NOTE: If not sure what rss is, then before reading this article have a quick look at http://www.whatisrss.com/

How can RSS benefit your blogging activites? RSS can benefit your blogging activites in two different ways: it can help you generate traffic and it can help you retain traffic. RSS can benefit your traffic-generation efforts by adding fresh, optimized content to your blog automatically; and it can benefit your traffic retention rate by providing better, updated content for your blog visitors.

Also, how can rss benefit your blogging activites in other ways? If you own a blog, you will have to constantly update it with fresh content, so you can ping more often and so you can get higher rankings for your targeted keyphrases. Aggregating and using RSS feeds can benefit your blogging activities significantly by allowing you to add fresh, targeted content to your blog without actually updating it yourself. Whenever a search engine visits your blog, it will record your RSS feed updates as fresh and possibly unique, targeted content.

If you own a blog, you can further enhance the amount of unique visitors you get by using RSS to syndicate your updates. In addition to netting you several backlinks on blogs and websites (which will increase your offpage search engine optimization score), it will also net you some unique visitors through direct links from other blogs and sites.

How can rss benefit your blogging activities by recycling traffic? If your site aggregates a number of important authority sites via RSS feed, you will become an authority site aggregator at the very least, which is useful for people looking to find authority sites on your given topic.

In summary, RSS can benefit your blog by generating traffic – by improving your actual search engine rankings and by increasing the amount of direct click-thrus you receive – and by helping you retain traffic – by positioning your site as an authority aggregator and by providing better, original content for blog visitors.

To start making money with blogs visit Rob Benwell’s Blogging To The Bank

Free Tools That Will Help Your Search Engine Optimization campaign:
Overture Keyword Tool
WordTracker (freetrial)

Any blog or website owner who wishes to get traffic without constant promotion and marketing will have to use some form of search engine optimization. While search engine optimization is a hotly debated topic, most experts agree on two things: in order to best optimize for search engines, you must establish reciprocal or one-way inbound links; and you must also optimize the content on your pages for specific keywords.

The first phase of any search engine optimization project is researching those keywords. Before you start to optimize, you must determine which keywords will pull the most traffic for the least amount of effort. You can do this by purchasing a subscription to Word Tracker or you can do this by using Overture Inventory to search “aggregate search” records for all possible keywords for which you could potentially optimize your blog. Record all of the returns you receive for an Overture Inventory search you perform on your given keyword. This keyword should be the main top for your blog our website, using the results you can become more specific as to which keyword to optimize your site for.

Your next step will be to analyze the site or page supply for your keywords. You can do this by searching for each of the returned keywords on Google. Not only will you want to record the search return data in terms of numbers, but you will also want to look at the top competitors for those keywords (i.e., are the PR 9 home pages or are they a deep page for an unranked site?) Optimal keywords for search engine optimization purposes will have high search counts, low site returns, and low-quality competition in the top slots.

Your next step should be to perform onpage search engine optimization. You can do this by using your selected keywords as titles and headers on different pages of your blog. You will then want to fill those pages will good information about the keyword in question; additionally, you will want to optimize it for a keyword density of 1.5%. This means that your keyword will appear approximately 3 times in every 200 words. This is not an exact science do do not worry about it too much, just make sure that your keywords feature heavily throughout your site.

The last step in your search engine optimization campaign is to perform offpage optimization. You can do this by submitting links to directories that contain a selected keyword in the link title. You can also join link swap programs and swap with other high-quality blogs or websites.

Getting links can be highly time consuming but there is software to speed up this job.
It’s called SEO Elite.

Using these steps you should get your SEO campaign off to a flying start I also recommend you check out The A to Z guide to SEO for a complete course on search engine optimization.
http://unorthodoxtraffic.com/SEOatoz/index.html

Turning every web page into a lead collector is always a better strategy than relying on a number of different sales pages. Instead, work on getting as many visitors as possible to convert to subscribers – and then, from there, get them to consider buying.

If your page generates a lot of natural search engine traffic, but it ends up on various content pages, consider adding sidebar opt-in forms; and opt-in forms that act as page breaks.

Of course, you will want to spend the time to determine which method is actually the most effective for your given site. For instance, do sidebar opt-in forms work better than top square opt-in forms? Or are you simply better off altogether by using text link advertisements to your actual opt-in page?

Another way in which you can begin turning every web page into a lead collector is to create a javascript hover-over or fly-in. These are different variations of “pop-up,” which are actually a moving part of the page, rather than a separate page altogether.

If you decide to go the hover-over or fly-in route, you will want to make these opt-in forms as non-invasive as possible. If people suspect this is related to its hated cousin, the pop-up, they’ll click off of your site before they even get the chance to read the form and consider opting-in.

If you use an autoresponder service like Aweber, they will actually allow you to design these forms with their interface. This includes sidebar forms, full page forms, squeeze page forms, and hover-over and fly-in forms.

The best way in which to determine what will really work for you is by testing. You may even want to consider using multiple forms on the page, such as a sidebar form and a fly-in form. This can considerably increase your conversion rates – and subsequently turn every page into a lead collector.

