Profitable Productive Blogging

I have been asked this question several times and noticed it posted recently so here is a quick explanation of what the eCPM means in adsense. I also calculate this for my other contextual advertising programs as it a very useful tool. eCPM is "effective cost per thousand." The m is a holdover, I'm assuming, from manufacturing where it is "cost per million." It is basically estimated earnings for every thousand impressions received. Don't be fooled by excessively high numbers at the start because as your sample size, i.e. impressions, increase your eCPM will most likely drop. eCPM is calculated by dividing your earnings by your impressions in thousands. earnings -------------- x 1000 = eCPM impressions I use it to compare ad units to help find optimal color, size, left/right placement etc. example: ad unit 1 has 500 impressions with earnings of $2.00 giving you an eCPM of $4.00. ad unit 2 received 400 impressions with earnings of 1.75 for an eC...

WordPress users tend to look down a bit on those that use the free hosted Blogger platform. I use both and there are things I like about both Blogger and WordPress. I have blogs hosted that use WP and blogs such as this one that are still using Blogger. I have always liked the "almost" WYSIWYG template editor that Blogger has. You can move your stuff around or if you are so inclined you can edit the HTML directly. This is a huge plus for folks that are new to blogging. When I am talking with people that are looking to start a blog and get there feet wet in this domain I usually recommend starting with Blogger. The learning curve is much shorter and allows them to focus initially on content and building community. With the improvements made over the last year in the Blogger realm you really can have a great blog using only Blogger. If you are wanting a broader presence that goes beyond simple blogging then yes WP is for you. WP is a great platform not just for basic blogging...

Historically, logos have been more a luxury than a necessity. Businesses attracted customers because they were the only game in town, so to speak. No longer. Today's highly competitive industries, global markets and visually oriented consumers have catapulted the logo to prominence. Now your logo is one of the most critical components of your brand. So how can something so little make such a big difference? Your branding efforts not only start with your logo, they are dictated by it. Your logo appears on all of your sales tools, from your business cards to your website. As a result, your logo design influences the design of all your sales tools, for better or worse. A professional-looking logo can be leveraged to create professional-looking materials. A poorly designed logo cannot. In other words, you need a "brandable" logo one that you can make use of when designing other materials to brand your company. "Brandable" logos are...

I get questions all the time from people wondering can you really make money from those get-paid-to type sites? Well my answer is yes. I receive a check every month from at least on get-paid-to site. I use the extra money to by advertising for other online businesses. I put it in Christmas club accounts so that I can save for the holidays. Yes you can make money with get-paid-to. They key really is that you NEED REFERRALS! Yeah you can earn enough to get a check by just reading emails, completing offers, etc... yourself, but you aren't going to make decent recurring income that way. I earn much more from my referrals each month that I do personally by reading emails and such. Now understand that you aren't going to get rich doing this. I do most of this in my spare time while I am say watching TV. I can pull up some paid emails an knock out about 30 or so in an hour while I am watching TV. Doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm not really doing anything anyway. Well except...

Are you in need of pictures to make your blog or blog post more appealing? Acobox can help. They collect, screen, and host quality pictures for bloggers. All blog images are properly license and optimized for blogging. To add a picture to your blog post you simply copy and past a bit of code. No downloading, resizing, or uploading the image file. It's simple, easy, and free! Here are some beneficial reasons why you should check out Acobay for your blog image needs. You don't have to search the whole web for images that are good with blog posts because we do it for you. You don't have to worry about copyright and license of images because we guarantee all the images are properly licensed. Everything will be OK as long as you follow Acobox Terms of Use . You don't have to download the image because acobox hosts it. You don't have to optimize the image for web because we have done it. You don't have to resize the image because you can choose a size that is bes...

Okay there has been this ongoing "WP snob" thing going on for a very long time. WordPress users tend to look down a bit on those that use the free hosted Blogger platform. I use both and there are things I like about both Blogger and WordPress. I have blogs hosted that use WP and blogs such as this one that are still using Blogger. I have always liked the "almost" WYSIWYG template editor that Blogger has. You can move your stuff around in that or if you are so inclined you can edit the HTML directly. This is a huge plus for folks that are new to blogging. When I am talking with people that are looking to start a blog and get there feet wet in this domain I usually recommend starting with Blogger. The learning curve is much shorter and allows them to focus initially on content and building community. With the improvements made over the last year in the Blogger realm you really can have a great blog using only Blogger. If you are wanting a broader presence that goes...

