thanks for finding the time to comment even when I know it is your celebration time! 🙂

@Jeevan Jacob John,

I’m really glad that the post resonate with you. Even as the games are going on I’m still being impressed by these men and women. It is really a joy seeing them showcasing what they have. I know that as entrepreneurs if we put all of our mind, we also will bask in the euphoria of the same glory! Thanks for the comment.

@Raaj Trambadia,

You’re definitely right. It’s actually a give and take affair! Will check out what you have and who knows, I’m might just away with some free stuff! 🙂

@Loverboy,

You sure of that? Come tell us how many medals is your “a lot!” so that at the end we know if you were correct! 🙂

@Michael Chibuzor,

This is sure a killer and I don’t see any reason they will not enjoy it. Thanks so much for your appearance!

@Kelvin Wealth,

Kelvin, I must appreciate your sincerity. It’s a good thing to know that having passed through that road some time ago, you have decided to go the right way.

I truly wish that every blogger will have such a mind and change. After running this blog for 3 years now, I know that the blogosphere is fast changing.

About pro-bloggers who still indulge in some unwholesome practices, such cannot really be termed as a problogger. All the same, I would have loved if you mention some of those things that these probloggers do. If you can please mention some of the things. I’m really thinking of doing something about this.

Thanks for the comment.

@Liability Insurance,

Yea, indeed we look forward to that. But beyond the winning, it’s really about the togetherness that the games bring to the community of nations. I pray that those who are war will cease hostilities and use the this period to negotiate for peace.

@Bhushan,

Thanks friend. It’s really good to know the post strike a cord with you. Frankly, everyday my eyes and whole being is open to learn from every situation. I have found it to be a real good thing for me because with this I’ve been able to pick up a lot things from every day life situations. I really do hope that our esteemed readers will put these to use.

Once again thanks for the comment.

@Kate Brown Wilson,

I’m glad that this post resonate with you. I truly hope that you’re able to use it for your future endeavours. Thanks for the comment.

@Bhushan,

It’s that part of what’s in it for me that most business bloggers get wrong from the start. Many instead of looking at this from the target audiuence’s angle they only look at it from their own angle. The secret to real success is knowing how to take care of both sides effectively and of course when you are starting out, focusing on your target audience will pay you more.

@Yeremi,

As they say, a good turn deserve another! I agree with you that reciprocating every comment with a visit and a return comment helps build a flourishing community. That’s why on this blog I try as much as possible to return every visit and comment on the blogs of readers. Of course, there are those who have ecommerce sites and therefore a return comment is not possible but still I do visit their sites and see what they have to offer.

Btw. thanks so much for this very insightful post.

@Adrienne,

That’s really what got me thinking when I read that article. I know most of what I’ve learned online, I did mostly from my personal experiences. And like you said, a good number of those trying to teach others these things have no proof that they know better.

For example, I cannot in any way term myself a social media expert. Yes, I know a few things about social media marketing but that doesn’t make me an expert in that field. Whatever I share about social media is nothing but the little knowledge I have about that topic. Setting up a site and wanting to teach people that subject will be highest form of hypocrisy for me.

I also think that most of these academicians who are teaching social media marketing rarely knows the practical applications like the little guys out there who are using these platforms everyday.

For example, I came across a blog a couple of weeks ago and must say I’ve learned so much about facebook from that site that I just wondered how little I really know about Facebook.

All the same, I think Social Media Marketing University have a point about getting the proper education if you really want to achieve good success, but saying self-taught social media marketers should go home is really taking it too far!

@Yeremi Akpan,

That is really interesting. We are really getting somewhere! 🙂 Most bloggers have not realized the community building aspect of blogs. I’m really surprised most times when I see blogs with less than 5 comments and yet the blogger never cares to reply those comments. Indeed, this is something we definitely need to include in the list. Thanks for the insight.

@Simmeon,

Do you really think that our perception of what a bad practice is differ from person to person? Don’t you think that every bad practice being perpetuated by many bloggers today is spoken against by everyone? Is only that this bad guys really don’t care. They are more concerned with their results. To them the end justify the means. But should this really be the case?

