Effective blogging - Quidoscope

Many of you may think that blogs are just a waste of time and is just like a stress buster and nothing so useful in it but, you will be shocked to know that some people make a living out of it and not just a middle class living, some bloggers are today millionaires. Most of them start off only for some fun and passing time and when they visit their blogs after someday's they are shocked to see 100's of viewers.

Secrets for effective blogging

Stay on topic
Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest. Most readers won't care that you eat Cheerios for breakfast. They may, however, be interested in the fact that vinegar takes out stains and that toilet paper rolls make great wreaths. Define a topic and stick to it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers.

Be informative
If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news. If you are endorsing a product or voicing an opinion, be sure to check your facts; your reputation is at stake. If you are offering an opinion, be sure to qualify your post, making it clear that the content is intended as an editorial.

Old news is not news
While blogging every day can be a drain, it is important that the information presented is current and accurate, writing an article or blurb about something that happened 6 months ago, will not be of interest to many. Telling your audience that Martha Stewart was convicted and will be going to prison, after her sentence is completed will make people question the value of your columns.

Adhere to a schedule
Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don't create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content. New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don't want to lose them due to lack of communication.

Clarity and simplicity
Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to understand. Remember, the web is global and expressions, idioms and acronyms don't always translate. Sometimes a little explanation goes a long way.

Keyword-rich
If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post should have a title that will attract attention but still be relevant to the post. The title should be no longer than 10-12 words.

Quantity matters
In order to attract the attention of search engines, you will need to develop content and substance. A headline or simple sentence is not going to generate the interest of readers or help with search engine ranking. Be sure to archive old blog posts to develop a large portal of similarly-themed content.

Frequency
If your blog content is updated frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.

Spell checking and proof-reading
It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from having to make embarrassing explanations. Remember that whatever you publish on the Internet can be found and archived. Think carefully about what you post before doing so.

RSS
RSS will increase your blog's reach. It is important that you include your blog's content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.

Most weblog audiences are small, but with time and regular updates audiences grow. Bloggers may never have more than a few hundred readers, but the people who return to regularly are generally interested in what you have to say.

Advertising Networks - Quidoscope

Ad networks

Finding advertisers can be a very tough job, time consuming and sometimes a big head ache. For helping you with this there are many ad networks, which generate ads for your site, but they do take some part of your ad sales.

Text ads

Google adsense - is the most widly used text ad network in the world, it is good paid, but you get paid only for a click.

Yahoo publisher network - is owned by Yahoo, has less features compared to Adsense and is not very much used.

Miva - is another well known company with more than 100,000 clients and 17000 partners in the market.

Kontera - is a very well known company, but is still downgraded as a ad network company as it failed to get many advertisers and is partially powered by Yahoo.

Banner ads

Ozone media - is an Indian based company, it has powered many of India's famous sites, but failed to suvive in the international markets.

Adbrite - is the biggest competitor for Google as it provides {PPC} ads, which can generate more revenue than just clicks.

In-line ads

Adbrite - is again ruling in this form of advertising, which matches to the content of the article.

RSS Feeds ads

Pheedo - creates new kinds of profit driven advertising services through distributed content, like RSS, for our publishers and advertisers. Our pioneering efforts have resulted in triple digit revenue growth for leading publishers and have connected millions of content hungry readers to top tier advertisers.

Feedburner - FeedBurner is the leading provider of media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds. Our Web-based tools help bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers promote, deliver and profit from their content on the Web.

Adsense tips and tricks - Quidoscope

a. Strictly follow the rules mentioned in Adsense policies. You will always earn more revenue from Adsense by playing it clean.

b. Never modify the Google Adsense HTML code. If have trouble embedding AdSense code in your WordPress or Blogger template, take help of the AdSense support forums or send an email to your AdSense account manager.

c. Never ask your friends or visitors to click on your Google ads. Google takes click fraud very seriously. Do not include incentives of any kind on your site for users to click on your ads. Don't label Google ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements.".

d. Don't click on your own ads - Google is much smarter than you think and can discover invalid clicks through IP addresses, site navigation patterns, etc. If you working on a new design for your site, avoid reloading your pages (with AdSense) excessively. You can turn off AdSense temporarily and avoid invalid CPM impressions. Or you can use the unofficial Google Adsense Sandbox Tool that is accessible from Firefox, IE and other browsers to see what kind of Google ads will be served based on content (website address URL) or keywords. 

e. Don't place ads in pop-up windows, error pages or even empty pages. Update: With the new AdSense policy change, you can probably place ads on 404 pages. Check with the AdSense support team.

f. Don't start a "adsense asbestos" or "home equity loan rates" website merely to make money from accidental clicks. You will never make money out these Made for Adsense websites. Instead, write on topics what you are passionate about. Don't waste your money on high-paying adsense keywords lists. Stay away from AdSense Adwords arbitrage.

g. For short articles, CTR is best when ads are placed just above the content.

h. For long articles, CTR will improve if you place ads somewhere in middle of the content or just where the article ends - when visitors are done reading the article, they may be looking for related resources. 

i. Use Text Ads instead of Image Ads as users get more options and the payout is often higher. If you still want to display image ads (for CPM), consider ad formats like the 300x250 medium rectangle or the 160x600 wide skyscraper as they support also support rich multimedia and the new gadget ads.

