Blogging Pointers

Good morning bloggers. As you can see below, BloggingPointers.com has been vacant since September. Well, I’m here to change that!

Here’s what I can offer you:

Daily Updates
Veteran Professional Blogger (see profile) WITH great tips
Open community (ie I don’t know everything so jump in!)
Great place for NEW and OLD bloggers alike
Make Some Money MONDAYS (ie a listing of PAID blog positions)

And last, but certainly not least, a chance to be in my blogroll! If you’ve got a blog about blogging, web writing, internet biz, internet apps, or internet publicity, I want to add you to my blogroll! Leave a comment or email me at gwpublications@gmail.com!

Let’s start today with TIP O’ the TUESDAY:

As I mentioned in one of my other blogs, Writers Unbound, always be very careful of what you publish in your blog. Things like short stories, personal essays and even exposes have the possibility of netting you some dollars, not to mention a great print credit, when published in another media. But, once they are up on your blog, some outlets will consider them already published, and you will not be able to sell them.

Of course, this turns into a careful balancing technique, as you need- need- excellent content in order to get your blog rolling.

Thanks for visiting Tip O’ the Tuesday, and again, give me some ideas for BLOGROLL!

I somehow missed this post from Darren Rowse at ProBlogger the first time (August 23rd of this year) but judging from the number of comments it received, this post spoke to others just as loudly as it did to me.

Darren’s post starts with a story - two friends talking to a third who’s interested in starting a blog:

My blogging friend was dispensing a few words of wisdom on how to start out (the usually kind of beginner blogging tips) when he said something out of the blue which made me take note because of the wisdom of it. He said: “In the early days you’ll feel like you’re talking to yourself
(actually in the very beginning you probably are) - but don’t give up
because it’s a feeling that will subside. The key is to keep blogging
through that awkward beginning because if you do you’ll find people
will begin to find you and the memory of talking to yourself will be a
distant memory.�?  I really appreciated my friend’s words. They reminded me a lot of my
own beginnings in blogging when I felt quite foolish about pouring out
what was on my mind for everyone (and nobody) to read).

Darren then goes on to relate an analogous experience from his past - preparing a sermon in an empty church - to how those early days of blogging seem to a new blogger.

Well, I’ve got news for the new bloggers: it happens to “old pros” like me, too. I’ve been blogging for over four years now, but whenever I start a new blog - especially in a brand new subject area, as I just did with The Fibro Follies, it seems in many ways as if I’m just beginning all over again - as if I’m the one in that empty church.

The difference, perhaps, for me as someone who’s “been there, done that, got the arthritic fingers” is that I know it’s a temporary feeling, and it’s one that serves a vital purpose. That feeling of “preaching to an empty room” pushes me on to keep blogging, stay on point, keep delivering good content, and keep reaching out to others in that blogging community. It’s a powerful motivator!

Blogging is an amazing conversation,when you think about it. It has the ultimate power to change the conversation completely - to impact other’s lives in direct and immediate ways. It’s absolutely worth the early anguish you’ll go through. Keep asking those questions if you want (”is there anyone out there?” “am I getting through?” “Is this thing on?”) but always, always come back to the content - and keep blogging.

Technorati Tags: beginning bloggers

Welcome to part four of my Make Money With Niche Blogging - Super Resource Guide. In this post I am going to give you a list of 6 excellent resources to jump start your niche blogging career.

How to Choose a Niche Topic for your Blog

How to Effectively Create Content for your Niche Blogs: An Introduction and Guide

5 Easy Steps to Choose a Great Domain Name for your Niche Blog

Niche Blogs and The Long Tail of Content

5 Ways You Can Monetize Your Niche Blog

Where Do I Find Content for My Niche Blog?

Other Posts in This Series

Part #1 - Make Money With Niche Blogging - Super Resource Guide

Part #2 - Finding and Using Niche Search Terms That Pay

Part #3 - 30+ Search Terms For Your Niche Blog

Part #4 - 6 Must Reads to Jump Start Your Niche Blogging Career

niche, niche blogging, niche blog, niche articles, niche how to

Welcome, this is part three of my Make Money With Niche Blogging - Super Resource Guide series. In part two I covered how to use niche search terms to drive traffic and make money. In this chapter I will be listing many niche search terms that I have researched just for this series. I would suggest considering top tens and reviews for many of these. For example the first one is “free online preschool game” so you could write a headline like “The Best Free Online Preschool Game Review” which will help to draw attention and interest.

