3 Simple Ways To Make Affiliate Commissions Without Having To Sell

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Daily Affiliate Tasks

If you have a blog, write for a blog or would like to start a blog, you need to know all about affiliate marketing.  It’s a great way to make money online and if you’re not doing it, and doing it right, then you’re leaving money on the table.

My good friend and business coach, Susanne Myers, has affiliate marketing down to a science.  She is so successful at affiliate marketing that she was able to quit her full time job and bring her husband home.  You may know her best as the Hillbilly Housewife.

 

By Susanne Myers
www.DailyAffiliateTasks.com
The thing most of us struggle with when we first start to run an online business is that we’re not comfortable selling. The good news is that you don’t have to go out there and make a hard sale, practically shoving a product down your reader’s throat. There are some subtle strategies you can use that actually work a lot better. Here are three of them that I’m currently using. Give them a try and see if you don’t start making some affiliate sales while giving your readers exactly what they are looking for.

1) Contextual Links
One of the simplest things to do is to add links to affiliate products throughout your content. For example, if I mention the popular autoresponder service Aweber, I will link to my affiliate link for this service. Similarly, if you’re writing about potty training tips, you may link to a potty training guide.
Just make sure that your hyperlinks are in blue and underlined to make it easy for your readers to recognize them as such. Including one or two links into most pieces of your online content can lead to quite a few affiliate commissions over time.

2) Free Trials Or Samples
Find some free trial offers or samples and mention them on your blog, website or on social media. Your audience will love getting something for free and should they decide to buy the paid product or continue a membership, you will get an affiliate commission.
The same holds true for very low cost trials like $1 for the first month to join something. Give it a try. It’ll be easy to make the offer to your readers and you won’t feel like selling.

3) Product Reviews
Last but not least, let’s talk about my personal favorite – product reviews. Find a product or service that you are currently using that has an affiliate program. Write a simple review that introduces the product, explains what it does and highlights the features and benefits. Tell your readers what you like about it and what you don’t like about it. Then let them know where they can order the product and use your affiliate link. That’s all there’s to it.

People actively search for reviews online all day long which makes it easy to get some free search engine traffic for those product reviews. Once they land on your site they are very close to make a buying decision and may just decide to click through your link and buy. It’s a great way to make a sale without having to do any hard selling.

Ready for more tips on how to grow your affiliate income? Join Daily Affiliate Tasks.com for $10 per month and work on things that actually work to bring you more traffic, more subscribers and make more affiliate commissions working as little as 30 minutes per day. Learn more and join today at www.DailyAffiliateTasks.com

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An Organized Home: You Are Not Alone

October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Thinking Other Moms’ Homes are Neater Than Yours?

Do you ever visit other moms’ homes and wonder how they keep it so neat?

Do you ever sit around in your own home with toys strewn over the floor, laundry piles (both clean and dirty) beckoning for attention, and three meals worth of dishes stacked next to the Dirty Dishessink and wonder why you are the only mom on the planet who cannot keep up with her home?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you may be suffering from “TOMHANTY” Syndrome (Thinking Other Moms’ Homes Are Neater Than Yours). The symptoms of this terrible disease are guilt, envy, stress, and even withdrawal (did I mention guilt?). You look around as you walk from room to room wondering how it could have gotten so messy since yesterday. You believe that the new friend you just made from your weekly visit to the library could never let her house look like a tornado just went through it. You are sure that your friend whose house you visit occasionally for a scheduled playgroup would never have dust bunnies the size of . . .well, a bunny.

Welcome to the Real Moms Club, where it is not just about being a mom, but being real and knowing that you don’t have to be a perfect housekeeper.

Maybe in the days of our grandmothers when society said that kids could roam unsupervised and free around town, but a mom’s house was a reflection of who she was as a woman.

Today, there is a different set of priorities for many moms, and a perfect house is not usually the highest on the list, although we still imagine we are being judged on everything from how we raise our children to how much education we pursue to how great a job we land and finally to how tidy we keep house.

