Dream Online Money

How to Say Nothing in 500 Words (A Lesson on Writing)

2009-05-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly Dosh Dosh is one of my favorite online blogging friends, this another lovely piece for the 'blogging champion'.....enjoy.

The ability to write well is very useful for our personal and professional lives. It helps students, business people, politicians, writers, bloggers, marketers and everyone who has ever needed to arrange words together to convey ideas or opinions. The written word has become an essential means of social communication: mastery of it helps you to enthrall and persuade an audience that would look upon you favorably in return.

It goes without saying that learning how to create compelling content is a part of one’s success as an online publisher. Reading widely and deeply while consistently honing your writing skills helps a great deal in bettering your prose. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt to read a few stylebooks/essays on writing by professional teachers or authors.

One of these essays on writing is Paul McHenry Roberts’s How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words, a brilliantly humorous introduction on writing college compositions. I discovered this essay today and read though easily in one sitting, possibly because it was so well-written and entertaining. It’s a perfect example of the writing techniques listed within.

Here’s a quick summary of the 9 main points mentioned. I’ve extracted some of the key paragraphs from the text but be sure to read the full essay because these points are elaborated in much greater detail with some excellent examples.

Avoid the obvious content.“Say the assignment is college football. Say that you’ve decided to be against it. Begin by putting down the arguments that come to your mind. Now when you write your paper, make sure that you don’ t use any of the material on this list. If these are the points that leap to your mind, they will leap to everyone else’s too. Be against college football for some reason or reasons of your own. If they are keen and perceptive ones, that’s splendid. But even if they are trivial or foolish or indefensible, you are still ahead so long as they are not everybody else’s reasons too.”

Take the less usual side. “One rather simple way of getting into your paper is to take the side of the argument that most of the citizens will want to avoid. They are intellectual exercises, and it is legitimate to argue now one way and now another, as debaters do in similar circumstances. Always take the that looks to you hardest, least defensible. It will almost always turn out to be easier to write interestingly on that side.”

Slip out of abstraction. “Look at the work of any professional writer and notice how constantly he is moving from the generality, the abstract statement, to the concrete example, the facts and figures, the illustrations. For most the soundest advice is to be seeking always for the picture, to be always turning general remarks into seeable examples. Don’t say, “Sororities teach girls the social graces.” Say, “Sorority life teaches a girl how to carry on a conversation while pouring tea, without sloshing the tea into the saucer.”

Get rid of obvious padding. “Instead of stuffing your sentences with straw, you must try steadily to get rid of the padding, to make your sentences lean and tough… You dig up more real content. Instead of taking a couple of obvious points off the surface of the topic and then circling warily around them for six paragraphs, you work in and explore, figure out the details. You illustrate.”

Call a fool a fool. “If he was a fool, call him a fool. Hedging the thing about with “in-my-opinion’s” and “it-seems-to-me’s” and “as-I-see-it’s” and “at-least-from-my-point-of-view’s” gains you nothing. Delete these phrases whenever they creep into your paper. Decide what you want to say and say it as vigorously as possible, without apology and in plain words. Writing in the modern world, you cannot altogether avoid modern jargon. But you can do much if you will mount guard against those roundabout phrases, those echoing polysyllables that tend to slip into your writing to rob it of its crispness and force.”

Beware of Pat Expressions. “Other things being equal, avoid phrases like “other things being equal.” Those sentences that come to you whole, or in two or three doughy lumps, are sure to be bad sentences. They are no creation of yours but pieces of common thought floating in the community soup… No writer avoids them altogether, but good writers avoid them more often than poor writers.”

Colorful Words. “Some words are what we call “colorful.” By this we mean that they are calculated to produce a picture or induce an emotion. They are dressy instead of plain, specific instead of general, loud instead of soft. Thus, in place of “Her heart beat,” we may write, “her heart pounded, throbbed, fluttered, danced.” Instead of “He sat in his chair,” we may say, “he lounged, sprawled, coiled.”

Colored Words.. “When we hear a word, we hear with it an echo of all the situations in which we have heard it before. The word mother, for example, has, for most people, agreeable associations. When you hear mother you probably think of home, safety, love, food, and various other pleasant things..The question of whether to use loaded words or not depends on what is being written.”

