Blogging Like Your Life Depends On It

Many bloggers are seeking to profit from their time and work, and even hope to see full-time income potential in doing what they love to do: write. But one of the things that so easily slips past the hopeful blogger is that blogging, like any other job, requires a steady amount of work and input. More than that, it requires the same amount of time, and often more, as a regular paying job. This may sound like discouragement to those of you who may seek instant gratification from your writing, but it is - my friends, the truth. 


When working a traditional job, the formula is standard and basic: Your time doing their work in exchange for prearranged regular pay. A person generally depends on that formula to live. They are working because their lives depend on that "time + work = money" formula. The employers are typically not paying people to watch television, hang out in the kitchen in their pajamas, chat with friends on Facebook, or plant trees in FarmVille. This is pretty much true of blogging, too. You should be, as you would in any traditional "time + work = money" job, using the majority of the work day doing research, writing, promoting, analyzing, or otherwise building your audience and your blog. 


If you are doing any of this in only small amounts, or part of the time, you can probably expect that your blogging income will be slight, as well. Unless you've really latched onto a brilliant and nearly untouched niche  subject that people have been dying for information about, you're blog will probably not flourish on its own. You will need to work on it continuously... More specifically, you should be blogging as if your life depends on it. Your blog, like anything else in life, will yield the rewards of the efforts you put forth. Your time plus your hard work will produce an income. How much you earn will be a direct result of how hard (or even how long) you work. 


Stick to the formula, whether you seek traditional employment or work on your own. 
Time + Work = Money

Could These 8 Things Be Holding You Back?

Could these 8 things be holding back your online earnings? You may not realize it, but there are plenty of things bloggers do that actually prevent them blog from making any money. Even if your goals are simple, and you just want to earn enough to make a decent living, you may be stopping your blog from making money - before you ever got started.

1. Traffic - Yep, it's true. If you lack decent traffic flow - you just won't earn. Period.

2. It's All Fluff - Even a boring blog with very little substance is capable of generating pocket change every few months - but only because disinterested readers will click on just about anything just to get away from your blog. If you're not creating interesting content, you probably won't develop a steady readership needed - or draw in the traffic to create a decent income.

3. Lacking a Basic Business Plan - If you don't know what you're selling, chances are - your readers don't either. It's not enough to just patch a blog together, throw on some fluffy articles, and slap on a few advertisements. You have to know which direction you are going with your blog, create a plan, set goals, and work towards them.

4. Undefined Goals - If you don't know where you want to go - you probably won't end up there.

5. Daily Distractions - Spending too much time on any one activity can leave you empty at the end of the day. This is why even a basic business plan can help you remember what your ultimate goals should be, and the daily activities that will help you move closer to your goals.

6. Regurgitated Information - While it's perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to be inspired by other bloggers, be careful not to repeat everything they are saying. Original content will have a better chance at raking higher in search engines, and lets your readers get a fresh perspective on the topic. 

7. Your Layout - A confusing layout can cause a visitor to immediately click away from your site. There are just some sites that boggle our eyes, and registers as "irritating" in our minds. The natural response is to leave the site - regardless of what the site is about - no matter what the content consists of - it's just too annoying to stay.

8. Lack of Trust - If your readers don't get the impression that you know your stuff - they just won't trust you. Period.

How to Write an Article You Can Sell

Selling an article can be a little tough if you're relatively new to the field of paid writing. Starting with a layout that works for most of your articles can save you time and energy, and increase your productivity throughout the day.

Popular Article Types
Depending on the criteria of the particular articles you write, and where they will appear, you may find that you are asked to write articles that fall in to the following categories: About, How To, What Is, Facts, How it Works, or Lists of information and sources.

Structure
Develop a precise method to writing each type of article you will be selling, and even create a template that you can use each time, with defined areas for information. Use the structure that you create - each and every time you write that type of article. This is where most of your time will be spent.

Forward Moving Text
Write each paragraph so that it leads into the next paragraph. Avoid stringing your reader along in hopes of keeping them interested. The readers' time is valuable, and they want to get straight to the point. Since most people "skim" the page, looking for useful information, be sure to highlight each section with a relevant heading.

Research
Use several resources to verify the information you are presenting in your articles. Take notes using pencil and paper, rather than with a word processor, which will help you to avoid the temptation to "copy and paste" someone else's work. Your research is to help back up the information in your article only, not where you should get your words.

Resources
Provide resources that provide additional reading that may be of interest to your readers, or that further explain the process or information in your article. Use citations and quotes minimally, providing resources whenever possible.

