After posting the first-ever The Net Fool dot com question and answer session, I saw a tremendous response from you readers. It looks like you guys had a lot of lingering questions, so its awesome that we have the opportunity here to discuss some things you were wondering about.

Questions ranged from personal ones about how I got my start to more complex issues such as making money with a $0 initial investment. As promised, I am going to answer all of the questions to the best of my ability and give what I felt to be the best one a free one-month text link right here on theNetFool.com. But hey, I like suspense, so you’ll find the winner at the end.

Desmond from GradeMoney.com asked:

“I always wanted to optimize my blog for the search engine but I do not know where to start. Should I start by using a SEO WordPress theme or do SEO manually?”

I think that before all else, you should check out my post about optimizing your blog for serach engines. If you want to optimize your blog, I recommend a few things. 1. Download and use “All-In-One SEO” for WordPress. 2. Utilize “Permalinks” through your admin->settings page. I like to set the custom field to “/%postname%/” to eliminate those pesky numbers. 3. Install a plugin that can make your blog run faster, such as “WP-Cache”. Speed is always important. Other than that, I would always choose a theme that is clean and professional… although the theme itself won’t typically hurt.

RockStar Sid from Blogote.com asked:

“I want to start private advertising like you,so how can I find those advertisers? And what price should I set for my 125×125 advertisement banner? Also I can see that the ad spot is for 20USD and you have 6 filled spots which means you make 120$ (That’s less compared to the competition and prizes you give for the readers )!! Do u make money from this blog?”

I find that advertisers like my cheaper rates. It’s really a judgment call how much you are charging, and takes some time to experiment with higher/lower rates. Since you have around 50 RSS subscribers, I’d recommend setting your rates at just $5 to start to draw in some advertisers. You can post your rates around forums to draw in potential clients like Bloggeries and Digital Point. As for me, don’t you worry about me not making any money. A lot of my contests are sponsored prizes, so other than the coordination work… I’m not left in a money pit!

Flimjo from Flimjo.com asked:

“Which of the following ventures do you think has the best potential for lasting and consistent passive income: (1) a blog; (2) an affiliate niche site with a sales page and CPA offer or e-book; (3) an online business with a real product; (4) your own book or e-book; or (5) anything else you can think of.”

I know that Jason posted a blog as an answer, but I think that’s entirely incorrect because if you do not maintain a blog regularly you lose out on traffic. I would have to say that it is easiest to get passive income from an eBook, like my latest. I literally wrote it, made a site and forgot about it… I’m still getting sales every other day from people randomly finding it on Google. This pretty much builds on itself as I keep seeing better rankings… and it makes for a nice recurring passive income.

Agent001 from GreatestReviews asked:

“Is there any web hosting service which accepts PayPal payments?”

I use 1and1.com for my domain names, and they have web hosting plans that are affordable as well. They accept PayPal. I can tell you that GoDaddy.com and NameCheap.com do as well. Most of these websites are for domain names, but offer good hosting as well, which is typically overlooked. I feel that most of the hosting-focused websites do not have PayPal as an option just yet.

Germs from TheGerms.com asked:

“What made you begin blogging?”

As this was my first blogging venture, this site was started originally for a resume builder. I feel like blogs offer a great deal in the way of responsibility and reputation, so it is more often for the practicality of owning a blog rather than pure education or revenue… which would be the typical answers.

Ralph23 from ForTheLose.org asked:

“Where do you come up with your ideas to blog about? When you have these ideas, how long does it typically take you to (from start to finish) publish the blog post? How do you organize yourself?”

I have a great post that can help you out here, it’s called “Things To Blog About - When You Run Out of Ideas.” I like to keep a notepad of ideas to default on if I don’t have a remarkable post already in my mind. It typically takes me 2-3 hours to write each post. This is basically 30 minutes of idea-research, an hour of organizing my thoughts and writing, and an hour of editing and modifying/adding images. I like to make things look orderly and uniform, so this really extends the time I spend quite a lot!

Nick Throlson from NickThrolson.com asked:

“How Often do you use GPT Click Sites?”

