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If you don’t know who Seth Godin is. He is basically an Internet marketing / general marketing Guru and best selling author. I found out about him… not that long ago but from what I’ve seen he’s already got my highest respect.
He is also the founder of Squidoo and other stuff. Check out this presentation, it’s 18 minutes but is actually worth watching. Enjoy…
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From today I’m going to start a new posting tradition called Top Links. Much like a lot of other blogs do, with link round-ups of decent articles and what not.
Feel free to comment on this but please don’t fill your comments with links.
But, what you can do. If you’d like to be considered for the upcoming Top Links which will be in a few days simply go on to the contact page and use the contact form there to send me links of your articles / ideas whatever.
Just make sure you don’t send me any spammy shit with affiliate promotions and what not because I simply wont use them. But I’m completely open to sharing any decent content you’d like to have featured.
So send away!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...If you’re blogging about something. Realistically, you should be passionate about whatever that is. Blogging about something you know NOTHING about or have no interest in, is a bad idea because usually, people who do this; fail to see instant success… and quit.
They lose interest very quickly because they were blogging to try and make quick money, so they choose a ‘hot’ topic, not one they actually love to write about.
It’s fine to want to make money from your blog. But there has to be a core element of passion and some element of knowledge to what you write about in order to stop you from getting bored whilst your blog is in it’s developing stages.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Really haven’t been keeping up with this. Watched 1 or 2 but got bored of constant promoting etc. plus it just seemed a bit cheesy, but you can’t fault the quality of the production.
Here’s episodes 7 and 8 for anyone who hasn’t seen them yet:
Episode 7:
Episode 8:
Also, just click here to see an archive of all the episodes so far.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Anybody who’s still reading loyally. I would love to hear some feedback about the blog so far.
What don’t you like about this blog?
Please feel free to make honest comments on the…
- Desgin
- Ads
- Posts / Content
Be as honest or as brutal as you want. It helps.
Cheers 
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...I don’t listen to Radiohead, never have. Not because I hate them just because I don’t listen to soft-rock or rock or metal, just not my type of music. So this post isn’t on Radiohead themselves to critique them but more on their new album experiment.
For anyone who isn’t aware, they’ve released their new album online as apposed to releasing it commercially in stores. What they’re actually doing is allowing their fans to define how much they are willing to pay for the album. So people could literally, if they wanted. Pay nothing. So… about as useful as having it floating around the web illegally anyway!
But I do think this is a great innovative attempt to continue to make money from music sales. They’ve realised like basically everyone else that people just don’t buy records like they used to and downloading them for free is as easy as ever. So I think their true nerdy fans might actually pay something for it… don’t know why you would when you have the option to legally… pay zero! but… that’s just me lol.
Then again, if I actually really like an artist. Like enough to pay for them, I would only ever pay for the physical CD anyway. Just for the sake of having the actual thing, collection wise. With the theme of it and the book etc. So I think this may be a disadvantage for them. I would never pay for a download. Something that is so easily downloadable anyway and something they are offering you to legally download for nothing if you want.
Anyone got any thoughts on this?
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...We are all constantly trying to improve our blogs. Well, I know I am anyway. But what can we really focus on to get more readers. Here’s a list I’ve compiled that will hopefully help you out.
1. Don’t be too personal- When I say this, I mean on a business blog for example. If you own a blog that is themed around making money online… don’t start posting pictures of your baby or getting too personal. Obviously use your opinion, but blatantly personal matters will just seem out of place.
Of course people like Shoemoney and John Chow can get away with this because… their blogs are realistically about them, and they talk about issues, but it’s their name in the title. So it’s warranted.
2. Be generous to your readers- Self promote by promoting others. By helping others achieve, you will achieve. Sorry, got a bit philosophical and cheesy there. Anyway, basically just give your readers what they wan’t. Give them shout-outs, links, forget Google, think people. That is, who will be reading it.
So, focus on your readers and providing genuine value for them, do this and I cannot see how you can fail. People like to read about themselves, they also like to be mentioned. So give your readers a little taste of this now and then and they will appreciate it. If you become too self-obsessed or promoting or start packing out posts with affiliate links, you may see your readers slip away out of boredom and insult.
3. Make your subscription options clear and visual - I believe the absolute core aspect of a blog should be to get more readers. Above all else, that’s it. Without readers, you have; no comments, no community, no feedback, no income.
