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Problogging and Money from Blogs

By on December 27, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, article directory, article plugin, article themes, Blog Business, Blog Platform, Blog Posting, blogging, Blogs, Conversion, Domains, Free Reports, Google Adsense, Membership sites, Mobil Blogging, New Blogging, SEO, Themes, Traffic, Web Design, Websites, widgets, wordpress, World Internet Summit, Wp Headers, Wp Themes, Youtube Video

Problogging and Money from Blogs

Many internet savvy people find it appropriate to quit their regular jobs
for blogging. And it is not very surprising, as the main reason for
quitting their jobs is the knowledge of the fact that they can earn a
decent living through their blogging pastime. Such individuals who
take up blogging as their profession are known as probloggers and the
phenomenon is known as problogging. While many probloggers choose
to blog for profits on their own blogs, there are many, who are hired
bloggers as well.

If you are a problogger, and if you are looking at long term profits
from your profession, then it is very important that you follow the
following advice religiously.

Patience is the golden rule

Contrary to the popular belief, blogging is not a very easy job. It is
especially difficult if it is your own blog and the onus to maintain the
blog is on you. Problogging demands a long-term vision, dedication
and zeal. If you are in the business to make a living out it, then you
should be patient enough to give your blog some time to become
popular and successful.

Know the pulse of your audience

Understanding the likes and dislikes of your audience can take your
blog a long way. If you are able to add content which is attracting
more and more comments on the blog, then it is very clear that your
posts are greatly appreciated by your visitors. Understanding your
audience can also help you in the long run when you will have the
power and option to promote and sell some products and services
through your blogs.

Do not deviate from the original topic

If your blog is already a hit then it is more than a probability that you
are an expert on the niche and people look forward to your posts on
the topic. It is highly recommended that the posts should be
exceedingly relevant to the niche of the blog and should not deviate
from it. Even a slight diversion from the original niche can cause you
considerable loss in the form of decreased traffic.

Promote as many affiliate products and services as possible

Promoting products and services of other companies can be very
profitable for you and your blog. However, as discussed earlier, it is
very important to ensure that all the products and services promoted
by your blog are relevant to the niche and blog and hence are going to
be of use to the customers. Your main objective through promoting
these goods and services should be to create a win-win situation for
yourself and the members of your blog.

Keep the blog buzzing with interest

Last but not the least; it is very important to keep the blog interesting
for the audience. To make it more attractive, you can try using bigger
font and interesting layout. White spaces and line spacings, when
taken care of professionally can keep the traffic and the interest of the
audiences flowing to your website.

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Installing WordPress Themes

By on December 26, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

Installing WordPress Themes

Installing WordPress themes is a very simple task that is often made to appear very difficult. It can be a major cause of problems for beginners who are seeking ways of making custom settings on their websites. A default style is very annoying since it does not reflect your personal taste.

The first thing to do is downloading and unzipping the theme file that interests you. The second thing is uploading the theme and the final step is activating it. WordPress theme files come in zipped format. A zip file is one that allows you to store files with the same formats together such that they can be referred to easily. The resulting file becomes smaller and is easier to download.

To download the zipped files, just click on the word ‘download now’. You will be prompted to save the files at a position where you can easily access them. Once the WordPress themes files have been downloaded, they need to be unzipped or decompressed. This converts them into normal files that are ready for use.

The matter of whether you need unzipping software for your WordPress theme depends on the type of the computer that you are using. All recent computers that operate on windows have no problem handling this software. When you have unzipped the theme, you just upload it onto your website. There are many ways through which you can do this. One of the ways is through FTP, a term which means File Transfer Protocol.

To have access to your FTP, you need to have a username as well as a password. Your web host provides you with this information. These details also enable you to access your website directory. FTP client is what you need before you can start off. FileZilla is the client for Windows. The newly obtained FTP software ought to be installed after which a new connection should be opened. Then enter the address given by the web host.

It will not take long before you are connected with your website as well as your directory listing. Navigate through the website until you locate WordPress, the ultimate destination for your WordPress theme. The position varies depending on the web host. Normally it is found inside a directory which is known as “”public html””. Then navigate through WordPress until you locate plugins.

Having done this, you can now upload the theme. Remember that you are required to upload both the theme directory and the files. Be aware of certain unzip applications begging to be uploaded which are not appropriate for uploading. Bold for instance represents a file that is meant for uploading. Files that are not meant for uploading can cause the greatest problem to users since it is difficult to set them apart from other types of files.

