Where Can You Find Blog Writers for Hire?

As your business expands, and as your blog becomes more popular, it can be difficult to keep up with producing content. You know that you need to keep adding content to your business blog in order to keep it fresh and to draw traffic to your site. But if you don’t have time, creating posts can quickly become the thing you decide to neglect.

Instead of letting your blog wither and die (and possible cost your business as well), you can look for blog writers for hire. There are a number of professional writers that are available to produce content on your behalf. If you are are looking for blog writers, here are a few places to put out your plea for help:

There are online job boards that specialize in helping you find staff writers. One of the biggest is Problogger. Advertise on the Problogger job board, stating what you are looking for, and you will likely be inundated with applications.

You can also place your ad for blog writers for hire on places like MediaBistro and FreelanceSwitch. Many job boards are aggregated by the Freelance Writing Jobs web site, so that can be helpful in getting your job advertisement out there.

You can also go to freelance marketplaces to find blog writers for hire. Marketplaces like oDesk and Elance can get you access to low-cost writers. You can usually find bargain prices on writers (but remember that you often get what you pay for). It’s fairly easy to set up accounts on these sites and look for writers. One of the advantages with these sites is that the escrow system protects you and the writer.

Sign up through content providers like Constant Content and TextBroker. This works out well if you are looking for occasional pieces and not really looking for a regular writer. You can have articles tailored specifically to your needs submitted to you, without too much trouble.

This has been the model I’ve used the most. Working your network to find writers that are already writing for people you know. If you are looking to hire a staff writer, it makes sense to ask other blog owners. If you know some other blog owners, find out which writers they use. You might be able to get a referral to a great writer that can provide you with just what you’re looking for. This can also save you in terms of advertising costs, since you are getting help from your friends, rather than advertising on a site.

A few years back I noticed J.D. Roth look for writers by holding a contest, and I tried this myself a year ago as well. You can ask writers to submit a guest post, and then have readers vote on which writer they like best. One of the nice things about this is that a lot of the writers were either writers I didn’t know about or regular readers with something worthwhile to say… so I wouldn’t have known about any of those potential staff writers without announcing the vacancy publicly. Not only can you find a great writer that your readers and customers enjoy, but you can also usually get a week or two of contributions from prospective writers.

When you are ready to hire blog writers, you have a number of options. There are thousands of blog writers for hire, just waiting for a chance at a regular gig, and you can add them to your site.

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How to Sell on eBay and Make Money

In 2011, the total value of the sales made on eBay was $68.6 billion. You can get your own piece of that pie by knowing how to sell on eBay with a little planning and effort.

There are a few different ways to make money on eBay. Some of the reasons that sellers use eBay include:

Get rid of unwanted items at home and make a few bucks on the side.Sell items as part of an online storeSell handmade items as part of a home businessExpand the reach of a brick and mortar store by offering items online

All of these ways of making money on eBay can be valid ways to earn money with the help of the world’s largest marketplace.

Once you figure out what you want to do to make money with eBay, you need to get started. It’s easy to get started; all you need to do is register for free. You can begin listing items almost immediately. Understand that you will have to pay a listing fee with eBay in order to get your items up. Be sure to poke around a bit and find out what fees and other costs you might have to pay as part of your eBay efforts.

There are two options when it comes to selling:

Auction: You are probably familiar with the idea that eBay operates using auctions. With this method, you set a starting bid price, and then wait for people to bid up the cost of the item. You have the option to add a “Buy it Now” button to your auction, providing consumers the option to just pay a set price for the item, ending the the auction.
Fixed price: It’s possible to offer a fixed price for your item as well, rather than have others bid on it. If you are sure about the worth of the item you are selling, it can make sense to use the fixed price method.

For some sellers, it’s even possible to create an eBay storefront. This can be helpful as you work to establish an identity, and as you work to become a recognized seller that others trust.

