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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Blogging for Fun and Profit - So You Want to Be a Blogger?

Blogs differ from websites in a number of significant ways. It's definitely a different approach to getting your message out where billions of people can see it.Blogs offer more flexibility in creation and design Blogs are flexible in that it is very simple to make changes Blogs are interactive-your visitors can enter comments right on your pages

The term Blog is a shorter way to say WEBLOG.

I have been a part-time blogger for nearly 3 years. My goal right from the beginning was to supplement my income. I also worked part-time as a technical writer, but the U.S. economy put me in a precarious position. I'm paying twice as much now as I did 4 years ago for a gallon of gasoline. Our household grocery bill is up 25-30% and utility bills... well you know what I mean.

According to many reliable sources, hundreds of billions of dollars change hands over the Internet every year. For the longest time, consumers were reluctant to use their credit cards online, but new, super-secure "Shopping Carts" have minimized the risk.

I wondered back in 2009 if I could create a home-based business that would position me to tap into the Internet Marketing business. But I didn't dwell on the thought too long. Instead... I dove headlong into the idea with no real plan or even a clue as to how to go about it.

My approach was a hit or miss, trial and error, shotgun approach to setting up some method of getting traffic from the people flocking to the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. People search for answers to problems, to learn how to fix something, where to find the best price on appliances and other household and personal needs.

Think about this... when you need something, do you reach for the Yellow Pages? Not many people do anymore. An online search can find you the answer to almost any question you come up with in less time than it takes to let your fingers do the walking. We probably have a telephone directory in our home, but I'd be hard-pressed to find it.

So there's the challenge: draw on Internet search traffic and offer to fill the needs of these folks. To establish a presence on the Internet-you need a website. Since I was cash-poor at the time, I sought out as many FREE services and software that I could find. I started off building free websites, but in all truth-they looked like crap. I knew nothing about website design-and I still don't.

Time moved along and after a year, and countless hours of struggle, I had not made my first dollar from the Internet.

I signed up for every free bonus book I could find. But none of them gave me a clear picture of what I had to do. I gathered bits and pieces of this complex puzzle, and about 2 years ago I learned that blogs might be a better choice over websites.

Today I have a bunch of blogs, some free and some hosted (fee-based hosting).

I got kind of carried away here. My title on this article mentions Fun and Profit. Many of my readers aren't looking to create any extra cash, so if you hope to do some blogging just for fun, I can help you with that too.

Since beginning my home-business, I have been having fun. To me, creating an online presence has filled me with excitement and enthusiasm. Call it a renewal in life. I am 75 years old so I probably should be thinking about spending more time in my rocking chair on the front porch. But it's the challenge that excites me. If your goal is to set up a means for you to create a family log so that everyone can be kept up to date, or maybe you want to create a site devoted to activities and reviews of past club or organization's activities, I can give you more information on the options open to you.

Is Your Blogging Useful To Others? How to Keep Your Audience Interested in What You're Saying Online Marketing System: Earn While You Learn How to Promote Your Own Stuff The Lazy Bloggers Way to Creative Copywriting

Elements to Always Include in Your Blog's Design

Blog design can be conservative, funky, full of multimedia or focused on text. Regardless of the direction that you want to take, you will have to incorporate several very important elements in the design.

Interested in learning how to start a blog? Here is everything that you need to know about design elements and their importance.

Good Navigation

The menu is the building block of every website and a blog is no exception. Each designer will confirm the fact that when learning how to create a blog, you should start by thinking about navigation. The navigation will be determining for many other design elements.

A very small menu will make it difficult for the audience to get around. Having too many buttons may result in confusion. You need to achieve some balance. Come up with the most important categories and include those in the menu. A second menu or sub-categories will help you introduce some more clarity.

White Space

White space is essential for the success of both graphic and web design. The lack of empty space results in clutter and makes the project much more difficult to understand.

Think of the most prominent elements on every page and surround those with white space. It will help you set the most crucial elements apart from the rest of the design. White space will also allow the page to 'breathe' and it will facilitate browsing.

Remove all of the elements and functionalities that have no specific function. This way, you will be increasing the amount of white space and making your blog appear more ordered.

Different Fonts and Text Design

Some parts of the text are obviously more important than others. Use design elements to give those priority. A bolder, larger font for the headlines will instantly direct attention towards them. You can also use a color that is different from that of the article's body.

Break the text into short paragraphs and add sub-headings. They will allow readers to scan through the paragraphs and to determine which ones are most interesting and important. The structure and the visual appearance of the text is just as important for design, as the graphics.

Establish Your Identity

A logo, a slogan or a graphical element in the header of your blog will help you build an online brand. You need this marketing tool to grow your audience and to make it loyal.

The identity element that you choose has to be unique. It should also link to the blog's main theme. A witty slogan or a clever URL will make it easier for the audience to remember you and to keep coming back to the blog.