Colorless Words. “A pet example is nice, a word we would find it hard to dispense with in casual conversation but which is no longer capable of adding much to a description. Colorless words are those of such general meaning that in a particular sentence they mean nothing…Slang adjectives like cool (”That’s real cool”) tend to explode all over the language. They are applied to everything, lose their original force, and quickly die.”

Learning how to create content using concrete, lean, colorful and vivid prose with unique perspectives will help you to get more readers, customers and supporters. But bear in mind that its not just about writing in a fancy way to entertain. It’s also a conscientious way of differentiating yourself from thousands of similar writers/thinkers in the same field.

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2009-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

So far i have been working on drawing traffic to my blogs. I found out that one of the best ways to draw triffic to your blog is by commenting on other people's blogs. Althouht many bloggers do this, this is what my friend Dosh has to say http://www.doshdosh.com/rethinking-blog-comments/

A comment left on a popular blog may be viewed by a few hundred people in one day. Multiply that by the lifespan of the blog and you’ll see that a simple comment may say a lot about you. Every blog comment is usually permanent. It’s not just a hyperlink but a long-term representation of your brand.

Too many webmasters view blog commenting as only a traffic or link building strategy. This rigid marketing emphasis has led to certain modes of behavior. For example, one might make the effort to comment exclusively on blogs with nofollow turned off, while using keyword names in order to increase the search engine ranking for one’s website.

Alternatively, you may also try to be the first to comment on popular blogs and/or include links to your website in a bid to gain some extra traffic from the additional visibility. There’s nothing wrong with this if you truly add to the discussion or include a relevant link. But not many do.
I’m not here to talk about improving the quality of comments. Nor am I going to lecture you about comment etiquette because I don’t want to regulate the way you interact with any website (other than Dosh Dosh).

What I’m trying to change is the way you think about comments. They are ways for you to get some quick traffic. They may help (in some small way) with your search rankings, but is there anything more to marketing via blog comments? And my answer is of course, yes.

Take this Perspective: View Blog Comments As a Networking Tool

A popular affiliate marketer recently left a comment on DoshDosh. It was initially caught in the spam filter and when I retrieved it, I did a quick google search for the comment in quotes. What did I find? The same exact comment was posted word-for-word on several other blogs, even when each article was about completely different topics.
This wasn’t a nobody but an established marketer. And this wasn’t the first time he left generic comments on my site. I don’t have anything against him as a person because I don’t know him personally but this sort of behavior just turns me off. It doesn’t appeal to me at all. And he probably just lost someone who could really get him some attention/traffic.

This is an extreme example, one bordering on spam but I feel it is indicative of what happens what you only view comments as a means to access instant benefits.
When you think in the short-term, you’re usually overlooking the value of relationships. And if you want to be successful in any industry or field, it helps to make friends with people who can help to get you there. Commenting is an extraordinary easy way to not only get visitors to your site, but develop mutually beneficial relationships along the way.

This is not about flattering an influencer or lying to curry favor. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t drop comment links. This is all about having a different mindset, about rethinking how commenting can benefit you in the long run, over and over again.
I feel that adopting a networking-oriented perspective when commenting will actually improve your comment quality, not to mention that people will more easily recognize that you’re reaching out or trying to connect on a more personal level. Bloggers are usually good at sniffing out people who are just out for a link or some quick traffic.
Think long-term, think relationships and think about getting repeat benefits.

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Making Money Online With Kontera

2009-05-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

In my search for more options to increase my online advertising revenue, I decided to sign up for Kontera ContentLink . Well if you are thinking of Kontera or just want to know how it works, this post if for you.

So what is Kontera you ask?
Kontera is a publisher network where website and blog owners join in which In-Text ads appear on their pages from some of Kontera's Advertisers. Kontera is another great way that people are making money online from home.

Remember when I talked about Google Adsense,well this is very similar. With Kontera ContentLink, advertisers pay to also show their ads. The only difference is that what happens with Kontera is they are called In-Text ads meaning that words on your website will turn into links. When people point their cursor over the keyword which is now a link a small window will appear with a small ad linking to the advertisers website.