Now that you’re ready to begin, it’s important to understand some of the basics associated with successful selling on eBay. Here are some tips on how to make money on eBay:

Use images: Take pictures of your items from different angles so that your customers can see different views. Good pictures can make a great deal of difference in whether or not you sell the item.
Use keywords in your descriptions: You want potential buyers to find the item with ease. Think about what potential customers would be looking for. Use a good keyword in your title, and make sure to include one or two in the description.Be accurate and honest: Make sure that you accurately describe the item. If the item is only in good condition, don’t call it excellent.Respond quickly to customers: Sometimes, customers have questions about the item. Others might want to make a deal. No matter the situation, you need to make sure that you respond quickly to your customers.Ship quickly: You want to keep buyers happy so that maybe they will come back. Make sure you ship the purchases as quickly as possible, and make sure to properly pack it so that it doesn’t get damaged in transit.Rate good buyers: Remember that good ratings are a two-way street. If you have a good customer that pays on time, make sure to provide a good review for the buy.

It’s possible to make money using eBay, as long as you are realistic in your expectations, and make it point to carefully craft a strategy that allows you to make the most of what you have.

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Hybrid Connect: The Best WordPress Opt-In Plugin

One of the problems with setting up subscriber boxes is that it can be difficult to get a box that does everything you want it to do without installing several different plugins, some of which might conflict with each other. If you are looking for a way to grow your subscriber list without trying to fiddle with several plugins at once, Hybrid Connect might be your answer.

Previously I was using WPSubscribers on many of my sites, which is a similar “all in one” opt-in plugin, but you had to choose to either have a traditional signup or the Facebook option, which Hybrid Connect has a solution for. That plugin was also conflicting with some Headway extend blocks. Even worse is that it automatically disables W3 Total Cache so it could work properly, even after I explained to the developers about how they could simply instruct W3 Total Cache users to allow the cookie their plugin leaves.

Hybrid Connect works with nearly every autoresponder service, so you can integrate it with your mailing list. You can build a form that is completely customized to your needs with Hybrid Connect. The form is customizable in terms of colors, dimensions, buttons, and more. You may have already seen the pop-up on Online Money (or you can click in the list below to make it appear). Additionally, you can use Hybrid Connect to display your opt-in form however you want:

Pop-up lightboxSlide-in/scroll-downSqueeze pageSidebar formPost footer[hclightbox id=”5? text=”In-content”]

Not only can you create a form and set it up how you want it, but Hybrid Connect also allows you to automatically split test your options. You can create multiple forms of your subscriber signup form, and then Hybrid Connect will actually split test them for you. The plugin automatically compares performances, and eliminates the versions that aren’t performing as well. In the end, you automatically end up with the version that is most effective for your web site. Not only that, but Hybrid Connect’s integration with Facebook Connect and GoToWebinar are really impressive.

One of the great things about Hybrid Connect is that it takes place in one plugin. You don’t need to fiddle with special code, or get multiple plugins. Everything you could possibly want in a signup form is combined into this one plugin; this way, you don’t have to worry about conflicting plugins that can cause problems on your site.

There are three different licensing options when it comes to Hybrid Connect, all of which come with free updates for life:

Professional: This license is for the developer who has clients as well as his or her own sites. You pay $197, and you can use the plugin on your own sites, on the sites you optimize for clients, and even on sites that you plan to flip or sell.Multi-site: With this license, which costs $67, you can use Hybrid Connect on all of your own WordPress web sites. You can use the plugin on unlimited sites, as long as you own them.Single-site: For $49, you can get a license to use Hybrid Connect on one web site.

For most serial web site creators, the multi-site license is probably the best choice. It is a great value, and you can keep using Hybrid Connect as you add more sites to your arsenal. It’s a very reasonable price for the value you are getting. If you are a developer, or if you offer optimization services, consider paying for the professional license.

Hybrid Connect takes a lot of the work out of putting together a signup form. You can customize it how you want, and use the plugin’s powerful tools to automatically split test various options.

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Why Long Tail Pro is a Solid Market Samurai Alternative

One of the elements of a successful money-making site is the right keywords to draw the right traffic. Finding those keywords can be a challenge, though.

The good news is that there are a number of tools out there that can hep you identify likely keywords. One of these tools is Long Tail Pro.

Long Tail Pro is fairly quick and easy to use. It only takes about five minutes to set up, and once you have it set up, you can begin looking for keywords, and get good blog post ideas designed to draw the traffic you want.

