It’s Time To Reframe How You Think About Money

If you’re anything like me, for better or for worse, you probably think about money a lot. Maybe that’s part of the reason why you decided to follow this blog, because you want to learn about how you can make more money online and get out of the rat race for good. Or maybe you’re interested in how you can maximize your earnings from this blogging and Internet marketing “side hustle” while you hold on your day job for stability.

Regardless, you’ve got money on the mind. Maybe you’re saving up for a down payment so you can buy your first home. Or maybe you’ve already got a mortgage and 2.5 kids and now you’ve been sucked into the trap of keeping up with the Joneses. The comparisons on Facebook and Instagram are inevitable and you’re starting to feel like you’re coming up short. Maybe you are. Maybe you’re not.

But before you go any further, there are two key observations — and they are precisely that, because they’re not really lessons in the strictest sense — that you should take to heart as you reframe the way that you think about money.

You’re (Probably) Richer Than You Think

When you watch someone like John Chow bring in over $100,000 in affiliate earnings (not including income from other sources) in just one month, you can feel either incredibly inspired or remarkably defeated. Chances are that you aren’t bringing in over $1 million in annual income.

But if you’re doing modestly well and stop simply trying to guess how much your neighbors are making, you’ll soon discover that you may be ahead of the curve. According to data compiled by the Minnesota Population Center and depicted by Business Insider, the typical millennial in America only earns a little over $20,000 a year. And that includes high cost of living states like California and New York.

While it may not necessarily be appropriate to start patting yourself on the back for making more than $20,000 a year, this kind of statistic does put things in perspective. They do note that the figures could skew low, as it might include college students who only work part-time. Indeed, a more recent calculation based on the 2015 American Community Survey IPUMS shows that the median income for a 25-year-old in America is about $31,000 and for a 35-year-old is about $45,000.

If you fall somewhere in that range (and you’re in that age group), you’re doing about average. The interesting thing is that while the increase in median income from age 25 to 35 is about 50%, the increase in income for the top one percent of each age group grows by about 150% ($116k to $291k) over the same age range. What this means is that if you do manage to make (a lot) more money, your rate of growth will likely accelerate year over year.

It’s Not (Completely) About How Much You Make

Okay, so let’s say that you’re not making over $100,000 a year. Given the median income range, chances are that you are not breaking that threshold. Does that mean that you are a failure? Does this mean that you’re doomed? No, not necessarily. Not at all, even.

The second big observation that we need to make is that we need to stop fixating in income alone as the only measure. It is far more important to consider how long you can last if you suddenly lose your job or if all your income sources suddenly come up dry. In other words, it’s much more about the relationship between your savings and your spending habits, as well as how much you can expect to earn each year.

There’s a great article and chart up on The Simple Dollar that illustrates precisely this point. Let’s say “Kim” nets $80,000 a year and “Jessie” nets $40,000. If both of them are super diligent savers, spending only 50% of their income, they can both reach financial independence within the same time frame. This assumes a modest 5% return on investments and a 4% withdraw rate each year.

Basically, be careful of lifestyle inflation and how much you choose to save is just as important as how much you aspire to earn.

Be Rich or Look Rich?

Contrary to popular opinion, money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it the right way. It’s not about driving expensive sports cars, living in gorgeous mansions, and going on elaborate Instagram-worthy holidays on tropical islands. It’s about being rich rather than just playing the character online. Hopefully, at some point in the not too distant future, you’ll not only be able to be rich, but you’ll be able to afford to look the part too.

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How to Generate More FB Likes and Shares Effectively

Social media marketing can never be under estimated, especially because it can generate enormous buzz quickly. You have to keep in mind that before social networks got started, it was much harder to generate the buzz you wanted to because everything has to be done manually. With that said, social media has changed the way in which people engage with content, often finding the MOST valuable quickly, and with very little effort. I believe that you have to always write the best content, however, you should always find ways for readers to find it quickly. This way, they get the value you are trying to provide, and you can build massive branding quickly.

Today, I’d like to discuss a few cool ways to build momentum on Facebook. This is a social network that pioneered social marketing and can do a lot for those looking to get started. However, you need to know what tools to use, and how to attract the right type of visitors. Let’s discuss some cool strategies to generate social “Likes” and “Shares” effectively. Your opinion will be great appreciated, and if you know any other ones, then please list them below.

Let’s get started…

Effective Call-To-Actions

One of the best ways to generate a buzz quickly is by having effective call to actions. What does this actually mean? People are NOT going to share your content if you don’t let them know how to or tell them to. If you offer value, then it’s important to ask them to “Please share the value”. This will help you define a clear call-to-action, especially for those who forget to share while going through your content the first time around. Next,

It’s also been said that if you scatter the word “Share” within your content, it can help embed the word in the reader’s mind. This will automatically force them to share when they are done reading the content. The next time you write content, it’s important you encourage your readers to share your content or even use creative words like “share” or “like” within your content.

Adding Value

I can’t believe how easy it is to get an enormous amount of “shares” or “likes” when you add value. As a matter of fact, by simply adding value, people will love to share your content because it helps solves a common problem. I know many of us are under the impression that others don’t like to share content because it creates competition, but I’ve been in the business long enough to know adding value means to simply help others. I’ve shared so many pieces of content online because I knew it would help grow my brand simply because I’m adding value to my readers. It doesn’t matter if I wrote the content or NOT because my readers will know they’ll find the best when visiting my blog.

So, what is valuable content?

If you’ve read my other posts, then you’ll know what my definition of value truly means.

First, it’s about researching your competition so you provide something better to your readers compared to your competition. It’s about solving a common problem within your niche that otherwise has been difficult. Secondly, it’s in-depth content without having a maximum word count in mind. Why? I believe your content has to be as long as possible to get your point across. Third, it’s structured content that is easy to read and skim through. Keep in mind, people don’t want to see cluttered content when they are reading content because they automatically feel finding value is going to be hard. Keep paragraphs short, include intros, include a conclusion, and pay close attention to grammar.

Finally, it’s providing this type of content for free because people these days don’t want to pay for content, especially when so much is available online. It’s just NOT going to happen if you decide to charge. I forgot to mention, it’s important you always add action steps toward the end of your content because many of your readers simply need help starting in their niche.

Narrow Down the Choice

I don’t understand why people give their readers so many choices when it comes to social networks. For example, why would you add 5-6 social share buttons when you should only be focusing on 3-4 major ones where most of the people hang out? This doesn’t make sense to me and to be honest…it’s decreasing your engagement.

In my opinion, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have 75% of the audience. If you share images, then Pinterest should be used, too. You should only have these social share buttons embedded within your blog pages so your readers don’t have too many options, hence confusing them going forward. If you give them too many choices, then they’ll end up sharing on a networks that don’t have engagement, wasting a valuable sharing opportunity.  When you set up your blog, it’s important to think about these small things because it’ll be the difference between a successful online campaign, and one that has failed.

For those of you using WordPress, this doesn’t have to be hard. For example, plugins like AddThis.com and ShareThis.com have made it very easy to add code to your website. Install the plugin then configure the tool with the social share buttons you want. It’s so simple that you can play around and run some tests to find out which ones give you the highest engagement.