The answer is never. Click websites are entirely worthless and will drive you mad. The rate is something like $3 and hour and you need to be clicking constantly with a good system in place. Don’t mess with GPT click websites, use the standard GPT offer-completing offers! Why make $0.01 a click when you can make $0.50 per free ad? It’s a lot easier, and a lot more exciting.

Hussein from Niessuh.com asked:

“What makes you different from other blogger or other internet marketer?”

Lots of things. First of all, I am a student writer.. which puts me in a different class entirely. But I am also not writing to make money, I am writing to make you money. My goal is a finance job involving the stock market, not to sit on a computer all day trying to set up an ad campaign.

Melvin from MelvinBlog.com asked:

“Why do you keep on promoting an industry where most marketers and bloggers (like I) despise [GPT] ? Is there really a goldmine on gpts?”

I really don’t understand why so many people don’t like GPT websites, a trust issue perhaps? Look. There are a lot of cheap scam sites that will rip you off, but it’s pretty obvious which are good and which are bad. Stick with the industry leaders and you’ll make money. I got my roots on GPT because it put money into my PayPal which allowed me to buy domains and hosting so I could get off the ground. Lots of people like to hear about these services, and I’m here for the readers!

Mary_Freebies from InternationalFreebies.net asked:

“Have you ever seized an online money making opportunity that cost you $0 investment? What was it? Also, I want to sell my freebies blog, but have no idea how much it’s worth, nor where to start to get it sold. Any tips?”

My only true $0 investment win was with GPT services, which is exactly why I recommend them. Since I have money in my PayPal now, I really don’t hesitate to spend on a domain and other things to get started faster… time is money! For example, making my eBook required just $7 for the domain and I have made hundreds.

If you are planning on selling a blog, I recommend advertising it in one (or more) of four places: 1. SitePoint.com 2. DigitalPoint Forums 3. eBay 4. Craigslist . Good luck!

Ryan P. Lenz asked:

“Is it possible to turn affiliate programs and such into your full time job and actually make a good living?”

Well it’s definitely possible to do this. I feel like the field is expanding, and there are going to be more and more ways to make it rich online. However, it is a tough road that requires a lot of time stuck in the basement by yourself just working… which I wouldn’t recommend. There are people making 6-figure annual payments with relative ease, it’s really all about knowing what you are doing. The problem here is that a lot of people try and fail, and waste a lot of time and money in the process.

Failing is costly in internet marketing, even more than almost any other job. You need to be prepared to be in a hole before you start making serious money online.

G. Smith asked:

“After reading about all the money making blogs on the net, I would like to give it a go myself. Any tips for a blogging newbie?”

If I see you making an MMO blog of your own, I will be forced to hurt you! Too many bloggers are writing about things when they have no idea what they are doing just because other people are doing it successfully. Write about what you know is my advice for an amateur. There’s an audience for everything from dinosaurs to professional wrestling, so don’t sell yourself short and focus on what you love!

Catherine from Digiosity.com asked:

“Would a post about the item with a buy now widget to eBay or a complete website with shopping cart be the most profitable. What do you think is the hottest stocks today and will be way above today’s purchase price in five years?”

Two-parter, okay. I think that if you are trying to sell multiple items steadily, you would be better off posting about each item in eBay or CraigsList. I know people who have made tons of money from these systems, and its definitely the better way to go than wasting time on a whole website.

I think that 90% of NYSE stocks will be a lot higher than today’s purchase price. If you are feeling risky, I’d look into a home-builder like TOL. But for the good money with a good value, I have two great picks for you today: Deere and Co. (NYSE: DE) and L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL). I wouldn’t own Ford in this market.

Whew, that was an exhilarating round of questions… you guys tired me out! Let’s get right to the reader who I think asked the best question(s). I loved the two-parters and everyone who expressed an interest in my input, so thanks for all the good work!

Winner of 1 Month Text-Link: RockStar Sid from Blogote.com!

Keep it tuned to The Net Fool dot com for more ways to make money online, without all of that fluff that nobody needs to hear. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them in the comment form or over email at jim@thenetfool.com. Stay bullish on the net!

