If you don’t have an iPhone, buy one.

If you can’t afford one just yet, save your money then buy one. This won’t be a post on why I love the iPhone, but let me just say that this one piece of technology has literally become the brain of operations for about 85% of my online businesses.

While we can never replace the desktop or laptop entirely (I haven’t seen the photoshop app … yet) this computer with a built-in phone is nothing short of amazing.

O.K. so how can it help you make money blogging? Glad you asked. After upgrading to the 3G version, I started browsing the App Store for programs I could use in my business. After typing in the keyword “WordPress,” I was presented with the WordPress for iPhone Application, and I wanted to take a few minutes to outline some of it’s features since I’ve been playing around with it all day.

How To Add A WordPress Blog To Your iPhone

Like most things with the iPhone, adding a blog using the WordPress Application is a breeze, and in the picture to the left, you can see just how easy it is.

Simply click the Blog URL button to enter your domain (both wordpress.com and self hosted blogs are supported), then add your username and password and your done!

Before hitting the save button, you are given the option to chose how many posts are to be displayed in the App as well as whether or not the images you add to a post will be resized (allowing for faster publishing).

Finally, for all this to work, you must enable the check box under Settings>Writing>Remote Publishing that says XML-RPC. This allows you to do remote publishing, and is not checked by default when you install WordPress. Once that box is checked, you’re all set to start writing, editing, and posting to your WordPress Blog from you iPhone.

How To Write A WordPress Post With Your iPhone

When it comes to actually writing a post, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how easy it is. Just like in the main WordPress Admin area, you are prompted to give the post a title, tags (if applicable), categories (if applicable), and a Status: Pending Review, Draft, Published, etc. You can also flip the iPhone to landscape mode for a wider viewing area when typing.

Pictures - All images you add to a post are put to the bottom by default, but since html is allowed, you can align or justify the photo(s) as desired. At first I thought you could only add text and photos, but when I previewed the post then went back to the “Write” tab, I saw that the picture was in html. Most likely, you won’t be doing any long posts with lots of pictures, but it’s nice to know you can use or edit html if you know how to do it.

Preview - After you’ve written the post and added any pictures, you can click the Preview button to see how it all looks. Sometimes it will be displayed just as it would on your site and other times it will say, “Sorry, the theme for your blog could not be retrieved. A simple preview is shown below.” Either way, you’ll be able to see how the finished post looks before publishing.

Settings - This final tab allows you to set the Publish Date, Password (if necessary), and select whether or not the photos will be resized.

Comments - Moderating comments is another available feature within the WordPress App for iPhone. You can Approve, Disapprove, or mark them as Spam.

Publishing - When you’ve got the post just how you want, hit Save and the post is put to your Local Drafts folder on your iPhone. All that’s left is to visit the folder, change the check mark to Published, then hit Save. Your post is now published to your site.

Learn more about the WordPress iPhone Application.

For the most part, bloggers are scatterbrained.

This is O.K. if it’s your personal blog covering things relevant to you and your life. But if your goal is to build a website or blog that can generate income, let me provide you with a framework that successful bloggers follow.

Focus On One Thing

Every time I create a new site, I make sure the focus of that site: the content, the videos, the comments, everything is related to one topic. Instead of trying to make your site all things to all people (or worse yet, what you “think” people want to know about) find something that people are interested in (one topic) and build a website around it.

The internet affords people the luxury of finding specific groups of people who share common interests. People like to find specific answers to specific problems, and for this reason, your focus should be on creating tightly themed websites that are centered around one topic.

Example: To employ this “tightly themed” technique, it’s important that you make sure the topic in which your covering is not too broad. For example, don’t create a site centered around the general theme of “weight loss.” Instead, focus on one popular diet: South Beach, for instance. Become the expert for all things related to the South Beach Diet, and you (1) have an easier time writing content (2) attract a very targeted visitor that is first interested in information on the South Beach Diet but is ALSO interested in weight loss in general (the original much broader niche). If you want to create a site about “weight loss” don’t make it about the broad niche, find a specific subset within that niche and build a site (or sites) around that. Subsequently, you also get a backdoor into the broader niche (weight loss) but you do it in a very targeted way.