It’s amazing how many bloggers shove their RSS link right down near their footer or out of the way. WHY!? it’s not a hindrance! it’s a privilege, you should be making your subscription options as absolutely visually prominent as possible so that people can see them in an instant. Readers are the core element to a blog, beyond anything else. So until you reach a sustainable amount, absolutely focus on them!
4. Write what others… are not- I know this can be a tricky one. With so many blogs, it is hard to write content that is so unique that it’s not been said a million times before. But at least try! don’t just give in to social blogging standards and blog about what everyone else is blogging about. If it’s a craze like BlogRush was then… fair enough, it was mental. So give your opinion on it.
I think mainly you should be trying your best to provide fresh, unique content that people rarely get the privilege of reading on the majority of other blogs. *CLESHE WARNING* — Content is king; that’s been said so many times it’s sickening. But who cares, it’s true and you can’t focus on that annoying little sound-byte enough.
5. Use good grammar- I know grammar isn’t a huge issue for some people. Most intelligent people (actual intelligent people a.k.a not snobs with a degree who think they’re Einstein) will just ignore the odd mistake and use there (ha!) (their… see what I did?) common sense to determine the right from wrong.
I detest grammar bullies who go and comment on blogs with stuff like “You need grammar lessons. It’s their not there.” as if everyone is going to go “WOW! You are a GENIUS! Say more!” but they are out there. So if you’re grammar is sloppy, why give them the satisfaction of leaving your blog for such a trivial reason or the satisfaction of trying to put you down. Wordpress has a spellcheck built in and obviously there are tons of free grammar tools online if you just look for them.
I don’t think a bit of dodgy grammar will make everyone leave but it may for some, so use good grammar to add at least a basic level of professionalism to your blog.
6. Write list posts - List posts. Most people like to read a good list post. They’re easy to read, usually very helpful in a quick information digest type way and are just nice little trivial posts to provide your readers with. They are over done but so what, so are most other things. Write list posts now and then to add some quick reading value.
7. Don’t let ads rule your content- Content ruled by ads! hate it. I’m sure most people do. I think this can be a big kill-off for some readers. I’m pretty sure most people do not mind general ads, you know… in the sidebar and what not. But the content of your blog is why they come to your blog. So it is a bit insulting to compromise their reading quality by shoving image ads, affiliate links, Kontera ads all over posts.
I mean… some people do it to make more money and obviously, if you have a lot of traffic then it will achieve you more income. But I think taking the user’s experience into consideration is more important.
I do it on regular stantionary sites because they get visited at inconsistant rates by searchers and what not… it’s really not the same thing. A blog is very… personal on a level with your readers, people are subscribing to you… it just sort of seems like ’selling-out’ to ‘ruin’ your content space. You can still make a lot of money without compromising your content space on your blog.
8. Answer questions- If you’re readers ask you questions. Answer them. Whether it by email or in posts, it’s still important. Don’t take a single reader for granted because soon you’ll be taking 2, 5, 10 readers for granted. Help people out, be quick. Make your blog an essential blog community to be a part of and communicate with your readers.
9. Popular Articles / Posts- Having a Popular Articles plugin I think can really help keep people on your blog for longer. You can show off your best work. So even if they don’t like what they see right away, they may be intrigued by some of your most popular post titles.
10. Write for humans - I thought I’d finish off with this tip as I think it’s a very good one. Writing for people is essential, you don’t always have to be super-formal. Your human. Your readers are human.
I think it’s in good practice to attempt to scale a balance between formal and non-formal. I think no matter what the topic of your blog, you need personality to give it a unique aspect. But most of all… brilliant writing, content, reviews, advice, whatever. Write for humans… people!
Thanks for reading!
Also if you’re new here, why not subscribe for more 
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This is an interview with John Chow about his new ad network TTZ Media Affiliates and some general Internet Marketing. I recommend you join the network and give it a go, it’s highly customizable. Here ya go…
Can you explain exactly what TTZ Media Affiliates is?
In a nutshell, TTZ Media provides shopping ads to its affiliated sites. These ads feature hot selling products from thousands of online stores. When a reader clicks an ad and visits the store, the affiliate makes money.
What separates TTZ from other Ad Networks?
Targeting and customization. Unlike other shopping network that will only let you pull from a board category, TTZ Media ads allows extra keyword matching for products. So instead of showing ads for MP3 players, you can show an ad for a black 8GB iPod nano. This pinpoint targeting allows for much higher click rate. If you were writing an article about an iPod nano, an ad featuring the nano will get better click rate than an ad featuring different MP3 players.
