The Right Blogging Platform For Your Needs

Choosing which blogging platform to use is one of the

most important decisions that you can make as a

blogger. The right platform can make blogging a

breeze, and the wrong platform can make blogging a

chore. Because the program that you use to blog with is

such a powerful part of your blogging experience, it is

well worth putting in the time to find a platform that

provides your ideal balance between a user-friendly

interface and a flexible framework that allows you to

make your blog look and feel unique. Finding the right

platform isn't always easy, but with a little bit of

contemplation and a little bit of research, you will be on

your way to finding the perfect blogging platform.

Deciding what your priorities are in terms of ease of use

versus customization. Most highly customizable

blogging platforms, like moveable type, are a bit more

difficult to use than very automated platforms like

wordpress. If you are new to blogs and to internet

technology, you might want to sacrifice the ability to

create a custom background design or to integrate a

unique font into your template in order to find a

program that will be easy for you to use. On the other

hand, if you are a veteran web designer with knowledge

of html or javascript, you will probably find the

limitations of a user-friendly platform to be frustrating.

There is no such thing as a blogging platform that is

objectively the best platform, because every blogger has

unique needs. The blogging movement is very much

about individuality, so it makes plenty of sense that

there would be many different platforms available that

are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of

individuals undertaking different kinds of projects. This

diversity is a good thing, because it means that you will

almost certainly be able to find a program that suits

your level of technical aptitude.

However, the fact that no two bloggers need the same

thing from a blogging platform can make your search

for the right platform a bit tricky. When you are reading

reviews of different platforms, try to keep your

priorities in mind and do your best to take into account

the position that the reviewer is coming from. For

example, a negative review written by an accomplished

software designer who complains that a popular

platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in

question is ideal for a beginning blogger. There is no

such thing as the perfect platform for everybody, so

instead of looking for the "best" platform, look for the

best platform for your specific criteria.

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Photo Blogging May be the Pinnacle of Modern

Technology

Many people feel that photo blogging is the most

exciting kind of blogging that exists. Building and

maintaining a photo blog is no more difficult than

creating and updating a text-based blog, and many

people feel that the internet's high speed, full-color

technology reaches the pinnacle of its appeal with the

transmission of images. Posting photographs in a blog

format on a daily, weekly, or occasional basis is a great

way to express yourself while reaching viewers in an

emotionally charged and aesthetically engaging way,

and surfing photo blogs can help you to get a whole

new perspective on the world in which we live.

Many people who run image blogs are photographers by

trade, but photo blogging is also very popular among

hobbyists and amateur shutterbugs. To be certain, a lot

of the most popular photo blogs have gained attention

because the pictures on them are of the highest artistic

caliber, and a lot of the people who run these striking

blogs are graduates of prestigious art schools and have

impressive professional portfolios. However, some of

the most well known and most often visited photo blogs

are as notable for their concepts as for the pictures

themselves. Certain photo blogs, like the popular "Cute

Overload" which features picture after picture of

adorable animals, are more about the thematic content

of the pictures than they are about the style in which the

snapshots are taken.

The fact that photo blogs range from forums to display

the work of highly skilled artisans to playful collections

of curiosities shows that photo blogging is a truly

diverse form. The fact that photo blogs are so easy to

build and to update makes this kind of visual

communication very democratic, and enables people at

all skill levels to become a part of the global

conversation about the nature and value of photography

today.

Whether you are an artist or hobbyist who wants to

create a photo blog, or whether you are just somebody

who enjoys learning about new places and things,

spending some time looking at the most popular

photography blogs on the internet can be a very

rewarding endeavor. You can travel to another place or

another time by seeing pictures of faraway locations and

long-gone eras. You can see your own neighborhood

with fresh eyes by discover how local artists have

photographed the town or city in which you live. Photo

blogging allows people to communicate all of these

things and more, which makes it a very exciting part of

the modern blogosphere. If the best thing about web

technology is that it allows people to reach each other in

a very personal way from across great distances, then in

many ways photo blogs are the most successful kind of

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Picking The Best Free Blogging Site

Choosing a free blogging site can feel overwhelming

because there are so many options. There are several

large free blog-hosting sites that dominate the

blogosphere, but there are also smaller sites. Whether

you decide to join up with an established site like

blogger or whether you choose to sign on with a

relatively new venture depends on what your priorities

are.

Reliability is perhaps the best reason to opt for a large

and well known free blogging site. When you choose to

have an established brand host your blog, you can feel

secure that your blog will not crash often and will not

disappear in the middle of the night. A company that

has been around for a while is likely to have the

resources to make sure that its clients aren't

unpleasantly surprised by any technical glitches.

However, many bloggers decide that this isn't enough

of a selling point. The bloggers who choose to go with

smaller, newer blog hosting sites do so for a variety of

reasons, but perhaps the number one advantage is a

fairly abstract one. Bloggers tend to relish the fact that

the internet is a place where the underdog has a strong

chance of success, and by choosing to have a small

company as a blog host, a blogger is casting his or her

vote for David against Goliath.

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Using A Free Blogging Web Site

For first time bloggers, a free blogging web site is a

great way to get started in the blogosphere. Popular

blogging web sites like blogger and eponym allow users

to set up and host a blog without paying any fees at all.

This encourages people to start blogging, because the

fact that one of these sites can provide you with all of

the tools that you need to get your blog up and running

without spending any money means that you have

nothing to lose by starting a blog. The fact that it is so

easy to find a way to blog for free is one of the reasons

why so many people who have never had any other kind

of web presence before find themselves drawn to

blogging.

By signing up with a free blogging web site, you may

find it easier to get listed in search engines that you

would if you were starting your own blog from scratch.

For example, google runs the free blog hosting site

blogspot and crawls its pages very often looking for

updates, so if you have your site hosted by blogspot you

are almost guaranteed to be listed on google's blog

search engine. This easy access to search engines can

take some of the work out of promoting your blog, and

can help you gain a following with a minimum of

marketing effort.

If your blog attracts a large readership, you may want to

consider moving your site. Many people feel that being

hosted by a free blogging web site gives a blog a kind of

amateur flavor that is fine for a new member of the

blogosphere, but is not appropriate for a high-profile

blog. Having your own domain can help you make your

blog feel professional, and finding a company that will

host your domain is not difficult or expensive. Once

your blog takes off, you will probably be able to sell

enough advertising space to be able to afford to buy a

domain and pay for a hosting package, and still have

money left over. However, it does not make sense in

most cases to invest in these glossy luxuries before you

have a sizable readership.

Starting your blog on a free blogging web site is a great

way to build a following before you spend any money

on your blog. If and when your blog becomes popular

and you are ready to take the next step and purchase

your own domain, your readers will follow you to your

new home. The fact that it is possible to use a free blog

host like blogspost, blogger, or eponym as a kind of

incubator for your blog is great news for bloggers

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The Definition of Blogging

The definition of blogging is something that is very

much in flux, as the new technologies that appear every

day redefine what a blog is, what a blog can be, and

what a blog should do. For many years, blogs were

defined as text-based websites that kept records of days,

similar to a captain's log on a sailing ship. However,

this started to change as the group of people who kept

blogs became more diverse. The more bloggers began

to explore the limits of the medium and of the

technology that made it possible, the more the

boundaries of what could be called a "blog" expanded.

Today, there are an abundance of photo blogs, and there

are even video blogs as well. Mobile blogging devices

may well change the definition of blogging entirely by

making it possible for bloggers to create new kinds of

posts. Another element of the blogosphere that is

starting to redefine blogging is the corporate blog. As

more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole

purpose of creating positive buzz about their brand,

bloggers across the globe are arguing about whether

these manufactured blogs are really worthy of the name.

Between all of these different forces that are constantly

expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult

to imagine that the definition of what is and is not a

blog will ever remain fixed for very long.

