Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Review

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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I loved this book. It is the first one I have read that actually explains how blogging can be used to make money directly. Most books I have read, and what I have experienced, indicate that blogging is not something to be done to make money directly.
In this book the author explains that there are direct ways to make money from one's blog, and there are indirect ways.
Direct Monetization:
>>Advertising
>>Sponsorships
>>Affiliate commissions
>>Paid reviews
Indirect Monetization:
>>Freelance writing contracts
>>Book deals
>>Speaking engagements
>>Consulting opportunities
>>Service contracts
>>Sell your own products
After reading this book I am still a believer that blogs are not something to consider if you want to make money from them directly. However, it can be done! But probably not the way you would think. It's not done by creating a blog, i.e., one blog and making it popular online. It's done by creating many blogs. Creating an empire of blogs and getting well connected in the blogoshere does it. Writing on any topic that can generate advertisers, sponsorships, affiliate commissions, and paid reviews does it. One blog won't do it. Two blogs won't do it. But a lot of blogs creating little streams of income will do it.
The authors provide us with some lessons they have learned about blogging:
1. Blogging for income takes time
2. Take it one step at a time
3. It takes hard work and discipline
4. Follow your dreams
Does this sound familiar? It should if you regularly read books for entrepreneurs. Blogging for bucks is just another small business. Instead of writing content for an arsenal of magazines, you are writing an arsenal of content for various blogs. Instead of selling paper copies of writings, you are selling through Web 2.0. And you are using Web 2.0 strategies and tactics to make your blogs profitable.
If you have an interest in blogs, and you want two books on the subject that discuss blogs from completely different perspectives, then read this book and read "Blog Schmog" (ISBN: 078521576X). Both books are well written, organized, and sound. If you read both of these books, then you should have a pretty good idea of what blogs are all about, what you can do with them, and what you cannot do with them. 5 stars!

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Problogger.net is where bloggers worldwide go for advice and information on enhancing their blog's presence. Whether you're just starting out or have been blogging for years, these two professional bloggers show you how to turn your passion for blogging into extra revenue. This practical guide to creating and marketing a blog with the potential for generating a six-figure income shows you how to choose subject matter that works for you, handle technical issues, and evaluate your blog?s success so that you can use your blog to generate income indirectly.

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Creative Blogging: Your First Steps to a Successful Blog Review

Creative Blogging: Your First Steps to a Successful Blog
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I was so thrilled to see this book by Heather Wright-Porto that I snatched it right away in the Kindle format. This book is loaded with lots of options and ideas to consider when first venturing out to create your own blog. Although I've been blogging for several years, there are lots of great tidbits that I'm picking up. Another item that I find helpful is it has Blogger, Typepad and WordPress instruction throughout the book, as well as PC and Mac instruction. THANK YOU Heather!

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Creative Blogging shows you how to start blogging for the very first time to express your creativity, reach out and be heard-and even how to make money with your blog! You'll start at the right place: The beginning! Learn answers to the most important and popular questions: What is a blog? Do I need a blog? How do I get started? What do I blog about? How do I blog? Creative Blogging then takes you through the how-to aspects of blogging, so you can quickly learn the terminology and get started. You'll then be able to choose the right blogging tool for you! Soon, you'll be prepared to unleash your creativity! Like a good author, you'll learn how to find information to blog about, and how to express yourself in your blog in the ways that you want. Your creativity is what will make your blog successful, but every artist needs an audience. Creative Blogging reveals how to draw peopleto your site! You'll also discover how to work with images and video, how to integrate your blog with Twitter and Facebook, and even how to make money with your blog! Let your creativity bring your audience to you and your blog with Creative Blogging.

What you'll learnThis book is for beginners looking to start a new blog and let their creativity find their audience within the blogosphere. You'll learn the basics of how to blog,how to show your creative self on your blog, and how to find your audience.
What a blog is-everything you need to know!
How to choose the best blog tool for YOU!
How to set up and organize your blog
How to be creative in your blog's design and layout
How to work with images to create a beautiful blog
More advanced blog techniques and strategies
Tools to promote your blog, increase visits, and make money!
How to connect with popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook
Where to find help, tools, tips and tricks

Who this book is for
Anyone creative who's never blogged before, but wants to reach an audience, be it for the purpose ofbusiness or pleasure.

