Make It Easy For Readers To Email The Page To A Friend

13. Make It Easy For Readers To Email The Page To A Friend 

 Allowing your readers to send a link to your site through email is another way to encourage your visitors to tell their friends and family about your site. It is very similar to the tell-a-friend button in the way it works. If someone likes your site, they have an option to click on a button that will open a window in their email program. The script the button activates will insert your web address in the message window of the email. They can then fill out the rest of the message and send your link to as many friends and family members as they like. One reason this works so well is that the message come from someone they already know and trust, not from you. The email will not get stopped by the recipients spam filter, and there is a very good chance they will open it and read what it says Like the previous method, it may not send a flood of traffic your way, but the traffic that does come is there because someone they trusted told them to check it out. They come to your site in a much more receptive state of mind, and more open to considering your message. They are there for a purpose, not just someone who is wandering through.

Linkbait -

10. Linkbait -





 The term “Linkbaiting” meets with mixed reaction among internet marketers. It refers to the practice of “baiting” viewers into linking back to your site from there site. You write something on your site that catches the interest of other website owners and bloggers, and they trackback to your site with comments about what you wrote. The reason that linkbaiting is sometimes looked down on is that some marketers use somewhat controversial methods to get those links. While most of the methods are very legitimate, there are some that many feel cross the line, and are not appropriate to use. There are several ways to get other site owners to link back to your site, many of which I.ve already discussed. The first is to provide useful information that is new, or a unique view of existing information. The second way is to offer fresh, hot information. This is especially good if you are credited with breaking a story. When it works, this can generate a lot of traffic very quickly. The downside is, news stories have a very short life. The viral effect from a hot news story could be over within a day or two. The third way is to use humor. People love jokes, cute or funny stories, and things that make you go, “hmm…” Everyone likes to be entertained. The trick is to get your message across, while being entertaining at the same time. The fourth way to get links is to offer free tools or games that people can use from your site. Banks and insurance companies take advantage of this when they offer financial and loan calculators on their websites. While you are using the calculators, you are also being shown a message about other products and services that are offered. Even if you are not actively looking at the information, it is still planted in your brain, and builds brand recognition for the company. The final method is the more controversial one. It relies on the power of controversy to get links. The way it works is for the site owner or blogger to take a contrary position on a popular subject, or to attack a popular person. Other blogs start to comment on what you said, either because they can not believe you had the nerve to post it, or they are coming to the defense of the person who was attacked. The reason this is seen as somewhat controversial is that often times it is less than honest. The person making the post may not really feel that way at all, they only take that position for the passion, and links, that taking a contrary position it evokes. The danger of this last method is the damage it could do to your reputation. If you are seen as a trouble maker or rabble-rouser, many of your regular viewers may leave your site and begin frequenting other sites that are a little more in line with their way of thinking. So why would site owners risk damaging their reputations for links? The first reason is the immediate flood of traffic it can send to their site. Even though they may not agree with your opinion, some people will still check your site out to see if there is anything else controversial.  The second reason is that links represent popularity, and some search engines, most notably Google, use the number of sites that link to your site when they determine the ranking of each site. When other sites link to your site, it improves your ranking with Google. This is especially true with sites that are ranked higher than yours are. The more sites that link to you, the higher your site climbs. For some site owners, the traffic generated by getting links outweighs the negative consequences that might come from a bruised reputation. For your business, you need to consider whether it is more important for you to have a quick burst of traffic to your site, or whether you would rather build a steady stream of regular customers that will continue to return to your site long into the future. There are a number of sites that have effectively used gotten other sites to give them a link. Most notably are The Million Dollar Home Page, One Red Paper Clip, and All My Life For Sale. All three of these sites used unique ideas that made other site owners and bloggers want to write about what they were doing. The resulting surge of traffic made all three of these efforts overwhelmingly successful (and yes, the Million Dollar Home Page really did earn a million dollars

