TreasurePen - Earn Money by Blogging

I stumbled upon another site that will pay you to write simple blog posts, and while I haven't published anything there yet, it looks pretty decent.  TreasurePen pays you 70% of ad revenue earned from your articles, and if you write on topics with good ad alignment, that can pay out at a decent rate.

When registering, please enter Ldyjarhead@yahoo.com 
as the person who referred you 

You must have a Google adsense account in order to get paid, but if you already have a blog or website, you probably already have it monetized with adsense ads on it, so it's an easy task to attach your account to Treasure Pen so that you can get paid.

If you're dissatisfied with the amount you're making on your own blog, TreasurePen might be just the thing for you.  Sure, on your own blog you'll rake in 100% of any earnings from adsense, but if your blog doesn't get decent traffic, that might not amount to much.  Treasure Pen's large library of content will likely bring more traffic to the site, and 70% of decent earnings is better than 100% of next-to-nothing.

I'm going to try a few posts there to see how it works out, and I'll be sure to report back on my results.  In the meantime, if you sign up for TreasurePen, please fill in my email address (Ldyjarhead@yahoo.com) when you register so that I'll get credit for sending you there.

Happy writing!

~ Marie Anne

Tracking Adsense Click Information on Your Blogs

If your blogs or other websites are monetized with AdSense ads, you probably like to monitor how many clicks you get throughout the day.  The more information you have about which blogs and individual posts are getting clicks, and which ad types on those blog posts are drawing the most attention, the better you can plan a strategy for future posts and ad placement.

But what if you see a dollar amount on your AdSence report, but can't figure out which blog it came from, or which ad someone clicked on?  You can look on google analytics if you have it installed on your blogs, but if you have several blogs and don't even know which blog to start with, you'll still have to do some super-sleuthing.

I have each of my blogs listed as URL channels on AdSense, so if someone clicks an advertisement, it's usually right there on the AdSense home page and I don't have to dig for the information I need.  Every so often, though,  I'll see the monetary value earned, but none of my URL channels show a click.  Huh?  How can that be?  I've checked and double-checked to make sure that I didn't forget to add a URL channel for a blog, but nope, they're all accounted for.  I won't tell you how much this has bothered me, not knowing where those pennies came from, but suffice it to say that I spent way more time that I should have trying to figure it out, before getting frustrated and moving on to something else.

This morning I noticed that I had a click worth more than my average earnings, but again, none of my blogs was listed as having a click.  I really wanted to find where that one came from and started clicking around the various tabs on AdSense and bingo, I found the solution.

From the main AdSense page, I clicked on full report, and from there, clicked the drop-down menu for add dimension, then chose sites.  Well whatdya know, there it was.  One of my blogs was listed, but with a .co.uk extension, which I'm assuming is the United Kingdom version of blogger.  Apparently when someone outside of the U.S. views a blogger-hosted blog, they will see it with the extension that is appropriate for their neck of the woods, and not simply the blogger.com that we would see here in the states.

You can add other dimensions to that report such as ad types, ad size, etc, which will give you more information about which ads have been clicked, helping you determine future strategy.

I hope this information will be useful to at least one poor soul out there who has been tearing his or her hair out like I have.

~ Marie Anne

How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business

Putting your work on Pinterest is a great way to get it in front of large groups of people you might not otherwise have access to.  Every time someone repins a pin, the reach gets wider, and there's no limit to how far it can go.  But how do you utilize Pinterest to the maximum advantage?
We're all visual creatures, so having a great photo to pin with your work is key, whether it be a craft project, or your writing.  If your article doesn't already have an eye-catching photo worth pinning, you can pin it using another photo very easily.  If you have a blog on Google's Blogger, it's a cinch to add a pin it button to your post so that others can share it for you too.

There are many tips and tricks to maximize your reach on Pinterest, how to attract more customers, how to make your pins more appealing, etc., and Melanie Duncan is offering them to you at no cost.