Have A Revenue Source Before You Create The Site

Continuing with the South Beach Diet example, before I would ever create a site around this topic, I would make sure I could first earn a commission for getting someone to:

1. Sign up for the diet
2. Do a desired action that generates revenue for me and is directly related to the South Beach Diet.

If you take away one thing from this article, get this: don’t create a site without first having a revenue generating action your future visitors can complete in place before you build the site. This may be earning a commission for selling a product, getting someone to signup for a trial, it could be anything. Just make sure it generates revenue for you, and it’s either selling the product your the “expert” about or is directly related to the topic.

This is the best way to build a website or blog that can make real money. Furthermore, you won’t start with the notion of, ‘I’m going to just start writing about [BLANK] and see where it takes me.’ Don’t waste your time going down that road.

Find a way to make a commission for selling a product or generating a lead, then build a niche site centered around this ONE thing. Like my economics teacher used to say, “Prior planning prevents poor performance.” Start with the end goal in mind, focus on one topic, then build your site.

<blatant pitch> In Buying & Selling Websites we cover many other techniques related to what makes successful websites, what types of sites are best to buy, and how you can get the most money for a site you want to sell. If you want to learn about any of those topics in greater detail, we’d love to have you as a customer! We’ll take good care of you. </blatant pitch>

Like WordPress, bbPress’ focus is on web standards and due to the fact that WordPress is becoming the defacto platform for blogs and websites in general, having a forum software created by the same people is a real plus.

If you’ve ever done any extensive research online for adding a forum to your blog, you’ll quickly realize there are not many highly customizable and professional solutions for those using WordPress (it’s not as easy as searching for the Best WordPress Themes for instance). Since bbPress has been created by the same people behind WordPress, if you like WP, chances are you will like bbPress.

One point to remember: bbPress is still in a sort of “working beta” stage, and it is definitely not as easy to integrate as your typical plugin (it’s not a plugin). It is a standalone program that can be integrated with WordPress, where for example, a person can register for your site through WordPress or bbPress and not have to register twice – once for the site and once for the forum – so that is nice.

When it comes time to install bbPress, they provide great documentation and a pretty good forum (using bbPress if you want to check it out) to answer questions you may have.

Personally, I found a person through the forum that I hired to install/customize it a bit for me, and if you’d like to know his name, contact me and I’ll pass on his information. For the most part, however the installation should be pretty straight forward, and if you’re looking for a good forum software for WordPress, I think you’ll really appreciate the simplicity and elegance of bbPress.

In this series of posts I’ll be covering several strategies to maximize your blogs potential with proper optimization. How can you be both search engine and user friendly at the same time? It’s a tough balancing act at times, but if you really want to make money blogging, you must start with a properly optimized blog.

Display Your Keywords First And Often

Let’s use Blogging Experiment as an example. For almost 2 years now, BE has been a content driven resource teaching people how to make money. The topics include blogging, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, and how to buy and sell websites. While the topics are varied, the general theme is consistent: how to make money online.

For this reason, a list of popular keywords that BE wants to rank well for (and subsequently write content for) must be related to these keywords.

Currently, our site ranks well for a number of keywords related to the topics listed above, but as I started browsing through the site, I noticed a couple key areas where further optimization would help even more.

Starting with the navigation bar, I changed “Home” to “Make Money.” For those who don’t know, the anchor text (the phrase used to describe the link – in our example “Make Money”) is very important in search engine rankings. By keeping the word “Home” as the anchor text pointing back to your home page you are inadvertently telling the search engines that your home page is trying to rank for the phrase “Home.”

Because 99.9% of other websites just leave the word “Home” as the anchor text to your home page, you are now competing with virtually every other website online for the keyword “Home.”

Furthermore, in our example, the navigation bar is the first text our site displays. Not all sites have the navigation set up like this, but this makes it even more critical in our situation.