@Yeremi Akpan,

Hmm, that is really touching. Many marketers don’t realize the fact that customers are becoming more and more critical with online promotions. Knowing fully that any one can claim to be a guru in any field, many people only use what you are putting out as a yard stick for assessing you.

Thanks for the comment.

@Derek,

I agree with you that a single misspelling may not affect sales in such a high manner. But that was the result of a research. However, a page with more than 3 misspellings will lead me to asking questions.

On misspelt keywords by SEOs, this really happens. In fact, it is a tactic that many of SEOs teach as very effective. I’ve even believed it over the years until I saw this report and it came to my mind that, that tactic is faulty!

Thanks for stopping by and for the comment.

@Bhushan,

Yes, there is no short cut to success, everything requires time, patience and dedication.

Truth is everyone don’t have to agree with me. However, it is clear that except you are ready to give value, your efforts will one day end in vain.

@bj,

Yes, giving the people exactly what they are looking for may be difficult sometimes. But, like you said taking care of the people with your marketing message is neccesary. It means therefore that you just need to know what the people are looking for!

Can you now see the connection?

It’s the most important element when marketing with web content and so even if it is difficult you just can’t ignore it. Now, the good thing is that knowing what your customers wants can be easily determined by implementing a few strategic steps.

In content marketing, this has come to be known as “listening.” And with the increase of online social media “listening” to your customers is becoming really easy if you know what you are doing.

Thanks for the comment.

@Anton Koekemoer,

That’s really interesting but trying to pick up those digital footprints will prove tasking. However,if there is a consensus on what all of us regard as unwholesome and use these criteria, don’t you think that will help?

@Adrienne,

You’re definitely right that not everyone will agree on what is right or wrong when it comes to blogging. Of course, it’s this freedom that many are exploiting right now. However, as in every human relationship, there are etiquetes even when we may have our own ideas of what is right or wrong. I think the blogosphere is maturity to a point where certain standards will stand out as accepted norms.

As for getting this idea in front of everyone, I think that may not be neccesary. What could be done is may be, a group can decide to do this every year and then publish their findings of what bloggers considered as the most unwholesome practices amongst bloggers, just as I’m doing right here 🙂

I know if some popular blog or a group do this, the blogosphere will over flow with the news and other bloggers will talk about it in their posts and by so doing more and more people will come to know of it. Possibly, over time, more and more bloggers will come to know that, doing this or that is not really acceptable to majority of bloggers. And this will help to reduce most of these annoying things that most bloggers are doing today.

Again, I agree with you that spam comments top the list. I’m really surprised that even when GASP is installed which ensures that the blogger visits the site before posting a comment instead of using some software, these spammers will not care to post something reasonable. Just imagine someone coming to a blog with a “ready-made” and then copy and paste without even reading the post! It’s annoying.

But wait, did you say our list will grow over the years? Do you mean by that instead of reducing, these unwholesome practices will definitely increase? But I was thinking if we speak out against them they will somehow reduce. So, you don’t think so?

@futures trading,

It all shows that all of us have challenges but how we handle those challenges matters. Google will rather go back to their drawing boards and see how they can use their market insights rather than give up. And I believe that one tool that Google has given to us which we can actually use to the same is Google Analytics. We can use that tool to understand our market and give more value which in turn will return success for us!

Thanks for the comment.

@sandeep kumar,

Thanks. It’s a pleasure to hear that.

@Simmeon,

I agree with you totally. From what is happening it does appear that from the on-set Apple Inc. set out to create a monopoly that will restrict new entrants to the game. They were very much aware of the ease of copying technology and so they “smartly” registered these patents to keep other from bringing any similar product into the market. But it is clear now that that monopoly will not stand.

@sandeep kumar,

It’s a pleasure that the post resonate with you. Frankly, I try as much possible to give the little I can. I truly do hope that this post will achieve its aim, helping as many as will put the lessons into use.

Thanks for the comment.