The founder of Entrepreneuress Academy, Melanie is providing a free webinar class to teach you how to use Pinterest to advance your business and reach more customers and readers.  The webinar will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6-8, 2013 and there is no cost to sign up.  With an early morning and evening time slot available over all three days, there's no reason not to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Using Pinterest in the most basic sense is simple, but by using the power of pinning, you can make every pin count.

~ Marie Anne

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Are Challenges Good for Everyone?

Photo by Ed Yourdan

Challenges can be motivating, but they can also be a detriment if you take on more than you should.  Are you guilty of the latter?

Meeting a goal is a big deal, but if the carrot dangling in front of you isn't worth the effort expended, why are you doing it?  

If your goal is health and fitness, any step in the right direction is worth it, but don't set your goals too high right out of the gate or you risk disappointment and losing whatever ground you've gained right from the start.  

Taking on a challenge just for the sake of a challenge is fine for some who need the push to do a particular thing, and if you have lots of extra time on your hands, knock yourself out.  But if your challenge doesn't benefit you monetarily, physically, or psychologically, why are you doing it?

What prompted this post is the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  I did it one year with four blogs (including this one) and it about killed me. I did it because I wanted to be able to say I did.  Big deal.  It brought me no extra income, no long-term increase in readership, nothing tangible.  I got to display a badge on my blog.  Wow.  The challenge is designed to get people posting to their blog on a more consistent basis, and that works well for some, but it did nothing for me (but of course that doesn't mean it won't work for you).  All four of those blogs got 26 posts in the 30 days in April (every day except  Sunday), but have been all but dormant since.  

This year I signed up with just one blog, but decided last night that I was going to pull myself out of the challenge this morning.  I write articles for pay, and that's where my time needs to be devoted.  I only have so much in me each day to get things done, so I need to use that time wisely.

I am, however, going to be using the challenge in a different way.  My goal for April will be to write and publish an article each day for either Examiner or YCN, like I mentioned in this post.  I try to publish every day anyway, but some days it doesn't happen, whereas other days I might post two or more articles.  Taking up the A-Z Challenge for article writing just puts a different spin on it, striving to come up with an article topic that corresponds with a particular letter, rather than any old thing I pull out of the sky. My goal of writing every day really hasn't changed, but this small challenge will actually put money in my pocket.  Article writing is what pays the bills, so that's where I need to put my attention.  I won't get a shiny badge to display anywhere upon completion, but I will get the same satisfaction of having met a goal, and earn a few bucks to boot.

So don't give up on goals and challenges, but do look at why you're doing them and what you will gain from taking them on, and, more importantly, what you stand to lose.

~ Marie Anne

The AtoZ Challenge Can Benefit All Writers, Not Just Bloggers

(Photo by Muffet)

The AtoZ Blogging Challenge is set to kick off again on April 1, 2103 as a way to get bloggers everywhere thinking outside of the box by posting every day of the month (except Sunday) on a topic that corresponds with the letter of the day.  The challenge can take up a lot of time and you'll have to determine if it's worth it to you, but what if you're a writer, but not a blogger?  Can the AtoZ Challenge still be of benefit to you?


Yes!

Depending on how you tackle the challenge, it can still give you the nudge you need, no matter the writing venue.

If you're a writer who publishes on Examiner, YCN, or any one of the many other sites, use the basic idea of the challenge to get the creative juices flowing for article topics in the same manner.  You can't sign up for the official challenge if you don't have a blog, so just challenge yourself for the sheer benefit of seeing if you can do it, or work with a group of other writers and ask them to come along for the ride.  You might not get a special badge to display upon completion, but it can still be rewarding in other ways, either monetarily, or by helping you develop good writing habits.

I'm a member of a Facebook group for Examiners and I've thrown down the gauntlet there, and many of us will be trying to come up with an article topic to write about that corresponds to the daily A-Z Challenge.  There are no hard and fast rules and there will be no prize for those who complete, but we're using it as an exercise to help us publish more frequently.  The challenge can be adapted to other writing scenarios as well.