Moms of today are stretched and pulled in many directions. Life is rarely as simple as a clean house. Stop telling yourself that you are not a good mom because your house is not always as neat as you think other moms’ homes are. Most moms are struggling to keep up as well.

What is the cure to TOMHANTY Syndrome, you ask?

Well, you could drop by a friend’s house unannounced with the pretext of delivering some home-baked cookies; you could watch her face turn beet red with shame as she turns to survey the wreck of toys, laundry, and dishes behind her; you could listen to her offer up every reason why her house is in such disarray; or maybe you could just take me at my word when I say that you are not alone.

Release your guilt by making a list of what you DID accomplish today: got kids dressed, dropped kids off at school and picked kids up after, washed and folded a load of laundry, paid bills, took dog to vet, fed family for the day. It all counts toward making your house a home in which your family can grow and feel loved.

——————-

Jennifer Tankersley is the creator of ListPlanIt where you can find 400 lists and planning pages including cleaning schedules, daily to do lists, grocery lists, and holiday/party planning to put your world in order.

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Back to School: Saving Money on Supplies

August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Some practical advice for saving on back to school supplies from our friends over at LivingOnADime.com

 

Save Money on School Supplies
by Jill Cooper
http://www.LivingOnADime.com

I walked into Wal-Mart today and saw her standing there: a mom. She had two children sitting in her shopping cart, one walking beside it and another clinging to her leg. She had the look of a battle weary soldier, with her feet dragging and her shoulders slumped. Child #1 was punching child #3. Child #2 was begging for a toy and child #4 was doing the “potty dance”.

As she approached the main aisle of the store she looked up and saw the display there. Her face lit up. She smiled and straightened her shoulders. There was joy and hope shining from her like I had never seen before.

You may ask “What was on that display that caused this mom to break forth in song singing, “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning?” Was it spectacular jewelry or the latest in designer dresses? Oh, no no no! It was school supplies! For decades, moms everywhere have eagerly awaited the day when that first box of crayons and pack of notebook paper make their appearance.

For many, though, the first reaction of joy is quickly followed by a second reaction of pure dread. “How am I going to pay for all of this?” I sat last year and watched as a TV news reporter asked person after person at one store how much they had just spent for school supplies. I was shocked at the amounts people were spending. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. How could it cost $1000 for school supplies? Yes, you heard it right — $1000.

Basic supplies like crayons, pencils and notebook paper cost only about half the price of what they cost 20 years ago. In our school district, the basic items only costs around $15 and that includes an inexpensive backpack.

So what was the problem with the people on the news? Suddenly I noticed something interesting. Each person’s shopping cart wasn’t full of school supplies, it was full of clothes, shoes, and the latest in aerodynamic backpacks, some of which cost nearly as much as the first car my husband and I bought.

If you find that back to school preparation throws your finances out of balance, try these tips to help bring back to school costs back within your budget:

Make sure what you are buying is only what your children absolutely need and not simply what they want to make them “cool”. Expensive clothes, shoes, purses and lunch pails are not needs but wants. You don’t need to buy the best and most expensive backpacks in the world. One woman said that she paid $100 for her child’s backpack because she felt it would last longer. She was sure she got the better deal. She was proud that it lasted 3 years. Financially speaking, she could have bought two less expensive backpacks each year for three years and it still would have been cheaper than the one $100 backpack. More expensive isn’t always better.

If the school’s required supply list calls for a 24 count box of crayons, don’t buy a 96 count box. One teacher begged her parents to send only the 24 count box because the 24 box gives children some choice without overwhelming them. A five to eight year old can spend ages agonizing over what color to color something and too much choice slows things down in class.
Don’t buy everything at once. I have yet to understand how it could be that, the week before school starts, every child in the United States no longer has a stitch of clothing to wear and needs to have a whole new wardrobe. I think it is one of those traditions that we have followed for decades just because, as far as we can remember, it has always been done that way.

