Make Money Online
Contest Winners Announced
Aug 5th
Sorry for the really long delay in posting this but there were a lot of technical difficulties on my end for some reason. The audio and video were out of sync most of the times but here it is!
I will be contacting the winners by email or if you see this before you receive my email, all you have to do is send me your details (name, address and phone number) by using my contact form. If the winner does not respond back within 48 hours, I will pick new winners for the prizes. Thanks again to everyone who entered, I really appreciate it!
What Makes You Different?
Jul 29th
Everyone enters the world of blogging with a dream. A dream to be entirely different than the last person who promised the same thing. So why is it that today we see all these new bloggers arrive in the blogosphere with a bang….and leave just as quickly. The whole idea about being successful in the blogosphere is not only promising or attempting to be different, but BEING different and this can be achieved in many ways.
1) Be Yourself - Probably the single most important point that I bring up many times. Its not about who you can replicate or what style of writing posts you can emulate but its about writing the post as if you were making conversation. Don’t make it hard on yourself. The simpler and more natural a post sounds, the better it is for your uniqueness. Be yourself and that automatically makes you different.
2) Dont Copy, Be Inspired – If you read a blog post on some other blog, dont think about blatantly talking about the same topic but be inspired by it. Take it a step further or branch off of it. Nobody likes to go around the blogosphere and see bloggers talking about the same thing. When you are inspired, you tend to write brilliant posts. Oh, and please give credit to those who inspire you!
3) Dont Show & Tell - Everyone reads posts about how much money you made but talk about how you made that money. Let me rephrase, how you really made that money. Meaning, give out tips that really helped you be where you’re at. I’m not knocking anyone but there are some people who talk about their monthly checks but then they say “well, I really can’t say what I did”. I understand that some things are “tricks of the trade” but then why even mention the check. Dont be boastful, he honest.
4) Unique Presentation – I’ve already talked about being yourself when writing a post but you can always write a post in a manner that sets you off differently. You can use lists, graphics, graphs or even nice cartoonic images to help communicate your point using a different type of visual. Make it interesting for you and your readers.
5) Be Revolutionary - Well, not necessarily revolutionary but be controversial if you have to and if you strongly believe in something. Dont stand casually when you really feel you should be acting upon something. If there is something that you feel you need to talk about, bring up or shed some light on then, do it without hesitation. Everyone likes to see someone taking a stand and you should do it if you have to.
Well, I hope you enjoyed another post that can help you stand out from the crowd. Hopefully these tips can help you stand out from the crowd and if you have any more tips that you can think of, I’d like to hear them. Do you think the blogosphere has too many blogs that talk about the same thing?
How To Host A Contest
Jul 26th
In the contests that I have hosted in the past and my current contest held by Market Leverage I can say that I know a thing or two about contests. Not to forget, that I’ve won several of them and I have seen several of them that didn’t go so well. I think that aside from the rules that bloggers set out for entrants, they need to follow some rules themselves and considering that this is a major issue, I’ve decided to talk about it. So lets take a look at some contest hosting rules for the bloggers themselves:
1) Be Fair - I think this is a major issue. I’ve heard many stories or contests being biased and run unfairly and so its critical to be fair if you are hosting a contest. You can’t have special rules for one person while not offering it to others. I don’t think anyone would like it if they found out that a contest they participated in was rigged from the get go. Its unethical and you shouldn’t do it no matter what the reward is.
2) Make It Easy – Making contests easy to enter doesn’t only help you get a lot more entrants but it also makes you look a little less demanding and greedy. If you’re looking for contest entries that require people to fork out money towards your donation fund or have them dedicate a significant amount of their time then it really doesn’t look good on you. Make the contest entries attainable and try not to be too demanding.
3) Stick To Your Schedule – If you say that you’re going to post the results from the contest on a certain day or that the contest is going to end on a certain day then don’t delay it. You can wait upto 48 hours before posting results but let your readers know. Its somewhat upsetting to readers if they have to keep checking back only to know that there arent any results and no posts mentioning the delay either.
