I’ve been away for a few days.  When I got back and checked my blogs stats and such my technorati authority rank had jumped for some reason unknown to me.  Let me tell you that’s always nice to see when you come back from a weekend away.

As it turns out Alex from How-to Spot-er had included me in a new linking strategy he started.  It’s called a Reciprocal Review Carousel.  The details on how it works are below, but basically what you need to know is that my tech authority rank jumped FIVE points in ONE day WITHOUT me even being in town.

— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions below this line —

Reciprocal Review Carousel idea is based on few simple and yet effective link-building and bloggin techniques I have learned:

• Build value of the blog by creating a link from within content.
• Provide a value to community by doing a review on blog you personally like.
• Link to YOUR blog has exact anchor text you want and helps you boost Google Rankings.
• No more then 30 outbound links from any page to prevent penalties for link farming.
• Viral effect of the link – as more bloggers participate, link to your blog with YOUR anchor text, coming from quality content post will spread.

Here is How to participate:

• Copy the entire text between the specified lines.
• Create a post on your site and put at least one paragraph explaining how you joined the Reciprocal Review Carousel.
• Paste the text you copied into your post.
• Remove the Bottom Review and At the Top add your own review with a link to a site reviewed, at least 2 sentences about the site and a note – Reviewed by: Your Anchor Text. Link your anchor text to your site. Here is an example:

WordPress Web 2.0 Guide is a blog providing very useful information on building your very own Web 2.0 portal based on WordPress. Detailed instructions and howto guides make it possible for anyone to create a sparkling and engaging blog and join the community of like-minded individuals. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-er

Sites Reviewed:

• Empower Women Now is founded and written by Ponn Sabra.  Ponn wants to empower women entrepreneurs to action through her writing, and also does so through leading by example.  She is a very high energy, fun loving blogger that embraces the challenges of taking it to the next level.  Don’t worry guys, she’ll welcome you too Reviewed by: Home with Heather
• Andy-Coates.com is an original creator of Viralink concept and a blog publishing information on Magic, Personal development and blog development. I have found a wealth of information on getting your blog noticed and generating the traffic for free. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Guide
• FitForFreedom is well-established blog where you can find multitude of information on achieving financial freedom. Blog is run by Marco Righter and his writing style greatly adds to the value of information he provides. Reviewed by: Alex
• Secure Your PC For Internet blog run by Colin and provides essential information everyone accessing internet should know. Identity theft is becoming more and more of an issue and by visiting his blog you can minimize the risk of being compromised. Reviewed by: Alex
• VI-SU blog is all about WordPress, AdSense, SEO and Internet Marketing. Although mostly written in German I have found that using Google translate is worth the effort for his posts. Reviewed by: Alex
• Home With Heather is a great informative blog targeting WAHM (Work At Home Moms) and run by … you guessed it – Heather Masson. Information on what works for her in Internet Business written is very easy to read and comes from her personal experience. Reviewed by: Alex
• A Copywriter’s Blues blog published by Alex Badalic, a veteran of advertising turned musician gives you great food for soul. I have found some nice old videos of Johnny Cash performance and he has a lot more of vintage videos to satisfy fans. Reviewed by: Alex
• Did You Smell That blog authored by one of the veterans on network marketing filled with business ideas you can use. David Ledoux is well known and respected in online community and now he makes his experience available via blog posts. Reviewed by: Alex
• Best Damn Blog run by Richard Wing is all about Internet Marketing. Your visit will be rewarded by honest reviews, freebies and information you need to succeed in this cut-throat business without sacrificing your integrity. Reviewed by: Alex
• PlugIM Blog is a support portal for a new post voting system and a contender that has gained popularity among bloggers. Active community that lets you promote your blog and spread your message. Reviewed by: Alex

— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions above this line —

As we all know google page ranking time is coming again soon.  The more links you have the better.  This will give you some quality links and improve your page rank.   If you choose to participate in the carousel, follow the instructions below and add reviews to your site.  Once you let the reviewee know about this linking strategy, they too may choose to participate and so it goes.