j. Google Ads with no background color and no borders will always perform better. Make the border color and background color same as your page background color.

k. Always put ads above the main fold. Make sure that the ad unit with the highest clickthrough rate is the first instance of the ad code that appears in your HTML source. Since the first ad unit is always filled before the rest, you want to make sure that ad unit is located in the best placement on your page.

l. Try setting the ad link URL color to a lighter shade. If your text is black, you may make the adlink as light gray or something like #666.

m. Go Wide - The large rectangle (336x280) is the best paying Adsense format especially for text ads. Try using the 336x280 large rectangle, 300x250 medium rectangle, or 160x600 wide skyscraper.

n. Don't places images next to Google ads as that will invite a permanent ban to your AdSense account.

o. Blend AdLinks with other navigation links or place horizontal adlinks at the top of your webpage. AdSense publishers are permitted to click on link unit topics on their web pages, provided that they do not click on any Google ads on the resulting page.

p. You should try adding a unit near the comments senction of your blog. See more AdSense tweaks.

q. You can put upto 3 adsense units on a page. Try putting a large skyscraper on the right navigation sidebar of your website. That area is close to the browser scrollbar. You can also add 2 AdSense for search boxes and 3 adlink units.

r. The first few lines of your content are an important factor for determining what Ads are served on your webpage. That's the right place to put keywords in bold (strong or tags) or header tags (h1, h2, etc).

s. Always select the setting to open Google Adsense search box results in a new browser window, so you won't lose your visitors. Click the Open search results in a new browser window checkbox and this add target="google_window" to your form tag.

t. Maximum people think the search box is on the top right corner. So you know where to put it.

u. Always syndicate full text RSS feeds and then monetize your feeds with a 468x60 ad in RSS feeds.

v. Monitor the AdSense performance of individual web pages with Google Analytics

w. For low CTR pages, try changing titles or adding more relevant content to get better focused ads. Alse see: Get relevant Google Ads

x. Block low paying advertisers with Filters. Why to loose a visitor for an ad that will only pay you a cent. Use Overture or Google Adwords Keywords tool to discover keywords that are less popular with advertisers.

y. Learn how to implement AdSense Revenue sharing if you run a site with multiple authors and need to pay your writers based on advertising revenue generated from their articles. 

z. Experiment with color schemes and layouts using split testing. You are the best judge when it comes to choosing ad formats for your own website. 

Even Google doesn't offer the best advise always. For instance, in the visual heat map, Google suggests that webmasters are best served by positioning ads on the upper left-hand side of a Web page but if you go to any search page on Google, the ads the mostly in the right. 

Bonus Tip: Use the AdSense Preview tool to determine what ad campaigns are currently targeted for your site in different geographic regions of the world. 

Enter any keywords or a website address (URL) and choose a geographic location of the visitors to see all the related related Google Ads.

Viral Marketing - Quidoscope

Viral marketing refers to the marketing techniques which involves pre-existing social networking sites or free video sites. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. The basic form of viral marketing is not infinitely sustainable.

The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create Viral Messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being passed along.

The term "viral marketing" has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on-line combined with undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.

Viral marketing examples

Hotmail

When Hotmail launched, much of its early success was due to the virality of the sigline that it attached to every outgoing email inviting the recipient to join. One of the earliest examples of viral marketing on the internet.

Subservient Chicken

One of my favorite viral marketing examples on this list, the creepy webcam site made for a Burger King campaign allowed people to control a guy in a chicken suit. It went viral almost instantly and for a few weeks was everywhere.

Blairwitch

In documentary style, the film featuring three teenagers venture into supposedly haunted woods made the local legend of the Blair Witch into a legend of viral achievements. Grossing $248 million worldwide from a budget of $22 million, marketing the film as real events garnered a buzz such that the three actors were "missing, presumed dead," according the Internet Movie Database.

Youtube

Created by Oglivy & Mather, an international advertising agency, the viral video of a ginger shorthaired cat's decapitation by a Ford SportKa infuriated animal rights groups worldwide, for which the agency has released apologies. Oglivy & Mather assured viewers no animals were harmed in the ads creation, and they were in fact visual effects.

Dailypaul.com

Using online grassroots movements, Republican political candidate Ron Paul raised more than $6 million in 24 hours for his 2008 presidential campaign, the largest one-day fundraiser in U.S. political history. Democratic runner Barack Obama has paid $240,000 for the maintenance of his Web site and social networking profiles, but has received $16.4 million in donations from donors who paid in increments of $200 or less.

Watchman

One of the most recent examples on this list, Watchmen’s viral campaign has consisted of fake newscasts and mock PSAs. Judging from the buzz online, these videos are doing their job. Fans are pumped up, and anxiously awaiting the movie’s release.

Jack in the box

The latest Jack in the Box campaign is another new example of viral marketing. During the Super Bowl, Jack in the Box ran a commercial (in some regions) that featured Jack getting hit by a bus. The commercial urged people to visit www.hangingtherejack.com . Unfortunately, the site wasn’t ready for the surge in traffic, and it crashed during its biggest chance to go hot.

