Taking Advantage of Black Friday

Yes, Black Friday has come and gone, but it will be back again next year. The neat thing about Black Friday is that most shoppers rush out to the stores, trample people, while racing for those deals. It isn’t until the days following where shoppers look for the deals online. So how can you benefit from this and take advantage of shoppers during the Holiday Season?

Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes. Pretend you are a shopper online and envision yourself having to seek out gifts. Some questions you need to ask yourself are:

a) What are the new and hot products?
b) Can these products actually be purchased online?
c) What do you know about these products?
d) Can you offer advice on any of these hot new products?
e) Is the Internet already saturated with content about these hot new products?
f) Is the product related to your blog’s niche?

Once you ask yourself these questions you probably can narrow it down a bit better if it is worth writing about an item or not. ipods are a cool topic, or the new iphone, but more than likely the Internet is saturated with information on this. Finding products to talk about can take a lot of research. So what can you do?

Look around at other blog’s in your niche. What types of products are they discussing? If you have run a parenting blog for the last 2 years and have been all over the Internet reading other parenting blogs then you probably have a good idea what types of products have been talked about and what the new hot items are for this year.

Write a review about it. Maybe go out and actually buy the product and test it out. Write about it. Tell people how it functions. Did it live up to your expectations? If not… why?

Link to other reviews. Maybe you don’t have all kinds of money to blow on the product or you have your doubts about. Do a roundup and link to what others are saying about it. Put 80% of the links to blogs in your niche. Then try breaking out a bit and see if other blogs outside of your niche have blogged about it. Link to them. Pingbacks may drive traffic back to your article.

Make sure in your articles you are using nice keyword rich text. Link often and liberally to sources. You never know… you may get on the first page of Google for those searching online for information about the hot new item…

Comment on other blogs talking about the same product and make sure to link your name to either your blog or that specific blog post. Remember, people search the Internet heavily by topic. If you can stick with the same crowd and get some links coming and going you will see a rise in traffic naturally, as long as the topic remains of interest.

Now what if you wrote about a product and more traffic comes your way? How do you jump on this opportunity? Maybe one example would be to post a link at the end of that article inviting readers to subscribe to your feed via email. Feedburner offers a great service that will deliver your posts via email to those who choose to sign up for this feature. As a matter of fact, if you want to subscribe to my feed via email you can do so right here at this link.

What other things can you do? You can provide links at the end of your article leading them deeper into your blog with other related articles. Maybe you blogged about that product on many occasions. At the end of the article tell your readers if they enjoyed this post why not try reading a few of these… and leave a list of about 3 or 4 other articles that may interest them.

Another option would be to provide a link to any referral type programs. The downside of this is you are providing a link which will lead people away from your blog. On a good note, some of these referral programs can earn you a bit of cash. It’s really your choice. If you can find the right program which is closely related to the topic being discussed in the article then it should only benefit you since you are sending targeted traffic to a program potentially making you money. Any random program is a bit risky and you could probably benefit by keeping the reader at your blog longer.

Any other ideas? How can you benefit from added traffic on a blog article that is attracting people? Don’t forget to open those comments up and get conversation going. Readers will be back to see if anyone replied. This can boost traffic momentarily. The key is to get these new readers to come back and stick around.

Ways to Increase Your Alexa Rank

Most of you who have been blogging for a while or who have been online for some time now, understand that Google ranks each website. It is more of a rating 1 through 10. I believe that no site out there on the Internet has been ranked 10. Naturally, the higher your rank the chances of you being higher in the search engine is greater.

Alexa is similar to Google and they provide each website out there on the Internet a rank. How it works, though, is a bit different. Alexa ranks the top site with a 1, which is actually Yahoo. CNN Money ranks number 2. So the lower the number the better you are. There are ways to get a lower (better) ranking with Alexa. If you rank 235,000 then you know that there are 234,999 other websites out there that rank better than you. Now since there are millions of websites on the Internet, getting as low as 200,000 is extremely good. Alexa’s ranking is based on the level of traffic each website receives from the number of people who visit a website with the Alexa toolbar installed.

The traffic rank is based on three months of aggregated historical traffic data from millions of Alexa Toolbar users and is a combined measure of page views and users (reach). As a first step, Alexa computes the reach and number of page views for all sites on the Web on a daily basis.

The main Alexa traffic rank is based on the geometric mean of these two quantities averaged over time (so that the rank of a site reflects both the number of users who visit that site as well as the number of pages on the site viewed by those users)

So how do you rank lower and better with Alexa?

*The most basic step is to Install the Alexa toolbar or Firefox’s SearchStatus extension and set your blog as your homepage.

*Try puttnig up an Alexa rank widget on your website.

*Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar, like friends, fellow webmasters, and your readers.

*Write or Blog about Alexa. Others enjoy reading about ways to increase their Alexa ranking and, in turn, will hopefully like to your article sending you targeted traffic. Hopefully they will have the toolbar already installed. This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.