Table of Contents
Where to Begin
Blog Layout and Design
Let's Blog
More Than Just Text
Advanced Blog Design
Setting up a Custom Domain
Increasing Traffic & Visitor Tracking
Social Network Integration
Setting Up Shop
HTML/CSS Basics
Blogging Tips


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Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro Review

Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro
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The philosophical question of the day is: if you don't blog, micro-blog, or social network, do you exist? Certainly not to the multimillions, or billions, who at least read postings from blogging and social network sites like Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed.
Tris Hussey is one such blogger and is probably more intense about it than most. He is a longtime blogger, educator and speaker, and writer of blog related topics. His background and enthusiasm for the topic and casual, easy-going writing style serve him well in authoring "Creating Your Own Blog: Six Easy Projects to Start Blogging like a Pro."
Even though online software tools make it easy for nearly anyone to start blogging those who want to do it well for personal or professional reasons will benefit from the guidance found in this book. Hussey is comprehensive in his approach: he describes blogging as essentially storytelling and is enthusiastic and inspiring about it; he gives a short history of storytelling online via simple to very sophisticated tools; he details how to set up, install, and configure both hosted and self-hosted sites; and he even shows how to make money while blogging.
The meat of the book is in chapters 5 through 9 where he details how to set up and maintain personal, business, podcasting, video, and portfolio blogs. In chapter 10 he explains "online life streaming" where blogs, micro-blogs, social networking sites, and mobile communications converge into a mash of running digital history in real-time--for those not concerned about their life activities being stored permanently in searchable online databases.
Managing all of this does get complicated and Hussey is adept at explaining the how and why of spending the time to do it well and right. The book contains information on intellectual property issues and Digital Rights Management, privacy, search engine optimization, controlling spam and abusive commenters, as well as examples of blogs he admires or believes are models of good blogging.
Instead of covering all topics in depth, he shortcuts by detailing better choices and practices from his own experiences. He provides express recommendations on blogging hosts (he likes WordPress best,) hardware (microphones) and software choices. His emphasis in such choices is on low-cost and ease-of-use options. There is enough material to satisfy those with advanced needs and capabilities. The mashing of blog; photo, audio and video posting sites;and social networking sites is especially worthwhile for serious online communicators.
Hussey writes from experience as one of the earliest bloggers and one of the more prolific ones. He writes with some humor and in an easy-going style that is easy to follow and absorb. The book is heavily illustrated with screenshots of blog pages, websites, and applications along with some graphic illustrations and photos of hardware. There are stylized "Tips, Notes, New Terms, Cautions, an Idea Galleries" throughout. I found many of the screenshot illustrations to be too dark or too finely printed to be useful. Younger eyes may not have a problem.
This is a very good book for those thinking about starting blogging for business or personal reasons.
FTC disclosure (16 CFR Part 255): The reviewer has accepted without solicitation a reviewer's copy of this book which is his to keep. He intends to provide an honest, independent, and fair evaluation of the book in all circumstances.

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Want a personal or business blog of your own? It's easy! In this simple guide, one of the world's most experienced bloggers walks you through every step, from getting started to building a worldwide audience. Tris Hussey covers it all, from low-cost blogging tools to high-powered writing tips! Get this book, and get started fast–with a professional-quality blog that meets your goals, whatever they are!Build great blogs like these, the easy way!Personal BlogsBusiness BlogsBlogs for Podcasting Video BlogsPortfolio Blogs for Artists Lifestreaming BlogsLearn from a pro! Discover tips, tricks, and great solutions for: Setting up your blog the right way–in just minutes!Writing blog entries people want to readHandling comments–even nasty ones!Creating a conversation and building a community Publicizing your blog Choosing the right free or low-cost blogging tools Avoiding beginner mistakesEarning cash from your blog!You won't believe how easy it is to create your own blog… or how much fun!

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Journalism Next: A Practical Guide to Digital Reporting and Publishing Review

Journalism Next: A Practical Guide to Digital Reporting and Publishing
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JournalismNext is a fantastic resource for multimedia reporting and is a must-read for novice and veteran journalists making the transition to Journalism 2.0 and beyond. It's also great for citizen journalists, PR and marketing pros looking to better understand how journalism is evolving.
Author Mark Briggs offers How-Tos for basics like RSS and blogging and provides much needed tutorials on Twitter, crowd-powered collaboration, going mobile and telling stories with photographs. He shares the steps required to tell stories with video, audio and explains what equipment might be best for your budget. And he offers tips on building audiences and managing conversations.
Most importantly, Mark provides a check list and a kick-in-the-pants to Get Going at the end of each chapter. JournalismNext should be required reading at journalism schools and newsrooms around the world. Thanks for a great book Mark.


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Theres never been a more challengingyet excitingtime to be a journalist. But in order to survive and thrive, journalists need to master new tools. Timely, to-the-point, and tested, Journalism Next updates Mark Briggs popular online guide Journalism 2.0 and explains how to use the latest software, tools, and concepts, empowering journalists to harness technology and take control of their futures in journalism.

Journalism Next is required reading for both seasoned journalists seeking a digital roadmap and digital natives looking to connect their technological know-how to the professions best practices. Learn how to use blogs, crowdsourcing, mobile applications, databases, audio, and video to report with immediacy, cultivate community, and tell compelling stories. Journalism Next will improve digital literacy, fast.