Here is what this window will look like:

As you can see the Kontera ContentLink Advertisement is relevant to the page content. Kontera will match up your ads relevant to whatever your website is about. When people point there cursor over the text link ads that window or bubble shown above will appear.

How Do I Earn Money With Kontera?
Many people often ask me "How To Make Money With Kontera?" It's easy! If a visitor visits your website or blog and clicks on one of your Kontera ContentLink Ads you will earn money which is a percentage of the cost per click paid by one of Kontera's advertisers. It's as simple as that! The more website traffic or blog traffic you get, the more money you will make with Kontera. It's the same as making money with Google Adsense. I

If one of the ads interests your reader they will click on it and you will earn money. That's why it's very important to write good quality content to attract more readers and repeat visitors as well. If people gain value from your website or blog chances are people will link to your site not only increasing web traffic but also link popularity. Writing good quality content will increase website traffic and earnings all at the same time. Kontera is an excellent way to make money online and will provide an extra stream of income to the ever popular Adsense.

Can I use Kontera ContentLink With Adsense On My Sites?
Yes! You can join Kontera and place ads on the same pages in which you have Adsense Ads. This does not go against TOS of the Google Adsense Program. A good thing to do for anyone looking to add different streams of income to their website is always make sure you go back and check Adsense terms of service to make sure you comply with all the rules. Adsense is a great way to make money in which everyone would hate to lose such a great opportunity.

By adding an extra revenue stream such as Kontera and already having Adsense people should be able to increase their earnings. So yes, Kontera is allowed to be used if you have Adsense ads on your website. One of the big things adsense does not allow are other ads made to resemble Google ads which is strictly forbidden. Also placement of images close to adsense ads people need to watch out for too. The best thing to do is visit Google Adsense and re-read TOS to make sure you comply with all rules and regulations. In the meantime join Kontera and start making money just like you are with Adsense.

I have Adsense, Why Use Kontera ContentLinks?
Simple answer, secondary income opportunity! By having another way that your website or blog is monetized, you have a higher chance of making money. When a visitor visits your website and decides to leave or close the webpage you don't make any money. If your visitor doesn't click on your Adsense ads you don't make a cent. Now by having these Contextual In-Text ads, you may catch your readers interests as they are reading your content.

By placing Kontera on your sites you may very well increase your CTR (click-through-rate) and place more money in your pocket. It basically gives you an extra chance to capitalize on every visitor for a chance to make more money online. Don't settle just for one, a combination of these money making programs will most likely increase your overall earnings online.

How Do I Get Started With Kontera?
The first thing you need to do is apply for a Kontera Publisher Account. It will take about 3-5 days to get approved normally. After you are approved for your publisher account all you need to do is follow
Kontera well explained instructions and you will soon be making extra cash from home soon. All you need to do is add a simple piece of html code right before the tag and Kontera will do the rest. They will send out spiders crawling your content and match relevant ads to your website. It's that simple! Place a simple piece of code, generate traffic and make fast cash online.

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Write and earn as online writer or freelance writer

2009-04-27T07:37:00.001-07:00

One other way to earn money online is to write and publish articles on all kinds of topics and make money online. Here are some of the best websites I found where you can sell your writing and earn money by working from home:

1. eHow - This website is the easiest of all. You start out writing how to articles of 150 words and earn residual income.
2. Associated Content - This website has been around for a while but it is one of the few that still offers upfront money for articles written on the website.
3. Helium - They offer upfront payment according to writer status and stars.
4. Hubpages - Write, publish and earn through, Adsense, Kontera, ebay and Amazon. Revenue is shared in the ration of 60-40 between Hubpages and the Publisher.
5) Suite 101 - This website is harder to achieve writer status.
6) Daily Article - Sell your articles for money.
7) Constant Content - Sell your articles for money.
8) Rent a Coder - Bid on writing assignments.
9) Blogger.com : Create blog, publish posts, display ads and earn money. Simple. There is no revenue sharing. All online income goes to the publisher.
10) Digital Point Forum - Writers connect to marketers for assignments.