-The Net Fool

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Welcome back to Part Six of theNetFool.com’s “Creating A Blog” series. Now that you have your blog all set up and customized, you are essentially ready to go. However, most find it very effective to optimize their blogs so that search engines and readers more easily find your website. Taking a few small steps to “SEO” (search engine optimize) your website can work wonders, and you will be forever losing to your competition unless you do this at some point. So before we get into marketing your blog, let’s take some completely free and time-tested methods to boosting your traffic with optimization techniques.

People typically hear the word “SEO” and immediately put up a wall, thinking that it is something only the professionals can master. Far from it! SEO simply refers to simple techniques that organize things like your keywords and page URLs in a more efficient way to make big search engines like Google find your content faster and easier than before.

One quick note before we start: NEVER pay anyone to do this for you! People that promise “#1 Google Rankings in a Day” and so on are there to rip you off. They are going to be doing one of two things: “blackhat” techniques that will work for a day or two before getting you completely banned from Google or targeting an unwanted search keyword that will never help you. You can and should do this yourself! It is really quite easy when you get that hang of things, and I’ll even walk you through it!

Here are my top five SEO steps to take before you start writing posts:

1. Structure Your Blog’s URLs Properly
When you look at a URL in my website, what do you see? Words! As a blogger, you do not want to have a structure that is “yoursite.com/02/2008/post-title” or anything with numbers at all. Then, take a look at my page titles. Notice that they are always “Post Title | The Net Fool” instead of the default? Again, this is very important for SEO purposes. These things are going to be the messy defaults you get with WordPress and almost any other system that you use, so we need to install and use the All-In-One SEO Pack WordPress plugin that I have recommended. You can find the link as well as installation instructions in Part 5 of my Creating A Blog series.

Let’s work a bit with All-In-One SEO! To get into the settings page after you have installed, navigate to “Settings” –> “All In One SEO” in your WordPress Admin section. From there, you should edit all of the setting to fit your structure.

• Your “Home Title” should be short and to the point, including your main keyword, and under 15 words in length (mine is “Making Money Online by Turning Time Into Cash - The Net Fool dot com”).
• Your “Home Description” is what shows up in Google most often when your website is short. Pack this with keywords and make it 160 words or less for the best results.
• Your “Home Keywords” are just that, your keyword phrases. I would just slam as many as you have in this box, though some recommend using just a few.
• Enable “Rewrite Titles” and have all the title options structured to show “%thing% | %blog_title%”

This may be a bit confusing to you so far, so what I have graciously done is taken a screenshot of all my settings. You can have a look at what I am doing for SEO by checking out this screenshot.

2. Creating A SiteMap for Your Site
A sitemap is essentially a listing of all of your pages, posts, etc. that are on your website. Because usually everything isn’t webbed together, it’s essential to have an updated sitemap so Google and other search engines can find your content easily and start getting you some reliable traffic.

I recommend installing the WordPress SiteMap Generator Plugin from Dagon Design. You can find this through their official website. Please note that there are probably tons of other that work in the same way, so use your favorite, but make sure that it is updating your sitemap on a regular basis.

3. Submitting Your Blog to Search Engines
Now that you have a sitemap and your page structures look clean, let’s let the search engines know about your website. You can use a service for free like SubmitExpress, FreeWebSubmission or AddPro to get you indexed in hundreds of engines. However, when it comes down to it, all that really matters is Google.

To start with Google, follow this link to submit your website to their search engines.

Once that is done, we are going to open up Google’s Webmaster Tools, and create a membership if you haven’t already. Once you are logged in, go ahead an “Add Your Site” so that you can login and start ordering Google around. You are most likely going to need to upload a small file to your server so Google knows you are the real owner (”google1248012.html” or similar), and you’ll be ready to go. You can have a look around, but all we need to do here is give them the sitemap we made, and get out!

To submit your sitemap, which should be “sitemap.xml” in your main root folder, navigate in your Webmaster Tools left-hand panel to “Sitemaps” –> “Add Sitemap.” We are going to be adding a “General Web Sitemap” and it should be in “yoursite.com/sitemap.xml” or another folder if you did things correctly. Once they’ve verified it exists, just make sure they are checking it often and that the status is “OK.”