Those top links are the first introductions search engines have to our site after going through the title tag and meta description. For this reason, we want to make sure that they (the search engines) quickly realize what this site is about. By making “Make Money” our anchor text with the link back to our home page, we let the first on-site text be a very keyword rich phrase in which we want to rank.

If you want to use the word “Home,” at least try to fit in one of your targeted keywords somewhere close to the top.

The second part is to display your keywords often.

Remember, often doesn’t mean trying to keyword stuff every article or page with your targeted keywords. Instead, it simply means to be aware of the keywords in which you want to rank and use them strategically throughout your site. Consistency is the key here. Be aware of your targeted phrases and use them wisely.

Don’t Forget The Footer

Just as important as it is to have the search engine see your keyword phrase somewhere close to the top of your site, it’s equally important to include that same phrase, or even a little different variation of that phrase (what I recommend) at the bottom in your footer.

As you can see, instead of using the phrase “Make Money” like we used in the navigation bar, this time we used another target keyword: “Make Money Online.”

We want the search engines to see that our site, more specifically our home page since that’s where the links point, are directly related to each other. The next step is to make sure that your content actually reflects information related to those key phrases. Meaning: don’t just pick your best two keywords, put them in your header and footer then talk about completely unrelated topics on your site.

That’s not what this is about.

Optimization by it’s definition is to modify a system to make some aspect of it work more efficiently or use fewer resources. Taking the time to do these little “detail” things are what separate the mediocre sites from the ones who actually make money. Granted, optimization will not necessarily put money in your pockets directly, but a better optimized site means more traffic which ultimately means more money.

These tips work great with optimizing wordpress, other blog platforms, or any website in general.

-Kyle

We’ve all heard the stories, and we’re all most likely feeling the realties of this current recession in one way or another. As I was thinking this week about the state of our economy, my mind immediately shifted to the internet (it usually does) and how this could affect those looking to make money blogging.

Since no one needs more reminders of the challenges this economy faces, I’d like to start off my first post by sharing why I think this is the BEST time to be blogging followed by a few things to consider.

It’s All About Timing: In the two most recent recessions (1990-91 and 2001), business starts had been falling until the year the recession began – but then took off again the following year. Paul Kedrosky from the Kauffman Foundation summed it up very well when he said:

Companies that are created in a bad economic period are more disposed to succeed. These entrepreneurs are the few, the proud, and the crazy. They tend to be highly motivated and can work on a shoestring budget.

 
There is no better time than the present to start that blog or web business. Do you already have one? Focus your efforts to grow it bigger. This is one of the few businesses with relatively no downside and almost limitless potential.

Let’s face it, we’re not talking about spending $250K to open a Subway. What business can you start for less then a $100 that has so much potential? There’s not many. Actually, there’s not ANY that come to mind.

The internet affords you the opportunity to build a viable, revenue generating business for next to nothing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog or a full blown e-commerce website. No longer is it a question of the big vs. small but rather the fast vs. slow.

If You Want To Make Money, Start A Business Not A Hobby: Is the reason you’re starting a blog because you have this burning passion to talk about (fill in the blank), or is it because you want to make money? If it’s the latter, then your focus should be on what people want to know, not what you care to share.

So many people make the mistake of trying to force feed their interests and passions to others when that’s really the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

When you walk into McDonalds, they don’t tell you want you want, they ask you. Think of blogging the same way. Find out what people are looking for, and simply answer their questions. Don’t treat your blogging business as your personal preferences, opinions, and ideals (unless that’s the point of the blog), focus instead on common questions people have. For those looking to start a blog, here are some common questions people ask:

• How can I lose weight fast?
• What are different parenting techniques?
• Where is the best place to find cheap airfare?
• How can I make money online? (BloggingExperiment.com)

The point is this. (1) Have a clear focus to your site. Don’t try to be all things to all people. That’s the very nature of why blogs are so popular. People can find other people who have very specific skills or knowledge about a topic that they wish to acquire. (2) Treat it like a business. If your looking to make money from your web business (blog, e-commerce site, etc) treat it like a business. Set measurable goals and objectives, have someone else hold you accountable, and know your end goals before you begin. (3) Don’t let the gloom and doom keep you down. There is no time like the present.