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How to Learn Blogging Software

A lot of blogging software is specifically designed to be

simple to use, but even the least intimidating blogging

program can feel very overwhelming to somebody who

has not spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs of

different kinds of software. Particularly for newer

bloggers, learning how to use the interface of blogging

software is the most difficult part of blogging. If you are

somebody who feels comfortable expressing themselves

in another medium, it may prove to be well worth your

time and effort to learn blogging software, but that

doesn't mean that the task will be easy.

The main thing that will help you find success as you

learn how to use a new kind of blogging software is to

try and take things slowly. Many people get so excited

about learning to blog that they try to rush into the thick

of it and start exploring the most complicated features

of a program right away. This can lead to getting

confused and feeling frustrated, and all too many

potential bloggers burn out during this stage of the

process. If you take your time learning the basics of

your blog software program before you move on to

more advanced techniques, you will be more likely to

retain what you have learned, and to keep feeling

positive about your ability to understand the world of

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The Controversy Around Corporate Blogging

Corporate blogging is a relatively new idea, and the jury

is still out on whether it will succeed. This controversial

marketing tool may be the beginning of a new kind of

advertising strategy, or it may fizzle out in a matter of

months. Many companies are looking for ways to

capitalize on the blogging trend, and many of these

corporations have determined that a great way to ride

the blogging wave is to keep a blog on their corporate

website. These blogs are often created to appeal to the

demographic that the company needs to court, and the

content may have quite a lot to do with the activities of

the corporation, or it may have very little to do with the

company itself. Often, a corporate blog will focus on

the kinds of content likely to attract the desired surfers,

even if that content is not related to the product or

service that the company provides.

Some bloggers feel that corporate blogging is a kind of

validation for the blogging movement, and shows that

this exciting new medium has really infiltrated the

mainstream. Other bloggers consider the kind of viral

marketing that corporate blogs practice to be unethical

or distasteful. In any case, watching the evolution of

corporate blogs and whether they survive and

proliferate or fail and disappear promises to provide

some interesting insight into today's consumers.

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Blogging News Stories as They Happen

Blogging news stories as they unfold is one of the most

exciting and controversial applications of technology

that bloggers have discovered. One thing that makes the

blogosphere so active is the fact that it is possible to

update a blog instantaneously, so the news on blogs

tends to be more current than the news in the paper, or

on television. Unlike news delivered by these other

media, news that appears on blogs does not have to

travel through a series of editors and administrators

before it reaches the public eye. This has some

advantages, and some distinct disadvantages.

One of the most notable cases of news hitting a blog

before appearing in other media took place in July 2005

when terrorism struck London. As passengers were

evacuated from a subway car near an explosion, one

man took several photographs of the scene with his

cellular phone, and within an hour these images were

posted online. First-person accounts of the catastrophe

began appearing on blogs soon after these photos

appeared, and people all over the world learned about

the events in London by reading the words and seeing

the photos posted by bloggers.

The fact that these stories and images were being spread

directly by individuals operating without the added

filter of a reporter helped to make the crisis feel very

immediate to people across the globe. When it comes to

blogging, news often appears in a very personal context.

This has the potential to be the beginning of an exciting

new era of reporting, one that takes "New Journalism"

to it's logical next step by putting the power to shape

how the news is written and read directly into the hands

of the public.

Many bloggers and cultural commentators who are

champions of the weblog movement feel that this

growing trend of individuals who getting their news

from blogs is a good thing, because it makes the flow of

information more democratic. By decentralizing the

control of news, blogs allow more voices to enter the

field of debate about important current events.

However, many people are adamantly opposed to the

use of blogs as news outlets, and there are plenty of

good arguments on this side of the debate. Unlike

newspapers or television stations, few blogs have fact-

checkers, and there is little attention paid to journalistic

accountability on many blogs. This can lead to the rapid

spread of misinformation, and more than one falsehood

has taken the blogosphere by storm. The questions

about whether blogging news as it happens is ethical or

not are very complicated, but no matter where you stand

on the topic of current events blogs you are almost sure

to agree that this movement has the potential to

revolutionize how modern people get their news.

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A Great Idea For a Blogging Web Site is No Longer

Enough

Because there are so many blogs and web sites about

blogs on the internet, it can be tough to distinguish your

blogging web site from all of the others. Whether you

are starting up a new web site aimed at bloggers or

whether you are looking to make your existing blogging

site more distinctive, the key to building and

maintaining a site that will capture the interest and

attention of the blogging community is finding your

niche. If you can fill a unique need in a way that no

other web site does, you'll be able to build a lasting

readership among web surfers. Once you have

discovered a niche, you will still have a lot to do, but

finding your place in the blogosphere is the place to

begin.

Every great blogging web site starts with a great idea,

and you can't build a successful site that will last

without one. There are many great sites aimed at

today's bloggers, and competition for the attention of

this growing demographic is fierce. To make your

blogging web site stand out from the pack, you will

need to offer something that no other site is currently

offering, or you will need to do the same thing that an

already popular site does but in a more impressive or

valuable way.

One way to discover an ideal model for your blogging

web site is to look at the sites that have successfully

captured a blogging audience already to determine if

you can appropriate some of their strategies to help

realize your vision. Of course, you will also need to add

a unique flair to your project in order to stand apart

from your competition. Many people agree that the web

sites that do the best in today's market are the sites that

have the most personality. The fiercely individual

surfers who are bloggers are a demographic that

responds especially strongly to personality, so consider

how you can give your site a unique and attractive

feeling by lending your own voice and sensibility to

your site's design and content.

Once you have a great idea for your site, have

pinpointed a special niche that you are well equipped to

fill, and have infused the site with personality, the next

step is figuring out how to get the word out to bloggers.

In the long run, a great idea just isn't enough to propel

your blogging web site to success. You will need to

draft a smart and realistic marketing plan in order to

draw readers to your site. Once you hook a blogger,

your great content will keep them coming back, but it is

vital to get that first glance or your site won't have a

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Learning How to Make Money Blogging

There are two major types of business models that

entrepreneurs use to make money blogging. The first

and most common way to turn a blog into a profit

making machine is to sell advertising to different

companies and brands who want to reach that blog's

readers. The second kind of money making blog is one

that helps a single brand improve its image by creating

positive associations between the blog and the product

in the mind of consumers. Both kinds of blogs can

make a lot of money, especially if the creator has a keen

mind for marketing.

If you are blogging with the goal of selling advertising,

there are two basic ways that you can go about

recruiting sponsors who want to put ads on your site;

you can let someone else do all of the legwork, or you

can do the work yourself and keep all of the revenue.

Within the first group, many people make money

blogging by selling space through Google's AdSense

program. The advantages of this program are numerous,

as it requires very little effort on the part of the blogger

or webmaster to begin raking in profits. However, most

people discover that they make less money through this

method than they had hoped that their blog would earn.

Selling advertising directly to companies who want to

put banner ads or sponsored links on your blog can take

quite a bit of time, but it is often fairly lucrative. If you

have a lot of contacts in industries that are related to the

topic of your blog, you may want to try to go this route.

People who have a strong background in sales and are

experienced at pitching proposals can make quite a bit

of money by renting blog space to interested companies.

The most serious problem with this model is that you

often have to build quite a sizable readership before you

can attract advertisers, which can mean that you have to

do several months of work before you start to make

money blogging.

As blogging becomes a more and more lucrative

business, a lot of established companies are considering

how they can get into the action. One way that

companies are capitalizing on the blog movement is by

having blogs that provide a kind of friendly face for

their corporation. Often, a company will employ an

established blogger to create a weblog designed

specifically to appeal to that company's customers and

to create positive associations with the brand in

consumers' minds. More than one writer who never

even dreamed that he or she could make money

blogging has been approached by a company and

offered quite a pretty penny for this kind of gig.