The dashboard is easy to use, and you can see everything at once. Long Tail Pro offers you the chance to get targeted traffic, as well as find good leads. You can also research your competitors with the help of Long Tail Pro.

I like that you have the opportunity to create specific campaigns as well. You can build a campaign, with the help of Long Tail Pro, that will target the keyword and the traffic you want. Targeted campaigns can mean more conversions. And more conversions usually means more money.

It’s also helpful that Long Tail Pro pulls no punches, telling you exactly how hard it is to rank for a specific keyword. This allows you to focus only on the keywords that you can actually rank for, and saves time and frustration.

For the most part, Long Tail Pro is competitively priced. There are three opportunities for using this software:

10-Day Trial: If you want to try it out before you buy, you can take advantage of the 10-day trial. It’s free to use, and you can search multiple keywords at once, with up to 800 results per keyword. You can also get competitor analysis, and check different site rankings. Cost: Free
Long Tail Pro: Once you get past the 10-day trial, if you want to keep receiving the same benefits, you can pay a one-time fee for access. Cost: $97Pro + Platinum: If you really want to upgrade your results, this is the option to choose. You can calculate keyword competitiveness, import lists of keywords, save your favorite keywords, and more. Cost: $97 + $17 per month.

Consider your needs, and decide which level is right for you. I like that you can use a 10-day trial for free in order to get a better idea of whether Long Tail Pro will work for you.

Long Tail Pro is a good product that offers solid results and is a great replacement for Market Samurai. It’s also fairly priced, even with the $17/month Platinum option. However, I prefer SECockpit. I give SECockpit the edge because of the speed and the keyword results. SECockpit is just faster and more thorough.

However, SECockpit also costs much more than Long Tail Pro. If you are just starting out, and your budget is a little bit tight, it can make sense to go with Long Tail Pro initially. It gets the job done, and it won’t break the bank doing it.

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Use Pinterest Analytics to Boost Your Traffic

One of the fastest growing social networks is Pinterest. With the right image, and description, you can bring a lot more traffic to your web site. But how do you know which images are most effective and pinable?

Recently, Pinterest introduced an analytics feature. The analytics feature is part of the business tools that Pinterest provides to help web site owners learn how to better provide content for readers.

If you can use Pinterest Analytics, you can learn how to increase your traffic, depending on the content and pins that you focus on.

With Pinterest Analytics, you can learn how many people have pinned items from your web site. It’s also possible to see how many others have seen the pins from others. On top of that, you can also compare pins to see which are the most popular. That way you can see which posts are more popular with pinners… and determine which content is most likely to draw in more traffic later on.

You can also find out about unique visitors, from those pinning content directly from your web site, as well as those who repin your items as a result of visitors. You can also easily track your progress by checking dates and figuring out whether you are seeing improvements in traffic. With the stats, it’s possible better plan your content, and your pins.

One of the coolest things about Pinterest Analytics is that you can also get an idea of how many times your pins show up in search results. This can give you an idea of how you can adjust your strategy to improve your results in search engines on different platforms.

The stats are displayed like your pinboard, allowing you to see quickly which images are most popular. A calendar appears to the side, so you can easily click on a date to see the information related to that date. You can also use the calendar to identify seven-day periods, or 14-day periods. You can also choose a more “traditional” way of viewing analytics, since the pinboard setup can be a little disconcerting at first.

Getting started with Pinterest Analytics is fairly straightforward, it you have signed up as a business, and if you get early access to Pinterest’s new look. Once you have access, you need to verify your web site. Pinterest has a verification process that you need to follow. Once you have your site verified, you should be able to see the “Analytics” icon in the upper right of your Pinterest account.

Web analytics are important in helping you identify trends with your web site. With Pinterest becoming a big traffic driver, having analytics can help you create a more targeted plan to take advantage of specific topics and find out which images are pinable (and repinable). Coordinate your content and images, plus make it a point to properly tag the information, and you can draw more traffic with Pinterest.

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How to Make Money Blogging

Even though blogging isn’t really something “new,” it’s still something that a lot of people don’t take very seriously. Can you really make money posting content online?

The answer is yes.

As long as you have a plan, and you are willing to work hard, you can make money blogging.

