._/\_., originally uploaded by anto-XIII.

Using photos from flickr.com on your blog can make your writing come to life and provide your readers an exceptional experience. The photo above taken from the seat of a motorcycle, heading for the Eifel Tower, is just an outstanding photo. It makes you wish you were there. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words really is true.

To get started, you’ll need to go to flickr.com and sign up for a free account. There are paid accounts with a small yearly fee of $24.95 which will allow you to upload your pictures for distribution.

Once you have signed up with flickr, you will find that there are over 139,726,734 photographs available for your use in the area called the Creative Commons.

These photographs have been given the CreativeCommons.org license which gives you permission to use these photos with a few restrictions. You receive worldwide, royalty free, permission to use the photographs indefinitely.

There are restrictions to the way you can use the photos that are reasonable and that you must agree to.

Here are the rules you must follow:

1. You must attribute the photograph to the owner in the manner that the owner sets on the photograph. You can find that information on the bottom right hand side of the page that the individual photo is on. Basically you use their name and title of the photo.

2. You can’t use the photos for monetary gain. For example, you can’t download the photos and make calendars out of them to sell.

3. You may not collect any royalties on the photos.

4. You may not distort the photo in anyway. So Photoshop editing is not allowed.

5. You must include the URI for the license with every copy of the work you distribute. This is the copy of the license so that you can read the license in it’s entirety: Creative Commons License.

In your search for the right photograph for your story, you can see the most popular image topics that people have been posting in the past 24 hours, 7 days and since the beginning of flickr.

There is also a service called “Blog This” where you can find a photo and just click on blog this. Type your story directly on the same page that the photo is and push a button and it will post it to your blog. You’ll need to register your blog with them so that logging in to your site and posting can be done quickly and easily. The photo will be inserted into your post like the photo in this story was inserted.

Make your blogging more interesting by adding photographs from all over the world. You’ll learn what type of camera took each photograph and you’ll be adding a little BAZINGA to your story.

Timothy Ferriss

1. If you use the Category widget on your blog, change the name of the header to “Topics.” This dramatically changed the click through rate. It’s easy to do in WordPress 2.8. When adding that widget, just put the name you want in the form. Tim reports better responses with the title – Topics.

2. Sometimes an older post doesn’t have as much appeal as newer ones do. To fix this problem, you can display the dates on the bottom of your posts. To get this done, you need to change some coding on a file in your theme. You will have to look at the index.php file in the theme you have and find:

[php]<span class="time"><?php the_time(‘F j, Y’); ?></span>[/php]

You’ll need to comment that out by replacing that with:

[php]<!–<span class="time"><?php the_time(‘F j, Y’); ?></span>–>[/php]

Then you need to find this:

[php]<div class="date">
<div class="dateleft">
<p><span class="time"><?php the_time(‘F j, Y’); ?></span>
</div>
</div></blockquote>[/php]

and cut that (that means copy it and delete it) and paste it after:

[php]<?php the_content(__(‘Read more’));?><div style="clear:both;"></div>[/php]

Save that file and upload it to see the changes. If doing that scares you, ask someone to do it for you.

3. List the total read time for your reader. 250 words = about one minute. This helps prepare your reader for what you have written.

4. Write about what makes you angry without being negative about anyone in particular.

5. Write your post and then do SEO research after. Then make your keyword insertions or changes.

6. StumbleUpon is one of the cheapest sources of traffic there is. One post that ranks well can bring 40,000 to 50,000 page views.

7. Flickr has a section of photographs that you can blog about by going to the advanced search and then choosing Creative Commons, then most interesting. You can actually blog about a photo right from Flickr.

These are just some suggestions to make your blog better. Tim Ferriss has some great blogging tips!

That is the dilema I faced this past week and it was one I hope doesn’t happen again. It made me realize how totally reliant an Internet business is on search engines and unfortunately sometimes there is nothing you can do about it but wait and see if your good website ranking comes back.

To help you live through a traumatic experience like this, I have a few suggestions for you in keeping your website running smoothly.

