When you visit a website… what is the first thing you see?
The answer (to this “lay-up” question) is THE HEADER!

While it may be an overstatement to say that theNetFool.com is now sporting the greatest header that has ever been created for a weblog (and I do this simply for a great post topic ), I’ve made some more changes that I am sure you have noticed by now. By adding a clever opt-in newsletter subscription box, and in a very aesthetically pleasing manner, I will be boosting the amount of turnover this blog generates… and we all know that more subscribers = more POWER.

The Inspiration for Change?
My inspiration was actually a video I saw a week ago from one of the most famous MMO bloggers of all time, John Chow. Now, John takes a lot of heat from people who claim that all of his material is either 1) fluffy and unimportant; or 2) wrong or misleading. I feel that most of this is coming from the fact that he is a top dog, and people love to hate the champ. In summary, the video is about how he makes money blogging… and a lot of his success revolved around the fact that he used his blog as a machine to capture email addresses. I noticed that I wasn’t doing this currently, and I have

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One of the “hot ticket” items in blogging is maximizing the amount of RSS readers that you bring in to your website. As unfortunate as it might be… bloggers nowadays are judged much more by the amount of followers that they have, then on actual content quality. Maybe you aren’t a believer in strong RSS numbers, but because other people are looking toward this number for a sense of reputation… we need to find ways to increase this as soon as we can to stay ahead of the curve!

Can you really DOUBLE your RSS count, without “cheating the system?”
Absolutely! But only if you have the right tools at your disposal.

Today, I’m giving you a method that only the best bloggers are using to boost the amount of RSS readers that they bring in. It is unfortunate that only the big boys use tools like these… but it is a very affordable trick that can more than double your RSS subscriber count with relative ease if done correctly. Let’s get to it!

Using an Opt-In List to Boost your RSS

This method starts by considering an alternative method of recording who is and isn’t a “rss reader” of your blog. I know of three methods that directly impact your RSS count, assuming that you are using Feedburner to manage your feeds (if you aren’t, sign up!).

1. Signing up through an RSS Reader
2. Registering to receive email RSS updates
3. “Opting In” to a Blog Newsletter, and being converted to RSS

Not too many people know of the third option, but it can actually jump up your RSS subscriber numbers in a day if you have a list built up and decide to use the option. I know that many bloggers have done this to win RSS competitions and the like… and it is truly a smart way to increase your readership in an alternative way. We are going to discuss option three today, and get you acquainted with Opt-In lists.

Five steps to double your RSS feed count

The following is a five-step process that I have developed to get anyone who is willing to put in the work a much more healthy RSS booking. You can literally double your reader number within a few days easily… and it’s a shame that bloggers don’t take advantage of this method.

Step One: Signing Up for a Newsletter Service
Unfortunately, if you want to run a newsletter service for your blog, it’s not going to be free. The service that I use, and most of the world for that matter, is called Aweber… and it is truly a great service that I have never once regretted buying. For a small monthly fee, you can register for this service and design awesome newsletters, send out weekly blog post updates or even offer digital content exclusively to your readers. If you are planning on being a successful blogger, I want to encourage you to use Aweber sooner rather than later.

Step Two: Setting Up Your Newsletter
Once you have registered with a newsletter service (and I highly recommend a “paid” service here), it’s time to set up your first newsletter. The methodology here might be different depending on which service you use… but through Aweber they guide you through it until you are 100% complete with the setup. Essentially, you need to put together a few things like a welcome note, address, newsletter format and email setup.

Step Three: Creating an Opt-In Landing Page
In order to get people to sign up to your list, we need a landing page. Want an example? Here is one I just set up for Bullish Bankers LLC. Making an attractive landing page can be difficult. Fortunately for me, I purchased a complete package of landing page/website templates that all work together and can make you a handsome profit. You can get this yourself, as it is available online: Turbo Power Graphics. With Turbo Power Graphics, you get 10 awesome corporate identities… everything from an opt-in page, to a sales page, video pitch page and even an Adsense-enabled revenue page. It’s well worth the price tag, and you won’t need to hire a designer… so that is well worth it. The important thing here is to throw in some catchy graphics, and talk like a salesman… make the customer really want to join your newsletter and emphasize that it is free!