4. Setting Up a “301 Redirect” with .htaccess
One of the most overlooked things in optimizing websites is using .htaccess to control how your website’s URL appears. Most people will link to your website as either “http://yoursite.com” or “http://www.yoursite.com” which creates BIG problems for Google. Essentially, it’s seen as two different websites, so all of your recorded growth is literally cut in half! You want your rankings high, right? So let’s change things around to maximize the results from your efforts.

Open up “notepad” or any text editing program with the ability to save a file with any extension you want. In it, simply put the following:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_Host} ^YOURDOMAIN.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Make sure that this is on four separate lines in the file, and that you replace “YOURDOMAIN” with your website. If you already have an .htaccess file on your server, which is very likely at this point, just download your existing one and add these lines to the top. Here’s a sample I have made if you want to download and use it, just don’t forget to rename it to “.htaccess” when you are done.

5. Link Your Blog Like a Pro!
Linking is the key to exposure, traffic and high rankings. While you should never link just for the sake of linking, feel free to spread the link love around as much as possible. This is why you see me posting “link love” every Sunday along with announcements… it can only help!

One big way you can get your website better trafficked is by installing a “related posts” plugin (as I have done) to show posts related to the current at the bottom of each article you publish. This make for solid deep links throughout your website, and will have your visitors staying longer by exploring similar content. I recommend and use the “Related Entries” plugin by WASABI.

Other than a related entries plugin, you should go around to blogs in your niche and comment on their posts (yes, this is an extra link). Also, try emailing whoever you can asking for link exchanges… which are mutually beneficial. You should never pay someone for a link, as you run the risk of almightly Google frowning upon your website (yes, they will catch you). But basically, don’t be a link nazi like many other bloggers, and you’ll soon find your efforts rewarded!

This concludes part six of theNetFool.com’s “Creating A Blog” series. I hope that you have found this guide to SEO interesting. By this point, you are all ready to go and your website is looking stellar. All we need to do at this point is to start making posts as soon as possible, and then market it a bit to get your traffic. We’ll discuss this in Part Seven, so stay tuned!

-The Net Fool

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Welcome back to another installment of “Creating A Blog,” a start-to-finish blogging tutorial to educate and guide through the process of making your own successful blog on the internet. By this post, you should have everything set up. Your idea is formed, your niche is set, your domain name and web hosting are old news and now you have your blogging system installed on your server.

Once you have WordPress installed, you can start blogging immediately, but who’s going to visit a boring old default website? Let’s get started on customizing your blog with a professional theme and  plugins!

Selecting & Downloading Your WordPress Template
Most webmasters nowadays like the WordPress system because installing new themes is quick and easy, and modifying the files is a snap! I would highly recommend making an investment here to buy what is known as a “premium” website. If you are running a for-profit blog, you are probably going to want a template that both looks nice, and functions well. Before you do, there are a few  great places to grab free templates that I would consider checking out (try WP Theme Designer or WP Themes Press) before you pay up for a professional look.

If you are like me, then you are going to want what is referred to as a “premium” WordPress theme, or one that is more customized and costs money. I recommend themes that come “monetized“… or those that have spaces for 125×125 ad blocks in the sidebar by default. Just check out my theme for an example of a monetized layout. These themes can run you anywhere from $25 to $150, so be prepared to go into the red a bit when you first start out. In my experience, this  debt shouldn’t be much of a concern, because a good design will typically command a decent amount of traffic by its aesthetically-pleasing nature alone.

Ten Recommended Premium WP Themes from The Net Fool:
1. “Revolution” by Brian Gardner - Demo
2. “Blurbs” by Blog Perfume - Demo
3. “Milk It” by Weborithim - Demo
4. “Money Blogger” by Blog Oh Blog - Demo
5. “Rebel Magazine” by WP Theme Designer - Demo
6. “Blue Block” by WP Theme Designer - Demo
7. “WordPress Dream Theme” by Ben Cope - Demo
8. “Live Wire Edition” by Adii - Demo
9. “Premium News” by Adii - Demo
10. “NewsPress” by Adii - Demo

These themes aren’t in any particular order, and aren’t necessarily my “top-ten.” However, they are certainly a “good ten” as I did a good amount of looking around to pull out what I felt were winners for you readers.

