4 Ways to Overcome the “Nobody’s Reading My Blog” Blues - DailyBlogTips |
| 4 Ways to Overcome the “Nobody’s Reading My Blog” Blues Posted: 26 Feb 2010 08:02 PM PST  This is a guest post by Jennifer Brown Banks . If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Blogs are a great way to brand your business and create a buzz about personal and professional agendas. But, let's face it; the R.O.I. (return on investment) can be a bit low in the beginning. In my many years as a professional writer and relationship columnist, I've started several, gotten frustrated, lost the momentum, and decided to move on to bigger and better things. Then I would visit other sites, love the energy, read the success stories of how Blogs were turned to book deals, and well, have since reconsidered. After all, it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind. Right? Here's the problem: because I enjoyed a pretty good "following" as a relationship columnist and feature writer, I expected to have as much traffic on my site as Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway during rush hour! Wrong. I would devote hours to choosing a hot topic, penning my thoughts, finding the perfect graphics, and see 0 "comments" posted for all my efforts. This happened for several consecutive months. I started to call it quits, but much like a romantic relationship, I felt I was too far in to throw in the towel. There would be nothing to show for my sweat equity. So the strategist in me decided to work smarter, not harder this time. I started visiting other sites with a mission. I wanted to know what was out there, how it compared to my online journal, and essentially what worked and what didn't as a reader. Here's what I discovered and you will too. Even Blogs that have huge followings rarely have a lot of comments posted. Readers either don't take the time to post their thoughts, don't know how to register their comments, or don't recognize the importance of their input. In fact, the only way I knew folks were even reading my work is that my friends would call me on the phone or send Emails to tell me how much they enjoyed my posts. Go figure. So, the next time you suffer from a bout of the "nobody's reading my Blog blues" here are a few things to keep in mind. 1. Recognize that success doesn't come overnight. Blogging, even more so than any other form of writing, requires a lot of time and patience before it begins to bloom and take off. 2. Know that numbers can sometimes be deceiving. Have you ever gone on a diet? Most folks who have can tell you that the scale sometimes will show the same weight even though you've lost inches and your clothes are baggier. Pay less attention to the numbers and more attention to the needs of your readers. 3. Write with the right purpose. Rather than penning your way to popularity, use your adventures or misadventures in Blogging to become a better story teller, or to write tighter, or to develop ideas for editorial pieces. No writing done well is ever truly wasted! 4. Don't get bogged in the Blog. Work on other projects that provide immediate gratification. Write a poem, do research, say hi to your Facebook friends. Like all areas in life, balance is important. Follow these four tips and even if you don't "win friends and influence people" your blogging blues might make you a hit song writer or the next American Idol! You just never know where space travels can take you. About the Author: Jennifer Brown Banks is a veteran freelance writer, columnist, and editor. You can read more from here on her blog: Pen and Prosper. Original Post: 4 Ways to Overcome the “Nobody’s Reading My Blog” Blues  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2010 10:21 AM PST 
Don asks:
What Is Link CloakingFirst things first, what is link cloaking? It is the practice of using redirects or Javascript to hide affiliate links, thus increasing the conversion rates. Let’s explain this. Affiliate links are usually very easy to identify. They always contain some numbers and the referral id of the affiliate. One example could be:
If you use such a link, upon hovering the mouse over it the end user would be able to see it on the bottom of his browser (called “status bar”), and this could reduce the chances of him clicking on the link and making a purchase. Why? Because he might suspect that your recommendation/review was biased, and that you are just trying to earn an affiliate commission. Link cloaking tries to solve this problem. You could use a Javascript link, for example, so that when users hover over your links the status bar would display nothing. A better solution, however, is to use a redirect. That is, you would create another link that redirects to the affiliate one. The easiest way to do that with a URL shortening service like bit.ly. Alternatively you can also use some PHP or a WordPress plugin to create the redirects within your own domain. An example of a redirect could be:
Apart from cloaking your affiliate link the internal redirect might also get a higher click-through rate because some user might believe that they will not leave your website by clicking on the link. Do the Pros Use It?Yes the professional affiliate marketers use link cloaking, and it is a very widespread tactic around the web. Some users frown upon cloaked links, because they won’t know where the link is pointing. Pro affiliate marketers are only worried with the bottom line, however, so if the conversion rates increase they will certainly use cloaked links. My Opinion and a New TrendI have nothing against using cloaked links. In fact on some affiliate marketing campaigns I promote I do use redirects. My main motivation for that is to be able to track clicks, but it ends up working as a link cloak as well. However, I believe that the use of link cloaking is becoming less important in certain contexts. For example, if you promote affiliate products with reviews on your blog you might not need to use link cloaking, and if you do cloak your links you might not see an improvement on your conversion rates. Why? Because your readers will know that you are promoting an affiliate offer (at least they should), and they will expect an affiliate link there. If you are upfront and transparent, therefore, you won’t need to cloak your links at all. On other contexts link cloaking will remain important, though. One example would be on landing pages where you drive PPC traffic. You have no relationship with the people that will visit your page, so cloaking the affiliate links will probably increase your conversion rates. What about you, do you use link cloaking? Why? Why not? Original Post: What Is Link Cloacking? |
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