One of the women I met at Blog World is Barbara Jones. I met her via Twitter before the conference. Everyone was tweeting back and forth about meet-ups and parties and sessions. At the time I thought I’d be traveling alone and I tweeted my lament that I wanted to hook up too! Barbara immediately contacted me and invited me to meet her and her group for dinner on Friday night. I couldn’t make that (because I arrived on Saturday), but when I showed up, I tweeted my arrival and Barbara was the first to say I’m at ___ session! Come find me! This may not sound extraordinary, but Barbara didn’t even know me! We’d never met. She was just reaching out to another blogger and helping me feel welcome.

When we finally did meet, Barbara had looked over BB101 and was on fire with ideas for me. Her main goal is to help women bloggers succeed. To that end she founded the One2One Network. Just like I can’t say enough about Blog World, I can’t gush enough about Barbara. She’s a woman with drive and she’s ready to take you along. In the following video, Barbara explains just what One2One Network does.

In the next week or two, Barbara and her partner, Epson, will be sponsoring a giveaway here at Blogging Basics 101. I’ll have more information in a few days. In the mean time think printer/fax/scanner/wireless.

You can see all of my Blog World Videos on my Blogging Basics 101 YouTube Channel.

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Panel: How to Sell Direct Advertising on Your Blog

Panelists: Steve Hall, David Peralty, Wendy Piersall, Dave Taylor, Lynn Truong

The first thing the panelists did was define the basic jargon of online advertising.

• CPM: Cost per thousand. (M is the Roman numeral for one thousand.)
• Inventory: How much you can sell. If you have 10,000 page views and 4 ad spots, you have 40,000 units to sell.
• Geo-Target: The ability to target your advertising to a specific zip code, state, or region.
• CTR: Click-through. (The number of times a reader clicks on the ad to go to the ad’s site.)
• CR: Conversion ratio. (The number of impression, the number of clicks, the number of sales.)
• IO: Insertion Order. The insertion order is what your advertiser is buying–clicks, page views, etc. The ability to sell a certain ad to run at a certain time with a certain number of page views.
• ROS: Run of Site. ROS is when one advertiser buys all your inventory.

When you are selling your ad space directly to advertisers, everything is about perceived value. In order to show your potential advertisers the perceived value of your site, you need to have some statistics to show them.

• Readership Survey: Find out who is reading your site and determine the demographic you’re reaching. Quantcast and Google Analytics are good tools for this.
• Put your advertising information on your site. Although there are pros and cons to this approach, most of the panelists felt having the information readily available (without the extra step of e-mailing your a request) is the best strategy. Anything you can do to make it easy for advertisers to buy ad space on your site is a good thing. If you choose to list your statistic and buying information on your site, be sure you are updating it at regular intervals.

This post made possible by Posh Mama, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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There were a few times I hopped from presentation to presentation. This was one of the presentations I was hopping to from another. The result is that my notes aren’t as lengthy as for some other presentations. Take this information, along with Dave Taylor’s hints for SEO, and you’ll be on the right track.

Meta tags won’t help your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because they don’t have an impact on your SEO ranking. However, meta descriptions can help because people may want to search/link/read more if the description is interesting.

The “title” portion of the img src tag is only useful to you. It allows you to give your images more description so you know what you’ve shown in your image. It is not at all used in SEO. On the other hand, the “alt” portion of the img src tag offers some help with SEO, but only in Google Images.

It is possible to over-optimize your blog or web site for SEO. If, for instance, you’re writing a post about cell phones, you may choose to use several variations of cell phone: cell phone, cellphone, mobile phone, Verizon, iPhone, etc. This can overwhelm your post because you’re using too many keywords in the hopes of stronger SEO. Your readers are turned off and not reading. Instead, focus on what is irresistable. What is the most interesting part of your post? What will make the readers more interested?

What not to do for SEO: Don’t micro-focus your posts. You’ll most likely end up with short, limited posts that read more like an advertisement. In turn, these types of posts rarely offer value.

Keyword Tools

(Use as many of these as necessary to find a feel for what keywords are useful to your posts.)

• Key Word Discovery
  
• Word Tracker
• Google Insights for Search
• SEO Digger
• Wordze
• Spyfu
• Wordpot
• Quintura

Final SEO Tips

• Build a body of work to attract links. Your good content will attract links. (Doesn’t it always come back to well-written content that adds value for your readers?)
• Using topic-related keywords is fine if you don’t go overboard.
• Create your content for people, but make it SEO friendly.

This post made possible by Posh Mama, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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Presenter: Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor is an affable guy with a huge knowledge base to share. You can find him at The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, Ask Dave Taylor, and Attachment Parenting Blog. Here is what I learned from Dave as he tackled basic SEO strategies. Tomorrow I’ll be back with more SEO strategies geared toward intermediate users. As usual, the information below is a mix of Dave’s presentation and my own thoughts.