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Mobile Blogging is on the Cutting Edge

Mobile blogging is an exciting phenomenon that is

sweeping the blogosphere. One of the reasons why a lot

of bloggers are attracted to the medium of blogging in

the first place is that they enjoy being able to make

frequent updates and posts that keep all of their visitors

up to speed with current situations. Mobile blogs, or

"moblogs," take this to the extreme by allowing users to

post things literally as they happen. This new wave of

moblogs and mobloggers keep web surfers up to date

with good and bad events of importance as they occur

all over the world, helping to make international

communication faster and more accurate.

Many people feel that the limitations of blogging have a

lot to do with geography. After all, there is only so

current that a blog can be when you need to run home

and boot up in order to update it. However, mobile

blogging marks the beginning of an thrilling new era

when web-based communication can happen

spontaneously from any location. Moblogging devices

mean that there is almost nowhere on the planet that

remains off-limits for bloggers.

Mobile blogging is still in its infancy because the

technology that makes it possible has only recently hit

the global market. The first moblog technology became

available over a decade ago, but it is only the past two

or three years that mobile web devices have become

user-friendly enough to appeal to most consumers. As

camera phones and other mobile technology become

more popular, more and more bloggers are getting away

from their desks and are hitting the streets. Moblogging

is becoming much more widespread that it was even a

few months ago, and mobloggers are quickly attracting

a lot of attention with the blogging community. It is not

yet clear whether moblogs will become the dominant

kinds of blogs in the years to come, but the current

trend seems to imply that moblogs are here to stay.

Mobile devices make it possible to blog from the sites

where current events are unfolding, which is one of the

reasons why mobile blogging has so much thrilling

potential to revolutionize the blogosphere. A moblogger

with a camera phone can post blog entries from, say, the

foot of the podium at a presidential speech, or from the

stands during the final moments of the world series.

This enables bloggers to experience the same real time

thrills that live television coverage provides, but in a

more democratic medium. The combination of mobility

and individual control that moblogging provides

certainly places mobloggers on the cutting edge of

today's communications technology, and it is hard to

imagine that the number and prestige of moblogs will

not continue to grow in the coming years.

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The Pros and Cons of Video Blogging

Video blogging has a lot of advantages over text-based

blogging, and it is little wonder that this new

technology is catching on all over the globe. Video

blogs very effectively grab the attention of web surfers,

and people are much more likely to become excited

about the dynamic content of a video blog than they are

likely to find a written posting very thrilling. The more

enthusiastic viewers are about a site, the quicker the

word of mouth spreads, and the more traffic the site will

get.

Of course, there are plenty of disadvantages to video

blogging as well. Hosting a v-blog requires quite a bit

of server space, which can make it difficult to get

started. It takes more time to process and upload a video

file than it does to dash off a quick bit of text, which

means that running and updating a video blog can be

quite a bit of work. In addition, web surfers sometimes

grow frustrated with the slow loading times of the files

on many video blogs. Whether you opt for a video blog

or not depends on what kind of subject matter you want

to cover, and how much time you can devote to video

blogging. Before you decide to pursue a video blog,

consider if there is an easier way for you to get your

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To Join a Blogging Site or Not to Join

Joining an established blogging site like live journal or

blogger has plenty of advantages, especially for the blog

novice. Sites that host a lot of different blogs often have

very useful tutorials about building and updating your

blog, and you are likely to encounter a very user-

friendly software interface at an established blogging

site. In addition, these sites provide a kind of instant

community of fellow bloggers who can provide advice,

insight, and feedback. These established sites often

keep directories of their members, which can be great

news for your traffic logs because it means that other

bloggers on the site will find out about your pages.

However, there are also some downsides to linking up

with a large blogging site. By posting within the

established templates of a site like blogger, you run the

risk of having your blog look and feel like everybody

else's. The blogging movement is very much about the

creation of distinctive sites and the development of

individual voices, so it makes plenty of sense that many

bloggers would shy away from the cookie-cutter look

and feel that these blogging sites often promote. Many

bloggers feel that the content of a blog is what makes it

distinctive, not the look of the blog, but many members

of the blogging community feel that the visual impact

of a blog should match the originality of the writing.

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The Exciting New Frontier Of Professional Blogging

Professional blogging is a very new idea with a lot of

potential for entrepreneurs who have insight, drive, and

a basic understanding of today's innovative web

technology. The ranks of so-called pro bloggers are still

quite small, and there are very few people who make

their living entirely off of their blogs. However, every

day there are more and more people who have managed

to turn their weblogs into cash cows that supplement

their income. The number of pro bloggers is growing by

leaps and bounds, but it is difficult to say whether this

trend will continue.

Many bloggers dream of entering the sphere of

professional blogging. There are very few people who

happily devote an hour or more each day to their blog

without at least occasionally wishing that they could

earn some kind of financial reward for all of their work.

Several models exist for making money with a blog, the

most popular being to sell advertising space through

Google's AdSense program or directly to a company

that wishes to reach the demographic that your blog

appeals to. However, there are very few people indeed

who can make a comfortable living just by selling space

on their blog sidebars.

A lot of the people who read weblogs are bloggers

themselves, in part because of the fact that the people

who use blogging technology on a daily basis are most

likely to be interested in what other writers are doing

with the medium. This fact begins to explain why the

people who succeed in the world of professional

blogging are mostly people who have devoted

themselves almost entirely to learning about, talking

about, and writing about blogging. More than any other

topic, pro bloggers turn their attention to the

phenomenon of blogging itself. A lot of pro bloggers

make the topic of blogging the stunningly self-reflexive

ongoing focus of their blogs.

Of course, professional blogging is destined to become

much more complicated in the future than it is today. In

the current moment, pro bloggers who attract the largest

audiences and make the most money are mostly

concerned with investigating the blogging movement

and with offering advice to amateur bloggers. However,

as the kinds of people who regularly read blogs

changes, and the demographics of bloggers expand and

diversify as blogging software becomes more user

friendly, it is very likely indeed that the world of pro

blogging will begin to reflect these changes. Indeed, it

is very difficult to predict exactly what kinds of blogs

will be reaping the greatest financial rewards five or ten

years down the road. The world of pro blogging is one

of constant change and flux, which is part of what

makes it so exciting.

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Blogging For Business Owners

If you run a small company, you may find that the world

of blogging for business owners is a world that you

want to be a part of. Blogging is a great way to get the

word out to consumers about your product or service,

and it can even be useful for inspiring employee loyalty

and helping you keep your workers at peak morale. If

you are looking for a way to take your business to the

next level, consider what starting a blog might be able

to do for you.

Blogging for business owners has a lot in common with

all other types of blogging, but it has its own unique

pitfalls and strengths. The key to having a successful

blog as a business owner is keeping your goals clear

and concrete at every step of your blogging adventure. It

can be all to easy to get sidetracked, especially if you

are just learning about the exciting possibilities of

blogging technology, but if you want your blog to

succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan for

how often you will update, how you will promote your

blog and retain readers, whether you will feature

photographs or video, and other aspects of your blog,

and then stick to it with the same kind of determination

that you used when you built your company.

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Blogging for Profit Begins With a Long Term Plan

Many people dream of blogging for profit, and this goal

is not far beyond the reach of someone with average

intelligence, a willingness to work hard, and a basic

grasp of blogging technology. However, very few

people manage to reap the profits they want from their

blog. Most people who attempt to make money with

their blogs do not succeed for two reasons. Often,

bloggers have unrealistic expectations of how fast their

readership will grow and how much money they will

make, and when these expectations are not met the

disappointment can crush the desire to continue

blogging. The other trap that many bloggers fall into

has to do with lack of planning. If you want to turn a

profit as a blogger, the key to success is to make a

realistic plan and stick with it.

To succeed at blogging for profit, the main thing that

you will need is a large readership. The higher your

traffic, the more advertisers will agree to pay you.