Here’s something else that has come to my attention. When you reduce choices, you’ll ultimately increase the overall number of shares from within your blog and externally. If you’ve written content that provides value, then popular social platforms will be push your content in front of other high impact people who’ll share it, too. Some of these people will have thousands of people, which could help create a viral buzz very quickly. Again, give it a try, and if some platforms don’t seem to work well, then you can switch them with the click of a mouse button.

Create Posts So People Feel Obligated

Many times, we stick to writing content we feel reflects our expertise. This is something I encourage because the best type of content is backed by credibility and experience. However, it always helps to write controversial content that you know people will agree with. I remember a few years back, someone had visited the Microsoft head office, and pretended like they were peeing on the entrance sign. I found it to be funny, however, the funny thing is that image alone was shared 10,000+ times in one day. All the Apple users were thrilled at the image, which is why it resonated so much. With that said,

I encourage all of you to write on a topic close to your heart that you think would be controversial. Why? You might find thousands of people who share similar insight on the very same topic.

This topic can be anything related to your niche that you feel very strong about. However, it’s important to write about something that will have several opinions so you can start a debate. This is the best way to get people to comment on your content, and even share your idea.

Use the Tools You Have

What’s awesome is you have so many tools available that you never had before. It’s so easy to find #hashtags and social keywords that you should be embedding into your content so you can encourage additional sharing. Here`s a quick example…

A few months back, I stumbled across http://hashtagify.me/ and this tool provides you with the MOST popular tags trending on Twitter. By understanding what tags are popular within your niche, you’ll be able to make use of the same ones going forward. This will allow you to reach out to even more people, tapping into popular areas within a social platform. Here’s a quick overview of the tool.

Head over to http://hashtagify.me/. Make sure you have 2-3 main keywords in mind so you can start searching right away. Next, type in your keyword within the search bar and start the process.

The tool will generate a list of hashtags relevant to your main keyword. At this point, you can start to narrow down your hashtags, sorting them by popularity. I like to do this by first going into table mode then clicking on popularity.

Make a list of the top 5-6 MOST popular #hahstags within your niche so you can add them to your headline when sharing on social platforms. When others type these tags into social media platforms, your content has a higher chance of being found because it’s in front of more people. This, combined with the fact that you have written awesome content, will increase the chance of others sharing, generating more traffic going forward.

Next,

You have other tools available that will allow you to write awesome content. For example,

Google Search –

This is one of the best FREE ways to find trending topics that you can then generate into valuable content. Once you have completed your content, you can use other tools to get it in front of the right type of people. Simply type in a “main keyword” then see what other ideas you can come up with. If you see a specific topic that has been mentioned several times, then combine it and write some awesome content.

Google Trends –

Amazing to find trending topics, and I have been using it for years to find what keywords are generating enormous buzz within my niche. This tool is a great way to find untapped keywords then write content that hasn’t been covered by your competitors. When you write untapped content, you’ll be able to attract readers more quickly because your article is unique. After,

Use the tools I’ve suggested to promote popular new content you’ve published. You can use these tools to find other popular hashtags to implement into your social sharing.

Forums –

Forums have been an awesome place to get started when looking for the right type of information. These have been around for years, and continue to build momentum each year. Why are they so popular? Simple…

They provide in-depth information quickly and with very little work going forward. You have thousands of people online, and they are all sharing in real-time. This means if you need information, you can find it within forums almost immediately. However, keep a few things in mind before you get started…

• Always provide in-depth information within forums so your account doesn’t get banned.
• Always look for niche targeted forums so you can keep information relevant and full of substance.
• The more value you provide, the higher “shares” and “likes”, so use forums to find high quality questions.
• Always create a list of popular threads so you can go online later, replying to each then providing a link to your content.

Final Thoughts

Getting the right amount of “shares” and “likes” is very important, especially with the expansion of social media. Getting your content in front of the right type of people is important to generate enormous traffic and buzz. Networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ understand this so have made their interface very easy to use, and have even provided valuable tools to help you get the job done quickly. For example, if you are building your blog using WordPress, then you have a handful of plugins that will automatically tweet your content to the right networks. This means you have automated the sharing process, hence increased the likelihood of someone finding your content.

Next,

It’s important to always test and tweet new things because you’ll find out what type of content is resonating with your readers. Some will outperform others so it’s important to try out new things. Again, you have tools available that will help streamline this process, allowing you to really find out what works and what doesn’t. It’s amazing.

What’s left?

It’s time to start putting your plan in action by starting with research. Create a list of lists where your niche people hang out, like forums, communities, others blogs, and social media networks. By doing this, you are organizing where and how to find people to reach out to once you have written your content. Get down to business right now by writing valuable content that people want to share. Make it in-depth, making sure it answers a common problem within your niche…It’s that simple. After, you can find ways to implement auto-sharing strategies to help you boost engagement. You have some of them listed above that you can pretty much start with right away.

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What We Can Learn From the $10,000 Instagram Model

There are tons of ways for you to make money online and the barriers to entry are lower than ever before. If you put in the work and put out a compelling product, you could be the next YouTube superstar. But even if you don’t become an Internet sensation overnight, you can leverage your online influence to grow your bottom line too. It can be a tremendous income source when done right.

You might remember when I talked about what it takes to be a successful brand ambassador for example. That kind of relationship far extends beyond a single sponsored post, for instance, to a sustained promotional partnership where both the influencer and the brand can benefit tremendously. Influencer marketing is a huge deal, so it makes sense that many people want to get their piece of the pie.

Celebrity in the Making?

And you’ve probably heard the old adage said time and time again that it takes money to make money. That’s true to some extent and you may have heard about how 26-year-old Lissette Calveiro really took that to heart. She said she wanted to become a big influencer on Instagram. She had dreams with dollar signs in her eyes, except all she ended up doing was putting herself $10,000 in debt.

She bought fancy clothes and went on trips not for her own enjoyment, but solely so that she could post about them on Instagram in hopes of gaining a significant following and attracting brand deals. As cliche as it might sound, she really did do it “for the ‘gram.”

She was shopping “for clothes to take the perfect ‘gram.” By her own admission, Calveiro “was living a lie.”

Where Did It Go Wrong?

It’s true that there are people who are making a decent amount of money on Instagram, just as there are people making money on YouTube, through blogging, and any number of other channels. It’s true that if you want to make it big, you should be taking advantage of Instagram Stories and the whole bunch of features that Instagram affords its users. When you share good content and go in with the right marketing and business plan, the potential is practically limitless.

And that’s largely where Calveiro likely went astray. She didn’t have a plan. She simply threw her money (and money that wasn’t really hers, hence the piling debt) at the challenge and hoped that she would profit in the end. That’s not how business works.

You wouldn’t expect to open up a more traditional brick-and-mortar type business by simply throwing money at it and hoping that customers show up. You want to target the right customers. You want to have the right marketing mix in place. You want to have a business plan that gets you to anticipate cash flow and potential areas for growth.