Is Your Blogging Useful To Others? How to Keep Your Audience Interested in What You're Saying Online Marketing System: Earn While You Learn How to Promote Your Own Stuff Things to Look For in an SEO Expert

Hardening WordPress Sites Using Sure-Fire Security Techniques

Do you want to know how you can make your WordPress site tougher against any malware or hacker attacks? Basically, knowing your site's vulnerabilities is the best way to increase its security. In this article, we shall talk about the common vulnerabilities of a website and the different measures you can use to fix them to keep your sites secured.

Ways to Harden Your WordPress Sites

Hardening WordPress sites is not just about using perfect secure systems. Take note that there is no magic bullet to keep your site completely secured. In this case, it is very important for every site owner to know the sure-fire techniques on how they can increase the security of their websites. Some of these methods are the following:

1. Using a secured server. This is important so that the privacy, integrity and availability of your site's resources under the admin control will be well protected. So when it comes to choosing a web host, it is highly recommended to choose the one that readily discusses the security features and processes they provide. Preferably, you must choose a web host that offers the most recent version of all server software, as well as reliable methods for backup and recovery.

2. Using updated security themes. The second technique every site owner must remember is the use of updated security themes. When it comes to this aspect, it is highly recommended to delete any outdated and unused themes that can create loopholes where hackers can easily gain entry to your site and attack its vulnerabilities. If possible, you must configure it to reduce the amount of damage that can be done in the event of malware or hacker attacks.

3. Keeping your WordPress version updated. While cyber criminals continuously look for sites with weaker security system, it is only practical to keep your WordPress version updated all the time so that it would become more difficult for them to inflict malicious scripts to your site. Take note that like many other modern software packages, updated WordPress versions contain latest fixes for bugs and many other security issues.

4. Using stronger passwords. One of the best habits when it comes to maintaining a website or hardening WordPress security is by using stronger or hard-to-guess passwords. The primary idea here is to make it difficult for a brute force attack of your website. So whenever you are changing your password, it is often advisable to create a password that is at least ten characters long consisting of numeric and alphanumeric characters. This will not only protect your blog content, but also protect your site from malicious scripts done by a professional hacker.

5. Using updated WordPress security plugins. This is perhaps the best thing you can do since it will ensure that everything I have mentioned above are updated appropriately, thus reducing and hiding the vulnerabilities of your site against any malware or hacker attacks. While this is not an ultimate quick fix to your website security concerns, I suggest you discuss it with people who have better knowledge on WordPress and computer security.

7 Tips on How to Write a Good Quality Article

Selecting ideas

What do you do when you sit down to write an article for your blog? You spend a lot of time developing ideas? When it has been a long time that you have published your blog entry, but you have your personal (or professional) deadline to meet. There is no time to wait for inspiration. In such situations, an advice will be, when you have free time, start brainstorming to generate ideas for articles, do not forget to write them down. Pen and paper should help you with that. Of course you can make a note in Microsoft Word, if you prefer. However, on paper it is easier to add or cross out something. Also be sure to check out blogs which publish related articles. Do not forget scanning Twitter, you can get quite some information your want to write your post about as well as understanding how it will be better to deploy it. Subscribe to online newspapers, magazines, preferably the ones writing about your topic and write the information in a notebook (pen and paper, remember)

Combine collected information

Gather all the information together, simply type it into a document Word, write a few chapters of your own. Next, format the text, remove all unnecessary comments, highlight titles. Then you can build a table of contents, it will give you a cross-reference, thus facilitating your search within the text compiled, to find information of interest. It is better that you compile 3-5 blog post from the information you have gathered. Later you will see why.

Make a publishing plan

Having a few articles ready to be published, it is not necessary to post all at once. Actually, it can hurt your search engine rankings, since Google or any other search engine will see that blog is not updated on a regular basis but in some kind of phases. It is better to plan their publication, such as throughout the month. Believe it many advantages. Think about it, you will not have to reschedule your personal plan because new blog entries has to be written. If you have a plan, blog will be updated with new and interesting records. You can add the post to the content management system you are using (Joomla, WordPress, Blogger, etc.) and set up the date when it should appear on your website. Apart from that, you will have to notify your readers that you have a new blog entry. The easiest way would be to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Personally, here at Two Wise Monkeys, we have started to use HootSuite. HootSuite allows you to schedule messages from all your social media platforms in advance. As you schedule posts for your various platforms, you can pick the day and time you want it to go out and view all the scheduled posts in a convenient calendar format.

Setting Up Objectives

Now that you have your publishing plan ready, there are still some tasks to be done. First is to create a separate file, let it be Word, for each blog entry.

Second, create a catchy, attention-grabbing headlines for each article. Third, write tags, keywords, insert pictures - believe they will make your blog look nicer.

Fourth, if necessary, add the appropriate information on existing studies, references, where you took the information from.

Having done all this in advance, you will be surprised how much free time you have, which you can use to promote your blog and increase its popularity.

