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Home Are you wasting time blogging?

Are you wasting time blogging?

Associate Programs Newsletter #321

Are you blogging, re-blogging or merely chicken scratching?

Here are four ways to make blog posts which achieve something useful.

CONTENTS:

1. Are you wasting your time blogging?
2. How to watch our feeds on Google
3. How to watch our feeds on Yahoo
4. Linkbait case study: Links and rankings soar
5. Thought for today: Attempting the impossible

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======================================
1. Are you wasting your time blogging?
======================================

I keep an eye on quite a few blogs by scanning blog headlines on my My Yahoo page. It's a very easy, fast way of seeing what's happening on blogs, whatever industry you're in.

I was searching for something today, got distracted and wasted three hours, checking out a bunch of blogs written by affiliates. It was a frustrating, depressing experience.

I was reminded painfully how many totally pointless posts are being made on blogs.

Are you wasting your time blogging when you could be doing something more effective? When you could be generating decent revenue instead?

Are you blogging constructively with a purpose in mind, or are you just chicken scratching – energetically kicking up dust and straw but hardly ever finding a worm?

I'll make my bias plain here. I don't own a blog. Maybe one day I will, but I've been earning my living online quite happily without one ever since I quit my job in 1998.

If I DID own a blog, here's what I'd do.

Before I wrote each post, I'd ask myself: “What reaction am I aiming for? What do I want the reader to do after reading my post?”

For example, you can…

* Review a product, giving specific details which explain just how useful the product is, leading the reader towards making a decision to buy through your affiliate link. The result: Sales and commissions.
 
* Publish a helpful how-to article. Result: You give your business a face and a voice. You build credibility. If you're doing this, I hope you have simple, easy to understand instructions telling people how to sign up for your newsletter or RSS feed. Once you've impressed people, you should be adding those new fans to your database. Otherwise, what's the point? They'll probably just quickly forget you and chase the latest buzz.
 
* Make an insightful comment on news in your industry. I mean a really insightful comment, not just a reblog or someone else's opinion. Result: You build credibility.
 
* Publish linkbait, aimed mainly at attracting hundreds of links to your site. This makes pages throughout your site rank higher in Google. For a detailed case study on linkbait, keep reading.  

Before you make your next post on a blog, ask yourself, “What's the point? What do I want to achieve?”

You should ask the same question before you write every article for a website.

By the way, although we don't call it a blog, we do have a sort of blog…

 

[UPDATE, 2011: The sad story continues… The Internet overflows with blogs that earn nothing or only a few dollars a month. Meanwhile, thousands of affiliates have found a better solution.

As you've probably discovered, time-sensitive blogging can be stressful and time-consuming. For most affiliates, a better option is to create a theme-based content site that provides what your visitors want, attracts more long-term, targeted traffic, and – for most affiliates – generates more revenue than a blog.

What is right for you? Should you build a website or a blog? If your blog is a time-consuming burden, you really need to read this… Blog or build – or both?]

===================================
2. How to watch our feeds on Google
===================================

You may not have noticed, but the whole of AssociatePrograms.com works like a blog. It has ever since our big revamp last year.

You could call it a blog without blather.

You can keep up to date with what's happening in any sections of AssociatePrograms.com – in the affiliate forum (well, there IS some blather there as well as very good stuff), or the affiliate directory, the newsletter, new articles or News – by subscribing to any of our dozens of RSS feeds.

It's a hassle-free way of keeping up to date.

You can find our RSS feeds here.

(If I'd known the new system was going to create such an ugly URL, I would have named that link differently.)

You can subscribe to any of the site's sections – the forum, the latest 10 articles, or any particular category you're interested in, such as “Super affiliates”, “Recruiting affiliates”, “Residual commissions”, “Getting traffic”,  “News”, and so on.

Some sections seldom receive new articles, so a good choice is “latest 10 articles”. It includes all the site's new articles and new newsletters. It doesn't includes News. You may want to subscribe to it separately.

You can choose to subscribe to just one section or a dozen, or more. It's your choice.

Here's an easy way to subscribe – without needing an RSS reader. Just add the feed to your Google HomePage. If you haven't set up a Google HomePage, don't worry. It's very simple.

How to watch AssociatePrograms.com RSS feeds on Google:

1. Go to our Feeds/Syndicate page:

2. Choose the RSS feed you're interested in, for example “Latest 10 articles RSS”.
I recommend that choice.

3. RIGHT-click on the link.

4. Click on Copy Shortcut (Internet Explorer) or Copy Link Location (Firefox).

5. Go to Google HomePage – https://www.google.com/ig
(If necessary, click on “Make it your own” and set up your Google HomePage.)

