Video Blogging
Video is here to stay! Learn more about this form of blogging as well as what you need to know regarding web video and marketing online. When it comes to video, most people fail to remember that…
Wordpress for iPhone
If you don’t have an iPhone, buy one.
If you can’t afford one just yet, save your money then buy one. This won’t be a post on why I love the iPhone, but let me just say that this one piece of technology has literally become the brain of operations for about 85% of my online businesses.
While we can never replace the desktop or laptop entirely (I haven’t seen the photoshop app … yet) this computer with a built-in phone is nothing short of amazing.
O.K. so how can it help you make money blogging? Glad you asked. After upgrading to the 3G version, I started browsing the App Store for programs I could use in my business. After typing in the keyword “Wordpress,” I was presented with the WordPress for iPhone Application, and I wanted to take a few minutes to outline some of it’s features since I’ve been playing around with it all day.
How To Add A Wordpress Blog To Your iPhone
Like most things with the iPhone, adding a blog using the Wordpress Application is a breeze, and in the picture to the left, you can see just how easy it is.
Simply click the Blog URL button to enter your domain (both wordpress.com and self hosted blogs are supported), then add your username and password and your done!
Before hitting the save button, you are given the option to chose how many posts are to be displayed in the App as well as whether or not the images you add to a post will be resized (allowing for faster publishing).
Finally, for all this to work, you must enable the check box under Settings > Writing > Remote Publishing that says XML-RPC. This allows you to do remote publishing, and is not checked by default when you install Wordpress. Once that box is checked, you’re all set to start writing, editing, and posting to your Wordpress Blog from you iPhone.
How To Write A Wordpress Post With Your iPhone
When it comes to actually writing a post, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how easy it is. Just like in the main Wordpress Admin area, you are prompted to give the post a title, tags (if applicable), categories (if applicable), and a Status: Pending Review, Draft, Published, etc. You can also flip the iPhone to landscape mode for a wider viewing area when typing.
Pictures
All images you add to a post are put to the bottom by default, but since html is allowed, you can align or justify the photo(s) as desired. At first I thought you could only add text and photos, but when I previewed the post then went back to the “Write” tab, I saw that the picture was in html. Most likely, you won’t be doing any long posts with lots of pictures, but it’s nice to know you can use or edit html if you know how to do it.
Preview
After you’ve written the post and added any pictures, you can click the Preview button to see how it all looks. Sometimes it will be displayed just as it would on your site and other times it will say, “Sorry, the theme for your blog could not be retrieved. A simple preview is shown below.” Either way, you’ll be able to see how the finished post looks before publishing.
Settings
This final tab allows you to set the Publish Date, Password (if necessary), and select whether or not the photos will be resized.
Comments
Moderating comments is another available feature within the Wordpress App for iPhone. You can Approve, Disapprove, or mark them as Spam.
Publishing
When you’ve got the post just how you want, hit Save and the post is put to your Local Drafts folder on your iPhone. All that’s left is to visit the folder, change the check mark to Published, then hit Save. Your post is now published to your site.
Learn more about the Wordpress iPhone Application.
How To Add A Forum To Wordpress
For those interested in learning how to add a forum to your Wordpress site or blog, bbPress is a nice program from the creators of Wordpress to help you do just that.
Like Wordpress, bbPress’ focus is on web standards and due to the fact that Wordpress is becoming the defacto platform for blogs and websites in general, having a forum software created by the same people is a real plus.
If you’ve ever done any extensive research online for adding a forum to your blog, you’ll quickly realize there are not many highly customizable and professional solutions for those using Wordpress. Since bbPress has been created by the same people behind Wordpress, if you like WP, chances are you will like bbPress.
One point to remember: bbPress is still in a sort of “working beta” stage, and it is definitely not as easy to integrate as your typical plugin (it’s not a plugin). It is a standalone program that can be integrated with Wordpress, where for example, a person can register for your site through Wordpress or bbPress and not have to register twice - once for the site and once for the forum - so that is nice.
When it comes time to install bbPress, they provide great documentation and a pretty good forum (using bbPress if you want to check it out) to answer questions you may have.
