Mextena - Blogging Tips, SEO & Make Money Online

Understanding The Technical Basics of Blogging

2010-03-19T11:46:00.000+05:30

No matter you are new to blogging or a experienced one from years, You an not get pro skills & privileges of blogging till you get in the basics. Blogging not just a writing in your niche, there are many technical elements involved if you ignore them, you could never get a satisfactory results. To understand why biggest bloggers like John Chow, Shoemoney & Daniel Socco, You need to analyze the differences between these guy’s blogs & other millions of blogs out there.

Defining The Plot of Your Blog:

To understand blogging you should have your plot defined. So what is the plot anyway?

Simply, you should have very clear idea what you’re writing on and your subject should specifically define. E.g: if you are writing on subject pets, the specific plot means ‘How to care about pets’ or you can have any different plot as per convenience. If your just simply write on pets there are thousand others who will compete with you. And also your study or market research is increased 10 times with undefined plot of your blog.

Writing on specific topic gives you the clear understanding of the subject, so you can give the best out of your blog for your audience. Also you get specialized in the field and can create monopoly on the subject.

Defining the Audience & Understanding Their Expectation:

You would never believe the thing that if you do not have your proper audience & can not understand their needs – You can never get into their heads. You have to search for your market, then evolving the marketable idea & then presenting the product i.e your blog. It is the basic of any business. So you need to analyze what people want, you can search it from keyword analysis.

Predefining the audience makes you to evolving the ideas. & it makes the whole process of blogging simple.

OK, Everything is Defined. Now What?

Then you can start writing on your blog. But I suggest you to get some experience in writing. Read maximum, so you can get how to write in best manner. Writing is another technical thing that can be improved by practice. Some of my next articles will feature on this topic as well. So keep following this blog tips series. This is it for beginning and you can invest 5-10 days on such analysis & defining is enough for beginners. As you go on your analysis will give improved results & you keep on getting polished with you extremely technical blogging skills.

Blog Tips To Save Your Time While Writing With ScribeFire

2010-03-18T11:45:00.000+05:30

Which are the things that we always want in our hand while writing the new posts on our blog ? Well,they are – Good knowledge, pictures, a handy editor and some software lie FTP client and all.

Well I am enlisting here some of the blog tips that can save your time while writing your posts. It is all related to your browser & its add ons.

I guess you are aware that Mozilla Firefox is mostly preferred by blogger to blog their posts. If you don’t then keep reading . .

These Blog Tips are as follows:

1. We miss our most of time in logging in the blogs then that bulky Wordpress loads, and then new posts . . God damn it ! I always wondered that I need something fast. One thing is clear that Wordpress has great potential but to reduce the time consumed while posting our blogs we use some Firefox add ons, which can save your time.

2. First Download a ScribeFire Here. Now you just need to install this add on in your Firefox. Then configure its dashboard for number of blogs you are having. Yes any number of blogs.

3. With ScribeFire You can simply write in notepad like editor. Which is much faster and saves time from blogging.

4. It loads in the halfway through the firefox, which gives you access to your reference web pages directly. So reduces that work significantly.

5. You can view all your posts, pages ,links with Scribefire. Not just this You can also also have complete editing functionality as in Wordpress. You can simultaneously tweet the post too.

6. With ScribFire You can also add the videos from Youtube and also upload images as in Wordpress. Which makes your blog interactive and gives your visitors good knowledge.

7. You can also add some Firefox Add ons like Colorzilla to select color pallet. And FireFTP to transfer files to server.

From Now on I guess these Blog Tips you could use such save your time while you blog. Despite of the blog tips I recommend you to go to the Firefox Add on Community and brows through that hundreds of add ons. Customize your UI and save time to improve quality of your blogging with apps like Scribefire, Colorzilla & FireFTP.

Hope these small blog tips can help to make most out of your blogs. Please Fell free to ask , suggest and criticize in our comments box.

Good Topics For Your Blog (Most Searched and High Paying Adsense Keywords)

2010-03-17T11:44:00.000+05:30

There are so many topics for blogging, most important is doing something you are interested in. These keywords enlisted below are most searched topic on search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN search.

These topics can be chosen for Your Niche sites. Even if you are a matured bloggers, these topics can be good for your natural blog.

