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Idea Realization is a Challenge

Posted in » Articles, Getting Things Done, Make Money - by Ades

18 Comments 

Regarding my previous post about making money with Windows 7, yes it’s true that many people are now wanting to seize the opportunity and hoping to make money out of it. But it’s equally true that very few people will actually act on their ideas. Out of all the people who want to create a website about Windows 7, most probably only 5-10% will act on their ideas. And probably even fewer people will actually follow through and finish their projects successfully.

So, most ideas will be left as they are - in the form of ideas only. Some people might act on their ideas and pick a good domain name and register it, but won’t have the will to follow through and setup a website. Some people might setup a website but the outcome (design or the content) might not be as good as it supposed to be in order to be successful. And yet, some people might launch a great website but fail in their SEO and online marketing just to find out that other less great websites had beaten them because of that… etc etc

So, my advice is - if you are confident that you can launch a decent website about Windows 7, do the proper SEO and market it online successfully then you better don’t give up on that idea of yours! Because I am sure you have a pretty good chance of succeeding in it!

How do I know it? For the same reasons that I have mentioned above - that most of the people will not act on their ideas and even if they act many of them will not follow through until the end. As for the ones who complete their projects - “no one is perfect” - I am sure you will find a way to beat them, be it in the quality of the content, design, SEO, marketing etc. There is always a way to beat the competitors.

So the challenge here is:

1. Acting on your idea.
2. Following through with it until the end (i.e don’t quit half way).
3. Do the necessary adjustments to outperform your competitors.

Sounds like a plan? Then let’s get busy with our new project!

Blogging Tips: How to write better posts

Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips - by Ades

15 Comments 

Writing blog posts comes naturally to some people, but some struggle to write and convey their message effectively. Following some of the tips below, can improve your blog posts’ quality.

Get to the point, will you?

It’s very important that you get to the point in the first few sentences of your blog post. If you cannot do that (perhaps the topic is too broad) then at least give an abstract of what you will be talking first. This is to get the attention of the reader from the beginning, and to give them the idea on what the blog post will be all about.

So, don’t write few paragraphs building a base for your punchline in your post. Leaving the most important part of the post to the end is a bad idea. Unless you are some politician or celebrity, you want to grow your blog’s readership and reach, and by beating around the bush in your blog posts, you will only hinder your blog’s growth. Because new readers generally don’t read posts that they don’t know what it is talking about, and they don’t have the time to to figure out what it’s talking about by reading few paragraphs.

Use simple words

If your blog is about helping others or teaching them, or sharing your experiences so that they can benefit from it. Then you have to use simple words that everyone can understand. For example, if you have these two different words with a similar meaning to describe a man “sagacious” and “wise“. You should choose “wise man“.

You know what I am talking about right? Again, you don’t have to unnecessarily degrade your speech with primitive words. This is not meant by “using simple words”. It depends on your audience as well. But all else equal, you have to pick words that won’t confuse your readers or won’t make them think what the word means. Try your best to make your sentences flow smooth.

Format and structure your posts

If you are writing long posts (pillar articles) make sure that you structure your posts to make them easier to read. As described in the first point, have an intro part and then have other parts under their own sub-heading. Using headings will make it easier to scan your posts.

Formatting is important as well, whenever necessary

• use
• bullet
• points

It’s much better to scan bullet points, than say reading them all in one sentence separated by comma. Pointing out important parts of your blog post by bolding or highlighting does facilitate easy reading too. Increasing the space between the text lines using CSS can improve your article’s readability (here is a simple tutorial).

Picture says a thousand words

Most of the time it’s easier to describe things if you show a picture, a screenshot, an illustration or a diagram etc. Sometimes complex things can be described by one diagram or a screenshot. Therefore, whenever possible, incorporate visual materials in your blog posts.

Don’t write more than it needs to be written

If you can describe something in few sentences and done with it, then do that! Don’t go around trying to write a novel just to make your post longer. It’s better to have a concise, straight to the point blog post rather than a long but meaningless one.