If You Fail to Plan…

While you shouldn’t wait until you have all your ducks in a row, because the conditions will never be perfect, you should approach any online entrepreneurial venture the same way that you would approach any sort of business decision or exploit. If you want to make money on Instagram, maybe you should start by following the right people and learning more about Internet marketing in general.

Just putting up some fancy faux vacation pictures with expensive clothes isn’t going to automatically win you an army of loyal fans and followers. It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that many of these so-called Instagram models are almost a dime a dozen. There’s more going on behind the scenes if you want to turn a buck. So, get a plan together.

What brands are you going to target? What followers are you going to target? What is the most cost effective way to attract legitimate, real followers who actually engage with your content?

Going into debt for your business is not inherently a bad thing. Indeed, a lot of businesses go into debt early on out of necessity. What is a bad thing is when you buy and pay for things that don’t really deliver any real sort of ROI. Don’t fly down to the Caribbean just so you can snap a picture on the beach, because the thousands of dollars you just spent won’t be recouped by a brand deal when you’ve only got a couple hundred followers.

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What Key Skills Do You Need for Content Marketing?

Content marketing is all about having the right skills, and making sure your article will resonate with your readers. The more you can write to attract your readers, the increased chances of getting some solid backlinks to your content, boosting your rankings within the SERP’s. However, I’m afraid to say many people don’t have the key skills necessary to write content that will resonate with readers the right way. Even your existing readers will soon go to your competition because they find more value in their work than yours. I’m here to tell you that you can keep this from happening, but you have to start paying close attention to the following skills that will be discussed within the post.

We all know that content marketing is the new trend because search engines love it, and readers find enormous value within it. It’s no wonder companies spend thousands of dollars each month hiring a team to set up a solid content marketing strategy. With that said,

Let’s jump into some key skills content marketers need to excel online. Your feedback, and opinion, will be greatly appreciated. Let’s get started…

Eye for Data and Analyzing

I can’t believe how many people fail to pay close attention to this element. Content marketing is all about finding what works compared to what doesn’t. It’s about putting energy where you know you’ll be able to convert readers, reaching your bottom line…right? However, anyone can analyze data, but you need to be able to look for the MOST important things like CTR, opt-ins, conversions, and retention. What does this all mean? Let’s go into each a little further…

CTR – This is click-through rate, however, it’s important you know EXACTLY where it matters. For example, you’ll have different headlines, images, and videos, so you need to analyze which ones get the highest CTR, leading to further engagement down the line. Many bloggers look at CTR without paying close attention to actual engagement leading to conversions.

A solid content marketer knows CTR only matters when it leads to increased engagement.

Opt-Ins – Content marketing is about retention because this sets you up for further marketing later down the line. I believe you have to be able to retain the customer, which, to me, is increased when you can get them to opt-in. It’s time to analyze what actually leads to an opt-in, and then optimize what has been working for you. This leads into A/B split testing.

A content marketers needs to know how to split test campaigns until they reach the ultimate conversions. I’ll admit, in the beginning, this will be tough, but going forward, you’ll make up the money + increase profits 10x.

Know The Tools – You have so many tools available to you so make sure you use them. From my experience, a solid content marketer knows what’s available, and keeps up to date with the trends. No need to do everything manually when you know tools are available to streamline the entire process. If you don’t, then rest assured, your competition will be using the same tools to get a jump start.

Research Matters

No matter what people tell you, “research” is the backbone of every successful content marketing campaign. You need to make sure your content will resonate with your readers, which is why I encourage all of you to take your time researching what your readers are looking for. If you don’t solve your reader’s problems, then you’re going to have a hard time converting them into paying customers. Forget even paying customers because you’re going to have a hard time meeting your bottom line…period. How should you ensure research is done correctly?

First, make sure you compile a list of solid keywords that you know your readers are typing into search engines. Make sure they are question based, and they answer a fundamental problem within your niche.

Secondly, make sure you use the tools available to help you research your niche and relevant keywords. For example,

• Google keyword planner
• Topsy.com
• Buzzumo.com
• Your competition

All of the above will help you find relevant keywords, and help you narrow down your content idea. Next, you can start dividing your content into sections so you’ll have an easier time writing once you have your keywords ready.

Next,

It’s important you research your audience so you know who you’ll be writing content for. The more you know about your audience, the better the chances of writing something that resonates with them. If you just started, then you might have a problem coming up with a blueprint. However, you have some tools you can use to give you a jump start. For example, the best way to find out more about your readership is to look at your competition. Here’s why:

• They have been around longer, and have established themselves.
• They have enormous content that you can pull ideas out of then write something better.
• You can find what’s missing then use this to create something better that resonates with them.
• Follow the social share pattern because you’ll be able to pull a lot of information from what’s popular.

Next,

You have some other cool ways to research your audience and content. For example, forums are awesome because they have been around for years and can provide enormous value. Skim through them, finding questions that have been asked within your niche then compile a list of common questions.

Just do a quick search within Google using your main keyword and then skim through the list. You’ll find forums, blogs, and even communities to help you with your research. Always make notes because in the end, these will be great to reference quickly.

Understanding the Different Types

You’ll have an easier time writing content if you understand the different types you have available. For example, it’s going to be much harder to keep writing the same type of content over and over again. This is why you have many options available so you need to know how to make use of them. Some of the options include:

• Videos
• Images
• Infographics
• Top “” list
• How-To
• Podcasts

Some will resonate better with your readers than others so give them all a try. Once you find out which ones work the best, you can start to scale on that content type. This will help you scale, convert, and build user retention going forward. It’s amazing how some will be better on social platforms, too, so make sure you take your time and understand what types of content you have available.

Another cool approach is to visit your competition, and look at the different types they use throughout the year. You’ll notice a pattern develop, which means they’ve used some content types more than others. Learn from them, and implement what you can into your blog. Then analyze the data so you can scale at a later time, which will help increase conversions and build loyalty.

Writing Content and Skills

It’s one thing, knowing how to analyze data, but completely different being an expert writer. Content marketing involves knowing how to accurately structure your data so it makes sense to your readers. There’s no point having people arrive on your website when they can’t understand or comprehend what you’ve written. Having poorly structured content will just make it hard for them to pull out the value you provide. This is why I encourage all of you to ensure you are expert writers or have a team that knows how to put content together. I tell my clients content marketing and writing will depend on 5-6 main factors. Let’s check a few of them out…

Structure – You want to ensure your content is laid out correctly. For example, no paragraph should be longer than 5-6 sentences because too many will just make everything look way too cluttered. Make sure you have spacing throughout and the line height is set to 22-24px. This will ensure your readers can skim through, and understand at the same time.

On-page Optimization – Very important to make sure your content is indexed for the right keywords.

Introduction – This part is very important because it gives you an opportunity to introduce your topic, and what value you plan on providing. For example, you have anywhere between 500-600 words to entice your readers into continuing with your content.

Sub-headings – I like this part because you’ll have the opportunity to organize your content and add secondary keywords into your content. For example, I like to have 5-6 keywords that are related to my main keyword. I’ll use each one in a single sub-heading going forward. This is important for indexing, optimization, and building suspense with my readers.

