New07 Blog Reviews Niche Blog Covering Retirement, Business, Real Estate News, Finance, Credit and Press Releases

Let’s face it, the more people you follow, the more challenging it gets to notice all important updates on Twitter. To me, following fewer people is not an option because I think this is anti-social. I follow back every single Twitter profile that seems valid and is related to one of the topics I love (like search, social media, blogging, etc). This way, as of today, I am close to following 3300 people which makes it really hard to really “follow” what everyone says. The clutter is enormous. All of my Twitter friends (as well as myself) retweet each other multiple times which makes the clutter even heavier. So how do you make sure you are properly updated of news coming from your Twitter friends? I am aware of two tools that seem cool for that ( please add yours in the comments! ). Cadmus Cadmus is the web based tool that claims to group your friends’ Tweets to help you focus on what’s important. I do wish it had some desktop application but the online version works pretty well to make it worth having the site bookmarked and checking it a few times a day. Each unique entry has “Related” tweets section containing similar conversations (those containing similar keywords). So if you get interested in more details, you can click on “Related posts” link: Here’s my stats for example: Cadmus has analyzed 108,411 of your updates and grouped 32,892 related ones, around 30% of all your updates. Another great feature is “Personal trending topics” which are like the trending topics in Twitter but it is just from the people you follow. This seemed like a great way to find out what your friends are buzzing about. ReadTwit ReadTwit , the tool I previously covered , allows to subscribe to your friends’ updates using Google Reader. The best thing about the tool is that it: Filters repeated links in ReTweets; Allows to exclude any user or hashtag from your feed (I wish there were also an option to follow only selected users). So how do you manage to keep an eye on what your friends are tweeting about? Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . How Do You Un-Clutter Your Twitter

In spite of all the claims that Blogging is dead, the numbers show Blogs are still a great way to get your message out there and to gain exposure and credibility in your industry. We’ll get started with some interesting stats on “The State of the Blogosphere” and then I’ll share some tips and advice for Blogging your way to more traffic, exposure and revenue. All of the stats are courtesy of “ 2009 State of the Blogosphere by Technorati ” More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann Two-thirds of Bloggers are male  (c’mon ladies, start Blogging!) More than half are married and more than half are parents 60% are 18-44 75% have college degrees and 40% have graduate degrees One in four has an annual household income of $100K+ Around half of Bloggers are working on at least their second blog 68% have been blogging for two years or more 86% have been blogging for at least a year 70% of all respondents say that personal satisfaction is a way they measure the success of their blog 72% say they blog in order to share their expertise. 61% say they blog in order to supplement their income. 53% of professional Bloggers are interested in attracting new clients from blogging. 72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients. 57% say that their future plans include blogging even more (including 74% of 18-24 year olds). Part-Timers, Pros, and Self-Employed Bloggers are blogging as much as or more than ever (73%, 76% and 80%, respectively), while Hobbyists are blogging somewhat less. 15% of Bloggers spend 10 or more hours each week blogging. One in five Bloggers report updating on a daily basis. The most common rate of updating is 2-3 times per week. The majority of blogs use tags (85%). 82% of respondents say that they post photos to their blog, making images the most popular form of multimedia. Bloggers participate in an average of 5 activities to drive traffic to their blogs. 72% of respondents are classified as Hobbyists, meaning that they report no income related to blogging Of those who have monetized their blogging to at least some extent: • 54% are Part-Timers • 32% are Self-Employed Bloggers • 14% are Corporate Bloggers 51% of Corporate Bloggers – 58 respondents – report receiving a salary for blogging. 56% say that their blog has helped their company establish a positioning as a thought leader within the industry. 58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog Take some time to read and absorb the stats and draw whatever conclusions you will.  Please share your comments and feedback below.  I would love to hear what you think. If you haven’t read one of my previous posts on how to write a killer Blog post , check it out. I’ve compiled a collection of tips and advice that I have found useful when Blogging.  Feel free to add your tips and advice in the Comments section below. The very step is to ask yourself:   Why are you Blogging and what do you hope to accomplish? Here are some of the common reasons to Blog: To build brand awareness To boost search engine rankings To improve customer relations To show knowledge & earn credibility To get new clients/make sales Once you have determined why you are Blogging, you need look at it from the other side… Why would people want you to Blog? If you aren’t meeting a need of theirs, they aren’t likely to read your Blog – at least not more than once. You  need to marry your goals with your customers wants and needs and come up with a Blogging plan that will help you reach your goals and will give your Blog visitors what they are after, so they will return, buy, spread the word about your Blog etc. Let’s look at a scenario here: You sell kitchen ware – all the cool gadgets and tools that every kitchen must have.  Your goal is to sell more gadgets. I’m online frantically googling recipes for crab dip because my mother-in-law just informed me she loves crab dip and I really need to impress her with my domestic skills. I come across your Blog and find the most adorable dishes to serve dip in – but that doesn’t help me now.  