However, cultivating the regular visitors that you will

need in order to make a profit isnt easy. As more and

more blogs appear each day, having a great idea or a

wonderful writing style is no longer enough to get

attention. You need to be able to market your blog

effectively.

Too many bloggers spend all of their time writing posts

and almost no time marketing their project. To be

certain, updating as often as you can is a great way to

keep your blog high on blogrolls and high in blog

search engines like technorati, and once your readers

know that you update frequently they will return to your

site on a regular basis. However, it does not matter how

often you update if nobody is reading your page, so dont

skimp on the time that you spend drawing visitors to

your site. To make your dreams of blogging for profit a

reality, try decreasing your number of posts and using

some of that time to draw new visitors by setting up

link exchanges with other bloggers, making contacts in

the blog community, and following other established

modes of winning traffic.

Of course, even if you are a marketing genius or have a

really great idea for a blog, success is not going to

happen overnight. Building the kind of readership that

blogging for profit requires takes time, and in all

likelihood it will be at least several months before you

are able to turn much of a profit. Try to stay committed

to your blogging project during this initial rough period.

To stay motivated, set goals for how often you will

update and how many readers you want to attract, and

then reward yourself for sticking with your plan.

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Choosing The Right Free Blogging Tools

There are many free blogging tools on the market, but

loading up your blog with all of the free accessories that

you can find isn't necessarily a good idea. While it may

be tempting to add a visitor counter, a flashy

background, an exciting new font, and a cluster of

quirky animated gifs to your blog, this kind of plan can

easily backfire. The key to getting the most from free

blog tools is being selective.

It is a great idea to learn about all of the kinds of free

blogging tools that are available so that you can make

an informed decision about what to add to your blog,

but try to remember that just because you can have

something doesn't mean that you need it. Practice

restraint and only choose the options that you think will

really be useful. If you can find out how many visitors

are reading your blog by checking your traffic statistics,

a visitor counter is likely to add unnecessary clutter to

your page. If your blog is text-based, a flashy

background can be more of a distraction than an benefit.

Be realistic about assessing what kinds of blog

accessories will help you realize your vision and

improve your site. Remember that even a blog tool that

doesn't cost you any cash may not be an asset in the

Read More »»

Your New Baby, Blogging, and Modern Motherhood

For the mother of a new baby, blogging is likely to be

the last thing on her mind. Taking care of an infant is an

almost incredible amount of work, and between

changing diapers and putting the final touches on the

nursery, it seems unrealistic to imagine that there would

be time left over for any mother to blog. However, a

growing number of new moms are joining the

blogosphere to share their experiences during this

exciting time of life. There is a whole range of benefits

that new mothers can reap from blogging, and the

spectrum covers everything from getting through the

night to helping distant relatives feel closer.

Among the reasons why, for a mom dealing with the

hassles and triumphs of a baby, blogging is a great idea,

is that having a blog about motherhood is a great way to

blow off some steam. Babies often have very erratic

sleep patterns that leave parents up at odd hours of the

night, and sometimes the best way to fill those hours is

on the internet. Many new moms turn to television to

help them weather these dawn vigils, but by blogging

through the night moms can turn what feels like a

somewhat depressing situation into an actively positive

and productive one.

Another reason why new moms often find blogging

very satisfying is that it helps them to be a part of a

community. For moms who are not able to successfully

juggle a full social life with the very tough demands of

taking care of a new baby, blogging can be a great way

to stave off the isolation that sometimes comes with this

stage of life. A baby requires constant attention, and it

can be difficult to attend social gatherings or events

when you are responsible for an infant. Luckily, the

blogosphere is full of other moms in the same situation,

and by chatting with them it is possible to overcome

some of the loneliness that many new mothers are

surprised to encounter.

Of course, for a mom with an adorable new baby,

blogging can be as much about celebration as it is about

necessity. Having a blog about living with a new child

can give mothers the chance to reflect on how powerful

and warm the sensation of motherhood is, and

sometimes sharing the triumphs of this unique time can

make them even sweeter. A blog is a great way to keep

friends and family updated with news about your baby's

first words or first steps, and with new technology it is

easier than ever to make photos and video clips a part of

your blog, so you can give far-away relatives the chance

to feel much more involved in your child's life.

Read More »»

Personal Blogging, Documentary, and History

When it comes to personal blogging, documentary is

the default genre. There are plenty of blogs that serve

other functions, but many blogs are primarily catalogues

of the life experiences of their author. Although there

are quite a few blogs that focus on collecting poetry and

other forms of creative writing, the vast majority of

personal blogs are in some sense documentaries.

For many years, the act of making a documentary was

meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and

sounds that the filmmaker, writer, or photographer

encountered. However, in contemporary times there has

been a movement towards embracing the subjectivity

inherent in the documentary form. This means that

modern documentaries often reflect the distinctive

voice and sensibility of their creator, and the fact that

todays documentaries often revolve around personality

blurs the lines between documentary and memoir. Blogs

rest somewhere between these two genres, muddying

the distinctions even further. Personal blogging,

documentary, and memoir are now irrevocably

intertwined, for better or for worse.

Although few bloggers think of themselves as making

documentaries in any formal sense, every time

somebody sits down in front of a computer and types up

a record of their day, they are documenting their own

historical moment. The things that we take for granted

about our daily lives, like the way that we use specific

modes of transportation, or the kinds of products that

we buy, often seem quite fascinating to people who live

in circumstances different from ours, and it is this kind

of fascination that is at the heart of many documentary

projects. When people think about blogging,

documentary is not very likely to be the first adjective

that crosses their minds, but a few decades down the

road it is very likely that todays blogs will be seen

primarily as very subjective documentaries of our era.

The people of tomorrow will almost certainly look to

the blogs of today for insight into our historical

moment.

When it comes to blogging, documentary may not be

the aim of most people who spend their time posting

their thoughts and ideas on the internet. In some ways,

the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side

effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so

many people are interested in publishing these public

online diaries shows that personal blogs are about more

than just rumination. The fact that bloggers are so

stimulated by and interested in sharing their ideas with

each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are, in

some ways, documentaries meant for public

consumption. Documentaries appeal to people who are

curious about other ways of life, and many people who

regularly read others personal blogs are looking for this

same kind of new perspective.

Read More »»

Blogging: Consolidation, Debt, and New Information

Technology

If you are interested in blogging, consolidation, debt, and

other financial topics are sure to appear in many of the

blogs that you regularly read. Techniques to make and

manage money are some of the most popular topics for

bloggers to explore on the web, so it is little wonder that

so many bloggers turn their attention to dealing with

debt. Falling into debt is all too easy, and getting out of

debt can be very difficult for people who do not have a

lot of financial expertise. For people who have a knack

for dealing with finances, blogging about their insights

and knowledge can be a great way to literally and

figuratively share the wealth.

If you are considering getting into blogging,

consolidation, debt, savings, and investment topics can

prove to be very fruitful things to write about. Many

professional bloggers who make a living off of their

blogs spend their days writing about money. If you

know how to court advertisers and build a blog fan

base, you can make money just by talking about money.

If you are familiar with loan consolidation, negotiating

settlements with credit card companies, or any other

financial topics, consider using your knowledge to

create a successful blog. By sharing your expertise, you

may be able to help your readers get out of debt while

you reap sizable monetary rewards for your time and

Read More »»

ASP.NET Blogging Software

Of all of the different kinds of programs on the market today, many people feel that Microsoft's recently released ASP.NET blogging software is the most advanced. In many ways, this particular program is more adaptable and more versatile than any other blogging software on the market. Although most of the people who favor the program are accomplished coders who are familiar with programming languages like html and C++, this new program from Microsoft is much easier to use than a lot of other blog design software that incorporates hands-on coding. One of the things that makes ASP.NET stand apart from its competitors is the fact that it allows designers to use a wide variety of programming languages when they build a blog. This means that a larger number of coders can realize their dreams by programming in the language with which they are most familiar and in which they are most accomplished.

