Blog Commenting Contest – Win $10 from Dennis Edell
Posted by Alan Mater on Mar 8, 2010
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Okay, here’s a quick and easy way to earn $10. My good friend Dennis Edell is giving away $10 to ten people. One of those people can be you.
Simply head over to his blog at DennisEdell.com and leave intelligent, thought provoking comments on any of his blog posts. If you’re in his top ten commentator list at the end of March, you’ll win $10.
Easy enough, right?
Well… better head to this post to read the rules first.
I’ll warn you now that the competition will be a bit fierce. I’ll also mention that I’ll be participating as well. 
Comment if you dare!
Seriously, making money online doesn’t get much easier than this right here.
What Are You Thankful For This Year?
Posted by Alan Mater on Nov 26, 2009
I’m also very thankful for having a very loving and caring family. I’m so blessed to have them in my life. I’m also blessed to have a wonderful fiance that I love very much.Are You Losing Blog Readers?
Posted by Alan Mater on Nov 21, 2009
This is a problem that all bloggers have to face, including myself. There’s a million different reasons why someone doesn’t like your blog or doesn’t like what you write. And, these reasons could even be causing some loyal readers to unsubscribe from your blog’s RSS Feed.
However, this post isn’t going to cover any of that stuff. Yes, that happens a lot, but there’s another reason why you may be losing blog readers. In fact, this problem could be hindering people from even reading your blog in the first place. And, I know for a fact that you want as many people to read your blog. Afterall, I feel the same way. 
So, what could this problem be?
You may be l0sing blog readers because your blog simply takes too long to load. In this day and age, people are more impatient than ever. I happen to be one of those people, so if a page takes forever to load, I’ll just move on to something else. Well, good chances are there’s more people out there that do the same.
If your blog takes more than five seconds to load, you may want to look into speeding it up a bit.
This idea hadn’t even dawned on me until I read Sid Savara’s guest blog post on ProBlogger’s blog about 5 Plugins To Make Your WordPress Blog Blazing Fast.
The post covers 5 amazing Wordpress plugins you can use to speed up the load time of your blog. I highly recommend you check out the post, especially if you’re having problems with your blog loading slow.
This could be due to images and other factors, including the popularity of your blog and how much traffic it receives on a daily basis.
One plugin that is recommend is WP Super Cache, which I’ve installed on this blog. It’s only been a day so far, so I haven’t noticed a huge difference yet. But then, my blog doesn’t get 1,000’s of visitors a day.
This is something that all bloggers need to be aware of and take into consideration. You don’t want to be losing blog readers before they even have a chance to read your blog.
October Income Report
Posted by Alan Mater on Nov 14, 2009
Another month gone by. I didn’t do as well as September, but still not a bad run. Let’s take a look at where things stand as far as how much income my site brought in.
- Google Adsense – $17.97
- Yarie.com – $30.40
- SFI – $6.17
- Clickbank – $139.36
- Responsive Data – $9
- Free Traffic System – $10.00
- Angela’s Backlink Building Service – $3.75
Total income for October is: $216.65
Where income lacked in some places, it made up for in others. Clickbank did very well thanks to the new addition of Adam Berry’s Flip Switch Profits course, which I highly recommend.
This income doesn’t include my proofreading, re-writing and blogging services.
3 Tips To Create Blog Content That Gets Noticed
Posted by Alan Mater on Nov 12, 2009
If you run a blog I’m sure one of your many goals is to create content that brings in a large readership. Afterall, your content is what matters the most when it comes to getting to gaining readers and having them continue to come back for more. A problem you may face is coming up with ideas on what to write about that’s going to attract a readership.
I’ve put together 3 tips that you can put into action right now to create blog content that gets noticed.
So, without further delay, let’s get right into it…
Tip 1: Find content to write about with YouTube videos
Videos are the new medium on the internet, and there is a TON of information in the form of videos, not just on YouTube, but on every other video site. Videos are great for spreading content in a more personal way. However, there’s no actual content, or text, about what is being talked about.