Guangzhou/style.css is one very common file that presents itself but which should not be installed. Once you have installed the theme, it is not ready for use until you activate it. The WordPress themes Activation stage is very simple. Log in to the administration panel of your WordPress and finish the activation.

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WordPress Themes – Should You Use Premium Or Free Themes

By on December 24, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

WordPress Themes – Should You Use Premium Or Free Themes?

You have probably heard the saying: Nothing good in life is free! WordPress offers many free themes, plugins, and widgets, but you will want to pay attention to the possible downfalls of using a free WordPress theme.

The first concern is what may be hidden or embedded in the code built within your theme. No matter how you are using your WordPress blog, the last thing you want to do is attach potential spam to your visitors. Unfortunately, some of the WordPress themes do have some sort of spam built into the theme. Also, the more elaborate theme creators may have embedded the spam so deep that if you try to remove it your entire site will fail.

You can expect that premium themes – or those you pay for – will usually be free of spam. After all, a designer likely would not embed spam because they have a reputation to uphold.

A second reason for using a premium theme is that you will have support from its creator. Since anyone can create and make available free themes, designers will not usually help with your problems regarding that free theme. WordPress has attempted to improve this issue by creating forums to seek help, but fixing or changing the site will be up to you.

Since designers of premium themes are paid for their design, they want to be sure it works and will usually be available through a dedicated forum or have another method that they can be contacted.

A third potential problem of using a free WordPress theme is that it often will not support the widgets or plugins you would like to use.

Designers of premium WordPress themes generally stay in contact with their users. They listen to the issues and make fixes available through upgrades. Since the designers know who has purchased their themes, they are able to send out notification of upgrades through e-mails.

Please understand that I am not stating that every free WordPress theme is full of spam. I am only suggesting that you should be aware of these possibilities and do some research before you jump on the first theme you come across. Also, using the themes offered from the WordPress Dashboard are generally safer than something you might find from surfing the internet.

If you are just beginning as a new business or blog writer, using a free theme available from WordPress may be your best solution to get your site up and tested. But as your blog or business grows, consider upgrading to a premium theme. This will give you a site that is more user and owner friendly without worrying about spam or support.

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Frequently Asked Shopping Cart Questions By Website Owners

By on December 23, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, article directory, article plugin, article themes, Blog Business, Blog Platform, Blog Posting, blogging, Blogs, Conversion, Domains, Free Reports, Google Adsense, Membership sites, Mobil Blogging, New Blogging, SEO, Themes, Traffic, Web Design, Websites, widgets, wordpress, World Internet Summit, Wp Headers, Wp Themes, Youtube Video

Frequently Asked Shopping Cart Questions By Website Owners

When designing a web presence website owners will run up against many questions concerning their website shopping cart. Gaining answers to frequently asked questions about shopping carts could help head off problems and save time and money.

One of the basic questions asked about the shopping cart is how to use it? You should as a website owner guide your visitor to your shopping cart and have visible instructions both in text and in picture as to how to use the cart. There are several steps to using the cart including product selection, reviewing the cart’s contents, payment into, checking out, and order confirmation. Each step should include plain and simple instructions for your customer so as not to confuse them and cause them to leave your site without completing the purchase.

Customers will need to know how to remove and edit items as they change their mind about purchasing items. Adding a FAQ (frequently asked questions section) can be helpful in answering any questions about removing or editing items.

Having a shopping cart system that is capable of saving items in the cart for later completion aids the customer in making the purchase at a later date when interruptions happen. This can actually help save the sale. This usually requires a registration.

Shopping carts can also handle subscriptions, free trials and discount coupons.

When considering shopping carts software find answers to these questions before making your decision. A shopping cart is a very important part of your website function and should command your undivided attention.

Shopping carts should be visible without being distracting from your products. Your shopping cart should complement your website design, not be flashy, and be easy to navigate.

Make sure that you add order buttons to your site, and that you match your shopping cart to your site design.

Shopping carts should allow for multiple items in your cart and to allow the buyer to change the quantity if necessary. The buyer should have the ability to delete an item if necessary or to save the contents of the cart for later.