This is related to the first point but it’s not the same. Here we are talking about the length of the blog post, but in point one we are talking about the importance of getting right to the point in the first paragraph no matter how long your blog post is.

Write descriptive headlines

Better headlines have more than one advantage, they will entice the user to read more of your article, and they will drive more traffic to your blog from search engines.

Here is how you can write better headlines: link and link.

Tip: Usually I write headlines for my readers and not for SEO, I use the post slug for SEO purposes.

Your opinion counts

Finally, as I always stress, it’s your opinion that is the most important thing in blogging. Your opinion (plus your personality) is your “brand” in the blogosphere. Your opinion is the thing that differentiates you from other bloggers. Therefore, don’t just be an invisible reporter who cuts-and-pastes other news reports online. Because if you want to be successful, you need to have that “about me” page on your blog (yes with the photo) and you need to start spreading your opinion and ideas in your blog posts.

Just look at successful blogs in the blogosphere, behind every successful blog there is a person. And most of the time, the blog is successful because of the author exclusively - his personality, his opinions, his ideas..etc.

Conclusion

I hope you found the tips useful. If there is anything you want to add, please do so in the comments section, so that others can benefit from it.

Don’t forget to Digg, Stumble this post with ShareThis button below. Thanks!

Get More Subscribers for Your Blog and for Your Ego

Posted in » Articles, Guest Posts - by Ades

13 Comments 

This is a guest post by Alex Atti of www.blogarish.com

After spending some time working on his website, every blogger will eventually realize that the success of a blog cannot be measured in daily visitors, but in subscribers; not in casual readers, but in readers that are willing to be notified whenever an interesting article is published.

In order to be clearly understood, please let me detail this a little more. Let’s say you are lucky enough to get one of your articles submitted and driven to the front page of Digg.com. You get a massive amount of traffic in a short period of time and, if you are lucky (or cautious) enough and your server does not crash, you will have thousands of page views by the end of the day. But this magical period will soon pass and you will suddenly realize that the most valuable Digg users that have visited your blog are those who are willing to read more of your articles. Those who subscribed.

But the first time visitors do not usually turn into subscribers, unless your blog creates a really good first impression. Here are a few tips you may want to consider if you are willing to get more subscribers to your blog.

1. Write good content.

Of course, this is the first and most important rule you have to follow in order to make people subscribe to your blog. Even if you are lucky enough to make a few visitors subscribe, they will soon remove your blog from their feed reader if your articles are not appreciated. I’m sure that, by now, you are totally aware of the fact that you have to do your best when writing a post. Stick to this rule and you will soon be satisfied with the results.

2. Make it visible.

When landing on a website for the first time, almost no one will be willing to search for the place where the new visitors can subscribe. Make sure that the link to your RSS feed can be easily seen by everyone who visits your blog. In order to do this, you can use a nice, attracting picture, instead of just using the boring “Subscribe in a reader” model. Another good idea to drive attention towards your feed is to add a polite reminder at the end of every post.

3. Ask your readers to subscribe.

As I’ve just said, you have to make your readers aware of the fact that they can easily subscribe to your feed. Don’t just think that if you have put a nice image that’s linking to your RSS feed in the corner of your blog, the visitors will start subscribing. You have to make them feel like they are really wanted and really important for you. Explain to your readers that their subscriptions represent an important part of your blog and of your work and this is how they can help your blog. This way, any subscriber will feel like he is a mini-contributor to the success of your blog.

4. Offer privileges to subscribers only.

Everyone likes getting free stuff, that is for sure. So why wouldn’t you offer this privilege to your subscribers? The most common prizes for subscribers are eBooks or newsletters. You can try writing a nice eBook based on the topic of your blog and just give it for free to everyone who chooses to stay in touch with your blog. Don’t forget to add links to your blog in the eBook, so that your readers will know where to come back to.

5. Offer email subscription.

There are some blog readers out there that, for certain reasons, have not installed a feed reader on their computers. Some of them are not yet familiar with the concept of “feed reader”, some of them do not have the right to install certain programs on their work or school computers. No matter what the reason may be, you can help them by allowing email subscription. Actually, about 10% of the subscriptions of a regular blog are through email.