5. Click on “Add stuff” (It's at the right of the page).

6. Click on “Add by URL”. (It's at the top, near the search box).

7. Do a Ctrl-V to paste the RSS feed URL you've chosen into the box and click “Add”.

That's it.

One big advantage of using My Yahoo and Google HomePage is that many blogs make it very easy for you to use these services by clicking on a “MyYahoo” button or an “Add to Google” button.

Subscribe to your favorite blogs this way and you'll be able to monitor them all quickly and easily on one web page.

Just one thing…

If you're watching RSS feeds via My Yahoo or Google HomePage, you need to know that new posts do not appear instantaneously. I haven't done an in-depth study, but when I checked yesterday and today, blog headlines seemed to be appearing faster on Google HomePage than on My Yahoo.

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==================================
3. How to watch our feeds on Yahoo
==================================

As well as having a Google HomePage, I have a My Yahoo page, so I can watch how these two behemoths compete with each other.

Here's how to watch AssociatePrograms.com feeds on My Yahoo:

Follow Steps 1 to 4 above.

5. Go to My Yahoo – https://my.yahoo.com
If necessary, follow the simple instructions to set up your page.

6. Click on “+ Add Content” (The link is near the top left-hand corner).

7. Click on “Add RSS by URL” (It's near the Find button).

8. Do a Ctrl-V to paste the URL you've chosen into the box, and click “Add”.

There are many other ways of monitoring RSS feeds. Jay Stockwell discusses some options in this article…

RSS demystified

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===============================================
4. Linkbait case study: Links and rankings soar
===============================================

Daniel Tynski of SEO company Voltier Inc has written a superb case study of linkbait and its effect on a site's traffic and rankings in Google.

The catalyst was a totally off-topic article, “8 Diseases That Give You Superhuman Powers”, which was hidden on an inside page on a car dealership website.

It was posted on Reddit and Digg. Traffic soared.

Within five days, the site received almost 234,000 unique visitors.

“We knew from the beginning the traffic would absolutely be worthless… The purpose was to help a site that was relatively unknown get a little bit of authority. It was the backlinks we were interested in,” Daniel says.

Look at the links the site received…

Before the Digg: 207 backlinks
3 days after Digg: 1,270 backlinks
5 days after Digg: 2,642 backlinks
7 days after Digg: 3,545 backlinks

“We already know that untargeted backlinks are not nearly as effective as targeted ones from authority sites with similar content. The Digg did, however, produce links from many sites with authority in areas that are not entirely unrelated, and in some cases, from some sites with very high traffic and trust,” Daniel says.

“Google's latest crawl (7 days after the Digg) resulted in a huge increase in our rankings for our targeted keywords. We jumped up anywhere from 20-300 places, with most of our most important keywords ranking in the top ten (many in the top 5). Furthermore, Google has increased its rate of indexing, has increased the number of our pages that appear in the index, and have released over a dozen important pages from the supplemental results.”

Unfortunately, we're not all as clever as Daniel at writing linkbait. I imagine he'll receive a lot of business as a result of his post.

Here's the full story, plus comments…

Anatomy of a Super Digg
https://www.seomoz.org/blog/anatomy-of-a-super-digg

===============================================
5. Thought for today: Attempting the impossible
===============================================

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.” – Pearl S. Buck.

 

All the best

Allan Gardyne

Mar 1, 2007Allan Gardyne
Affiliate Bonus Manager reviewBest Affiliate Programs
Comments: 33
  1. Marcus Wahl
    11 years ago

    I did some blog work with blogger.com.  In fact, I did quite a bit of work with them.  I never made any money with them.  I didn't target a very good market.  I like where I am going right now.  I would be more than happy to talk about blogger.com if anyone is interested.

    Thanks
    LegacyIncorporatedSystems
    Marcus Wahl
    http://marcuswahl.ws
    skype id: mcwahl1

    ReplyCancel
  2. baloot
    16 years ago

    whoa..!! this article helps me as blogger full timer. Sure, after this, im not wasting my time again. I will blogger like a pro after this..!!
    DIGG IT...!!

    ReplyCancel
  3. agungsc
    16 years ago

    Thanks, it's very helpful for me as a beginner.