1. Review all the files on your site to see if there are any files that shouldn’t be there. Look carefully at the ones that raise any questions in your mind.
2. Use Google webmaster tools.  There is a tool there that you can use that will delete undesirable pages from their index. So any unwanted pages that are indexed by Google can be removed.  I did that for a lot of pages that were reporting 404 errors because of what I had done to reorganize my blog pages.

1. In Google webmaster tools there is a blog that you can post questions, complaints, etc. and read about what others have experienced. Many people have experienced the same problems you have had.

1. Review the page in question that is not being included in Google’s index. Go through the page with a fine tooth comb and get rid of any unnecessary coding, make sure you are using your keyword phrase in all of your alt tags. Rename some of your photos with the name of your keyword phrase.

1. You can always pay a SEO specialist to take a look at your site. Let them see if they can spot anything unusual.

Hopefully your website business won’t go through this, but because it is on the internet, it is vulnerable to that. Use these tips to help you keep your search engine rankings.

It was thought to be nothing more than another one of those passing internet fads that wouldn’t last out the year.

It ended up being considered as one of the most addicting internet “fads” that spawned a whole lot of new internet marketing products. It has become way more than just an outlet for peoples emotions where they can blurt out whatever bugs them or whatever makes them feel elated. Savvy marketers have discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing methods that won’t cost you a cent.

What exactly is blogging? Blog is the widely used term that refers to web log. Basically, a blog is an online journal. A blog could be set up to no cost at all, and can be used for just for the fun of it or for business reasons.

Blogging for your Internet business is one surefire way to boost the visibility of your products and services.

Here are just a few ways to boost your internet advertising via blogging:

1. Keeps your clients or customers abreast of changes to your website.

2. Your new products and affiliate websites could also be announced through your blog.

3. Keep track of your business objectives and plans through open writing. Your blog content can be easily stored through archives. What could be better than searchable information that could be easily accessed by anyone browsing the web.

4. Air your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

5. Include links that will fetch back links and subsequently improve your ranking on search engines. This could be better executed through putting well-written articles in your website. Affiliate links could also be included in your blog to earn more extra income.

6. Collect response through the ability of blogs to fetch comments from your blog readers. You can learn and improve your products and services through with the feedback from your readers.

7. Connect easily with other bloggers. When other bloggers notice that you have something good in your blog, they will put you in their favorite lists that will automatically link you to their blogs.

So, how do you set up a blog?

One option would be to load a blogging software on your website, set it up and customize it to your needs. A second option, and one that is used by millions of bloggers is to signup with one of the blog hosting service such as LiveJournal, Blogger or WordPress.

Those hosts will provide you with easy instructions on how to put up your blog and are used by blogging worldwide.

**********
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Get more information on blogging and grab 100′s of free downloads
Start getting free traffic – it is time you find out how others are doing it.

John Chow

Have you ever wondered why some blogs become wildly successful while other blogs become ghost towns that no one visits?

In a recent interview on Breakfast Television, expert blogger John Chow was asked what is the biggest mistake that new bloggers make when they start blogging. His response was that it is a big mistake to start blogging just for the money. He recommends doing a blog just for fun.

When people start blogging just for the money, they neglect the passionate side of themselves. People like to read good content from others who are passionate about their topic. Choosing something to write about that you feel a lot of passion for basically makes the job, well, not a job. John said, If you are passionate about it, it’s not really work, is it?

If you can actually take that advice to heart and focus on what moves you everyday, then you are tapping in to an unlimited source of energy and insight that you can share with others.

John Chow was also asked what his original goals for his blog were. He said that he originally wanted to make $2,000 a month. Basically, to make a full time income with part time blogging. Currently making over $30,000 a month from his blog, he has surpassed his goals.

How does he suggest you get people to read your blog? His overall, number one strategy that cannot be overstated enough is to have good content. No one is going to read your blog if you don’t have good content.

Produce good content and then you have got to get your name out there. John suggests that getting your name out there is a matter of finding other bloggers who are writing in your niche area. Stop and say hello. Leave a comment on their blog that will benefit their readers. Link back to something on your blog that will help that audience.

Getting readers is all about linking to each other in the blogging world. A blog is like one big link chain, as far as I’m concerned, said John Chow.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklanpTMQ8M

What do you have to contribute today? What can you offer the blogging community? Perhaps an attitude of giving is the best one to have when it comes to writing and owning a successful blog on the internet.