6. Offer full RSS feed.

You may think that if you offer your subscribers just the first paragraph of your post, they will become curious and visit your blog. Well, while this is the correct thinking in some situations, many of your subscribers will choose to unsubscribe from your blog, just because of this choice of yours. Therefore, make sure you offer your subscribers full RSS feed.

Maybe most of your subscribers will not get you any material benefit, because they will not visit your blog so often, but they are certainly as important as your regular readers. Make sure you treat them properly and offer them all the privileges they deserve.

Monetizing your words VS free biz model

Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips - by Ades

6 Comments 

Monetizing your blog posts i.e the content that you write on your blog has been a much discussed topic. Will people pay to read your blog posts like they do to read articles on WSJ? That’s the question!

Maki of DoshDosh says in this regard:

It is important to keep in mind the reasons why you are publishing blog post after blog post, all full of ideas and information and giving them away.

Do you know that you might generate more income by creating content and packaging it into the form of an affordable eBook, or perhaps a membership site? In terms of earning efficiency, premium/paid content might be a more lucrative venture than the act of simply giving away all your content away. source

Bloggers churn out thousands of new blog posts everyday — all for free. Even the “make money online” blogs give away free blog posts to make some money on the advertisements ;)

As for Maki, his reason for blogging for free is to build a brand, as he explains in the last part of his article.

What if, you already had the brand name?

If you had the brand name on the net, would you be still writing good articles one after another every day like DailyBlogTips does? (no pun intended, DBT is a great blog that consistently publishes quality posts. Hats off to Daniel Scocco!) or Would you shut down your blog and turn to other ways of media like what Jason Calacanis did?

“Will you come out of retirement at some point?” Clark Kent, Daily Planet

Jason Calacanis: No. Absolutely not. This is not a Michael Jordan or Jay-Z ploy. I’m done. It’s not over one instance, and it’s not because–give me a minute [editor’s note: Calacanis looked down, fighting back his emotions]–I can’t handle the pressures of being an A-list blogger. This is a very personal choice that I’ve discussed with my family, and it’s the direction we want to go. I’ve done blogging and now it’s time for the next chapter. source

Jason shut down his blog and now has a 4,000+ member newsletter readership, to which I am also subscribed (sign up here). However, his articles from his newsletter still appear on sites like TechCrunch “How To Demo Your Startup” and ValleyMag “PR Strategies for Startups (Part One)“.

So, why did the A-List blogger like Jason Calacanis quit blogging? When everyone else wants to achieve what he has already achieved?

In his own words, he said he did it because he wants to build a deeper relationship with people… “I’m going to try and build a deeper relationship with fewer people–try to get back to my roots.”

he also said…

“Starting today all of my thoughts will be reserved for a new medium. Something smaller, something more intimate, and something very personal: an email list.”

Why Email List (in other words Email Marketing)?

Email List seems to be the answer to the questions in the beginning of this post. That is, should you charge for your blog posts? Should you monetize your words? If yes, will people pay to read your posts? And how to go about it?

But before that, why email list is the answer? Here is a great post by Yaro Starak which describes why email list has a better earning power than blogging. If you read Yaro’s post, he questions too… “why bother blogging if email list is a better option for making money online?”. His answer is, you should use your blog to build your email list!

Hmm… that makes sense. Is that why Jason Calacanis shut his blog and started an email list? I don’t know. But he certainly doesn’t need a blog to build his email list. People will subscribe to his email list anyway.

Currently Jason is trying to syndicate his email newsletters to some of the highest profile sites on the net! (see twitter message to the left). And if he does that, I am sure he would get some kind of deal that would affect his bottom line positively.

Summary

So, do you see where we are getting at? Destination seems to be the Email List, and blogging is the journey that takes you there. Some bloggers like Calacanis, Yaro and Maki are aware of that, and they have a clear picture of where they are heading. How about the rest of us? Why do we blog? “To make money” you will say, yes, but that’s like… being on a journey and having no idea where you are heading!