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Display adverts on your blog or website to earn money

2009-04-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

So far I had noticed some increased traffic on my two blogs - http://albertopoku.blogspot.com and http://lets-inpire.blogspot.com and I had more that 15 posts on each blog. It was time to start marking some money online!

My next step was to sign up with a Google Adsens and Kontera so that I could display ads or sell ad space to earn money. If you have just started blogging or have been blogging for some time and wishes to advertise on your blog, here are some of the best resources to consider are:

1. Kontera : Kontera lets you make more money from your posts, without giving up any advertising space.

2. Google Adsense : Google Adsense delivers text and image ads to the authorized websites/blogs depending on the content of the website.

3. Adbrite : Adsense doesn't allow to show their ads on blog with certain types of content, like adult and gambling. In this case you need Adbrite.

4. FeedBurner : FeedBurner is a great tool to monetize your RSS feed.

5. Blogads : You can use Blogads as an effective tool to have a better control over the advertisers in your blogs.

6. Crispads - Another useful network focused on the blogs.

7. Tagworld - It is similar to Blogads. It makes you select the ads and their price.

Promoting your site for traffic

2009-04-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

So far on my journey of making money online I have learnt how to create a blog as well as discover over 9 different online money making catefories from which I could start earning some money online, I had also discover another 4 ways to make money online based on a person's profession.

As you may have seen in my last post, earn $10.30 in my first month from Goggle Adsense as well as another $10.00 from Yahoo through My home page friends. My next aim is to promote my blogs and have traffic streaming to my blogs. In this post, I share with 3 major ways of promoting your blog or website.

Promote your blog or website by submitting articles to article directories:
Whenever an article by you is published somewhere, with a link back to your site, you can expect that some people will click through and visit your site. Many webmasters and ezine publishers are hungry for good content and if you provide it, then you have a good chance of being published. This method also helps indirectly in that it builds up the amount of incoming links, and boosts search engine ranking.
Here is the Listing of Ezine where you ca submit your article :
1. Ezinearticles.com
2. Goarticles.com
3. Articlesbase.com
4. Article99
5. Po2.net

Submit your blog or website to free website directories for traffic and higher page ranking on search engines.
Submit your blog or website to website directories for link backs and better search engine ranking. Here are a list of free website directories.
1. Yahoo! directory (free version)
2. Dmoz open directory project
3. AddYourSiteFreeSubmit.com
4. Bizoola
5. Linketeria Website Directory

Promote your blog and websites through free classified ads for traffic and more money.
Classified websites can be a excellent source to generate traffic for your website. Free Classified Website:
1. Adpost.com
2. Classifiedsforfree.com
3. 1classads.com
4. Cmather.com/classified
5. Emoment.net

Promote your blog and websites on discussion forums for linkbacks, traffic and money.
Discusson frourms are one of the best places to promote your blog, meet other people who share your interest as well as experienced bloggers who can provide you with advice and guidlines.
Join online discussion forums and promote your blog or website. Here are some of the best discussion forums for work from home jobs:
1. Whydowork.com/forums/
2. Work at Home Forum
3. Sitepoint.com/forums/
4. Sysindia.com/forums/Business/
5. Worldwide Work At Home Jobs

I Made Money From Google Adsense

2009-04-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

It's been one month and 9 days since I started blogging and what a day it is! I checked my Google Adsense account and these are the statistics:

1,513 visitors and
$10.30 in earnings

It's not so much of money but hey, I am still learning how to make money online! I am confident that by the end of April I will have made twice this..........it's one step at a time.!
To all of you who have visited my blogs, I say a big thank you and of course .............continue coming!

Online work from home jobs

2009-04-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

May be blogging may not be what you want to do to earn money online - and the truth is you don't have to be a blogger to make some part time money onine.

Here are some work from home jobs. Please to check the authenticity of these sites before joining any work from home program. Don't pay any money to join any work from home program. Remember - You are paid for doing work and you don't have to pay any money to do any work.