    ReplyCancel
  4. iris
    15 years ago

    This is very informative, i really like the article "Are you wasting time blogging" it's an added knowledge for me and i love learning. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyCancel
  5. Vijay
    15 years ago

    This Is Very informative For Me Thanks A Lot For Your Valuable Articles..!

    ReplyCancel
  6. Norma
    15 years ago

    Thanks so very very much. I am new to this, and you have helped me to understand so much. I am a 62 year old retired widow with so much time on my hands. I pray that you have a long and fruitful life helping others to be as successful as you.

    ReplyCancel
  7. Rob
    15 years ago

    Hi,
    not sure if I'm posting in the right place, but I am a complete newbie pensioner and have been checking out what's available on line for those of us wanting to make some money. I signed up with SBI (their 2 for 1) deal, but have not started with it yet as it's been a bit of info overload for me. In the meantime I wanted to join an affiliate program (a set and forget one with a premade and preloaded site) and wondered if it was alright to ask about certain ones that I was considering for some reassurance that the direction I was heading in was o.k. If others from this forum had had any bad experiences and so on. There is so much out there and I'm finding it really frustrating coz there is so much unfamiliar stuff to learn. Any suggestions?
    Thanks

    [Go to the top of the page and click on the link to our affiliate forum. Join the forum (it's free to join) and ask your questions there. (This spot here is for comments on an article about blogging.) For long-term success, think about building something useful that adds value to the Internet. Think of affiliate marketing as building a business. There's a lot to learn in any business. Just take it in small bites. Learn something new every day. Do something to improve your business every day. Forget about "set and forget" dreams. However, once you've done the hard work, it gets a lot easier. Allan.]

    ReplyCancel
  8. kriangsak C.
    15 years ago

    Hi, I 've learned many things here, particularly the keywords.
    Thanks,
    From a real Newbie.

    ReplyCancel
  9. Deb Kenyon-Roberts
    15 years ago

    Hi Allan,
    Just surfing around, as you do, and I ended up here. Very glad I did. Even just this one article is very cool and full of excellent info which I think is really going to help me.

    I've just started up my own online venture, y'see. I'm blogging about my experience in trying to turn a sale (or several) from the internet - not least cos I eventually want to move away from working for others and be able to do my own thing. And hopefully in the future be able to help others do the same too.

    And I really wanted to see if it *is* possible to make money online. I know it must be because I know of a lot of people who are. But what about us beginners - can we do it too? (Business, marketing, etc. are really a passion of mine so this seemed to me a cool experiment to undertake.)

    Blogging is, I know, a very effective tool - used correctly, so information like this is really helping me and others see what works and what doesn't. Thanks very much for posting it.

    At the moment on my own blog I'm just following one plan, one system. But I know I need to become more effective, learn more, and build that learning into what I'm doing. It's all such a work in progress though!

    Great site, Allan, I've added it to my blogroll (for my future benefit, and others') and I'll be back to learn more soon.

    Do feel free to drop by at my blog too, I'd love to hear your comments on what I've been up to so far (but please go easy on me - I've only just begun!).
    Thanks once again.
    All the best,
    Deb
    Blogging about My First dollar Online
    www.onlineinfobiz.com

    [Good luck! That's an intensely competitive niche you've chosen. One thing you could do is go to the Site Review section of our affiliate forum and ask for a site review. Allan.]

    ReplyCancel
  10. vnhan2008
    14 years ago

    The way to boost blog using google and yahoo RSS.
    I love your post.
    http://freshhome.wordpress.com

    ReplyCancel
  11. Pamela Ashworth
    14 years ago

    I am new to this, I found your article very imformative - good advice!
    Thanks

    ReplyCancel
  12. muzamil
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the info will try as you explained

    my blogs are
    www.moneymagnet4u.blogspot.com
    www.makesense4adsense.blogspot.com

    ReplyCancel
  13. Lee Johnson
    14 years ago

    This was a very informative article. I had considered starting a blog about rust removal using little understood non-hazardous rust removers. Instead, it makes more sense to write a 'How To' article about these latest technology products for more exposure. Thanks for the advice and ideas. Keep up the good work!
    Lee
    http://www.rustdepot.com

    ReplyCancel
  14. Han
    14 years ago

    Very good article for beginner.

    ReplyCancel
  15. Hooshmand Moslemi
    13 years ago

    Blogging is a phenomenon that most people have not yet discovered its power. Many think it is like a news resource where they can read the latest news of the industry.

    While blogging could be used for publishing news, as well, we must not ignore its power for leveraging the market.