Each guest was asked questions about what made their blog successful and what they recommended to others who are starting out a new blog.  They discussed issues such as which programs were making them the most money, whether Google Adsense was really Webmaster Welfare, and what topics are the best to blog about. They talked about how long it takes to establish a good blog and what to expect from your blog at the beginning.  All of them agreed that you need to have a passion for the topic you are going to be blogging about to avoid the dreaded “abandoned blog.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5T17234L4Q

Superior Blogging Class Videos

Before I continue, I need to say that I have found a much better video of this Blog World Expo Blogging Tips session than the one I took.  It covers the entire 45 minute session and you can even see me sitting in the audience. I’m the blonde on the right, below Jim Kukral.

I found this today after discovering that Twitter has a search feature that you can search for keywords. Just click on that link and replace the word “keyword” with whatever you want to search for. It’s a great way to hear the latest on the topics you are interested in.

Guest Blog Speaker  – John Chow of JohnChow.com

John Chow gave some good advice to people starting a blog. He recommended several things. One of his favorites is making money with the WordPress Themes through the Thesis Showcase Gallery

• Blog about something you feel passionate about
• Lay everything out on your website blog and be honest about all your offerings
• Use residual affiliate programs
• Offer direct advertising to people
• Offer great content

He mentioned that if he were to shut off his website blog, he would still be able to make a five figure income because the affiliate programs he offers people are all producing residual income. He also got to the point where he used his Google adsense advertising areas to offer direct advertising and immediately made more money.

Guest Blog Speaker Brian Clarke of CopyBlogger.com

Brian Clarke gave these blogging tips

• Repetition is the key – Talk about things over and over again
• The worst thing on a site is banners – the best things are product reviews where you convey to people that you are a real person, you used a real thing and you should too – teaching sells
• Don’t be a cat blogger where all you talk about is your cat.
• You may want to check this out with him, but he says that he’s able to make a lot of money from recommending WordPress Themes through the
• Build an audience and find out what they want to buy.
• Build an email list
• For handling newsletters and email lists, use AWeber
• Write for people, not search engines
• Word of mouth traffic is golden
• Use Chitika for advertising

Guest Blog Speaker Zac Johnson of ZacJohnson.com

Zac Johnson’s blogging tips

• Zac started on the internet 12 years ago and he’s only 26
• He makes 5 figures a month
• He likes direct ads and blog ads
• Meet with and talk to affiliate managers on a regular basis
• Zac tells people on his blog how he made $860,538.38 in 4 months

Guest Blog Speaker Darren Rowse of ProBloggers.net

Darren Rowse recommended these blogging tips

• Put ads inside of the content of your posts
• Affiliate products that you personally recommend sell well

Thank you to Jim Kukral who inspired me to invest in a Flip Video camera! He shared with the audience that these five star bloggers, pardon the language…”Bust their ass with blogging.”

Blog World Expo 2008

BlogWorld Expo 2008 was held last weekend, Sept. 19-21, 2008, in Las Vegas, U.S.A. More than 200 expert presenters in the field of blogging and internet businesses spoke at the 2nd annual Blogging Convention.

With so many great presentations, the hardest thing about attending the conference was being able to decide which speakers to listen to.

The conference started off with Richard Jalichandra of Technorati presenting the State of the Blogosphere.  Technorati.com allows users to submit their blogs and provides people with a system of tracking their blog popularity. Technorati has a list of the top 100 blogs according to user voting and community interaction. You can read the best blogs on a variety of topics.

Richard Jalichandra presents the State Of The Blogosphere 2008

In the state of the blogosphere report that Richard Jalichandra presented, we learned that there were 1.5 million posts in the last week on any given day and that Technorati has indexed 133 million blogs since 2002. Between 50 to 100,000 blogs where considered influencial.

The advice Mr. Jalichandra gave bloggers was to be transparent and authentic. He said that the new influencer in the blogging world, is…you guessed it…YOU!  Blogs are all about information and influence.

