I'm frequently asked some form of this question: I want to make a living online, but I'm just starting out. What's the number one skill I should develop?
There are many skills that you can make a living online with -- there's no magic combination -- so I think I've answered most often that you should just try out several different things and see which you like and are the best at.
However, I have realized that there is indeed one skill ... Keep reading »
If your site was deleted from the Google index would anyone other than you notice and care?
That was a quote from Aaron in "How Does the Algorithm View Your Website?", and nothing has ever rang more true to me.
See, I had a site in the same mold as so many others that I had had success with. It was a very easy model for making great money: find a ... Keep reading »
Trying to rank well in Yahoo! can be frustrating (to say the least). I know people who have tried for years to rank well -- and who own top spots for major keywords in both Google and MSN -- but who have had zero success at all with Yahoo!.
Here's why.
For at least some industries and/or keywords, the top spots are reserved for those who are paying to be there. Yahoo! provides this helpful illustration:... Keep reading »
If you've blogged for any amount of time, you've seen them: comments that strangely have no substance at all. There are words there, yes, but why did someone take the time to type something that really adds no value?
It's called comment spam, and the more popular your blog is, the more of it you get.
"But wait," I hear the spammers saying. "I actually took the time to write ... Keep reading »
The first key to making money online is to just get started. You can read until you're blue in the face and not learn 10% of what you will be just getting out and doing it.
The second key is to go deep.
As you're out there just doing it, you'll eventually begin to come across some things that work for you. With a little time and attention, they then begin to ... Keep reading »
After a hiatus of several months, the guys behind Elite Retreat have thankfully announced a new Elite Retreat for this April in San Francisco. If you're entertaining any thoughts whatsoever of someday quitting your day job, I simply can't recommend this conference highly enough. It changed my life, and I have no doubt that it will change yours, too.
Nowhere will you get the one-on-one time with this many true experts. ... Keep reading »
Developing a sense of community among your readers not only helps your readership grow faster, but it also keeps people coming back more often. I realize, though, that some of you would rather only your mother read your blog (and through a feed reader no less), so for those readers I'm excited to present two quick, easy ways to make sure your blog grows very slowly.
Don't Respond to Comments
This one works great! ... Keep reading »
So I read Search Engine Myths Exposed yesterday. (If you're involved in Internet marketing at all, I'm sure you saw at least one person pushing it.) It was free, and since getting good at SEO is what started my journey, I figured I'd give it a look and see what "expert" advice this "guru" was giving.
The first thing I found was that he definitely has the Internet Marketing Hype Meter turned all the way up to 11 ... Keep reading »
Well, to be more specific, the title tags are there but there's nothing in them. I thought it was just the homepage, but it appears to be every page on their site. Title tags are the single most important element of the page in terms of search engine performance, so they're really doing themselves a disservice.
We used to have stuff like that happen all the time, though, so I understand. You don't notice the title tags very ... Keep reading »
Most of the blogging business models you read about sound great, but aren't actually grounded in reality. Yaro has one tonight that's worth a read, though. Check out How To Launch a Niche Blogging Business.