You must start with good content. If we’ve heard it once, we’ll hear it a thousand times–simply because it’s true. You (usually) can’t gain traffic and community without good (GREAT) content.

SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) finds you via semantic and contextual analysis to figure out the themes and topics of your blog and its posts.

• Semantic Data is concerned with what are you writing. The search bots look at which words you are using, how frequently certain words occur, etc.
• Contextual Data is concerned with who links to you. The bots want to know what other blogs or web sites link to you and how they link (what words they’re using, etc.).

Five Easy Pieces to SEO

1. The importance of post titles.
   • As you write the title for your post, consider whether it draws your readers in and makes them want to read more. This is not only important for SEO, but if you’re only publishing partial feeds, the title may be the only bait you have to lure readers to your site.
   • Does the title include key words about the concept of the post? I would suggest listing your post titles alone to see how descriptive or engaging they are without your writing to back them up. Does each title accurately describe what the reader can expect from the article? If not, try re-writing the title.
   • Use parentheses to help search engines (and readers). Example title: Blog Etiquette (podcast).
2. Keyword density.
   • Instead of using the word “it” to describe something, use it’s product name.
   • Make sure your link explains what you’re linking to. For example, instead of typing “click here” type “Find more information on how to choose a blogging platform.” Can you imagine doing a search on “click here” to find information? Ah, but I bet you can imagine doing a search for “choosing a blogging platform”, right?
3. Use smart image filenames.
   • When you import your photos from your camera to your computer, they don’t automatically have useful file names. Instead they are named something like D778392888.jpg. By giving the photos you use in your blog posts useful names, you are helping the SEO bots who crawl your site. They can index key words, but D778392888.jpg isn’t generally a popular keyword.
   • If it’s feasible, try to use the product or vendor name that reflects what’s in the picture (assuming you’re blogging about a product). If you’re not blogging about a product, you can still use descriptive naming to help SEO.
   • Use the “alt” and “title” attributes in your image and link tags. Not only does using these tags help your SEO (there are even more keywords for the SEO bots to index), but it helps those who use special software for handicaps access your site more easily.
4. “More…” is definitely less.
   • If you are going to use the “More” link at the end of your excerpt, use descriptive language. For example, instead of “More…”, you might type, “How do I upload and include an image in my wordpress blog entry?” and link that sentence. Then, on the page you’ve linked to, the title would be, “The Answer: How do I upload and include an image in my WordPress blog entry?” What you’ve done in that instance is reinforced the keywords you’re writing about: WordPress, image, blog. Again, by offering keywords for the SEO bots to recover, you’ve set yourself apart from the other blogs that simply have “More” at the bottom of each excerpt. And who’s searching for “More…”? No one.
5. Instead of a link called “Home”, use the name your web site. All links leading back to your main page should reflect the title of your blog or web site.

Five More SEO Tips

1. Use savvy permalinks.
   • I suggest using keywords in your titles so those words also become part of your permalink. WordPress allows you to personalize your permalinks so you have more control over how they are displayed.
   • When personalizing your permalinks, don’t use the words and or the or to. Those words aren’t important to the meaning of your post or to SEO. By eliminating those words, you willhelp keep the permalink short and manageable.
   • WordPress has plug-ins you can use to help manage your permalinks.
   • Note: Keep in mind that when you change your permalinks, you will most assuredly create orphaned pages. However, it’s better that your permalinks are SEO friendly and useful. Do the work to make the changes.
2. Use html too, not just css.Use the HTML code for headings instead of relying on your CSS. The way that SEO bots crawl your site, they look for <h1> or <h3>. Most CSS code uses the <div> tag instead and is not as effective. You can use a hybrid of CSS/HTML code to achieve your goal:
   <div id=”content-container”>
   <h1 class=”pagetitle”>Heading/Title</h1>
   <div id=”content” class=”blog”>
3. Minimize exit links and use internal links to cross-promote content. If you are using WordPress, there are several plug-ins that can help you identify related posts (which articles you’ve already written that pertain to the same topic and would be suitable links in a given post). Including a link to related posts increases their SEO as well as their visibility to your readers who may or may not have already read them or may need a refresher.
4. Encourage easy commenting.
   • Comments help your content stay fresh and rank higher.
   • Encourage discussion and commenting by asking your readers to answer or discuss a specific question in the comments. (Chris Brogan is genius at this.)
5. Create transcripts of your videos and podcasts. This will also help international readers (who can translate the transcript) and those who have slow connections and can’t download your video or podcast.