This article is primarily a list of places where you can go to find the most rewarding affiliate programs to join. Some of these are affiliate programs in and of themselves, whereas others are the affiliate program directories. These are a great resource when you want to find the best program for you. They help to organize the thousands of affiliate programs out there into an easy to navigate compilation.

Also if you want to succeed with affiliate programs I highly recommend Ewen Chia’s Affiliate Of The Month:
==>> http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/AffiliateOfTheMonth

Affiliate Programs:

Mark Flavin Marketing Affiliate Program (Under construction but you can still sign up, promote & earn huge 50% commissions)

http://www.clickbank.com/

http://paydotcom.com/

http://www.commissionjunction.com/

http://www.associateprograms.com/

http://www.affiliatefirst.com/

http://www.abestweb.com/

http://www.affiliatetip.com/

http://www.affiliateguide.com/

LinkShare

This list is just a portion of the directories out there where you can find affiliate programs that are perfect for you. When you look at some of these, you will notice that many of them list well over a thousand different programs. With that in mind, this list should give you plenty of options!

Be sure to check out Ewen’s Affiliate Of The Month at: http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/AffiliateOfTheMonth
And take a look at my affiliate program at:
http://www.markflavin.com/affiliate/

To our success,
Mark

Taking advantage of traffic exchange programs is an excellent idea, especially if you own sites in niches that have elaborate traffic exchange programs. For instance, for sites in humor and video niches, there are several different powerful traffic exchanges you can join. Additionally, if you sell Internet marketing products or site-building products, you can join one of the many Internet marketing niche traffic exchanges.

What’s important to keep in mind when joining a traffic exchange is that the efficacy of the traffic exchange will be completely dependent on the design of the exchange system itself.

For instance, some exchanges give members credit for surfing pages aimlessly, even though there is little to no chance that these members will actually be interested in the sites they are looking at. In fact, some auto surf traffic exchanges – as they are called – are dominated by accounts that use bots to cheat the system.

Other traffic exchange programs have extremely poor results. Even if you buy credits, it takes an extremely long time to unload them, as there is very little traffic actually available within the system.

If you’re selling Internet marketing products, you may want to check out http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/TrafficSwarm as this is one of the better known and more reputable Traffic Exchange programs. In addition to their auto surf program, they also allow you to put up exchange banners on your site to earn credits – and they also allow you to purchase massive amounts for very reasonable prices.

If you’re still in a niche that offers traffic exchange programs, take advantage of them. As long as the traffic is targeted, they’re probably one of the best sources you will find anywhere for comparable prices. If the traffic is low quality or not converting, then drop that exchange and move to another one. You should be able to find quality exchanges through trial and error, as it is relatively inexpensive to experiment.

One I have tested & have had success with is instant buzz: http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/InstantBuzz

Also if your looking to drive thousands of visitors to your site every week be sure to check out Traffic Imperium: http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/MoreTargetedTraffic

Ezine Publishing For Profits Checklist: Are You Doing These 5 Things?
by Jimmy D. Brown of “Get Messsages Read!”

I am an admitted planner and management tool nut. I have about 7 business planners. I have appointment managers. I have the best books, software, notebooks and planning systems from Franklin Covey, Day Runner and just about anyone else on the market.

I have a lot of things to balance (ministry, family, business, golf … usually in that order ) and I need planners and reminders to keep me on track.

Emphasis is on the REMINDERS.

I even have a software program that sends me emails each day reminding me of important appointments and activities.

Reminders are a good thing. Sometimes they jar us back to reality like a bone-shaking tackle by a middle linebacker, but, still, they are a good thing.

And publishing this article has been a “good thing” for me. It’s been a reminder. A reminder of the important things about publishing.

You see, if we’re not careful, we get into a “rut” when it comes to publishing, specifically in publishing our NEWSLETTERS. While I am no longer publishing an ezine, opting to devote my content to articles, reports and mini-courses, many of my subscribers ARE newsletter publishers.

So, I’ve put together this “checklist” of reminders that I have personally experienced during the past few days as my focus has been refreshed.

Ask yourself these 5 questions before publishing your next newsletter issue…

1. Are you PASSIONATE? One of the things that has drawn me to blogging is the amazing passion of most bloggers. Those who publish a blog are usually those who just love to talk about their particular interest. It’s what they talk about when they are OFFLINE. It’s what they think about. It’s a part of their lives. And they just want to share it with anyone who is willing to listen.

When newsletters “began”, that was driving force… passion. And, for many, the passion is still alive. And they’d publish their ezine even if they only had a handful of subscribers who were mostly relatives. Doesn’t matter. If someone is willing to listen, they’ll talk via a newsletter.

The focus isn’t on the “numbers” (I.E. How many subscribers do I have on my list) but rather is on the “topic”, the thing that they can’t seem to get enough of, or give enough of.

What about you? Is the passion still there?

2. Are you PERSONABLE? Spend enough time here and you’ll get to know me. More than what I KNOW as a marketer, you’ll learn about what I BELIEVE as a fellow human. You’ll also get to know about me and my life. Maybe more than you want to know. You’ll learn that I am a committed Christian, that I absolutely love to play golf, I have a wonderful wife and little boy and I can quote just about every episode of the Andy Griffith Show.