Personally, I found a person through the forum that I hired to install/customize it a bit for me, and if you’d like to know his name, contact me and I’ll pass on his information. For the most part, however the installation should be pretty straight forward, and if you’re looking for a good forum software for Wordpress, I think you’ll really appreciate the simplicity and elegance of bbPress.
Blogging In An Economic Downturn
It doesn’t take very long to be reminded about the challenges our economy faces.
We’ve all heard the stories, and we’re all most likely feeling the realties of this current recession in one way or another. As I was thinking this week about the state of our economy, my mind immediately shifted to the internet (it usually does) and how this could affect those looking to make money blogging.
Since no one needs more reminders of the challenges this economy faces, I’d like to start off my first post by sharing why I think this is the BEST time to be blogging followed by a few things to consider.
It’s All About Timing
In the two most recent recessions (1990-91 and 2001), business starts had been falling until the year the recession began - but then took off again the following year. Paul Kedrosky from the Kauffman Foundation summed it up very well when he said:
Companies that are created in a bad economic period are more disposed to succeed. These entrepreneurs are the few, the proud, and the crazy. They tend to be highly motivated and can work on a shoestring budget.
There is no better time than the present to start that blog or web business. Do you already have one? Focus your efforts to grow it bigger. This is one of the few businesses with relatively no downside and almost limitless potential.
Let’s face it, we’re not talking about spending $250K to open a Subway. What business can you start for less then a $100 that has so much potential?
There’s not many. Actually, there’s not ANY that come to mind.
The internet affords you the opportunity to build a viable, revenue generating business for next to nothing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog or a full blown e-commerce website. No longer is it a question of the big vs. small but rather the fast vs. slow.
If You Want To Make Money, Start A Business Not A Hobby
Is the reason you’re starting a blog because you have this burning passion to talk about (fill in the blank), or is it because you want to make money?
If it’s the latter, then your focus should be on what people want to know, not what you care to share.
So many people make the mistake of trying to force feed their interests and passions to others when that’s really the exact opposite of what you should be doing.
When you walk into McDonalds, they don’t tell you want you want, they ask you. Think of blogging the same way. Find out what people are looking for, and simply answer their questions. Don’t treat your blogging business as your personal preferences, opinions, and ideals (unless that’s the point of the blog), focus instead on common questions people have. For those looking to start a blog, here are some common questions people ask:
- How can I lose weight fast?
- What are different parenting techniques?
- Where is the best place to find cheap airfare?
- How can I make money online? (BloggingExperiment.com)
The point is this. (1) Have a clear focus to your site. Don’t try to be all things to all people. That’s the very nature of why blogs are so popular. People can find other people who have very specific skills or knowledge about a topic that they wish to acquire. (2) Treat it like a business. If your looking to make money from your web business (blog, e-commerce site, etc) treat it like a business. Set measurable goals and objectives, have someone else hold you accountable, and know your end goals before you begin. (3) Don’t let the gloom and doom keep you down. There is no time like the present.
On a personal note, I realize we haven’t been “properly introduced,” yet so in the next couple of days I’ll be posting a bio so you can know a little more about me. In the mean time, I just wanted to share this one little thought as it’s been on my mind for the past few days.
Talk to you soon,
Kyle
Making Big Money In Weird Niche Markets
July 9th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in Blog Optimization, Blogging, Blogging Experiment, Motivation
Typically when I talk about making money online, I tell people to focus on the big, proven money making website ideas like health, wealth and relationships. Those markets are always in demand so it’s easier to make money in those markets.
BUT, every once in a while I come across a story of an entrepreneur who takes an unlikely idea and turns it into a huge money maker.
Here’s one of these examples I just came across…
As you know, gas prices are out of control right now. It’s a super hot topic that is on the news pretty much everyday. Most people sit around and complain about it because they think there is nothing they can do.
Here is one guy who is not complaining one bit!
Basically this guy found a way to run a car using WATER. It sounds crazy to me, but after watching the video on the middle of this page, it’s pretty impressive.
He says in the video that his car was about to drive about 100 miles or so on 4 OUNCES of water.