A lot of people have welcomed ASP.NET blogging software with enthusiasm and with open arms. However, that doesn't mean that the ASP.NET program is right for everybody. If you are not familiar with computer languages like javascript or perl, you may find that the release of ASP.NET does not directly affect you at all. However, if you are an experienced web designer, you are likely to find much to celebrate in this exciting new program.

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If You are Already Blogging, Money May be Just a

Click Away

If you already spend a fair amount of time blogging,

money may come to you literally as soon as you ask for

it. Once you have an established blog with a regular

readership, it is easy to turn a profit through advertising.

By hosting sponsored links or banners, you can see

income from your hobby almost overnight. Even if you

did not start your blog intending to turn a profit, making

supplementary income from your blog may be easier

than you think.

Of course, even for people who have spent months or

years blogging, money from advertising revenue may

not add up to a large sum. The amount of money that

you can make as a blogger depends on a lot of different

factors, but perhaps the most important element of the

equation is the topic of your blog. If your blog is on a

subject that appeals to a demographic that advertisers

have a strong desire to reach, you will be more likely to

be able to turn a large profit on your blog than if your

blog is on a fairly obscure subject that does not draw

the kind of audience that advertisers need to appeal to.

Of course, the only way to find out where you fall on

this spectrum is to try hosting some ads. If you are

already blogging, you have nothing to lose.

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What Is a Blogging Tory?

The term Blogging Tory refers to any one of the many

authors affiliated with the conservative Canadian

community known as The Blogging Tories. Today,

there are over a hundred and fifty text-based blogs

associated with the group, and there are new Blogging

Tories every day. The Tories stand as an inspiring

example of a successful online community where the

ever-increasing numbers of affiliated members enjoy a

fertile environment for discussion and debate about the

ideas that shape the face of Canada.

The majority of Tory bloggers do make political events

and topics the focus of their blogs, but not all of the

content that a Blogging Tory creates and publishes is

overtly related to the movements of the Canadian

parliament or the prime minister. Although the

community members were brought together by a shared

conservative viewpoint, the fact that not all of the

postings on all of the member's blogs focus on political

topics is one of the most exciting things about the

Blogging Tories. On any given day, the main website's

blogroll may feature postings about Olympic medalists,

a James Bond film festival in Quebec, or a comical

personal experience with a telemarketer. The idea that

having a political affiliation in common makes it

possible to have a fruitful discussion about other kinds

of topics has interesting implications for how online

communities are established and how they grow.

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Blogging 101

Blogging 101 is mostly about the blogging vocabulary. To understand blogs, you need to know the terms blog, platform, domain, and web host. Once you have mastered these key elements of blogging, you can enter any conversation about blogging with confidence. After you know what exactly a blog is, you will be on your way to passing the final exam of blogging 101.

Blog is short for weblog, which simply means a series of online posts presented in reverse chronological order. That's all! Most blogs are text, but there are also photo blogs and video blogs. The rest of blogging 101 has to do with the technical side of things. If you are setting up a blog, you will need a platform, a web host, and a domain. A blogging platform is a computer software program that allows you to write posts and to update your blog. Your platform is also what you use to design the look of your blog, from color scheme to font size. The web host is sort of like the virtual file cabinet where your blog is stored. Your computer communicates with the host when you upload or edit a post. The domain is the online address of your blog, and usually ends in ‘dot com'. Now that
you know what a blog is, what a platform is, and what domains and hosts are, congratulate yourself!

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Blogging Teens

Every day, blogs are created by people of all ages and from all walks of life, but when it comes to blogging, teen writers are truly on the cutting edge of the movement. Because today's teenagers are the first generation of people to have grown up using the internet at every stage of their development, many adolescents have a seemingly innate sense of how to use web technology to express their innermost thoughts and ideas. Older writers often experience a kind of learning curve when they begin to blog, but many young people find that using a word processor and blogging software feels more natural and direct a mode of communication than writing in a diary ever could.

One of the reasons why blogs have undergone a kind of explosion in the teen community and are growing by leaps and bounds is the fact that they provide a unique mixture of visibility and anonymity. A teenager can invite friends and peers to read his or her blog with a simple email, thereby winning attention or possibly even praise. Of course, with visibility usually comes the possibility of embarrassment, but the fact that it is possible to blog anonymously with an invented handle or nickname negates a lot of the potential for humiliation. Many a blogging teen lives in fear that a parent or guardian will discover his or her blog, but by publishing under an alias a teenager can spill his or her secrets without fear of being traced.

Outside the world of blogging, teen writers often have very limited opportunities to be published. Magazines and journals are often reticent to publish young writers who may not have as much credibility as older writers with a lot of experience and extensive credits to their names. This can discourage adolescents from writing or from seeking chances to publish their work. By blogging, young people can begin to gain a following of readers without first having to win the attention and
support of an editor or publisher who may not be very interested in teenaged authors.

Between the fact that blogs provide young people with a chance to exercise their impressive technical aptitude, to gain visibility without compromising privacy, and to build a readership for their writing without having to jump through the traditional hoops of the publishing industry, it is little wonder that are so many teenagers with blogs. For some teenagers, blogging is even a very social endeavor that allows them to meet people with similar interests from all over the world. Many a blogging teen has discovered that having a weblog on the internet is a great way to explore self-expression and, often, to win positive feedback from new friends.

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Google Adsense: What Other Forms of Payment Does Google Adsense Offer?

You can elect to have your Google Adsense payments mailed to you via check in your local currency. Google Adsense offers this option in 42 countries. Check the Google Adsense support center to see if your country is included in this list.

To select receiving your check by postal mail, log in to your Google Adsense account, click the edit link near Payment Details and then click the Check – Standard Delivery radio button. Then click continue. Now you can select your currency, if available or you may select US dollars. When you’re satisfied with your choices, click save settings.

You may also choose to receive your payment through Secured Express Delivery. There is a fee for this service but you can expect to receive your check within 5-10 business days after it has been sent. If you choose this option, you will need to contact DHL (the courier service) to make sure they offer service to your area and that your address is in the proper format. For more information, log on to dhl.com.

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Google Adsense: Where to Place Ads on Your Web Pages and a Profile of Bloggerparty.com

Deciding Where to Place Your Google Ads on Your Web Pages so That They Will Be Most Profitable

This is one of the best parts of the whole Google Adsense experience. No one else gets to make this decision except you. It’s your page. You get to decide how many ( up to 3 ads per page), what colors and shapes you will use and on what part of the page the ad will be placed. Should you place your ads at the top or bottom? In the middle of the text? To the left or right?

The most important decision should be based on the needs of the visitors to your site? What are they looking for? Are they there to read or merely to browse. If they are there to read an entire article, say, you might try placing your ads at the bottom of the page so they will have something to do next. Some publishers swear by placing the ads at the top left of the page because they think customers look there first.

The fun thing is experimenting with all the possibilities. Try different ad locations and different colors for a week and note the differences in your reports. When you hit on something successful, you’ll see the difference.

Profile of Bloggerparty.com For Those Who May Want To Use it For Google Ads

Blogger Party is another blog hosting website where you can make money with Google Adsense. You create an account and use the publisher id you got when you created your Google Adsense account. If you have not done that yet, that is the first step to making money with your blogs.

At bloggerparty.com, targeted Google Adsense ads will be displayed on your blog pages. Fifty percent of that time, the ads will have your Google Adsense publishers ID and the other fifty percent of the time they will have Blogger Party’s Adsense ID or split between them and the person who referred you. That’s right, referrals get 25% of the ad time, which comes out of Blogger Party’s share and not the original blogger’s or the referral’s.