Installing Your WordPress Theme
Getting your new theme to show up on your website is actually quite simple. These directions can guide you through the process step-by-step if you need the added support, but I feel that you know enough already to understand how to do this.

First things first, make sure that the downloaded template is fully unzipped somewhere on your computer.  We need to upload the files onto your web hosting account. Using your FTP client (FileZilla, CuteFTP, etc.), upload your new theme folder (structure should be “folder” -> “files”, not “folder” -> “folder” -> “files”) to the “themes” folder located inside of “wp-content.” This is really nothing more than dragging your unzipped template into your wp-content->themes folder.

Once the files are in their place, all you need to do is navigate over to your wordpress admin panel and get over to the “Design” tab which will lead you directly to your theme manager. Here, you will now see the template you just uploaded, and all you need to do is set it as the new default… and you are ready to go!

WordPress Plugins That You Need To Have
Plugins are little extensions that you can easily slap on to your existing WordPress installation to increase functionality and improve the features of your blog. I’m not going to go into too much depth about these plugins, as you can find most of what you need in this official documentation. Every successful blogger that I have ever heard of used and is using plugins to enhance their blogs, you’d be foolish not to!

Here are the top five plugins I feel you MUST have:
1. All-In-One SEO Pack
This is simply the best plugin available. It’s completely free and will make an otherwise search engine disaster look like a natural. If you want Google to see your site and share it with the world,  or if you just want to make your links look better (like mine), you need to install this plugin!
2. Akismet
Akismet is the most widely used spam filtering system in use today. When you install this plugin, you are essentailyl connected to the Akismet spam server… which catches, I’d say, 98% of spam correctly. This is a major time saver, and is free to use.
3. Google XML Sitemaps
This is one of the more under-used plugins, but I think it is one of the best. Why? Google indexes sites faster that have a sitemap built. This plugin does it automatically for you, so all of your content gets noticed much quicker.
4. CommentLuv
A must-have? I think so! CommentLuv publishes a link back to commentor’s latest blog posts every time they leave a message on your blog. This means more exposure for them, so they will continue to come back for more.
5. OIO Publisher
If you are running a for-pay blog, OIO Publisher is a must. This plugin is $37 and is the best money I have ever spent. This plugin completely streamlines your advertising service, and really entices advertisers to buy up slots on your blog like nothing else.

Please keep in mind that I am recommending most of these plugins on the assumption that you want to make money with your blog. If you are doing this strictly personal, you may want to look into more “fun” plugins like adding a calender or a video player. You can find most plugins by searching at WordPress.org.

Installing & Activating Your WordPress Plugins
Getting your WordPress plugins up and running is the exact same process as installing a theme. Simply download the plugin you would like to use on your website and upload the contents to “wp-content”->”plugins.” In most cases, you only need to upload one “.php” file directly into the “plugins” folder. In other cases (for more advanced plugins), you will need to upload a whole new folder into the “plugins” folder. Play around with it, and you’ll realize it really is easier than it sounds.

Once the files are in place, hop back onto your WordPress admin panel and get on over to the “plugins” section (on right hand side of control panel). Scroll down to find the plugins that are listed on your installation and activate them! Once they are active, you can do different things depending on the plugin. Some show up as “widgets” on your webpage. An example of a widget is my “Top Commentators” plugin. To manage these, navigate to Design -> Widgets and drag/drop your selected plugin onto the active toolbar so that it displays with the rest of your website. If your plugin is something automatically running in the background, like Akismet, you need to find the managing page. This manage page is typically a sub-link off of the “Manage” or “Settings” tab on your admin panel.

Once you have the theme you like and the plugins you desire installed and running on your blog, you just need to start posting and marketing to get a good crowd coming over. This is exactly what I am going to cover in the next installment of “Creating A Blog.” Hopefully you learned a thing or two about how to handle customization of your WordPress blog. If you run into any problems, have a look on Google, WordPress.org, or just ask me in a comment!