You have probably heard the story of the woman who always cut the ends off her ham before she baked it. When asked why she did that she said because her mom did it that way. When the mom was asked why she did it that way she said because her mom had done it that way, too. When grandma was asked the same question, she said “because I didn’t have a big enough pan and I had to cut it to make it fit”.

Years ago, most kids only had one or two outfits and those were generally work clothes. When they started school, they often got new school clothes because their clothes were actually worn out. They needed something a little better and something that wasn’t too small. Since they had gone barefoot all summer and winter was coming, many would get a new pair of shoes. So started a tradition. Most children now have reasonable clothes that they have been wearing all summer and can probably wear to school. If your children really need new jeans, get them one or two pairs now and then, in a month or so, buy them another pair.

So often we have an all or nothing mentality. I need gas, so instead of just putting in the $15 cash that I have in my pocket right now that would last a couple of days, I think I need to fill the tank and put it on my almost overloaded credit card. (Then later when I get the urge to buy a soda at a convenience store, I’ll rationalize “I’ve got the cash in my pocket, so I can afford it.”)

You don’t need to buy your children a year’s worth of clothes the week before school. I know there are a lot of good buys just before school, but if you have to charge them on a high interest credit card, they are no longer good buys.
Try to make do with what you already have. If the kids still have scissors from last year, reuse them. That goes for rulers, pencil boxes and other supplies, too. Go ahead and buy new crayons (they cost 20 cents a box here in back to school sales), folders and pencils. That way your children feel like they are getting something new.

If last year’s backpack is still good then reuse it. If your child wants something different, then use glue or fusible web and applique it with some fun trims and decorations. If they still insist that they need a new backpack, let them take their own money and buy one.

From A Reader

“Thank you for your article about back to school & buying school clothes. I had already purchased perfectly good clothes for my daughter this summer at garage sales, but like many others, was planning on buying “school clothes”. Why? I don’t know, because it’s just been one of those things people do without even considering why.”

“When I read that article, it was like a lightning bolt – of course, if the clothes she’s been wearing are in good condition, why go & buy more just because school is starting? You saved us a good deal of money, I’m sure, as well as many others who read that article. It’s all about changing the way we think about things – that’s the real key to saving money. Thanks again!”

-Chantelle H.

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.LivingOnADime.com

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Coping With Teenage Mood Swings

January 15, 2010 By 1 Comment

Understanding Your TeenBy Aurelia Williams, author of Understanding Your Teen

If you are the parent of a teenager, you are familiar with mood swings. One minute, your teen is happy and loving, the next they are sullen or angry. These mood swings can happen fast and can seem to come out of nowhere and it’s one of the reasons I created my Understanding Your Teen Guide.

You may find yourself wondering what you did or said to cause this shift in your teen’s mood. The truth is, you probably didn’t do anything wrong at all. Your teen’s mood swings are normal, and there is not much that can be done to stop it.

Your teen is slowly becoming an adult and they are developing the skills the need to handle the pressures of the adult world, but this process takes time. They may have a school project due, have chores around the house to complete, and then they get into an argument with their best friend.

Some of these things may seem silly or trivial, as you have work to do and a lot more housework on top of that. Try to remember that your teen’s brain is still growing and they may simply not have the ability to handle all of those pressures and keep a smile on their face at all times.

While you may not be able to end your teen’s mood swings all together, you can use these techniques to help both you and your teen learn to cope:

  • Encourage your teen to talk to you when they feel upset or overwhelmed. Let them know that you are there for them, and that you have experienced those same feelings from time to time.
  • If your teen doesn’t want to talk, encourage them to express their feelings in a creative way, such as painting, drawing, or writing. Let them know that they can keep this private, that they do not need to show anyone. Once they get their frustrations out, they will feel a lot better and will be able to move on.
  • Try not to react to your teen’s mood swings. Sometimes, they say things just to get a reaction. If you ignore the bait, they may change their attitude.
  • If you and your teen do get into an argument, diffuse the situation by getting up and taking a break. When both you and your child are calmed down, you can finish discussing the issue.