Read from cover to cover or dip in and out of this handy guide. In addition to recurring headings that draw you through the chapters, these features will help you find what you need: Tech Innovators: In their own words, top professionals share the ways they use digital technology to do better journalism. Go behind the scenes with experts from leading news organizations. Drilling Down: Ready for more? Breakout boxes help you move beyond the basics to more technical and advanced concepts. Get Going Checklists: Actually doing it makes all the difference. Step-by-step instructions let you jump right in. Illustrations: Useful graphics supplement how-to instructions and show how news sites are putting technology to work.


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Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions) Review

Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions)
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This book by Lee Jordan is perfect for the novice blogger and packed with must have info for even the seasoned blogger. While it particularly deals with the Blogger (Google) platform, a good bit of the information extends beyond Blogger to services and tips that could be used for a variety of platforms.
I love the approach Jordan uses - taking a sample blog that is plain in nature and allowing the reader to follow that blogs evolution to a more professional looking blog using the guidelines and tips offered in the book.
Jordan shows you why popular blogs are so popular and what you can do to enhance your ratings and most importantly, your readership. He leaves no stone unturned as he divulges all the tricks of the trade, er uh, hobby.
Whatever the purpose of your blog is you should invest in this tool. It easy to understand, simple to follow, and indexed for ease of locating information. I have used it many times in the last few weeks to look up a particular subject and implement the information given.
Here is a list of the chapters:
1. All Blogs Are Not Created Equal
2. Customize and CreateTemplates
3. Social Bookmarking
4. Joining the Blogosphere
5. Using Widgets
6. RSS and Atom Syndication
7. Making Money With Ads
8. Measuring Site Performance with Google Analytics
9. Search Engine Optimization
10. Website Integration
Oh and it comes in paperback or e-book form!

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In Detail
Blogger is a blog publishing system from Google with a friendly interface specifically designed for creating and maintaining weblogs.
It allows users to easily create dynamic blogs with great content and many outstanding features including RSS feeds, link-backs, photo slideshows, and integration with popular Google applications like Picasa. Its versatility and ease of use has attracted a large, enthusiastic, and helpful community of users.
If you want to create powerful, fully-featured blogs in no time, this book is for you. This book will focus on transforming a typical blog into something fresh and professional that stands out from the crowd. It starts with anintroduction to an example blog, discussing what it is lacking, and then adding all the features of Blogger to make it successful. This book will tell you how to transform a slow-paced typical business blog into an attractive and interactive profit-making blog with measurable results. It has a very user-friendly approach and shares tips, tricks, and resources to continue to grow your blog.
What you will learn from this book?
The book aims to be a "complete" guide to working with Blogger. The focus is on more advanced, professional uses. You will learn everything you need to know to extend your blog and grow beyond the basics of using Blogger. This book will cover the following:
Customizing and creating templates to make your blog attractive
Adding social bookmarks to your blog to promote your site
Joining the blogosphere to drive traffic to your site
Customizing your blog by using widgets effectively
Customizing your blog's RSS and Atom feed, so that the Blogger feeds are available to the users
Managing ads and adding e-commerce features
Monitoring viewers and ads using Google Analytics
Managing and optimizing your blog for search engines
Integrating your website with your blog
Approach
Written in a clear, easy-to-read style, the book takes you through the essential tasks required to create a feature-rich blog as quickly as possible. From initial setup to customizing modules, each task is explained in a clear, practical way using an example blog developed through the book. You'll also learn how to market and measure the success of your blog using Google web applications and other popular tools.
This book deals with using the current Blogger and third-party tools to optimize and create widgets for your blog. You'll transform your blog using existing tools then take it further with more challenging approaches to customizing your blog. All the steps involved in each example are listed under the section called "Time for action". Similarly, the results of that action are listed under the section called "What just happened". This structure adds to the clear, simple, and focused approach of the book.
Who this book is written for?
The book is aimed at current users of the Blogger platform who want to get the most out of Blogger and people who use a different blogging platform and are planning on switching to Blogger. Blog owners who promote their own services, expertise, and products, and want to increase their blog's success by pushing the limits of what Blogger can do will get the most out of this book.
The book doesn't require any specific knowledge of Blogger or the related technologies: RSS, CSS, HTML, and XML. Everything you need to know to grow beyond the basics is covered in this book. The companion website to this book (bloggerbeefedup.blogspot.com) includes free resource images and content.


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Blogging All-in-One For Dummies Review

Blogging All-in-One For Dummies
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This book has it all! I was looking for an up-to-date, easy to understand and comprehensive guide to learn how to start a blog, the right tools to use, and how to get traffic and even make some money. This book teaches all of that and more, and it's written in a way that you can pick and choose the chapters you want to read and those you don't without being confused. I'm so happy that I picked this book. Now, I don't need to buy any others unless I want to get into much more advanced topics. I highly recommend Blogging All-in-One for Dummies.

