Have you ever thought of the best method of getting links to your remarkable blog posts? The solution is rather simple.

“Ask for them”.

This was the rather simple but effective advice that I was given, after recently reading a post on seoblackhat.com.  In fact, the advice has proved to work so well, that I have decided to share my success.

After publishing a notable blog post, send emails to fellow bloggers in your niche.  Get a dialog going.  An attempt at a conversation will convey a sense of respect but will also show that you read their blog.

Ensure that your notable post is the most recent and is easily identifiable/locatable from the front page of your blog.

Asking requires sending emails to fellow bloggers. As is suggested on seoblackhat.com, “I’m not talking about an email that says, ‘Please link to this remarkable post.’”

The key in acquiring new links to your blog is in the delivery of the email.

Template Email

Utilizing the email provided by seoblackhat.com, I constructed my own version to send to fellow bloggers.  I suggest you use the following as a guide, but cater the email to fit your blog’s niche.

“Hi [Blogger’s Name]

My name is Gavin Smith, and I’m the author behind BlogaPro (blogapro.com), the site that teaches individuals how to earn money blogging.

You may or may not know that I am in fact an avid reader of your blog. After reading [blog post they did], [blog post they did 2], and [Blog post they did 3], I thought that [remarkable blog post you did] might be something that you would be interested in blogging about.

Would you be interested in doing an article exchange? Your article would feature on BlogaPro and would include a link to your site in return.

Keep up the great work, I look forward to your blog posts.

-Gavin Smith”

The underlining key is to reciprocate the favor and link to other great posts.  Providing an alternative opinion on another post is a great way to lure new readers. Think about it - the other blogger does all the hard work (research, writing, emailing, linking), but you get the visitors. Works for me…

As the author of blackhatseo.com suggests, “The secret to getting your purple cow out of the barn is to get the word out when you have something truly remarkable. It will get you more links, more subscribers, and (if you have a business model) - more money.”

I’d be interested to learn if the rest of you have found the same success in the ‘email approach’…

I have recently being trying to publicize BlogaPro with considerable effort.  Although the blog has been continuously growing in popularity, it’s been a tedious, ongoing process.

If you have been following BlogaPro’s progress, you probably noticed the recent announcement of a ‘Make-Money-Blogging Wiki‘.  Unfortunately, the wiki hasn’t gone down too well. I have yet to have somebody commit a site to the directory.  My attempt at link-baiting went drastically wrong.  “Why the lack of participation?”, I hear you ask.

I like to think that it’s not down to the fact that the wiki lacks quality.  In fact, I’m of the opinion that the wiki is the most aesthetically pleasing feature of the whole site. Indeed, wikis are still a huge fad, but where have I gone wrong?

The problem lies in my readers.  No, I’m not referring to the ‘reading’ demographic but rather the mere number of readers that BlogaPro attracts.

Consider that the blog is only around 3 months old.  Figure that only around 1-2% of the visitors to a blog contribute either in the form of a comment or reply.  For every 100 visitors that BlogaPro receives maybe only 1 or 2 will share a comment on a post.  Now how many of those visitors will take the time to visit the wiki (never mind editing it)?

My experience should strike a pressing thought in the back of your mind.  If you are starting out blogging with your newest blog, consider how the number of readers to your site potentially impacts the addition of new features.

1. Provided all other variables remain constant, the number of visitors to a blog is directly proportional to those visitors that will contribute to the blog.
2. Those blogs which appear to attract little public attention or lack visitor participation will struggle to encourage new visitors to participate.

If you’re new to the blogging scene, you ought to consider the following recommendations before incorporating any additional features:

1. Start out small - start out simply blogging, and blogging only.
2. Stick to what works until the number of visitors to your site warrants the incorporation of additional features.
3. Establish a large reader-base before venturing into new waters.
4. Encourage reader participation so that new blog features are successful upon release.
5. Ask your readers what features they would like to see included.  Don’t just add new features because it offers the potential to increase earnings.  Remember your readers are the ones that will earn you your money. Give them what they want…

Recently, I’ve been trying to build a collection of respected links to my blog.  Unfortunately, it is easier said than done.

My few attempts to initiate a few link exchanges have proven futile at best.  Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to force-feed a baby - it’s just not happening.  I shouldn’t feel too disheartened.  After all, the main page on BlogaPro only carries a PR of 2 - the blog is only around 3 months old.

Regardless, incoming links are the key to my blog’s success.

Most bloggers seem to travel down the ‘path most taken’ utilizing the obvious resources ranging from submitting “diggs” to committing sites to directories.