Data Entry:
1. Guru.com
2. Palm Coast Data
3. Axion Data services - Check out for new openings.
4. Mountain West Processing
5. KeyforCash
6. Working Solutions
7. Driverguide
8. TDEC

Virtual Call Center Jobs:

1. West At Home : West agents handle client's interaction with their customers, from customer care and live chat to email and incoming sales calls.
2. Working Solutions : Workingsolutions.com offers all kinds of virtual call center jobs and other work from home jobs. They don't charge any fee.
3. Alpine Access : Premier provider of customer service solutions using home-based employees.
4. Brighten Communications : A business-to-business telemarketing company specializing in the outsourcing of lead generation. The clients you will be making calls on behalf of represent professional organizations in industries such as finance, brokerage, and high-tech.
5. Customer Loyalty Concepts : home based job of selling a variety of services.

Bookkeeping Jobs:
1. A/R Recovery : Work at home collecting Accounts Receivable.
2. Balance Your Books : Provides A/P, A/R, payroll and general support for clients.

Transcription Jobs and Services:
1. Tiger Fish : Provides transcription services such as video editing and legal transcription.
2. Absolute Document Services : Seeking corporate, medical, and legal transcriptionists to work at home.
3. Accutran Global : Legitimate online jobs doing medical, legal, financial, investigation, interviews, and focus group transcription.

Virtual Assistant Jobs:
1. Team Double Click : Offering a wide range of administrative jobs including - Virtual Assistants, Real Estate Assistants, Telemarketers etc.
2. Virtual assistant jobs: Seeking individuals who can do desktop publishing, legal transcription, internet research, web applications.

Nine ways to make money online - Part 4

2009-03-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is final of the series on 'Nine ways to make money online'. (Click here to read Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3) .Here are the last three other ways of making money online.

7. Freelance and Work on a Contract Basis Online
If you have a skill such as web design, programming or copywriting you can offer your services online in exchange for money. Traditional freelancing jobs include transcription, proofreading, translation services on top of the ones already mentioned above.

Online marketplaces that you can use to offer your services include Guru.com and Elance. One of the best ways to find freelance jobs is to visit webmaster forums because webmasters usually require a variety of web-based services, which range from programming and content writing to design work.

If you’re focusing on writing if don’t own your own blog, you can still make some money by registering for websites which will pay for your content. Another alternative is get paid to write for other blogs either as a staff or guest writer.

8. Create Your Own Product and Sell it
Products you can create include website templates, sound clips or even your own ebook. Websites like Lulu allow you to easily develop and sell your own collection of electronic products like calenders, brochures, artwork, images and ebooks.

If your specialty is images and photography, citizen journalism websites like Spymedia and Citizen Image will pay for your images. Other stock photography websites to consider include Shutterstock and Fotolia.

This also ties in with the concept of creating your online business, which will allow you to sell the products you create or own without resorting to a third party website which will usually take a commission of the sale.

9. Get Involved in the Online Retail Trade
Ebay and Craigslist are the two of the most popular websites you can use if you are planning to get into the online retail trade. You can purchase products from either website to sell to the other.

Alternatively, you can specialize use site-specific methods of participating in the online retail trade. For example, Ebay dropshipping and arbitrage is a method whereby you’ll with offline retailers or exporters in other countries, or buy from one seller and sell to another.

Nine ways to make money online - Part 3

2009-03-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

This is Part 3 of the series on 'Nine ways to make money online'. (Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2) . In this post I will touch on three more ways of making money online.

4. Try Out Domaining and the Online Real Estate Trade
This is the business of buying, selling, developing and making money from domain names. A domainer purchases many domain names and sells them to interested buyers. This is similar to real estate investing offline and domainers also make money by developing websites and reselling it to a buyer.

This practice is known as site flipping and can make you a tidy sum of money if you know how to build an attractive and profitable website. For a rough estimate of how much money you can earn from site flipping, check out the SitePoint Marketplace to browse through the collection of websites for sale.

5. Participate in Get-Paid-to Websites
There are hundreds of websites out there which you pay you to read emails, do surveys, sign up for trial subscriptions and surf the web. Websites that pay you to complete offers are worth examining because they usually include affiliate programs with recurring commissions to be earned.

The benefit of get paid to websites is that you don’t need to have your own website or blog or any personal skills at all. The downside is that there are a lot of get-paid-to scams around and finding websites that are legitimate can be fairly difficult. Scam.com is a forum you should visit to learn if the get-paid-to website you’re interested in actually pays its members.

