Image via CrunchBase, source unknown
Running a successful blog takes a lot of effort. There are many things that go into blogging that most people don’t take into account, when they attempt to start a blog.

One of the surest ways to fail at blogging for a living is to waste your time online. Your time is valuable, it is your livelihood. Each second wasted can’t be returned to you, treat your time like gold and you will become a

golden blogger, just like Darren Rowse, John Chow, or Shoemoney.
Here are the 7 time traps that will make your blog fail…
Time Trap #1: Trying to hard to monetize your blog. It is true, that you do need to have a revenue source for your blog, but you shouldn’t obsess over this.

Many bloggers get it in their head that if they aren’t making any money it’s because their advertiser isn’t working out, so they try another, and another..and so on..

My tip is to put up some bidvertiser ads, maybe a few performancing ads, and leave it at that.

Notice I don’t mention adsense, it’s because they’re not a good program to go with until you’re bringing in a lot of traffic daily, if you have even a little click fraud they’re more likely to shut you down if you’re a small site. I am still banned because some idiot clicked on my links 97 times in a single day.

I bet if someone did that over at JohnChow’s site, or shoemoney’s they wouldn’t even slap his hand. Heck they probably wouldn’t even notice.

Time Trap #2: Obsessing over your design. Web Designers sometimes tend to be perfectionists, I know I fall into this category quite often. It doesn’t matter how pretty your blog is, if people aren’t reading it.

I’ll say that again for emphasis:
“IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW PRETTY YOUR BLOG IS, IF PEOPLE AREN’T READING IT.”
Content is king, not design. I’ve seen some ugly ass blogs that earn more than most people see in 3 months. When you have 500-1000 posts and are making the big bucks, then you might decide to tinkle with your design, or theme.

Heck by that time you might as well go ahead and hire someone to create you a professional and unique blog theme.

Time Trap #3: Twitter. Nuff said? Twitter has become this huge distraction. Twitter is great and wonderful, in fact I absolutely LOVE Twitter, but there is a time and a place. Set aside a certain amount of time per day or week to focus on twitter, and leave it at that.

With that said, I would definitely use the pingpress.fm wordpress widget in conjunction with ping.fm to simultaneously post to all your microblogging sites every time you update your blog. This will drastically improve your blog rankings and traffic.

Oh and speaking of twitter, why don’t you go and follow me already?

Time Trap #4: Not planning = Planning to fail. To be successful, you need to have a plan of action. The internet is the biggest time waster on the planet, and it’s addicting. It’s very easy to start reading an article, and follow link after link to related article, till 5 hours have passed and you haven’t written one blog post.

Trust me - this is a trap that I fall into all the time myself. It is one that can get the very best of us. Having a plan of what you’re need to get done, and when you can just surf without a plan will in the end help you stay focused.

The truth is, if you can’t post at least 5 blog updates to your blog per week, then you might as well stop trying to do it for a living. It will never happen for you. I’m sorry to say, but why waste  3 years trying and come out broke and pennyless. Sometimes even 5 blog posts per week isn’t going to ensure your total success, but it is a start. If you can do 1-2 per day then you’re awesome, and should be worshipped by all the wannabe’s.

Time Trap #5: Too many household distractions. Unless your blog is about tv, or tv related topics, or you’re live blogging about some show you’re watching, it’s probably not a very good idea to watch tv while working online. It’s also a good time, if you’re a professional to find a place that you can go and work, a place that isn’t full of distractions. Of course for mom’s, I know that’s hard but this is about doing your best. If you can’t get rid of all distractions work on getting rid of the biggest ones, and you should do quite well.

Time Trap #6: Obsessed and ignoring those who matter most. I have to admit, I’m obsessed with blogging and social media, it’s hard not to become addicted. Sometimes being obsessed makes us forget those that mean the most to us.

As bloggers we need to take time out each day for those we love, or they will resent your blogging. I know this from personal experience. This is a time waster because when people are angry at you for blogging it affects your performance. It also affects your spirit and attitude, which I believe affects your ability to manifest success.

Keep your house in order, when blogging. Bring your family into the conversation. Set time tables where you’re not to be disturbed, and other times where you’re not to touch the computer, reaching a balance in your online and offline lives is pertinent to true success.

Time Trap #7: Not Using the best tools available. As a blogger there are many tools available to us. It seems like each day there are more and more. My advice is to find the one’s that work best for your daily activities, and use them. I swear by feed readers. I don’t have to patience to scan blog posts for ideas unless I’m reading it in a feed reader.

My favorite new tool is a twitter tool called monitter, and I also enjoy ping.fm.

Monitter is a great tool that lets you track live updates on keywords that matter to you. It’s a great way to get new ideas on blog posts. There are many blog tools and research tools for bloggers, that it’s impossible to name them all, and I’d be wasting my time trying.