Have you ever wondered how you could increase revenue on just your average blog? Do you want to make more money? Do you want to make your blogging easier and more productive? Today I am featuring a guest article on just this subject. The topic being discussed is using a particular piece of software to boost earnings and productivity. Also in addition to all of this great information I have an exclusive offer for all of you. Nuance is allowing us to offer our readers a 25% Discount Coupon CODE Exclusive for Dragon Naturally Speaking, but you must click the image to the left and use this code (DNSMSBG) Together. Code will not work from other sources. Here is a quick video...CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE BELOW This is an excerpt from a white paper discussing how bloggers can earn more money through several different monetization and freelance writing services. It shows that bloggers that utilize Dragon Naturally Speaking can earn more money through these various services and how fast these e...

Guest Article and video by Brett Bumeter of Benspark dot com. Stop over and check out his blog about photography. A big thanks to Brett for this article. I have been talking about an application over the last several weeks called Dragon NaturallySpeaking. With this great program you can knock out a blog article in literally less than half the time. I love it. The price for 25% off Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Standard is very reasonable and with the coupon code below you can save 25%. With 25% off Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred you can even transcribe from mp3s. I love this option because I can blog while driving. I record what I want to say on my iPhone and then load the audio into the program and viola first draft of an article. Nuance is allowing us to offer our readers a 25% Discount Coupon CODE Exclusive for Dragon Naturally Speaking, but you must click the image below and use this code DNSMSBG together. The code will not work from other sources.Anyway...without fur...

I have this wonderful little program for my iPhone that transcribes spoken word into text. It is called Jott and it is free via the iTunes store. I was using this the other day and thought that wouldn't it be wonderful if I could blog while( Brett Bumeter for pointing out my poor grammar)driving, working out, cooking dinner, or other activities. I know there are times I have flashes of inspiration and I wish I could just get them down on paper. If I could just talk and have my words transcribed for me and then just paste them right into an article it could really be a time saver. What are your thoughts on this? Well I have found a program that does this and wanted to pass that information along to all of you. Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Preferred allows you to not only turn speech into text, but you can use your voice to actually control your common applications like Word, Outlook Express, and Internet Explorer. You can even use it to search the internet or your computer. This ...

I just wanted to share a few free or low cost ideas on ways to market your online ventures offline. Many bloggers overlook the benefits of promoting offline as well. If you can implement some offline marketing strategies with little or no money that is even better. If you are trying to make money online you certainly don't want to be spending large sums of money offline it just isn't practical for the return you get. Free Offline Marketing Method #1 Do a Google search for customized ink pens, customized promotional items, or something along those lines. You will obviously get a ton of results. Just start clicking on some of the results focusing on sites that offer free samples, or that have a print catalog. In my experience you have the best luck with those. Remember you want free! Okay now that you have found a few go ahead and register with the site. You want them to send you their catalog in the mail. The reason why is that every month or so they also send free samples of...

If your blog falls would anybody know? If you stopped posting and never updated your blog from this moment on would anyone care or notice? Do you ever feel like you are just blogging for only you? Are you blogging just for you? It is something to think about. There are literally millions of blogs with thousands started every day. There are probably thousands of blogs on just about any topic you can imagine. People typing away at their computers in their little corner of the world all trying to impact someone else with words. Are they making any difference whatsoever? Does it matter? Have you started a blog only to let it die? Have you ever tried to resurrect a dead blog?  Okay if a blog like Problogger or  John Chow went away people would notice as they are "mega" blogs especially in the make-money-online crowd. What about blogs like this one? How about the middle-to-upper blogs like My Wooden Spoon , Pajama Professional , Benjamin Patton , or Standout Blogger ? What a...

How many times as a kid did you hear your parents remind you to say please and thank you? How many times have you as a parent said exactly the same thing? Why do so many people have problems saying a simple thanks? Are we so busy and distracted in our lives that we just don't think about it anymore? I can't tell you how many times in just the last several days where I have simply held a door, or when I stopped a cart from hitting a vehicle, helped pick a display knocked over by a child, and the person did not say a simple thanks. Oft times they are in such a hurry they quickly speed on their way and ignore the fact that a fellow human being just took some time to lend a hand. In our society we have become so quick to wine and moan when things don't go right, service is bad, or mistakes happen. Conversely we have become MUCH too slow in saying a thanks when things simply go right, service is exceptional, or someone lends a helping hand. Teach your kids to be friendly and...

Okay...It isn't just for lazy bloggers... Too busy to build your own Web site? Looking to revamp an old site? Maybe you are just too lazy to build your own Web site? Are you afraid of sinking a lot of money into a website and not getting a return? Well there is a company that offers a solution NetworkSolutions dot com. You can connect your blog or any other business with readers and customers looking for your information, products, and services. Let the experts build your Web site for you! NetworkSolutions dot com is a complete source for web design service s! They are a one-stop website package solution for any small business from blogging to landscaping. They will do ALL the work for you, so you don't have to. They will work with you one on one from initial design consultation through final live site. You can choose from two types of affordable, custom plans based on your budget and needs. They have the Standard Design package which is semi-custom all the way up to ful...