@Ehsan,

The gathering of the ideas from various research is what actually took me most of the time. The actual writing took barely hours. But then after completing it I had to keep it away for some days when I occasionally come around to read it over and then put in one or two things here and there. But putting all together, I want to believe it was not more than those 5 days.

@merry,

Of course, as a human resource management student, your communication skills some thing that must taken very seriously. How can you interact or relate intelligently with others if you cannot communicate clearly. I think you are really in a good way to educate us in this area or don’t you think so?

@Emily Williams,

It’s a pleasure to know that the post resonate with you. Are you using social media for selling? Can you share your experience with us?

@Harshad,

It’s funny that you have experienced this yourself! And, I think you rightly figured out what is happening, too many SEOs getting into this game. But beyond that, I also think that those creating low quality guest posts are not really SEOs. They are simply career bloggers who doing those guest blogging services for other companies. For them any form of article is good enough. I spent too many hours trying to re-write some of the guest posts I received because I wanted to encourage some of them but since I did this guest blogging series any article that does not meet my requirements I simply ignore.

Thanks for the comment.

@Christopher Roberts,

Oh, so you have taken that as Google’s darker side? That’s really funny. I did remember that post and of course the comment I made on it. In fact, I’ve just gone over to read it again and must say you don’t have to hate Google for that!

You rightly mentioned that “the story of send” was really a promotional for Google. And like I mentioned in the comment, you don’t have to expose the defective side of your products when you’re marketing. And besides, those defects you tried to point out, are not a strange thing when you talk of technology. There could be failures here and there any time. The only thing is that when that happens, there is room for improvement.

Any way, I’m really fond of Google and I just love what they are doing with their online business. I think what we should do, when we see some good point in those who are successful in their field, to find a way to incorporate those good points in our own operations.

Christopher, I must say I’ve just been considering doing a post for Technology Bloggers, frankly. You know I created an account some time ago but since I’m not really into this technology issues, I’ve not been able to bring myself to doing something in that line. I really want to write an article that will more appeal to the audience there. But not to worry I’m sure I’ll come up with something very soon.

Thanks for the comment.

@Anton Koekemoer,

Me too Anton. That’s why I spend so much time on my blog posts and every other thing about my blog. I always try to go beyond what is others are doing. Sometimes it’s really tasking but I know that ultimately, it will pay off!

It’s a pleasure to see that the post resonate with you. Thanks for joining the conversation.

@Christopher Roberts,

What beats me dry is that most bloggers want to argue that spelling or grammar doesn’t really matter especially since most bloggers do not have English as their first language. This is understandable but as I’ve always let some know, if you have decided to write your blog in English, nothing stops you from learning to use the language well.

But those are really extreme cases because even with those who have English as their first language, many do not care to proof read their work. This is bad. As it’s commonly said, first impression matters. If I come across a site with 2 to 5 errors on a page, I simply conclude that the person behind that site is not serious. And I believe I’m not alone here.

Doing business with someone who cannot ensure that his/her language carries the correct meaning is really taking a risk, especially when it comes to online dealings where, in most cases, every thing is done digitally.

Ok, never knew you are running another competition. Will just check it out.

@Arbaz Khan,

It’s really a pleasure to hear that. Indeed after reading a few of the things being said online, both on blogs, news sites and on Google+, I just thought of putting it together in way that someone hearing it for the first time can really understand it. And the graphics? Truly great! Some of them made me laugh and that’s why I picked these ones to display here.

Thanks for the comment.

@Trixie,

Must agree that these are not good times for Apple Inc. They are really receiving hard knocks for their patent battles. With the ruling that most of those patents shouldn’t have been granted in the first place, it does appear that more and more companies will be aiming to produce products similar to Apple’s which is going to give a tight corner to fight from – I mean competitively!

@Elena Anne,

Well spoken Elena Anne. I know as humans we from time to time let slip one mistake here and there but spending time to re-read and proof-read your articles will remove most of the mistakes. Most times I spend 2 or 3 days on an article. I truly care about the impression I create. 🙂

@thiqar,

And thanks for the comment. Btw. Did you help promote the article? Simple tweet or a share with your linkedin network will be appreciated or don’t you think so?:)

@Jamella Biegel,

It’s a pleasure to see that the post resonate with you and thanks for the good words.