-The Net Fool

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Welcome to Part Four of the “Creating A Blog” series here on theNetFool.com. By this point, you should have everything ready to go. We know what we want to accomplish, and have the domain name and web hosting to make it happen. Now let’s talk about the system you need to install to get things up and running.

Modern day bloggers use a website script that acts as a writer/publisher/editor on the internet so you can run your blog entirely from your website. These scripts are very easy to install, and once you have things running you’ll have everything you need to blog like the professionals. This means that you can write, edit, publish, update and everything in between. Let’s get you set up with your very own blog!

The Choices: WordPress v. Blogger
There are plenty of independent blogging systems out there, but you should really only consider two: WordPress and Blogger. You’ll hear arguments both ways, and while most bloggers nowadays have made the switch over to WordPress, Blogger still makes for a viable blogging platform option.

Blogger: Blogs made with Blogger are hosted directly through the blogger.com website, so no real need for hosting. The advantage here is of course that you do not need web hosting. Other than that, since Blogger is a subsidiary of Google, all of the pages are very well indexed by the search engine and typically get decent rankings right off the bat. The system is easy to use for beginners, and great for a personal “my thoughts” type of writer. If you are looking for a cheap way to create a simple online journal, Blogger is the blogging platform for you.

WordPress: Serious bloggers scoff at the Blogger system because of its simplicity. There really aren’t many features at all in Blogger, as there exist in WordPress. WordPress.com allows you to host a blog there for free, just like Blogger, but most people using WordPress have the actual script running on their servers. This is what I recommend, because it makes things a lot easier and more professional in the long run. I’ve always used WordPress, and it just keeps getting better or better. If you are looking to run advertising or make your own blog with a custom template, you need to use WordPress. This system allows you to do things your way, rather than have a third party limit your room to work.

I personally recommend WordPress to everyone. However, if you are looking for a really basic and easy to use system for a low-key blog… why not give Blogger a run? I must warn you that there will be little room to expand without reverting to WordPress, but it’s not a bad start-up idea for someone looking for a basic setup.

Downloading Your Blogging Script
Again, I don’t want you using a third party… use WordPress or Blogger. If you would like to try the third-party hosting, you can simply navigate over to either Blogger.com or WordPress.com to set up your free account. Take notice: you cannot run your own ads and you might be required to display theirs, which makes things look a bit tacky.

Working from the assumption that you are installing WordPress, let’s check out the official download page on WordPress.org. You want to grab the most recent copy available, and save it to your computer wherever it will be easiest to find (called “wordpress-x.zip”). Then you simply need to unzip what you have and you’ll see all the files available for you. Most computers come with a default extracting program, but if its not working try WinRar.

Uploading WordPress to Your Server
Let’s learn a little about FTP (file transfer protocol). You know the “http://” before websites? This is just one protocol you can use, and the “ftp://” is essentially for file transfers. I’d recommend downloading a client so you can send and download files back and forth from your hosting account, the best are FileZilla and CuteFTP, and both are 100% free. This will allow you to easily access and edit your files.

Once you have your FTP client up and running, you just need to connect to your web hosting account (find the connection information in your host’s FAQ section) including address, username, password and port. Port is almost always going to be 21, so don’t worry about that. Address is where your website is (mine is “thenetfool.com”) and your username and password is simply your login information. Once you are connected, you’ll see all your files laid out.

All you need to do to have your WordPress script ready to use is move all the files you just downloaded to your hosting account’s root folder. This will either be the first thing you see, or it might be in a folder like “httpdocs.” You’ll know it when you see it, just upload everything you just unzipped.

Creating Your MySQL Database
Don’t let the terminology confuse you. A MySQL database is basically just a big file where all of your settings are dumped and accessed by the WordPress script. All the text from your posts, usernames, setting, etc. are stored here in a file that you need to create. Having a database dedicated to your blog is a smart idea.

Creating a new database is typically done through your web hosting control panel, and should be pretty easy to figure out. Just make a new database, a user for that database, and a password for that user. May sure you remember this information, as we’ll need it soon. If you can’t figure it out, try this guide.