Who are you? What kind of a person are you? What are you hobbies and interests? What are some things you are passionate about ? The reason I am asking is that in my experience the people that do the best and actually stick with and put in the work and time necessary are the ones that blog from their personal experience. I might get in trouble saying this, but it isn't simply put up a site and make big bucks tomorrow. I know there are a lot of people out there selling and hyping some product or system that will make you a dot com blogging millionaire overnight. I'm not knocking them. I've even bought a few of them. Almost all have great ideas, strategies, techniques, and software that can help you in making money blogging and with affiliate marketing. Bottom line though is that it takes time to write quality content. Just a quick tip, post as much original content as possible and very little pre-written articles. It takes time to build relationships with other bloggers. It...

I just wanted to share a few free or low cost ideas on ways to market your online ventures offline. Many bloggers overlook the benefits of promoting offline as well. If you can implement some offline marketing strategies with little or no money that is even better. If you are trying to make money online you certainly don't want to be spending large sums of money offline it just isn't practical for the return you get. Free Offline Marketing Method #1 Do a Google search for customized ink pens, customized promotional items, or something along those lines. You will obviously get a ton of results. Just start clicking on some of the results focusing on sites that offer free samples, or that have a print catalog. In my experience you have the best luck with those. Remember you want free! Okay now that you have found a few go ahead and register with the site. You want them to send you their catalog in the mail. The reason why is that every month or so they also send free samples of fe...

I am all about making the most money and making that money work for me and in turn make me the most money. The less I have to do and the more my money can do for me the better. That is my approach to credit cards if used properly are a very useful, and sometimes, necessary part of life. Credit has become so easily attainable that it has become a large problem for a large amount of people, we are seeing the results of that in the mortgage market now. What do I mean by that? Don't carry a balance! Unless there is a legit emergency you should never carry an interest accruing balance on your credit card. Don't throw money down the drain, which is essentially what you are doing if you are paying interest on your gas, food, gadgets, or whatever else you put on there. If you don't have the money don't charge it. If you must charge it don't charge so much that you can't pay it off. If you won't be able to pay it off don't buy it, again unless it is a legit emer...

Well, not all of them are free. You may have heard of VistaPrint and their free business card offers, but did you know that they also have some really good deals on premium printing services as well? If you are interested in the free stuff here are some things VistaPrint does offer for free. Getting some of their basic business cards made up for your blog is a great offline marketing tool. You can pass them out to friends and family or to people you meet. See the last one on the list? It is that time of year and if you or a child are graduating getting some free announcements is a great deal. Free Business Cards Free Rubber Stamps Free Sticky Notes Free Checks Free Logo Design Caricature Design Graduation Announcements In addition to the free stuff VistaPrint offers a wide array of printing services including: business cards, checks, rubber stamps, announcements, and car magnets! You can customize all of their products to your liking! Their premium printing services are very affordable...

The tasks of writing articles, interacting with readers, visiting forums, doing research, and all the aspects that go into running a blog can start to become overwhelming. Stress is part of every individuals life, but it can come from different sources and mean different things to different people. What may cause you stress today, may not be the cause tomorrow. Stress is defined as "A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stress Quick Stress Busting Tips At Work Limit your coffee to one or two cups Get up and stretch regularly and take a quick walk around the office Driving Take alternate routes several days a week to break up the monotony At Home Take a 5-10 minute break from your daily routine and read a go...

Just in case you may not have noticed since January postings have gotten a little thin around here. Well I decided to devote more time to areas of my life that I felt were more important and required more time and attention than they were getting. Just like when money is tight and you look at your budget to cut unnecessary expenses, so I did with my time budget. Blogging time was just one of the areas I targeted in my time budget realignment. Now that things are finally settling down I am slowly reapportioning my time budget and working more time back over to my blogging. Once aspect of this is to start reading a bit more again and find out what has been going on during the time I just wasn't paying attention. I came across a very appropriate article on Blogging Tips . The article was written by Jake Pitt of JakePitt.com. Gettin’ Back in the Game: Bringin’ Your Blog Back to Life after Goin’ MIA was the name of the article and hopefully you can see how it relates with little to no...

What do you do to build a prospect list? What are your mechanisms for capturing information and building a list? If you are an affiliate marketer having a good targeted list is a very important tool in your money making arsenal. To ensure the success of any business venture whether online or off, your customer base must continue to expand. You probably understand that buying sales leads and targeting your prospects through email, direct mail, or telemarketing are proven and cost-effective ways of increasing sales and enhancing revenue. These activities generally lead to new market share growth and new customers. Those to things are keys to affiliate marketing success. There is a company called Kingsbridge supplies quality, demographically based sales leads to optimize your online or offline marketing efforts. Each list they provide is unique and tailored to meet your needs. Looking to do a targeted email campaign? Kingsbridge has the ability to take tons of data and create a personali...