If you write content for other clients -- for their web site, pamphlets, etc. -- you can still use the A-Z idea when your list of ideas runs dry.

Do you write fiction?  Try to fit every letter of the alphabet into your novel or eBook in some way.  You don't have to devote an entire chapter to every letter, but it should be easy enough to incorporate the words apple, baby, and cat somewhere in your work.  Your main character could be seeking some quiet solitude on Q  day, washing their hands on W  day, have an X-ray on X  day, wearing a yellow shirt on Y  day, taking the kids to the zoo on Z  day.  Again, the modified challenge is just a tool to get the writing juices flowing, and who knows where M  day might take you?

So even if you don't have a blog, you can still enlist others to join you in a modified version that fits your particular scenario. Think of it as a sort of writing prompt and toss the idea out there to your writing group and see who bites.

Or simply go fishing alone.  On F day, of course.


~ Marie Anne

Is the AtoZ Challenge Worth Your Time as a Blogger?

If you've been blogging for any time at all, no doubt you've heard of the annual AtoZ Blogging Challenge that goes on every April, with the 2013 challenge starting on Monday, April 1.  The idea is to make a blog post every day (except Sunday), crafting your post on a topic that corresponds with the letter of the day.  It's a lot of work and can also be fun, but is it worth it for the amount of time and effort involved?

(Photo by juliejordanscott)

Whether it's worth it to you as a blogger to take up the challenge or not will depend on your personal goals.  The AtoZ Challenge can help you increase your readership to an extent, but people aren't likely to come back when the challenge is over unless you give them content that they find interesting.  It's ok to post a photo with a short blurb occasionally during the month-long challenge, but if that's all you do for 30 days, you aren't likely to retain the readers once April comes to a close.  If you just want to say that you completed the challenge, then it doesn't really matter what you post, I suppose.

If you're blogging to make a buck, you should be a bit more discerning in what you post each day in order to give your readers something meaningful, a reason to come back.   Get ahead of the game well before the start date by writing down the letters A-Z on a calendar, in a notebook, or a file on your computer and start thinking of topic ideas now.  You can take it even further by writing blog posts ahead of time and scheduling them to post on the appropriate day.

Remember, though, that it's unlikely you'll earn any money from people clicking ads on your blog during the challenge, as many entrants will click on the blogs just to comment in the hope that you'll follow it back to their blog.  Most won't do more than skim your post, much less click an advertisement.  If you have a compelling title and first few lines of your post that can draw your read in, it can still be beneficial in the long run.

The AtoZ Blogging Challenge is good for bloggers who need a push to publish more often as there is a certain degree of accountability in joining such a large group.  Posting frequently keeps your blog fresh in the eyes of the search engines, and the challenge may be just the push that some people need to be more consistent.  If you can make yourself blog daily throughout the challenge, you'll likely pick up good habits that can continue long after it's over.

If you already write full-time and can't squeeze in even an extra few minutes each day for something without a guaranteed return of the time invested, the challenge might not be for you.

I did my first challenge with four blogs, this one included.  It was fun, and while very challenging, I did make it through the entire month on all four of them.  Will I do it again?  No, not with four blogs.  I have a hard enough time keeping up with the paid writing that I need to do without throwing in more distractions throughout my day.  I've decided that I will do it this year with just my newest blog --- Gettin' Fit in My Fifties, because it's a blog that is important to me personally, and I think I'll have some things worth sharing.

Whatever you decide about the A-Z Challenge --- happy writing!

~ Marie Anne

Quality or Quantity?

If you're writing to  make a buck, it makes sense to write a lot to get your content out there.  Bloggers don't make money unless they post regularly.  Article writers need to keep pumping them out in order to keep the cash flowing in.  Whatever you publish online, it will produce better returns in search engine ranking if it is fresh.