Closing Thoughts on Basic SEO

Don’t be afraid of keyword research. There are several tools that can help you discover the keywords that will be most beneficial for your particular SEO:

• Key Word Discovery
  
• Word Tracker
• Google Insights for Search
• SEO Digger
• Wordze

SEO is win-win-win. It helps

• readers find your content
• you gain more readers
• the search engine give better results

Take the time to write effective links and great content with the goal of enhancing the SEO of your blog.

This post made possible by Posh Mama, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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The key to successful affiliate marketing is testing. You will need to test the placement of your affiliate ads to see which placement receives the most click-throughs or purchases. Testing will take time, but as I’ve said before, making money on your blog isn’t easy and you’ll need to put in the effort. Once you find what works for you and your readers, things should go smoothly. One thing I did take away from the Affiliate Marketing Secrets for Bloggers panel, though, was that text links seem to work better than banners.

Links for Starting with Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog

I have not personally used any of these sites yet. These are simply the URLs given to the audience by the panelists of Affiliate Marketing Secrets for Bloggers.

• PopShops.com
• Amazon.com Associates
• Commission Junction
• Share A Sale
• LinkShare
• Peel Away Ads
• Market Leverage
• Disqus

Plug-Ins for WordPress Blogs

There are plug-ins available for your WordPress blog (no, I haven’t found any for TypePad or Blogger) that will make your affiliate marketing easier for you.

• Max Blog Press
• Max Banner Ads
• Ninja Leverage

Articles Related to Affiliate Marketing

• Affiliate Marketing Advice from the CEO of PopShops.com
• Affiliate Marketing Advice from the Pros
• Making Money Online with a Blog
• Blog World Expo: Affiliate Marketing Secrets for Bloggers

This post made possible by Posh Mama, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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• Mike Allen: ShoppingBargains.com
• Tim Jones: TheRealTimJones.com
• Shawn Collins: AffiliateSummit.com
• Sam Harrelson

I am new to making money with my blogging. I didn’t start out with the intention of making money–it was a happy accident. Having said that, I am definitely interested in making more money with blogging and, because of that goal, I have worked hard to make blogging my career. Although I’m not making much, I’m making enough to encourage progress.

When I attended Blog World Expo in September, what I heard about making money with a blog is a) it’s really hard to do (which I already knew) and b) ditch the AdSense or GoogleAds and focus on affiliate marketing or direct ad sales.

The panel Affiliate Marketing Secrets for Bloggers had some great take-away points and advice. The information below is a combination of the panelists ideas and my own expansions.

Before you apply to be part of an affiliate marketing program there are several things you need to have:

1. Buy and map a domain name for your site. Like it or not, YourBlogName.typepad.com or YourBlogName.blogspot.com is not perceived as professional. Affiliate marketers want to deal with professionals who are considered to be experts in their fields. You need the domain name.
2. Have your site close to perfect. The design should be complete and clean. Remove any sidebar clutter.
3. Increase your traffic. You can do this by commenting on other blogs, encourage discussion in your comments, using social media (e.g., Twitter, Plurk, FaceBook, etc.) to alert people to what you’re discussing (but don’t over do it and play by the unwritten Twitter rules), and visit forums in your niche (e.g., Yahoo! Answers and StumbleUpon) and jump into the discussion. Offer advice. Participation in your community helps to drive traffic to your blog and positions you as an expert.

These items all take time. Don’t rush through these steps, even though you want to move forward right now. The affiliate you choose to apply with will be looking at your site; if you aren’t approved now, it’s hard to be approved ever.

Once you have your site done and you’re comfortable with your traffic, find an affiliate manager and contact that person directly. It may take some digging, but it will be worth it to have an actual contact.

Tomorrow, I’ll list some of the affiliate marketing sites the panelists suggested. In the mean time, you can read related posts at Blogging Basics 101:

• The Basics of Social Networking
• Etiquette Regarding Social Networking
• Affiliate Marketing Advice from the Pros (#bwe08)
• Making Money Online with a Blog (#bwe08)

This post made possible by Posh Mama, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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First, let me define a few things:

• What does CPM mean? CPM is cost per thousand (M is the Roman numeral for one thousand). So, for every thousand people that view your page, you receive a set amount of money. For instance, if you agree to a $4 CPM, for every thousand people that view your page, you receive $4. The more traffic you have to your site, or the more authority you have in a niche, the higher you can negotiate your CPM price.
• What is direct sales advertising? Instead of relying on a third-party (e.g., BlogAds) to find advertisers for you (and take part of your revenue as payment for that service), you find your own advertisers and negotiate payment.
• What is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is when you agree to promote a product and are rewarded with a percentage of the sale. A popular example would be Amazon.com’s affiliate program. It’s easy to implement, but isn’t necessarily a top-earner as far as affiliate programs go.

Now, on to what I learned from the top bloggers.