Bollywood and Hollywood Celebrities.
Technology- Gaming, Gadgets, PDA, Computing, Web, Cellphones.
Blogging Tips
Tips and tricks blog
Animation , Art or Film Making
Personal – Love , Friends , Relations
Video Blogs,
E books, wallpapers, Free downloads,
Find a Date
Online jobs, get paid from working home,
Job Searches, get a job, business
Ladies blogs- babies, parenting, beauty tips
Shares Market, Stock Exchange, Business deals
Cute – Roses , Gifts, Cards
Buy and Sell products
News, Personal Blog, Diary, electronics, home, real estate.
Cracking, passwords, security
Computer technology, Internet technologies
Schools, Scholarships, Exams, Online tuitions
Recent hot topics like- president election, company takeovers, big projects, war, Miss World etc.
Any cute, chubby topic (I don’t believe Girls still loves to read that)

So these are some the best on web, that is searched most – that pays most on Adsense as a high paying keywords. Try to give your audience what they want. Feel their needs and feel their interest, you can surely find a way to make it better and better.
Always experiment with your writing skills, advertising methods, blog topics. This can help you to improve most in your blogging career.

And remember as a blogger, you are the part of the web community which is established for all the people in the world to connect, to get the countries closer to each other. So, Never ever publish something on your blog that can heart other’s feelings. Because their feelings are also as important as you and your people.

If you all these things in mind, you can be the best blogger ever made, just try. Blog all about your thoughts,feelings, emotions, just pick one topic from above and start writing it now….

Making Money Online and Trust

2010-03-15T22:29:00.001+05:30

Trust plays a very important role for people wanting to make money online. Simply put, readers who trust you will be more likely to purchase products you recommend, buy your eBook, take your reviews seriously, click your links or hire you for some other service.

Fortunately, there are a number of methods available to help establish yourself as trustworthy, and in doing so, increase your earnings.

Trust is particularly important on the web because there is such a lack of it. In the face-to-face world we make purchases from established brands, mediated by (hopefully) knowledgeable and competent salespeople. We can clearly and transparently observe transactions being made. We can also return or exchange products we buy that fail to meet our needs.

Most of these things are lost on the web, and as bloggers, we will rarely have the chance to even meet those we hope to buy from us, either directly or indirectly.

Here are some methods you can use to counterbalance this initial lack of trust.
Being objective

The risk when writing things like paid reviews is that readers will immediately assume your views will be biased toward the product. It seems logical that a company would only pay for a review if it could safely assume the result would create a favorable impression of their brand.

If your review sounds like an advertisement, however, you will lose the element of trust that might have encouraged readers to investigate the product. It seems counter-intuitive, but writing a glowing review may indirectly decrease sales.

This does not mean you should take the opposite tack and trash the product (unless it’s well and truly deserving). Instead, try to temper the positive points in your review by including some possible draw-backs, or by explaining why the product or service might not be suitable for certain types of people.

Not only does this make your review seem more trustworthy and objective, but it can help insure you against disgruntled buyers. Those who do read your overwhelmingly positive review and buy the product, only to find that it is not at all suited to them, will direct their anger against the person who recommended it to them in the first place: you.
Being honest about affiliates

A good rule of thumb is to let your readers know when you have the potential to profit from a link. Readers might not appreciate being profited from without their consent, particularly if their initial level of trust is low.

I have seen some bloggers insert (aff link) in brackets after the link to let readers know they’re linking to an affiliate. This is not the method I would choose. It tells readers you will make a profit from anything purchased, but it does not explain on what terms. My main criticism, however, would be that only a small percentage of web users are familiar with affiliate marketing schemes. Many readers will not understand what you mean by aff link.

Another option would be to include a disclaimer at the beginning or end of your post, linking to a page explaining how and why affiliate links are used. For example:

This post contains affiliate links for the product _____. To learn more about how and why affiliate links are used on this site, or how they help to support the blog, feel free to browse my Disclosure Policy (link).

You do have one, right?

Check Out The Affiliate Marketing 101 Guide

2010-03-15T22:24:00.000+05:30

My friend Jonathan Volk just released a guide titled Affiliate Marketing 101. The guide is completely free, and you just need to subscribe to his email newsletter to get access.

I just went there to check the material, and I must say that it is really solid. Jonathan covers pretty much all you need to know to get started with affiliate marketing. He generated over $4 million last year in affiliate sales, so he sure knows what he is talking about, too.

Here is a list of the sections included:

* Introduction
* What Is Affiliate Marketing?
* What Is An Affiliate Network?
* Recommended Affiliate Networks
* How Does All This Come Together?
* The “Pregame”
* The “Pregame” Pt. 2 – Know Your Demographics
* The “Pregame” Pt. 3 – Setting Up Hosting / Domain Name
* Setting Up A Simple PHP Redirect
* The Landing Page
* Affiliate Marketing Methods (Basic Overview)
* Social Media Affiliate Marketing Guide
* Pay Per View Affiliate Marketing Guide
* Pay Per Click Affiliate Marketing Guide
* Media Buying Affiliate Marketing Guide
* After Your Campaigns Are Ready To Launch
* Conclusion

You’ll find the sections where he talks about affiliate marketing methods particularly useful, because he goes into details about the techniques he uses, the tricks that he found effective to generate more sales and so on.