Body – Here is where you shine because you’ll be showcasing your knowledge, adding value to your readers. I like to tell my clients to take their time, and write content as long as it has to be to get your point across. For example, you want to ensure you provide your readers with an entire solution so they don’t have to go anywhere else to find what they are looking for. By doing this, you are increasing the likelihood of a conversion, opt-in, and reaching your bottom line.

Take your time and put all the fundamentals into play. For example, remember your research so you can add as much value as possible to your content. Do the following:

• Add value
• Add images
• Take your time
• Cover everything
• Make sure you have the best content online, and no competitor beats what you have published
• Always add examples so readers understand your point
• Don’t forget to incorporate your keywords into the body

Conclusion – This part is pretty simple because you are reiterating what you have discussed throughout your introduction and body. In this section, I would like you to quickly reference your main points, and provide your readers with some action steps they can take right away. Some readers are new so they don’t know what to do when they finish reading, and I’ve found that when you guide them, it can help with overall conversion rate. In the conclusion,

• Summarize what you have discussed through the body
• Provide them all with an action plan to get started
• Ask them to leave comments that encourages debates
• Always ask them questions so they can think about other topic ideas to discuss within comment box. This can provide you with further engagement
• I like to place social buttons towards the bottom because you have a higher chance of people sharing after reading valuable content.

Knowledge is King

No matter what people tell you, knowledge is truly king because without it, you won’t be able to resonate with your readers. For example, people come to your blog because you’re able to provide insight that others can’t, and your insight comes from knowledge + experience. I always encourage people to get involved in a niche in which they have enormous knowledge because this helps attract readers going forward. With the right experience and knowledge, you’ll be able to write content that resonates well with your readers. You’ll be able to build loyalty, and will be able to build engagement quickly with very little effort. Value goes a very long way and I’m surprised how many people forget this when writing content. Anyway, with this said, there are a few ways you can ensure you have experience in your niche and continue to build it going forward.

Here are the MOST important:

• Always research your niche before getting started. When you do research, you are automatically expanding your knowledge on the topic.
• Learn from your competitors. This is very important, and MOST of the knowledge I have is from reading other blogs.
• Read books because they provide enormous information on any niche.
• Attend conferences or even events because you can hear the experts speak.
• Always keep up-to-date with the changing trends within your niche. For example, Google Trends is a great way to find out about new keyword searches, and trends taking place within your niche.

Final Thoughts

In the end, you want to ensure you possess as many of these skills as possible because they will help you get a jump start with your content marketing. For example, if you have any of the following, you can start to attract the right type of attention, and start converting with your content marketing efforts. No matter what people tell you, it’s all about meeting your bottom line, which is why I work so hard to attract as many of the skills mentioned above. I believe that for any of us

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Why I Will Never Use Google AdSense Auto Ads

These days, you won’t find any Google AdSense ads anywhere on John Chow dot Com. This wasn’t always the case. When John decided to embark on this “make money online” journey and experiment with whether it was possible to make a full-time income from part-time blogging, AdSense was very much a part of the revenue mix. You can search through the archives for the monthly income reports he used to post and you’ll find that he did make some money from Google this way.

The Google Ad Experience

He doesn’t implement any ad placements from Google AdSense anymore, because why would he want to redirect a reader away from the site in exchange for a few cents when he can collect novelty checks for over $3 million in Las Vegas instead. It’s a no brainer at this point. Even so, AdSense is still very much a part of the monetization strategy for an overwhelming number of bloggers and site owners, myself included.

If you’re a long time reader of this blog, then you might remember more than ten years ago when John said that if you “live by the Google,” you can only expect to “die by the Google.” That’s true whether you’re trying to game the algorithm for better search engine rankings or if you rely on AdSense as your primary source of income. It doesn’t take much for Google to pull the rug out from under you, like how they did with the YouTube Partner Program in January 2018.

But until you can get to a level where you can consistently rake in the bigger bucks through affiliate marketing or private brand deals, no one is going to fault you for utilizing AdSense as part of your blog monetization mix. After all, you should be shooting to have multiple sources of income in case any of them disappears on you overnight. And you should also stay on top of the latest tools and features that these networks provide you.

What Is AdSense Auto?

In February 2018, Google introduced something that it calls AdSense Auto ads. When you consider the “traditional” way of implementing AdSense on your site, you go and customize the banner or whatever else on the AdSense website, you grab the ad code, and then you paste it into wherever it is that you want the ad to appear on your website. Maybe you use a WordPress plugin or maybe you edit your theme directly. That’s up to you and your comfort level.

Google AdSense Auto ads are different. Instead of getting you to guess and experiment about which ad types are best placed in what locations on your site, this feature uses “machine learning to make smart placement and monetization decisions on your behalf, saving you time.” Instead of copying and pasting ad code in all the different places you want the AdSense blocks to appear, you simply “place one piece of code just once to all of your pages, and let Google take care of the rest.”

They proudly proclaim that some of the benefits of using Auto ads include optimization by way of machine learning, improved revenue opportunities by identifying available ad space, and the relative ease of use because you don’t need to change the code to get new ads. Just “turn them on and off with the flick of a switch.”

If you’ve been using any number of Google products in recent years — like Android devices, Google Photos, Google Calendar and so on — then you’ll know that the company has been remarkably successful in its implementation of machine learning. Google Photos can reliably group together related images. It can make animated GIFs and albums. It can identify pictures that have the same person in it. Auto ads offers this same kind of potential and promise for an easier experience.

Live By the Google…

The feature and service actually soft launched as a limited beta back in September 2017, but Google rolled it out to all AdSense publishers in February 2018. During the beta, Google says that users experienced revenue boosts of about 5 to 15% on average. That sounds positive, for the most part, but it is going to be very much a double-edged sword.

As intelligent as machine learning has become in recent years, it’s hardly perfect. While there is certainly a lot of automation already involved in “traditional” AdSense blocks, you still have total control over their actual placement on your site. If you enable AdSense Auto ads, then it’s well within the realm of reason that the automatic ad placements could “break” the look of your blog’s theme for some users. Or it might just look bad.

That wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world normally, but the bigger problem here is that you’d never know it. That’s because you can’t possibly see every possible iteration that AdSense Auto is implementing on your site; you can only see how it’s being shown to you. You can try proxies and VPNs and other services to see how your site looks for different locations and in different browsers, but it’ll inherently be incomplete.

Is that worth about a 10% boost in monthly revenue? I’ll let you decide that for yourself, but as always, remember this: if you live by the Google, you’ll die by the Google.

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How to Use Online Videos to Attract Massive Customers

I’ve been implementing videos into my blog for years because they create a different type of engagement that would NOT be available anywhere else. Because of the expansion of YouTube.com, bloggers are now able to promote their content in a different format, which can resonate with readers all over the world. One of the biggest problems faced by bloggers is being able to resonate with readers from places where English isn’t their first language. Video blogging has completely changed this so I recommend everyone to start adapting this strategy going forward. With that said,

I decided to jump into this awesome topic because I know many of you are trying to find ways to create content that attracts massive customers. Before I continue, keep in mind, YouTube.com, and other networks, do allow you to add a link within your videos so having your video go viral can be awesome for engagement. Let’s jump right into this article, and explore the following:

• How videos will enhance your tutorials
• How videos will enhance products on website
• The relation between videos, and authenticity
• They rank well when optimized
• You’re keeping up with your competition

Feedback will be greatly appreciated, and if you have any other thoughts on the content, please post below.