Rewriting and Renewing
Read through some of the articles you may have in your archives. You may find that by using your newly created structure, you are able you write new articles based on research you used in previous articles. Writing articles that are similar, but cover a different aspect of a subject can be a great way of saving time on research, and provide some additional resources for rewrites, or updating old articles with newly researched facts.

Using Structure Over Time
Using a structured method will help you to develop a pattern to your writing, and eventually a style that defines you, no matter what the subject matter is. Your interest in certain details when researching will influence the direction your articles take, and a predetermined structure will help you stick to the topic throughout your article.

Blogging Labeled as Dangerous, But is it Really True?

Within the past few years, bloggers have proven that it is entirely possible to make a decent living through blogging. Many people make a good income doing it, and for a select group of blogging elites, the has even brought them fame and fortune. But for at least a few bloggers, their intense drive to be the first to blog about breaking industry news may have led to their deaths.

While the simplicity of blogging for financial gain has drawn an incredible number of aspiring bloggers to dump the contents of their minds into the blogosphere at an alarming rate, it has also created the myth that anyone can be a successful blogger. But with any amount of experience as a serious blogger, one quickly realizes that spitting out regurgitated news just simply isn't good enough. Hence, the bad wrap - that blogging is dangerous to your health.

The notion that blogging could be deadly certainly is plausible in extreme cases, as many of the most successful bloggers rarely sleep, drink meals in the form of protein-caffeine cocktails, and spend nearly every waking hour in a highly competitive news breaking frenzy with global competitors. But the suggestion that blogging could bring about the levels of stress that are experienced by commercial airline pilots, or that the amount of danger that a blogger faces on the job is comparable to that of a coal miner is a giant leap over the edge of truth.

The reality of it is, blogging is what you make of it. It probably isn't fair to say that blogging in general is very competitive, because the truth of it is, a huge population of bloggers write because they enjoy it. It is considered by many to be an emotional outlet of sorts; a place of self-satisfaction, a release of words begging to come out and speak to someone . . . anyone . . . or even no one at all.

The dangers of blogging in general aren't necessarily higher than those of other computer based desk jobs. Sometimes, in order to be successful at something, you've got to put your all into your goal. To be honest, the success that some bloggers have achieved - generally comes with a high level of stress.

But don't let yourself be fooled into thinking that you would be a great blogger because you love the computer and hate getting out of bed in the morning, it takes time and a lot of hard work to build a thriving blog and an established readership. And as with anything else you may do for a living, you've gotta love it. In fact, just loving blogging isn't always enough. Darren Rowse of ProBlogger once said that he had to blog as if his life depended on it - because it did. He has since become known as a pioneer in the blogging industry, and has achieved a great level of success and respect in the blogging industry.

The Truth About Blogging and Adsense

Warning: If you are overly sensitive to the truth, you may not continue to read this blatant post!

When I attended career guidance classes in high-school, I don't quite remember "sitting around in my underwear checking my AdSense stats" being on the list of possible careers, but it seems to be quite the dream job of today. While there are a few of us who like to keep busy, I'm pretty sure there are millions of people out there who would just love to quit working and take a permanent all-expenses paid vacation. But that's just not reality, no matter how great it sounds.

Bloggers Needed: Lazy People Need Not Apply

First of all, successful blogging is work. I'm not sure how much of that is making sense, but the keyword here is: WORK. I do agree, it's not always hard work, but it is work nonetheless. The sooner you believe and understand the fact that blogging requires work, the sooner you can begin to enjoy your job. If that was not too difficult for you to swallow, you may want to continue reading about what AdSense can do for you.

If you already have a high level of traffic, AdSense has a tendency to produce two more common results: Based on a high percentage of "clickers", you may actually start off day one earning Adsense revenue. On the flip side, if you have a lot of loyal readers who enjoy the fact that your blog remains ad-free, you run the risk of offending them. Many readers enjoy non-threatening environment of a blog that isn't trying to sell them anything, including "junk-advertising".

The AdSense Catch-22

If your site has relatively few readers or visitors, you won't necessarily offend anyone - but you probably won't make any money the first day, either. As your readers develop a loyalty to you as a writer, they will have already been exposed to your AdSense ads, and still continue to frequent your blog. As your readership grows, depending on your niche - your earnings should correspondingly increase. But this is not always true. Some niches simply produce more "clicking" visitors than others. In fact, if your niche is not product based, you may find that the relevant ads are actually not relevant at all, and may not generate interest or clicks.

