Blogging
Blog Tip: Register Your Blog’s Name on Twitter
Whether you personally use Twitter or not, the way the internet is evolving means you should at a minimum be registering your blog’s name on Twitter and publishing a link to your posts there. This is not only smart business and can leverage additional traffic, but it can also save you a lot of headaches in the future.
If you are wondering why this is so important for someone who may not use Twitter, here are a few important reasons:
- Generates Traffic - There are many people who rarely check their RSS feeds these days, but they will follow your website on Twitter. I don’t know that Twitter will ever completely replace the RSS feed, but for many individuals it already has (myself included for the most part). There are others who will retweet your updates and fetch you additional traffic as well. By not offering your content on Twitter, you are losing exposure for your website/blog.
- Brand Recognition - It is reasonable for someone to believe that if they go to twitter.com/yourwebsitename that they will see your website. If they don’t, they may have trouble finding your tweets.
- Prevents Impersonation - Because many people were late to the Twitter party, there are millions of accounts which are “parked” where someone saves the name with the intention of selling it at some point (there are already services setup where people can buy/sell Twitter accounts). That is the best case scenario. We are currently dealing with someone who has our Twitter account (that matches our domain name) and is impersonating that website with it. We now have no control over the brand until we can get Twitter to turn the account over to us.
Those of course are the major reasons, but I’m sure there are plenty of other options. If you haven’t already, go out and sign up for the corresponding account of each of your web properties to be sure you have control over your name and your followers have access to your content! I currently manage 16 different Twitter accounts and use Seesmic Desktop (free desktop software) to easily manage them all!
Note: If you’d like to follow Slick Affiliate via Twitter, you can find our Twitter account here, and you can also follow my personal Twitter account here!
Unique Blog Designs Offers a Contest
I’ve always been a big fan of Unique Blog Designs work. In fact, I’m such a big fan that I have been considering commissioning them to build a 100% custom theme for an important website/blog I am in the process of building. It is a site that will probably define my online over the coming months/years, so I think doing so could be a great investment.
If you like their work, you may want to check out their 1 year anniversary contest they are running throughout the weekend. All you have to do is leave a comment on their post to earn a point, then blog about the contest to get another 5 points. The lucky winner will receive an iPod Touch and a free copy of their new Citrus theme, which is going to be released in the next couple of weeks ($99.00 value I believe).
Introducing the Success with WordPress eBook!
I sort of teased it in last months income report when I mentioned a project I am working on, and then again this last weekend with my post about Mark’s contest, but now it is finally official. The Success with WordPress eBook is now available!
This project started way back in February 2008 after polling Hack WordPress readers about their interest in a WordPress eBook, and after confirming interest, I have been working on it off and on in the 6 months since. I took my techniques and experiences with WordPress and built them into the book, then built in some affiliate marketing and AdSense techniques, and finally I did a good amount of research for other sections of the book to make sure it is a useful resource for people that purchase it.
Here is what is included with this WordPress eBook:
- Building a Multi-Author WordPress Blog
- Using WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS)
- Building a WordPress Forum
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips designed specifically for WordPress
- Maximizing CPC Income with Google AdSense
- Advanced Affiliate Marketing Techniques
- Building a Niche Blog with WordPress
In order to tie this post to affiliate marketing, I also wanted to share with my readers here that the Success with WordPress eBook has an affiliate program that uses E-Junkie and pays out 33% per sale! You can find out more about this WordPress affiliate program on the affiliate page, including how to get setup and we are also offering a 125×125 banner you can use to advertise the product in your sidebars.
Any questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Mark Sierra Announces Huge New Contest
Mark Sierra, who is a good friend of this blog (and also the guy that built our logo), has announced a new contest over at his blog, which includes a number of great prizes!
Here is the list prizes:
GRAND PRIZE
Garmin nuvi 350 GPS navigation system - This cool prize is sponsored by Market Leverage. I’ve seen this thing go for upwards of $320 on some sites. Take it with you in the car or walking around town. Never get lost again. You won’t find this on any other contest they’re involved with!
Prize 1
Apple iPod Nano 4GB Silver1 - Hey, it’s from Apple and it’s an iPod…need I say more? Valued at $149. Sponsored by MeAndMyDrum.
Prize 2
WOW-Pen Joy - These aren’t available in stores yet, so one lucky winner is going to be among the first to receive this superior ergonomic PC mouse. I’ve been using another model made by the same company and love it!. Sponsored by WOW-Pen.
Prize 3
1-hour Consultation with Garry Conn - Garry continues to provide great tips and information about how to make money online and does so at an incredible rate. He has created untold numbers of blogs for a variety of market niches and has become very successful at it. If you’re interested in making money online, then make it a point to get to know my friend Garry. This hour he’s giving away will no doubt change the way you blog. Valued at $250.
Prize 4
Free 1-year Membership to LifeFoc.us - this prize, valued at $324, is generously offered by another successful online entrepreneur, Aaron Abber. This recently launched online community is already off to a great start and is sure to provide you with encouraging tips on planning and achieving your goals, both online and offline. Happiness can be found in many different areas of your life and LifeFoc.us can help you find them.
Prize 5
1 Market Leverage 2GB USB Pen - Another prize sponsored by MeAndMyDrum, this is something I won from another contest that I’m throwing into the mix. It’s brand-spanking new!
Prize 6
Free ebook: Success With WordPress - Written by Kyle Eslick of Hack WordPress, this hasn’t even been released yet, so the winner will be among the very first to grab a free copy and become even more successful with using WordPress.
