New Blogging Forum

I just got back from Brandon Connell's make money blogging site and found that he's started a forum to help people do just that... make money blogging. If you want tips from the experts, it is the place to go.

I'm slowly learning myself. :)

  

A review of Brandon Connell's Make Money Blogging technique

I've recently jumped into researching how to make money online and Make Money Blogging and I came across the blog of Brandon Connell. He's just started a new competition called a blog duel where he competes with another blogger to beat some purpose. In this case, he's trying to rank his website higher in Google and other search engine searches for the the phrase "Make Money Blogging".
One of the really interesting techniques he's used is to create a simple web template called Ghostly Acres. It is a nice little template, and he included a Photoshop format (.psd) file with the graphics as well as the font used to create the logo so you can edit it for your own purposes.

His technique was simply to ensure that the footer link that goes directly to his make money site stays intact. Sounds like a great idea! Help the guy out and use his template for a little grunge texture fun!
If you are interested in blogging and making money buy doing so, check out the ProBlogger book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett.

Using Multiple Accounts on Twitter

I recently came across a site where the blogger had previously played with using different Twitter accounts to help drive traffic to two quite different blogs he was writing.

(Again, I apologize for not posting a link to his site, but I can't find it. This happened about two weeks ago. Stress induced amnesia.)

Basically, what is your stance on multiple Twitter accounts?

Multiple Twitter Accounts are Bad

With multiple Twitter accounts, you are most likely limiting your tweets to a specific topic. The people who are following you are interested in that topic... or else they wouldn't be following you.
However, you find that if you are interested in two different and diverse topics, say typography and making money online, then you might find there are others interested in both. So you decide to just focus on one account.

Now your followers are getting tweets on typography AND making money online. But how many are actually interested in both topics? If your design friends aren't interested in making money online, then you're spamming them.

Other problems: You have to keep straight which account you are currently signed in as, or use another piece of software to keep your accounts separate. Using multiple accounts is more work, especially if you are focusing on creating meaningful content for diverse audiences.

Multiple Twitter Accounts are Good

I'm actually for multiple Twitter accounts. In my opinion, having separate accounts is better for your readers because it means they only receive tweets they are interested in.

To me this is a way of targeting your message better. By using software such as HootSuite its possible to track the number of clicks to URLs you send out, so you can easily see how popular a particular topic is with a set of followers. Its a simple numbers game, and you can analyze click-through rates and see what articles do best.

Each Twitter account is a brand that will develop its own group of followers just like the brands created by Nike or Coke.

By keeping your posts tied to your brand and targeting your followers correctly, you be more successful in your online business.

Now I'm just a low-level blogger who probably has too many "brands" going on at the moment. What do *you* think about using multiple Twitter accounts?

Let me know with your comments. I'd love to hear from some traditional marketing type people.

Using Twitter to gain readers

You might be reading this posting because you came here from a Twitter message (aka a Tweet) that I sent out, but I actually hope that somehow you came to this post and don't really know what Twitter is all about.

Well, Twitter is basically all about "microblogging". If you are familiar with Facebook than you are familiar with its status update feature. That's microblogging. A much more definitely look at microblogging can be found over at Microgeist. He did a much better job of explaining it than I could.

The thing about Twitter is that it can track the number of people who are interested in hearing what you say, and they're called followers. It works out that if you have a product you are trying to sell (like trying to make money online) and you want to drive traffic to your site or products then you need visitors. You can then post a Tweet to your Twitter account and it will be received by all your followers.

I recently came across a Tweet about a peice of software that will allow you to easily follow a very large number of people. (Sorry: I'd link to it but I've forgotten who it was. My memory gets worse during times of stress.) There seems to be some debate about this in the "Twittersphere" but I'll leave that for others to discuss. Basically you follow a whole bunch of people who may have interests that line up with your product or service. Then after a few days, you can check and see which of them are following you back since many people blindly follow those who follow them. Then, you simply stop following the people who are not following you (unless they have information you are interested in) and continue the process again.



So think about that and add a comment telling me what you think of this movement towards HUGE amounts of followers and "followings" (upwards of 3000 or more).

Get Twitter Marketing For Dummies and see what it has to say about the issue.

Use the F Word to Change the World

Naomi over at IttyBiz just sent out another shout out regarding the crazy things she's doing. And this time, she definitely sounds crazy. She's putting out a live call with Havi at FluentSelf.com to discuss ways to get through the recession.

And its only $19!

And if you miss the call you can still access the sound file!

Something you should consider, that's all I'm saying.

Naomi has blogged about it here: http://ittybiz.com/kick-recession-ass/ (may contain strong language...don't let that stop you.)

I may have forgotten to mention that Naomi and crew have also put together a great lesson on search engine optimization (SEO). You can become like an SEO Ninja perhaps! Click here to view more details.

Incredible extension on Marketing 101!

I couldn't believe what I just read in my inbox: Naomi is re-opening her Marketing 101 course even though its already started! Here's what she had to say:

"Over the last few days we've had a couple dozen emails from people who didn't have the money for Marketing 101 before but do now. They're wondering if they can get in the course even though it's already started.

My mother always says that if one person writes to you about something, 10,000 people think about it but don't write. Now, I have a feeling there aren't 240,000 people saying they want Marketing 101, but I see her point and I wanted to give you the chance."

Even though the course has already started, you'll get the first week available for download and you can continue on with the rest of the course.

Naomi at Ittybiz.com is really gracious to do this for everyone out there... get in while you still can!

Better Returns with Cash Crate - Clear Cache with Google Chrome

Just today I checked out my CashCrate account again and it turns out I made $2.50 in referral bonuses in February... and I haven't even blogged since November. CashCrate really is an amazing system! Now you and I both have to get out there and make the most of it!

I was checking the forums and there is a lot of great information there for beginners. One useful tip is to clear your browser cache and "cookies" so that when you fill out a form, it won't remember that you've been there before. A cookie is a small file that a website will leave on your computer to tell it that you've visited before, and to also store information about you.

I sometimes use the Google Chrome web-browser, and here is how you can clear your browser cache (and delete cookies) using it:

1. First, click on the "wrench" icon in the top right corner beside the addressbar. It will look like this: 

1. Then, click on "Clear Browsing Data"
2. You'll see the dialog box like the one above. Make sure Empty the Cache and Delete cookies are the only two options checked.
3. Then click the Clear Browsing Data button.

Now you should be all set to fill out your next series of surveys. Remember to use a different email address!

Sincerely,

Rick

If you want more info on Google Chrome, check out whyusechrome.com. If you want to keep up-to-date with methods of making money online, follow me on Twitter (username: rickhenderson) and if you really feel like finding me on Facebook, I have a small group you might be interested in.