There are also several Web 2.0 or social media websites out there that will pay you to participate in their community. This collection of social media websites usually operate via a revenue-sharing system, which allows you to earn a share of the overall ad revenue. How much you earn depends on how much your submitted article, video or image is viewed.

6. Find a Virtual Job or Make Use of Your Expertise
Not only limited to data entry jobs, online jobs in the new economy include virtual assistants, gold farmers, online life coaching and support for open source software. Mini consultation networks like Bitwine and Ether allow you to easily set up shop and offer advice on specific topics through the web. Most of these virtual jobs involve direct communication through electronic mediums like internet telephony, instant messengers and emails. Which means that all you need to get started is a home computer with an steady internet connection

If you are an expert in a specific topic, you can offer consultation via websites like Jyve or Just Answers. Other skill or knowledge based vocations also include participation in online competitions in areas such as photography, writing, designing and even gaming.

Nine ways to make money online - Part 2

2009-03-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that I will be giving more details on the nine ways to make money online. In this post i will touch on the first three.

1. Set up a Blog or Website for Profit
One of the best ways to make money online is to create a website or blog which allows you to earn money from the display of advertisements or the sale of products and services.

There are many different types of money making blogs which will help you to make money and you’ll need to pick a model that suits your interests, schedule and skill levels. A simple no frills blog will allow you to easily pull in at least several hundred dollars in a month through the use of paid blogging websites alone.
For more information, how to create a blog read click here. Apart from blogs, other websites can easily help you to generate passive income as well. These can range from e-commerce websites, social communities and information portals to basic landing pages for affiliate programs.

2. Learn about Affiliate Marketing and The Art of Selling
This involves promoting a specific product or service and earning commissions whenever the referred user makes a purchase based on your recommendations.

Affiliate marketing is a big and profitable industry that covers a wide spectrum of topics and fields. If you’ve got an interest in fitness, you can make money promoting fitness videos or courses. In terms of fashion wear, you can earn commissions by recommending friends to clothing or t-shirt companies with affiliate programs.

The amount of money you make depends on what you are selling. Done correctly, affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful ways to make money from the web. Amazon, Commission Junction and ClickBank are three of the biggest affiliate marketplaces you can use if you’re branching out into affiliate marketing. I have registered with Amazon and Click Bank at the moment, I will update you latter on how they work

3. Start an Online Business
Starting your own online business or company allows you to make money off the provision of specific services or products you may have. Some examples of popular online trades include web design, copywriting and internet marketing.

It isn’t difficult to start a business. It’s all about hiring the right people or having enough knowledge and connections within a specific industry. You should do some in depth research before you decide to settle on a specific niche for your business. Entrepreneur.com has a good collection of tips on how to start an online business.

Nine ways to make money online - Part 1

2009-03-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

After having created my blogs, http://albertopoku.blogspot.com and http://lets-inspire.blogspot.com, and posting about 10 posts on each blog, it was time to start making some money! I found nine ways to make money online! I was definitely already working on first one of the ways which is 'Create a website or a blog for profit'. Here is the list of nine ways to make money online.

Set up a Blog or Website for Profit
Learn about Affiliate Marketing and The Art of Selling
Start an Online Business
Try Out Domaining and the Online Real Estate Trade
Participate in Get-Paid-to Websites
Find a Virtual Job or Make Use of Your Expertise
Freelance and Work on a Contract Basis Online
Create Your Own Product and Sell it
Get Involved in the Online Retail Trad

I was quite sure i could not do all nine, but if you want to give any a try - why not - go ahead. I will post full details on each in my next two posts

The journey of making money online

2009-03-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last month I started learning how to make make money online. That's how I started my first blog http://albertopoku.blogspot.com and later my second blog http://lets-inspire.blogspot.com/ .On this journey I have learnt a lot about how to make money online, yes I have started makings some money online.

I am not yet an expect but there are many people who are, on this site you will find a few, learn from them.

This blog is my diary where I will be posting tips and lessons on making money online. If you know of ways to make money online, post it here and thanks in advance!