Please note that any misspellings or errors found in the list below are supposed to be there, they are what searchers actually typed.

Search Term List Guide

Searches = Number of searches performed in one month on that exact phrase

Competitors = Number of sites targeting that exact phrase.

Niche Search Terms

Free Category

• free online preschool game - - 5770 searches - - 650 competitors
• free online star war game - - 6019 searches - - 554 competitors
• disney download game for free online - - 7417 searches - - 700 competitors
• 100 100 dating dating free free online - - 7612 searches - - 808 competitors
• copy credit free report - - 5684 searches - - 738 competitors
• free download 7.5 msn messenger - - 10517 searches - - 1890 competitors
• download free theme vista window - - 8094 searches - - 740 competitors
• free ware downloads - - 7774 searches - - 565 competitors
• free dvd decoder download - - 7286 searches - - 964 competitors
• download english free mp3 song - - 12622 searches - - 908 competitors
• 100 download free mp3 music - - 4153 searches - - 643 competitors
• free people search zaba - - 5754 searches - - 686 competitors
• english free spanish translation - - 28521 searches - - 6930 competitors
• card free greeting printable - - 11364 searches - - 505 competitors
• free game to play and download - - 5629 searches - - 771 searches
• free letter resignation sample - - 7325 searches - - 329 searches
• free famous restaurant recipe - - 6723 searches - - 1150 searches

(more…)

This is part two of the Make Money With Niche Blogging - Super Resource Guide series. I’m having a niche tip blowout this week and you are on the receiving end of my excellent resources.

Part two of the series shows you how to find and use niche search terms that will increase your traffic and maximize your profitability.

How to Profit With Niche Search Terms

Millions of people hit the search engines everyday hunting for what ever happens to be on their mind at that time. Your job as a niche blogger is to cash in on their misspellings, brain farts and don’t forget their niche interests. You can use niche search terms as article titles, blog titles and of course content, to put yourself at the top of the search results and bring that niche crowd to your blog. The process of making money is the same as on any other blog, Google Adsense, Affiliate Marketing, Advertising and Product Sales such as ebooks or web templates are the top of the list. Basically, the only thing niche blogging gives you differently than a standard blog is less competition on your blogs search terms therefor the possibility of making more money is high.

How to Find Your Own Niche Search Terms

This is probably the most asked question in the world of niche marketing and I will tell you how I do it. Although my methods are in no way ground breaking or new, they are tried and true by many and won’t cost you a dime.

Step #1 - Brainstorming

Grab yourself a piece of paper, something to write with and a place to sit. Think of everything and everyone you have seen that day and write it down. Did you see a nurse at the gas station? How about a city bus at the stoplight on your way to get lunch? Once you have all of these down start brainstorming different words that associate with what you wrote. In other words when I think of a nurse, I think medical, doctors, illnesses, health, blood pressure, hospital, emergency and the list goes on. So write all of these down, this process forces your brain to do the work. It is very difficult for many of us to sit down and think of all these topics out of the blue, but my method will help.

Step #2 - Research, Research, Research

With your list in hand open up a new (more…)

Of all the ways to make money online, niche blogging or niche marketing has long been a favorite for many. I myself have had and currently have niche blogs running and just so you know I actively make money with them. The biggest question ever asked about niche marketing is, how do I find a niche category? Through the course of this Super Resource Guide I will provide you with many niche search terms I have sourced just for this series, how to find other niches on your own, how to build traffic through the use of Article Marketing, also known as Bum Marketing and more.

I will be providing many links and resources found specifically for this series and have included no affiliate links of any kind. This is 100% genuine research for you and as such, I would like to ask that if you find any of this information helpful, leave your comments below and of course Digging it wouldn’t be bad either.

Part #1 - A little about how niche marketing works….

A niche is basically a sub-category of a more popular main category. The idea behind niche marketing is to target a mid-sized audience with little competition against you, essentially owning the market. The financial gain usually comes from advertising, affiliate sales or sales of your own merchandise to your targeted audience.