Enhancing Tutorials

One of the MOST popular types of content online is how-to tutorials because they show you how to solve a very common problem quickly. However, for you to create a serious buzz with any type of content, it’s important you do your research. No point in writing out content if you are tapping into a topic idea no one wants to read about. This is why I always do research within my niche, looking for major problems my readers are having so I can write content that will resonate with all of them. The better I am at doing this, the better I’ll be at attracting people to my blog. This leads to further engagement and loyalty from my readers. With that said,

Videos will allow me to explain my content in greater detail. In a video, I can create an in-depth tutorial that otherwise would have taken me 15,000 words to write out. It’s amazing what you can do when you get comfortable with creating professional videos. Here’s another example,

One huge search is “how to create a blog within minutes”. This keyword phrase has been searched millions of times within the last month or two. Let me ask you this question: Is it better to explain blog create through written content or a walk-through video? In the end, you’re going to say video, and I guarantee we all have watched blogging videos, thinking they are way better than online written content.

Video is the way to go, but if you can create a transcript to go with your video, then that’s even better J

Product Reviews

One of the best ways to make money online is by utilizing product reviews. This starts by trying a product within your niche then writing an honest review for your readers. As a matter of fact, many of the top bloggers online are making enormous amounts of money by simply reviewing products for companies just starting out. Top bloggers get free accounts so they can try out the product then promote it to their readers, splitting the commissions with the developer. Like I had said before, reviewing products is a huge business and many people are definitely cashing in. However,

This system has become even more profitable since videos came along. When YouTube.com connected the world though video marketing, the game changed. Instead of authority bloggers writing out product reviews, they were able to showcase the benefits by creating walkthrough videos. These videos showed people how to:

• Install the product
• Set up and configure
• A walkthrough of the features
• Benefits

In the end, they would perform a case study, showing how they were able to profit or produce enormous results using the products, which encouraged people to go out and spend some money. The process was explained in a nutshell, and if you are planning on doing the same thing, then keep these next factors in mind.

First, for you to succeed, again, you’ll have to solve a common problem within your niche. You’ll have to show how the product you are using helped you, and how it simply made your life easier. Some of the top bloggers have stated creating in-depth videos does take time so it’s important you stay patient through the entire process.

Do a quick search within Google, finding new products that just came out within your niche. Next, do a quick outreach, asking the developer to give you a trial account so you can create a video for your readers. If you are popular enough, with a solid following, many times, “developers” are willing to help out. The reason this method works so well is because newer products tend to be marketed much less, which gives you a chance to create a buzz quickly. If the product is worth the buzz, then you can do really well with your readers and sales going forward. I’ll admit, you need to take your time and try different things before getting started until you find what resonates with your readers.

Videos Add Credibility

Having videos is a great way to put a face with your growing brand and this will add credibility going forward. When you create videos, you’re adding credibility to your words, and many people tend to trust your value with more of an open-mind. The funny thing is, this tends to be the case when you are talking about sensitive issues like health, weight loss, or even finance. These areas tend to be more sensitive so people are looking for a face to associate with the brand before building that certain level of trust.

If you are in sensitive based niche, then consider incorporating videos to your blogging strategy because this will increase user trust and engagement.

Video Ranking Quality

It’s no secret YouTube videos ran within the Google search results. For example, here is a quick search for “create a blog within minutes”. Check out the results:

You’ll notice the first result within the search is a YouTube.com video, which is amazing because this can generate enormous traffic in the form of a video. Through this, you are NOT only engaging with your readers in more depth, but also able to rank with videos, which, at one point, was not possible. Much of this success has to do with having the ability to added targeted keywords within your video header and description. To do this, you have to be very strategic in your approach…

For example, once you have uploaded a video within YouTube, you’ll have some options to add a title and description before going live. Before you do, I recommend you make sure to do some keyword research so you’ll add the right ones before going live. Head over to Google Keyword planner, and do some research just like you would when you are writing content.

Find a handful of popular and engaging keywords you know will attract a lot of attention with your readers. This is important because the more engaging your keywords, the better it is when creating videos around them. Your videos will NOT only attract a buzz online, but will also tend to rank higher because of the optimized keywords spread within the title and description.

Challenge Your Competition

One of the main reasons I decided to start implemented videos into my blogging was because of competition. Almost in every niche, you’re going to have a handful of bloggers who are trying to steal your readers away from you. In the beginning, it was about getting the best content published more frequently, and now the patterns have shifted. It’s about getting value published more frequently in the best way possible, which, today, is through video blogging. I’ll admit online marketing and blogging can be very tedious because publishing is NOT tough at all. You can have a blog created within minutes and all that’s left is for you to start focusing on writing content for your readers. This is much harder than several years back because those without coding experience wouldn’t dare enter a business that cost them thousands to start. A blog can be created in 4 minutes so every one is getting involved. Here’s my point…

Make sure you find ways to engage your readers that your competition hasn’t taken advantage of yet. This way, you stay ahead of the competition, increasing growth and revenue going forward.

Final Thoughts

I’ve covered enormous information and I know it can get confusing, trying to understand a marketing strategy very new to you. However, you have several resources available that were NOT available years back and the funny thing is, many of them are available through video format. If you are NOT sure about video blogs, then start by doing a quick search online looking for popular information from those who have experience. You’ll need some tools to help you get started and those will be available online, too. Everything you need is available so don’t delay and get started right now before it’s too late. I can promise you that your competition is already trying to find ways to engage readers who are currently loyal to your blog.

Here’s something to consider going forward:

• Start with research so you know what’s important and trending online.
• Look for ways to create a video using free tools.
• Get familiar with the YouTube interface.
• Promote on social media platforms.

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Jaguar Takeover of Cars and Coffee + Ultimate Soccer Dad Minivan

On this episode of the Dot Com Lifestyle vlog, Jaguar attempts to take over Cars and Coffee, Widget hits on a female poodle, I check out the ultimate minivan for soccer dads with a midlife crisis, McLaren shows Ferrari how to hide a GPS antenna, and someone actually brought an old Ford Tractor to the show! All this plus more, so watch the video now!

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On Word Choice and Knowing Your Audience

There’s this old saying that’s been passed around and repeated so many times that it has almost lost all meaning. A picture is worth a thousand words. And especially in this modern age of social media and shrinking attention spans maybe that’s true. Instead of typing out a thoughtful comment to a post on Facebook, you just send over a funny GIF with a 90s pop culture reference.

Maybe instead of taking the time to write out a short message to a friend or loved one, you reply with a series of emojis because you think it’s clever. I’m not judging. I do it too. Or maybe you haven’t even gotten this far into this blog post and I’ve already lost you. I’m not judging here either. I skim through blog posts all the time and I’m sure I miss a lot of great content along the way.