Or in other words, you are planning for a short-term, whereas Yaro and Maki have a long-term plan. And I think that’s one of the reasons why they are successful at what they do, and why they are always one step ahead of the rest — because they plan strategically!

Ok, I will leave you with that…. you comments are most welcome.

P.S How to start your mailing list? read this post.

Solution to hotlinking

Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips, Scripts - by Ades

17 Comments 

Is there a real solution for hotlinking? If anyone knows the solution, please share with us all. Why I say “real” solution? Because there are some solutions which partially solve the problem of hotlinking but at the same time it causes other problems. But before we proceed further:

What is hotlinking

Hotlinking is a process of linking directly to someone else image/pictures (on their server), thus consuming their bandwidth. If you are the victim, it’s impact is minimal on your bandwidth if there is only few hotlinkinks to your images, however if there are hundreds of hotlinks then you will see that your bandwidth is being eaten by other websites.

Another problem is, sometimes you do not want others to display your images on their blog without your consent. So, in this case, hotlinking equals to stealing.

How do you stop Hotlinking?

There is a way to stop hotlinking through .htaccess. Htaccess code for blocking hotlinkers will look something like this:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www\.)?adesblog.com [NC]
RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|js)$ /images/nohotlink.png [NC,R,L]

Why the above code doesn’t solve the problem? It does, but it also blocks all the other legitimate readers of your blog from viewing your images. Since RSS readers (like google reader) aggregate your posts into their interface, the above htaccess code will think RSS readers are hotlinkers too, therefore they all will be blocked from displaying your images.

So, if you put the above code, then your readers will be reading only texts of your posts. As for the images, they will be replaced by one image that you specify, in the above case it’s “nohotlink.png“. So all the images of your blog will be replaced by “nohotlink.png” in the RSS readers. That’s not good. So, the ultimate question:

How to solve this problem of hotlinking? While blocking all hotlinkers and allowing all RSS readers?

If you know the answer / have the solution for this problem, do enlighten us! We all will be grateful.

Link (for generating htaccess code for hotlink protection):
http://www.htaccesstools.com/hotlink-protection/

What’s Your Little Something?

Posted in » Articles, Guest Posts - by Ades

7 Comments 

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

One thing is certain: the Web is literally filled with information. You can find anything from downright foolish advice to gems and, due to the huge volume of information which is always just one click away, Internet users who are interested in becoming online entrepreneurs end up thinking that simply copying a certain method is all there is to it.

Is That Really Enough?

The most important disadvantage which comes as a result of such an approach is the fact that, when you are copying someone, you are unfortunately always one step behind and, naturally, the person who has actually come up with a certain approach will always have an edge.

Let’s assume that you notice a certain product (let’s also assume that a certain event has made it temporarily popular) which is being heavily promoted by affiliates and decide to finally jump in. The problem is that, once you finally decide to jump on board, the niche you are trying to approach is most likely over-saturated and, as if that were not enough, the project you were thinking about promoting has most likely lost quite a bit of momentum.

The same way, if you take any business model and try to copy everything, the market will most likely not react in what one would call a positive manner, and that brings us to the following question:

What Makes You Special?

I have previously explained why copying everything someone else has done is not exactly worthwhile, but that doesn’t mean that you need to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing wrong with a little inspiration from an existing business model as long as you make it yours, as long as you add your personal touch in a way which makes the product in question stand out.

If there is a certain business model you think would work well as far as you are concerned, you always have to ask yourself how you can improve it, how you can turn it into something special or, if you will, how you can add your very own “signature”.

What’s Your Signature?

How are you able to prove value through each and every project you launch? What exactly are you able to come up with which makes you stand out? You can approach the market with something new or you can improve upon an existing business model, the choice is yours and only yours to make but, all in all, you need to understand that having that little something is definitely a must if you are serious about making it in the long run.

Al in all, you need to be confident in yourself and in your ability to provide value through each and every project. Never limit yourself to simply copying something another person has done, as I am convinced that you have far more potential than that. What about you? What’s that little something you have which makes you special, what are you approaching the Web with?