This is where you can benefit. Find a video that relates to your blog content, and create an article based on what the video is about. It’s just like transcribing an audio file into print form, but with a video instead.
This will be completely unique content, and you can do it for any niche or subject. There’s really no limit as there are a massive amount of videos on literally any subject you can think of.
Tip 2: Use Twitter and other Social Networks to find hot subjects to write about
This strategy will take a little more work, but it can be very effective. With this technique you’ll be blogging about current, hot topics that everyone is buzzing about. This should no doubt get your blog some exposure.
If you’re on Twitter I’m sure you’ve seen a particular subject that everyone is talking about. This could be true for any number of social sites. Start blogging about that subject, if it’s suitable for your blog, of course.
On Twitter, an easy way to find the most talked about subject is to go to the home page, and on the right-hand side, you’ll see Trending Topics. These are the topics that are most talked about, and this will save you a lot time to find them.
Tip 3: Read other blogs to get ideas for your own blog
Most bloggers are subscribed to RRS feeds of other blogs that they find interesting and are related to their own blogs. Sometimes a blogger you follow might write about something that really perks your interest.
One particular blog I follow is Peter Lee’s Work From Home Blog.
When this happens, what you can do is expand on what they talked about or even create a spin on the subject. You can even get a little controversial if you have a different point of view. This is another way to get exposure and a lot of comments.
When going this route, just be sure you don’t copy the post, as this is stealing. It’s okay if you want to quote a portion so that people reading your post can understand what you’re talking about. A link back to the other post wouldn’t hurt either.
What do you do to create blog content that gets noticed? Share your tips in the comments below…
Are You Ignoring Your Blog Readers?
Posted by Alan Mater on Sep 30, 2009
Every blog owner dreams of having thousands of readers. In fact, I’m one of them. As of right now I only have 27 subscribers to my RSS Feed. I would love to get that number up. But regardless, that tells me I have 27 people who are interested in my blog and what I have to say. Ignoring them would be a disservice to not only them but also myself.
I’ve ran across some popular blogs that have literally 1,000’s of readers. These types of blogs receive many comments to their posts, and some are specific questions regarding what the posts were about.
What I’ve noticed is that some of these blog owners are completely ignoring the readers by not answering the readers’ questions and responding to the comments. For the life of me I can’t understand why.
In my case, I blog because I want to help people and provide valuable information. If someone has a question, I would be doing a disservice by not acknowledging the reader and answering the question. It just wouldn’t make sense.
But this is what I’m seeing on other blogs. If these blog owners truly want to help people, then why are they completely ignoring their readers?
It’s one thing to have great content that brings in readers and lots of comments, but if you’re not paying attention to your readers then what’s the point? Your readers could just go elsewhere to find the information they’re looking for.
I’m saying this from experience. It takes a lot of guts to post a comment on a respected blog for the first time. If I’m going to take the time to comment and make it meaningful, the least the blog owner can do is acknowledge me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way. Personally, I’ll probably leave the blog never to return.
I would much rather keep my blog readers coming back time and time again. And, I want my readers to feel comfortable and feel free to comment. If they have a question, I’m going to answer it. I won’t leave them hanging.
So if you’re reading this and have a habit of ignoring your blog readers, just remember, you could lose them and potentially lose some money in the long-run.
If you’re a reader of this blog and have yet to comment, now’s the time. I want to hear your thoughts on the issue.
Oh, and THANKS for being a valued reader of this blog! I truly appreciate it!
July Blog Post Roundup
Posted by Alan Mater on Aug 11, 2009
It’s time for another blog post roundup. Here are July’s blog posts in case you happened to miss any.
Do You Suffer From Information Overload?