TTZ Media ads are completely customization. Not only can affiliates control border, background and link colors, they can even control the hover color and font style. As far as I know, we are the only ad network to offer this. We also offer 15 different banner sizes and will be adding more in the future.
Have you had any reports of CTR averages?
CTR rates varies greatly depending on the site running the banner, the size of banner, integration, etc. It goes as low as 0.05% to as high as 5%. It really depends on the type of site and how well the site integrate our ads. Our best performing affiliates are technology sites and product review sites.
How long has your Ad Network been in production?
We’ve been working on this for the past six months. This is just phase one of the roll out. We have a lot of new features planned in the coming months.
A major plus about TTZ ads is the flexible customization options. Will there be any further customization options being implemented such as font size or the option for ads to open in a new window?
Right now ads do open in a new window. We can give affiliates the option to control font size but have no turn that feature on because it can really mess up the looks of the ads.
Obviously you are very well known for your prolific blog. How long were you blogging before you started to see some decent income?
My blog was started on December 2005 and made zero for the first eight month. Then in September 2006, I decided to monetize it and made $352.94. In September 2007, the blog made $20,512.17.
What advice can you give to anyone reading who is struggling to make some serious money online?
Don’t give up and don’t worry about the money. If you’re doing this money, you’re not going to make it. Read the other big blog and learn from them by reading between the lines.
For those just starting out in making money online who are maybe thinking about starting a new blog. What niche would you recommend is the most promising?
Anything but make money online. I would look at what I’m passionate about and then see that niche can be a moneymaker. If not, then go with what you are semi-passionate about. The worst case is to chose a blog niche because it’s the most profitable.
Do you plan to sell TTZ Media Affiliates to a larger company in the future?
The network just started. I doubt I can sell it for anything. I don’t have any plans to sell it in the future, but you never know. If someone makes an offer I can’t refuse, well. I do know it’ll be easier to sell the ad network than it would my blog.
Finally. John, in what field of marketing have you had the most success?
I’ve been having a lot of success with affiliate marketing. It’s become the blog’s second biggest income source after private ad sales. I feel affiliate marketing is something many bloggers overlook and that’s too bad. When done correctly, it’s a big moneymaker.
Thanks again to John Chow for a very honest, informative interview!
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Thank you to all those that have subscribed and read so far! this is the 100th post made to this blog. Hope you keep reading and getting value from these posts! Long live Internet Babel 
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I managed to get John Chow parody sidekick John Cow from Johncow.com for a quick interview. Enjoy.
Did you imagine in imitating John Chow that your novelty blog would take off so quick?
Not really no, we didn’t have any expectations about the blog. Just figured it would be a fun idea to do.
How do you go about marketing a blog?
It totally depends on the blog, the niche and the writer. Hard to answer in a generic way. Obviously the cow has a lot going for him since it’s a parody blog.
What’s the most ‘mooney’ you’ve made in a month so far with JohnCow.com?
Nearly $3500,00 last month.
How long have you been marketing online?
People consider it marketing, we consider it fun. We’ve been blogging for about 8 months now.
Apart from John Chow, what other marketers do you admire?
Don’t know any. And that’s the truth.
MillionDollarHomepage emulations, copycats and similar concepts have been done to death ever since it ended. Were you suprised that even now, MillionEuroWiki still worked?
Not really, MEW is doing the same as a concept that’s proven successful. It’s not a milliondollarhomepage where you can stare at pixels, it’s a community site where members can interact and work collectively to achieve greater promotion for their sites.
What would you say is the best method to increase your subscriber count?
Work hard, try to get at least one post out a day and interact with your users. If they ask you questions, respond. If they annoy you, respond. And don’t be afraid to be yourself, if you dont like what someone has to say, tell them. Don’t change your ways. You will end up with an audience that’s not meant for the real you.
What do you do to avoid writer’s block?
Writers block..I used to think there was usch a thing but not anymore. Just because you keep deleting what you write because you don’t like it is no writers block. It’s the same with food, somedays you’ll enjoy your meal better than others.
Do you buy traffic?
We’ve tested $25 on stumbleupon traffic once. Crap results so we quit trying. We’re happy with the amount of traffic we’ve got.
Did we really need a 10th question?
Sure, why not.
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