*Get one of your articles submitted to Digg or Stumble Upon when you can. This usually brings massive numbers of visitors to your website and the sheer volume will have a positive impact on your Alexa Rank. Naturally, you’ll need to develop link worthy material.

*Use Pay-per-Click Campaigns. Buying advertisements on search engines such as Google or Exact Seek will help bring in traffic. It will be more useful when your ad is highly relevant to webmasters, who are more apt to be using the Alexa toolbar.

*Optimize your popular posts. If you have a popular post that consistently receives traffic from the search engines, include a widget at the bottom of the post and then link to your Alexa post.

Earn Money With InfoLinks

InfoLinks is an In-Text advertising program we are currently testing out on the Skinny Moose Media blog network. How InfoLinks works is once you are approved you can place one line of code in the footer.php file of your site just before the < /body > tag. Everything from there on out is automated. Certain Advertisers can purchase keywords on your site. Those links, in turn, will be hyperlinked to those advertisers. If you hover over the link a little window pops open displaying information about the destination.

It looks something like this:

As you can see in this particular case the link is green in the first line of text. Once you hover over it you can see a little box pop-up and show you a little information regarding the destination of that link. How you get paid is when people actually click on those links. I have heard some really good things about this program and I have heard some bad things. When it comes to your readers it is a judgment call. Depending on your audience will probably be the biggest indicator as to whether or not it is worth it.

There are people that despise this sort of thing, as they feel it is misleading. Others tend to brush by it and if it interests them then fine, if not then they move on. When trying InfoLinks, it is best to be honest and publish an article letting people know this program exists on your site.

As far as making money, I can say with my experience it earns much better than Google Adsense. From just testing out the program over the last few days it looks to be bringing in 3 to 4 times more in revenue than Google Adsense.

So if you are interested in giving this a whirl on your blog, website, forum, etc then head on over to InfoLinks.com, sign up for their Publishers program, and then you should be contacted within a day or so if approved. As long as you aren’t promoting pornography or illegal material you should be fine. I would be interested to know how much in revenue you are making in comparison to Adsense. Let me know.

Also what do you guys think of this program from a reader’s perspective? Do you think it is deceiving? In another month or so I will probably do another post making a final assessment on what I think of the program, the potential to earn revenue from it, and some pros and cons all around. So stick around. More to come on InfoLinks.

It’s the Economy Stupid

Do you think I could have gone a week with a new blog and not discuss the current economic situation? Of course not. It’s one of the things I follow, as I believe the economy truly effects all of us, rich, middle class, or poor. Of course this society has turned into the government helping the middle class bail out the rich. Is this not a good way to put strain on the middle class?

But most importantly how is the economy effecting our lifestyles? Are sportsmen hunting and fishing less?

Maybe we should be giving ammo out as Christmas gifts this year:

More videos here >>

So are you buying more guns and ammo? What kind are you buying? What is your motive? Is it in fear of never getting a chance again to walk into a store, grab the ammo you need, pick up a shotgun and walk out? Is the motive that you feel guns and ammo will be taxed to death?

Also have you changed any hunting, fishing, or outdoor plans in the last 6 months, or any upcoming events because of the state of the economy? I would be interested to know. What thing I do know that has surprised all of us is the price of gas has been cut in half. I have been hearing possibly $40/barrel oil soon.

Those who follow the economy and enjoy the outdoors should check out Mike’s site at Treestand Investor.

REI Outlet: 50% Off

One of the things about this blog I want to do is make sure I can point people in the direction of any deals I see at certain stores or mention any new products out there that you may find interesting. There is always a deal running somewhere. And where it is just prior to the Holidays we are looking at some good buys. Currently there is a deal at REI where you can get 50% Off on Hiking, Camping, Climbing, and Ski Gear.

I was just over and browsing the Outlet and saw where there is also free shipping. So check them out. You may not need to go out shopping for Christmas. Stay in, order a present at REI, and do some blogging…

Blogging 101: The Foundations of a Better Blog

I have created a new category which will cover some of the real basics of blogging. I think like anything, there is a foundation you build things on. Like math. You have addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. If you can’t master those, then those long drawn out formulas and equations are impossible to execute. With math, you take a complex issue and break it down into pieces that make sense. In other words you are simplifying.

Blogging is similar. There are basics. Those basics should be mastered so that when later on you face questions, concerns, dilemmas, and a lot of problems, you can simplify everything. You break everything back down to the basics.

So what are the basics of blogging?

What is a blog?

Ok don’t laugh. What year is it and I STILL come across people who don’t know what a blog is. According to Blog Basics this is the definition:

Blog (noun) – a journal or diary that is on the Internet – Andrew Sullivan has the most popular blog on the Internet.

Blogger (noun) – a person who keeps a blog – Bloggers are revolutionizing the way news is shared.

Blog (verb) – to write a blog – I am going to blog before breakfast this morning.