The shopping cart you chose for your website is an important decision make sure that all of your shopping cart questions are answered to your satisfaction so that when purchasing from you your website visitors will be able to do so without having any questions of their own because you will have thought to insure a successful buying experience by selecting the proper shopping cart for your website.

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In Search of the Perfect Blogging For Money Tutorial

By on December 22, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

In Search of the Perfect Blogging For Money Tutorial

It is no secret that you can do very well blogging for money. So now everyone wants to learn how, and I don’t blame them. But, in this article I would like to point out the ingredients that make the best tutorial guide about blogging for the beginning blogger.

There is lots of opportunity to make some real money blogging. Many people have started with nothing and have become a success, seemingly overnight. Needless to say, this “”golden opportunity”” has spawned countless products aimed at teaching the blogging newbie just how to succeed at this lucrative trade.

But, like any other market, a lot of these products aren’t worth the digital pages they’re printed on.

I would like to point out to you, from experience, what you should look for in a product that claims to teach blogging, if you truly want to be successful at blogging for money!

Blogging like a pro is more than just setting up a blog, (anyone can do that), and making a couple of posts, and then writing some articles to submit to Article Directories in the hopes of driving traffic to your blog.

In a nutshell; It takes perseverance, know how, and smarts to make money with a blog over the long haul.

Here is what you want to look out for, when buying a blogging tutorial, or “”how to”” guide.

To begin with, you need a blogging guide, tutorial or coach that can show you how to set up a blog that’s not susceptible to being hacked by every two bit hacker and his brother on the planet.

I’ve seen so-called experts, who sell blogging “”how to”” guides for 30 and 40 dollars, and teach their students how to install blogs using Fantastico, a program that is included in most half-decent hosting accounts.

But they fail to tell their students how to secure their blog against hackers, and Fantastico WordPress installs are famous for being easily hacked.

Most of these so call “”experts”” won’t even show you how to back up your blog’s files, so that should the unthinkable happen, (server crash, or malicious hacker attack), you can get your blog back into cyber space again.

These self-proclaimed blogging gurus will gladly tell you that you should write articles, and join social book marketing sites, and pick your keywords appropriately, and on and on and on, with their rhetoric…

And they will charge you a small fortune for their self-proclaimed, profound, and earth shattering knowledge.

But I wonder, if they can’t or won’t teach you how to properly set up a blog, then how much of their “”other”” information is worth the outrageous amounts of money they are prepared to charge you for it?

To learn about blogging for money, here’s what you want to look for.

1.) Find a guide, preferably a video tutorial, that will teach you exactly how to set up a blog that is secure from hackers. (Blogging platforms, like WordPress, are very susceptible to hacker attacks when installed using the popular installer, “”Fantastico””)

2.) Find the blogging coach, or tutorial guide that WILL teach you how, and why to back up your blog. (Do NOT leave this up to chance!).

3.) Look for a blogging coaching guide that will give you a real plan for putting content on your blog. (Most of these guys just say “”keep your blog updated with fresh content””, but there’s lots more to it than that).

4.) Look for a blogging tutorial that will tell you exactly how to promote, and market your blog… (not just some general advice that you can find for free at any blogging forum).

5.) Look for a blogging guide that will tell you exactly what plugins to use to make your blog search engine friendly, as well as interactive with the visitors to your blog. (most of these experts just say to use a couple of plugins everyone knows about, and they leave it at that).

“”Do these gurus who write this junk really know how to blog themselves, or are they just selling you a burnt out ebook they found somewhere, and then rewrote?””

To make a long story short, it is not easy finding a blogging tutorial guide that will really teach you how to start blogging for money successfully, but it can be done.

Don’t just fall for the first well written sales page you click on.

You’ll recognize the phony sales pages. They come with all kinds of outrageous promises, and pictures of the authors PayPal account, showing you how much money he made last month or last week with their blog.

Remember, you can do just about anything with graphics. Anybody can make it appear like they’ve taken in a million dollars through PayPal with the right graphics editor.

Use discernment and common sense when buying a tutorial that is supposed to teach you anything about marketing online. You can’t make money spending all your money on junk!

And keep this in mind when searching out a tutorial that will teach you blogging for money, “”all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold””!

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Add an HTML Sitemap to a WordPress Website

By on December 20, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

Add an HTML Sitemap to a WordPress Website

Here’s some easy to follow instructions on how to add an HTML sitemap to a WordPress website.

After scouring the web and nearly giving myself a headache I found a solution, so this will hopefully save others those near headaches.