Installing WordPress
Installing the Wordpress system is very easy, and this “five minute installation” guide from WordPress.org should guide you through things. Essentially, you need to find the file “wp-config-sample.php” in your unzipped files and just fill in the information for the database you just created. Save it as “wp-config”.php and upload it back on to your server. I use Windows Notepad to do this, easy!

Once your files are in place, point your browser to “yoursite.com/wp-admin/install.php” and follow the easy to understand prompt. If you get stuck, check back in with WordPress.org’s handy installation guide and see what could be wrong. You may have to change around the file permissions (CHMOD) on some of your files, but this can be easily accomplished with a right-click from your FTP client.

Congratulations, your blog is now installed (or hosted) and ready for you to start making posts. At this point, you have everything you “need” to start running a successful website. In the next tutorial, I am going to discuss how to find, install and customize a template and some very important plugins for your blog. This is going to be essential to get Google to find your website easier and to enhance the appeal/user experience at your new website. In the meantime, why not experiment by making a few posts to see how things work?

Stay tuned for part five, where I’ll get you customized and looking like a pro!
-The Net Fool

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Bribing readers has been a touchy subject around the blogging world. We throw around the word “bribe” as if it is necessarily a bad thing, when in fact it can be one of the best marketing strategies around.

“Bribe (noun): anything given or serving to persuade or induce.” –Dictionary.com

Normally, bloggers offer bribes in two ways. The first is in the form of some kind of “exclusive” digital download (e.g. eBook, desktop wallpaper, discount coupon) offered upon RSS subscription. Second is in the form of entry into a contest, just like The Net Fool’s Outrageous Blog Contest offered here. I’m here to show you how bribery is not the root of all evil, and how it can help you succeed.

1. Incentivize Reading and Commenting
Here’s a fact of life: if someone offers you an incentive, you are more likely to play along. This is essentially what bribing is all about. As bad as it sounds, offering your readers a bribe will encourage them to come back to your website, read your blog posts and comment more often. As a businessman, I believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with offering a little incentive to have your readers come back.

As easy as it might be to subscribe to a blog, many readers hesitate to do so unless they are getting something in return. If you start a contest or have some kind of exclusive content available for subscribing, people that come by are more likely to subscribe to your updates. What this means for you is that they will be reading things you write more often and will come by and comment on your blog. This is what we want, more frequent flyers, and more interactivity in the form of commenting.

2. Increase Your Daily Traffic
As I’ve already laid out, offering a bribe to your readers will have them subscribing to your RSS feed. Once they are subscribed to your feed, these new subscribers will be getting all of your new posts sent to their email inbox or RSS reader every time you update. What this means for you, is that you now have a larger pool of people coming back to your website if they see an interesting post. This will increase your overall traffic flow to your website immensely!

Think about offering bribes like baiting a fishing hook and casting the line. You are setting yourself up to increase the daily traffic to your website, gaining returning visitors, which are the most important  type of traffic available. So go ahead and offer that bribe, it’ll boost your traffic like nothing else.

3. Boost your RSS subscriber numbers
Obviously, the main goal in offering an exclusive subscriber bonus is to see your RSS numbers increase. As I have mentioned numerous times in the past, your RSS subscribers are a gauge for your ultimate success as a blogger. Without returning visitors and subscribers, your blog isn’t worth a whole lot and future readers will be less likely to subscribe.

One thing I have found to be true across the blogosphere is that people flock towards success. Knowing this, a typical internet surfer will be far more likely to subscribe to a blog with subscriber numbers in the hundreds (or thousands) than one with less than fifty. You want to inflate your RSS subscriber numbers as much as possible, and offering a little incentive to encourage this is no problem at all.

Bottom Line: Offering bribes to your readers is one of the smartest marketing ploys in the book. People that label bribing as unethical are going to be put at a loss to bloggers that are incentivizing subscribing. So throw away that “good blogger” mentality and focus on enhancing the experience for everyone by encouraging your readers to come back for more… it’s the best move you’ll ever make!

-The Net Fool

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