Finally, he is also having a contest where the two people sending more referrals to the affiliate marketing guide we’ll win an Apple iPad. You’ll get your referral link once you subscribe to the newsletter. Neat promotional idea by the way, huh?

3 Ad Server Options for Bloggers

2010-02-15T22:28:00.000+05:30

Advertising is a major revenue source for many blogs (and the only revenue source for some). If you sell ad space on your blog, I’m sure you have realized that it can be a time-consuming activity. Keeping your ad slots filled, changing the links and images each month, and communicating with advertisers are all necessary functions if you are monetizing your blog by selling direct ads.

There are a number of different tools that can help you to streamline this process. Some are free and some are not. Even those that cost money may prove to be extremely affordable if they can help you to save time and make the process more efficient. In this article will take a look at 3 options for bloggers.

Open Ads

Openads is a free open source ad server that can be used by website owners and bloggers. Over 20,000 publishers have downloaded Openads for use on their own projects, so it has a large and active community surrounding the product.

Openads is an attractive option because it is free and very powerful, as it handles any type of advertisement, including banners, text links, video, flash, popups, etc. For users, Openads features a simple administrative interface to control all aspects of the advertising, and it shows an impressive amount of statistics in real time that many users will appreciate (advertisers can also access this data).

With Openads you can prioritize campaigns (for example, paid advertisers being prioritized over affiliate ads) to control when, where, and how often ads appear. Other features and controls include geo targeting, page-specific controls, times of the day or week, by browser or operating system, referral targeting, frequency capping (only shows ads to a viewer a certain number of times per day or per session).

OIO Publisher

For WordPress users, OIO Publisher is another viable option. As a premium plugin, OIO Publisher comes with a $37 price tag, which is extremely reasonable for bloggers who make money with advertisements. Because it is a plugin, users can access everything they need within the WordPress dashboard.

Once you have purchased the plugin you will keep 100% of the advertising revenue, there is nothing taken out by OIO Publisher. It offers many of the same features and functionality as Openads, such as control of banner ads, text links, and even paid reviews. OIO Publisher works with PayPal to make the process of accepting advertisers and their payment easier and less time consuming.

OIO Publisher also provides some benefit for the advertisers. As the blogger, you can choose to have statistics automatically emailed to advertisers at specific intervals.

There is also a marketplace that is part of OIO Publisher where bloggers and advertisers can get matched up. The stats are provided can also be included in the marketplace if you want to show potential advertisers more about the experience of your current advertisers.

If you are hesitant to purchase the plugin there is also a free version, although it does not include the functionality to manage banner ad campaigns.

Show Your Ad Here

Show Your Ad Here is the latest project from Mark Wielgus of 45n5. This ad server will not cost you anything (for sites with less than 250,000 page views per month), but you will only receive 75% of the ad revenue (they cover PayPal fees). Show Your Ad Here offers some of the features of Openads and OIO Publisher, such as ad rotating and geo targeting, however, there are no statistics provided.

With Show Your Ad Here you can easily manage multiple ad zones and multiple sites from one place (although there is no functionality for text links). They also have an ad marketplace like OIO Publisher. Their marketplace includes some social features such as ratings and feedback.

by Daniel Scocco click here A couple of months ago I asked our readers what affiliate marketing questions they would like to have answered. I then

2010-01-15T22:26:00.000+05:30

A couple of months ago I asked our readers what affiliate marketing questions they would like to have answered. I then analyzed the submissions and filtered out the 15 most common questions. After that I sent the questions to three friends of mine who are affiliate marketing rock stars, and the result is what you will find below.

These guys need no introduction, but here we go anyway. Shawn Collins started doing affiliate marketing in the 90s, and today he is one of the most respected names in the industry. Jonathan Volk is the CEO of Surge Marketing, an affiliate marketing company that generates million of dollars in affiliate sales every year. Zac Johnson started making money online when he was 15, and today he is one of the most successful affiliate marketers around. Make sure to subscribe to all three sites if you want to learn more about affiliate marketing. Now to the questions and answers.
1. How do I get started with affiliate marketing if I am a complete newbie?

Shawn: I created a video overview on the steps I would take to set up a new affiliate site.

Jonathan: I would start out by joining some of the internet communities and reading the blogs. I think it’s a great idea to give you a head start. Additionally, on many of the blogs they have some “Getting started with affiliate marketing” type guides that can really help you to start your make money online journey.

Zac: The best way to get started is to get familiar with the lingo and how networks, cpa/cpc, social marketing and all aspects work. There are plenty of paid ebooks and “teaching” programs out there, but none of them are necessary. Do a simple google search and you will come across a ton of marketing blogs offering the same newbie information for free. Everything you need to get started is already out there for free if you just look for it.
2. Do I need to spend money (e.g., PPC, paid advertising, etc) to make money with affiliate marketing?