PPG 2nd Annual Marketing Contest
Proper Etiquette When Using Someone Elses Content
Free Contextual Link Partnership Wordpress Plugin
I Wrote My First Guest Blog Post
Contextual Partnership Wordpress Plugin UPDATE
Freelance Work From Home
Freelance Writing Opportunities – Blog Writing
Blog Writing Update
Blog Writing Update
Posted by Alan Mater on Jul 22, 2009
Just a few days ago I wrote about freelance writing opportunities and how blog writing is becoming quite a popular job for service providers. Well ironically, I was just asked by one of my clients to ghostwrite articles for their blog.
Talk about good timing. I honestly didn’t know this would happen at the time of writing my post, but it proves the fact that there are people out there looking for blog writers. You just have to get yourself in front of potential clients.
Being a current client of mine, and knowing the subject matter of which they need articles written for, it just makes sense. It’s not my normal proofreading work, but having done this type of work before as well as a bit of re-writing work, I figure, why not?
It’s always a good idea to have multiple streams of income, so capitalizing on every opportunity is a no-brainer. I’m not going to lie… I need money. Who doesn’t?
That’s what my blog is all about. Presenting ideas and showing you different ways you can earn extra money on the internet. There’s many different avenues to take, and freelance blog writing is one of those, and it can pay off.
Freelance Writing Opportunities – Blog Writing
Posted by Alan Mater on Jul 20, 2009
Following up with my previous post on finding freelance work from home, I wanted to share about another freelance opportunity. Freelance writing opportunities are in high demand. If you’re a writer, or aspiring writer, then this post is for you. Heck, even if you’re not that great at writing but are knowledgeable in a certain area or niche, then pay close attention.
There are numerous amounts of people that constantly require article writers on a wide variety of subjects. Just go to my previous post, linked above, and sign up with those sites as a service provider. You’ll be able to see firsthand at how many writing jobs are available.
Other freelance writing opportunities, and one that is very similar to the above, is blog writing. The same principal applies, but this time you’re writing an article or blog post for the owner of a blog. There are millions of blogs ran by webmasters, and many webmasters don’t have the time to keep up with their blogs.
The fact is that it’s hard keeping up with a blog, and I should know. . It takes time to research a topic and then write about it. It’s very time consuming to keep a blog updated on a consistent basis. And as we all know, Google loves new, fresh content that’s added regularly to sites. This is where you, a freelance blog writer, can help.
Many blog owners would like to keep their blog up to date and provide valuable content to their readers. The problem is that many just don’t have the time due to other interests or obligations. Many blog owners would be willing to hire a blog writer to post content on their blog.
It will take a little effort and time on your part, but if you run across a quality blog that doesn’t get updated very often, or seems to have been neglected, you could simply contact the owner and offer your writing services to them. Many will be so happy that you contacted them that they’ll jump on the idea.
The price you get paid per post for blog writing will vary and has many factors. Some factors include the niche, length of the posts and your writing experience. With a little effort there’s no reason why you can’t find a blog writing job.
So there you have it… two examples of freelance writing opportunities that are available to you. I’m sure with some creativity and strong will, you’ll be able to find other avenues as well.
Contextual Partnership Wordpress Plugin UPDATE
Posted by Alan Mater on Jul 14, 2009
A week ago I posted about the new Contextual Link Partnership Wordpress Plugin and how it allows you to earn free and unlimited one way backlinks to your blog.
Since the plugin was new and I just installed it on my blog, I didn’t have any results to share with you. Of course my hopes were high as this looked like the ideal setup in getting relevant backlinks.
Well, I just received an email from the owners yesterday that pretty much fortifies what I’ve already been saying about this plugin. So far they are seeing tremendous growth in the network and have started distributing backlinks.
I still have high hopes and look forward to the potential that this neat little plugin will have for my blogs, including this one.
If you would like to learn more and read up on what’s been going on just head here: http://www.contextualpartnership.com/news/over-54000-places-for-your-links/.
I would recommend grabbing this plugin and utilizing it on your blogs. You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. And don’t worry, I’m not getting paid or anything to promote it. I just see a lot of value in this and hope all of you will too.
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