At times, it can seem like your teen is from a foreign country. They have different behavior and customs and sometimes, and sometimes it can seem as though they are speaking a different language.

Even though there are difficult times, try to enjoy this period of your child’s life as much as possible, because these years will go by very fast.

Next Steps
1. To gain a little more patience and whole lot more understanding of your teen, pick up Aurelia’s Real Life Guidance to Understanding Your Teen – it’s a lifesaver for so many parents.

2. If you’re gearing up for another summer with your teen and want to dread trying to keep them occupied, happy and out of trouble, check out School’s Out for plenty of expert resources to make it a great summer.

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Finding a Hobby that Helps you De-stress and Relax

October 15, 2009 By 2 Comments
fiber fish
Image by patti haskins via Flickr

I’m a firm believer that everyone needs a hobby of some kind. We need ways to occupy our mind, relieve stress, and express our creativity. When I say creativity, I don’t necessarily mean that you have to pain masterpieces.

Even a hobby such as gardening can be an expression of creativity. Landscaping in such way that the blooming garden is pleasing to the eye, or planning out the vegetable garden so that it’s the easiest to harvest when it’s time to pick ripened produce. These are all creative ways of thinking, they exercise your mind and they express your thoughts in their own way.

If you feel the urge to get crafty there are lots of hobby choices out there for you. Scrapbooking, quilting, sewing, card making, embroidery, knitting, cross stitch, crochet, and that’s just a short list off the top of my head. You can find all sorts of things to do with fabric and fibers. But, not every mom wants to be creative in this way.

We already mentioned gardening, which is a great hobby selection if you enjoy being outdoors. If you like being in the kitchen, cooking and baking fully count as hobbies and are a great way to get creative. Treat yourself to some new baking pans and try out some new ingredients. You might find yourself feeling revived, refreshed, and relaxed afterward.

Other outdoor hobbies to consider might include fishing (that’s right, girls go fishing too,) nature walks, and bird watching. If you’re hoping to relax indoors you might try your hand at writing poetry or short stories, embroidery, or even stained glass. The options are really out there and endless.

You just have to find what you enjoy doing, something that ignites passion in you and helps you to relax at the same time. Don’t be afraid to try things or take classes on your search for the perfect hobby. When it comes along, you will know.

One last thing on the topic of hobby choosing before I go. Remember to take into account the amount of space you have available to you, whether you’re looking at indoors or outdoors most hobbies require some kind of space not only for actually doing the thing you decide to do, but also for storing the supplies you need to successfully do it.

Take a few minutes to re-evaluate your space and supply list before you make those final hobby purchases. Sometimes what we think we have space for and what we actually have space for are two very different things.

Loretta

Loretta Oliver of Stitching the Night Away is a firm believer that everyone needs a hobby and is striving to help make cross stitch supplies and information easily accessible to everyone that wants to stitch or find creativity through needlework crafts.
You can find cross stitch supplies and free cross stitch patterns at Stitching the Night Away along with a wealth of cross stitch information and resources. Including a free guide to stitching on evenweave and linen fabrics.

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Home Business: Getting Your Kids Involved

September 13, 2009 By 6 Comments

When you work at home, you have the perfect opportunity to teach your children skills and options that they may not have learned otherwise.

Even at a very young age children notice our moods or emotions, and our work ethic. They see things like the way we handle responsibility and accountability, and as they grow up beside you in a home business they get a firsthand view of it all.

It doesn’t happen overnight. Like all other aspects of parenting, much of what we teach our children is a slow process of consistent training, and of the examples we set as their primary role models.