I will not deny the aforementioned marketing strategy can pay dividends, but sometimes it will only take you so far.  Ever considered how many other bloggers are committing their site(s) to digg?  And let’s not forget that as of a recent update, Internet directories are now almost worthless.

Recently, I’ve been looking into the power of wikis.  Yes, the most obvious wiki-run site is Wikipedia of course, but there are thousands of other wiki-run sites on the ‘net.  Some of these wikis are generalized while others pertain to specific niches.

Googling around for “blog wiki directory” and “Internet marketing wiki directory”, I’ve found numerous wikis that allow individuals to add their blogs.  Not only are these links free, but authors can devise their own description of their blog.

Although Google’s PR tool is not the ‘begin and end all’ measurement of a page’s value, some of these wikis carry some serious value.   For example, on a user-generated page of one wiki, Google was reporting that the page contained a PageRank of 6 out of 10.  Consider how much you would otherwise pay for a PR 6 link.

In an attempt to separate myself from the pack, I’ve searched the web and found 17 wikis that I have committed my blog to.  As stated, some of these are rather specific while others are more general.

Here are just a few of the pages containing links to BlogaPro:

1. Wikia
2. AboutUs
3. Wiki Blog Directory

Do you have any “gems” to share?  How have wikis worked for you?

Ever considered benefiting from running multiple blogs?

Who said that you’re limited to running a single blog?  There is no reason why you cannot take advantage of multiple income streams.

If you’re the author of a single blog, you probably find that your blog isn’t exactly the latest “rage”.  Running multiple blogs all within a different niche can prove lucrative.  It provides the opportunity to attract a larger audience.

That is why concurrently generating content on multiple blogs can help you earn a couple hundred dollars per blog per month. Not a bad way of supplementing your salary, eh?

And who said multiple blogs were for amateurs?  Think again!  Darren Rowse runs both LivingRoom, and Digital Photography School alongside ProBlogger.

So what are the advantages of running multiple blogs?

Advantages of multiple blogs:

1. Multiple income streams
2. Ability to leverage your blog(s)
3. Collectively your blogs attract a wider audience (unique visitors)

While we have identified the advantages of owning multiple blogs, there are definite disadvantages. Each blog requires time and effort.  If you work full-time or support a family, multiple blogs could prove rather difficult.

I’m off to register a domain name…

Looking to increase the number of RSS subscribers to your blog?

Have you ever considered the percentage of visitors to your blog that don’t understand the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology?  While this figure will be dependent on the type of audience you attract, a good portion will probably lack a solid understanding of web technologies.

Now consider that while these individuals lack the understanding of RSS, they are still potential subscribers.  Taking the time to explain RSS and its accompanying benefits might just seduce them to join your subscriber list.

Share the RSS technology

Consider taking the time to publish either a post or page that explains the benefits of RSS.  Place the link on the front page of your blog to not only encourage visitors to subscribe but to increase your feed’s publicity.

Some tips on publishing an explanation:

1. Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS).
2. Keep it Short and sweet.
3. Ensure it is informative.
4. Share the benefits of using RSS.
5. Create a link to your explanation situated near the link to your feed.
6. Provide a link to your own feed within your explanation.

Frankly, the effects of publishing a dedicated page explaining ‘What is RSS?’ might just surprise you.

Explain is if you’re pitching a sale

For a technology which is proven so useful, it’s quite difficult to relay the importance of why people should use RSS.  Encouraging users to subscribe is almost like a sales-pitch.  It’s an art.

There are quite a few blogs which have published some great explanations.  I suggest you take a look at some of them to offer some suggestions.

At this current time, I’m currently drafting a page on BlogaPro to explain RSS.  Once published, a link to the explanation will be situated in the top right-hand corner of the front page beneath the link persuading visitors to “Subscribe to RSS”.

I’ll let you all know once the page has been published.  Oh yes, don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed…

Leaving comments on other blogs is a great way of promoting your own site.  Did you know that you can use comments to promote your RSS feed?

The next time you leave a comment on a blog, substitute your website address with your RSS Feed address.

The ‘Feeding Frenzy’

At any given instant, there are hundreds of robots or “crawlers” navigating the web in attempts of finding fresh blogging content. Feed readers and directories like Onfolio, Bloglines, and Google Feedfetcher are constantly caching the latest blog content.

Due to the nature of RSS, crawlers tend to search for RSS feeds instead of HTML pages - it’s not called Really Simple Syndication for nothing!  HTML content is heavily bloated containing extra bells and whistles (unnecessary as far as feed readers are concerned).