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A complete guide to creating and establishing your place in the blogosphere!
New blogs are being launched at the rate of 175,000 a day. To stand out from the masses, bloggers need the detailed information and advice packed into this all-in-one guide.
Here's what new bloggers need to get started and what experienced bloggers need to upgrade and even earn money from their blogs. Eight self-contained minibooks cover joining the blogosphere, blogging software, tools that extend your blog, marketing your blog, microblogging, making money from your blog, corporate blogging, and niche blogging.
Blogging is replacing traditional media and gaining credibility; to succeed, bloggers need a greater understanding of blogging basics, tools, and techniques
Eight minibooks cover getting started, software, other tools, blog marketing, microblogging (including Twitter), monetizing your blog, and corporate and niche blogging
Helps new bloggers become active and productive members of the blogging community
Provides vital information for both hobby bloggers and those who want to build a career around blogging

Presented in the fun and friendly For Dummies style, Blogging All-in-One For Dummies is a complete reference guide to starting and maintaining a successful blog.

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ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Review

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I picked upProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income after blogging for a litle over two years. I've been doing it as a hobby because I love writing and photography, but admittedly haven't thought much about monetizing it.
For me, this book served as a good introduction to how to make money from blogging, both directly and indirectly. However, its focus is a little more broad. It coves everything from choosing a topic to write about, to setting up your blog, to making money. It mixes information and examples with exercises that challenge the reader to apply what they are talking about and use it to inform their own blog.
Because of its broad focus, I think it would be the most useful to someone who is brand new to blogging. I still found it very informative as someone who has been blogging for awhile. However, I did find myself skimming through the pages on setting up your blog because mine has long been set up. However, I thought their instructions were very straight foward and clear and definitely would have been helpful to me if I had stumbled upon them when first starting my blog. They also provide some great tips on deciding what to write about and choosing a domain name.
The content specific to monitization is good but should really be used as a primer. As others have mentioned, much of this content can be found on the ProBlogger blog or elsewhere on the internet. However, the beauty of this book is that it is condensed and all available in one place. No reason to go digging. That said, it is really just the tip of the iceberg so if you are looking for one book to cover everything you will wind up disapointed. I still don't believe I know everything about monitization, nor did I expect to when reading this, and expect to still read more on SEO as a follow up. There are also no secret, magic strategies here. If you are looking for a get rich quick solution this is not it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it met my expectations. It was a great first read on how to monetize my blog, but I'm still planning on reading other resources to continue to get smart.

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A complete how-to from two of the world's top bloggers
Thousands of aspiring bloggers launch new blogs every day, hoping to boost their income. Without solid advice from experts, most will fail. This bestselling guide, now fully revised with new and updated tips and tricks from two of the world's most successful bloggers, provides the step-by-step information bloggers need to turn their hobby into an income source or a fulltime career.
Earning a solid income from blogging is possible, but tricky; this book details proven techniques and gives aspiring bloggers the tools to succeed
Even novices will learn to choose a blog topic, analyze the market, set up a blog, promote it, and earn revenue
Offers solid, step-by-step instruction on how bloggers make money, why niches matter, how to use essential blogging tools and take advantage of social media and content aggregators, what a successful blog post should include, how to optimize advertising, and much more

Written by two fulltime professional bloggers, the updated edition of ProBlogger tells you exactly how to launch and maintain a blog that makes money.

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Show Me About Book Publishing: Survive and Thrive in Today's Literary Jungle Review

Show Me About Book Publishing: Survive and Thrive in Today's Literary Jungle
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I'm not an expert by any stretch. But I've read almost every book on this subject. So I have a pretty good frame of reference.
This book is somewhat promotional for the services of the authors. Subtle but there are references scattered throughout the book that they can help you. So some of the advice is skewed toward that aim I believe. And I don't agree with all the advice. It definitely seems to be for someone going the traditional bookstore route. Common sense info on cover design and editing importance. I belive it's a bit light on content. Only 150 pages if you leave out the resources section.
And I don't think all the advice is good. They downplay POD. They make it sound like it's impossible to produce a decent looking POD book. I still think the best option for the small self-publisher/author I've found is going through lighting source. That way you maintain control and profit. They don't really talk about it. Ithink there is one sentence about it.
At one point they mention that you should price your book according to what's inside. Well, the people looking to buy it can't read it first, so you had better price it according to what your market is willing to pay for books in that category.
It seem's to really miss the boat with fulfillig on the "survive and thrive in TODAY'S literary jungle." This one's going back.

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Show Me About Book Publishing reveals the dollars and sense of publishing--and a game plan that every author needs to implement to be successful with the publishing game.


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