Tutorial Business

Is One Blog Enough To Earn Me A Full-time Income?

Compared to building websites blogs are easier cheaper and faster to build but can one be enough to earn you a fulltime income?

This is the question I often get asked and the answer really is “yes and no.

A little bit ambiguous I know but there are genuine reasons for my answer

If you’re an intermediate to advanced marketer who knows how to

a get traffic to your blog and b monetize your blog by converting more of your visitors into paying customers then I say you have a solid reason for diversifying into other niche markets and build more blogs so long as you know how to manage all of them.

The problem really comes when you don’t know how to get traffic to your blog you struggle with keeping it maintained your blog posts are mediocre and even if people do land on your blog they hit the back button in seconds in other words they escape your blog without even taking note of what you have to say.

This is when I argue that you should think twice before building more blogs unless you really feel that you’re currently blogging in the wrong market … your target market are unresponsive to blogs or to searching for information online generally or because you just don’t know enough about the subject matter to create an authority blog.

Other than that this is the strategy I would pursue to get more traffic and monetize your blog before building more of them:

Post at least 3 times per week and make those blog posts informative. Informative could include doing a quality review of a product that you are an affiliate for giving tips on how to use a particular product and even doing a track back to someone elses blog post.

Ensure your ping list is up together so that you get the maximum benefit from publishing your blog posts.

Comment on other people’s blogs particularly those in your niche. I’m sure I wear my blog readers down with this one but it’s relevant and new bloggers still fail to recognize blog commenting as a credible means to getting traffic and natural links back to your site.

If you read comments on other people’s blogs then you should be commenting because you already know the value. I’ve landed consulting business just from commenting on other people’s blogs. One of my clients read my comment on Stephen Pierces blog the author of Making Real Money on the Internet and contacted me to build a blog for him … sweet!

Tag your blog posts. Each time you make a post add your keywords as tags at the bottom of your post as well as to your WordPress pages. I would use the Simple Tags plugin to do this which will allow you can categorize your content based on a tagging engine so your posts are indexed by services like technorati.

Syndicate your posts. Once your post is pinged and tagged properly you should submit your posts to social media sites which will enable you to generate some immediate traffic. It can be an arduous task but by using something like Web 2.0 Submitter to do this the task can be completed in a fraction of the time

There are a myriad of other strategies you can use to bring more traffic to your site but if you focus on these five and perform each task with due diligence and you’ll see your traffic stats increase in a matter of weeks.

Once you’ve perfected or at least able to use these strategies comfortably you can apply them to any niche. Whether you’re able to make a fulltime income from just one blog really depends on the size of the target market hence the reason I personally stay away from tiny niches but you’ll still never know if you’re able to make a fulltime income from one blog if you don’t give it time to start producing from you.

To get you started with your own blog you can get free instant access to my JumpStart Blogging guide when you visit http://www.jumpstartyourblog.com. I also show you how to get your first 100 subscribers and make your first 1000 with your blog.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trish Jones makes it easy for you to launch a successful blog build your subscriber list and market your services.

To get you started with your own blog you can get free instant access to my Jump Start Blogging guide when you visit http://www.jumpstartyourblog.com. I also show you how to get your first 100 subscribers and make your first
1000 with your blog.

Directbuy Offers Play Areas For Parents And Children

CHICAGO GURNEE HOFFMAN ESTATES NAPERVILLE TINLEY PARK IL

The five DirectBuy franchises of the greater ChicagoDirectBuy of Chicago North DirectBuy of Tinley Park DirectBuy of Hoffman Estates DirectBuy of DuPage County and DirectBuy of Gurneehave developed a Kids Zone area in their respective clubs so parents can focus on the task at hand and kids can enjoy the DirectBuy experience too.

Though not a supervised area the Kids Zone features a number of things to keep schoolage children occupied and entertained: books puzzles and games. The Kids Zone also includes a flat screen television so children of members can watch movies or play games.

Lets face it most kids would rather go to the dentist than watch their parents shop for their next home improvement project. By the same token its difficult for members with children to get the most out of the experience and do the research they need to do if theyre concerned about the kids getting fidgety. The Kids Zone gives children of DirectBuy members a place to play games watch TV or even make new friends with other members kids while the grownups have their fun said I.J. Sell owner of DirectBuy of Tinley Park.

Creating fun things to do for children is nothing new for DirectBuy. DirectBuy franchises across North America regularly donate equipment to youth organizations like the Boys amp; Girls Clubs YMCAs and childrens hospitals.

Because we are entrenched in the greater Chicago community we have an even greater incentive to make this a oneofakind unique shopping experience because many of the members are our friends neighbors even relatives said Dave Kushner owner of DirectBuy of Hoffman Estates. The Kids Zone and donations to youth groups are just an extension of that philosophy.