Blogger Party promises “party points” any time you write something or comment on someone else’s blog. They don’t do anything as yet, but later you will be able to trade them in for prizes according to Blogger Party’s admin.

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Google Adsense: How to Apply for the Program and Important Info on Paying Taxes

How to Apply to the Google Adsense Program

Applying for a Google Adsense account is quick and easy for any interested webmaster. Just point your browser to www.google.com/adsense and click on apply. Click on the drop down arrow under account type and select whether you’re an individual or business. If you’re not sure which one to choose, click on the question mark to the left. Next, select your country or territory.

Under website information, it asks for your primary URL. If you have your own website, list it here. If you are using a blogging site such as writingup.com or bloggingparty.com that URL goes here.

Select your website’s primary language. Google adsense supports Chinese (simplified), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Select the product you want on your pages. Adsense for Content means you will have advertising targeted to the content on your pages. For instance, if you write about flooring, you might have carpet ads on your page. Adsense for Search is for you to add a Google search box to your pages. To maximize your Google Adsense earnings, you will want to have both.

After that, it’s just the regular contact information and you’re all set. You should receive an email in 2 or 3 days letting you know if your application is approved.


Do I Have to Pay Taxes on My Google Adsense Earnings?

Google Adsense is required to collect tax information from those who participate in the program. If you’re a business, you’ll need to put your EIN number on your application. If you’re an individual, all you’ll need is your social security number. If you don’t have that information when you initially sign up, you can still apply for the Google Adsense program. But be advised that Google Adsense will withhold payments to you until they receive your tax information.

While Google does not withhold taxes or provide any tax advice, they will send you a 1099 once your earnings reach a certain amount. Of course, if you are a Non-US business and have no activity in the United States, you will not need to provide this information. For more tax information regarding the Google Adsense program, visit the Google Adsense Support site. For other tax-related questions or concerns, you can log onto www.irs.gov.

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Google Adsense: Using Google Adsense Without a Complete Website and Promoting Your Blog to Earn Money Through the Program

Can I use the Google Adsense Program if I Do Not Have a Personal Website?

You don’t have to have your own website to use Google Adsense. Google doesn’t usually approve personal pages but that is not written in stone. Consult Google Adsense support pages for more information on what kinds of pages are acceptable. If selling a product or service doesn’t appeal to you, you might consider blogging.

Blogging initially meant web log but has gradually come into its own. There are as many different kinds of blogs as there are blogs themselves. A blog can be like a cyberjournal in that you make daily “journal” entries or it can be more like a newsletter set up to inform or communicate with other people. There are several blogging sites in cyberspace that will allow you to create your own blog pages and have targeted Google Adsense ads running on them.

A few of the most popular :

- Writingup.com
- Blogger.com
- Bloggerparty.com

You can also search blogsearch.google.com for an extensive list of blogs. Not all of these carry Google Adsense ads and if you’re going to write a blog you may as well make some money at it. Look around and you’ll find the perfect site for your Google Adsense ads to nest.


How to Promote Your Blog When You Are Using it to Earn Google Adsense Dollars

Promote your site or blog. You could write the great American novel and if there’s little or no traffic to your site, you won’t make any money. Not only that, but no one will know what a great writer you are.

There’s several ways to promote your blog.

- Include the URL in your email signature. Now you’ve just invited everyone you email to read your blog.
- Link to other sites and ask the webmasters to link to yours. Network!
- Read other blogs and notice who is getting the most reads and comments. What are they writing about?
- Comment on other people’s blogs but only if it is sincere. This will increase your overall traffic as you will pique others’ curiosity and they will want to read your blogs.
- Write a newsletter and offer a free email subscription to your blog.
- Put a Referral button on your site.
- Put an Adsense for Search button on your site.

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Google Adsense: Rules Surrounding Invalid Clicks and Being in Control

What Is So Important About An Invalid Click and How Will It Affect Me?

More than anything, an invalid click is a big no-no and it will get your account terminated faster than anything else. Having said that, an invalid click is when a publisher clicks on their own ads to add to their earning potential . It’s also when a publisher asks others to click on their ads just to raise their revenue. It also raises the advertiser’s costs and Google won’t tolerate this. Google Adsense has state of the art technology and they know what’s going on.

Invalid clicks also happen when someone uses robots to click on ads or automated software. It is any deceptive practice used to click on ads.

Invalid clicks are also unnecessary as there are plenty of money-making opportunities with valid clicks. With an optimized website, useful content, and attractive ads, there’s no reason for anybody to even entertain the idea of using invalid clicks.


Having Control Over Your Adsense Account

You the publisher, have complete control over the advertisement that runs on your site. You can choose to run only image ads, only text ads, or a combination of both. Google recommends that you choose a combination of both to maximize your earning potential, but the decision is yours.

When making your ad decision, you also have the freedom to choose which type of ads run across your entire account (image or text) or you can narrow that decision to what type of ad might run on a particular page.

As of right now, you are not able to differentiate your image ad click rate from your text ad click rate. You can of course, differentiate your click rate from one site as opposed to another site. Say, for example, you run only image ads on one site and only text ads on another site. By setting up channels to track both sites, you can see which site has the better click rate. Of course, you have to take into consideration there would be more factors than whether you were running text or image ads. The content, the placement of the ads in general, even the color could make a difference.

Refer to the Google Adsense Support Site for specific instructions on how to enable or disable image ads. Remember, it’s all up to you!

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Google Adsense: Learning About the Program and the Most Important Rule

How Does Google Adsense Program Work For Webmasters Wanting to Earn Income?

Advertisers pay Google when someone clicks on their ads which are placed on pages that contain text. For example, if you write content about lawn mowers, you will likely see ads from lawn mower manufacturers and/or retailers on that page. When someone clicks on those ads, the advertiser pays Google and Google pays you. Of course, the advertiser is hoping the person that clicked on the add will actually purchase the lawn mower or whatever they’re offering.

In fact, Google is very strict about the integrity of this process. You are forbidden to click on your own ads. If you do, your Adsense account will be terminated and you might never get it back. You are also prohibited from asking others to click on “your ads”. It makes sense. Why would advertisers want to pay just so your friends and family could click on your ads when no one is really interested in purchasing the lawn mower or subject of the ad.

The good news is that it’s not necessary to “cheat.” Google Adsense is so easy you’ll make more money just going by the rules. Have or write interesting content that will turn up in search engines and you have “targeted” the right people to read those ads. Just think, somebody in Indiana buys a lawn mower and you get a commission!


What Not to Tell Others About the Google Adsense Program – The Most Important Rule

Sympathy only goes so far. Not only is it against the Google Adsense Program Policies but if you rely on friends and family members to click on your ads instead of diligently working the program, you’re cheating yourself – and the Google Adsense Program.

The “help me out” wail may work when your kid is selling outrageously expensive candles for the end of the year school party but it has no place in the Google Adsense Program.

Besides, if you’re asking people to click on your ads, that means you’re not optimizing your site for valid clicks as well as referrals. Use that same energy to polish your content and your site. When family and friends ask what you’ve been up to, you can proudly show them your hard work. When they see how excited you are, you’ll see your referral revenue go up.

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Google Adsense: Google Adsense Themed Ad Units Can Brighten Up Your Holidays

What are Themed Ad Units. Simple. They are ads that have special colors and graphics to celebrate the season! For instance, you might see your ad with orange print with a picture of a black cat for Halloween. How about red print with a green mistletoe for Christmas?

The Themed Ad Units are specifically tailored to users in the appropriate locations as determined by their IP address. For instance, a user in the United States might see colors and graphics appropriate to the Fourth of July while users everywhere could see colors and graphics for New Years Day.

Again, it’s your choice and your page. You can turn Themed Ad Units on or off by yourself. Just log in to your account, go to the My Account tab. On the Account Settings page, scroll down to the Ad Type Preferences section and click Edit. You can now enable or disable the Themed Ad Units. Click save changes and Voila! Your selection will apply to all your Google Adsense Ads.