Nothing new there, so you keep slogging away, but don't sacrifice quality for quantity.  It does more harm than good to spit words out at a record pace if the result is garbage.  Typos, grammatical errors, sentences that just don't make sense --all will show up much more frequently if all you're concerned about is increasing production.

Some writers can churn them out and produce a quality piece every time.  Others need to spend a little more time and effort to fashion each article or post into something worth reading.  Most probably fall somewhere in the middle.

Your name and reputation will be tied in some way to every piece published.  Even if no byline attached, your client will know who wrote it.  Give your readers fresh produce, but make sure it's quality stuff and not rotten tomatoes.

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Inclement Weather Plan

Are you scratching your head, wondering what the title of this post has to do with writing?  Good.  Keep reading; I promise it fits.

While serving in the military for more than 21 years, I was involved in my fair share of parades and ceremonies for various events, all of which took time and effort to plan well before execution.  That effort would be wasted if weather turned foul and we didn't have other arrangements already worked into the plan.  Being able to move the ceremony indoors without last minute hoop-jumping was referred to as implementing an inclement weather plan.

Do you have an inclement weather plan?

If you depend on your writing for income, it's a must.

Relying on one source to bring in the bucks with your writing isn't wise, so have a backup plan with another source or sources available if things dry up.  If you write for mainly one site or client, investigate others and toss a few pieces their way to get your foot in the door.  Even if not your first choice, it might carry you through the storm if your main source gets rained out.

If you normally write fiction, start a blog on a niche topic you're passionate about.  If you're a blogger, expand into article writing.  If you ghost write, put your name on your next project and promote it yourself.

If the roof is leaking, don't wait for it to get blown completely off before deciding it's time to take action.  If the rains continue, it will be a lot harder to find work while having to bail out your office.  Be proactive - have a few buckets in place and your roofing nails handy.

Is There an Echo in Here?

As writers, you probably do your fair share of reading daily - from Google Trends, to online news sources - even favorite blogs. That reading undoubtedly triggers ideas to write about, but be careful that the basic idea is as far as it goes.

When outlining your article, refer to reputable sources with appropriate link-backs, but beyond direct quotes, make sure that the text of the piece reflects your own writing style and personality.  Echoing what you've read elsewhere gives your reader nothing of value and hurts your credibility. Why should your reader bother with your article when they can get identical info at the source?  

Put you into each sentence you throw out there.  Every writer, from the new blogger to the national news media, has their own way of saying things, and often you can pick out who wrote something based on the way it's written, without even seeing a byline.  Shoot for style-recognition if you want to make a name for yourself.

And always make sure you fact-check, no matter how reputable the source.  There is no truth to the folklore that a duck's quack does not echo.

Divide and Conquer

If you're a blogger or article writer, you're at the mercy of search engines to crawl your material to be indexed so that it will be seen.  If you're in it for the money and page views, a niche blog is best, but even with that, writing about general topics within that category won't get you far.

The trick is to make each post or article be as tightly focused as you can make it, else you'll be competing with tens or hundreds of thousands of others writing to that same title.  A good plan is to think of your basic topic, write an outline or bullets, then take each main point of your article and divide it into topics to cover separately.

Example:  If you write about parenting and want to share how to travel with kids, come up with basic tips, then break them down and tackle each age group separately.  Someone traveling with teens isn't going to benefit much from an article that recommends keeping Dora DVDs and cheerios on board, and your two-year-old probably isn't up to working a Sudoku puzzle just yet.  Make each article or blog post cater to a specific demographic.

Beyond age groups, think of tips to make traveling easier with a two-door, SUV, pickup truck, etc.  The more specific your topic is, the less competition you'll be facing, and you'll also be giving the reader who is searching for that information exactly what they want, without having to wade through what they don't.

I've provided a very basic example, but it can be applied to any topic area.  Don't write about 30-minute meals.  Write about 30-minute meals for the diabetic, the vegan, gluten-free, low-carb, for picky eaters.