Simpsons

When the Simpsons Movie came out, it boasted one of the biggest opening weekends of the year. While it’s easy to say this was because of the show’s illustrious history, the producers believe there’s more to it than that. In fact, they said the viral marketing campaign was the reason for the film’s great success. This campaign consisted of everything from changing 7-11s to Kwik-E Marts to allowing online users to “Simpsonize” themselves.

Direct advertisements - Quidoscope

Selling advertisements on a website is one of the most efficient and easiest ways to make money online. Many bloggers and webmasters utilize ad networks like Text Link Ads and ReviewMe, both of which take a huge 50% cut of all your ad earnings.

These third party ad brokers dominate our monetization strategies because of the strength and trustworthiness of their brand as well as their advertiser reach, which gives them the leverage to demand a cut of our ad earnings.

Alternative profit schemes are not often considered because of the lack of know-how when it comes to direct advertising sales, which simply refers to the selling of ads directly to advertisers without the assistance of middlemen.

Do you really need to sign up with as many advertising networks as possible in order to make some decent money from your websites? When was the last time you actually sold a link or review through these brokers?

More importantly, why not supplement or replace these ad brokers with direct advertising initiatives?

As such, I’ve decided to start a series of articles on how to increase your direct ad sales revenues. In the next few posts, I will examine the steps you can take to increase your ad revenue without sharing it with ad brokers.

Topics covered will include learning how to determine the ad value/pricing for your site, ways to find direct advertisers, advertiser-oriented site optimization as well as various types of direct advertising options available.

I’ll start things off with a brief introduction to the pros and cons of direct advertising before going into suggestions on creating an advertiser sell page, which should be the first step you should take.

Benefits of Direct Advertising

• Set your own Ad Rates. Not all brokers allow manual price setting and this is obviously one of the greatest benefits of direct advertising. Another key point is that you can utilize variable pricing to fit specific advertisers.

• Direct Contact with advertisers. You can negotiate pricing without having to go through any middlemen. This direct contact increases the likelihood of having long-term relationships and arrangements with advertisers.
  

• More Payment options. Some advertising brokers only allow you to receive payment once a month through a specific method like PayPal. Direct advertising allows you determine how you want to get paid and when.
  

• Diverse Advertising options. Direct advertising increases the type of ads you can sell. Advertiser networks and link brokers usually go by predetermined space allocations or ad types but direct advertising allows you to sell any type of ads or links you want without having to sign up with various networks.
  

Disadvantages of Direct Advertising

• Potential disputes. Some buyers might break long term ad arrangements and ask for a refund. You’ll have to assume the possibility of such disagreements occurring and take the responsibility of resolving them, instead of leaving them to ad networks.

• Difficulty of finding advertisers. Ad networks usually have a large inventory of ready advertisers who are looking to buy ads. Direct advertising requires you to find your own advertisers.

Should I still consider Direct Advertising as a revenue option?

My answer is simple: Definitely. I’m a very big advocate of direct advertising because of the freedom it gives and the potential for higher earnings. I love working with advertisers personally because it allows for a better fit between both party’s needs and goals.

The disadvantages involved in potential disputes can be resolved by finding reputable advertisers and having verbal/written agreements in place before committing to an arrangement.

Finding advertisers is also not as difficult as it seems. I will be dedicating an entire post in this series to the topic of marketing your ad space and ways to find relevant advertisers.

Getting Started with Direct Advertising: Create an Sell Page for Advertisers

An advertising sell page is basically a one-pager which tries to ’sell’ the benefits of advertising on your website to potential advertisers. An excellent sell page should also include the following details:

General traffic statistics. This includes monthly pageviews or daily visitors for your site. Using a graphic with values over time will make your stats easy to read and understand.Statistics should be considered a compulsory requirement because most advertisers are concerned with the amount of eyeballs who will view their ads.
If you are uncomfortable with displaying them in public, give general figures and ask the interested advertiser to contact you for more information.

1. Third-Party Ranking Schemes. This refers to ranking schemes like the Alexa Rank for all sites and Technorati rank/RSS subscribers for blogs. If your site doesn’t fare well on third party ranking systems, do not list them because it might deter immediate advertisers.
   

2. Types of Advertising Options available. Indicate what type of ads you will be willing to sell on the site. Try not to overwhelm the buyer with options and do not include advertising networks. Advertisers are drawn to ad options that are clearly defined and uncomplicated.
   

3. Disclosure Policy. Inform the buyer about your stance on paid links. Will you be declaring them as sponsor links and how will you be doing so?
   

4. Advertising Guidelines. If you don’t want to sell advertising to websites of a specific genre (adult, gambling, Made for Adsense etc.) you should indicate this so that you’ll only get quality queries from buyers.
   

5. Advertiser Testimonials or List. Including testimonials from previous advertisers will make your site more attractive to potential buyers while allowing you to gain their trust. Note that not all advertisers are willing to write testimonials so an alternative would be to put up list of previous advertisers.
   

6. Site Awards and Reputation. This is where you get brag about your site’s achievements and list out any awards it might have won. Include quotes from notable bloggers and places where your site content is syndicated. This adds to the overall ad selling value of your site.
   

7. Call-to-Query note. This should be placed at the bottom of the sell page and should request that the potential buyer contact you if they are hesitant about buying an ad. See my post on buyer pre-emption for an example of a call-to-query note.
   

8. Contact details. At the very least, you need to provide a valid email address or contact form. Internet Messengers or telephony can also be helpful but are optional.

