Hey, affiliate marketing is cool and I’m still testing the waters after this post, but I’m also going to try the site flipping stuff. Sure, it won’t be my main thing, but I thought that since this blog is in a way an MMO blog, I thought that I’d point you to Jason’s Site Flip Project.
All it takes is an email to Jason and you’re in for the experience. I’ll keep walking towards becoming (hopefully) a super affiliate, but hey, a free experience never hurts!
I’ve been planning on writing a post about this because from time to time I met some very awkward people. This happened to me quite a few times but since it happened again today, here it goes.
So I was on NamePros today and had an offer come in for one of my more valuable domains. He stated that he was a reseller and I was well aware of that. I decided to offer him the domains at a price that seemed to be the resellers’ price. Note that it was three domains and not just one. He seemed to want to negotiate, and if he was unable to meet my first price, I was willing to negotiate. Then, he decided to drop the curtains and close the conversation without any further notice.
One thing that I learned quite quickly while doing business online was that if you’re in a certain industry, there is a chance that you will meet and possibly do a deal with someone you’ve already done a deal with. Especially if you are selling something (note that if you are buying, it still applies), you want to build up solid reputation. Then, there is a great chance that you will deal again with that person. You know how you have your clothes brand preferences? You know that the brand you like will satisfy you because they have before. Basically the same thing. You want to please the buyer (and even the seller with a fast payment!).
An integral part behind that is communicating effectively. It’s a business and while some people could be disappointed for not being able to complete a thousand dollar deal, most people will go on and know that such misses are a part of business. However, you want to say a “I’m sorry, but I can’t sell this to you. Best of luck, James” or a “Unfortunately, I can’t afford to buy this. Sorry, John”. You don’t want to leave the other person hanging. The other person will eventually know that you don’t want to complete the deal, but they will also know how unprofessional you are.
So, if you are one of those people who just decide to stop a deal by not replying and just ignoring, a change will benefit you. It certainly won’t benefit you right away, but in the long run, it certainly will.
I’m finally back from my 20+ days of chilling in Korea. I have my laptop now and I’m happy to say that I now have a good Internet connection to run on. w00t!
I’ll certainly be catching up on all the days that I’ve missed. This industry is surely a quickly moving one, and I’m already feeling the “pain” from the little gap I had!
So my life in Korea has been both interesting and boring. Very limited Internet connection but fortunately, it’s the Olympics, so I’ve been finding ways to spend some time.
I should have daily Internet access starting this Friday or Saturday, so that means a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of posts on here and on my other blogs. I know I’ve missed a heck lot of post dates, but I’ll make it up to you guys. Just because I had limited Internet access doesn’t mean that I can’t draft my posts on Word!
So I’m enjoying my little break in Korea right now. I’m sorry to the BloggersWalk readers for missing a post on Friday. The timestamp screwed up (I still can’t get used to this timestamp with WordPress 2.5) and yeah… I’ll try to find some time to fix that stuff.
Anyways, I “enjoyed” the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics 2008. To be honest, I thought it was a load of firework show. Nothing too dazzling like the opening ceremonies should be. The only thing that I really wowed at was the beginning part with 2008 drummers doing the countdown. Anyways, that’s that.
I’m currently in the shopping spree for a good digital camera. I’m undecided over the Samsung NV24HD and the Nikon S600. Do give me a heads up if you’re a camera guru!
Ciao!
Besides the monetary investments needed to start a blog, probably the biggest investment you need to make is time. In all the time that I spend to get BloggersWalk clicking, creating informative posts is probably what takes up the most time. After all, content is king right? So, my goal recently has been trying to cut the amount of time I invest on writing content while not losing quality.
Ask Questions
There are many types of blog posts ranging from daily ramblings to product reviews. Regardless of the type, a technique that can be used to efficiently write up posts is asking questions. These questions can range from simple questions asking yourself on what you did today, to a common question in a niche you are dealing with, such as what is the best blogging platform when starting out. This is the spark that gets your post going. Most blog posts have a definite point that it is trying to get across; usually these questions help in focusing the blog post into delivering a specific point.
“Blueprint” a Post
You know how architects create a blueprint before working on a building? The theory is a bit similar. Before you start writing your first draft, plan something out. If you’ve got some scrap paper, it’ll do. All you have to do is make a simple outline on how your finished post will look like. You can do this in two ways. For every post, you can make a new blueprint from scratch where you plan everything out. Another way, which is the one that I often do, is creating a general template where all you have to do is fill out what point will go where. Basically, you would need pre-made template. I keep a simple template that I just fill out quickly: an introductory paragraph, a few paragraphs with my points, and a concluding paragraph.
Research for Quality
Remember how a blog is a compilation of useful information? Unless you know about everything in the world, research is necessary. This can include some important quotes or statistics relevant to your post. At first, researching will be quite time consuming. However, once you gain a lot of experience, you’ll know where to go to find the information you need. Although this step is not always necessary, once done, it can certainly boost the quality of your post.
Seek Feedback
Always seek feedback. Feedback can come in the form of comments and emails from the readers, and maybe even some of your friends. You can’t be perfect alone. If you do want to increase the overall quality of your blog and the posts, constructive criticism is necessary.
Analyze the Results
In my opinion, this step is crucial in growing your blog. After you make a post, with your favorite statistics analyzer (in my case AWStats, Google Analytics, and a few others work), monitor and see which posts are popular and which aren’t. There’s a reason why one post receives many times more visitors than another. See how your popular post is different or better than your not as popular post.
To be honest, I don’t go through this list every time I make a blog post. However, it is a little guideline that I do follow quite often. If you can’t be bothered to go through all the five steps, you can also implement portions of it. In my case, some posts, I will post without any second thoughts, but seek feedback later on from some of my fellow bloggers.