4) No False Advertising – If you say you’re giving out a Wii, make sure you have one on hand before you make that claim. I saw a contest where an iphone was promised and all the winner got was a knockoff. Its not the same thing. If you’re giving away great prizes then please make sure that what the winners receive is what you advertised as contest prizes on your blog.
5) Dont Cheat - I saved the best for last and that is not to cheat your readers and contest entrants. There have been many contests that have come and gone where the winners were never awarded or there was always something fishy about the person that won the contest. Not to mention the $2500 contest where the winner of the contest was probably the blogger himself. Its not something new to host an extravagant contest to gain link backs and rankings and then not having to give out a prize. It is deceitful and is definitely not the way to go if you are hosting a contest.
In the end, its all up to you how you run your contest and whether you choose to be deceitful or not but do realize that sooner or later, it will come back to bite you and you probably won’t like it either. So, I hope that you liked this post. I’d really like to hear some of your comments about this or any other contests that dealt with issues like this. Thanks for reading!
Upgrading Your RSS Icons
Jul 24th
I have always talked about how your RSS Icon is important and several ways that you can help emphasize your RSS Icon to be more noticeable but what I haven’t talked about till today is the different types of icons that you can download (for free!). I had read a post over at Balkhis.com and that inspired me to talk about the many different types of RSS Icons that you can find online. I know that I have received several comments about my RSS Icon and today I’m going to feature some excellent Icons that you can download and incorporate into your blog.
RSS Orange (PeteMH) – Download
18 RSS Icons (DesignFreak) – Download
Hat RSS (Black & White Hats – LoafNinja) – Download
17 Icon Signs (CorouD) – Download
Smashing RSS Icons (FastIcon) – Download
PSD Free RSS (PSDFreebee) – Download
Grunge RSS (TakeALookInside) – Download
Ojingogo Begging Icon (Ojingogo) – Download
Flaming RSS (Studio7Designs) – Download
So I hope you liked this interesting post about RSS Icons. Having a unique and interesting looking RSS Icon can really help you boost the number of people that subscribe. The more noticeable your RSS Icon is, the more likely it is that someone will sign up. Not to say that content is not a factor but if a reader can’t find your RSS link, then they’re probably not going to search for it. Anyway, let me know how you like these icons and if you have any RSS icons that I didn’t feature here, let me know so I can look them up! Thanks for stopping by!
Video Posts – Part 2 – The Advantages
Jul 22nd
Yesterday I talked about the challenges of having video on your blog and today I decided to change it up and talk about the advantages of having video posts. As with most things that you do, there will always be pros and cons. The idea of video blogging has been around for a while but with camcorders and webcams becoming more affordable and providing good quality of video, they have become the commonplace. So lets discuss why they have become so popular:
1 – Video Is More Visual - Well the simple fact of the matter is that video is more visually appealing. It can show a reader whats happening instead of having them visualize something by reading a post in text format.
2 – Helps You Network/Connect Better - It really helps to see the person behind the blog. It gives readers a face and a voice to recognize compared to just writing style. The idea of having video can eventually help you connect better to your readers if they are able to see you and how you speak, act, etc.
3 – Helps Get Your Point Across Faster - Its true! Video Posts that are 3-5 minutes long usually get your point across faster than a post thats a page long. Its the idea that people would rather watch and listen to something than read it for themselves.
4 – Keep Readers Longer – Video posts also keep readers on your page for longer than usual. As you saw in point #3, Video posts help you get your point across faster but usually when you have a post in text format, people read some and skim some and disregard the rest. With a video post they tend to watch all of it and therefore they stay on your page longer. The longer the stay, the better it is for you.
5 – People Tend To Remember Better – Isn’t it true that when you hear something its easier for you to remember it? Ex. If you were listening to a song theres a higher probability of you remembering some of the words rather than reading the lyrics directly. The point is that when you hear someone talk, rather than reading something, you tend to remember it better.
So although I’d like to say that this concludes the Video Post mania, it really doesn’t because I have a short post that I’ll write before my big post for the day with examples of good and bad lighting in a video. It should be interesting so look for that. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and let me know if you prefer video posts or not. Thanks for stopping by!