When you think of making money by blogging, it’s common to think of owning your own blog. You write on a subject you care about or know a lot about, and you build a following.

In order to make money this way, you will need some sort of advertising. Your options include (and you can do all three at once):

Pay Per Click: Make money from ads that companies like Google AdSense or Media.net place on your site. You get a commission when your site visitors click through and complete a purchase. Affiliate marketing: You can join affiliate programs that place ads on your site. You can get paid per click, or you can get a commission on purchases made through your site.Sell ad space: You can also sell ad space on your blog. There are those who might be willing to pay either a monthly rate or based on traffic to have an ad somewhere on your site.

There are some blog owners that sell text link ads, trading on their PageRank and other authority measures, but this is against Google’s terms of service, and you could be penalized in the search engine results pages for selling text link ads.

You can also sell your own product or service. Whether it’s an ebook, online course, web design or anything else you can think of, you can set up a shopping cart and even your own affiliate system to promote it.

Making money on your own blog requires months, or even years, of work as you build up your traffic and authority. Eventually though, you can build up to the point where visitors click through enough to provide you with tidy income.

Another way to make money blogging is to write for someone else. Believe it or not, there are blog owners willing to pay you to provide them with regular content. You write about the subject requested, and you are paid for your contributions.

You can do this under your own byline, and use what you write as part of your portfolio to get more gigs. You are likely to receive money up front when you write for someone else. You don’t have to worry as much about traffic or SEO or other backend issues when you write for someone else.

The downside to writing for someone else is that you don’t have the same income potential. You are paid a set rate for your content (unless there’s a traffic bonus or revenue sharing agreement), while the sky’s the limit for income when you have your own blog.

Of course, you can always combine your approaches to making money by blogging. You can start your own blog, and while you work on growing the traffic, you can write for other blog owners. That way, you have some income to help support you while you work on your own blog.

This can be a great way to make money blogging while your own business gets off the ground.

What are your best tips for how to make money blogging?

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Make Money with these AdSense Alternatives

When you start out with a web site, it seems like AdSense is the way to go. However, the problem with relying on AdSense is that it’s just one form of CPC (Cost Per Click) advertising and there are certainly other options out there.

With things changing so fast with Google, many web site owners are looking for AdSense alternatives. While you probably won’t completely replace AdSense, it makes sense to diversify a little bit so that you aren’t at the mercy of one source of revenue.

Media.net

I run Media.net on some of my web properties. Recently, Media.net partnered with Yahoo! Bing to offer contextual ads. This move puts Media.net squarely in the search traffic game. While it’s just not going to be on the same level as AdSense, it can still help. Your online advertising efforts can get a little boost from this program.

Infolinks

One of the more interesting ways to monetize your site with with the help of in-body text ads. Infolinks is a company that inserts relevant ads by highlighting key words in the body of your blog post. A little pop up provides more information, allowing readers to make a decision. Infolinks offers higher engagement and has the potential to offer higher quality clicks.

Skimlinks

Skimlinks offers a way to turn your regular product/merchant links into affiliate links. This makes it quick and easy to make sure that you are maximizing the links in your content and boosting your affiliate income. Not only that, but Skimlinks will also turn relevant words in your content into affiliate links to appropriate products and services.

Chitika

This is another of the AdSense alternatives that focuses on targeted contextual advertising to help you earn money. Chitika can also provide local ads, as well as mobile ads. With the addition of this tool, you can boost your web site’s revenue over time, thanks to ads that your visitors might actually want to see.

Clicksor

One of the drawbacks to some programs like AdSense is the fact that you need to meet a relatively high earnings threshold (sometimes $100) for payout. Clicksor offers a fairly competitive payout level of $50. With multiple ad formats available and a generous referral program (10% commission), Clicksor can be an interesting choice for those looking to diversify away from AdSense.

Kontera

Like Infolinks, Kontera is about in-text advertising. Words are highlighted and ads are offered as part of the normal reading process for your readers. Kontera also offers some niche programs that focus on specific categories of words, such as financial terms.

With all of these AdSense alternatives, you should realize that you might not make a lot, especially at first. However, they can provide you with a way to boost your income a little bit more, as well as get you to the point where your entire online money making operation isn’t dependent on AdSense alone.

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