Writing for the Web

2009-03-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

So far on my journey to make money online, I have created a blog http://albertopoku.blogspot.com/ (click here to read on how to create a blog). I now had to start writing! As a new blogger, these are some of the things I learnt on how to start writing for the web and I hope you find it useful.

Focus on a Niche -If you’re blogging with the intention of making money, focus on a niche. It will boost your search engine rankings, make it easier to target an audience, and make your advertising more effective. There are lots of bloggers that write about anything that catches their interest (I’m one of them), but if you want to make money you’ll be better off splitting your interests into individual blogs.

Post Regularly -Whether you plan on posting every day or a couple of times a week, determine a posting schedule and stick with it. When you post regularly, you’ll notice a slow, but steady increase in your traffic and subscriptions.

Write Good Titles - The better the title, the more likely a post is to be read. Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a headline or post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist.

Write for the Computer Screen - With few exceptions (the occasional roundup, or how to piece like this one), you’ll want to keep your posts short. Most people will find you through a search engine. They’re looking for specific information and if they don’t find it, they’ll be gone in a second. Literally. When you write for the web: Shorter is better. Keep it short. Be brief.

How to make people read your post

2009-03-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

On of the lessons I have learnt on my journey is that a lot of blog readers are skimmers and many of them are busy people - well aren't we all.This means they often make snap decisions as to whether to read a post or move on. This is probably even more true if it's the first time the reader has arrived at your blog.

So what do they look at first? The headline or title of the post.If the headline is something vague like 'Today's Entry' or 'An Interesting Article' they may not bother to delve any further and will move on to something else which sounds more interesting (even if it isn't in reality).

A post headline ideally should therefore be something which encapsulates what the blog is all about or something intriguing that makes them want to look further.It's a fight to retain a reader's attention so big blocks of solid text can also be off putting. I know I glaze over when I see a big page of text with hardly any paragraphs.

Small paragraphs are best, again because they are easy to skim and seem less effort to read.An image also helps to gain attention.It's perfectly true that content is king - but only if people are willing to read the words of wisdom.

Every little advantage to get people reading helps.The longer we retain a reader the more chance there is that they may click on something that will make us money. And that's what the game us all about.

Other Posts
Creating a blog
Writing for the Web
Earn money using yahoo search

Creating a blog

2009-03-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

In my first week of my journey on how to make money online, I discovered that one of the best channels in making money online was either through a website or a blog on which I could advertise.

I choose to create a blog rather than a website mainly because apart from it being the easiest to create it was free to. In as much as there were several blog hosting platforms, the most popular were B logger and W ordpress. I choose Blogger and within 30 minutes I had created my first blog http://albertopoku.blogspot.com .

You don't have to know website design or HTML or any of the technical stuff to create a blog on B logger . Just follow theses 4 steps and you will create your first blog in not more than 30 minutes:

Create a Gmail account, even if you already have a Gmail account, I suggest you create another one and keep your old one for your personal mails.
Go to B logger .
Use your Gmail account to create a new blog.
Just follow the instructions and you will be done in less than 30 minutes

One last word!
If you intent to blog, make sure you have a clear idea about what you will be blogging on, I found out that the success of a blog depends hugely on the content. In choosing the URL for your blog, just make sure it marches with the content, as it makes it easier for people to know what the content of the blog is about just from the URL address.

I made that mistake with my first blog, but got it right with the second

http://lets-inspire.blogspot.com/ - by just reading the URL you can easily tell that this blog is about Inspiration, that is not the case with my first blog http://albertopoku.blogspot.com from which you can not tell that it’s about financial intelligence.

Earn money using yahoo search

2009-03-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

If you spend a lot of time on the Internet like i do searching for information,why don't we get paid for spending that time online?

Especially when it is possible! homepages-friends (hpf) allows us to do just that! hfp uses the Yahoo search engine and when we search using it, we are get paid. You may find it hard to believe - i did too, until i tried it myself.

On the first day I earned £0.07! not much, but for just 10 searches its not bad at all, can you guess how much i will earn with more searches in a whole month? I give it a 3 star rating........go try it, just click on the link below.

http://www.myhpf.co.uk/banner.asp?Friend=344029

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Creating a blog

Earn money using yahoo search