The Ethics of Pay Per Post

Suppose you ask me to write something nice about your company. I do it and you give me a $10 bill. If I work for you, then it’s a paycheck. If I don’t work for you, then it’s Pay Per Post and that’s a whole different bowl of noodles. . . or is it? If I disclose the fact that you paid me the money to write the post as required by the FTC, then I’m in good shape, right? But if I disclose the fact that you paid me, maybe the value of the post decreases...

Monthly Trends + How to Instantly Triple Your Post Ideas

For many bloggers, coming up with ideas for great posts is one of the biggest challenges. The good news is that if you have an idea for one post that will appeal to your readership, odds are, you have at least one more. How so? By covering a story from a different angle. Every time you write a post, you determine the angle you’ll take—even if you’re not consciously doing so. Just as taking a photograph from a different angle can yield very different results (imagine a photo taken from the base...

10 Realistic Blogging Goals for the New Year

It’s that time of the year again when we ramp up to the New Year and start envisioning what changes we can make in our lives. Since I would imagine that your blog is an important part of your life, I’m sure many of you are looking for ways to add value to your blog. You want to make some positive enhancements to your blog as the New Year comes ringing in. As a fellow blogger, I too am always looking for ways to improve my blog site and my blogging, for that matter. But I want to set some realistic...

Five Ways to Become a Better Writer and Take Your Blog to the Top

This guest post is by Ali Luke of Aliventures. Does great writing matter in blogging? It’s a debate that isn’t over—yet. But it’s one where more and more blogging experts are emphasizing that your writing does matter, and that readers are drawn in by a strong, engaging voice. Great writing will: encourage people to share your content persuade readers to subscribe for more of the same get a powerful response—like comments or sales make you look like a big player in the blogosphere, even if...

4 Great Tips to Build More Links to Your Blog Posts…Based on Scientific Analysis

This is a guest post by HubSpot’s social media scientist, Dan Zarrella. It contains data from his upcoming webinar “The Science of Blogging” taking place on December 9th. Many marketers and small business owners see blogging, rightly, as an important aspect of their SEO efforts because of their ability to attract inbound links. And even beyond SEO, getting lots of links for your blog posts is key to establishing yourself as an expert and building...

How Do You Keep Motivated?

This post is part of the Friday Q&A section. If you want to ask a question just send it via the contact form. Lye Kuek Hin asks: You have been blogging since 2006. How do you actually keep your motivation at a consistently high level to maintain your blog? Actually I have been blogging since 2005. That year I started FutureTechWeb.com, which was my very first blog about technology. I still remember purchasing the domain on GoDaddy, getting...

Fanning the Social Media Flame for Viral Exposure

Are you a content marketer? If so, you have a choice to make. You can sit around and wait for your content to go viral. You can hope you’ll get sudden bursts of traffic, hope your readers will spread the word, hope your content will catch fire. Or you can bring your own matches and lighter fluid to set the dang thing aflame yourself. As bloggers and content marketers, which will you choose? Sure, sometimes the passion you have for a subject...

Blog Karma: How Good Blogging Deeds Can Spike Your Traffic

This is a guest post by Joshua Noerr of  JoshuaNoerr.com. Since I was very young, I was told, and shown, the importance of giving back and doing things for other people. I’ve always felt that the highest measure of a person’s character is the degree of service they are willing to provide for others. In fact, your service to others will be the cornerstone of your legacy long after you are gone. I also believe that as an individual of able body and mind, I have a certain level of obligation...

4 Simple Ways to Get More High-Paying Clients with Your Blog

How many new high-paying clients do you get for every hour you spend blogging? What’s that? You have no idea? We need to talk. Building a client-based business isn’t easy. But if you’re spending hours every week on an activity that’s not generating qualified leads, you’re making it harder than it has to be. You’re keeping yourself from making money by wasting the most valuable resource you have: your time. Wouldn’t you rather spend your time...

50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics

It’s one thing to know you need to create lots of great content. It’s another to actually know what you’re going to write about this week. Are you out of ideas for blog posts? Small wonder, if the only place you’re looking is inside your own head. We all need inspiration … and you’re not going to find it banging your head against the desk and hoping an idea falls out. You need fresh inspiration if you’re going to come up with new ideas. To help...

Blogosphere Trends + Encouraging Comments

This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world’s best blog posts). – Darren You may have heard the stat that for every 100 people who read your post, only one, on average, will leave a comment. The fact is, most of us are lurkers by nature. I know I am; I read dozens of blogs every day but very rarely comment. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the content, just that I didn’t feel the need—or have the time—to join the conversation. So the next...

5 Clever Ways to Make A Sticky

A Guest post from Stanford from Pushing Social. No doubt about it – Content is King. However, the formula for successful blogging doesn’t end there. In fact, content is just the beginning. If you want to make money, create a loyal readership, or attract new clients, you need to keep your readers ON your blog. In a word, your blog needs to be sticky. A sticky blog compels readers to read more than one post. A sticky blog immerses readers in an experience that results in comments and retweets. Sticky...

10 Tips for Better Blog Monetization & Profit

With more online marketers making the move to blogging to build their brand and product base, it’s important to make sure you are staying above the curve with your blog and making the most of it. Besides the obvious importance of having a memorable domain name and a unique blog design, it’s also important to make sure visitors can quickly navigate through your site while hitting they key spots and returning for future visits. Today I will be focusing...