Mashable.com is a good blog tool starting point, and perhaps I will write another post listing the best blog tools, let me know if you’re interested in that topic, and I’ll definitely post about it.
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Performancing Ads - 125×125 ads on the cheap…

In the past few days I’ve added Performancing ads to this site. You may notice them on the top right of my blog. Performancing ads aren’t just like every other ad network out their.

First off it’s a 125×125 pixel ad exchange.

Secondly you can set your own price for your ads per week.

Thirdly you can even earn credits by showing ads that you can use to advertise your own ads. I’m completely sold and recommend everyone signup now.

You can give me some love and signup by my affiliate link, I’d be extremely greatful: Make Money With PerformancingAds
Your Ad on this Blog for $2.50 per week!
As a bonus for anyone who’s quick - I’m letting you purchase an ad on my blog for $2.50/week. That’s less than the cost of a milkshake at McDonalds. You can go here to purchase your ads. Please note this offer expires at the end of August.

My blog pulled in over 1,250 unique hits today alone, so you can definitely expect to get some decent exposure from advertising on this site. As soon as all my ad slots are taken I will be raising the weekly price to $6/week, per thousand daily unique visitors.

Each blog post I post goes out to a network of 5405+ twitterers, 657+ on facebook, 205+ subscribers, and all my other networks via pingfm. I highly recommend signing up w/ Performancing ads today, and advertising on my site.

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Performance Ads A Hit!

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Social Media Jobs and Where to Find them…Social media is the latest greatest buzz word. It covers all things web 2.0: Blogs, podcasts, vlogs, lifestreaming, social networking, microblogging, etc…. Mashable just put up a post about Social Media Jobs, whether they’re here to stay or not… I’ve decided to run with that and list some good places to find social media jobs (if you’re a job-seeker), as well as some places to post social media jobs if you’re a manager at a company, or some sort of recruiter.So Without further adieu: Social Media JobsSocial Media Jobs from Metarand.comSocial Media Jobs by JobamaticSocial Media Jobs on MyspaceSocial Media Jobs on IndeedSocial Media Jobs on Net-SavvyI’m sure there are many more, and I’m sure many jobs are duplicated through-out the aforementioned sites, you could also probably find some good ones on craigslist. Hopefully this will be a good jumping point for ya.Also if you’re looking for Blogging jobs you might want to check out the following sites for blogging jobs:Freelance Writing JobsPerformancing JobsProblogger Job BoardBloggerJobs.bizHappy social media job hunting, and good luck!

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Have you tried out the Google Nemesis program?

If you sign up with Google Nemesis, and comment on this blog post, you’ll get FREE web hosting for 1 year, and a free domain name. Not to mention the fact that you’ll be entered into a great contest to win a Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Iphone, or equivalent prize.

Not to mention the fact that many people are using Chris X’s brilliant tactics and software in Google Nemesis to make thousands daily(yes daily, not monthly).

Read my complete review on Google Nemesis.

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TNX - pronounced ‘thanx’, as in sms texting language is an up and coming Text-Link Exchange marketplace.

The premise behind TNX is that by increasing the amount of ‘quality’ links coming into your website, you will also increase your search engine rankings, and thus get more traffic.

It’s a good practice when using services like these not to disclose the fact that you are using them as google frowns at the practice. As a rebellious blogger though and not a fan of being told what I can / can’t do - I recommend giving them a try - both as a monetary source as well as a source for more traffic.

One thing I like is that they have a market where you can buy / sell / trade TNX points - you could also give them away in contests and what not. It’s like a liquid commodity, and personally I like them a lot better than Text-Link-Ads.

They do offer full-control over what kind of links are placed on your site, as well as what kind of sites your links show up on.

If you’re looking for an affordable method of ranking higher in google and a new way to make some money online go ahead and give TNX links a try - and when you’re done swing on over and let me know how well they’re working for you - I would also like some tips to share here on how to use them more effectively if you have any - feel free to leave a comment.

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Extreme-gamer.info is a new website for extreme gamers. Currently it features a sample of feeds from all of the best gaming blogs on the internet.

There’s also a lot of free downloads of games that you can play on your pc. Plus some mobile games that you can load to your cellphone, and an ebay feed showing you only the hottest video game related items from ebay.

Other features will be released as I see a need.

This is basically a prototype - please let me know your suggestions on things I can add or change, and as this blog is about making money - let me know your opinions on the advertising I have setup.

Extreme gamer features only the best wii news, xbox 360 news, and ps3 news on the block.

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Cashquests by Kumiko used to be a wonderful asset for marketers. Kumiko had ton of great insights. But alas she has become just another sell out.

You know you’ve hit rock bottom when you’re recommending people to go to “Get Paid Survey Sites”.