Technorati has a system of assigning blogs an authority ranking.  This ranking is based on a number of factors, one of them being the interaction or number of comments people are making on the blog and the number of times your blog is mentioned in other blogs.  They have said that there are between 50 to 100,000 blogs that are considered to be “influencial.” This authority ranking can be tracked by going to Technorati and registering your blog. 

There seems to be a critical point at which a blog turns the corner of being one in millions to becoming influencial.  Mr. Jalichandra stated that blogs with rankings in authority of 50 or higher have reached that critical mass point.  So bloggers, aim for that 50 authority.  Apparently there are only only 76,000 blogs that have reached that point.

The people at Technorati.com have conducted surveys to determine the answer to the question – How old are bloggers?

The results showed that 37% where between 25 and 34, 27% where between 35 and 44, 15 percent where between 44 and 54 and 8% were over 55 years old.

Only 14% of the bloggers surveyed were using their blogs to enhance their business. One out of 4 people spend 10 hours a week blogging. Out of the high money earners, (the top 10%) made 81 posts per month. $19,000 a year was the media income from blogging.

Blogging is here to stay and in my humble opinion will only become more influencial as time goes on. With the free software provided by WordPress and the inexpensive costs of buying a domain name and securing a hosting company to host your website, there aren’t any big hurdles to high to jump to get your blog started today.

* You can read the State of the Blogoshpere 2008.

John is best known for showing the power of blogging when he used his blog as an income case study. He took thejohnchow.com from $350 per month to a over $27,000 per month in just one year.

This is what is posted on his blog:

Total Blog Income for May 2008: 227,705.80 RMB

Despite the difficulties of doing business in China, the blog posted a record high income of 227,705.80 RMB, or 228 times greater than the average monthly income of a Chinese factory worker. The income converts to $32,529.40 USD. Here is the breakdown.

• Private Ad Sales: $16,380.00
• Affiliate Commissions: $9,757.04
• ReviewMe: $3,000.00
• Text Link Ads: $2,036.22
• Kontera: $1,000.00
• TTZ Media: $329.50
• Subscription: $20.00
• FeedBurner: $6.64
• Grand Total: $32,529.40

Sign up now for BlogWorldExpo 2008

Don’t forget to take your video camera and take videos.

These links are great places to submit your blog to get traffic back to your URL.  Some of the links go to blog tracking web sites like www.technorati.com where you can see tracking statistics and find out the popularity of your blog.

Some of the links, like the blog analyzer go to places that analyze your blog posts so you can see which of your posts are pulling the most traffic.

Other links are popular blog submission directories that have been recommended.

This is just a sample of how it will look in the back office of WordPress.  You can see it in on the right side of the page when you use the write screen to write a post.

If you want to suggest a blog submission diretory to be added to this list, please suggest one!

What does it cost?

I am releasing this 20 Top Blog Summission Directories WordPress plugin into the blogging community as donation-ware.

However, these plugins do take time to write, update, and provide support – so if you find it useful then please consider making a donation. You just click the button below and it will direct you to PayPal. You can donate any amount you wish.

One of the first plugins to be written for Word Press was a plugin called, “Hello, Dolly.”  Similar to the Hello Dolly format, which puts a line of lyrics in the upper right hand space in the Word Press Administration screen, the blogging tips plugin displays random blogging tips and suggestions. The tips are just some ideas of what you can do to improve the popularity of your blog and improve the content.  All of the tips are designed to inspire you to be a better blogger.

It is easy to install plugins to your blog.  You just download the zipped file and then open the folder on your computer.  You read the installation instructions and then just upload one file to your blog.  You will put it in the folder called plugins which is under the folder called wp-content.  Then you look for the file in your plugins directory within your Word Press back office and find the plugin called “Blogging Tips.” You click on activate. Be sure you deactivate the Hello Dolly plugin if you are currently using that. Enjoy the plugin.

Add a little fun to your Word Press blog and download this plugin for blogging tips.

What does it cost?

I am releasing this WordPress Plugin with Blogging Tips into the blogging community as donation-ware.

However, these plugins do take time to write, update, and provide support … so if you find it useful then please consider making a donation. You just click the button below and it will direct you to PayPal. You can donate any amount you wish.