As a blogger, when you do come up with some decent content and it really does get read by the people you want to be reading it, you want to make sure not only that you are giving off the impression you desire but also that your words are being understood. And that you are being respected at the level that fits with your objectives.

The Power of a Million

At this point in time, it’s estimated that there are well over one million words in the English language. One million. And that doesn’t even necessarily account for the multiple meanings that a single word may have. When I use the word “green,” I could be referring to the color, using the slang term for money, or talking about a putting green in golf. These are not the same thing and they use the same word.

If that isn’t mind boggling enough on its own, somewhere around 8,500 new words are created each and every year. Language continues to evolve and the way that we choose to use the language evolves with it. The relationship goes both ways. At some point in time, someone had to come up with the word “microwave” or “television” or “ethernet,” because the very thing they describe didn’t even exist yet.

Tools of the Trade

If you’re a chef, the tools you have in the kitchen might include a set of knives, a gas stove, a cheese grater, a food processor, and all sorts of other things. If you assemble furniture, the tools you have might include a screwdriver, a hammer, some pliers, and so on. And as a blogger, the main tools that you have are your words. And there are over one million of these tools readily at your disposal.

That’s why it might surprise you to hear that, on average, people only use about a total of 5,000 words when speaking and around 10,000 words when writing. In total. That’s not talking about a single blog post, but talking about anything you will ever write in your lifetime. Put another way, you are using less than 0.1% of your potential vocabulary. You’re leaving out 99.9% of the English language. That sounds like such an incredible waste, doesn’t it?

Not really. Not necessarily.

Are You Cut Out For This?

Far and away the most important thing that you have to consider when writing a blog post is your intended audience. It’s always going to be a bit of a balancing act. If you “dumb it down” too far, your post will be far too simple to actually be useful for your readers. Worse yet, they might feel like you’re simply patronizing them and you could quickly lose your audience.

On the flip side, if you were to articulate your pontifications as only to elevate your apparent verisimilitude, you’d also lose your audience because they’d have no idea what you’re talking about.

It’s about choosing the right words for the right audience at the right time. So, while a picture may be worth a thousand words in some context, never forget that a carefully selected word can easily be worth a thousand pictures too.

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 15 – Top Marketing Channels

If you haven’t done so, the best way to start a new blog is with our free blog setup service. If you don’t have a blog yet, use the service to get start today.

In Part 14 I had discussed marketing channels which I have used to build momentum quickly. Today, I’ll like to go over “3” of them which I can guarantee, if done correctly, will help boost visitors and build momentum quickly. I believe success depends on being able to drive traffic to your site better than others which also means a higher chance of success going forward. I think the higher traffic to your page will increase the chance of CTR, and finally conversions on your product or service. It’s truly a game of trial and error so you have to be careful when doing your initial testing. Many people in the beginning will get carried away, but if you know how to test different variations of you’re ad then you’ll have quicker success than others.

Let’s jump right in and look at the top “3” marketing channels which I know will help generate enormous traffic quickly to your website. Let’s get started…

Guest Posting –

This is one of the best ways to generate traffic quickly because you are focusing on reaching out to authority bloggers who have already established themselves within your niche. These people have loads of traffic, and have the EXACT type of traffic you are looking for going forward. I would recommend starting with about 3-4 bloggers within your niche, and then writing an email to each pitching your idea. If they accept then it’s time to write some of the best content you’ve written because this is what will guarantee opportunities going forward.

Here are a few tips to follow going forward:

• Be genuine in your approach
• Always pitch the best ideas
• When you are done writing content make sure the grammar, and punctuation are correct
• Always add your author bio towards the bottom

Forums –

Forums have been around way before many of us got started online. They have been around before sophisticated search engines came into existence which is why many people still depend on them to build momentum to their blogs. However, you have to be strategic in your approach even when posting on forums. For example,

You have to make sure the forums you choose are highly relevant, and authoritative. Posting on low quality forums will NOT help attract the right type of readers.

You want to make sure you put effort when answering questions because others will be online who will provide feedback on a topic. It’s important you stand out compared to everyone else which means to post answers which are in-depth, and provide a complete solution.

Always add your signature towards the bottom of your forum post. Sometimes you’ll have to build credibility before you can add one which should NOT be a problem especially if you are genuine in your approach.

Start by going to Google, and typing in quotations (“”) – main keyword + forums. Then go through each one until you find 3-4 which have a high number of members, etc.

Social Media –

I love social media because it can boost momentum to your blog within a few hours. I know some posts have gone viral within minutes because everyone else is promoting your content for you which is amazing because it’s less work for you…right? However, you have to know where, and how to target social media platforms. For example,

It’s important you focus on the most popular like: Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Also, you have tools which will help you find the right #hashtags so make sure you use them.

Split test which posting types are working for you. For example, do infographics, images or video work when marketing on social media? This will obviously depend on your niche so it’s important to keep a close eye on your statistics.

I’ve mentioned the “3” MOST popular social media platforms however you do have others available to you going forward. Pinterest, for example, has been awesome in driving traffic to my blog, but that’s because I have engaging images and infographics. LinkedIn has been awesome whenever I have been promoting career and educational based content because that’s what they special in…right?

You have to go through each learning what’s important, and how each can help grow your business going forward. Some will be better than others so make sure you split test while collecting data.

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 14 – Publishing Content & What’s next?

If you haven’t done so, the best way to start a new blog is with our free blog setup service. If you don’t have a blog yet, use the service to get start today.

We are ending our series, and have covered enormous ground. If you are just joining us I would recommend you read Parts 1-13 where we have discussed some of the MOST important elements of starting a blog. We covered such things like:

• Choosing a domain
• The right hosting
• Installing WordPress
• Customizations
• Finding topic ideas
• On-page SEO

Today we’ll be looking at publishing your content, and what to do right after to make sure you promote on the right channels. This will ensure you are setup for maximum exposure going forward, and can help generate traffic very quickly. As a matter of fact, much of what’s left is very easy, and you’ll be published with the click of a mouse button. I’ll admit marketing your content can be very hard, however I’m here to make this process easier for you going forward. Let’s jump right in, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Let’s get started…

Publishing Content

Once you have written out your content, and done the required on-page SEO then all that’s left is for you to publish your content can be done with the click of a mouse. On the top right hand corner, you’ll see a publish button which when clicked will go live with your content. You have the ability to schedule your content to go live on a specific date that you can schedule through the calendar then by hitting the “Schedule” button. WordPress makes it very easy for you to go live with your content however I encourage all of you to ensure you have followed all the previous steps we have discussed. The MOST important is the on-page element that I’ve discussed in Part 13 of this series.

What’s next?

Once you have published your content, you’ll see it appear on your home page. WordPress is very good at displaying content by date so your MOST recent will always appear on the home page top. After, you can keep writing content and schedule for it to go live every 2-4 days. It’s important for optimization reasons you write content, and publish with precise frequency because Google loves this since it shows fresh content is being published on your blog.