This advertiser sell page should be placed as a banner or link at a prominent position such as your header, or the top left or right sections of your site.

Using Variable Advertising Rates to Your Advantage

Do not list your advertising rates because you should not assume to know the budget or expectations of the buyer. Two things may happen if you list your advertising rates openly:

1. You are liable to lose buyers if they find the ad price to be even slightly above their budget. You also automatically forfeit the ability to negotiate with buyers who can easily afford to purchase advertising on your website
2. Openly declaring your rates will stop you from using variable pricing because you’ll have to charge each advertiser the same rate, which is exactly what the middlemen are already doing.

I suggest writing a note which invites buyers to contact you if they are interested in learning more about advertising rates.

When I receive a query what I’ll usually do is that I’ll ask for the advertiser’s website URL and check out the website personally to get a feel of the advertiser’s buying power. After which, I’ll quote a rate that is either higher or lower than a standard figure that I expect to get.

And this concludes my first post in the series on how to develop direct advertising sales as an alternative revenue source. Stay tuned for the next post in the series, which will examine the types of direct advertising options available, while featuring tips on setting an appropriate advertising rate for your site.

If you haven’t done so already, you might want to subscribe to my blog feed to receive news on future posts in this series.

If you’ll like to continue reading, please visit the rest of the posts in this series:

Trade advertisiments - Quidoscope

There is no better advertisement campaign that is low cost and also successful at the same time. Great business ideas when utilized effectively can save lots of money. This is not only easy for those who work full-time as an advertiser, but also for those who work from home.

Advertising from home is also a low cost option, which involves making and distributing fliers. Usually potential customers will visit home for business dealing. Print good amount of fliers and give it to anyone who is visiting home like family, friends, mailman, etc. Business cards can also be distributed. Few selected people can be given sample of the product. For those who work outside home, employ college students to distribute fliers at supermarkets, community centers, or malls, especially on weekends, when there is a rush.

Spread the word by the mouth. Talk to everyone about the product and ask them to talk about it to others. It's a very powerful tool to increase the network and doesn't even cost anything. When receiving a casual call from family members and friends, don't forget to tell them about the latest events, discounts and promotions and ask them about what they are up to. If the parties are into the business, it won't hurt to promote each other. Joint ventures can be started with trustable people of the same trade. The only cost that will be incurred during the whole process is of printing fliers. For a better quality, professional can be hired to design them, as they will be able to play with colors and write motivating material.

Most of the businesses have company bulletin board that they use to put up company's latest news. Fliers and business cards can be tacked on such bulletin boards. But before doing so, check out with the human resource department before placing the information as most of the HR departments make it compulsory to consult them.

Parents are required to be in regular touch with the teachers to know about the progress of the child and they have meetings from time to time. Do not miss this opportunity and spread the word. Hand them the business card and fliers personally at the meeting, instead of just giving the contact number.

Get involved with fundraiser at schools, as it's a nice approach to market business. Prior to handing out the order received, collect all necessary information like business card pack, fliers, with proper information. Information can be based on what is the company about, what are the products and services provided, or how to get in touch with the company. In each individual order, carefully place all of them and seal the package properly. Presentation, too, is of importance and should be paid attention.

Voice mails can be put to good use, other than recording messages. They can help to deliver the marketing message. Greet with a brief message, following with website and email address, so that who ever calls will be already having the telephone number and they will be able to learn more about the business by visiting the website. When the company is providing special promotional offers and discounts, include information about those in the voice mail. Discontinuation of any services of products can also be informed about. Repetitive voicemails sound boring, so keep changing the voice mail frequently and add some creativity to it.

Most of the big businesses attach business cards or fliers with out going mail. This works for companies who send bills to their customers. For those who have customers paying online, they can send the information through emails.

Advertisements can be done, in the locality, by placing fliers on the bulletin boards of the local grocery stores, businesses, barbers, or butchers. People frequent these places and there is a

possibility of getting a good response. Some businesses place a jar at the reception counter where the business cards can be dropped for future reference, while visiting them.

Adserver's - Quidoscope

A lot of people don't know the ins and out along with the small details of making money online with your blog. If you truly want to earn money from your blog then you have to look at all of the available resources. Take a look at different tips and strategies used by others who have gone on to do quite well on their sites in terms of the amount of revenue generated.

Well today I am going to share some tips and strategies with you that will help you increase the amount of money you make online with your blog. I came across a neat little site called Adbrite. With 
Adbrite it's very easy to get started. First of all you give a description of your site and you are able to get a copy of the Html code which is the ad-serving code and copy it on your site and now you are ready.

With AdBrite you are in complete control because you receive text ads which are customizable, banner ads as well as active interstitials; these are ads that are full display ads which pay more. If you don't approve of an ad you are able to reject it for whatever reason. Maybe it's a competitor ad or may the ad is not socially acceptable, you ca then reject it. You are also able to set the price you charge to advertisers and along with the time frame whether it be daily, monthly or weekly. Adbrite has just recently partnered with some new networks including Advertising.com, Burst Media, and Adpepper so this allows these networks to sell inventory to Adbrite's marketplace. These additions will help to make the program an even bigger success.