Thank you Alex for including me in the launch of this linking opportunity.  Networking is a wonderful thing.   We can all help each other by working together and be better off for it.

Expect the Best,

You’ve probably been thinking about it for awhile.  Creating a blog of your very own.  Every one is doing it.  That’s great!

Blogging can be a great tool.  Because blogs are updated on a very regular basis, (almost daily) they tend to get more traffic and can be used to increase traffic to your other sites.  You can meet a lot of other bloggers through networking.  It can be a way to let out some creativity, and most days it’s a tonne of fun.

These are just some of the questions you may want to answer for yourself before setting up a blog of your own are:

What is the purpose of your blog?

• Is your blog  a personal blog so you can blog about your day? 
• Do you want it for business purposes and are trying to create sales? 
• Is it a teaching blog, and the sole purpose is to teach people how to master a task?
• Is it an information blog to try and get the word out on something?

What is the topic of your blog?

• What is your niche.  Are you talking about parenting, fishing, golf, camping, making quilts, Tupperware sales, wahm, online business, educating students, or one of a zillion other topics.
• Once you have a broad topic or niche, do you plan to narrow the topic to a more specific sub-niche like maybe deep water fishing, baby quilts, or working with autistic students.

Who are you trying to get to read you blog?

• Each specific niche would have a different target market.  For example deep water fishing would likely have a completely different target market than say stream fishing.  Stream fishing could be anyone just going out for a weekend who wanted to give it a try but deep water fishing would require a much greater investment in equipment and the like.

Do you enjoy the topic you’ve chosen?

• You will be blogging about this topic day in and day out for hopefully a really long time.  Is it something you enjoy?  You wouldn’t catch me for example blogging on fishing of any kind, even if there was money to be made in the niche. ;) I’m not a fisherman and know nothing about it.
• Do you have a good base knowledge on the subject and are you willing to learn more to become and expert in it?

Does the niche have enough content to sustain a blog that is updated regularly with fresh information?

Do you plan to monetize your blog and make money from it?  How are you going to do that?

• Are you going to place advertising on your blog?
• Promote affiliate products?
• Selling your own products or service?
• Selling information products?

This is just a start to what you need to think about before creating a blog.  There are also things like blogging platforms, web hosting, building your readership, discovering the wonder of using rss, branding your blog, blog promotion, blog marketing and on and on. 

Look for these topics in some upcoming posts.

Expect the Best,

This Wednesday will be part 3 of the Hot Seminar Series. 

Did you remember to register so you can listen for free?

Tonight, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero will be talking about “How to Run a Successful Copywriting Business from Home for Freedom, Fun, and Profit – By an Expert”.  Lorrie is eager to show you how to substantially increase your income through a career in copywriting, AND not have to rely on family and friends to do it.  You can check out her website at Red Hot Copy.

There is still 7 weeks left in this seminar series.  Make sure and register today so you don’t miss tonight’s call.   The weekly calls are always free.  If you miss a call, you can purchase the Mp3 and transcript afterward for a small fee.

Or, if you plan to be in and out all summer, do like me and just go straight for the Season Pass.  That way, you don’t have to worry about staying home so you don’t miss out.  And you can save big rather than purchasing the recordings separately.

Up Next week: Alice Seba talking about”Finding the Right Info Product Idea”

Expect the Best,

I recently visited Listening, Learning, and Living and saw a post where bokjae had received the Thinking Blogger Award.

There are blogs that I am subscribed to for fun, and blogs that make me stop and think.  These are a few of the blogs that make me think, so I thought I’d show them some link love with this Thinking Blogger Award.

Jack Humphrey’s Friday Traffic Report - This is a blog that I rarely miss.  I have only been a reader of this blog for a few months, but in that time I have learned much.  He is the “authority” on authority sites and web 2.0 ways of bringing in traffic.

