Money Online

Following JohnChow’s example on “showing some community love”, I thought it would be a good idea to thank some people that have shown appreciation for Money Online blog over the last months (since it has been launched).

MyBlogLot community members
Up until now the Money Online community has reached a decent number of 74 members and I have every reason to believe that people decided to join only because they enjoyed reading this blog; especially because until now, I haven’t offered (or promised to offer) anything in return. Further more, I did not send any kind of invitations to MBL members.

I need also need to find a way to thank all the people that have added my blog to Technorati Favorites, Delicious or added me as a friend at StumbleUpon

Direct referral
Last but not least, a direct link from other blogs is the greatest sign of appreciation for me, therefore I will definitely need to thank those people also.
Since I can not think of some prices that I could offer for everybody, here is what I have decided to do:

Each week I will publish a post containing direct links to people that linked to me, direct links for people that have joined my community at MBL and 1 link for blog owners that have added this blog to either Technorati Favorites, Delicious, or added me as a friend at StumbleUpon. All the links will be followed by a short description for each blog. It is not much, considering that Money Online only has a PR 3 at the moment (hopefully it will grow in the future), but at this point I believe that it is the best way to show my gratitude.

I will keep this thing ongoing until I will have finished all of them (hopefully this won’t happen too soon);
However, I will not link to adult blogs, online c@sinos or other type g@mbling related, MFAs, blogs that use content from article directories, or blogs that are not written in English (or full of grammar and spelling mistakes).

I agree that judging from a certain point of view, this may seem like link exchange invitation, but I would really prefer if you considered it just as my way of saying thanks.
I don’t encourage people to link to my blog, bookmark it or joining my community if they don’t like it.
But still, if you do like it and want a link as a sign of appreciation from my part, statistically speaking it would be easier to get it either by bookmarking this site or linking to it rather than joining my community (since I already have 74 members and far less links from blogs registered in technorati or bookmarks at the social media sites mentioned above)

Having this said, here are the links and descriptions for the first batch:

Link refferer:
Baaahhh!!! - a very interesting project, coordinated by a very creative and sensitive person I know (Maria) and her friend Stefano.

Internet bazaar
A very nice blog, focused on the same topic as my own, but with a slightly different approach. The part that I like best about it is that the owner is showing a weekly detailed report on how much money it makes, how much traffic it receives and what monetizing programs it is uses.

Blog-Op
A blog that concentrates on giving advices on how to improve… your blog. Frequently updated, and packed with lots of useful tips!

Myblog log community members:
Internet and Marketing Tips - a very good blog that covers a wide range of categories from internet news to contextual advertising and marketing tips

Visitors that have added Money Online to boolmarking sites
Sandossu - a blog that belongs to a fellow Romanian (to whom I did get the chance to exchange any words up until now) that covers topics like search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, contextual advertising and industry news.

Check them out!

Technorati Tags: Technorati Favorites, Stumbleupon, Direct links

Textmarks is introducing a new monetizing program for bloggers.

How it works:
People can subscribe to receive news from certain blogs by sms and bloggers can charge from 4.99 to 9.99 for this service. Unfortunately, publishers will end up only with 1/3 of the money from subscribers, while the rest of it is going to carriers and Textmarks.
This services is available only in USA at the moment through the following carriers: Verizon, Cingular, Sprint and Alltel.

Personally I don’t think that this program will be very successful due to 2 main reasons:

-the amount a publisher receives is too small comparing to what the other parts involved in this will get. In my opinion, the producer of the actual content should get at least 50% since he is the down doing the most of the work and attracting subscribers.

-Blogs are all about providing content and people are used to receiving the information for free. However, it may work for some specific areas, where you need to be among the first to find what is “hot” and take immediate action after having received the news. The only example that comes in my mind is stock market. But still, I believe that very few people make their decisions regarding buying or selling stocks based on the information they receive via blogs.

Michael from TechCrunch said that he will probably test this program in the near future and I look forward to see the results that will get from this program (although I don’t really think that many of his users will show the desire to pay for instant notification).

info source: TechCrunch

Technorati Tags: Money making programs, TextMarks

There are times when you really don’t have a clue on what to blog about. It’s ok… it happens to all of us. The important thing is to have your back covered for this kind of situations. So what can you do to fill in the gaps? Here are some quick tips:

1) Links
This is the easiest thing to do. Just surf the web (like you probably do anyway) and bookmark other articles, discussions or news that you think that interesting to your readers. When you gather around 6-12, post them on your blog, along with a small description for each one. Even most successful bloggers do this, so don’t be afraid that your audience might move someplace else. You may actually get the attention of some bloggers that probably never heard of you before, and who knows, maybe they will become loyal visitors of your site and even post a link towards it now and then.

2) Ask your readers what they want to hear
This another “must” that you should do from time to time, not only to have your back covered when you have nothing to blog about, but also to make sure that you are not going in the wrong direction. You can do it either by asking your visitors to send you emails and let you know what are the main topics that interest them or by letting them post comments in a specific section specially created for this. You can even enable voting and have a “user’s choice” topic. Use your creativity and sky is the limit.

3) Review other blogs
Analyzing other successful blogs in your niche is something that you should normally do anyway, so why not make short reviews and post them on your site? Everybody has something to learn from other successful bloggers.

4) Guest blog
This can be a little tricky because you must find someone who knows a lot of things on the subject of your blog and at the same time he needs to have good writing skills. People are willing to guest-blog so they can benefit themself from exposure, so if your blog is not popular and does not have a high pagerank, you may have difficulties in finding the right guy. However, if have you a successful blog you may consider doing a little headhunting… A guest blogger can bring a fresh touch and even increase your readership so both you and him will benefit from this.

5) Interviews
Doing interviews is not only a great way to fill in the gaps when you have lost your inspiration; it actually is a good thing to do whenever you have the chance. The more famous the people your are interviewing are, the higher the popularity you gain for yourself. Unfortunately you have to be “a little” famous yourself to be able to approach some guys in the “senior” league (like in everyday life, everything seems to be easier when you are already successful).

6) Open mic.
Let your readers speak for you! Just suggest a subject, and let them share their opinions with you, by posting comments on that particular topic. When you are happy with the number and the quality of comments that you got, make a post and highlight the best of them. If you have quite a consistent readership and a good pagerank, you will be amazed by how many good comments you will receive.

7) Blog about your life
From time to time, it is ok to blog about personal aspects of your life, even if it does not relate at all with your general blog topic. It brings a friendly and familiar touch and people will find it easier to connect with you. After having done this a few times, you will most probably experience an increase in the number of comments on your everyday articles.

8) Visit Money Online Blog and the inspiration will come

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Blog content