And don't worry if no advertisers purchase your ads network ads are placed on your site. This is my first experience with AdBrite so I am looking forward to the results I will receive once I start to generate more traffic to my blog. If I start getting 500 to 600 visitors per day then it will be well worth my while because at that point I will know that I am on my way.

When it comes to getting the right amount of traffic you have to be patient. It takes time to build up enough traffic that allows you make a significant amount of money

The e - millionaire - Quidoscope

In today´s business environment, you should be aware that serious cash is made on the internet. So, regardless of your background or experience all you need is the right 'system' to make it happen! I have discovered this and would like to share it with you. Whether you´re just curious how to make a little extra money online or really want to pursue a serious business, you owe it to yourself to seize the current opportunity and pursue it.

Today, you will learn about a system that will never stress you about traffic and money ever again. This system has nothing to do with: ADWORDS, SEO, PPC, Blogging, Pop ups, Pop Exits, Articles, Link Building, Classified Ads, CPA Networks, Text Ads, Co-Registration, Banner Ads, Web 2.0, Social Networking, email drops or Media Buys.

What you will be exposed to is the true inner-circle secrets hidden inside the super affiliates and hot internet marketers vaults of our time. You will be exposed to how you can generate server-blowing targeted, free traffic with an endless supply of cash-paying customers without spending a cent on advertising. No matter the stage you are currently at struggling to make money online - grass-root, beginner, intermediate or advance, you should throw away ALL those courses, manuals, CDs and seminar DVDs you have bought over the years and read very carefully. What you will learn is one simple system that when applied correctly from start to finish EXACTLY in the order it is compiled, you will get instant 'Traffic AND Cash' Explosion practically overnight!

Once you turn your website on with THIS system ... the traffic will not only be 'super' targeted, it will cause your hosting company to bring in more servers to support you PLUS you will pump so much 'real' cash into your account like you have never witnessed before!

Increasing site traffic socially - Quidoscope

The site has been built, the content has been targeted with keywords and long tail phrases. We're spending time commenting on blogs and submitting links to directories. So, where's the traffic?

Well, the search engines and the people have to find your website in some manner. There are a few key ways that internet users find websites.

- Direct links from advertising

- Search Engine Searches

- Virtual Word of Mouth

Direct links from advertising is pretty much what it sounds like. You pay to place your link or your ad or your link and ad in a highly visible place where people click on it and are guided to your website.

Search Engine Searches: Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, etc. You get it.

Virtual Word of Mouth. In the past few years there has been explosion of websites that are not using the traditional static information pages to generate and drive content. A new player has entered the web information realm. You, the user.


This is Web 2.0.

Social networking, social bookmarking, social searching, social interaction.

Okay, so what does this mean for me? I mean really, I just have a local Garden Shop here in Seattle with a new, little website that I'm hoping will bring a little business my way.

Web 2.0 properties (websites) can be great sources of traffic. And they're also a great way to get your website indexed by the search engines quickly.

What are some useful Web 2.0 sites?

There are literally thousands of user interactive, user driven websites out there. And a hundred more appear each day. You might have heard of some of the bigger 2.0 sites out there: Stumbleupon, Digg, Del.icio.us, MySpace, Facebook, Technorati, Wikipedia, etc. Some of these sites are the most trafficked sites on the web. Millions of users are using these sites on a daily basis.

Each of these sites promotes social interaction in a slightly different way. MySpace and Facebook encourage social networking in a 21st century way. They make it easy to find users and large groups of people with similar interests and contact or market to them in a quick and efficient manner.

The social bookmarking sites like Digg, Del.icio.us, and Stumble upon (among hundreds of others) have users submit content - articles, webpages, videos, blog posts - and promote them in different ways often employing a form of online voting (digging, thumbs up or down, bookmarking) that encourages more traffic the more users promote/vote for different sites.

Wiki's are a great way to find user generated information. On Wikipedia anybody can go in and write about or edit information on a million different topics. It's like a giant online encyclopedia that is continually being generated/edited/written by the readers and users themselves.

So how will these sites help my small business?

Use them. Promote your site with them. Bookmark your content and articles. Submit links to them. Add your link to a wiki. Create a gardening group on Facebook.

Technorati for bloggers - Quidoscope

The leading blog search engine, Technorati.com indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. The site has become the definitive source for the top stories, opinions, photos and videos emerging across news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business. Technorati.com tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.

Blogcritics.org

Audiences rely on Blogcritics.org — the famously "sinister cabal" of more than 2,500 writers who publish more than 250 original articles each week — for the latest news, opinions, and reviews on music, books, film, TV, popular culture, technology, and politics. Blogcritics.org is a filtered microcosm of the Blogosphere, and a full service news and reviews source, covering all aspects of contemporary culture and society. Other properties under the Blogcritics umbrella include Glosslip.com and Desicritics.org. Blogcritics was acquired by Technorati Media in August 2008.

Technorati Media

Technorati Media is an advertising network of blogs and social media sites that places brands the center of the global online conversation, delivering reach to influential bloggers and consumers with innovative and engaging programs. Technorati has the leading blog search engine, which generates the most comprehensive information on the Blogosphere. This data, combined with robust indexing technology, forms the basis of an ad targeting platform that connects brands with the most relevant content and audiences, enables the creation of custom and micro channels, and delivers valuable insights on the trends that emerged in and around each campaign.