• SEO: Track your search engine key words. Determine what key words are generating the most click-throughs to your site via search engines. Remember, though, that search engine optimization (SEO) doesn’t necessarily end with return visitors; you must write content that will encourage readers to return.
• CPM: The CPM model isn’t necessarily working any more. You can usually make more money via direct advertising sales, especially if you are an authority in your niche. A note from Melanie: I have been happy with BlogHerAds. If you are just starting out, a CPM advertising model may be a good place to start. As you grow and establish authority, you can move on to direct sales or affiliate marketing.
• E-book: As mentioned in my previous post about this panel, e-books are an excellent way to encourage readers to complete a task (e.g., subscribe via RSS or e-mail, or subscribe to your newsletter). The main idea behind any product (like your e-book) is to make money in the long-run. One option is to find products that relate to the topic of your e-book and insert the affiliate link to those products within your e-book. While readers are learning your information, they may be more inclined to follow your advice by purchasing from or joining your affiliate.
• Selling: Repitition is key for being a successful affiliate marketer. You’ll need to write several posts (three to four at least) before you readers may decide to follow through. For instance, your first post may just be an introduction to the product. The second post can be an interview with the person who made the product. The third post can be a testimonial. The fourth post can be a full review of the product. The key is to educate your readers on how the product will improve their lives.
• Newsletter Ads: Selling ads in your newsletter is particularly attractive to advertisers because your newsletter is targeted to a specific audience. Of course, you want to ensure that the advertisers gel with your readers and are offering something that your readers want.

This post made possible by PoshMama.com, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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This post is a review of the information I gleaned from the Blog World and New Media Expo panel, Making Money Online with a Blog. The panelists’ advice is in bold, my comments are after the bold in regular type.

Presenters: Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Jeremy Shoemaker, Zac Johnson, John Chow
Moderator: Jim Kukral

Advice from Darren Rowse

• Promote yourself to your readers with a prominent picture and biographical information. This helps readers feel connected with you. I noticed that once I posted my FaceBook link and my video from 5 Minutes for Mom, many of you wrote to me that you enjoyed being able to put a face with the advice I share. I have to admit, it also made me feel a bit more connected as well. I felt that sharing my face with you made things more personal. It was less about me dispensing information from behind my computer, and more about joining the community we have all built around Blogging Basics 101. As I redesign Blogging Basics 101, I plan to make my information more accessible.
• Advertise from day one on your blog. The idea behind this suggestion is that your readers will be accustomed to seeing ads at your site. Although your revenue may not be what you’d like it to be, as you grow, so will your revenue. Your readers will not be dismayed when you start advertising more or using affiliate marketing because you’ve been using it from the beginning.

Advice from John Chow

• To make money on your blog, your blog has to be more than a hobby. This was a point that was reiterated by everyone on this panel. Each of the men discussing making money on your blog work up to 12 hours a day writing and maintaining their sites. A hobby blog generally is not going to be a money-making blog. If you’re interested in making money with your blog, you must be committed to working hard at writing content your readers need and building community.
• Affiliate sales are John’s preferred method of making money. You can check John Chow’s advertising page (which is automated so he doesn’t have to worry about when ads go up or when they come down) for his media kit so you can see what he is doing. In fact, all of the panelists agreed that CPM and third-party ad sales are not the way to go. They strongly encourage everyone to start looking into affiliate marketing if you want to make money with your blog.

Advice from Zac Johnson

• Provide useful information and earn money via advertisers.
• He advertised on JohnChow.com for a month to encourage visitors to his site.
• It takes time (and effort) to build your audience.

Advice from Brian Clark

• Design your site to be an independent brand. BB101 has several articles that explain branding and why it’s important to building your blogging image and community:
  • Branding as Applied to Blogging
  • Using your real name or your brand name when commenting
  • Blogging and PR Relationships
  • From Chris Brogan: The Big Risk for Corporate Trust Agents
• About a month ago Brian took off all third-party advertisements on his site. He now sells all advertising directly and/or uses affiliate marketing.
• Building trust with your readers and community is key. You can’t start building affiliate sales until you have that trust. Once your readers accept you as an authority in an area, they trust your recommendations. It’s your responsibility to ensure your recommendations are genuine in order to retain your readers’ trust.

Random Thoughts Discussed

• Develop a useful e-book, then give it away for free. I heard this in other panels as well. The idea is that writing useful information that is easily downloaded is one way to encourage readers to subscribe to either your RSS, RSS via e-mail, or your newsletter. It’s a simple give-and-take incentive: readers sign up, you give them something in return. The panelists also noted that an e-newsletter allows you to promote more affiliate sales somewhere other than your blog or web site.
• Should you use your own name as a domain? Most of the panelists would not do it if they had it to do over again.
• All panelists suggest using aweber.com to manage e-mail newsletters.

This post made possible by PoshMama.com, NewBaby.com, Adoptic.com, and Blog World and New Media Expo.

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