If we wanted to find a new niche we could run a Google search on lets say “health care” it returns 374,000,000 results, but if I narrow my focus to “caring for diabetics” I only get 20,800 results. That is a significant drop and thus we have found a potential niche market. Each one of those results is a competitor so to make as much money as possible we need to get the least amount of competitors therefor the best chance of bringing traffic. Now 20,800 is still a lot of competition so you would most likely want to take this even further. A search on “caring for diabetic children” returns only 24 results, Now the odds are in our favor. It is important to know how many people are searching for this topic and I will explain how to do that in a later part of this series. Do you feel the suspense?

Quick Tip #1
When searching Google for competitor results, always place your search term within quotation marks. This will give you exact results tailored to your criteria.

Never jump into a niche topic without first knowing your potential customer base. If there is little interest you won’t make money and essentially waste a lot of time and possibly money with domain purchases and such. I typically go for a term with less (more…)

The Readers Choice Series, here at Blogging Pointers is designed to give you the reader an opportunity to decide the material. Is there something you want to know about blogging, social media, marketing or something else in this area? I will be picking four of the most asked readers choice questions and explaining each one in a four part series written next month. That should give you ample time to share your questions with me.

So, if you want to be heard, want to be answered or just interested in refreshing your mind on a specific topic, let me know what interests you in the comments below or if you prefer you can email me privately at the address listed:

patric.herber@451press.net

I am sure there is something you have wanted to learn about blogging in the past or present. This should be fun for all of us. I especially am looking forward to the challenge because who knows what you guys are going to want. I guess we will find out just how savvy I am!

blogger, readers choice, blogging, challenge

Intro - - Welcome, this is part five of the multi-part series The Bloggers Guide to Time Saving Techniques. This series covers the ever important topic of time management and how it directly relates to your success as a blogger. I will be covering some key issues many bloggers, myself included, have battled with in the past and how you can overcome them with a few simple tricks to managing your time more efficiently.

First, I wanted to mention that you don’t have to try and write multi-part series’ or two thousand word posts everyday in order to satisfy your readers. Many bloggers, yes even pro bloggers, use what they term as “filler content” at least two days a week. Filler content in short, is very simple posts often times its a quick review of another blog/product or a simple link list thats sole purpose is to fill a void for that particular day. Filler content is often a great thing to post for the weekend, just to add something new or use it if you fall behind one day. I very highly recommend that you keep a couple simple posts like these on hand for those slack days when there are no thoughts present in your head, it happens to all of us, and is sure to happen to you.

Well, I know this particular portion of the series is about product research, but I wanted to mention everything above to give you an idea of what to keep your eyes open for when you are doing your research. So with that said, content research is a very important step in the blogging process. Whether you are in need of a little inspiration or researching the hottest news in your niche, you will find yourself hitting the dusty internet trail in search of new material.

I often tend to keep a Firefox tab open while I am writing, so I can hit google to verify what I said is correct. There is nothing worse than getting an email from someone saying your material is outdated or that program doesn’t have that function anymore, something like that. So to keep this from happening, anytime I use a fact or mention, I quickly verify to make sure it is still accurate, because things change and on the net they tend to change quicker than usual.

So that is one tip, always keep a tab open for verification research as you write your posts. This willprevent you from bringing everything to a halt opening a new tab so on and so forth.

Try to research non time sensitive material in advance. I cant stress this enough, every time you do something in advance you save time and headaches down the road when its time to write.

When you are researching stay focused. It is very easy to lose track of what you are doing online. I have started searching for some new web host and an hour later found myself wanting to buy a new video game that I just spent forty-five minutes hunting for the best deal. So keep focused on your searches or you will easily double your work time.

Always check the biggest resources for your topic first. Jump over to the biggest blogs and see what they have been writing about or maybe they wrote your same idea a few months ago. By no means should you copy their writings it is against the law and just plain ethical, but using it as an inspirational piece is often why they write it, to inspire.

But, don’t forget the small guy. Even though by now you have scoured the biggest resources available to you, you should not stop there, everyone that started out was once a new guy. Which means that you can find equally great content from many of the smaller resources.

