Okay, I’ve been online for quite a while now and blogging for about three years and without reading any further, I already knew what this post was going to be about. Ironically, that post itself was a post similar to three or four other posts I’ve read before, but those were put in a much more elegant way… and I’m sure if you’ve been blogging for awhile, you probably know what this article was about as well.

In case you’re new to blogging though, let me explain.

Every now and then you’re going to come across some seasoned blogger’s blog and see an article telling you the following things:

• Everything that needs to be said has already been said online
• Stop writing what everyone else has already blogged about
• Why don’t you come up with your own ideas once-in-a-while for an original blog article
• I hate blogs about blogging tips–there are 10 billion blogs out there about it already (same for making money online blogs)

…you get the idea.

Aside from the more seasoned and successful bloggers being extremely limited on time because they are busy making money online, realize that one of the reasons why they typically won’t stop by and comment on your blog is because chances are if you blog about blogging tips, they are way ahead of you in that game.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. If you want to blog about making money online or blogging tips, then blog about it.

Let me tell you, in my 35 years of life on this Earth, I’ve learned a few things. Such things as:

• Follow your heart, but be mindful of the logic in your brain
• It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, especially if you’re trying to make money
• People don’t always know what’s best for you
• To be successful, you need to discover your true self and build from there

If you’re blogging about blogging tips, these seasoned bloggers aren’t going to be your target readers anyway.

I’m not saying what they are saying doesn’t have merit, because it does to some degree. Unless you’re coming up with something really unique, then many of these bloggers are just going to skip you by and read someone else’s blog.

But so help me if you don’t write an article on using banner ads on your blog simply because blogger A tells you not to.

New Blogger’s Game Plan

The first thing you need to understand is that unless you’re writing on a very rare subject, like Keeping a Healthy Bearded Dragon, it almost doesn’t matter what you blog about, somewhere online someone has probably already hit on the subject and the only way you can “be different” is by mixing your own experiences into it.

Also, realize that you’re not going to make everyone happy, so brush that off your shoulder right now. In fact, I can’t think of anything really that will make everyone happy.

Here’s the secret ingredient for being successful online. Are you ready for it? Okay, here it comes…

The secret ingredient is, good research and planning.

Yes there’s more to it than that, but without that… that “secret ingredient”, you will work really really hard and probably get somewhere really really slow. It’s only after you’ve done your due diligence in researching your target market that you can move on to pissing off the people I mentioned above and moving on to being a success.

Good research and planning might include:

• Clearly defining your goals
• Getting a clear understanding of who your target blog readers (and customers) are going to be
• What your blog is going to be about (create a quick elevator pitch)
• Researching forums and taking a look at the kinds of questions and concerns your target readers are asking
• Going to Amazon.com and searching for best selling books in your target market. Look at the Table of Contents and be sure to hit on those topics on your blog
• Using the Google Keyword Tool to see what kinds of things your target market are searching for

The list goes on, but I think you get my point.

To be successful online, it takes having a good attitude, planning, strategy, heart, tools of the trade, and execution. I’m sure there’s some A-list blogger out there who has a better list, but that’s mine.

So to those bloggers who tell new bloggers, “Stop F’n writing the same shit”, I say to them, “Stop F’n telling people what to do with their lives”.

Okay… so there’s my rant for the day.

Related posts:

1. A-List Bloggers & Everyday Bloggers, They Do Things Differently
2. New Regulations For USA Bloggers May Be Around The Corner
3. John’s Top 5 Crash and Burn Blogger Mistakes Which Keep You Poor

There are many more questions I could list out and answer, but one came in the other day which I’ve briefly mentioned before but felt maybe I should go into a little more detail on.

Question: Is it better to put my blog in the root of my domain, a subdirectory like /blog directory, or in a subdomain? Also, what’s the difference between them?

I know it’s a sucky answer, but there is no right or wrong answer with this one. Here let me give you the differences and then you can decide which option is best for you.

Here’s a quick look at the different URL structures these options come with:

Case for your blog in the root

Your blog’s web address is easier to remember and from my experience, it seems the top level domain (i.e. the root domain name) seems to be liked more by Google than subdirectories. Aside from that, this option might be good if your blog is the only reason why you have a website.

Case for your blog being in a subdirectory, like /blog

The best reason to put your blog in its own subdirectory would be if the main part of your website was set up to sell something or do something other than being a blog.

For example, let’s say you sell shoes online.