So I leave your Blog and go to another one that has a crab dip recipe that will blow my mother-in-law’s mind. If you had just added a couple recipes to put in those cute little dip bowls, I would have found your site helpful and would have likely returned to buy those dip bowls. I’d also tell my friends about it.  So, you will likely still accomplish your goal of selling your gadgets and cool kitchen wares, but you also created someone out there in the world that is happy with your Blog and sees you as a helpful resource.  That’s pretty valuable! Remember, you need to satisfy your visitors needs first, or you will never reach your goals.  It also helps to remember that although you have a goal with your Blogging, you are ultimately Blogging for the site visitor and not for yourself. Now that you’ve established your goals and you’ve made sure you are delivering information that will interest and compel your site visitors, you are good to get started!  Some more tips: You should be reading the top Blogs in your industry to see what your competitors are doing, stay on top of industry news and track the Comments to see what your customers and potential customers are interested in and talking about. Creating an open dialogue is the best way to be sure visitors will respond to your content.  Always invite people to comment. Set up a Feedburner account. Do RSS Submissions to increase your Blog’s exposure. Write “How to” articles, they are very popular and tend to draw a lot of attention. Include an RSS Subscription option on the sidebar. Make it easy for visitors to contact you. Always answer comments and questions. Add podcasts.  Add video.  Add photos and images. Consider the types of things that spread virally across the internet.  They are usually funny, outrageous, shocking, and unique. After you’ve written a post, look at it with different eyes.  Ask yourself, if I came across this post on someone else’s site would I care about it?  Does it have some kind of impact on me? Optimize for the RSS feed – use keywords in title tag, less than 100 characters.  Most readers display feeds alphabetically – it helps to be an A or B. Add a poll to your Blog.  This is a great way to get your readers involved and it can help you tailor your Blog’s content, based on the feedback you get from your readers!  (Resource: Vizu is a site that lets you add free polls to your Blog). One study found that only 16% of people read word for word online.  This stat reminds us that we need to write our Blogs (and web pages) so they are scan-friendly.  Someone should be able to scan and at a glance get the main points and also feel compelled to read further. Be controversial.  Be bold.  Have an opinion.  Have personality. So many Blogs are devoid of any real personality – especially corporate Blogs.  Blogs are meant to be informal (they must be professional and respectful) but that doesn’t mean that you can’t show some personality.  Write your Blog as if you were talking to people – not as if you were creating a corporate brochure.  Don’t just report news, share your opinion and insights.  Don’t be afraid to make a controversial statement.   People can get news from a zillion places online – make sure your Blog shares insights that they can’t get anywhere else. Invite Guest Authors . Getting a different voice – especially one that is well known is a great way to draw some attention to your Blog and give your readers some variety. Idea: Develop a Glossary for your industry (make sure you use keywords in the Glossary).  The post will rank well and will become a resource for people. If your Blog’s goal is to promote you as an authority, interview other prominent Bloggers in your industry. Your own credibility will improve by association. Build your online networks through services such as MyBlogLog, Twitter and Facebook.  Drive traffic to your Blog from these social sites. Look at stats – determine which posts are most popular and get a feel for the topics and length of your most popular posts and then use that as a guideline going forward. I kinda broke my own rules on this post, it’s pretty dense with text and there are no images to pretty it up.  I just had so much I wanted to share with you.  So, do as I say and not as I do, kids! To sum it all, up I’ll say the same thing I said on my last post – pretty much any Blogging is better than no Blogging, so start writing!  Just keep these tips in mind and you’ll do fine! I didn’t talk at all about optimizing your Blog for the engines, I’m saving that one up for my next article.  Stay tuned! Happy Blogging! Jennifer Horowitz, Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet.com Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing for www.EcomBuffet.com. Since 1998 Jennifer’s expertise in marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has helped clients increase revenue. Jennifer has been published in many SEO and marketing publications. Jennifer Horowitz is the author of Twitter Quickstart Success Training System, Blogging For Dollars, Optimization Step By Step: 2010 and more. For the whole scoop, visit http://www.ecombuffet.com . You can follow Jennifer on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ecombuffet Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . Blogging in 2010: What You Need To