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Learning from mistakes

Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips, Islam - by Ades

11 Comments 

Two brothers came to prophet Daud (David) and said “Judge between us, we are in dispute”. One of them said “This is my brother. He has ninety nine sheep and I have one sheep. He is now forcing me to give up my single sheep to him”.

So, prophet Daud without listening to the other brother said “He has undoubtedly wronged you in demanding to add your single sheep to his flock. He should return your sheep to you!”. Once he has delivered his judgment, two brothers disappeared into the air. Propet Daud realized that these were two angels and that he was just tested by God and that he made a mistake — he didn’t listen to both sides of the story before delivering his judgment.

So, he fell prostrating asking for forgiveness from God. And God forgave him. (Quran 38:21-25)

When mufassireen (interpreters) of Quran talk about this story they say that Daud after the mistake was a better Daud than before the mistake. In other words, after the mistake he was wiser and more knowledgeable than before.

Moral of the story: mistakes can be a great source of knowledge if we derive lessons from them, and learn from them.

About a month ago, problogger posted a blog-post on his blog asking readers “What is the biggest mistake you have made as a blogger?“. I am not sure if you have read this post and comments under it. There are over 200 comments where readers share their mistakes as a blogger and how their mistakes affected their blog negatively (directly or indirectly).

So, if you haven’t read it, go to the page and go through the comments. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt for everyone.

Sacrifices - Necessary or Useless?

Posted in » Articles, Guest Posts - by Ades

5 Comments 

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

As I have mentioned last week, having the right priorities in life is definitely a must and family should always come first. I have also explained that a lot of folks choose to simply hide behind all sorts of foolish excuses and try to find all sorts of explanations for the fact that they are unable to find time for their beloved ones.

“But I want to be successful as an online entrepreneur”, you may think. Go for it! “But I will have to make sacrifices, right?” Yes, that is also true. Do you see a contradiction between my “family comes first” statement and the fact that I encourage you to maximize results as online entrepreneurs, even if sacrifices will need to be made? Well, guess what: there is none! And that, my friend, brings us to the following question:

Are All Sacrifices Worth It?

It’s all a matter of seeing things in perspective. There are sacrifices which need to be made and sacrifices which are simply not worth it. So you want to be successful as an online entrepreneur? That’s great and yes, you will have to make more than a few sacrifices.

But, and here’s where it can get tricky: the ability to identify sacrifices which are worth it and stay away from those which are not can make the difference between being an individual who is successful as both a person and an online entrepreneur and being an individual who is successful as an online entrepreneur, yet feels miserable as a person.

What Can Money Buy?

The approach I personally recommend is asking yourself the above question. Can money buy a TV, for example? Definitely, so that sacrificing the time you spend in front of the tube can and will prove to be worth it down the road. The same thing goes for all sorts of other things which may seem important, yet pale compared to the things which actually count as far as the big picture is concerned.

On the other hand, can money buy back the time you could have spent with your beloved ones? I don’t think so! There are sacrifices you can afford to make but anything which has to do with family is not one of them.

The Big Picture

Are you starting to see the big picture? Are you starting to think about the things in your life which actually count? In that case, I am pleased to let you know that you are on the right track and that you have finally understood which sacrifices are worth it and, most importantly, that only being successful as an online entrepreneur is not enough.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

Business Priorities vs. Priorities in Life

Posted in » Articles, Guest Posts - by Ades

10 Comments 

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

A lot of online entrepreneurs who are just starting out get carried away, they end up only seeing one side of life and becoming blind to everything else. You can hear them go on and on about what they want to accomplish as online entrepreneurs, about how much they want to earn per month, per week, per minute and per second.

Becoming Wealthy - Your Only Goal in Life?

And you know what? If you are actually willing to work towards achieving such goals, you will most likely succeed at a certain point. One word of advice though: be careful what you wish for. More than a few online entrepreneurs let money get the best of them and become nothing more than slaves without even realizing it.

Any successful online entrepreneur can confirm: working for money shouldn’t be your most important goal, letting it work for you is what counts. In the end, again: if you work towards achieving your goals, dreams can come true but, down the road, they can also turn into nightmares.