In this case, it would make more sense to create a website for selling shoes and then stick your blog in some subdirectory, like /blog, where people can click over and read what you have to say. Also, from an SEO standpoint, many times people who talk about your company might give you two links, one to your root domain and one to your blog. That’s link juice times two.

Case for putting your blog in a subdomain

This is a major change and decision.

Subdomains don’t work like subdirectories when it comes to search engines. A subdirectory (see above) is considered to be part of the website contained above the subdirectory whereas a subdomain is considered by search engines to be like it’s very own mini website.

So a link to http://yoursite.com/blog will give link juice to http://yoursite.com whereas a link to http://blog.yoursite.com will only give link juice to http://blog.yoursite.com and not http://yoursite.com.

I know, it’s a little confusing. Let’s look at an example to clarify.

Let’s take another look at the example of a website which sells shoes.

Your root domain might be an e-commerce site where people can search for the shoes they want and make a purchase. To help with your search engine rankings, it’s great if people link to you with words like, “buy shoes” or “insanely cheap high quality shoes”. These links are what helps Google determine what your website is all about.

Now let’s say your blog, which is contained in the subdomain blog.yoursite.com, is all about making money selling shoes online. Well, that’s not what your main website is about, right? That’s about getting people to your site and making a purchase, not about how they can make money selling shoes online.

Since your blog is contained in its own subdomain, it keeps all its own link juice for “selling shoes online” while your primary site keeps all its own link juice for “buy shoes here”.

See the difference?

In another example, you might want to put your blog in a subdomain vs. a sudirectory because your blog is about support issues or product service upgrades. You don’t want Google indexing your primary website as a product support site, right? That might happen though if your blog was in a subdirectory.

Confused? Comment below.

Related posts:

1. WordPress Management: Cleaning Up Your Root Folder
2. My Take On Blog Posting Frequency and Making Money
3. Start A Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?

And as any good experience does, I’ve been taught a lesson or two along the way and since my blog is mostly about things WordPress bloggers might like to know, I’ve been asked many questions over the years.

After thinking about it for awhile and also digging into my email / blog comment archives, I’ve noticed a few questions asked more than once by different bloggers, mostly newbies.

So I’d like to take a moment and do a Q&A session in hopes this article might help newer bloggers skip ahead in their learning curve so they can quickly forge ahead in their blogging endeavors. Realize, however, that every blog is different and what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next.

6 Blogger Questions and Answers

1. Should I go with a free blog or hosted blog?

This is probably one of the first questions bloggers are faced with when deciding to start a blog.

“Why pay money when I can get one for free?”

It makes me think of that song with the lyric, “The best things in life are free… (that’s, what I want)”.

However, as a blogger that’s not what you always want.

I wrote an article awhile back, called Start a Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?, where I talk about this question. If you really want a more in-depth look into this issue, check out that article.

The general answer, though, is to ask yourself “What is it I really want to do with my blog?”

Free blogs are good if you only care about your content and not much else. You could also toss in there that they’re good for those who are completely computer illiterate. But if you know even a little on how to get around on your computer and the Internet, that might not be a factor.

Hosted (paid) blogs are good if you’re looking to do more than just write articles online for the purpose of conversation. In my opinion, if you’re looking to make money from blogging and have total control over your blog’s design and options, then this is the option for you.

If you’re still unsure which to go with, I’d choose the hosted option if for no other reason than the fact that if you start with a free one and then one day realize you need a hosted blog (graduate up), you’re going to find yourself with a BIG mess in trying to figure out how to move your blog without losing search engine traction and blog subscribers.

Plus, web hosting for your blog is dirt cheap. If you can’t afford $6.95/mo. for something you’re going to spend many upon many hours working on, you need to rethink where you’re putting your money.

2. What’s the best way to secure my blog?

Buy WordPress Defender of course.

It’s impossible for me to tell someone with just one email how to secure their WordPress blog from attack. There’s more to it than simply installing plugins and keeping a strong password.

The best way to secure your blog is to first understand that you are a target–no matter what you blog about, and then take a little time and invest in learning what you need to do.

That is the best way to secure your blog… education and implementation!

3. Why is duplicate content such a big issue?

This might seem a bit complicated to understand at first, but I think with a simple analogy it will become crystal clear.

Let’s say you wrote an article called, “How I Met an Alien from Zibwaggy”.

You’d expect that Google would index your article in its search engine and most likely since there are literally NO other articles on the Web about this topic, you would be listed at the top of the search engine results.