TechnoratiEngage

Technorati Engage, a self-service advertising network of blogs and social media sites, is currently in public beta. The launch of Technorati Engage adds a solution that helps bloggers at all levels make money, while at the same time creating an effective and safe vehicle for brand advertisers. Blog and social media sites are evaluated against Technorati’s content quality standards before they are accepted, and access will be given only to qualified advertisers. Technorati Engage is powered by the AdEngage platform.

AdEngage

AdEngage is an online advertising network and platform that displays more than 12 billion ads on more than 4,000 websites each month. AdEngage was founded by the publisher of an independent site, who was frustrated with other ad serving companies, expressly for publishers of independent sites. Ease of use for both advertisers and publishers, dependability, and the accessibility of the AdEngage service team has contributed to their excellent reputation with publishers. AdEngage was founded in May 2004 and has grown rapidly each year. Acquired by Technorati in October 2008, the company will continue to operate as a standalone entity and grow its existing self-serve advertising network

Niche blogging - Quidoscope

Niche blogging is the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it to market to a particular niche market. While it could be argued that all blogs are, in some form, a niche blog, the term as it applies to marketing refers to a particular kind of blog.

Neither blogging nor niche marketing is a new concept. However, only in recent years has the concept of a niche blog come into being.

Usually, niche blogs will contain advertisements of some sort (pay-per-click or products or both). In some cases, the purpose of the niche blog is to incite the reader into visiting another website which may then attempt to sell the reader a product or service.

Niche blogs are sometimes referred to as splogs, but this is a misnomer. Even though the desired end result for the niche blogger is to make money, the niche blog itself often contains valuable information. Most pay-per-click advertising is content-sensitive, so it is vital to the niche blogger to have useful content that is related to the chosen niche.

Niche marketing lines the pockets of dozens of internet gurus. These people make content rich websites and churn out keyword specific articles for marketing purposes and back link building. They use Google Adwords to purchase click throughs that are targeted to a specific keyword niche. But you do not have to spend a lot of money to get in on the profitable business or online niches.

Most people know what blogs are. Most people already have one. What if you could build a blog just as easily that creates a true income for you every month?

In order to dominate a niche that is, get listed in the top search results on the big search engines like Google you need to pick a very specific niche. Your niche will be your exact keyword phrase.

How to Choose Your Niche?

Use a keyword research tool such as Wordtracker or the Google Adwords tool to search for keyword phrases that get at least two hundred queries per month. Two hundred does not seem like a lot, but since you are focusing on targeting, it is a fine amount for a niche blog. Why not choose a keyword phrase with more searches? Because those also have more search engine results.

Picking a niche you can make a profitable blog out of depends more on how few search results there are, than how many searchers. Low competition is the key to profit.

Once you find that low competition keyword phrase, start your blog. Remember that everything in that blog should have that keyword phrase in it: every post, every article, every picture, every tag on the page should include your keyword phrase.

That does not mean you should use your keyword phrase indiscriminately all over your niche blog. Use only white hat' search engine optimization practices: no hidden keywords. Also, be sure to include great information your readers will want to subscribe to.

Dominating a niche market is easy with a free blog. After choosing the niche keyword and getting up some quality content and pictures using that keyword phrase, it is time to monetize your blog. Do not go overboard. Some contextual advertising, such as Google Adsense, and one or two affiliate program products will work.

Dominating a niche market online is not as hard as it sounds, even with a free blog. Remember that success online is largely about quantity of traffic. Keep track of where your traffic is coming from and build on your success. Profit will follow.

Search Engine Optimization - Quidoscope

The Internet is changing the way in which business is done all over the world. Industries are being completely remade in light of the Internet. Phrases like SEO, web-marketing, keyword density, and content spinning have become common advertising phrases. Marketing has found a new niche through pay per click, pay to read, and pay to surf techniques.

For all of these things to work advertisers need to understand search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO is simply using the right keywords the right number of times and in the right ways to make content easier to find in a search engine.

Sounds easy right? The truth is that with all the competition on the web SEO can either make or destroy a web sites chances of success. Fortunately there are web-sites that provide free and helpful SEO tools that can help find the best keywords to attract the most traffic and advertising dollars to a web-site.

Google Ad-words

Not only is Google the largest Pay per click advertiser, it provides a large amount of helpful information in the way of SEO development. Their Key-word tool, located at adwords.google.com/select/Keyw ordToolExternal?defaultView=2 allows anyone to enter a specifc keyword or words and will generate a long list of related keywords.

This list can display the search volume, search trends, ad position, competition, and the highest amount advertisers will pay (CPC), for each particular keyword.

This information can be used in many different ways. Using a keyword with a large cost per click CPC means that advertisers will pay a large amount to advertise using that keyword. The amount of ad revenue that keyword can potentially bring in will be large.

Keep in mind the competition piece though, a lot of competition means that many other web sites are using that same keyword to bring in the ad revenue.

Google provides a long and helpful list that may be sorted by any piece of data that Google provides. It will even suggest related keyword.

SEO Bloggers World

This website, located at www.seo-bloggersplace.org/ is a blog site that focuses on SEO. Here there are blogs about SEOP tools, SEO strategies, and general SEO information.

This is a valuable tool for anyone interested in sharpening their SEO skills.