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Google Adsense: Don’ts for Using the Google Adsense Program

Google Adsense is a fun and easy way to make extra money. It’s important to follow the rules though as Google is serious about the integrity of this program. Not following the rules could result in your Google Adsense account being terminated. Here are a few Don’ts for using the program:


DON’T

Never, ever, ever click on your own ads. Google Adsense makes it very clear this won’t be tolerated.

Don’t ask your friends and family to click on your ads. Rather, earn money by referring them to the Google Adsense program.

Don’t participate in the Google Adsense program strictly for the money. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will take time and hard work to make a profit.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything the first day. Although the Google Adsense program is extremely user-friendly, it may take a little time to integrate all the facets of the program. Be patient and above all, have fun!

Hopefully, these helpful tips will ease you into using the program and help you avoid mistakes that could possibly cost you a lot of time or money.

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Google Adsense: How to Write Great Blogs and Watch Your Adsense Dollars Add Up

The best thing about blogging is that there are no rules. You can write about anything you want. A self-publisher’s dream! There are some things you can do though to maximize your Google Adsense profits. Narrow your subject. Don’t just write about shopping. Write about shopping for antique dresser drawer pulls. Write every day. Have a blog at more than one site. If you develop a readership, you’re more likely to increase your profits.

Write about something you know or want to know or at the very least care about. If you try to write a great blog based on a “hot keyword” yet it’s something you could care less about, you’ll likely not stay with it long. Experiment and see what works for you. You can write based on your own opinion or something factual. You can review a product or service or a movie. Read other people’s blogs and notice how many reads they’re getting. Above all, have fun. After all, it’s free and if you’re persistent you’ll see your Google Adsense dollars adding up.

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Google Adsense: Why Do I Need Google Adsense?

Because it’s there, it’s fun and it’s free. If you’re reading this, you obviously have some interest in the internet. You don’t even have to have your own site, although the more sites you use Google Adsense on, the more money you will make. For example, anyone can write a blog even if it’s just your own opinion on something.

You can also make money referring other people to Google Adsense. By placing a referral button on your site you increase your earnings potential. When a publisher that you referred makes their initial $100.00 within 90 days of sign-up and is eligible for payout, your account will also be credited $100.00. Additionally, they must never have registered for a Google Adsense account before.

Don’t be intimidated by the html code. It’s already formatted. All you have to do is choose the language and kind of button you would like, and copy and paste the html code to your site. Look for the referral code and more information under Adsense support.

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Google Adsense: How Much Money You Can Make and URL Channels Explanation

How Much Money Can I Make With Google Adsense?

How much do you want to make? How hard do you want to work? And how much time do you want to spend working the Google Adsense program?

These are the questions you must ask yourself in order to answer that question.

Look at it this way: how many business opportunities come your way where the only requirement is hard work and the time it takes to work hard? Not many. Almost any business venture requires some kind of start-up money.

If your total earnings is showing 0.00 after a week, not to worry. Keep reading and learning and working. If however, you’re still showing 0.00 after a month, it may be time to implement some of those optimization tips you’ll find on the Google Adsense Support Site. Play around with the placement of the ads on your site. Consider changing the colors. Look again at the content. Is it interesting?

As with any other business, with the Google Adsense program, the sky is the limit. Work hard. Work smart. Have fun. After all, you’re the boss.


What Are URL Channels and How to Organize Them in Google Adsense

URL Channels allow you to view detailed information about the performance of your Adsense for Content pages.

Suppose you have a blog at writingup.com and you also have a blog at bloggerparty.com. It might be interesting and profitable to track which one is getting more clicks. Log in to your Adsense account and click on Adsense for Content. Scroll down until you see Channels and click on manage channels. You may need to scroll up when the next page loads. Under Manage URL Channels you would type writingup.com and click on Create New Channel. You will immediately see writingup.com in the Active URL Channels dialogue box Now type in bloggerparty.com in the same channel text box and again click on Create New Channel. You now have two channels and you will be able to track your progress on each channel. You can view channel reports from the Advanced Report page under the Reports tab. Choose Adsense for Content, choose the date range and then select the Channels Data radio button. Choose any number of active channels by holding down the CTRL key. Next click on Display Report. It’s as easy as that.

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Google Adsense: Do I Need A Pin Number For Google Adsense?

When you accumulate $50.00 in earnings, Google Adsense will send you a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the payment address you supplied when you signed up. This is just another security precaution that Google Adsense has in place to protect their publishers but it is important.

Once you’ve been mailed a PIN number, your account payments will be on hold until the PIN is entered in your account. You can still have access to your account and earn money; you just won’t be paid until the PIN is entered. If it hasn’t been entered within 1 year, your account will be disabled.

To enter your PIN after you receive it in the mail, log into your Google Adsense account. Click on the My Account tab, then click on edit. Update the appropriate field and click submit changes. It would also be a good time to check your contact information and make sure it is correct. You’re now well on your way to receiving your first Google Adsense check.

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Google Adsense: Familiarize Yourself with the Google Adsense Preview Tool

The Google Adsense Preview Tool allows you to preview the ads that may show on any web page thereby letting you make an educated decision on whether to add Google Adsense to your existing pages.

You can also view sample ad formats and colors which will allow you to see how the colors and formats you want to appear in your ads will look before they actually launch on your pages.

You can also view borders, backgrounds and text colors from the preview tool and by clicking preview you can see how these will look with actual ads.

You can also see geo-targeted location ads meaning you can see what ads users in Canada can see even if you live in Japan.

The Preview Tool is available in all active Adsense languages and is easy to install. For specific installation instructions, you’ll need to go to the Google Adsense Support site. Follow the instructions and click on the link provided and you’ll be a previewing genius in no time!

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Google Adsense: Tips for Using Google Adsense

Like anything else, you’ll get out of Google Adsense what you put into it. The following optimization tips can help you grow your Google Adsense dollars:

Write interesting content and write every day. Have more than one site. The more sites you have, the more ads have the potential to get clicked.

Set up channels and monitor your statistics across all sites. If one site is performing poorly, consider changing the content or the ad layout. Experiment!

Change the ad layout and notice which layout works the best for you. There are many different layout options and there’s no way you can know going in which one will perform the best.

If you’re blogging, writingup.com has a list of profitable topics. They state that you don’t have to write on those topics but you might give it a try or at least plug some of them in to the search engines.

Google different key words and phrases and notice how much and what kinds of content and ads you see.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

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Google Adsense: Why it is Important to Get Approved for the Program and the Advantages of Not Getting Your Own Blog Site

Why Do I Have to Get Approved for the Google Adsense Program

It’s not really about you. Google has standards to which they adhere and there are certain sites that they don’t want their advertiser’s ads on. Check the Program Policies for an exhaustive list of what kind of content sites are not acceptable. For the most part, they do not allow ads to be placed on any site that has excessive profanity. This is probably the hardest one to decipher as the word “excessive” could mean one thing to a publisher and another thing altogether to the Google Adsense program. To be on the safe side, if you notice more than a couple instances of profanity on a site you are considering using for the Google Adsense program, you might want to consider another site.

Sites that contain ads for beer, liquor or tobacco products are not allowed to participate in the Google Adsense program.

Sites that promote hate or racist attitudes are not allowed to participate in the Google Adsense program.

If the site you are considering promotes gambling, drugs, even prescription drugs then it is not suitable for the Google Adsense program.

A good guideline to go by might be if a site is family oriented. That may not cover everything but it’s a starting place. Again, check the Program Policies for more information.


Why Your Should Not Pay for Your Own Blog Site

If you already have a website that showcases your wares or you’ve been thinking about getting one, that’s great. Since you’re working on building a business anyway, you can only profit more by implementing Google Adsense on your site. As long as it conforms to Google Adsense Program Policies of course.

