Hope Writes

Linky Love: Boost Your Blog

Posted by Hope

We haven’t had a Linky Love post around here in a while, so I thought it was time for one. And boy, have I got some doozies for you today! First, let me just say that you should see the list of feeds I have on my Netvibes page. Being able to organize them into different categories just makes it even better (and easier) for me. If you read a lot of blogs and haven’t checked it out, go give it a try.

Now to the good stuff….

The blogs I want to share with you today contain so much information about writing and blogging that I’m not going to single out any post on them. If you’ve been wanting to take your blog to the next level, here’s your starting point. You don’t really need to buy books or pay for classes to teach you how to do it. Just take your time and work through these blogs and you’ll learn a ton of information.

NOTE: I want you to save (or bookmark) this list so you can work your way through it one blog at a time. I’m serious people, there’s great stuff inside these blogs (listed in no particular order; each link opens in a new window):

• ProBloggers Matrix
• I’d Rather Be Writing
• Dosh Dosh (A must-read if you don’t look at any of the others on this list)
• ProBlogger
• Caroline Middlebrook
• Skelliewag
• Blog News Watch (I just discovered this one, but looks great already!)

Popularity: 24% [?]

Can You Really Make Money Blogging?

Posted by Hope

I read a lot of blogs in a week’s time. Lately I’ve noticed more talk about blogging to make money. More specifically, there’s an interesting up-and-down trend of “yes, you can” and “no, you can’t.”

The “yes, you can” bloggers say that it is possible to make money blogging. But then there is a wide varying of opinion as to how to make money blogging. Some say Adsense is the way to go. But even more bloggers are saying to stay away from Adsense and try other things, like Widget Bucks, Kontera and Amazon context.

The “no, you can’t” bloggers say that it’s impossible to expect to earn a decent income solely from a blog. They suggest rather, to hire yourself out as a freelancer, or do something else to earn a living while you blog for a hobby.

And then there are the bloggers who say that it is possible to make money with a blog, but you have to be willing to put in lots of hard work and you can’t expect it to happen overnight.

I have found that the bloggers who say it is possible are most often those who began blogging solely as a hobby. They birthed an audience, who grew with them over an extended period of time (in most cases, years). They didn’t start out with hopes of making money, but just did it for fun. Because they carved out a name for themselves in a community of people who were also interested in the same things, they became popular and widely known across the Net. Slowly, they began to test and try new things–just to make a few bucks to pay for the regular upkeep of the blog–and discovered that they could monetize their passion after all.

Lessons we can learn from this…

Are You Passionate About The Topic?

If you’re thinking about blogging just to make money, forget about it. It’s definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you aren’t passionate about the topic, you’ll run out of things to say–and fast!

If you’re going to start a blog, be confident that you can talk about the topic extensively and often. Most blogs update daily; three times per week minimum. To build a readership, you have to be able to post content regularly, or else nobody will want to come back. If you aren’t very interested in the topic, it’s going to be difficult to keep producing content as often as you need to.

Can You Devote Time To It?

Blogging requires more time and effort than you think. Professional bloggers don’t just whip out articles and post them on a whim, then leave until it’s time to blog again.

Blogging requires things like research, networking, and traffic building. Not only are you the author, but you have to manage comments, respond to your readers, and generate an overall interest in your blog. If you can’t devote the time required to build an audience, it’s pointless to blog (unless you just enjoy reading your own thoughts ).

Are You Willing To Test And Tweak To Discover What Works Best?

When your blog grows to the point that you are ready to monetize it, how will you go about doing this? You can’t just slap a few blocks of Adsense on your blog and walk away. You have to ask yourself questions like:

• What are my readers interested in?
• What products can I recommend to my readers that will provide them with quality, helpful information they need?
• Is paid advertising more conducive than placing Adsense on my website?
• Do I want my readers to stay on my website, or is it okay for them to click away (Adsense)?

Those are just a few things you have to consider.

Can You Build A “Sticky” Blog?

Believe it or not, blogging requires more thought than just throwing together a few paragraphs and posting it for people to read. You have to consider your audience, and what they want or expect to read when they return.

A sticky blog is one that keeps the reader there for a long period of time. How do you know if your blog is sticky? Take a look at your site stats. If it shows that the majority of your readers click away after being on your blog for less than a minute or two, it’s pretty safe to say your blog isn’t sticky.

A few examples of my favorite sticky blogs are:

• ProBlogger.net
• LifeHack.org
• SelfMadeChick.com
• Copy Blogger
• DoshDosh
• StevePavlina’s Blog

Go check them out and see if you can figure out the “stickiness” of each blog.

Can you make money blogging?

Some say you can; some say you can’t. I say…it’s all up to YOU. Can you make money blogging? You tell me….can you?

I Recommend:

Popularity: 100% [?]

Mining Your Site Stats

Posted by Hope

This evening I sat down and took some time to go through my site stats. After yesterday’s post about planning ahead, I decided I needed to truly dig down deep into my site stats to see what I’d find.

Let me begin this by saying that I’m obsessive about my site stats. I check all my site stats quite frequently throughout the day, nearly every day. One of the biggest ways I’ve been using my stats is to see what search phrases people are finding me with. (This is very interesting info, by the way, and if you’re not checking your stats, you’re missing out on it!)

So, like I said, this evening I had some extra free time and I decided to use it by digging into my site stats here at Hope Writes. I’m going to give you a peek into what I discovered so you can see for yourself and hopefully use it for yourself.

Here’s the video….

Popularity: 34% [?]

Do You Leave Comments On Blogs?

Posted by Hope

If you use blogs for networking purposes, you probably leave quite a few comments in a week’s time, right? Have you given much thought to your comments, or do you just leave them on a whim after reading a nice post?

Darren, at ProBlogger.net, wrote a terrific post, offering great tips on how to get your comments noticed on a popular blog. I must admit that I am guilty of leaving hasty comments without thinking my process through good enough. I read something I like and leave a quick comment.

You might think that just by dropping a few random comments on several blogs will get your business (or name) noticed. You’re right about that, but you could become recognized as the serial blog commenter who has no etiquette, morals, or brains.

Darren’s post really woke me up to the realization that I need to be more thorough when commenting on other blogs. His suggestions cover everything from commenting etiquette to formatting. This one is truly a must-read: 11 Tips for Getting Your Comments Noticed on a Popular Blog

Popularity: 65% [?]