Exploring Marketing Channels

Blogging success all depends on generating traffic which is why I encourage all my clients to ensure they explore as many channels as they have available. In Part 15 I’ll discuss a few in more detail however it’s important you know what’s available to you. You can start researching the following to check what type of hype your niche has on these channels.

Here are just a few to pay close attention to:

Forums – Almost every major niches have popular forums which are a great place to start attracting readers to your blog. These people are NOT only relevant, but you can add a link back to your content within your signature. You might have to prove your credibility before being able to add a signature however the wait time is well worth it because you can generate enormous traffic through popular forums.

Social Media – One of the best ways to generate enormous traffic because platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have millions of active people each day. You might have to do some research looking for the right #hashtags before starting so you attract the right type of people. In the end, social media is free, and can generate enormous traffic to your blog within a very short period of time.

Guest Posting – This technique is awesome to attract relevant people to your blog quickly. Find authority bloggers within your niche which accept guest blogging opportunities. You write high quality content, and link back to your blog through the author biography. Some of these influential bloggers have thousands of visitors each day which can equate to massive relevant traffic for your blog.

In the final part of this series I’ll be going over these “3” methods in a bit more detail so you guys can start implementing these strategies right away. These methods are awesome, and can increase buzz about your blog within a few hours.

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 13 – Optimization before Publishing

If you haven’t done so, the best way to start a new blog is with our free blog setup service. If you don’t have a blog yet, use the service to get start today.

Now that you have written your content it’s important you have done the right on-page SEO before hitting publish. This part is very important because if you don’t have the right SEO elements on your page then search engines might have a hard time finding you in the SERP’s. Google indexing bots rely on on-page elements to tell them what your page is about which is why this is very important going forward. This is Part 13 of my series, and if you are just joining us I encourage all of you to go back and read the other parts before going forward. My complete process has been outlined step-by-step, and you’ll have an easier time understanding the entire process. With that said,

Let’s jump into Part 13 and go over some of the important on-page SEO elements which you have to ensure you have embedded into your content before going any further. Let’s get started.

Where To Add This Information

When writing your content, simply scroll down until you see  the all-in-one SEO box. Here you’ll be able to add the title, description and some keywords.

The Main Keyword

It important your content is written keeping your main keyword in your mind. It’s important you focused on your main keyword throughout your article, and add it a few times throughout your content. What’s adequate? The right number depends, but many top bloggers have stated having your keyword 3%-4% throughout your content is a good start. This will help search bots understand what your content is about, and find you a place within the SERP’s. It also a good idea to have your main keyword sprinkled throughout your content because when readers go through it’ll reiterate what your content is about which is important especially when your readers are looking for a specific type of content.

Next,

Your main keyword will also make it easier for you to share your content within social media platforms. Many platforms will pull out data automatically, and when you have your keyword sprinkled throughout your content social media will make sure they display it using those #hashtags.

Meta Title

Your main keyword should be within the title of your content. This is because when visitors find your content through search engines it’ll stand out compared to your competition. Imagine what happens when you search for something within the search engines? You’ll notice the content you click has the main keyword within the title which tempts you to click-through…right?

Meta Description

It’s important to have your keyword + 2 other relevant keywords within the description part of your content. This section is usually 150 characters long so gives you some flexibility when writing it out. Take your time putting something together which stands out because your visitors will see it within the SERP’s, and can help increase your CTR. Next,

Make sure the keywords you use are all connected, and relevant because this will help when getting indexed by the search bots. Finding relevant keywords will also help guide your content writing which is important because it will keep your article consistent.

The Body

Hopefully by this point you have 5-10 keywords which are all relevant to your main keyword. It’s expected you sprinkle your related keywords throughout your content body a few times which helps with indexing, and adding relevancy to your blog content. This is very important now days especially since Google has put enormous emphasis on relevance to increase user engagement. It’s not tough because all that’s left is for you to gather 5-10 keywords relevant to each other, and then add them to your content body right before publishing. Here’s something which works well…

You should write your content naturally, and can always go back at a later time implementing them within your content. This will ensure your content stays smooth while the flow is natural at the same time.

Once you have done all of the following all that’s left is for you to hit “Publish” for your content to go live. It will take some time for your content to be indexed however if you have installed the Google Sitemap XML then it will increase the indexing speed since you’ll have a blueprint of your content on your server. The spiders find XML sitemaps very easy to read and follow through.

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 12 – Writing Content the Right Way

Now that you have a list of awesome topics it’s time to get started writing out your ideas. At this point you’ll choose to write in your favorite word processor, but others choose to write within the WordPress backend. I personally like to write within my favorite word processor because it gives me more space and highlights some of the errors I’m making. With that said,

You need to organize the topics you have and write what you feel is the MOST popular right now within your niche. For example, after doing research you’ll have a good indication of the topics which got the MOST social shares within your niche, and can start to put together an outline for those topics. It will be much easier for you to write out content when you have a guide along the way which is why I encourage all of you to write out an outline before getting started.

Let’s jump right into this topic, and your feedback will be appreciated. If you are just joining us then I encourage all of you to visit parts 1-11 so you understand the entire process.

Choosing the Right Topic

As mentioned your topic selection will depend on what you have observed during your research process. For example, you’ll know what topics have been creating a buzz online simply by looking over their social shares profile. When a topic has been shared numerous times then it will continue to create a buzz with readers. Your job is to take the topic and write out something more in-depth because you know it will resonate with your readers. Here are some things you can do:

• Add images
• Add videos
• Add infographics
• Add more text
• Improve the SEO element

All of these will help you stand out compared to the other competitors.

Creating an Outline

Always start by creating an outline because it will help guide your content writing. Start with the main keyword, for example: make money online. Then break it down into the following sub-headings:

• Ways to make money online
• Popular products and services
• Reaching out to other bloggers
• Setting up advertisements online
• etc

Creating a solid outline will allow you to stay focused, and will NOT let you go off-track which is very important because people don’t want to read anything which will confuse them along the way. It’s time to take your main idea and start breaking it down into smaller components which will make it easier for you to write along the way. Always start with a focused main keyword, and then breakdown into smaller segments which are relevant.

The Content Structure

It’s been proven the way you write influences engagement enormously which is why I encourage all of you to pay close attention to your content structure. For example,

Start with an introduction which briefly explains your main topic. It’s also a good idea to mention what you’ll be covering within your article.

Write out your sub-headings so you know how your content will be flowing throughout your writing. These sub-headings should be related to your main keyword.

Your paragraphs should NOT include more then 5-6 sentences because people don’t like to read cluttered content. It pushes them away because they feel they’ll have to go through finding important points within your content.

The conclusion is very simple to write out because you have everything you need. For example, in the conclusion you will summarize what you have written throughout your content. Go through each paragraph giving people a point form account of what you have covered in each section. Next,

I like to end each content with an action plan. What does this mean? I like to give my readers some action steps they can take right now to start implementing what I have discussed throughout my content. Some visitors will be new to bloggers or your niche so will need someone to guide them along the way.

In Part 13, we’ll go over some optimization strategies which you can implement into your content writing. We’ll go over things like embedding keywords throughout content body, within the title and description. We’ll even look at final checklist before hitting publish. And remember, the easiest way to start blogging is with our free WordPress installation service.