Provide Quality Content, Products, Or Services

1. Provide Quality Content, Products, Or Services   

 Providing quality content, products, or service is by far the best way to build your reputation, and build repeat traffic to your site. Research has shown that on average, when someone has a positive experience they will tell two other people about that experience. On the other hand, if they have had a bad experience, they will tell seven other people. That act of telling others is how the viral traffic generation techniques start. If your customers never tell anyone else about you and your site, you are back to doing all of the marketing on your own. To build returning customers to your site, you need to establish a reputation as an expert in your field, very entertaining, or someone who has unique insights. That does not happen if all you are offering is cheap, recycled drivel that you found on someone else’s website. Make sure that what you offer is your own work, and something that is different from what can be found on every other website. As your reputation as an expert increases, other websites and bloggers will start to pay attention to your website. They will begin to talk about what you are doing, and will even give links from their website to yours. Suddenly every one of their readers becomes a potential customer. The higher the quality of material you produce, the more often your site will be linked to. Each link to your site is an avenue for new visitors to your business. If you do not think you have the ability to create something that will touch people like it needs to, you may have to spend the money and hire someone else to do it for you. Fortunately for you, there are a lot of service that will put you in touch with freelance writers, site designers, and program designers. If you have an idea about what you want, chances are there is someone available to do it for you. If you are willing to take a chance on a freelancer who has not yet established themselves, you can often find one that will work for a low wage in exchange for the experience the job will give them. Be careful though; often times you get what you pay for. Make sure the work you get is up to the standards necessary to appeal to your audience.

Donations

Another thing you can consider to make money from your blog is to ask for donations. This method is not for everyone, but if your blog provides information to readers, especially if this information is not readily available in a free format, readers will not have a problem donating.  If your blog is opinion based, you may not get as much of a response, but it can still be worth a shot. Likewise, if your blog is monetized with many other advertising and affiliate opportunities, readers will be less inclined to make donations.   You may want to consider giving readers a way to donate if your blog is just starting out and you offer information of value to your readers. If you do not have a huge readership, donations may be a good way to make enough income to continue your blog until you can utilize other monetization methods that require more traffic.  You may have dismissed donations on your blog because it seems tacky or dishonest, but many bloggers rely on donations for all or part of their income. Your time is valuable, and unless you are happy to write simply as a hobby and not get paid, you have to start somewhere.   Not everyone will donate, but those who do will do so from their own free will because they enjoy reading your blog and wish to see it continue. Most readers will not be put off by a donation button, those who do not wish to donate will not and those who do will. Very few blogs end up loosing traffic as a result of adding a donation button.  There are a few places you can go to set up an account to take donation. Companies such as Pay Pal and Amazon make collecting donations easy and only take a few minutes to set up.  If you already have a Pay Pal account, you can go to their website and look into setting up a donation request. It doesn’t take long and you simply insert a button into your blog that users can click and then make donations via Pay Pal. Amazon also has a similar donation program called the Honor System where bloggers can sign up and insert a button in their blog to accept donations. You can get the information you need from amazon.com by clicking the Honor System link at the bottom of the home page.  Remember, like any monetization method having a good amount of traffic and offering quality content is the key to being successful. You will not collect many donations if you do not have many readers or offer them something of value. This is why your blogs content and traffic are important.   Make sure you give your readers a reason to come back and a reason to donate, so they do not miss the next installment of your blog. If readers value what you write they will not hesitate to donate to keep your blog going. 

Create Your Own Products

If you have a popular blog, especially one that deals with topics that are important to others, you can earn money by selling your own products from your blog. People are always willing to buy merchandise that makes a statement, or support a cause they believe in. If your blog is popular you should consider making merchandise to sell on your blog.  You do not have to create merchandise that is branded to your blog, you can sell things that are relevant to your blogs topic and that relate to the content of your entries. Just make sure that your audience will be interested in the merchandise you create or you may find that you make few sales.  For example, if you blog about gaming, creating merchandise that relates to games and software will probably sell on your blog. You can also create merchandise that contains your blogs logo or other graphics, and get some free advertising every time a reader wears it as well. Creating merchandise to sell on your blog is not as hard as it sounds. There are a few websites out there that allow you to create t-Shirts, mouse pads, mugs, hats, and other things that you can personalize any way you wish and sell for a profit.   Most websites handle orders, payments, and shipping, leaving you to do nothing but design your merchandise and profit. Here are some websites that you should consider if you want to create merchandise to sell on your blog:

Cafepress  – This is a very popular website and allows you to create a variety of merchandise to sell on your blog, or anywhere else for that matter.   Basic membership is free and even includes a simple online store hosted on Cafepress. The merchandise you create has a base price and you mark it up to the price you wish and keep the profit. They handle orders, payments, and shipping.

Printfection  – Printfection is relatively new and is similar to Cafepress. They have less merchandise you can create, limited mostly to different styles of shirts.   On the other hand, they offer a free online store that is comparable to the one you have to pay for on Cafepress. They also print  with high quality and offer many color choices. 

Zazzle  – Another print on demand company, although they are more geared toward individuals rather than people trying to sell their products online.  The payment structure is different form Cafepress and Printfection where you set your markup. At Zazzle, you earn a fixed percentage. Prices are slightly higher at Zazzle than at Cafépress and Printfection as well.  

Each of these websites allows you to create merchandise that you can sell on your blog, either with your blog logo, slogan, or something related to your blog’s topic.