By implementing your ads in higher visibility areas, you will increase the visibility of the ads, encouraging more clicks, but you also compromise your layout design, and should be careful not to give up valuable "real-estate" on your blog to irrelevant material. Be sure to place some of your most useful information in neighboring spaces, so that you ensure that your readers will not only be exposed to your ads, but have an equal opportunity to read the information they came to read. If your ads are more prominent than your content, you may find that your visitors quickly leave your site through your ads. If you simply to wish to generate clicks, I suppose this would be the way to go, but most bloggers are genuinely interested in having their content actually read! In that case, concentrate on your content - and its visibility.

Ignore your readers - and they'll go away.

Personally, I am more motivated by returning visitors, multiple page views, and lengthy visits than how many pennies I can earn per visitor. But by the same token, I am also encouraged by the possibility that I may not provide everything my readers want, and that perhaps through relevant ads, I might give them something they are looking for - while earning revenue at the same time.

When properly balanced, AdSense can be a valuable tool for both readers and bloggers, providing additional content and products to your visitors, and generating revenue for bloggers and website owners, without interrupting the blog-reading experience for the visitors.

What You Lose When Your Blog is not Reader Ready

What are you really losing when your blog not only fails to keep visitors interested, but isn't drawing in a huge crowd of readers? You may think that you can ruin your online reputation or credibility, or your opportunity to make money, or even pushing potential customers away. And while all of the above may be true, you are also losing something much more. You are losing valuable time.

Face it, the internet is a fast moving world, and if you don't keep up - you could be left in the dust. When your site is is shambles, you might lose revenue or potential readers. If your blog is not finished, or lacking valuable content - you allow others the opportunity to do what you aren't. You not only prevent yourself from earning your potential during that time, but you could affect your future earnings as well. But worse yet, you lose the time that others are (or could be) excelling in your niche - instead of you. If you are taking too much time on one aspect of your blog, and aren't really prooving to be a success as of yet, you may be allowing others to take advantage of your slack, and take over your niche.

Be sure that you are making the most of your blog's presentation. If you are gearing your blog layout towards keeping readers interested in your reading, you will have more time to devote to producing quality content. You only have one chance to make a first impression in the real world, but thankfully in the virtual world you have the opportunity to bring back visitors that you may have had before. People most often remember the sites that they enjoy, or want to share - but typically forget sites that were not at all useful. So even if you've chased away a few visitors in the past, you can have your site "reader ready" before they arrive again!

What it Takes to Earn Money Blogging and Be a Successful Blogger

No matter how you look at it, how much you analyze it, making money through your blog boils down to just one thing - traffic. Most people blog because they enjoy it. But because it is time consuming, it is only natural to want to get paid for your time. But because there is no guarantee that you will earn anything through your blogging, you're going to have to work fairly hard to achieve your goals. This means that even if you are a brilliant writer, and no matter how much time you spend on your blog each day - if no one is visitng your blog, you probably won't make any money. Sure, you may still enjoy your blogging, but even that will be less of a turn-on if no one is reading what you write.

With that established, you're either blogging for enjoyment, money, or both. The problem for many enthusiastic new bloggers with dollar signs in their eyes - is that they don't really enjoy writing. For some reason or other, they misinterpret the reasons that others began blogging in the first place. Some have even convinced themselves that because people like Darren Rowse are able to make a healthy living blogging - that they too can easily bring in a nice chunk of pocket change by setting up a blog and slapping a few Google ads on it. But, my blogging friends, this is just not so.

When you started blogging, what was your motivation? Do you have something of value or interest to share with others? Did you start blogging because you heard you could make money by sitting in front of the computer? Perhaps you have a love of written language, and the power of words. The hard part for most new bloggers to swallow is that you've really got to develop a following, or at least a consistant and steady flow of traffic to your site. Starting a blog is only the first step, then comes the real work - getting people to actually read what you've written. It can be even more of a challenge to get people to know you exist - let alone read what you write about.

Facing these challenges is what makes a blogger dedicated. Conquering these challenges is what makes a blogger stand out. But mastering the solutions to these challenges is what makes a blogger successful. Which brings m e to a quote that I believe ALL bloggers should take as encouragement, I just wish I knew who said it! Remember it, say it, dream it in your sleep - but most of all, live it.

"Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do."

Avoiding Distractions While Blogging

Blogging can lead to some very time consuming distractions. Other than reading blogs, which can be a good thing, many bloggers struggle to stay on task while using the internet. If this is you, consider what your distractions are, and set aside some time for those things when your "work" is finished.