I have been enrolled in the Market Motive social media online course for close to two months now.  Each week I have been given a social media topic and have been responsible for viewing a certain number of films which go into detail about the topic being taught.  There have been a wide range of social media topics such as a week dedicated to Twitter and another dedicated to Youtube. Personally, going into the course I thought I was pretty familiar with the social media areas I was anticipating studying. I was excited to learn more of course, but didn’t have the highest of hopes. I honestly thought it would be nice to have a recap on the social areas I work with daily and after a few months of reiteration, I would obtain a certification to show off my knowledge. I have to say my original thoughts were narrow minded. I have been continuously surprised at the insight I am gaining each week.  Until now, I have been responsible for watching videos each week and partaking in conference calls with the faculty.(The course takes a turn now and the responsibilities change but I will write about all of that in a few days). The videos have each had such detail. They are unique to the faculty members who make the videos and specialize in the areas they are teaching. Video Topics A small amount of the material covered Blogging for Business Permalinks, RSS feeds, key word longtail , pitching check list Video & Youtube Popular categories, channel, market share Viral Marketing Brand, conversion, campaign styles, viral themes Social News Networks Do’s and don’ts across various networks, strategies to becoming more successful on each Twitter Appropriate business decisions, tools, connecting on and offline, tracking Flickr Titles, tags, descriptions, search engines and Flickr Facebook How to utilize Facebook for your business with Facebook connect and ads LinkedIn Advertising on LinkedIn, groups Online Press Releases Wire Services, measurement, Keyword positioning   Market Motive resources that have been provided to me and that have impressed me throughout each week’s video viewings: 1) Examples of useful books to buy pertaining to the areas being taught that week which are based on social media current events and practices. 2) Informative commentary (humorous when applicable and serious when appropriate) Current Authoritative Timely 3) Graphs 4) Tools that the faculty use and recommend Seo plug ins Twitter tools Better headlines Tracking your Brand 5) Viral Marketing Brainstorming Checklist 6) Pitching check list Brief Video information for each week: 1)  Length of each video is provided 2)  2-7 videos necessary to watch each week 3)  Average 25 minutes per video Viewings do not have a specific deadline but rather anticipated due dates which are flexible. They are listed as an ideal due date but it is up the student to get things done in a timely manner. Weekly meetings with the faculty help ensure that students are on track and are not missing any points. 4)  One Quiz to follow all videos combined for the week The quiz each week is just for practice. A grade is assigned but does not count toward the overall grade. They are meant as preparation for the final exam and reiterate the material in the videos. The quizzes help make sure the students have understood what is being portrayed in the videos. Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . I Admit It – These Videos Taught Me a Few Social Media

I love Twitter for putting me into contact with really outstanding people (well, since I don’t have time for conferences, Twitter is my major source of valuable contacts). Today I am happy to feature the interview with one of the marketers who has always been someone I’ve looked up to. Geno Prussakov is a well-known affiliate marketing expert,  author and contributor to 3 books (including his bestselling “A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing”) and a number of industry’s magazines and journals, international speaker (most frequently appearing at  Affiliate Summits ),  blogger , educator, and award-winning affiliate program manager. 1. Please tell us a few words about yourself. What brought you to the affiliate marketing? I was born and raised in Eastern Europe — in the southwest of the former Soviet Union, now a country of its own, Moldova. I lived there until the age of 21, which was when I travelled abroad for the first time. The first Western country I travelled to was England. I studied psychology, psychology, modern and classical languages at the University of Oxford, while completing the Master’s leg of my 5-year linguistics degree in Moldova. It was a fun time of travelling between two countries, and studying at two universities at the same time. After that I travelled to the U.S. where I studied counseling psychology for two years. After that, I went to Cambridge (yes, back to England) to get my Master’s degree in international relations. At the same time I started my first online business, a Russian gifts and collectibles store. After playing with paid search marketing, banner advertising, and other available types of advertising/marketing I discovered affiliate marketing, and started my first affiliate program. It was initially run on an in-house platform, but in 2004 I moved it to ShareASale (an affiliate network I’ve worked with for over 6 years already). As that affiliate program developed, I was approached by another merchant who asked me if I would manage their affiliate program too. I agreed. In 2006 I bade RussianLegacy.com farewell, and turned into a full-time online marketing consultant and affiliate program manager. In 2007 I published my very first book (must of which was based on my own affiliate program management experience), “ A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing “ . To date it is one of the bestselling affiliate marketing books out there… At present time I am actively involved in the affiliate marketing industry, working on a doctorate degree along the way. 2. I remember I first got to know you from Abestweb forum. It was like three or four years ago. You were on each and every thread helping people with your answers. Can describe the place? Are you still active there? ABestWeb.com is by far the largest and most active affiliate marketing forum out there. It brings together affiliate marketers operating across the whole spectrum of the industry: affiliates/publishers, merchants/advertisers, affiliate network reps and owners, in-house and outsourced affiliate program managers, representatives of other vendors and agencies that work in the affiliate marketing channel. It’s a busy place, and one that affiliate marketers trust, and come there to voice out their questions, concerns, and share ideas. Many people that I now call friends were met by me through ABW. At this time I am not as active in that forum as I used to be (too much going on in my life, and I must prioritize), but devote more time to research, blogging, and my writing efforts. 