TomLeDree.com - This is a daily inspirational blog, that gives some thought provoking posts on life in general and life on line.  It’s only a few months old, but is quite good.  Tom just launched a new forum, stop by and check it out.

The Affiliate Marketing Diary - A great blog for anyone trying to learn the ropes of being and affiliate marketer.  He’ll be back blogging with a bunch of great new stuff Tuesday.

Kumiko’s Cash Quest - Although I don’t always agree with the tactics being used here.  It sure does make you stop and think.  Is that ethical, will that work?  I do enjoy reading it.  She does have quite a large following so other must think the same

and of course…

Lynn Terry’s Clicknewz.com - I have been reading and learning from Lynn for years.  She always is giving with her information, and truly does enjoy helping people.  This is Lynn’s 11th year in business for herself.  She says being passionate about what you do is something that you can’t fake, and that you don’t  always know what it is.

If you haven’t stopped by these blogs, you should.  Add them to your reader, they give some really great content. 

I sincerely hope that my friends here will continue with this meme by passing the Award to other blogs that make them think.

1. Link to this Post; so that people knows the origin of this meme.

2. You have the choice to select your Award ( Silver / Gold).

Expect the Best,

Ideas to Start Earning:  Pet Supplies and Accessories

Pets are a part of 63% of American households, which is over 69 million homes. And 45% of those homes have more than one pet. Approximately 37 million homes own a cat, and 43 million own a dog. All of this means that the market for pet supplies is guaranteed to be steady, and in fact, has grown by $2-$3 billion dollars annually, since 2002 with an estimated expenditure for 2006, to reach $38.4 billion dollars.

Could this be the time to start a pet supplies and accessories business? If you go about it the right way, and invest time and thought in your approach, you are more likely to outlast the five year “new” period that sees so many businesses close.

What is your business going to sell? That is entirely up to you. There is a growing market for a variety of pets, with dogs and cats leading the way. In both areas, toys, and gourmet treats are hot commodities, as are designer duds for the family pooch.

You can start a business entirely from your own resources, making the treats yourself, with a custom-designed package, and spreading word locally through free samples, and appearances at pet-related events such as dog and cat shows, or pet expos. A well-designed website is also an excellent idea. People get visuals of what you are selling, and the easier it is negotiated, and the more information you provide them about your products, the more likely they are to return, and to refer you to their friends.

To get you started, you might instead decide to go with an established company that offers commissions and bonuses on sales that you make at home parties or though a website. The advantages are less overhead, not having to carry stock, and not doing the shipping. What tips the balance, can be how much independence you want with your business.

For more information on the types of opportunities that exist in pet supplies and accessories, visit PetBusinessOpportunity.com

Expect the Best,

Ideas to Start Earning

I was going through my emails this morning, and came across one from John Reese.  so I opened it.  He was talking about a charity event being hosted at the playboy mansion.  Naturally, I was just about to hit delete.

Then I scanned down to the bottom of the email and he made mention of a power point presentation by Guy Kawasaki, The Art of Innovation, so I clicked.  I didn’t really have an hour to spend watching this presentation, but I couldn’t stop listening. 

I’ll just mention a few of the things that really stuck out to me - polarizing your audience.  You need to get them to love you or hate you, there should be no middle ground.  A friend of mine told me something similar a few months back, sometimes you just gotta piss people off.  If you create strong feelings in people, good or bad, they will talk about you or your product.  When you try and please everyone, try to remain “neutral”, you will affect no one.

Another was don’t listen to the bozos.  If you have a good idea, go with it and ask questions later.  I liked Guys story of he himself being a bozo with Yahoo.

This was an excellent presentation.  Both entertaining, and enlightening.  Take time to listen to it over your morning coffee.  You’ll find it on blog.guykawasaki.com.  In marketing, we have to perfect our pitch.  This presentation will help you do just that.

Expect the Best,