Seriously - I’ve tried that and I’m sure most of us have, and they are not worth your time or money. Get Paid Survey Sites are a total waist of money.

I think it’s disgusting that the person who took over Cashquests is recommending Get Paid Survey Sites, obviously they aren’t making money or they wouldn’t be suggesting Get Paid Survey Sites as a viable way to make money.

 

 

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Today I’m launching an ebay auction for sponsorship of the 50 Bloggers in 50 States Roadtrip. I am going to be travelling a huge distance for this project. I figure might as well sell ads on the van, right?

You can view the auction here: Roadtrip - 50 Blogs in 50 States - Extreme Ad Package!

The starting price is $497. Which in my opinion is way under-priced, I can see this going as high as $2000 or more.

What you receive:

1 ad on my van in the back window for everyone to see. I will be travelling more than 5000 miles over the span of this roadtrip - it will definitely get a lot of eyes.
You will be one of my featured sponsors and be listed on ALL posts relating to the Roadtrip.
You will also receive a link on my blogroll.
A 125×125 pixel banner ad.
A 468×60 pixel banner ad. In the top header by the search bar.
Vocal mentioning on EVERY Video / Podcast relating to the Roadtrip.
I will be taking a picture of each blogger we interview holding up a poster with the logo’s of my Featured sponsors.
I will also be stopping by any radio stations / tv stations / etc who will let me.

So far my site gets 1000 hits per day. IF that were the only feature it would be a steal - that’s 365,000 banner views spread out over a year. 1 banner for one month alone currently runs $30.

Imagine the exposure your website, blog, product will get. This is huge.

Each interview will not only be featured on my blog -but each blogger will also be writing a blog post about the event linking back to my site. I currently get 1000 hits a day - I’m expecting this roadtrip to bring raise that to 20,000/day - and you will have a 1 year banner. Not to mention your 1 year of van-side advertising.

This is the surest way to explode your business. If you want to take your business to the next height you need to place a bid TODAY the Auction ends in 10 days. Don’t wait. Don’t get left out in the cold!

BY THE WAY IF YOU HAVEN’T SUBMITTED YOUR BLOG TO THE DIRECTORY - You better do so now - it’s the ONLY way to get a chance to be interviewed!

Submit your Blog to the American Blogger Directory

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What if you could make twice the money from an ebay store?

You can make the initial money for the sale of whatever product it is that you’re offering, but as a double whammy you can also make an affiliate commission for referring people to ebay.

Just think about that - you can make as much as $25+ per person who signs up for ebay. Plus if your site is targeted strictly to your product, add some other related affiliate banners, good seo, maybe a lot of tutorials relating to your items, and some ppc advertising, and you’ve got a guaranteed income online.

Here’s an example: Say you’re selling products that help people train their pets. Now say you put up a wordpress blog with a ton of tutorials and post an ebay feed with all of your products to your site, using your affiliate link. Now if anyone buys from you - you not only get the sale but the affiliate commission. Add PPC and a newsletter and you’ll explode your business!

Stay tuned - I’m working on an ebook about Niche Affiliate Marketing, and will be launching it in a few weeks.

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You should notice the add above under the search button.

It basically tells anyone who has IE to get a better browser aka firefox.

For each of those who download firefox I receive a buck. But why waste the space if a viewer already has firefox? Obviously they’re not going to download it again, right?

You can do this easily if you follow these steps:

1. Download and install “Who Sees Ads”
2. Add this code to your header file for your theme:
<?php function ae_detect_ie() { if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']) && (strpos($_SERVER
['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], ‘MSIE’) !== false)) return true; else return false; } ?>
</head>
3. Next you will need to configure an ad context in Who See’s Ads. Go to the admin panel for the Who Sees Ads plugin.

    - Choose a name for your ad context. I chose ‘firefox’.
    - Now go down to second option from the bottom it should say:
                    X if (<scroll box>) {<display>}
    - You will want it to look like:  
                    X if (<(ae_detect_ie())>) {<display>}
    - Now drag and drop that row below where it says Active Rules.
    - Put your ad for firefox in the form that says: Ad code.
    - Click Save Context.
    - Now go back and create another context and call it -  ifhasfirefox.
    - Find the rule:  if Any condition  then
display dont display
    - Move this to Active Rules and Put your adsense code in the Ad code area and save.
    - Now go back to the first context you made and put the following rule under the previous rule in active rules.                   if Previous conditions fail, try context   
ifhasfirefox

 

 

Basically this will tell the script that if the first condition is not met which would show the firefox ad, then show the second ad which is the ‘ifhasfirefox’ ad.

You can see this script in action on my site - just load my page in firefox and internet explorer. Let me know if you have any questions or need help with this.

 Please note in order to promote firefox and earn money you will need to be a member of adsense you can sign up here:

 

 

 

 
 

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