Most new bloggers are distracted by the idea of making money. They often get lost in the world of advertisements for affiliate programs, and lose sight of creating content for their blog. While making money can be a great aspect of blogging, without quality content - you may find that your pockets remain empty. Here are a few ideas to keep you on track:

• Make a list of daily activities that you wish to accomplish. Read over the list several times per day to make sure you are keeping your goals in mind.
• Start your day off by tackling a few of your major activities, the earlier the better. Once you have completed them, you will find that you have much more time during the day to dedicate to other projects.
• Save any projects that could distract you until other tasks have been completed. This way, if you do find yourself distracted, you will not be neglecting more important activities.
• Answer any emails you receive right away, which can prevent a major "responding" project later on.
• Set aside a certain amount of time each day towards monetizing your blog, and stick to it.
• Don't check your stats every day, which can be a major distraction for some bloggers. Concentrate on providing content for your blog, which will keep your blog up-to-date and fresh, bringing in more traffic.

May 19 - Current Blogging Jobs From Around the Internet

If you are looking to earn money as a blogger, but have relatively little success gaining the traffic that it takes to really monetize your blog, you could consider the option of blogging for someone else. Many companies and individuals out there are looking for bloggers, and if you enjoy blogging and want to be paid for your time and your work, it's a viable option for any writer.

Don't worry if you don't have previous blogging experience, if you're an experienced writer, or an expert in your field, you have the same chances as anyone else for landing the job. I have worked for quite a few people, writing articles for blogs and websites, and let me tell you, it's just as much work as blogging for yourself, but it's sure nice when that paycheck arrives - just for doing what you already enjoy doing. Here's a few job opportunities that are current as of this month.

Green Blogger Needed Real Estate Blogger Needed Web Promotion Blogger Needed

Sports Blogger Needed b5media Blogger Jobs 451 Press Blogging Jobs

SEO Tips - Keywords, Search Engines, and Traffic

In order to build a successful income online, you've got to get traffic. This is especially true if you are trying to make an income blogging. You've got to put some work into search engine optimization, or SEO, in order to convert web searches into traffic. But you're not looking to get just any traffic, you're looking for targeted traffic. If you've got a product to sell, or if you're looking to build an income from blogging, you'll want to make sure that you are targeting the right audience to bring readers who will actually take the time to read your blog. It's pretty obvious that if you don't have anything worth reading that people won't stay long, so quality content is extremely important. Blogging for money is not easy, but if you want to succeed, you'll have to compete amongst some pretty incredible bloggers. It can't be stressed enough, but high quality content can do amazing things for your blog. If people actually walk away having learned something from your blog, chances are - they will be back. But along with great content, you've got to have great keywords, and even better keyword combinations, which is a large part of search engine optimization. This is how interested readers will find your blog in the search engines.

Recent statistics show that four-word keyword queries have the highest conversion rates. This means that when people find your website in their search engine results, they actually click on your link. Most importantly, targeting the right keywords or keyphrases for your site can keep people on your site longer, because they are interested in the content, based on their search query. However, if you target the wrong keywords for the wrong reasons, you will only drive traffic away from your site, or even if people get to your site using the keywords - they turn around and quickly leave your site to find what they were really looking for. For instance, if you have a blog about furniture, and you target the popular keyphrase "Paris Hilton" all over your blog just to get traffic, you will notice in your statistics that people are leaving within seconds of arriving.

Once you have discovered keywords that are right for your site, you must integrate them into your content wisely. Repeating the words too often could result in search engines regarding your site as "keyword spam", and it won't be included in many search results, if any. You may even find that your keywords are slightly different for each blog post.

Monetize Your Blog for Supplemental Income

In order to successfuly monetize your blog, you must have an abundance of content. For some bloggers, knowledge may be a strong point, but maybe not writing. This isn't always a problem for bloggers, there are many successful bloggers that aren't the best writers, but their content is spectacular, which keeps readers coming back.

Once you've got readers, (which basically means you have a lot of traffic and return visitors), you can begin to see profits from your blogging efforts. There are several good programs to choose from, or you can use a few to produce several streams of income through your blog. Most of them work through links and ads that you allow to appear on your blog. Some even offer you the opportunity to sell advertising space through their program, or you can also sell space on your own if you have a very popular blog. Quite a few popular blogs use Adsense, which is a content-based advertising program available free through Google.

The ads are based on the content of your blog, which means if you have great content, and a lot of it, the content-based ads will be closely related to the content of your blog. Or you could advertise to others that they could monetize their site. AdBrite and Chitika eMiniMalls are great revenue producing sites, if they are used creatively. There are many other ways to monetize your blog, and many sites that can help you do it. Whether you choose to go with an affiliate program such as Commission Junction or Amazon, or selling personalized t-shirts and other products through CafePress, you'll have to try a few things before you discover what works for you. Test a few layouts, and if something doesn't work, don't hesitate to rearrange it. Study the layouts of successful blogs, and develop your own style and techniques that work for you, and the subject you are blogging about.