Do you have any tips that you could share with the BloggersWalk community on writing quality posts? If you don’t mind, please do share your tips!
So I’ll be heading off to Korea (I’m in China right now) for about 20 days or so. Unfortunately, although Korea does have some massive Internet connections, I will have limited access to them!
What does this mean? I probably won’t be able to post as often as I usually do. I have my posts queued up for my niche specific blogs, but I’m not a big fan of timestamps due to some horror experiences in the past… So, whenever I do get connection, I’ll be logging on to ahnternet to do my postings.
I also won’t be able to reply to many emails over the course of the days. It’s not that I’m ignoring you, but it’s just because there are so many emails coming in everyday that it takes a while to get through all of them.
Anyways, hope you guys have a great summer and I will come in from time to time to ramble on again. When I’m back, my daily ramblings will continue on as usual.
You guys know that I am currently into affiliate marketing to see if it will work out for me. To be honest with you, I’ve been thinking of trying out all the affiliate stuff for quite while now. Long before my post a few days ago, I already tried to expose myself to some affiliate marketing resources. I’ve registered on a lot of affiliate marketing forums and subscribed to even more affiliate marketing related blogs. However, it has come to my conclusion that while all these resources are helpful, none are as good as getting your hands dirty.
I’m proud to say that I finally submitted a few applications to some respected affiliate networks. Although I have yet to be accepted, I’m learning things already! One of this is finding the right niche. On one of the affiliate forums I visit, I asked how to find a decent niche. Of course, this guy with some experience came and gave a nice criticism saying that I shouldn’t focus on finding a niche, but should try and fail first as that is the best way to learn. Then, another user came over and she said that one of the biggest mistakes that new affiliate marketers make is entering an already saturated and competitive niche.
From clicking around some affiliate networks today, I discovered that the two points are both, surprisingly true. I was so focused on finding an untapped niche I totally ignored the rest of the process that you need to go through to become a great affiliate. However, by just going on without a great niche, but a niche to experience with, I think that I found a small, yet a profitable niche (I’ll share how I found it later). In the process, I’m also learning the tricks that super affiliates are using to succeed.
Wow, so far, I sound like a total jerk that just discovered the greatness of the whole affiliate marketing industry, when I have still yet to begin! Nonetheless, this has been a priceless experience for me. Rather than reading pages and pages of forums, blogs, and e-books, I feel that today, I learned nearly as much from a few hours of clicking around the affiliate programs’ websites.
If you are a super affiliate or have any experience in affiliate marketing, you’re probably thinking that I haven’t done anything great. I think not though. There really is a difference between thinking about it and acting on the thought. I acted on it today and learned a great deal. If you are hesitant about affiliate marketing or any type of a make money online scheme, I suggest that you try it, assuming that you don’t lose so much. It’s been great for me and I’m sure it’ll be great for you too.
I was playing around in DP today and found this interesting thread. The most overrated website on the Internet…
Anyways, I voted for AOL as the most overrated website. I honestly don’t understand why it is so popular. To me, a few other sites work better at their respective niche (such as YouTube for video, CNN for news). So, the whole AOL thing is pretty awkward and seems a bit overrated to me at least. I guess you could bring up that Lycos and the likes could also be like that, but I think AOL has a bigger user base than Lycos… I hope AOL doesn’t ban me!
People on that thread are also nominating Facebook, MySpace, and a few other social networking websites. To be honest, I don’t know why…
What do you think is the most overrated website right now? Some social networking websites? Google? ahnternet?! Leave a comment!
I’m constantly starting new blogs with my random domains and from time to time on Blogger too. With blogs, the initial launch is a great opportunity to form some relationships and make some buzz. To do that, you need posts. However, I have always believed (and still do) that the first post should be a brief introduction post. Nonetheless, some people seem to think otherwise, so I’ve tried to compile some pros and cons with what seems to be the rule of thumb in the blogosphere these days: launch your blog when you have 10 posts.
Pros of Launching with 10+ Posts
- A good first impression. The last thing that you want is a newcomer to your blog thinking that your blog is not worthy of reading and subscribing.
- Your blog seems consistent. Especially if you space out the 10 posts on a certain time interval such as daily or every other day.
- You can start promoting your individual posts right away! While this is do-able with a blog that launches with only the “Hello world!” post, it is a lot easier with a blog that already has quite a bit of content.
- You aren’t pressured to keep up with a blog schedule. If you have a blog setup, you better get posting regularly if you want some visitors. However, if you haven’t even launched it, you can take some time to write up your posts.
Cons of Launching with 10+ Posts
- The 10+ posts before starting does not guarantee anything. It is more of a gamble.
- It is likely that these posts, regardless of their quality, will be pushed back quickly anyways as you update your blog.
- It can be tiring and you COULD suffer from a burnout before even starting your blog, as you would, at the back of your mind, know that you are writing up posts that are not going to be displayed today or tomorrow or any day until the launch.
- When do you know that it is enough posts? Is 10 enough? Or is 15 enough? How about 25? Obviously the guy that prepares 50 will have a better chance at achieving a successful blog launch, right?
Conclusion
In my opinion, it really comes down to your preferences. Personally, I like to give a new blog a start with no posts. I like to see it develop into a successful blog right from 0. However, that is merely my opinion and others could pursue a different tactic when launching a blog. I have met more bloggers who like to launch their blogs with 10+ posts. That’s not me, but that could be you.
So I’m asking all you bloggers out there. When you started your blog how did you start out? Did you start from 0 posts or did you write a few posts before the launch? Whichever one you go with, care to share with the rest of the community why you choose to do it that way?