Blogging (verb) – the action of writing a blog – Blogging is my way of sharing my passions with the world.

Establish Motive and Set Goals

Once we have determined what a blog is, you need to narrow it down to why you are blogging. What is it you want to write about and what are your goals? Do you want to provide a wide range of topics or narrow it down to just one or a couple? Do you want to produce news articles, tips, reviews, commentary, or maybe all of the above. Do you want readership? Are you looking to make money? Why so many dang questions?

The reason for the questions is simple. Blogging is not easy. Without a vision you will more than likely give up finding out that blogging was a waste of time and you should have spent more time with your studies or your family. Blogging is a commitment. You have to write often and even spend time doing research. Yuck… Research?

Yep. How else are you going to learn about something so you can share something new with your readers? So setting goals, planning out a mission, and being prepared to learn is key.

Persistence

This is the biggy. Here is a thought about success. I would not have gotten married to my current wife if I was not persistent. I was turned down (believe it or not), before she finally caved in. I am sure she is regretting it now. But hey, I was persistent. To be persistent also means you have to accept certain levels of failure and move on and keep up what works without letting the little things get to ya. I could have gone home and cried my eyes out and sworn off women for the rest of my life. Instead I was persistent.

There was a job I applied for over 10 years ago and was never contacted. I called each day asking for an update. They told me my schedule didn’t fit what they were looking for. So I changed my availability and resubmitted my application. After several weeks of constant back and forth communications, and being turned down for many reasons, I was persistent yet professional, showing them I was determined to work for them and would make certain accomodations to do so. I could have chalked it up the first time they turned me down as yet another failure, but I was persistent. It isn’t always that you need to do more work, but rather keep doing the same thing over and over and over again until it pays off.

What is your edge? Offer something different

Just like a product… you need that cutting edge. What separates your product from all the others? There are so many blogs out there to read, it is impossible for everyone to read all of them. How do you draw them in? Having another blog just like everyone else is kinda cool when you are new to the blogosphere, but at some point you will need to ask yourself, “What is it that makes me stand out?”

Networking

Networking builds traffic. There is no sense building a business out in the middle of the woods where you might get a couple of passer-bys each week. You need to learn to envision online traffic much like roads and pathways to real communities and places of business. I wrote about this a while ago on the Skinny Moose main blog in an article called Blogs are Roads; Intersections. Networking is done in many ways and we will cover this later in future posts but it can help you understand what is happening in your niche, and at the same time pave some nice roads to your blog. There are some great ways of doing this. Each time you write a new blog post you have another opportunity to pave roads to your blog. You aren’t just looking to promote your main page. Each article is a gem in and of itself. Getting people to take interest in your articles, link to them, and drive traffic your way based on one article out of many is a beautiful thing. It won’t happen with each article but the more you write and the more you network the more pathways that lead to your blog. So opening these pathways up so there are so many avenues to get to you no matter what the browser’s interest will really spark some diversity in your audience.

Welcome all to my new blog; Hope you enjoy

Well it is about time I started blogging more on my own. This blog here on out will be devoted to ALL bloggers great and small… bloggers who are part of a Network and bloggers who are independent. I will provide information and advice on things I have learned over the years of blogging and owning Skinny Moose Media, a blog network that is mostly hunting related. We have a few fishing blogs, some outdoors blogs, and a small taste of sports and other hobbies. Currently, the Skinny Moose Media Network has 60+ blogs and growing. 30 (half) of the blogs are hunting related.

But it has been not only a desire, but a sense of entitlement, that I share with others what I have learned through all this. I will talk a lot about blogging and link to programs that bloggers can use to Network and build traffic. I think it is the deep down desire of all bloggers, no matter what the topic is, to reach out to as many people as they can and gain the highest possible readership.

There are many things one can do to achieve readership and I plan to share some of the ideas and techniques I have obtained over the years.

Some bloggers wish to make money from blogging, and all I can say is “it is definitely possibly”. What it really boils down to is knowing what you want, setting goals, finding ways to reach those goals, and the most important of them all is to actually implement those ways and be persistent.

So I hope that I can help you benefit and become a better blogger, a better writer, someone who is more informed on the subject of blogging, and, in turn, be inspired to become successful. There are many great bloggers currently at Skinny Moose Media, and I would love to be in some of their shoes with the readership they have earned over the years. I not only have taught them a thing or two about blogging but they have taught me a thing or two.

For those who might be interested in joining the blog network at Skinny Moose, we are trying to branch out a bit into other topics besides hunting and the outdoors so please let me know if there is anything you would like to blog about, or already have a blog, and would simply like to join. You can check out this page about joining up.

So I look forward to hearing more from you guys and feel free to comment and ask questions or just say hi. Also if you would like to subscribe to this blog and receive my posts via email please do so here. I do not give out emails so you will not be spammed. It will only be used to send out my blog posts to you each day if there are any updates.