I’ll ramble here a little to begin with, to make getting to the crux of the problem easier, but you’re welcome to just leap to the formula below.

You see, when you find the site that provides the code for a WordPress HTML sitemap, it gives all the information, but not quite all the information on how to implement it – this was the frustrating part.

So I was armed with the ‘plugin’ code and the ‘shortcode’ to activate the sitemap, but didn’t really get the installation instructions of: “”Add the shortcode to the page(s) of your choice””. You see an HTML sitemap is a page alone, it shouldn’t be added to specific pages, it should usually be on a page called: sitmap.php/htm/html &c.

I wanted my sitemap to be linked from the footer of every page of the site.

So to start with you’ll need the ‘plugin’ code, which is courtesy of Angelo Mandato (credit at bottom of article); there’s 2 options: you can go to the installation page, where at the top right of the page there’s a big red button, or use the instructions below, which I’ve stated as being easier.

Being easier, I’d advise you to log-in to your WordPress Dashboard and click on ‘Plugins’ (left-hand menu), a little drop down menu reveals ‘Add New’ click here, on this page there’s a search box, type in ‘HTML Sitemap’ and click on ‘Search Plugins’. At the top of the list you’ll see: ‘HTML Page Sitemap’, version ‘1.1.1’ – click on install.

Okay, 1st of 3 jobs completed.

Now to create the interaction between the ‘plugin’ and the ‘shortcode’ which is [html-sitemap], you’ll firstly need to click on ‘Pages’ (in the left-hand menu) of your WordPress Dashboard, in the drop down menu you’ll need to click on ‘Add New’, this will create the new sitemap page. Where it asks for ‘title’ enter ‘Sitemap’, in the ‘content’ box you need to add your ‘shortcode’, which is [html-sitemap], make sure you use square brackets. Now because you don’t want this page in the main navigation, it is advisable to give it a parent, so in the ‘Page Attributes’ (right-hand menu), click on the ‘no parent’ drop down and put it under ‘Other Info’ or something similar, click on ‘publish page’.

Okay 2nd of 3 jobs done.

Now we need to get the sitemap visible on every page of the site. Back to the WordPress Dashboard, in the left-hand menu click on ‘Appearance’, the drop down menu offers the link ‘Editor’, click on this. In the right-hand menu of the new page all the ‘Templates’ are listed, go down till you find ‘Footer’ (footer.php), click on this and you’ll see the content of your site’s footer links. You will most likely have the following in the footer already: Powered by <>a href=””http://www.WordPress.org””>WordPress<>

Right after this add the following: | <>a href=””http://www.MYWEBSITE.com/sitemap”” target=””_blank>Sitemap<>

Naturally change the ‘MYWEBSITE’ to your own website and the.com to.de,.nl or.co.uk. Click on the blue button ‘Update File’.

That’s it job 3 of 3 completed.

Go to your website, press the ‘F5’ key, you may have to do this twice (that’s computers for you), and in your footer you should now see your newly created link to your site’s HTML sitemap, click on the link to test it, and you should find a nicely laid out sitemap indexing all your site’s pages.

Now naturally you may want the sitemap to be more detailed, for this I will reference you back to Angelo’s site, where he explains this further, but for me I just needed a nice clear HTML sitemap and no further headaches.

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People do not want to feature only their blog contents

By on December 19, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, article directory, article plugin, article themes, Blog Business, Blog Platform, Blog Posting, blogging, Blogs, Conversion, Domains, Free Reports, Google Adsense, Membership sites, Mobil Blogging, New Blogging, SEO, Themes, Traffic, Web Design, Websites, widgets, wordpress, World Internet Summit, Wp Headers, Wp Themes, Youtube Video