Since 1971 DirectBuy showrooms have offered members the opportunity to enjoy enormous savings on home furnishings home improvement items entertainment and outdoor products and accessories by buying wholesale directly from the manufacturer. With five convenient locations in the greater Chicago area Chicago Gurnee Hoffman Estates Naperville and Tinley Park consumers can enjoy a comfortablecountryclub setting where they finally have the financial control of buying direct.

For more information on a DirectBuy membership you can call 1800DIRECTBUY or visit http://www.directbuychicago.com/.

About DirectBuy

Since 1971 DirectBuy has helped hundreds of thousands of families enjoy a better quality of life enabling them to buy directly frommore than 700manufacturers and their authorized suppliers. Buying direct makesmembers hardearned money to go much further while having the selection and choice not available at any retail store. Access to confidential prices local suppliersandunparalleled selection helps make members’ dream projectsa reality.It’s a comfortablecountryclub setting where you finally have the financial control of buying direct. The five DirectBuy showrooms serving the greater Chicago area are part of more than 160 locations throughout North America.

Consumers interested in becoming members may obtain a Visitors Pass to attend an Open House by visiting http://www.directbuychicago.com/.

Locations of the five DirectBuy showrooms serving the greater Chicago area are: DirectBuy of Gurnee 4081 Ryan Rd. 107 Gurnee IL; DirectBuy of Hoffman Estates 2200 N. Stonington Ave Ste. 150 Hoffman Estates IL; DirectBuy of Chicago North 6325 Avondale Chicago IL; DirectBuy of DuPage County 1864 Highgrove Ste. 136 Naperville IL; and DirectBuy of Tinley Park 18400 S. 76th Avenue Ste. B Tinley Park IL.

To learn more about the superior value and benefits of a DirectBuy membership visit www.directbuycares.com.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Elizabeth Miranda

VP of Franchise Development for
WSI” target=”_blank”>www.wsicorporate.com”>WSI Corporate
and
” target=”_blank”>www.ExpertiseOnline.com”> “Founder of ExpertsOnline”

The Problem With Automated Marketing

The problem can easily be summed in the words ‘selling skill’.

I am not talking about marketing I am talking about the ability to sell sell sell.

See most people can be good at marketing but when it comes to selling it is a whole different story.

To sell something requires more than marketing it requires an understanding of your buyer. A deep understanding and the ability to communicate in words and images the reason someone should buy whatever it is you are selling and to understand major trends and trend forces to enter the conversation already going on in their mind as a famous copywriter once said.

But here is the big problem with automated anything: It is not human. It is machineware.

People do not buy from automated systems they buy from people. They buy from people they trust.

You can automate almost everything in your business except that one intangible thing: the human touch.

To me that is the biggest problem with automated systems on the Internet the lack of humanityto buy anything you want to know that you are dealing with a person and not a faceless company or system that is why you can automate everything else except selling.

Selling is a personal skill. It requires you to put yourself in your buyers shoes and sense their objections before they ask. Feel the pain they feel and offer a solution that best fits their situation.

You do not see a lot of really finetuned selling skills in email newsletters. Agora offers are the best I have ever read. Their copy is selling perfection or as close as you can get.

The reason you do not see very good selling in email marketing is that the market is so hot right now good sales copy is not required to make a sale. People will jump and just about anything that looks decent.

But that will change making it harder for anyone to make a sale without really topquality selling skills.

You might be scratching your head saying ‘Gee if it is easy to make a sale now I must be doing something wrong because I can not sell anything!’

And that is my point. The bar is being raised almost daily and the offers that worked 1 year ago no longer hold water.

There are other reasons it is getting tougher and tougher to sell online 8211; if you are unskilled in the art of selling 8211; one of those other factors is the life cycle of a product. Products are released and die within months sometimes weeks!

Think of Firesalesthey were hot now where are they? I guess there are still a few around but they are almost dead. Big product launches have been huge in 2006 will they be in 2007? Maybe maybe not they will probably be replaced with some other new marketing strategy.

Being on top of trends markets and Internet technology all help to craft sales strategy but who can keep up with it all? Unless you are dedicated to online trends current marketing strategy and technology changes it will be hard to keep up. It is a fulltime job and then some of it takes up a lot time.

That brings us fullcircle: Selling is a personal skill that is crafted on an awareness of these trends or ‘major forces that can neither be shaped or stopped but only watched carefully and guide your copy along these line’ as Eugene Schwartz the famous copywriter would say as well as being able to enter a persons conversation in their mind.

Selling in not just the ability to write a few entertaining trigger words in an email. it is being able to harness the forces of major trends capturing them in your copy in a way that makes the sale.

Heady stuff but oh so important.

Do you find it difficult to sell? To convince people to buy your products or affiliate products?

What I have said here may be the problem and it is also the problem and failure of using automated systems to sell products and services online. People buy from people not machineware or systems.

About the writer:  Zai Zhu is a watch collector and a watch dealer. Shop over 800 fine watches including Citizen watches Invicta watches Croton watches Mido watches Luminox watches and many more at http://www.discountwatchstore.com Read reviews and watch articles.