On building a list, I’ll suggest that, as new blogger, the first thing you should really determine is what you want to target. What type of product/service are your eying to promote to your list? Are you thinking of providing a service or product along the way or you’re simply thinking of promoting affiliate products?

It’s when you have decided on this that you can now think of what you will give away to build a list and what type of people to target with your list.

Now, I’m supposing that you must have thought about these things before you started your blog. And if that is so, then I’ll suggest that you go through your published posts, select a few that you can repackage to produce a special report. I’m suggesting this because it is the easiest way to get your free offer ready now!

Once your free offer is ready, signup with any of the email service providers like Aweber or MailChimp and then put up the subscription box on your blog. Of course, building a list and nurturing the list is a volume of its own but if you use these tips you could be up and running in under 3 days. Remember, you should rewrite the articles to reflect your purpose in the report.

Sorry that I can’t really go too deep into details. But if you need more explanations, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for the comment.

@Melanie,

Hmm, I love that line about max out at a certain stage! There is no better option than to have your main hub where you can do what you really want to do. Of course, you know also that these social media sites could decide to pull the carpet from under your feet any thing if they think you are going outside their boundary!

I do hope someone is really listening! 🙂

@Ehsan,

Oh thanks. Must say your entry is really a great post too and seeing I’m entering late I’ll just have to do some extra work! 🙂

Btw. thanks for bringing this to my notice!

@Chris,

Hmm, “but it’s not so easy!” Yes, I agree that it is not easy. But the truth is that nothing great comes easy. What we need is to keep at it and put in all our best. Seeking to know the basics and working to put them to work is really the key to succeed with all of these. Or don’t you think so?

@Romy,

Thanks for coming around to check out my entry. The promotion is already on! Let’s see how it comes out 🙂

@buy seo services,

That is true. A simple mistake could change the meaning of the sentence. Thanks for the comment.

@Ehsan,

I like that angle Ehsan. I know that many bloggers will not really care if there are mistakes on your blog or not. However, let’s say you are blogger who promotes yourself as a freelance content writer. When someone comes to your blog and on a single post, there nothing less than 4 noticeable misspellings. What impression do you think that person will have of you? Or do you think it really does not matter?

Oh, it was really a pleasure. Must say you have a great blog there and I’ll definitely be visiting more.

@m, you’re definitely right. We are setting this to ensure that the blog have a more structured direction in the days to come. Thanks for the comment.

@bj,

Exactly bj. The purpose is to make sure all of us have a better view of what is happening here and to keep up with things. Thanks for the comment.

@Benaiah Marshall,

I agree with you Benaiah. In fact whenever there is a new update I always wait, say two to three days before updating. I think it sometimes pay to take the necessary precautions.

@Raheel Mushtaq,

That really is what I have always said. The unfortunate thing is that not many people know what Google truly wants. That is why posts like this one are very helpful. Thanks for the comment.

@Restaurants in Delhi,

Your fears are also the fears of many. We know that this is not the first time Google is doing this but these big companies have always find a way around it. The difference this time is that Google is hitting them where they never expected. In fact, Google used human editors to manually removed some of the link building networks!

I think Google is sending the message loud and clear to all that they will go any length to sanitize the system.

Thanks for the comment.

@Car Accident Attorneys,

You are right about getting fresh and new opinion on your site with guest blogging. But for giving you a break from writing, I think that is not really it. If you stay of writing as a blogger because you are publishing guest posts, you will soon discover that your blog will lose readership. You know, guest post cannot really take the place of your own “voice” on your blog. Once your readers have come to identify with your writing style, staying off and publishing only guest posts will harm your blog. Or don’t you think so?

@FreeAgent,

It’s a thing of joy to hear that!