On a personal note, I realize we haven’t been “properly introduced,” yet so in the next couple of days I’ll be posting a bio so you can know a little more about me. In the mean time, I  just wanted to share this one little thought as it’s been on my mind for the past few days.

BUT, every once in a while I come across a story of an entrepreneur who takes an unlikely idea and turns it into a huge money maker.

Here’s one of these examples I just came across…

As you know, gas prices are out of control right now. It’s a super hot topic that is on the news pretty much everyday. Most people sit around and complain about it because they think there is nothing they can do.

Here is one guy who is not complaining one bit!

Basically this guy found a way to run a car using WATER. It sounds crazy to me, but after watching the video on the middle of this page, it’s pretty impressive. He says in the video that his car was about to drive about 100 miles or so on 4 OUNCES of water.

I’m not trying to start an argument over whether or not you can run your can on water or not. I don’t know anything about cars or how they work and I don’t see myself converting my car into a water burning machine anytime soon.

But it’s a great lesson of taking a huge problem in the world and coming up with a possible solution to the problem. I’m sure this guy will make millions if not BILLIONS of dollars if this thing actually works. Anytime it feels like everything is going wrong, the economy is crashing and the sky is falling, a few smart people always find a way to capitalize on the situation and become wealthy…

I wonder what other kinds of solutions we can come up with like this guy just did?

An essential tool you should have is a good RSS feed reader. It can be time consuming to look into multiple sites several times each day for fresh content. So the most convenient way is to pull all these content into one location: your feed reader. Whenever possible, you should make it a point to subscribe to an authority site’s feed reader. Below are the sites you can look into for information:

1. Blogs within the same category – you can find interesting news from other blogs in your niche. This includes news blogs and even non-news blogs.
2. Online Magazines and Newspapers – this resource can provide a lot of information on your chosen category. It is also a good complement for social news websites and blogs which can overlook important pieces of news.
3. Trade Publications and Academic Journals – you can highlight published reports and new findings on your blog. This will make your blog stand out from the rest of the web clutter. Take note thought that some publications requires a paid subscription before you can access its content.
4. Press Release – you need to accumulate media contacts especially if you are just starting out as a blogger. Tell web services and e-mail companies that you are open to receiving press releases through e-mail. You should also make it a point to monitor Press Release websites such as PRWeb.
5. Meme Trackers – these are basically websites that categorize blog posts according to their topic using an automatic algorithm. It will give you an overview of popular topics of a niche industry at the particular moment. Some sites you may want to look into include Technorati, Megite, and Techmeme among others.

The first is where the website’s purpose is to educate the reader.

This can include things like teaching valuable lessons, giving outstanding advice to people in their market, sharing things that most people don’t know about, etc.

This is basically the model I chose when I took over the BloggingExperiment blog a couple months ago. Since taking over the site, the traffic level remains pretty steady compared to when we bought it. The RSS subscribers has increased slightly. Income has increased significantly. BUT, the site hasn’t taken off to the equivalent of an A-List Blog…

My initial thought was, people NEED to learn how to make money online, and I was determined to teach people what I knew. I’m not saying this model is flawed, but it may not be the best option if you want a super popular website.

The second path people take with their sites is to primarily entertain their readers.

I was listening to an interview Frank Kern did a while back where he gave this example. I can’t remember the exact way he stated it, but it was something like this: ”People are painfully bored in their lives and they are desperate for entertainment…your job with your website should be 15% content, 85% entertainment” (something to that effect anyway)

Then he gave this example: He said “close your eyes for 10 seconds, and think of 4 things you learned in college. Next, close your eyes for 10 seconds and think of 4 characters from the tv show Seinfeld”.

Sure enough, Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer came to my mind MUCH faster than anything I learned in college. In fact, not one single thing came to mind when I thought about what I learned in college.