I have been working from home for almost 13 years now, since my children were 5 months and 5 years old. They are now 13 and almost 18, and I am finally beginning to see the fruits of my labor as a parent. As they become young adults, they are each displaying behaviors I once thought would never stick.

Our children hold a certain amount of skepticism about everything that we say, or attempt to teach them. They are dead set on learning things for themselves, knowing the reasons behind the rules, or seeing the proof. That old saying of “do as I say, not as I do” just doesn’t hold water.

The proof is in the pudding for kids. I’m feeling fortunate that I fed my two plenty of pudding over the years. :D

For a long time, my childrens’ only real interest in my home business was when I would be done for the day, or how much expendable cash we had. Over the years I often wondered if they would ever take an interest in the actual business, or what they might choose to do when they came of age to consider jobs and careers themselves.

It was only a few years ago that they began asking more detailed questions. They understood that I worked from home, and that I had an online business, but the questions finally started: What is it you actually do?

It was a proud moment for sure, but it almost made me realize that I could have involved them much sooner. They both took a genuine interest in the concept, and of course went back to their own busy little lives. I took that first show of interest though, and gradually shared more and more of my workday with them as opportunities arose.

Timing played a big part in finally getting my children actively involved in my home business. They were reaching an age where they were considering jobs and an income of their own. And my business was reaching a point where I needed more help and more tax breaks.

I consulted with my CPA on all of the options, and discovered that I could pay each of my children up to $2,400 per year tax-free. We also discussed the forms I would need to employ them full-time, and the tax breaks and details associated with higher earnings. You’ll want to discuss this with your own CPA of course, but there are definitely very nice benefits to employing your children in your home business.

In addition to the financial benefits for you as the owner, you are also teaching your children solid lessons in money management. Not to mention valuable skills and experience that will come in handy to them in future jobs and opportunities.

What you employ your children to do in your business will depend on your unique business model, and the skill levels and ages of your children. Fortunately children today are very good with technology, and super fast learners.

You have nothing to lose by giving them this opportunity, and the whole family has much to gain. You might start small by teaching them a specific task in your business, and see how well they do. If they do a good job, or are willing to learn and improve, you can offer to pay them to do that task for you for one week while you work on getting something else done.

Put the emphasis on needing their help. Children love to feel needed, and they love to do things that get your positive approval. Teach them patiently, and reward them by letting them know how impressed you are with the results.

Start small so that you can both get a feel for how things will work out. It should be fun and rewarding for everyone, without pressure or frustration.

It’s a great way to bring your family even closer, while growing your business at the same time!

LynnLynn Terry is the dynamic force behind ClickNewz . Her blog is  updated daily with internet marketing strategies, affiliate tips, search marketing tutorials, website traffic ideas and ways to build passive income.  She’s also the founder of Self-Starters Weekly Tips where as she describes it – “SSWT” is my way of sharing what works, and what doesn’t, and helping others achieve the same success online that I have myself. It’s definitely a labor of love, but over the years I have created an incredible community of like-minded people here, and it has been well worth the time and energy invested.”   Join Lynn in the Elite Forum of Self-Starters Weekly Tips,  a wonderful mastermind & brainstorming group that will help you take your business to the next level.

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End of the Day Whining

February 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post Submitted by Sharon Silver

The economy has everyone stressed and working harder than usual. The end of the day finds you exhausted and saturated with the events of the adult world. All you want to do is decompress yet your child wants 100% of your attention, and the evening collision begins.

Mom needs to get dinner ready or bedtime will be late and dad needs to send an email before work tomorrow. Your child doesn’t care, she wants you now and if she can’t have you now she’ll turn to misbehavior to get your attention because that’s where she perceives you give her 100% of your attention. And now the screaming and yelling begins.

What can be done? Here are two tips to help change end of the day whining.

  • Literally feed end of the day whining—don’t starve it.