Publishing

Now we are ready for publication.You only need to upload selected articles and publish in blog, if you haven't done it before. After that, it will be better if you read it again to spot errors you missed before.

New Posts

Even with all of the above, it is difficult to stick to the timetable. The main task here is to create an ambient atmosphere and work at a convenient time. Make a plan and see for yourself when you are the most productive and nobody can disturb you, so you can totally focus on writing.From my own experience, I have tried to work without a written plan and productivity went down dramatically.

Write Down Your Thoughts

Write down all your ideas, like that you will spend less time working on your article. Maybe your idea is too big for one blog post, then you'd better split it into a couple of them. In the end, it all depends on your imagination and personal preferences (don't forget the preferences of your audience too) Try not to be distracted from the topic.

What tips would your give how to write a blog? Do you have any ideas which worked good for you? Feel free to share them in comments below.

The Right Way To Start a Blog

Becoming a publisher and a writer of a blog can have many great rewards. While it is true that most blogs have a small following, talented bloggers and dedicated have been able to draw in the attention of millions of readers. No, that is not an exaggeration in any way, shape or form. Of course, you would have to work very hard at making your blog successful. That process starts with creating an actual blog.

What is the process of how to start a blog? At the beginning, you do need to determine what it is your blog will be about and you also will have to decide on what type of blog creation platform.

In terms of what your blog (or blogs) will be about, you probably already have an idea in regards to the subject matter. You personal interests will likely be what you want to muse about and that is assuredly a good thing. Don't make the common error so many others make which is trying to write blogs on subject matter they care very little about with the hopes the blog will be a success. The odds are it won't because the lack of passion will bleed right through the words.

You also have to avoid the problem of being a little too raw with your blog. Often, blogs will feature a free flow of feelings and sentiments that really does not yield a coherent finished blog entry. You might understand what you are saying but your reader will not. Rather that find yourself making mistakes such as this, you are well advised to fine tune your grammar and writing style so that the blog reads properly.

Now, onto the logistics of how to create a blog.

In order to publish a blog, you will need to select the appropriate blog platform that will host it. There are both free blog sites and then there are sites that come with a cost. If you are really serious about publishing a blog then you will want to sign on with a paid service. The free blog hosting sites are not bad but they will lack the look of professionalism required in order to deliver the proper impression. The paid blog hosting sites come with many excellent features designed to enhance the way you create entries on the blog. You will gain access to a host of templates and blog creation functions which can definitely increase the likelihood you blog embodies the look you are most interested in presenting.

Also, paid sites will have much easier access to customer service in case a problem arises. Often, a mere call to an 800 number can have a problem resolved immediately. With a free site, you will never get such excellent customer service. Remember, creating a blog must also incorporate a commitment to blog management. Without access to a blog service that provides proper customer support, managing the blog becomes a lot more difficult.

It might seem like there are more things to creating a blog than you initially thought. When your goal is to create a highly successful blog, you will have to accept the fact that a lot of additional work will be required to ensure it delivers results.

How to Increase Page Views on Your Blog

It's important to keep your unique visitors interested if you want to increase your page views. Generating website traffic does not have to be the same as taking a physics test but it will take some effort on your part mainly making sure you're staying consistent. How many page views you have simply comes down to how many blog post you have generated. Statistics show that your average blog reader views around one and a half pages each time they visit a blog. So it would seem to reason the more pages you have, the better you're doing.

What Can We Do To Get More Page Views

Write a series- This method of creating page views is really effective if you have valuable content to offer your readers. If your series is successful, you shoulder see a nice increase in web traffic and page impressions.

Interlink within post- This is simply linking to your own post. This method is highly effective because it not only provides links to your post but it will engage your readers to view your post that are relevant.

Be interactive- sites like Facebook and YouTube are all about interaction and community. If you're able to engage your readers through comment and create a community, you'll have loyal readers and loyal readers will increase web site traffic.

Get Comments to Get Page Views

So as I mentioned previously, one thing you want to do on your blog, even outside of increasing page views, is to interact with your readers. You have to let people know that you're not just throwing out content but that you actually care about your readers and their opinions. There are a few methods you can use to get more comments:

Invite comments- simply ask, as they say, "a closed mouth don't get fed'

Be incomplete- simply leave a thought unfinished. The way the human mind works is amazing and the way that language is organized the mind assumes what the next word of a sentence is going to watermelon (see what I mean). You can also offer a bit of information and engage your readers that to get the rest, they must interact and leave comments.

Reward comments- who likes getting rewards for doing simple task? I'm pretty sure everyone does. Try to offer an incentive for those who comment on your blog post regularly. You don't want to do this often because it will be expected and once you don't meet the expectation, you will have lost a reader.

Blogging is a lot of fun once you under the science of it. I can only speak for myself that when I see web site traffic spike or how many page views I have I get all tingley inside because it assures me I'm doing something right. So just remember that, the more page views will be determined by the page views.