Let Google do the work. Google is a very powerful tool at your fingertips, that holds a vast amount of information. If you are searching for something specific wrap it with quotation marks, this will pull only the results that math that phrase exactly. Imagine how much time you can save if you cut the results down from two million to two hundred, its a lot.

Let the content come to you. Sign up for (more…)

Intro - - Welcome, this is part four of the multi-part series The Bloggers Guide to Time Saving Techniques. This series covers the ever important topic of time management and how it directly relates to your success as a blogger. I will be covering some key issues many bloggers, myself included, have battled with in the past and how you can overcome them with a few simple tricks to managing your time more efficiently.

Operating multiple blogs can be a real handful. Many people find the most difficult task to be, designating enough time for each one. When you get to the point where you are running three, four or five blogs or more, your oldest blogs tend to suffer as you work on the newest ones. Postings start to slow from one a day to a couple a week and sometimes worse.

One of the biggest tricks to efficiently running multiple blogs is schedule, schedule and schedule some more. Set yourself up with a dry erase board or a calendar and actually write down a generic schedule for each blog. As unforeseen things come up, and they will, add that to the schedule. This plan gives you some insight as to what you should be doing for the week, day or month.

In part two of this series I shared the technique of writing post for the future and scheduling them for a later date. This is very handy for running more than one blog. Your calendar can say some thing like:

Monday - Write five posts for blog #1 and leave at least six comments on other blogs for blog #3.

Tuesday - Write five posts for blog #2 and reconfigure affiliate ads on blog #1.

Wednesday - Write five posts for blog #3 and leave at least six comments on blogs for blog #2.

Thursday - Leave at least six comments on other blogs for blog #1 and create new FAQ page for blog #3.

Friday - Routine maintenance on all blogs, check links etc. catch up on emails and comments.

Saturday and Sunday - Respond to emails, write some posts if you like or enjoy a cold one and kick your feet up.

This is only an example but a calendar like that would definitely (more…)

Intro - - Welcome, this is part three of the multi-part series The Bloggers Guide to Time Saving Techniques. This series covers the ever important topic of time management and how it directly relates to your success as a blogger. I will be covering some key issues many bloggers, myself included, have battled with in the past and how you can overcome them with a few simple tricks to managing your time more efficiently.

Interacting with your readers plays a very important role in building relationships through your blog. Developing strong relationships with your readers is also the best way to gain return traffic, you become a trusted source of information and sometimes even a friend. The higher the amount of return traffic you can receive the less amount of time you need spend on marketing your blog, because eventually word of mouth is all you will need, to maintain your success.

Tip #1

When you reach a level where you have attained a fair amount of readers, you will probably find yourself receiving a lot of emails and comments requiring a response. Many bloggers can spend several hours a day responding to emails and comments and still never find the bottom of the list, this can be very time consuming. One great way to slow down the amount of incoming messages, is to simply outline your time and email restrictions on the “About Me” page of your blog. Let your readers know up front that it may take a while to respond due to high levels of incoming mail, let them know if you can’t currently review all site submissions or products, people are pretty forgiving if you are upfront and honest. This little tip will surely buy you some time, should you not get to all of the emails or respond to everyone you hoped to that day. If you are unsure about how to write a contact page you might take a look at Random Blog Tip - Contact Options by Pro Blogger and while you are there take a look at his Contact page as he uses some of these techniques on his.

Tip #2

Keep those return emails short and sweet. You don’t need to write a one thousand word response to be considered friendly or helpful. A simple “Hi (name), Thanks for the email. The answer to your question is blah blah blah.” Something simple like this is more than enough to satisfy your average reader, and of course writing shorter responses cuts down your time and labor.

Tip #3

Create an FAQ page linked from every page in your navigation menu. An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page can cut down on a lot of emails. Be sure to take some time every so often to update the page with new commonly asked questions as you receive them. Make sure your answers are well written and detailed to leave your readers with no room for wonder.

Tip #4

Consider setting up a user poll or survey on your blog. This will give you an opportunity to better understand what your users want or like/dislike about your site. With this information you put these suggestions into place before you receive a barrage of emails asking for it. (more…)