RSS caching offers your site some great potential.  Not only will you see an increase in your RSS subscriber count, but you potentially set yourself up to receive free links to your blog.

Crawlers = RSS Subscribers

Believe it or not, crawlers are still counted as RSS subscribers.  The RSS standard does not offer the opportunity to differentiate between human and computer readers.  That works to our advantage…

Remember, some readers are more inclined to subscribe to those blogs which are displaying a subscriber count of more than 200 subscribers.  If you’re new to the blogosphere, you soon learn that reaching the 200 mark is easier said than done.

This is where the bots help you out. Bots exaggerate and/or bloat your subscriber count, but let us not forget, they also spread the word in addition to providing links, new readers, and a higher PageRank.

Word of Warning

If are protective over your work and like to have strict control over who caches your content, I suggest you disregard my advice.  With that said, if your blog becomes popular, spiders will find you sooner rather than later.

Unlike an ordinary blogger, a professional blogger’s motivation is to make money blogging. The path you take to reach your ultimate goal will differ from person to person.

What are Goals?

Before we continue, it’s important to define a goal and the types of goals. The Oxford Dictionary defines a goal as “Point marking end of race; object of effort or ambition; destination;”

I would define a goal as the objectives that you want to achieve or obtain in the future. One where you develop a plan to take you to where you want in the future. Essentially, it’s a statement of intent.

There are two types of goals:

• Short-term goals: A short-term goal considers the time period from the immediate future to 6 months ahead from the present.
• Long-term goals: A long-term goal considers the time frame of at least 6 months and beyond.

Bloggers should be more concerned with setting short-term goals.  While it’s good advice to set both a short-term and long-term goal, blogs/bloggers will often deviate in direction from the originally chosen path due to arising situations in our environment.

Why Should I Set Goals for my Blog?

Those of you who have studied psychology will be well aware that the human psyche is driven by goals. Bottom line: People with goals achieve more than those without goals.

Take the time to ponder about at least one successful business man or women, politician, or sports personality that has become successful as a result of setting a goal.

Actually, the professional blogging world is no different.  For example, take a look at Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net.  His story is no different.  In fact, his published article discussing his blogging career clearly outlines the goals that he set to become a full-time professional blogger.

Holding on that previous thought, do you think that any of these individuals could have been as successful with out a clear plan of intent?  Doubtful.

1. As mentioned and for more emphasis, those with goals are more likely to achieve their goals than those without clear-cut goals.
2. It goes without saying that if you know exactly what it is that you want to achieve, it is far easier to achieve it than if you are vague.
3. Remember I defined a goal as “developing a plan”? Well, those with a clear action plan will find it easier to achieve their goals.
4. A few studies have shown that those with set goals have better health and relationships.

Setting Realistic Goals

At a convocation speech during Fresher’s “Welcome Week” at University (many years ago), I learned a great technique/methodology for setting my own goals.

The SMART model:

• Specific: Your goals should outline specifically what it is what you want to achieve.  Your goal’s outline should be in-depth and detailed.  If you told a friend or family member about your goals, would they understand your intent without asking any further questions?  A goal of “I would like to receive 1000 page views to my blog in 6 months” is more specific than, “I would like to rake in more visitors.”
• Measurable: Are your goals quantifiable?  Is there a metric by which you can measure them?  Will you be able to determine when it is that you have achieved your goal?
• Achievable: Determining if a goal is achievable can be quite difficult - it’s easy with hindsight. A blogger should ask, “What is the cost in attaining the goal?”  This cost could be in terms of money, effort, or time.  Then ask yourself, “Do I have the resources available to complete the goal?”
• Relevant: Is the goal relevant to you and what you are trying to achieve?  Can you see yourself finding the motivation to complete your goal?
• Timed: All goals need a start and end date.  Are these goals Achievable within the set time-span?

Review your Goals

Review your goals on a consistent basis; this could be every week, or every month.  Reviewing your goals will not only allow you to track your progress, but it will motivate you too.

Stick to your guns - keep to your goals even if you feel further on down the line that your goal cannot be achieved within the set time-span.  Some might recommend otherwise, yet I have found that I lose focus once I start performing alterations.

Setting your own goals

Regardless of whether you are new to the blogging world or are an established blogger.  I encourage you to take the time to set your own goals.

Some ideas for setting your own goals:

1. Achieving a certain number of page views.
2. Acquiring a higher ratio of pages/visit.
3. Earning a certain monetary amount per month.