But before you published your article, you had sent it to someone for a review and they liked it so much, they decided to steal your content and publish the article, word-for-word, on the their blog at the exact same time you published yours.

Who’s article should Google give original credit to?

Who’s should be listed first?

See the dilemma?

If you have duplicate content laying around all over the Web, it’s difficult for search engines to sift through it all and determine which article should be returned for that search. After all, who would use Google if for every search returned were duplicate copies of the same article.

You could have duplicate articles like this:

http://yourblog.com/how-i-met-an-alien

http://yourblog.com/archives/09/how-i-met-an-alien

http://yourblog.com/tags/space/how-i-met-an-alien

Google would not want to return all three of these to their users, just one. But which one is the right one to return?

The only way to be sure Google knows is if you tell it where to look and where not to look.

4. I want to start a blog to make money. What should I do first?

In this case, before you even start your blog you really need to take a close look at yourself.

Do you have that needed entrepreneurial spirit? Or are you just looking to make a little money without working too hard?

To make money online, you need to become a business minded person to some extent: study data, learn where to put money, how and where to advertise, etc. Trust me, it’s not easy at first (but it does get easier). Surround yourself in the beginning around people smarter than you and try to soak up everything they are doing and learn from them.

Above all, be humble. Realize that you don’t know everything, but then again, neither does anyone else. You rarely will make mistakes, instead you’ll simply be making progress.

Find your passion, discover the message you want to tell people, create a good story around it, and push yourself. And don’t forget that a good entrepreneur must first truly discover who they are.

5. Should I incorporate my blogging business?

If you sell something, I always advise to form either a LLC or corporation.

If you make money by selling other people’s stuff, I always advise forming a LLC or corporation.

So in general, if you do business online, I suggest forming a business structure. You’ve got to protect yourself and your assets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t keep up with every small change that happens in what’s lawful and what’s not; what’s going to get you in trouble with the FTC and what doesn’t.

If you’re going to make money from other people, form a business structure.

6. What are 3 important SEO considerations I should make when first starting my blog?

Okay, I did reword this question and narrow it down to 3 comments because, well, if I didn’t then we could be here a long time talking about SEO considerations.

The first is platform. I’d recommend a self hosted WordPress blog for that.

Next is crawlability. You want clean URLs (no parameters like ? or = in it), no flash on your site, and limited amounts of scripting, like Javascript.

Then it is all about how you focus your blog. You want to focus the site on just a few key areas of your business. In other words, focus your blog on a specific topic so it gets ranked well for that specific topic.

I must admit, I’ve have fallen short on item number three in the list.

My blog is about things WordPress bloggers might like to know (in general). But back in the early days of my blogging career, I didn’t know a whole lot about WordPress; so my blog was about things I did know, like real estate investing and being an entrepreneur.

As a result, I’ve noticed Google is a little confused on what my blog is about. I’m still working on splitting up parts of my blog into other mini sites… it’s on the list!

To be completely honest, the best SEO strategy for my blog and WP Blog Host would be if my blog was all about web hosting. But who writes a blog for SEO purposes only? Not me!

So there you go, six questions bloggers ask me from time-to-time.

What kinds of questions have people asked you about starting a blog and what is your response?

Related posts:

1. Start A Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?
2. A-List Bloggers & Everyday Bloggers, They Do Things Differently
3. 6 Things I Tell People Who Are Looking To Start A Blog

What is setting your blog on fire, you ask?

It’s when you purposely or inadvertently say something that others might take offense to or strongly disagree with to the point where your comment section gets thrown into a heated debate. Sometimes these debates can be quite intense and downright mean.

As an example, my wife read an article featured on Access Hollywood talking about how Newsweek published an article by a guy named Ramin Setoodeh which took the stance that if you’re gay then you really have no chance at convincing people (as an entertainer) that you are a straight guy or girl.

Take a look at the article’s title and subheading:

Straight Jacket: Heterosexual actors play gay all the time. Why doesn’t it ever work in reverse?

Heck, the title alone is enough to light up your comment section and throw you for a whirlwind of intense debate.

But This Kind of Thing Gets Attention to My Blog, Right?

It sure does.

The question is, do you run the kind of blog which pushes the boundaries of the status quo and do you really want to deal with nasty messages and even hatred toward you?

The decision is yours.

Have you ever set your blog on fire?