Many free sites exist that can assist with the sometimes complicated world of search engine optimization. Google Ad-words has been a treasure trove of useful information for me. SEO Bloggers World provides a great deal of SEO information, even for someone just starting to learn about SEO.

There are also many pay sites to learn about SEO, but the free sites can prove just as valuable, if not more so.

Articles for your site - Quidoscope

Get your users the best articles from the internet for free or by partnering. Internet users today want fast, free dynamic content. If you provide that your website is going to be in a rush for sure. But creating articles on your own can be a bit of a headache.

Helium

This is one of the best article sites in the world, but it is poorly noticed due to the lack of good search optimization and advertising. It has articles on very varied topics with thousands of specialised authors. You need to partner with Helium to use there articles for commercial purposes, partnering is free.

GoArticles

There is nothing you cant find here, its article collections brings it very close to Wikipedia, it has articles in all categories and in all languages. It gets authors from all over the world. In this website there is no embed code, you'll have to copy and paste every article. Maybe this is what makes it very frustrating to all webmasters, but it is worth it.

EzineArticles

This is one of the best in the article business, it has very high page rank and good alexa ratings as it gets large number of daily users. It gets its content from upto 4 million authors and distributes it to 35000 websites. It gives both paid and free content. Paid content is unbranded and allows full data api. Free content is co-branded and does not give data api.

Buzzle

Buzzle.com is comprised of a dynamic network of authors and content contributors who we proudly refer to as our Intelligent Life on the Web. As subject experts, our authors and content contributors create an informative, yet comfortable place for finding information about everything from animals to tourism. With current news in our What’s the Buzz? section, thousands of interesting categories, endless entertainment from our Escape Hatch, an interactive online community, and thought-provoking polls, Buzzle.com offers a medium through which to share knowledge of the world.

WebProNews

WebProNews is your comprehensive resource for news, information, and tips related to online business. They cover the latest developments in search engines, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, advertising, and online branding.

E - mail marketing - Quidoscope

Anyone who owns an Internet business should be sure that marketing by email is at the forefront of their overall marketing plan. In this article, we are going to point out the most effective strategies for doing email marketing.

Marketing by email is a simple and potent method for promoting your Internet business. Direct mail marketing, while also effective, does not generate the same results as a properly done email marketing campaign.

Ultimately, your goal for marketing by email should be to sell something to your list. There is a skill that you need to develop to do this and many Internet marketers fail in this regard.

The two most common mistakes that people make with their email campaigns are the following. First, many marketers fail to build relationships with the people on their list. Secondly, many marketers ignore their lists for long stretches and they are inconsistent with keeping in contact with their members.

Autoresponders have the capability of being pre-programmed for as long as you want in advance. The relationship building comes about by offering lots of free and useful information in the early stages without asking your opt in members to buy anything.

Another common problem is that marketers often don't build a big enough list. This business, in a large way, in a game of numbers so your chance for success will increase greatly as your list grows. People tend to sign up to your programs when you hit them at just the right time. Additionally, when your prospects receive your newsletter on a consistent basis, they will stay interested and engaged.

How then can you go about increasing the size of your list?

1. Think about growing your opt in list by one subscriber at a time. Using this strategy will take longer, but your list will be high quality and will stand the test of time.

The way to build your list in this fashion is to have opt in forms on your home page as well as every other page that you create. Additionally, make sure that the opt in page is on your blog as well.

2. Find a good co-registration lead company and buy leads from them so that they can help you build your list. Some of the most successful Internet marketers today built their lists by purchasing these leads.

Once your list starts filling up, make sure that you put in the work to build relationships with your subscribers. In this way your future earning potential will be maximized.

In summary, these are the 2 best methods for growing your subscriber list so that you can conduct a successful marketing by email campaign.

E - mail marketing - Quidoscope

Anyone who owns an Internet business should be sure that marketing by email is at the forefront of their overall marketing plan. In this article, we are going to point out the most effective strategies for doing email marketing.

Marketing by email is a simple and potent method for promoting your Internet business. Direct mail marketing, while also effective, does not generate the same results as a properly done email marketing campaign.

Ultimately, your goal for marketing by email should be to sell something to your list. There is a skill that you need to develop to do this and many Internet marketers fail in this regard.

The two most common mistakes that people make with their email campaigns are the following. First, many marketers fail to build relationships with the people on their list. Secondly, many marketers ignore their lists for long stretches and they are inconsistent with keeping in contact with their members.

Autoresponders have the capability of being pre-programmed for as long as you want in advance. The relationship building comes about by offering lots of free and useful information in the early stages without asking your opt in members to buy anything.

Another common problem is that marketers often don't build a big enough list. This business, in a large way, in a game of numbers so your chance for success will increase greatly as your list grows. People tend to sign up to your programs when you hit them at just the right time. Additionally, when your prospects receive your newsletter on a consistent basis, they will stay interested and engaged.

How then can you go about increasing the size of your list?

1. Think about growing your opt in list by one subscriber at a time. Using this strategy will take longer, but your list will be high quality and will stand the test of time.

The way to build your list in this fashion is to have opt in forms on your home page as well as every other page that you create. Additionally, make sure that the opt in page is on your blog as well.

2. Find a good co-registration lead company and buy leads from them so that they can help you build your list. Some of the most successful Internet marketers today built their lists by purchasing these leads.