    Take an affiliate review site for example. If we are passionate about a special product or know a lot about it, we could build a blog around that topic and start writing and posting. We can review the related products and services, share our experience, announce the latest news, provide how-to articles and so on.

    That way, blogging could become one of the best income streams generating a nice cash flow. However, there is something we must know about blogging: Becoming Authority.

    When we generate a high-value content for our readership and over-deliver the needed information, people would consider us as an expert in the industry. That way, people would give us credit and believe in what we are going to say.

    Otherwise, blogging could be a wasting time and it's not worth it. Blogging is a long-term business opening a lot of better opportunities in future.

    Thanks Allan for this wonderful article that opens our eyes and helps us think about blogging more seriously.

    To Your Success!

    Hooshmand Moslemi

    ReplyCancel
  16. hawk
    13 years ago

    i think i was wasting my time with blogging also..
    especially when posting without hesitation of the circumstances ahead..

    except the part i put my notes where i can refer to it later of the day..

    i could have be done it better.. :)

    ReplyCancel
  17. Lin
    13 years ago

    This article is a great eye-opener for new as well as struggling bloggers. We can write all we want, but achieving the result that we want is a different story. Thank you for this wonderful article! Your site is great.

    ReplyCancel
  18. Rebekka
    13 years ago

    This is a good article that I passed onto many other people. Keep up the great work...
    www.d-rust-it.com

    ReplyCancel
  19. Cecily
    13 years ago

    Thanks for your detailed tips.

    ReplyCancel
  20. marie
    13 years ago

    How does one descide to have a blog or a website or do both?

    ReplyCancel
  21. Richard
    13 years ago

    Hi Allan

    Thanks for this invaluable information. Will come back regularly

    ReplyCancel
  22. Glennys/admin
    12 years ago

    Affiliate.com is an affiliate network. You sign up and then choose the advertisers you want to promote on your site. I'm sorry we don't have any tutorials on it. If you're having problems finding your way around the site you should contact them directly. There's a list of email addresses under the "About" link on the site.

    ReplyCancel
  23. nim @ online jobs
    12 years ago

    Thanks for that linkbait case study, it really helps a lot on clarifying some things for me.

    ReplyCancel
  24. Frank F.
    12 years ago

    Hi Marie,
    I have the same problem, weather to open a wae site along with a blog. This article by Alen seems to say that a blog is not worth it. I am thinking about going to SBI and doing their program to oipen a web site. The web site seems to offer more advantages, and blog on the side for peoples responces to the web site information. I think that makes more sense.

    Frank F.

    ReplyCancel
  25. tom
    12 years ago

    THANK. i like it. it's very great

    ReplyCancel
  26. Patrick
    11 years ago

    Allan this page is no different from a blog!

    ReplyCancel
  27. Dr. Ethiopia
    15 years ago

    Just came through this article. Enjoyed it, loved it. Very helpful
    http://www.abesha.wordpress.com

    ReplyCancel
  28. baruch Okpulor
    15 years ago

    Allan, I think that this article is very captivating and revealing. It gives you a good focus on how to really get traffic blogging not just a cramp stuff.
    This is quite cool.
    http://www.wealthworld.co.uk

    ReplyCancel
  29. Angel Moreno
    14 years ago

    An eye opener for us bloggers. Blog with a definite purpose and focus on a definite goal.
    I'm also taking a look at link baiting. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyCancel
  30. Daisy_mediaxcer
    13 years ago

    yes, i really find myself like chicken scratching every day on my blog.

    It seemed to be useless. You help me greatly.

    www.mediaxcer.com ( my blog )

    ReplyCancel
  31. Damu
    12 years ago

    I landed to this page: https://www.associateprograms.com/articles/188/2/Af... from google and ended up opening all links in new tab. How i didn't find this site before, may be because i just started being serious about it.

    I was looking for tutorial about affiliate.com as i got lost there. Do you have or point me to the right direction.

    Thanks.

    ReplyCancel
  32. Gary
    12 years ago

    Great story on the linkbait. Amazing - all that traffic for 10 minutes work!

    ReplyCancel
  33. Vimax pills
    12 years ago

    Whoa amazing post on linkbait! Too bad digg is almost impossible for me thesedays!

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply to Han Cancel reply

Allan Gardyne

Affiliate marketing veteran, entrepreneur. Founder of AssociatePrograms.

16 years ago 33 Comments 2007 Newsletters2000 Newsletters21
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