Related posts:

1. Allowing Readers To Subscribe To Your WordPress Post Without Commenting
2. Create Yourself A Shortcut – How To E-Mail, Blog, and Text On The Go!

This topic has been discussed many times over, like here and here. Those are two great articles to go read if this is your burning question, but let me add my two cents worth when also talking about making money…

The very first thing you need to do as a blogger is take a good look at yourself. Maybe go read my article Tips For Maximizing Your Potential and answer some of the questions about yourself I talk about there.

Defining and understanding your drive, passion, and what you as a person believe (and why you believe it) will allow you to really focus in on your goal and help you create that drive to achieve it.

So the question you’ll eventually have to ask yourself is, “Why am I starting a blog”.

Ok great, got that answered, what about posting frequency?

Over the years I’ve watched as some bloggers have gone from 7 blog postings per week down to 3, 5 postings a week down to 2, and on and on, each time reading about their reasons. Usually it seems the reason has to do with their focus changing a little or their workload becoming too high to keep up the high number of blog posts per week; and that’s ok.

When you’re new to blogging you don’t have to manage as much.

In general, I’d say if you’re just starting out, try posting 3 times per week if you can. That will give you a good gauge to see if you really like it and want to write more or less.

If your primary reason you started a blog was to make money through selling affiliate products, you might want to post more often because, well, the more you have out there the more likely someone will find it and make a purchase. It’s the rule of numbers. The guy with 200 articles with affiliate links has a better chance at making more money than the woman with only 30 articles.

If, however, you’re looking to make money online by creating or selling your own products, your time might be better spent working on those products and doing what you need to do to market them.

To put it simply, blogs aren’t the greatest tools for selling things, but they are great for making connections and building relationships, which is important. So if you want to sell something, you need to build a marketing strategy and spend lots of time executing it.

Bogging yourself down with having to write 7 blog posts a week could severely limit how much time you can spend on going out and making money.

And that’s my two cents worth.

Related posts:

1. Blogging For Money: What's The Best Way To Make A Profit?
2. Choosing The Best Kind Of Affiliate Marketing For Your Website
3. 6 Things I Tell People Who Are Looking To Start A Blog

• made money
• lost money
• broke even
• posted articles regularly / not-so-regularly
• changed my blog design
• changed my blog’s web address

… you get the idea (been there done that).

Aside from being obnoxious and rude to people, here are my top 5 blogging mistakes new bloggers might make which can slow the growth of their blog and pocketbooks.

1. Domains and Hosting

After deciding you want to start a blog and choosing your topic, your next step is setting up your blog. Question is, do you go with a free blog, self hosted blog, get your own domain name, etc.?

There are a couple of ways to look at it, but for the most part a self hosted blog is your best bet. Here’s my criteria for whether or not you should go with a free blog.

A free blog is ok if: All you care about is your content. Free blogs are good if you want someone else to take care of all the security issues, upgrades, etc. If your only goal is to write and you don’t care much about making money and turning your blog into a business, a free blog is fine.

A free blog is not ok if: You want to turn your blog into a business; want full control of the design of your blog; your mind is telling you that you’ll upgrade to a self hosted blog one day down the road; etc.

Let’s face it, hosting and domain names are cheap. So don’t let me hear anyone say they don’t have the money right now.

The reason why I typically advise new bloggers to choose a self hosted blog and purchase their own domain name is because you never know where your blog will take you in the future and having to stop, bundle it all up, and transfer your blog to a new web host (and possibly a new domain name) will KILL your blog.

2. Insufficient Research

This could range from a wide array of topics which might include:

• Failure to do proper market research (is there anyone looking for what you have to offer?)
• Understanding the consequences I outlined in #1 above
• Research experts and their price point which could help boost your blog’s success
• Failure to watch, analyze, and understand what your statistics are telling you

Those are some of the basics. As with any venture, online or off, if you wish to be successful at what you do, you need to spend a little time researching. By researching, you can point your boat in the right direction.

3. Truly Understanding Niche Marketing

Understanding the ins and outs of niche marketing is an entire course all on its own. Something I’ve seen over the years as an entrepreneur, however, is that newbies to niche marketing think niche marketing mostly entails finding a small crowd or group from within a topic and sell their products / services to them.

The more focused your niche is and better your product or service can solve for them is what they’re told niche marketing is.

While that is true, most newbies don’t realize that it’s not just about finding a focused group to sell to, niche marketing is about positioning and perception.