Prize 7
Free ebook: Blog Adrenaline - Written by John Moston of DNXpert, this is an 80-page ebook that also includes a 24-page guide to building WordPress themes, AND a “skeleton” WordPress theme that can be customized and given away for building backlinks.
Prize 8
2 Market Leverage Rewards Cards - These guys came through again with another popular prize. Each card is worth $20. There will be 1 winner per card.
Prize 9
Advertising on KeithJamesLock.com - Keith is offering some great advertising opportunities on his blog. One image ad will be placed beneath each of his posts on single post pages as well as beneath the post on the home page. Size can be up to 400×250. He’s also offering a text link up to 50 characters in length. Both will have do-follow links which can be affiliate links if desired. 2
Prize 10
Niche Adsense Themes for WordPress - Created by Mark Mason, this rising star in the Internet marketing world is someone I’ve been following closely. His recent release of these specially designed WordPress themes has been well-received in the online community. Do yourself a favor and get to know Mark so that you can carve out your slice of the make money online pie.
Prize 11
Free ebook: Article Domination - Written by Josh Spaulding, this has been a best seller in the article marketing world for a while. It’s packed with step-by-step, easy-to-understand instructions to making money online using articles and article directories to drive qualified traffic to your site or blog. Valued at $39.
Prize 12
125×125 ad on BlogAboutYourBlog - a $20 value, Matthew Henrickson is offering ad space at the top of BlogAboutYourBlog for one month. His blog gets a lot of traffic so your ad will certainly get a great deal of exposure.
Prize 13
Free ebook: Written Prompty Everyday - Written by Christine Senter, this is an inspiring book designed to help you get your creative juices flowing and get over your writer’s block. It lists some very creative prompts that will help get you that spark of creativity you’re looking for.
Prize 14
Free 1-year Membership to I’m On A Budget - My friend Joe Swopes has launched a great new membership site called I’m On A Budget that provides its members with very affordable videos, software, and audio products that cover a wide variety of topics. Valued at $60.
Click over to check out more information about that prize and the information you’ll need participate in the contest.
Blogging Discussion: Do You Blog to Teach or to Learn?
When you are reading through your blogs feeds, do you enjoy when someone asks for their readers input? I’m not talking situations where someone may write out a detailed post and finish it with “what do you think?” People that do that are generally just trying to encourage readers to comment. What I’m talking about is when a blogger writes a post wanting you to help them or get input on something.
Sometimes I feel that people have the wrong idea about blogging. Though it can be, blogging was not intended specifically to teach you something. Blogging was actually intended to be a conversation, which requires two or more parties to respond to each other. If you leave a comment on a blog post, doesn’t it make you feel better if the author responds to your comment (whether in general or specifically)?
I’ve always taken the approach that I have a lot to learn from my readers, so occasionally I will ask for help on things. Loyal readers input is extremely valuable, so I am never afraid to brainstorm, bounce ideas off readers, poll readers, or whatever else. Whether you are a pro blogger or not, none of us know everything and there is always things to learn.
So, with that said, let me ask you this. Do you approaching blogging as a way to teach your readers, or do you attempt to engage in a conversation and learn from your readers?
The Evolution of Slick Affiliate
Yesterday while setting up a new online store I’ve been working on for a little while now, for whatever reason, I started reflecting back on this blog, and my evolution as a blogger. Just like the domain name here has changed (the first year and a half this site was Kyle’s Cove), so has the focus of this website over the last two years.
In looking back, in July of 2006 this blog was created as sort of a personal weblog. At the time, I didn’t have any blogging experience and wasn’t even sure what I wanted to talk about. Hence the very general name Kyle’s Cove. Over time, this blog’s original focus ended up being mostly on technology and related content. I’ve always been a person that was very in tune with the latest gadgets and have been playing online since the early 1990’s, so I had a lot to talk about. While I wrote about pretty much anything in that niche that was interesting, I loved nothing more than talking about next generation web browers, so I placed a lot of focus there.
Things were going good, but eventually as I became more passionate about blogging and started making money online, my focus shifted a little and I used this blog to explore my ideas in these areas. This was a lot of fun, but there were so many “blogging” blogs out there, that many of the ideas and input in had in these areas seemed to get drowned out.
In the 6 months since that time, I’ve grown a lot as a blogger, webmaster, domainer, and online entreprenuer, and this blog continued to evolve with me. We’ve been tackling all sorts of subjects, ranging from my experiences as a domainer to keyword sniping, and lately even talking about niche affiliate marketing. These three areas are where at lot of my focus has been, so it sort of made sense for me to talk about them.
Unfortunately, managing all of the projects I’m working on has really taxed my time and kept me from being as active in the blogosphere as I would like (linking to others, leaving comments on other blogs, answering comments on this blog, etc.). I’m hoping that will change as I continue to setup my online presence and get everything in place where I want it to be.
I’ve got some exciting stuff planned for this site that I will be writing about, beginning with a post later this week. I think a lot of this stuff will be affiliate marketing related, so hopefully there is some interest from readers in that area. Hopefully many of you are not relying on Google AdSense to make money online, but if you are, I mean to change that!
I will also try to make some “classic” posts from time to time, as I still enjoy and have thoughts about SEO tactics, making money online, blogging, and more. If there are certain areas you want me to focus on, please let me know.
In the meantime, if you’d like to do something fun today, do yourself a favor and spend some time digging through your archives and study how you’ve grown as a blogger. Read some of your early posts. This is a good way to see progress and stay motivated for the future.
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