Divide.  And conquer.

From A to Cra-Z

The gauntlet has been thrown.

I was on the fence about participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge this year and even up until this morning as I was getting out of bed, I was still waffling.  Enter my friend Angie, who entered two of her blogs and challenged me to do the same.

So here I am, the morning of April 1, 2012, the first day of the challenge, and I haven't a clue what I'm going to write about for the next 26 letters.  But do it I shall, on this blog as well as my local blog, Ross County Roundup.

I hope you'll join me for the ride!

How to Add a Pinterest 'Pin' Button to Your Blog

Pinterest is the new rage, marrying social networking with traditional bookmarking of your favorite sites.  If you have a blog, make it easy for your readers to pin your posts by adding a button directly to the blog entry.

Google Penalizing for Ad Placement

Trying to keep up with Google's algorithm changes is a full time job.  One of the more recent announcements by Google discusses possible penalties for ad placement.  Advertisements on a website or blog are what brings in the revenue, but too many in the wrong spots and you're likely to get slapped by Google ... again.

Keep Content Fresh for Best Search Engine Placement

With massive overhauls in google's search algorithms in recent months, many article writers and bloggers are taking big hits in the pocketbook when content that previously ranked well is now buried on page eleventy-seven.  There's been a lot of speculation about how and what to write to get back into the running again, and fresh content is one of the topics that keeps popping up.

After what I saw this evening, I believe fresh content is key.

Changing Email Subscription Name on Feedburner

I have several blogs and purchased domain names for most of them, which meant that the feedburner subscriptions would change also.  I decided to leave the old ones in place so as not to confuse my current subscribers, but made a new feed for the new domain name URL also.

Blog Post Title SEO

When writing your blog post, it's important to think SEO when creating the title, but choosing key search words may not be enough.  If you look at the URL of any of your blog entries, you’ll see that the title of the post comes after the blog name; that’s how a search engine will read it unless you tell it to do otherwise by changing the title tags.

You probably know to ‘front load’ the more important keywords that people will be searching for, but the name of your blog post appearing before your carefully chosen title will steal some of its thunder.

GBE 2, Week #1 - EXPECTATIONS

GBE 2 is up and running! Click to learn about the Group Blogging Experience, then jump on the train and enjoy the ride!

Beth has chosen the topic EXPECTATIONS for week one. It doesn’t matter the theme of your blog, just somehow tie in the word EXPECTATIONS into one of your blog posts this week and add your URL to the linky tool below so that others can find your post for this week’s topic. You have until Saturday, May 28 to get in on this week’s blog hop, then Beth will post a topic on Sunday evening for week two.

Please make sure to post the URL of the specific blog post, not the URL of your main blog page.

If you want to add the list of bloggers to your own blog post, feel free to snatch it by clicking the words ‘get the code here’ at the bottom of this post. No matter which blog list you sign up on, it will appear on each of the blogs where the blogger grabbed this code.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your keyboards!

Welcome to GBE, the Group Blogging Experience!

Back in the days of MySpace, a lovely lady named Alicia started a blogging group she called the GBE (Group Blogging Experience). Each week, Alicia posted a very general topic for participants to blog about. When they’d posted their blogs, they left a link back on Alicia’s post and then she assembled them into a tidy list so that everyone would have easy access to read and comment on other blogs.

Tips for Giveaways and Contests on Your Blog

Last month I shared how hosting a giveaway or contest on your blog can help increase readership.  Since then, I've come up with a few more tips that you might find helpful.

How Often Should You Blog?

If you ask other bloggers how frequently you should post to your blog, you're likely to get a variety of answers.

I follow most of my readers through my blog roll and I don't have a chance to check all four of my active blogs daily.  If my fellow bloggers post every day, I might miss a few posts here and there unless I'm subscribed by email, so if I apply that same logic to my own blogs, some of my readers might miss my posts if I post too often.