If you’re new to blogging, finding a niche is great, but if you fail to position yourself as an expert or “go-to person” in your niche, you’ll fail.

Even if you’re not the real go-to person, make sure you are perceived that way. The power of perception is kind of like “the force” in Star Wars.

4. Improper Use or Lack of Scheduling

Ask any seasoned blogger about time management and you’re sure to get an earful. Unless their educated in time management, new bloggers I’ve talked to fail to realize just how much time and organization blogging requires.

Writing an ebook? Posting 3-5 times a week? Need to spend time with the kids? Gotta cook dinner? Want to read and comment on other blogs? Need to figure out how to get more clicks on that banner? Want to write a series of guest posts? Looking to start a newsletter?

… the list goes on and on.

In the beginning you might not think you need a time management schedule because you’re not doing all that yet, but you’re wrong. Time management is key to growing your blog, making more money, and generating traffic to your site.

Simply writing down goals with no mechanism or direction to get you there ain’t going to cut it!

Want a time scheduling outline for bloggers? Alex Fayle has a really cool time management sheet he uses to keep himself on track (I use it, too).

5. Blog Security

I suppose blog security may or may not keep you poor, depending on if you get hacked or not. Nevertheless, it’s so important I feel it deserves to be on this list.

Let’s face it, when you’re new to blogging, you’ve got a lot to think about and a lot to set up. The problem is, since you’re new you don’t even know which questions to ask yet.

Blog security seems to always take a back seat. New bloggers don’t realize though just how important this is. It’s kind of like that movie where you see someone gets sent to jail for the first time and doesn’t yet have the experience to know how to protect themselves or just how bad it is to bend over to pick up that soap.

Newbie bloggers in a similar way are prey.

They set up their blog and start thinking about making money and writing articles, not the fact that their blog is or very soon can become easily hackable, removed from Google, and worst of all… destroyed.

If you’re new to blogging, blog security should most definitely be high on your priority list. And if you’re not sure how to better secure your blog, just hire me and I’ll get you hooked up.

Bonus Tip For New Bloggers

Blog your passion and be real. Don’t try to make money from your blog, but rather let your blog make money for you.

Be yourself, find your own voice, and don’t force it. In time, you’ll find that’s a much better route to take.

There are of course a ton more tips I could hand out to help start your blog off on the right foot, but I’ll leave that for my upcoming newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you can be notified when my newsletter with tips like these is released.

In the meantime, here are a few other “blogging mistakes / tips” articles you might want to read (links open in a new tab):

• 5 Blogging Mistakes Beginners Make
• 7 Blogging Beginner Mistakes And How to Avoid Them
• Top 7 blog mistakes to avoid
• Beginner Basics for Making Money Online Using Blogs
• The Winnie the Pooh Guide to Blogging

Question: If you could go back to when you first started a blog and change something to help boost how long it took to get you to where you are today, what would you tell yourself?

Related posts:

1. The Top 7 Mistakes eBook Authors Make!
2. Aside From A Blogger, What Are You Really?
3. Where's John Been?

What is a blogger?

Well I could visit Wikipedia and look it up, but there’s no need for that; we all know what a blogger is, right?

But what are you, really?

Yeah yeah, I know – you’re a human being… ha ha; ok, no what I’m really talking about is have you ever stopped to think about why you’re a blogger and what your blogging purpose is?

Many of us know why we started a blog. My blog, for example, was started to:

A) Drive traffic to the WP Blog Host domain and generate brand awareness

B) Teach bloggers things I’ve learned as a blogger myself all along the way

But what does that make me? A blogger?

To me it sounds more like an online marketer.

So then I might own and run my own blog, and yes that makes me a blogger, but if I had to put a title to what I do, I’d say I’m an online marketer.

And if that’s the case, then maybe… just maybe I have gained a little more insight into what more I need to learn in order to help make my “job” a success.

True you might be an entrepreneur, but what exactly is it you do?

I once asked Darren Rowse this question: “So what exactly aside from a blogger do you consider yourself?”

His answer was “Web publisher”.

What About You?

So what’s that next level deep and more focused idea of what you are?

Because once you figure that out, you can then sail the ship in the right direction.

Related posts:

1. John’s Top 5 Crash and Burn Blogger Mistakes Which Keep You Poor
2. Choosing The Best Kind Of Affiliate Marketing For Your Website

It’s also almost Christmas and she’s almost finished shopping for me. The other day she asked me if there was anything I wanted which pertained to blogging.