3. When did you start blogging and why? I wrote my very first blog post on November 18, 2007. Yes, I came to the world of blogging much later than most online marketers out there. Initially, I blogged to keep affiliates posted on the news about the affiliate programs I managed at that time. With time, and especially after starting my doctorate studies in early 2008, the topics of blog posts changed from broadcasting the news to writing on the practical topics (and issues) that all affiliate marketers can relate to (e.g.: marketing methods to use and “how-tos”, best practices for affiliate program managers to adhere to, digital marketing statistics, mobile commerce and marketing, etc). Today I am a firm believer that any blogger who wants to be really successful at it should forget about broadcasting. It worked a few years back, but no longer. You can’t take any more from the online space than what you yourself have contributed. 4. Which niches (in your experience) are more profitable when it comes to make money being an affiliate? This is a very popular question, and naturally so. My answer to affiliates is always twofold: (i) focus on the niche of (a) your passion and (b) knowledge/expertise, and (ii) pick your partners carefully. While the first point is self-explanatory (don’t pretend you know something that you really don’t — it’ll show), by the second one I mean partnering with affiliate networks and advertisers that have a solid reputation and track record in the industry. It is also crucial to underscore that “profitable niches” should never be measured by the commission levels that are being paid by advertiser/merchant. Always look at the broader picture. Remember to look at such metrics as conversion, average order value, reversal rate, cookie life. For example, hosting companies have historically had high commission payouts (anywhere from $50 to $150 a sale, with select ones paying as much as $300-400/sale). Sounds attractive, doesn’t? Well, hold your horses before you spend all of your money on those paid search ads, or advertising on other types of properties! Hosting affiliate programs are also known to have some of the highest reversal rates in affiliate marketing history. While many affiliate networks will not disclose this piece of information to you, it is not unusual for a hosting company to reverse between 50% and 80% of all affiliate transactions… Do your due diligence before you dive into any niche. And once you’ve made up your mind to focus on something, take it easy, building up on previous successes, and avoiding previously-made mistakes. 5. You’ve been in the affiliate marketing for ages. Do you consider yourself a pioneer? How did the affiliate marketing evolve since you first got into it? I came into affiliate marketing some 7 years ago, whereas the industry itself is some 14-15 years old already. I wouldn’t call myself a pioneer of the  industry ; maybe one of the pioneers in systematizing the knowledge, and bridging the gap between traditional management science, principles of leadership and affiliate program management. These are the areas that I’ve been closely working in for the past few years, making parallels and translations (must be my linguistic background moving me) between theories and theorems of traditional business contexts and digital marketing industry. Much has changed since I’ve originally gotten into this industry. Google has become smarter, online consumers have gotten shaper and pickier, Social Media evolved, mobile marketing is quickly gaining power, FTC and federal governments around the world have acknowledged digital marketing (and affiliate marketing in particular) as an integral part of strategies that businesses now use, affiliate marketing professional organizations have evolved… I see all of these as positive trends. We’re getting more organized, while the market is pointing us towards the path of ongoing education and improvement; and this means we’re growing. 6. Social media changed the world of SEO dramatically. Is it the same with affiliate marketing? How do you leverage social media? Yes, social media is definitely changing the world of affiliate marketing too. Numerous affiliates are actively utilizing Twitter, Facebook and other platforms to engage consumers. The ones that are using more creative approaches succeed. Be it something as basic as a Facebook game or comparison shopping app, or as advanced as a social shopping network, affiliates that develop something that really adds value leverage any new trend better than the rest of the crowd. 7. Do you remember the best (affiliate marketing related) advice someone has ever given to you? The best advice I have ever received, and one that I keep on going back to (on a daily basis) comes from a quote that belongs to Henri-Frédéric Amiel, a Swiss poet and philosopher. I have it hanging over my desk. Amiel wrote: “Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.” Any time laziness, which I believe to be one of the most widely-spread obstacles, comes through, I re-read these lines. Talent doesn’t have to be of worldwide significance. Do what you do best, and do it passionately and self-sacrificingly. It’ll pay off. 8. What are the best places for the newbie to learn affiliate marketing? Forums (like the  www.ABestWeb.com that we’ve mentioned), blogs (on a daily basis I personally read  www.ReveNews.com ,   www.AffiliateTip.com ,  www.AffiliateAdvocacy.com ,  www.AffBook.com , and follow a number of other industry-specific blogs), podcasts (most of affiliate marketing ones can be found at  www.GeekCast.fm) , and certainly books and resources on other related fields. Affiliate marketing — especially when it comes to the marketing part — does  not exist separately from the rest of digital marketing. It is closely intertwined with search marketing, web development, web analytics and CRO (conversion rate optimization), and is dependent on all the online marketing trends that shape the broader digital market (including mobile). Therefore, you want to be constantly learning, implementing, testing, perfecting, and never give up (even when you burn yourself). Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . Interview with Geno Prussakov, Outstanding Affiliate Marketing