I’m not trying to start an argument over whether or not you can run your can on water or not. I don’t know anything about cars or how they work and I don’t see myself converting my car into a water burning machine anytime soon.
But it’s a great lesson of taking a huge problem in the world and coming up with a possible solution to the problem.
I’m sure this guy will make millions if not BILLIONS of dollars if this thing actually works.
Anytime it feels like everything is going wrong, the economy is crashing and the sky is falling, a few smart people always find a way to capitalize on the situation and become wealthy…
I wonder what other kinds of solutions we can come up with like this guy just did?
Information Sources for New Blog Content
After you’ve picked your domain name, brand, bought hosting, and installed the blogging platform; the next step is to develop your content. However, you should be extremely careful in selecting which informational source you will choose. This is to ensure that your blog post will not only be timely, it will be accurate as well.
An essential tool you should have is a good RSS feed reader. It can be time consuming to look into multiple sites several times each day for fresh content. So the most convenient way is to pull all these content into one location: your feed reader. Whenever possible, you should make it a point to subscribe to an authority site’s feed reader. Below are the sites you can look into for information:
- Blogs within the same category – you can find interesting news from other blogs in your niche. This includes news blogs and even non-news blogs.
- Online Magazines and Newspapers – this resource can provide a lot of information on your chosen category. It is also a good complement for social news websites and blogs which can overlook important pieces of news.
- Trade Publications and Academic Journals – you can highlight published reports and new findings on your blog. This will make your blog stand out from the rest of the web clutter. Take note thought that some publications requires a paid subscription before you can access its content.
- Press Release – you need to accumulate media contacts especially if you are just starting out as a blogger. Tell web services and e-mail companies that you are open to receiving press releases through e-mail. You should also make it a point to monitor Press Release websites such as PRWeb.
- Meme Trackers – these are basically websites that categorize blog posts according to their topic using an automatic algorithm. It will give you an overview of popular topics of a niche industry at the particular moment. Some sites you may want to look into include Technorati, Megite, and Techmeme among others.
Put Your Ad in front of thousands of bloggers seeking to make money!
Take Blog Promotion Offline!
When people hear about blog promotion, they immediately think of SEO techniques, link building, and other online promotional efforts. It certainly makes sense to promote your blog using these methods but conducting some offline promotional efforts is also worth considering.
A few years ago, it was not that difficult to get a high SERP ranking because there is only a limited number of people who blog about certain niches. In fact, “niche” probably became popular because only a few people actually write about their expertise. But nowadays, these seemingly niche topics are no longer “niche” in its true definition.
A lot of bloggers are exploring ways to make money online and they are discovering that it can be profitable to write about specialty topics even if they don’t necessarily have the expertise for it. But these bloggers know how to use optimization techniques so they achieve a high ranking and people inevitably visit their blogs. You will discover that your promotional techniques are no longer as effective as before because there are many people using the same techniques. So what can you do to get a competitive edge? Try to go offline.
Trying out offline blog promotion will result to better exposure and you will get a higher number of contacts. In addition, most people have the tendency to associate e-commerce sites that are being promoted online as being more credible than those that promote exclusively online; the same can be true for blogs. So how exactly can you effectively promote your blog offline? Well, below are some tips:
- Attend Blogging Conventions – most popular bloggers attend blogging conventions in their area; this activity has a purpose. You will establish a lot of contacts within the blogging community and you will get a lot of potential readers. In addition, you can learn a lot from other bloggers as well.
- Give out promotional items – whether it is a mug, a shirt, or even bumper sticker, make sure to give out some promotional items. This should include your blog URL with the description or motto of your blog.
- Sponsor Events - Depending on the topic of your blog, there will often be events or meetings that you can sponsor. Shoemoney recently mentioned this type of promotion as a method he has used for his newest project, fighters.com.
- Meetup with other bloggers – Often, members of popular forums, social networks, or blogs will organize “meetups” wherein the members can physically meet each other, allowing personal interaction among people that up until that point had just been another online personality. I would highly suggest trying to attend these events. Not only will you meet other bloggers or like minded individuals (who can be good for the occasional link or two from their sites), you’ll also be able to exchange ideas or even act as an informal Mastermind Group.