People do not want to feature only their blog contents. They also want to show beautiful things like inspirational header and pretty layout. This is a theme comes into rescue. WordPress is highly respected blog publishing software which is known for its well- structured layout. Its default theme, Kubrick theme, which is designed by Michael Heilemann makes a beautiful theme for your blog. However, custom theme is making its wave for being versatile and workable compared to Kubrick.
Custom theme is a theme that is altered into a new layout design. Kubrick is losing out in this case because it is difficult to customize. Even K2, the one version of Kubrick theme is not really improved in terms of workability. If you attempt to install upgrade, strange errors might occur when you explore the Options Page. Sometimes the blogroll and side bar disappear if you messed up with the application.
We are living in a world of convenience. This is applicable to changing your blog theme. You do not have to go through the agony of tweaking Kubrick theme that might take hours to configure. Everything that you ever wanted in a blog theme can be found via World Wide Web. The themes can be downloaded into your computer before uploading the theme into WordPress.
Also, it is not wise for beginners to tweak Kubrick codes if they are not good at codes. The changing process of PHP and HTML is a bit tricky which means you need to certain knowledge before tweaking Kubrick theme. It will be easier if Kubrick theme is plainer which unfortunately not the case in reality. The best thing is to use themes provided by free websites to reduce your agony and pain in tweaking Kubrick theme.
Custom themes are more practical to be used as compared to Kubrick theme. If you are bored of the theme you are using you can simply switch it with another themes that are easily available via the Internet. The best part is that you do not have worry about losing your blog content or some functions of the blog because WordPress has it all covered. Tweaking Kubrick theme blindly might jeopardize your bog if you did not save the default codes of the theme.
Blogging is not only a platform to rant and post about personal life, it is also a place for business and advertising. Giant advertising companies search for blogs that best represent the corporate world and the blogger. Kubrick theme is not a good theme for advertisement because it does not have the space for advertisement. Unlike custom themes, people have ample of space to put HTML and Javascript codes for advertisements.
Furthermore, custom themes come in wide range of selection. Whether you want your blog to look fancy, gothic or professional, it is up to your choice when it comes to design. Custom themes are really easy to upload and they function very well. You do not have to worry if there is no comment box in custom theme because there are some themes that re created for blogs with high readership. This means it is up to you to customize your own blog layout. The restriction is your imagination, not how the theme is set to be.
In a nutshell, Kubrick is great to start up a new blog but it does not shine when a blog needs a revolutionary change. Therefore, custom theme is still very much users’ favourite in layout makeover.

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How to Use WordPress to Automate Your Business

By on December 18, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

How to Use WordPress to Automate Your Business

If you haven’t heard of WordPress, listen. WordPress is an amazing blogging platform — but it’s so much more than that. In fact, this article will teach you some things as to how to use WordPress to automate your website and therefore your business, leaving you time to do the things you enjoy without having to keep your finger on every little “”nook and cranny”” job that needs to be done. Here are just some of the things WordPress can do.

AdSense

If you use AdSense to earn extra income on your site, the AdSense Integrator can both dad and then manage the AdSense ads you put on your blog, effortlessly following the last AdSense rules and updates without your having to keep on top of them. This is one way when it comes to how to use WordPress that you can really earn passive income without having to do anything except for adding the initial plug-in.

Google Analytics

When it comes to how to use WordPress to track your customers, Google Analytics will help you keep track of who’s visiting your page, where they’re from, and a lot more information that’s valuable when it comes to knowing your customers. The Google “”Analyticater”” offered by WordPress makes it very easy to add this to your website.

XML Sitemaps

The XML Sitemaps plug-in will make you much more visible to your customers — in fact, if your customers can’t find you, it’s not likely you will have any business at all to speak of. However, Sitemaps easily makes you visible to search engines as they crawl your site, which gets you seen on the web — and therefore gets you more customers.

AWeber

AWeber is a service that, although not free, can really help you explode your business. Used with WordPress, it’s another way you can really automate your business. With this service, you can basically turn autoresponder functions into guaranteed customer draws. You can create website sign-up forms, which will help you attract customers; instead of simply having visitors anonymously visit your site and then go away, you can simply include a sign-up form on your blog using AWeber’s simple “”point-and-click”” interactive functionality.

That’s not all, though. While most auto responders will send canned messages to subscribers after sign-up and other functions, AWeber actually provides you the ability to give personalized e-mails to subscribers or customers in an automated sequence that’s really going to give you the ability to connect with your customers — and your potential customers, too. What’s more, you can also schedule autoresponder functions so that they’ll go up when you know your customers are likely to be thinking about reordering, as applicable. Again, this is all automatic, and he will only rarely have to lift a finger after initial setup.

All of this and more is available if you know how to use WordPress and associated plug-ins and services to fully automate your business. Of course, your business is still going to need you to run it, but automating it as much as possible for the simple day-to-day mundane tasks such as those described above will to free you up to focus on the really important part of your business, which is to provide quality products and/or services.

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