Money as Your Top Priority – You Can’t Be Serious!

Even if you don’t come from a rich family, you can eventually become a millionaire if you do your job right. So what? Do you have any idea how many millionaires out there would trade everything they have in exchange for having a happy family, in exchange for being surrounded by people who love them for who they are and not for what they have?

Take it from a person who has been “around the block” for quite a while: friends come and go, that’s how things work in this world. Personally, I am at a point where I am more than secure financially. But I’ll tell you this much: without my family, everything would be in vain.

Family Comes First - Everything Else Is Just a Bonus

Don’t let yourself become blinded by greed. There are things money can never buy and it’s exactly those things which make life special in the first place. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without being a notorious workaholic who thinks that he or she only represents a walking paycheck for the family.

That, my friend, is a foolish excuse and nothing more. From now, every time you use “I’m sacrificing the time spent with my family for their sake, so that I make more money and secure a better life for them” as an excuse, why not stop for a moment and think if you aren’t actually hiding behind it out of selfishness?

Do you want to secure a better life for your family? Spend time with them, stop acting like a walking paycheck because, in the end, it’s you they need, not those extra profits you could earn by making such a foolish sacrifice. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without making sacrifices you will end up regretting down the road. Never lose track of what counts, never lose track of the things which actually make a difference in life. Everything else is just a bonus.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson

7 Reasons Why Readers Won’t Stick Around

Posted in » Articles, Guest Posts - by Ades

8 Comments 

Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.

Do you think that generating traffic is all it takes? You couldn’t be more wrong, convincing visitors to drop by again is simply a must if you are serious about making it in the long run.

Most people seem to have thought of everything, yet have forgotten to try their best in order to convert visitors into loyal readers. If you do your job right as far as website promotion is concerned then yes, you will get people to visit your website, but what happens after that? You may not know it, but most of your potential readers may choose not to stick around, and here’s why:

1) You Make Promises Through Your Title and Don’t Deliver

Yes, a catchy title can “convince” others to check your article out but if you fail to deliver afterwards, you can rest assured that the reader in question will be quite disappointed. Actually, that person leaves and never looks back in most cases, so that it should come as no surprise that readers are not exactly tempted to stick around under such circumstances.

2) You Are Too Aggressive

Sure, you don’t have to lie to readers and tell them that they are perfect but that doesn’t mean that you should start insulting them. You can definitely tell a person that there are certain areas where improvements are in order in a more delicate manner, being too aggressive is not an option.

3) You See Writing as a Chore

If you are not passionate about a certain topic, your readers will definitely pick up on that and the results won’t exactly be worth bragging about. Don’t see writing as a chore and, instead, make sure that your content reflects just how passionate you are about a certain topic.

4) You Assume That Everyone Is an Expert

Just because you are extremely knowledgeable as far as the topic you’re writing about is concerned, it doesn’t mean that each and every one of your readers is. Don’t be afraid to explain certain terms when you think that it is necessary, as a good writer needs to be able to cater to the needs of beginners as well. Otherwise, readers who are not yet experts will leave and that is definitely not an option.

5) You Explain When It Isn’t Necessary

While assuming that each and every reader is an expert is not the way to go, explaining the obvious is not necessary because, if you have such an approach, your entire article will end up being filled with all sorts of explanations and your readers will end up being distracted from what is truly important.

6) You Go Off-Topic Way Too Often

While there is nothing wrong with the occasional off-topic remark, you have to be able to determine when enough is enough. After all, the last thing you need is readers leaving as a result of the fact that you are not able to focus on the topic you are writing about and insist on useless information way too much.

7) You Don’t Remind Them

If you want readers to stick around, why not remind them to subscribe to your newsletter or RSS feed at the end of the article? If you are writing an article series, why not remind them to drop by for the next article? Something as simple as reminding your visitors to stick around can and will make a difference, so why not act accordingly?

If at least one of these reasons sounds familiar, I’m sure you know what you have to do. Identifying what you did wrong is an important first step, but taking things to the next level by acting accordingly is simply a must.

Best wishes,
Alan Johnson