I thought, “Hmm . . . that’s a good question. What kinds of gifts can someone get for bloggers?”

I headed over to Amazon.com and began surfing around for gift ideas. Here are some ideas in case you’re ever in this situation.

Computer Hardware

Books & eBooks (downloadable books)

		WordPress SEO Secrets (eBook) If the blogger you’re buying for is a WordPress blogger (you may have to ask), then one of the most important things for them learning how to do is to drive people to their blog. WordPress SEO Secrets will help them learn how to set up their blog and insert key components into their articles so that search engine users can find them.

		31 Days to Build a Better Blog (eBook) I purchased this book and loved it, and so will the blogger you’re buying this for. This book is written by probably the world’s most known problogger, Darren Rowse. If there’s one thing he knows how to do, it’s grow his blog and make money with it. In this eBook, he helps us blogger “build a better blog”. Well worth the money.

Write For The Web (eBook) If the blogger you know writes for a living, this is the eBook for them. Master copywriter James Chartrand of Men with Pens shows in this eBook how to get your writing business started and how to turn it into a real business. I have to say, this is the visually prettiest eBook I’ve ever seen, surpassed only by the content written in it. This book is a must have for not only writers, but bloggers who wish to learn how to write better articles for their blog and readers.

Software

		RoboForm Password Manager I cannot say enough about this product. I’ve used it every single day since I purchased it – many times a day, and if you buy it (or buy it for someone), you will too. Bloggers network on many different sites, such as Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, etc. All these sites require a blogger to have a username and password. For security purposes, it’s important not to use the same password for every site. RoboForm remembers and stores all their usernames and passwords in one place, encrypted, and with one or two clicks a blogger can be taken to and logged into their accounts.

		SyncBackSE (for easy backups of websites) SyncBackSE is another product I use all the time and highly suggest for bloggers. Bloggers put LOTS of time and effort into building their website and getting everything to look and read just the way they want. Unfortunately, sometimes blogs break and unless the blogger has a working backup of their site, everything could be lost. Furthermore, many bloggers don’t bother to keep updated backups of their files because, well, it’s not a fun process. SyncBackSE makes it easy for them to back up all the files contained on their web hosting account. Once set up, it takes about two clicks and you’re done. Nice, simple, and effective. It can also be set up to work on autopilot, so the blogger never has to worry about it.

Gifts For Bloggers Wanting To Start Video Blogging

Between my blog and WP Blog Host’s Television Channel, I do a lot of video blogging. Here are the products I use (or have used) and know you can’t go wrong with if the blogger you know is looking to start video blogging.

Other Ideas

Trying to figure out what to give as a “blogger gift” can sometimes be challenging. It’s good to know what the blogger really wants or needs (though sometimes they don’t really know what they need if they’re still new to blogging).

- Sometimes bloggers have a “Donate” button or “Amazon Wishlist” in their blog’s sidebar (see mine on the right). Use these to send them money or browse items they’re telling you they want.

- Do you offer a service or have a talent you can offer as a present? Free web design, graphics, writing services . . . all that will work for a blogger. If you’re a copyrighter, for example, offer to rework some of the wording on your blogger friend’s website to help them increase readership and sales.

- If your blogger friend hosts their own blog (i.e. pay a monthly or yearly fee for web hosting), offer to pay one more year of hosting for them. If they don’t yet have hosting, we offer it here at WP Blog Host.

So there you have it, gift ideas for bloggers. Please note that many of the links provided in this article are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you link over to the products and buy. Of course, you are in no way obligated to use my affiliate links to purchase any of the above.

If you’re a blogger, what else do you think might make a good blogger gift?

Related posts:

1. A-List Bloggers & Everyday Bloggers, They Do Things Differently
2. 6 Questions New Bloggers Ask Me
3. My Rant On Someone Else’s Rant About Bloggers

Noticed I put the word new in quotes; that’s because as Mr. Cleland puts it, these are not “new” regulations at all, but rather clarification on existing ones.

If you’re a blogger and you advertise banners in your sidebar, do paid book and product reviews, use testimonials as an advertising tool, and make money in any other way related to affiliate commissions, you need to provide adequate disclosures and testimonial follow-ups.

You can watch a replay of the webinar by visiting Jim’s I Gotta Tell You blog. The webinar is a bit long and I know most bloggers probably won’t sit through the entire interview. But maybe its for reasons like those that problogger David Risley wrote his article, Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?