Most children are whiney at the end of day and most parents have little patience for those sounds. What if you began by feeding your child ahead of dinner instead of insisting she stop it now! Sometimes hunger causes whining and food is the only solution. These days we all want little ones to join us for family meals but we make them wait too long and that can cause whining.

Try being proactive by creating a “dinner box” in the refrigerator so she can have food now as she does the next tip. Stock the box ahead of time with things like cheese, yogurt, lunch meat, tuna, veggies and dip, fruit, cheese and crackers, cheese tortillas, or leftovers. Just make sure it’s what you want her to have and it’s healthy.

Won’t that spoil her dinner? No, it becomes the bulk of her dinner. It’s simply feeding her the way you used too when she was a baby, before you eat. Now she’s older and can handle eating while you continue to make the family meal and she does the next tip.

Also, your child’s stomach is the size of her fist. Toddlers and preschoolers don’t eat as much as adults do, and most don’t enjoy complex adult food; they’re natural grazers and prefer small portions many times a day of the foods already mentioned.

Changing your mind about when she eats and about how much she eats allows you to focus on the different needs a toddler or preschooler has and that helps stops whining. If eating together is a wish or a rule then have her join you for a portion of the adult food or for desert. She’ll join you for full meals soon, but right now she may eat more and be less whiny by trying this tip.

  • Feed the need for attention too—but on your terms.

What about making dinner? I can’t stop what I’m doing. Try leaving the adult world behind for a few minutes and join your child in the now, but in a way that works for you. Being in the now simply means focusing most of your attention on your child and what’s important to her right this moment. What if you had a special seat in the kitchen called “time with me seat”? That way your child can be with you—but not under foot.

Have your child sit in her “special” seat as she eats from the “dinner box” and let her do more talking than you do. Begin by asking her direct questions about her day and then let her talk about anything. This process fills her up with the attention she’s craving and doesn’t force you stop the flow of family life as you provide one-on-one time.

These two tips will help you fill your child’s needs for food and attention now, allowing the family to relax and have a calmer evening versus spending evenings yelling and punishing.

Sharon Silver is the Founder and Director of ProActive Parenting, www.proactiveparenting.net a site helping parents switch from punishment to discipline as they deal with toddler and preschooler behavior.

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For Valentine’s Day Give the Real Gift of Love AND It’s FREE

February 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post By Susan Birmingham

Thinking of what to give your loved one for Valentine’s Day? Think back to when you first met. How did you feel when your first saw him? When did you know that you loved him? When did you know “he” was the one? What were the feelings you had? What thoughts were running through your mind? Let him know how you feel on the most celebrated “love” day, Valentine’s Day.

Once you have reminded yourself why you married him now give him the greatest gift – a love letter. Yes, write your special someone a love letter. All you need are your thoughts, memories, feelings, paper and pen. This is a gift from the heart and it is absolutely FREE, costs you nothing and gives you both everything.

Let him know what he does that curls your toes. Let him know how you feel when you think about him now. Tell him what he means to you in your life. Tell him all the things you may have never said but have thought and felt. Make this Valentine’s Day the best one you have ever had, that’s what love can and will do for you if you let it. So go ahead, throw caution to the wind, spill you guts and really let him know that he is your One and Only! Seal it with a kiss and give it to him with a hug. You are both going to reap the benefits!

—————————————————

SusanSusan Birmingham is a trained coach from The Coaches Training Institute and works as a Relationship and Marriage Coach based in Long Beach California. Susan is also an expert in helping women give themselves the ultimate in self-care, building self-esteem. Even when you think you’ve got it she takes you to another level of awareness. She works with women from all walks of life helping them get on the right track to creating a Successful Marriage.

Susan broke the code and today she has the real credentials that count, married to her Ideal Mate, Jim, for over seventeen years they are more in love each day! She has mastered the Secrets of a Successful Marriage and Romantic Relationship. Today Susan describes herself as a woman, a coach, an entrepreneur, a wife and a lover of life!