If, however, blogging is your interest, I say stick with the most popular blogging site you know. Or even two or three of them. Why? Traffic. Lots of it. Blogging on an already populated site versus dreaming up your own blog site is like the difference between 5:00 traffic in New York City and an old dusty country road. Not only do the owners of writingup.com, bloggerparty.com and others like it bring in the traffic, they even help you make money when you bring in more traffic.

Remember what they say in real estate: location, location, location.

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Google Adsense: Dos for Using the Google Adsense Program

Google Adsense is a fun and easy way to make extra money. It’s important to follow the rules though as Google is serious about the integrity of this program. Not following the rules could result in your Google Adsense account being terminated. Here are a few Dos for using the program:


DO's

Read the Terms and Conditions and Program Policies thoroughly.
Read everything you can about Google Adsense. Learn from others’ experiences and mistakes.

Learn how to optimize your site for the most enjoyable and profitable Google Adsense experience. Realize it does take some time and hard work. That’s why it’s so important that you write about something you care about. Hard work is even harder if you don’t like what you’re doing.

Visit other sites that are benefiting from Google Adsense. Click on the ads only if you are truly interested in the product or service being advertised. Read other people’s blogs and comment on them. Only offer a comment though if it is truly sincere.

Hopefully, these helpful tips will ease you into using the program and help you avoid mistakes that could possibly cost you a lot of time or money.

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Google Adsense: Keeping Your Account From Being Disabled and Useful Books About the Program

How Can I Make Sure That My Account Will Not Be Disabled?

Google Adsense Program Policies make no allowances for deceptive practices. The most important thing a publisher can do to ensure the integrity of their site is to be aware of what is happening on your site.

Google has made it abundantly clear not to click on your own ads or ask others to do so. But what about practices a publisher may not purposely carry out?

Make sure that ads associated with Google never appear in an unrequested pop-up. Don’t be talked into purchasing traffic for your site that may contain adware.

Respect the Google trademarks. Don’t use any Google trademarks or logos without their consent.

Don’t change the Adsense code. If you’re a pro at html, don’t assume you can add your own code. If you’re new to html, simply copy and paste the offered code. Don’t mess with it.

Provide a good environment for advertisers and a positive user experience. Don’t try to be deceptive in any way. Google’s rules may sound strict, but believe me, protecting the integrity of the Google Adsense Program is in your best interest as well as Google’s. After all, a positive, honest Google Adsense program means more money for all of us.


Useful Books About the Google Adsense Program For Users of All Stages

Do you need to buy a book to use Google Adsense? Not necessarily. Google’s support page has a wealth of information. But you might consider it if you want to read a personal account of an Adsense wizard such as Eric Giguere or say, if you want to learn more about HTML. ‘Who Let the Blogs Out: A Hyperconnected Peek at the World of Weblogs by Biz Stone has a lot of information on blogging as well as information about Google Adsense. The following is just a few books you can find at amazon.com on the subject:

Make Easy Money with Google: Using the Adsense Advertising Program By Eric Giguere

The Google Adsense Handbook By Angus McLeod

Google Advertising Tools: Cashing in with Adsense, Adwords, and the Google APIs by Harold Davis

Top-Paying Google Adsense and Adwords Keywords for Pharmaceuticals (In Digital Format) [Download: Adobe Reader] By W. Frederick Zimmerman

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google By Dave Taylor

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Google Adsense: The Google Adsense Report and Why the Program is Original

Understanding the Google Adsense Report

When you log into your Google Adsense account, you are automatically taken to the page where you can view all your Adsense activity. On the Reports tab, you’ll see “Today’s Earnings.” This is the approximate amount you have earned today in your Google Adsense account. Earnings are not final at this point and could be adjusted for invalid clicks or fees.

It’s interesting to look at the breakdown. As you can see, Adsense for Content, which refers to the targeted ads appearing on the pages in which you have written content, is listed first. Here you will see the number of page impressions listed in the first column. While a page impression is generally the same as a page view, that is not always the case. For a more detailed definition of a page impression, see Google Adsense support, click on Your Adsense Account and then click on Your Adsense Report.

Next, you’ll notice the number of clicks. This refers to the number of times “your ads” were clicked on.

Page click through rate or CTR is in the next column shown as a percentage. It represents the percentage of the time an ad was clicked on after viewing your page.

Page eCPM which stands for effective cost per thousand impressions. It is calculated by dividing total earnings by the number of page impressions in thousands.

Don’t be intimidated by these statistics. The bottom line, your earnings, is what really counts. As you become more familiar with Google Adsense, statistics will become like second nature. First, just start.


How is Google Adsense Different From Other Ad Networks?

Primarily because it is Google and that carries a lot of clout just with name recognition alone. But here are some advantages to being a part of the Google Adsense network:

Getting started is fast and easy and requires no technical knowledge. Google Adsense even provides html code for easy implementation with clear instructions.

Google Adsense has both the Adsense for Content feature and the Adsense for Search feature.

Google Adsense not only provides keyword targeted ads but site targeted ads as well, maximizing your potential for revenue.

Google Adsense provides a filter so that you can choose not to run your competitor’s ads on your pages as well as filter other unwanted ads.

Google Adsense provides an extensive support site that is easily understood.

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Google Adsense: When Do I Get Paid Using Google Adsense?

Google Adsense pays you approximately 30 days after the end of the month in which you become eligible to receive payment. You become eligible for payment only when your Adsense account reaches at least $100.00. Suppose, for example, you started in January and at the end of the month you had not yet accumulated $100.00 in your Google Adsense account. You would then need to wait and see if your January and February earnings combined equal $100.00. If they do, you would be paid approximately 30 days after the end of the month of February, that is, you could expect payment near the end of March.

Another good reason to also use Adsense for Search is that you get to combine the earnings to reach the $100.00 payout minimum. So if your earnings for Adsense for Content do not reach $100.00 in time for the current payout, but when combined with your Adsense for Search earnings they do meet the payout minimum, you will be paid accordingly.

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Google Adsense: Understanding Image Ads and Making Google Adsense Dollars with Writingup.com

What are image ads?

Image ads are graphical ads. Unlike traditional banner ads, image ads are also targeted to the appropriate audience, just like text ads. A publisher that has a combination of image ads and text ads has a greater revenue generating potential.

Image ads are only for Adsense for Content pages and not available for Adsense for Search results pages.

There are 5 major formats of image ads. The Leaderboard, which is about twice the size of a banner ad, the banner image ad, the skyscraper, the wide skyscraper and the medium rectangle. Google’s technology determines on a page by page basis whether image ads, text ads, or a combination of both will make you more money and then delivers the appropriate format.

You can choose to run only image ads, but Google recommends selecting both, thereby giving them a better chance to target the right advertising for your page, generating more revenue for you.

Bottom line: taking these two methods together will give you the best chance at making the most revenue.


How to Make Google Adsense Dollars at Writingup.com

To get started blogging at writingup.com, first you’ll need to create a Google Adsense account. If you’ve already done that, you’ll just give them the same publisher id you got when you originally signed up with Google Adsense. Since you can only have one Google Adsense account, you will always use the same publisher id on every site you add. Next, you’ll create an account at writingup.com and within minutes, start blogging!

You still have to follow the Google Adsense rules as to the type of content not acceptable but other than that you have carte blanche as to what to write about in your blog. Paste your writingup.com URL into your email signature and every time you send someone an email, you will be referring them to your blog, thus increasing your traffic on writingup.com.

Comment on other publisher’s blogs. If you interact with the blogging community, you are more likely to have your blog read more often. Again, traffic.




Writingup.com has a list of successful topics you can write about. You don’t have to choose from that list of course, but it’s quite extensive and if you look it over, you’ll probably find something that interests you. They are successful topics because they turn up in search engines a lot. More traffic.

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