The difference? Entertainment is more enjoyable and easier to remember than even the best education or training. Is this the reason why JohnChow and Shoemoney are two of the most popular blogs in the make money online niche? Probably so. Do they always give out the best content? Not even close…

So, what direction are you taking your website or blog?

Are you so focused on educational content that even though you have incredibly valuable stuff to share, it’s just not catching on because you are “not entertaining enough”? That’s why celebrity gossip is so popular, as well as reality TV, soap operas and Youtube. Entertainment trumps true content every time, but is it a more profitable direction to take your business?

Which do you think is best?

A few years ago, it was not that difficult to get a high SERP ranking because there is only a limited number of people who blog about certain niches. In fact, “niche” probably became popular because only a few people actually write about their expertise. But nowadays, these seemingly niche topics are no longer “niche” in its true definition.

A lot of bloggers are exploring ways to make money online and they are discovering that it can be profitable to write about specialty topics even if they don’t necessarily have the expertise for it. But these bloggers know how to use optimization techniques so they achieve a high ranking and people inevitably visit their blogs. You will discover that your promotional techniques are no longer as effective as before because there are many people using the same techniques. So what can you do to get a competitive edge? Try to go offline.

Trying out offline blog promotion will result to better exposure and you will get a higher number of contacts. In addition, most people have the tendency to associate e-commerce sites that are being promoted online as being more credible than those that promote exclusively online; the same can be true for blogs. So how exactly can you effectively promote your blog offline? Well, below are some tips:

1. Attend Blogging Conventions – most popular bloggers attend blogging conventions in their area; this activity has a purpose. You will establish a lot of contacts within the blogging community and you will get a lot of potential readers. In addition, you can learn a lot from other bloggers as well.
2. Give out promotional items – whether it is a mug, a shirt, or even bumper sticker, make sure to give out some promotional items. This should include your blog URL with the description or motto of your blog.
3. Sponsor Events - Depending on the topic of your blog, there will often be events or meetings that you can sponsor. Shoemoney recently mentioned this type of promotion as a method he has used for his newest project, fighters.com.
4. Meetup with other bloggers – Often, members of popular forums, social networks, or blogs will organize “meetups” wherein the members can physically meet each other, allowing personal interaction among people that up until that point had just been another online personality. I would highly suggest trying to attend these events. Not only will you meet other bloggers or like minded individuals (who can be good for the occasional link or two from their sites), you’ll also be able to exchange ideas or even act as an informal Mastermind Group.

Create Title Tags for Two Audiences –

You need to write title tags for people who visit your page or those who have subscription to your feed. Title tags should be short, on-topic, and catch the reader’s attention. But you should also consider writing title tags for search engines because this can help direct traffic to your blog. You can use WordTracker, KeywordDiscovery, or Overture to identify certain phrasings that are popular among searchers.

Participate in Blogs and Forums –

This may seem like an obvious thing to do but a lot of bloggers fail to continually implement this strategy usually because they are too busy with other things. It is important for you to realize that online communities can be a great help in online promotion.

Launch your Site with Disabled Comments –

When you first introduce your blog, you should expect that most of your posts will have 0 comments. That is not a problem in itself but the issue is that readers will think that your blog is unpopular and empty when no one’s commenting on it. So if you don’t have enough RSS feed subscribers or if you don’t have large enough number of visitors per day, consider disabling comments until later. Obviously there’s a bit of a trade off in the lost comments, but it will also look like you don’t have comments not because your blog is a ghost town (see rule #6 from the 10 Mistakes that Will Kill Your Blog) but because you simply don’t allow them. I wouldn’t suggest using this tactic for too long, you risk killing off any sense of community, but it can be quite effective in the early going.

Don’t Immediately Join the Bandwagon –

Or, as Max says, Stop Playing Follow the Leader. Sometimes, there are certain industry news that almost every blogger seem to talk about. But don’t immediately jump into the bandwagon especially if your blog is not established in its niche yet. A good alternative would be providing blog readers with content that is unique, informative, and unavailable elsewhere. I know I’ve beaten this point into the ground here, but I really can not emphasize this enough. BE UNIQUE!