Susan’s blog is www.esteemprinciple.com/blog and her website is www.esteemprinciple.com

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How to Get Blog Traffic – 11 Steps to Growing Readership

January 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post by Alice Seba

Many of us work so hard on our blogs and frankly, it kind of sucks if we don’t get the traffic we want. And it’s a catch-22…you can’t get the traffic without the work, but it’s tough to justify all the work if you don’t get the traffic. Well, here are 11 suggestions to get the traffic you want to your blog.

1. Be Remarkable – This one is number one for a reason. If you do this, most of the rest of this list will come into place and will have lasting effect on the growth of your readership.

Be remarkable by:

* Being informative: Teach your readers what they want and convey the info in a way your audience appreciates.
* Entertain – Insert humor, amaze your readers…do what’s appropriate to get their attention.
* Connect with Your Audience – Understand and speak to their pain, worries and even their dreams and desires.
* Be Controversial – Share an opinion…not everyone has to agree with you to find you interesting.

I have been accused of having an “if you build it, they will come” attitude with this suggestion and I guess to some extent, it is true. That doesn’t mean you can’t be proactive in your traffic building as well, but the more remarkable your blog is…the better the long and short term effects of your efforts.

2. RSS Feed: You’d think it’d be a given, but I see plenty of blogs without an RSS feed. If you’re not familiar with the term, an RSS feed allows your readers to be notified when you make new blog posts. Unless your audience is totally tech-savvy and is all over the RSS thing, I recommend setting up a feed that allows your reader to sign up for updates into their feed reader or email if they prefer. An easy way to set up this type of feed is to use a free service like FeedBurner.com.

3. Ping!: Make sure your blog is set up to ping the various web blogs. Many blog platforms allow you to set this up in your settings. This helps a variety of information/search sites know that you’ve updated your blog.

4. Make Comments: Make useful comments on busy blogs related to your blog’s subject. Usually, you can link back to your site when you make a comment on another blog. BE RESPECTFUL!: Only use the space provided for your link…don’t write ads or fancy signatures AND make sure your comment is relevant and useful to other readers.

5. Do Trackbacks: Many blogs allow you to make commentary about their posts on your own blog. When you link to their particular blog post, a link to your own blog post appears in the comments area on their blog. For trackbacks between WordPress blogs, all you need to do is link to a blog post and it’s automatically set up. BE RESPECTFUL: If you’re going to trackback, have something useful to say. Just summarizing and linking to someone’s post does NOT add to the discussion.

6. Keep Your Email List Up-to-Date: You probably already know that your mailing list is a valuable asset. Use this asset to the fullest by sending them to your blog to read the posts you think they will find helpful, enjoy, etc.

7. Distribute Content: A great way to get people read more of your content is by getting content out there to more people. You can distribute articles, post videos, guest post on other blogs…just get some good stuff out there and lead people back to read your blog.

8. Affiliates Link to Your Blog: If your affiliate program allows your affiliates to link to any page on your site, encourage them to link to and write about your various blog posts. The system I use at Quicksales.com (a private-label 1ShoppingCart) allows my affiliates to quickly and easily link to any blog post they want.

Affiliate referrals are cookied when someone follows a link and if that referral eventually buys, they get the commission. Of course, the conversions on blog links aren’t going to be as good as linking directly to a sales page, but it gives your affiliates the opportunity to bring value to their own readers (by linking to your AWESOME content) and potential benefit financially.

9. Social Networks: You can use various social networks (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) to drive traffic to a blog. People you connect with socially are likely to be interested in what you have to say on your blog. Make sure you follow proper etiquette and use your common sense. Also, don’t overdo it and get lost in your social networks all day…you’ve got WORK and other important things to do. Plus, if you are remarkable, those who use social networks will be doing the work for you and talking about you.

10. Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking includes sites like Digg, del.icio.us and Stumble Upon, where you can share links to a variety of content. Some people self-bookmark, but realize this could put your account in jeopardy, so read all the rules first. Others choose to work with others in helping each other bookmark. Being remarkable also encourages people to spread the word on your behalf.

11. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): I put this one last, where I know a lot of people tend to put it first. If your goal is repeat visitors who become faithful fans, put SEO on the backburner and SEO your other content pages where you are looking for first-time or drive-by visitors.

The problem with trying to optimize all your blog pages is that it takes away from you being remarkable. A remarkable blog is written with interesting subject lines (rather than boring keyword phrases) and isn’t always on topics that people use a search engine to find. Of course, you can combine the two (SEO and being remarkable) in some ways, but don’t let SEO take anything away from the interest and word-of-mouth your blog creates.

More Blogging Help:

If you’re looking to pull more profit out of your business blog, check out the IM Blogging Bootcamp. This 4-week intensive program designed to get you actively and effectively blogging to reach more of your prospects and convert more of them into lifelong customers.

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Filed Under: Moms in Business

What RSS Can Do For Your Business

January 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Guest Post by Lynette Chandler

Did you know there are lots of ways RSS can be used for your business? Here are some example uses that you may not know about. Quick note: Some can be easily abused so… use them wisely, if you use it.

Twitter: Automatically create a new tweet when you have new posts. There are many ways to do this, a popular and free tool to use is Twitterfeed.

Facebook: Create updates when you make new posts. There are applications you can use to do this. I’ve found Facebook apps to be very flaky but one that seems to work is My Blogs.

Widgets: Make a widget of your latest blog content so others can display it on their blogs or on their desktop. You can do this easily at Google Gadgets or Spring Widgets.

Deliver files to your audience: If have a podcast, you’re already doing this but you can deliver other files too from PDF’s to video.

Create affiliate branded RSS feeds: Let affiliates display your blog content and let them be rewarded for it. I’ve created a custom feed for my affiliates, which contains the affiliate’s ID.

Find deals for your business: Who doesn’t like to save money? Save on your next business purchase. There are lots of ways you can track sales and deals from stores like Amazon. For Internet Marketing related purchases, you can save a feed like the one from Deal.com to your RSS reader.

Track packages: Track your own packages with SimpleTracking.com or let your customers know if you sell a physical product.

Track latest questions on Yahoo Answers: Answering questions on Yahoo Answers can be very effective to promote your business. Subscribe to the RSS feed of the category you’re interested in so you’ll be notified when a new question you can answer comes in.

Track your own or other blogs’ comments: Sometimes email notifications quit working. But the RSS always does. If you are using a WordPress blog, your comment feed is usually: http://yourblog.com/?feed=comments-rss2 or http://yourblog.com/comments/feed/

Competitor watch: Find out what competitors or other marketers are doing on social networks, blogs, video and more using FriendFeed.

Track what’s going on in your industry: Do a search on Yahoo or MSN for a keyword or phrase you’d like to watch. Using Firefox or IE 7, an RSS feed icon will appear. Click to subscribe.

Advertise: While I personally have not done any RSS advertising, I have displayed ads in RSS feeds. The click through ratios for that one site performed better compared to web site click through. You can advertise on RSS feeds through Text-Link-Ads, Pheedo and FeedBurner.

Notify clients of service status: This works well for businesses who offer a service like web hosting, online shopping carts. Publish a system status feed and let customers know they can be alerted of status changes immediately.

What if you don’t even understand RSS that well? Can you take advantage of these suggestions? Absolutely. But if you prefer to better understand RSS, you can find a free report at TechBasedMarketing.com that explains RSS in simple every day English.

More Blogging Help:

If you’re looking to pull more profit out of your business blog, check out the IM Blogging Bootcamp. This 4-week intensive program designed to get you actively and effectively blogging to reach more of your prospects and convert more of them into lifelong customers.

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Filed Under: Moms in Business
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