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My Updated Income Results with The ClickFunnels Affiliate Program

While waiting for my flight at VIP lounged in Alaska, I decided to create a video showing my updated income results with the ClickFunnels affiliate program. One of the most asked questions I get is what I look for in an affiliate marketing program. While there are whole list of criteria, there are four main features I look for.

1. Pays you over and over again
2. Customer is tracked to you for life
3. Free to join
4. Great affiliate support and training

An example of a program that meets those four requirements is ClickFunnels. They give you 40% of the customers bill for life. Not only do you get paid over and over again, but the customers you referred are yours for life. Anything they buy in the future, you will make money on.

The affiliate program is also free to join. However, I do recommend you to be a customer or at least sign up for the 14 day free trial so you can get to know the product better.

To help their affiliates, ClickFunnels has a 100 Day Super Affiliate Challenge. If you accept the challenge, they will guide to step by step on how to become a ClickFunnels super affiliate and retire in the next 100 days. I am in the challenge and in the video below, I share with you how I’m doing with it.

Go Here To Sign Up for The Challenge

The challenge is free to join and all the training is free as well. I recommend signing up even if you don’t plan to be a ClickFunnels affiliate because the training can be applied to any affiliate marketing program.

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 11 – Generating Content Ideas

Now that you have set up your blog it’s time to start publishing some content. Content is what will build engagement on your blog, and will build loyalty from your readers. I have over 5 blogs and have been writing content for them every “3” days and knowing what to write about has made this process much easier. Over the last several months Google has introduced so many updates changing the way we engage with content. Your rankings now depend on quality, freshness and social shares. The more people share your content the higher the chance of getting solid links from authority websites to it. The process is very simple once you get use to writing high quality content which includes enormous substance. Next,

We will be looking at “3” awesome ways to generate content ideas, and in the next section we’ll look at: How to publish your content. Let’s get started…

Whenever I am generating content idea’s I’ll always start with “1” main keyword, and then build momentum from there. For example, the keyword “make money online” can be used to come up with content ideas like:

• Ways to make money online from your blog?
• Tools to make money online?
• Top bloggers making money online?

These are all good content topics, and I can write about them in great detail especially because I have some knowledge on the topics. However, I like to use another approach sometimes when I have a main keyword. I like to use one of the “3” ways mentioned here:

Competitors

You can learn a lot from your competition even what type of content is creating a buzz online. I like to focus on my main keyword then head over to my competitors to see what they have written on the topic. I also like to look over the social media shares to understand more about the popularity going forward. If the content has been shared several times then it’s something which you know has resonated with readers. What’ next?

I like to take my competitors content and go through it finding ways to make it better going forward. I’ll add more text, videos and images until it becomes the best online. You won’t find content better than mine once I’m done with it.

Forums

I love forums because they’ve been around for years and the people on them are EXACTLY like us – trying to learn new things. If you have your main keyword “make money online” then type it into the search, and you’ll come up with questions people have asked over several months. Start making a list of these questions so you can answer them within the content you write going forward. Just make sure the questions are related to your main keyword so your content stays consistent going forward.

It’s important you find 1-3 forums which are the MOST popular within your niche and spend time going through each one finding popular questions. You’ll know which ones to focus on by looking over the views and responses each one has received.

Other Bloggers

One of the best ways to generate content ideas is by reaching out to other top bloggers within your niche. One way I generate ideas is by asking influential bloggers within my niche questions on my main keyword. For example, if my main keyword is “make money online” I will reach out to 10-15 bloggers asking them their best way to make money online. This method works so well because some people have been bloggers for so many years that they have the knowledge to really give you some great insight. Here’s how you approach this method…

Start by creating a list of influential bloggers within your niche. I would suggest starting with 5-10. Next, write out a genuine email asking them for their response to “1” general questions which would provide enormous substance to you. For example in my case I would ask: What is your best approach to making money online?

Once you have compiled all the answers you can either:

• Write a summary post displaying all of their answers
• Write lengthy content going over each method they discussed

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Create and Get Started Blogging Online Part 10 – Important Plugins and Installation

In the previous chapter we went over choosing the right theme, and how to customize a theme you have chosen for your blog. Today, we’ll be looking at important plugins which you should always install with your website because it will help streamline your optimization process. However, some plugins will even help optimize your speed, images and help with visitor engagement. I always like to install these plugins as soon as I setup my blog because I’ll forget afterwards, and this can cause delays in engagement. With that said,

Let’s jump into plugins, and go over some of the MOST important ones to install going forward. And remember, the easiest way to start a new blog is with our free WordPress installation service.

Plugin Installation

When you access your website the plugins can be installed by going to the left menu then clicking on Plugins>Add New. Once the right screen populates, you can start by doing a search then clicking install after you find a plugin you like. The installation process is very simple, and can be done within minutes. Once the plugin has been installed, you can view it within the left menu.

Now that you know how to install plugins, let’s look at some of the MOST important ones which every blogger & website owner needs going forward.

Important Plugins

All-In-One SEO –

This is a must have because it streamlines your entire SEO process. Once the plugin has been installed you’ll see the options when writing content. Scroll down on the post page, and you’ll see SEO options which you can add before hitting publish. For example, you can add your title, description and keywords before publishing your content.

The plugin works right out of the box because it automatically adds the entire code to all your pages instead you having to do it manually.

WP Cache –

A very important plugin which optimizes the speed of your website. Having a slow website can push away visitors, and even hurt your rankings. Google works hard at giving people a good experience, and the last thing they want to do is boost a slow website higher than one which has been optimized for speed. This plugin works right out of the box and requires very little configuration. Next,

If you require some help with setup then do a quick search in Google, and you’ll find 10-20 videos on configuration.

Ewww Image Optimizer

Another amazing plugin and works right out of the box. It’s an awesome plugin because it shrinks the size of your images allowing your servers to display pages much quicker. With smaller images you’ll have less weight on your servers which is good for load times, visitor engagement and rankings.

There are other image optimization plugins available, but this one has awesome reviews and I use it for all my blogs.

Google XML Sitemap –

Another very important plugin, and very easy to configure once it has been installed. It adds the XML file to your server so all that’s left is for you to tweak what pages and posts you want in your sitemap. What does this plugin do?

It creates a list of posts, pages and categories in a format which is easy for search spiders to understand. This plugins will allow Google to index your pages more quickly, and understand the linking pattern within your blog. It’s just a great way to get indexed and start ranking faster within the SERP’s.

Contact Form 7 –

Many of the new themes will have their own contact form installed however if you are building from scratch then use this plugin. It adds a simple contact form to the pages you indicate, and it’s very easy to configure because you have to:

• Select what fields you want
• Add the “to” email
• Add the “from” email
• Add the code to whatever page you want the form displayed

The contact form will pull the .CSS code form your template so it matches the overall look and feel of your website.

Final Thoughts

The plugins I have listed above are the ones which you should install right away. You can do a quick search in Google, and find some more you think would be a good fit for your blog. However, please start by installing these first, and then looking for others which will be relevant to your blog.

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