Back in January, Aaron wrote about the corrosive effect that Twitter is having on marketing online. Because Twitter links are no-followed (and often TinyURLed), sites like Google never see the links that people tweet. There's also a very temporal nature to Twitter that, as Aaron puts it, makes the content "here today, gone today." Since then, he's even gone so far as to say that he's going to cut back on social networking because of negative effects like ... Keep reading »
If you're reading this, you're probably young and successful (or at least headed that way) and by means that would still largely be considered unconventional by most people. (You can really make a living running websites all by yourself? Shut up.) Because of that unconventional nature, most of us are sorely lacking in perspective. If remember any history we learned in school, very little of it is business history or economic history -- and what is business or economic probably isn't ... Keep reading »
I was talking with Aaron Wall last week, and he happened to ask if I had installed his SEO Toolbar. I admitted I hadn't. It wasn't because I didn't know about it -- if you're in this space at all, you saw everyone talking about it when it was released and it got phenomenal reviews. It's just that I'm just not doing any heavy SEO lately, so I didn't think I needed it. Wow, was I wrong. I can't believe all ... Keep reading »
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 ... 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 »