And, to the great dismay and terror of my buddy Ryan Deiss, I will ocassionally eat a potted meat sandwich.

See, I told you it might be more than you want to know. )

The point is this: we’re going to connect. Sooner or later, you’ll get to know me. And I’ll become a part of your life, hopefully as a good, positive source of encouragement and guidance.

I don’t hide behind a mask. I don’t pretend to be something that I’m not. You get the real me. There will be times you love me, there will be times you won’t love me as much. But, one thing will be certain, you’ll see a real person that you can connect with.

More than a publisher, I’m a person.

That’s what folks want. They don’t want a “newsletter publisher” sending them mailings every week. They want a “newsletter person” who will be real with them. Someone who can be personal. Someone they can relate to.

Someone like themselves.

Will you be that person?

3. Are you PROVIDING? Let’s be honest here: the only thing that will BRING YOU BACK to a site is whether or not you feel like you have gained something in going there. If you’ve been educated, you’ll be back. If you’ve been entertained, you’ll be back. If you have found something to be beneficial to you, then you’ll come back over and over again. And you’ll stay as long as you continue to gain something.

Newsletters should PROVIDE something to their readers. And that’s QUALITY content. That’s something that either EDUCATES or ENTERTAINS. Or, preferably, BOTH.

As a publisher of a newsletter, do you give of yourself to your readers? More than just trying to get them to buy something or do something… are you doing something for them?

4. Are you PROVOCATIVE? Learn this truth right now: the most read newsletters are the ones who are hosted by the most opinionated authors. Those who stand up and share their thoughts, even when those thoughts are controversial and go against popular opinion will always get attention.

I’m not saying “go against the grain” just for the sake of stirring up a hornet’s nest. Not saying that at all. I’m just saying “Speak your mind.” If you’ve got something to say, say it. If something’s bothering you, get it off your chest. Be authentic. Be real.

Don’t deliberately try to harm or offend, but don’t be afraid to stand up and be counted. Some will agree. Some will disagree. (That’s okay… because they are entitled to their opinion too.) But all will READ.

The point is this: your newsletter is your mouthpiece. You want to guard it against hurtful words, but you always want it to be honest and forthright, sharing the “truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth” about your passion, whether it’s traditional or cutting edge in its opinions.

5. Are you PROFITABLE? OK, so not all newsletters are out to produce profits. But, for the sake of this “Publishing for PROFITS” checklist, let’s assume that you ARE trying to make money from your ezine. And let’s look at how most profitable newsletters make money (those that ARE trying to produce profits)

Here it is in a nutshell: They are money makers, but not money grabbers.

Yes, you’ll see links to my products on my sites. Yes, you’ll see an affiliate link here and there. Yes, I’ll try to get you on a list. Yes, sooner or later I’d like you to spend some money with me.

There, I said it. It’s out in the open. No secret there. I provide you with great content (investing in you) and I hope you’ll do more business with me (invest in me) down the road.

Now, contrast that with how many newsletters are structured these days (admittedly, some of mine were too): They’ve got a top sponsor ad trying to get your money. They have a classified ad section trying to get your money. There are ads sprinkled throughout the featured article. The resource box at the bottom of that article leads to another place trying to get your money. There is a “review” of a product which is embedded with an affiliate link. There are “recommended resources” plugged in there to get you to buy something. There are special solo mailings coming to you as a list member that are designed to get into your wallet.

Get the idea?

Now, let me say this, not ALL newsletters are like that. I’m just speaking my mind … you know, being provocative, expressing my opinion. But, let’s be honest, most newsletters that ARE trying to make money tend to be more focused on making money from you as a subscriber than providing useful information to you.

The lesson I’ve learned from the popularity of blogging is that it’s time to return to the grass root days of publishing an ezine because you’ve got passion about a subject and there are interested people who want to read it. Give it to them, sprinkle in a few money-making references, and the profits will come.

One of the most profitable newsletter publishers I know of in all of internet marketing was Terry Dean. Want to know how he “bombarded” his subscribers with offers? ONE advertisement per issue. TWO or THREE solo mailings per year.

That’s it.

And that’s why he is able to make over $30,000 from ONE of those mailings. He provides GREAT content and FEW offers. And people respond.

You come a website for CONTENT. If we stop providing it, or start giving you so many sales pitches that you have a hard time finding it, you’ll stop coming around. And rightly so.

People subscribe to newsletters for the same reason. They want information. Give it to them and sooner or later most will give you their business. Hide it under a mountain of ads and offers and they’ll go elsewhere. And who can blame them.

So, those are reminders that I have personally had my mind refreshed to recently. And I think I’ll be a better publisher because of it.

And I think you will too, if you just ask yourself these five questions before you publish your next ezine.

…………………….

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of the “Get Messages Read!” course. In Get Messages
Read! you’ll learn 24 simple ideas you can begin using today (literally, with the next message you send out) to increase the profit from any list. Check out this ground-breaking course at: http://www.markflavin.com/recommends/GetMessagesRead

…………………….