The Hard Work of Blogging

I've been having trouble with Blogger lately. For some reason I can’t view any blogs hosted by Blogspot, including my own. I don't know if anyone else is having the same problem, but it has been frustrating to say the least. I am not even sure that this entry will work.

I've been spending some time reading about blogging and other online business models. I'm still trying to figure out the best direction for me to take things. The blogging world is huge, but finding that niche that is just right for me is not easy. In truth it has been a bit discouraging.

But I am at the front end of this. I can't and don't expect it to happen without hard work. I am mostly frustrated with my own lack of direction and not being able to nail down the right blog and or internet business for me. I feel like I've missed the boat since I am getting into this late.

I am going to keep on working at it though and have learned a lot about SEO and how to monetize a website. I am not a computer novice, but I have very limited programming and website development skills. I plan to try to teach myself some of this and have already read some really good stuff online that has helped.

A bright spot for me has been the traffic increase I've received...granted I've gone from 0-2 views a day to 2-4. That's great percentage increase, though I'd like to have the #'s in the thousands, but I must admit to myself that my content isn't worthy of a thousand readers yet. Content is king.

Optimizing and Analyzing SEO with Web CEO

I just found and used a FREE program called Web CEO to submit my blogs to the search engines. I submitted them to 98 English speaking search engines! It only took a couple minutes once I had all the information inserted.

Web CEO is a unique Web Survival Kit. It is an easy and cost-effective software solution for search engine marketing, Web traffic analysis, Web site management, and maintenance. They market themselves as a tool that was developed for common people who want to enjoy uncommon results and expect more from their Web sites. So far I have been very pleased with the results.

Has anyone else used Web CEO? If so, what did you think?

BTW, this is NOT a paid review...It's just one happy customer providing good PR.

Keywords and Analytics

Today I took a first step to getting my blogs on the internet radar. I set up each of the domains that I purchased to forward traffic to each corresponding blog. I also added keywords and phrases to that domain name. This is important because this is one of the things search engines look for in their search. One thing I did that I hope will help is I included common misspellings of the keywords. I also add some phrases like 'what is a blog.' My hope is that when some one types 'affilliate marketing' in a search engine, my site will rank higher because my keywords include the misspelling.

I also sign up each of my blogs with Analyitics by Google. Analytics appears to be a very promising online application that will help me track my web traffic which will help me answer some significant marketing and demographics questions which will help me know my audience better thereby helping me server better content for that audience. I'll see how it works and let you know.

Securing more Blogs and learning about calling cards and Bidvertising

I spent part of the day yesterday securing two new blog names and learning about the calling card business.

But I spent most of that time learning about Bidvertiser. Bidvertiser is a Pay Per Click (PPC) competitor of Google's AdSense. I liked what I saw and found the customization features easier to use. I especially like that they provide a color palette while customizing your ad. With AdSense I had to type in all kinds of combinations of the color code (letters a-f and # 0-9). It was not user friendly. But Bidvertiser makes use of a pop up palette that makes finding the perfect color simple.

If you would like to make some money from your blog or website an easy way to begin is with a Pay Per Click advertising service like Bidvertiser. Once you are signed up and have the code in place, Bidvertiser will place relevant advertising on your site. If someone clicks on one of the advertisements, you make money! There are some people out there using Pay Per Click ads to make thousands of dollars every month, or even ever day!

In other news, I have made $5.86 with AdSense to date! I really need to work on getting my sites seen...

The Search for Content

Yesterday I spent a good bit of time searching the web and looking for content, both for this blog and my chocolate blog. I found some very interesting blogs on internet business that I subscribed to. I hope that further reading of these blogs will help educate me on the techniques of successful and profitable blogging.

I actually struggled a little with discouragement as I saw how many other sites are out there and how far ahead of me they are. It seems like I have a long way to go.

I found a competitor to Google AdSense called AdBrite. I tried to sign up, but every time I finished the application form and clicked submit, the server would time out. Frustrating! I'll go back and try it again...maybe today.

I'm still looking for some affiliate programs that would fit with this blog about my blogging business. I haven't given it much effort yet, but maybe I'll find something today. I also plan to read up on search engine optimization and attempt to get my blogs in the coveted top 10.

I decided to write my own review of a chocolate from Japan that I bought in Thailand. I currently live in Thailand but am moving back to the States in a couple months. I have loved it here, but one of the major draw backs for me is the lack of good chocolate!

I've noticed that there are a lot of get rich quick schemes out there on the internet. If you buy the guru's special report for $39.99 and follow his perfected system you will instantly with little effort become an internet millionaire. I see these sites and immediately my scam radar begins to beep furious warnings. I have better things to spend my money on...and I figure I can probably find all the information I need for free on the internet if I just take the effort to dig. There is no such thing as easy money. All rewards come from hard and wise work.