Once your list starts filling up, make sure that you put in the work to build relationships with your subscribers. In this way your future earning potential will be maximized.

In summary, these are the 2 best methods for growing your subscriber list so that you can conduct a successful marketing by email campaign.

Video Streaming

Making money on the Internet has always been a kind of mystery. It has always been hard to know what will capture the imagination of the customer and propel you into the big league. But there's no doubt that the Internet has the potential to make a millionaire out of a pauper, if he knows how to use it. You may have a grand product or business plan, but it will fall flat if you do not publicize it properly. And here comes the concept of Internet marketing. The newest entry to this field has been video marketing.

What is it? It's basically nothing more than publicizing your product with a video. This video may be hosted on your own portal or on public video sites. Viewers watching this video ought to learn more about your product or service. Obviously, your ultimate aim with Video marketing is to convert the viewer into a customer.

How much difference can a video make?

A lot! It is very important in that it uses a combination of audio and visual media to make your point more accessible to a potential customer. It is doubtlessly true that a video can impart more information in lesser amount of time than any other advertising medium. Hence, when you wish to go that extra mile for publicity, Marketing using videos is an absolute must.

What does my video need?

A shoddy Video marketing campaign can ruin your product. So, your video must be carefully made. It must showcase the features and advantages of your product or service in the shortest possible time but in the easiest possible way. This is the true secret of marketing utilizing videos. Your video must have style and most importantly, must be able to attract viewer attention. Always remember that a great video can capture the imagination of the customer like nothing else.

How do I make my video interesting?

Making an interesting video campaign is a tricky affair. But there are certain pointers that generally help, like:

- Making the video humorous

- Using popular figures like celebrities; using children is also a popular option

- Staying away from too many technical details

- A great soundtrack

- Keeping it short and sweet

- Very interestingly, most people prefer watching a video with subtitles

How do I publicize my video?

Like most content aimed at advertising, search engine optimization is very important in video marketing as well. When you go in for visual marketing, you will need to host your video, either on your own site or on popular video hosting sites. The main thing to look out for here are tags. Proper tagging will help your videos to no end as it will ensure that your video pops up on relevant searches.

Strategic visual marketing is still a growing quantity, but its potential is enormous, far larger than static or animation based advertisements. So if you want to stay abreast of the competition, video marketing is a must for you.

Hosting Service

First - it's important to point out that there is no "best" host out there, a better way to look at it is a search for the best host for YOU and your needs. That being said,

here are some general things to look for when shopping around for a good host.

Age of the Company:

Age is not always the best indicator of quality but it is something to keep in mind. The hosting market is extremely competitive, and if a company manages to survive for a while they're probably doing something right. The other thing about age is that you'll find more customer reviews out there and I don't know about you - but when see a positive customer review that says "I've been with my host for 3-5 years" that adds a little weight.

Number of Customers:

The size of a company's customer base can greatly affect their ability to provide reliable hosting and efficient customer service. But if they're able to operate at higher levels and still maintain good standards, it's reasonable to assume that they have a decent sized infrastructure in place. So if a company has over 400,000 customers and still has positive reviews / good uptime - chances are they'll be around for a while.

Room to Grow:

If you're planning to grow your site at all, you may want to think about that before you choose a hosting company. So if you go for a Shared Hosting plan, you may want to take a look at the host's upgrade options to avoid having to switch hosts later on. Switching hosts is not the end of the world, but why not avoid it by thinking ahead a bit?

Customer Reviews:

Do the research and read some customer reviews and get a feel for what's being said about the web hosting companies. It's normal to have a few negative reviews, but of the majority of reviews are negative - that's not a great sign. Take a look at their listing at theBetter Business Bureau for more info.

Uptime Guarantee:

Most of the better web hosts offer an uptime guarantee of 99-100%. It has become an industry standard to offer 99-100% uptime, so take a look at their stats and read up on some customer reviews to see if they deliver on that promise.

Money-back Guarantee :

Another thing to look for is the money-back guarantee. Most of the top hosts offer 30-45 days to change your mind and get your money back, it indicates confidence in the service and it's always a good option to have as a consumer.

It's always a good idea to do the research ahead of time and save yourself a few headaches down the road.

Video streaming

This article will tell you about a software which you can use to quickly download and convert YouTube, Metacafe and other online streaming videos quickly and convert them to be used on your iPod, iPhone, Zune players, Samsung, blackberry, Nokia N & E Series, Sony PSP and most other formats.

Normally when you go to the streaming video site to watch any latest music video, TV show, preview, trailer or other video, you think of downloading it for watching later or to transfer it into your music player. You can even burn it into a DVD to play it on game consoles or a DVD player.

YouTube Downloader Software is one such wonderful piece of software which does all these jobs in a matter of a few minutes. You can download various videos, convert them to any format you desire like MPEG, MP4, iPod,WMV or various other formats. Just go to the video site and copy the URL address of the video. Paste it into the YouTube downloader software and press start. You can even search the videos using the software.

I found this very easy to use when I first purchased it. I have been using it for various months now and they give out free updates when there is one available. I regularly download YouTube videos, convert and transfer them into my Nokia E Series phone easily. YouTube Downloader is a great piece of software and it is a "Must Have" piece for every music lover in the world.