Blogging is not always fun, nor is it only about writing articles and signing up for affiliate programs. It takes work and if you’re serious about making money with your blog, you also need to know a few rules and regulations you should abide by. In my opinion, anyone serious about making money in their industry needs to spend at least a little time keeping themselves educated in their trade.

Ok, enough pep talk. Go watch the video now and feel free to come back here and leave a comment for discussion.

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His newsletters are always packed with valuable information detailing ways to get more traffic to your site, list building techniques, how to write and profit from ebooks, and a ton more. What I really like about this guy is he simply shows you how he makes millions of dollars himself, many times through free webinars.

His latest newsletter, just emailed to me last night, talks about 7 mistakes many ebook authors make. It’s a fantastic article and a must read if you’re ever considering writing your own ebook (as is his newsletter). With his permission, I am reprinting it here for you to read.

For full disclosure, please note that the links in this article to his ebook, eBook Secrets Exposed are affiliate links. I did, however, purchase this ebook myself and think it’s packed with great information for ebook writers.

And if you’re looking for an ebook packed with a ton more information about writing and publishing your very own ebook, you might like to check out his other book, How to Write and Publish your own eBook… in as little as 7 Days. That, my friends, was an awesome book and I highly recommend it.

Ok enough jibber jabbering. Here’s the article – enjoy!

eBooks are the hottest thing going on the Web right now!

Authors with the entrepreneurial instinct are making anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars per month – that’s right, per month – by selling ebooks
online.

Why are some authors doing so much better than others?

We’ve discovered seven key mistakes that most ebook authors make (and in doing so, hold themselves back from major success):

1. They don’t write to a specific, target audience.

The biggest mistake most ebook authors make is they don’t clearly define, identify and visualize who they are selling their ebook to. On the Web, to be successful, you must
write to a specific group of people who have specific interests. Make sure that you know exactly who is going to buy your ebook, and where you can find them online.

2. They don’t automate as many of their business activities as possible.

Selling ebooks, though it is highly profitable, is not a business where you make hundreds of dollars per sale.

Automate everything you can – credit card processing, ebook delivery, as much technical support as possible. If you can’t automate a function, delegate it to someone else.

3. They don’t have a compelling title for their ebook.

Use words that convey the benefit of what’s in the ebook, as well as words your audience is familiar with.

A bad title for an ebook: “Online Marketing for Newbies.” A good title for the same book: “97 Ways to Promote Your Website – No Experience Required.”

4. They try to cover too much ground.

Many ebook authors convey a lot of information but don’t cover anything in-depth. As a result, they never fully explain anything in enough detail to provide any useful value to their readers. This is a very bad mistake to make, especially when it comes to how-to ebooks, which happen to be the best type to write.

5. They are not proactive in their marketing.

It would be nice if marketing for your ebook simply happened on its own – but it doesn’t. You have to do it yourself.

After you’ve promoted your ebook to the people on your own mailing list (if you have one), then you have to contact other Website owners and persuade them to be your affiliates. You should do this continually.

6. They don’t differentiate their ebook from its competitors.

When you choose your topic, even if there are a hundred other ebooks out there on same general subject, choose an angle for yours that will make it easy for yours to be distinguished from the others.

For example, right now job-hunting ebooks are very popular. There are dozens that are big sellers. “Secrets of Breaking Into Pharmaceutical Sales” has a very specific title that sets it apart from the competition, and is aimed at a clearly identified target audience.

Incidentally, it’s selling very well itself.

7. They write ebooks that nobody will pay for.

Many ebook authors write about information that either people can get for free, or that people are not actually interested in enough to pay for the information.

Before you invest weeks or months into the writing of your ebook, invest a little time investigating whether other ebooks in the same subject area are selling on the Web.

So, there you have it – the seven big mistakes to avoid. Remember, the opportunities are plentiful – and huge – right now for anyone who wants to become a best-selling ebook author.

Simply use common sense, follow our advice, and let your literary career flourish!

Jim Edwards and David Garfinkel are co-authors of “eBook Secrets Exposed: How to Make Massive Amounts of Money in Record Time With Your Own eBook (whether you wrote it or not!),” the authoritative guide to publishing and marketing ebooks on the Web.

Guerrilla Marketing author Jay Conrad Levinson says, “If there ever was a ‘must-read’ for this century, it’s this book.” For more information:
Click here ==> eBook Secrets Exposed

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