Thanks to Madame Deals for this weeks Ask a Blogger post

The number one question we get asked is how do you make money? The answer is work hard and build a following and then let your work pay off. How? We talk about ads in this previous post. We talked about paid reviews in this one. How about by installing a plug in to pay you? If you go to my site here. Highlight a word and you will see a product. If you buy that product I get a small portion of your purchase. It is that easy.

Does that interest you? If it does and you have worked hard to have 50k page views a month or more you can sign up here using this Google Document for more information. If you are unsure of how many page views you have look here at Google Analytics .

Here’s a short video:

If you want to see this in action it is currently on www.madamedeals.com. You just highlight a word and if there is a product to buy it will appear in the box. This software does not interfere with any other link programs you may have. It is easy to install and if you qualify you will earn money just for trying Stuff Buff out on your site.

Fill out the form to try it out or get more information below.

Here’s the latest article on their 2.0 Launch

http://businessbewareradioshow.com/a-new-way-to-ecommerce-stuffbuff.html

If you need hosting we both use Host Gator and Love them.

You can search all of our Articles by typing in Ask A Blogger.

*Please note that Stuff Buff is not currently installed on The Coupon Challenge

Blogging as a business requires you to know a few things about who is coming to your site, where they came from and what content they are viewing.  In order to have a successful business, you need to a way to analyze and track this information.  I personally use Google Analytics for this purpose. It provides an accurate account of my blog statistics plus it’s a FREE service.

I check the following statistics on a regular basis:

• Visitors and unique visitors
• Pageviews
• Content
• Referring sites

Knowing your blog’s statistics enables you to determine what posts your visitors are reading (so you can write more on those subjects), which sites provide you the most referral traffic and keywords that brought visitors to your site from search engines.

Additionally, it allows you to accurately provide statistical information to advertisers and companies for paid opportunities.  I am frequently asked for my number of monthly pageviews and unique visitors when I am being considered for a paid opportunity.  Google Analytics allows me to easily provide this information current to the previous day.

I also like the graph feature for viewing my site number trends.  It’s interesting to see where I am at on a particular day and the trends my visitors follow.  For instance, Wednesday’s are my highest traffic day.  Since that is the day a majority of grocery store ads come out; I always have a spike on that day.  Knowing your traffic can also help you work on which days may be a “slow” day.  You can strive to attract new visitors to your site on those days to generate more traffic and revenue.

There are countless other programs can that track website traffic.  I started my site using Site Meter.  While I have left site meter on my site to gauge my traffic from conception; Google Analytics provides more detailed and relevant information.

Spend some time learning the some of the features of Google Analytics and set a goal for yourself to help grow your blog to a new level.

Do you use Google Analytics?  What is your favorite feature?

You can search all of our Articles by typing in Ask A Blogger.

Thanks to Madame Deals for this weeks Ask a Blogger post

The blogging how-to’s are often discussed, but we don’t usually share how much time, sweat and sometimes tears go into blogging.  Blogging for me is a passion but it has also become a business out of necessity for the shear volume of time I spend on the computer.

Blogging is a full time job.  Working from home has it’s rewards, but it doesn’t end at 5pm.  Yes, there is the luxury of being able to go to the soccer game or help in your child’s classroom in the middle of the afternoon, but the blog to-do list is always in the back of your mind.  There are posts to write, coupons to find and HOT deals and freebies that you don’t want your readers to miss.

How much time to I spend blogging?  I can say that it is over 40 hours per week.  I blog every day of the week.  Some days more than others.  I don’t take the weekends off & even blog a few hours per day on vacation.  I blog before the kids get up, while I have them occupied with an activity, during naptime, after they go to bed.  There is always another post to write.

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We’ve talked about Facebook and Twitter as necessary tools to promote your blog and to connect with readers.  Since we know you didn’t have enough to keep up with,  Google + is the new “must have” in Social Media.  While Google + is still in it’s early stages; I would venture to guess that if will eventually become just as popular (if not more so) as Facebook and Twitter.

How to Use Google +

In order to get a Google + profile, you need to set up a Google account if you don’t already have one.

Once you have set up your profile.  Start adding people to connect with on Google +.  Look for “suggestions” on the right sidebar to see people that you have previously connected with on Google such as via Gmail.  If you need to learn more about a person before adding them, you can click on their profile photo box.  Information will be displayed to you based on the privacy setting they have selected.

Once you find people you would like to connect with on Google +, you can add them to your Circles.  Your connections are grouped by Circles to assist in separating the people you would like to share information with.  I have deleted the default “acquaintances” circle.  It wasn’t relevant to me or my goals for Google +.  I have added a new circle titled “bloggers” to keep up with what fellow bloggers are doing.  Since I’m just getting started with google +, I am only grouping my connections into “Family”, “Friends” and “Bloggers.”  I’m sure I’ll add more circle as I go along, but this works well for me right now.

If you’re looking to delete or manager your circles, simply go to “Google+ Setting”, click on “Profile and Privacy” and scroll down to “Manage Circle.”  You can also access this page by clicking on the “Circle Icon” located to the left on the search box on your home page.  From there you can right click on one of the Circles on the bottom of you page.  You will also be able to move people between circles and new suggestions from this page.

It is worth noting that when you add someone to one of your Circles, they will be notified that you have added them; however, the  name of the circle you added them to will not be shown.

You can set your email preference by going to your Google + settings and clicking on “Google +”.  Here you can select your email notifications to alert you when someone adds you to a circle, comments on your post, tags you in a photo and more.

You can also grab your Profile link from the Profile and Privacy settings page.

Lastly, I wanted to mention Google +1.  You have likely seen an icon pop up on websites similar to the Facebook Like and Tweet icons.  This is a handy tool to show you like a post. According to Google+, “Click +1 to publicly give something your stamp of approval. Your +1’s can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search”.

Get started with Google + now and don’t forget to click the +1 icon on this post 🙂

Watch the Google + Demo video to learn more

Want to connect with us?

The Coupon Challenge: https://profiles.google.com/109092395184800374564
Madame Deals: https://plus.google.com/101381945682665962704

Thanks to Madame Deals for this week’s Ask a Blogger article

You have written a killer pitch letter. You are now in the negotiation stage. What do you say? How do you get the person to go with your best deal. I actually ask them. What would make you select option A over B? I never change my price. I suggest you do not change your price either. That sends the message that what you do is not valuable. You can change your price if they go for a larger deal. I have a better rate on advertising for over 6 months than I do for one month.

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One thing I have learned about blogging is that Social Media is important.  You need a way to interact with readers and have a way for new readers to find your web page.

We’ve talked about creating a Facebook welcome page and how to increase Facebook followers, but we haven’t talked about posting on Facebook.  I like the instant interaction Facebook provides.  I can post a statement or question on Facebook and get a response from my fans.  Readers can also post on my page and get an immediate response from me or fellow fans can jump in on the discussion.  It’s a fantastic tool to share your posts, thoughts and ideas.

It’s also a great way to get people to visit your website.  You share a new blog post and you’re followers can click right into your website to read more.

But how do you have time to research and write posts, answer emails, and take care of your family all while spending time with Social Media?

I always thought that auto-posting was the answer.  I was able to get my post onto Facebook, and I didn’t have to do a thing.  I am a fan of easy.

I have personally used 2 Facebook Apps to auto-post to my website:

• Networked Blogs (started with this one)
• RSS Graffiti (my favorite)

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