Shawn: There are many different ways to make money as an affiliate. If you have money to invest, and you’re willing to put a lot of time into testing, you can make money fairly fast with PPC. But if you have more time than money, and you want to build a long-term site, I’d suggest focusing on building a blog on a topic that interests you. This can be done for very little cost.

Jonathan: Yes. There is always going to be at least a minimal investment needed. You’ll need a website, domain, etc. You don’t have to pay for traffic but it’s the FASTEST way to begin to earn a living online. I would recommend starting out paying for PPC traffic and just setting your daily budget to whatever the affiliate commission is. Let’s say you earn $20 bucks per lead for an offer. Set your daily budget to $20 and see if you get anything.

Zac: As mentioned, everything is already out there. You definitely DO NOT need to spend money to make money online. However, it is all relevant in terms of how fast you want to make money and how much. When I first started making money online over a decade ago, I was making 5 figures a year without spending a dime on advertising costs. This took much longer to build up content and get search traffic… but didn’t cost any money.
3. Suppose I already have a website or blog with decent traffic. How can I use affiliate marketing to monetize my site?

Shawn: Find out which companies in your niche have affiliate programs and apply to them. Check them against each other to see which have the longest cookie durations, best payout, highest EPC, etc. Then start testing creative from these companies to compile data and determine which perform best for you and your audience.

Jonathan: First, you really need to know your demographic. Who visits your website? Then using that information go to your affiliate manager and ask them what particular offers might be working well for this demographic. For example, if your site primarily caters to 35-50 year old women, weight loss offers might be and offer you want to try.

Zac: Depending on the type of site you currently have, its likely one of the major affiliate networks will have a relevant CPA offer for you to blend in with your content. You always have the option of Google Adsense, but that is usually a last resource for seasoned marketers. The key is blending in relevant content/ads and making it look real.
4. Do you start by choosing an offer, and then building a website/email list/PPC campaign around it, or the other way around (i.e., first build a website or email list and then try to find suitable offers)?

Shawn: I choose offers that fit my sites, because I am more likely to maintain a site if I have an interest in it. But there are plenty of successful affiliates who are essentially mercenaries that create sites to capitalize on whatever is hot.

Jonathan: I actually find the market first. What I mean by this is that I find where there are high volumes of traffic and try to cater to their needs. That way I know the traffic is there, it’s just a matter of finding out what will convert profitably for that particular area (or demographic).

Zac: Personally, if I am selecting an offer from a network, I will go through their available offers. I already have a good idea of whats on every other network and most likely saturated, so I want to choose something that looks a bit unsaturated and not already being pushed by a ton of affiliates. This is usually a hard find, but if found, usually it is much easier to promote and make money.
5. What is affiliate scrubbing/shaving, and what do you think about it?

Shawn: I focus on retail/revenue share and this hasn’t been an issue for me.

Jonathan: Scrubbing is when an advertiser (not the network) scrubs out bad leads and you do not get paid for them. This is very common and happens on a majority of the advertiser pages. This could be as simple as scrubbing someone from another country when the advertiser is only asking for US based leads or as complicated as the lead having bogus information such as a fake email address (e.g., 129023i190i@fakemail.com).

Shaving is different. Shaving is when an affiliate network shaves leads from your leads. So maybe one in 100 of your leads does not get counted. The network still gets paid from the advertiser for this but you will never see anything. There are times when shaving is intentional (and some networks have been proven to shave) and sometimes when it is unintentional. Either way, it can be prevented by simply split testing the offer across multiple affiliate networks if possible.

Always remember that you should not accuse anyone of shaving unless you have a statistically significant number of leads to prove it. If you only have 10 leads per day on average and one day you have 5, it doesn’t mean the advertiser is shaving. It could mean a lot of things.

Zac: Since affiliate marketing first started online, it’s always been a scary issue and always in the back of our minds. Years ago, you pretty much had to rely on what the networks stats reported, but with more advanced reports and pixel/cookie tracking, you can compare network stats against your own. Unfortunately there are always going to be cheaters, lairs and people looking to take advantage of you. Before pushing some serious numbers with a company, make sure you can trust their stats and know who you are working with.

The Affiliate Marketing Report Card

2008-03-15T22:25:00.000+05:30

Browsing through the web today I came across report compiled by AceAffiliates, called Affiliate Marketing Report Card. It basically summarizes a bunch of data from different affiliate programs to help you choose the best one.

Here are some of the fields included:

commissions
earnings per click
order size
conversion rate
payment threshold
payment methods

They also classified the affiliate programs by niche, including dating, web hosting, software, medical, insurance and so on. Overall it is a nice resource if you are trying to find some affiliate offers to promote.