But the fact is, Facebook is big marketing platform because of the number of users on the social site. When your business can connect with a large number of potential customers in one place, that indeed is good prospect for your business. So when we talk about marketing on Facebook it’s actually getting your business before the large number of potential customers.

@buy seo services,

Oh glad to hear that! Well, magnetic marketing is just that, magnetic marketing! 🙂 Ok, you know what a magnet is, right? When you use magnetic marketing tactics the purpose is not only to attract customers but also to ensure that those customers stay clued to your business just as the magnet will never let go! I hope you will be using these tactics in your business?

@Robert Koenig,

You mean Google and the rest are just like the blind men in the story? Oh, that’s taking it to another level. But frankly, I think in that level we all are in the same boat.

You know, when you’re trying to achieve a result, until that result comes, you’re actually like a blind man except you have a guide, like someone who has achieved that results before and is ready to give the direction. I think this is the only area that Google and the rest can be compared to the blind men. Of course, Google has an idea of what the internet should be but because they are blazing a trial no other person has traveled before, they need, most times to move on using trial by error.

For the likes of Yahoo, I think they got it wrong when they thought everything should have a price tag! You can see that Google understands the internet better. Consider the different tools they provide for us free, all of these make them a darling of online marketers therefore expanding their potential clients base!

Yahoo expected us to get into their search engine only if we can pay them for it but Google opened their search for everyone and today Google has remained the search engine that everyone talks about.

I personally believe that there is so much we can learn from Google as internet marketers or what do you think?

@Amit Shaw,

Hi, Amit glad to see you again! How was your exams? Hope you had a good holiday. You’re highly welcome!

@Terra@Girls Bedding,

I agree with you. Focusing only on creating content for ones blog may be good but getting some on other blogs is a sure way of generating a continuous flow of traffic. Thanks for the comment.

@Hen Dos,

Do you mean the best Webhost or best blogging platform? Which ever of these you meant, the fact is that depending on your need, you may choose any host that best suit what you want to achieve. You can google “best webhost” or “best blogging platform” and then take the time to analyze the results you receive. I think instead of just saying this is the best, when I know that there are various options out there will amount to being dishonest.

@top movies,

That really is the truth. It’s unfortunate that many big corporations who depended on these SEO companies got a bashing of their life! 🙂

It all appears that Google really want everyone to focus on natural link building instead of some of the greyhat tactics employed by these SEO companies. The unfortunate thing is that these companies have big budgets and they know their way around any of these Google updates. We definite will see them coming up with other tactics to beat penguin. But till then, some of us are already reaping the good work of penguin! 🙂

@Zara,

Just what I mentioned why replying Aasma’s comment. I’ve heard many people try to make light of it that Google is really the one who is making the money with these tools. As much as that is true, the tools help Google to know more about us all so as to better target users with their ads, but we must not fail to appreciate the fact that we are all benefiting using those tools. I cannot really imagine how much I would be dishing out every for such a tool if Google had not magnanimously provided one! Or, don’t you think so too?

@Rob Koenig,

That story had always intrigued me. Whenever,I consider the way some things are handled by different people in trying to make believe that they know much about those things, my always to this story.

Sarah have really cleverly made a point with this story in this article. I think we will need some de-glazing as regarding many of the subjects we read online if we are not to be like the blind men! 🙂 Nothing is more rewarding when you approach it knowing what you are doing instead of just speculatively. Or don’t you think so, Rob?

@Yim,

Yeah, that’s just the truth. As long as you restrict yourself to whitehat SEO tactics, Google will reward you for your works!

@Pete Goumas,

Must say, that bit about adding some humor in the post is really insightful! One good way of connecting with your readers is to make them relaxed while reading your post and humor can do that quite easily. Only catch is that you just need to know how to make the humor relevant to the post. Thanks for the comment.

@Aasma,

It’s glad to hear that. If you have not seen any difference in your site rankings it means you were not hit by the update which is a good thing. Now, if you will only continue with that thing and of course implement some of these suggestions, you definitely be seeing some good results very soon because as bad sites are falling of the rankings, the good ones are moving up!