Step Four: Syncing Your Newsletter with Your Landing Page
Now that we have a landing “opt in” page set up on your website, you need a way to take hits onto your landing page… and convert them into newsletter subscribers. Log into your newsletter service (AKA Aweber) and make a “web form” that will link users into your list. There are usually a few ways to do this, for example a pop-up message or overlay, but what you probably want to use is the “inline” method as it is the best to work with. Set up your web form to tie into your new list, and grab the HTML coding for the form (typically a “name,” “email” and “submit” form).

You have your web form in HTML format, so now it is as simple as loading up your opt-in page that we have set up… and putting the code somewhere on the page that makes it identifiable. If you are using an “Opt In” page like in my example, then there will be another way to enter on the top. Make sure to switch that coding around with the code given to you from your newsletter (Aweber support will help you do this if you get stuck). I recommend testing all the forms you have on your “Opt In” page right now, just to make sure that it truly will sign users up and you aren’t wasting your time.

Step Five: Let Readers Know About The New Service!
Everything should be good to go at this point… so what to do now? That’s right. Tell somebody about it! You can generate buzz pretty easily, so I would recommend the following: posting about the newsletter on your blog, letting people know in a forum, contacting your blogging buddies asking for their help.

One thing that I absolutely recommend is having some kind of digital download. People need an incentive to subscribe, so be sure to offer them a custom eBook or other file that people would be interested in. The good thing about Aweber is that you can have downloads automatically sent to anyone that subscribes.

By this point, you should have a few people that took the bait, and have now signed up to your newsletter. Now, you simply need to send out what is called a “Blog Broadcast” to your newsletter readers to get them actively counted in your Feedburner RSS count. This is a pretty simple step that goes under-utilized despite the obvious benefits. So make sure you are in on it!

Bottom Line: You can literally double your RSS feed count with an “opt-in” list that ties in directly with your blog. Imagine if you had 500 readers and all of them signed up to your newsletter (not a stretch of the imagination). You could convert all these newsletter readers into active subscribers and reach the 1,000 level the next day! Not bad for a few extra bucks a month and an hour of work setting up the “Opt In” landing page, eh?

-The Net Fool

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Do you write articles that tailor to what you feel are the best “keyword phrases” for your niche? Maybe you are into the school of thought that says smaller niche blogs make more money than broad-based websites. Maybe you are right, and maybe you are wrong. However, there is one time of the year that we can all capitalize off of a train of thought that exists in a majority of users on the internet and around the world. What am I talking about? People that look for things on the internet want the best, the top, the most used and well-regarded products and services available… and the new year is the perfect time to make serious money off of this trend.

One of the best ways to cash in on affiliate marketing trends is to nail those search terms that people are searching for right before making a purchase. Knowing that people nowadays never settle for second best, the start of a new year always presents a great time to cash in on new list… particularly ones that rank “top tens” or “best five” of 2009.

Is It Really That Easy?

In reality… this is actually very easy to accomplish. In fact, a post the I wrote when my blog was a virtual infant, early in 2008, is still getting me referrals to this date. While I was relatively inexperienced at the time I wrote it, and did absolutely no marketing for the keyword phrase, I am still on the top pages for terms like “top online brokers” and “top brokers 2008.” Yes, this post that I wrote on the” best” stock market brokers has gotten me great traffic, and awesome conversions to the service that I recommended as the “number one” online stock market broker, Scottrade.

Unfortunately for me, the service that I recommend (Scottrade) gives no cash for new referrals… instead lending “free trades” to my account. This is fine for me, because I like to trade stocks and they are normally $7 a trade. However, I am going to attempt this list again now that a new year has hit, and hope to target a better paying affiliate program. This is just one example that I have chosen to show you of many… and by devoting some posts in 2009 to making “top tens” or whatever you’d like to write about (with the intention of targetting affiliate offers, of course), you will find yourself in the money before you know it!

How Do I Know What To Write About?

Many internet marketers go into campaigns not exactly knowing what they will be looking for. Instead, you can simply open up an account you have somewhere, for example Commission Junction (one of my favorites, and one of the largest), and search through their offers until you find a particular niche that has some great offers. The thing is, you really only need one or two good offers. Why? Who in there right mind goes and reads an article about the “top ten widgets” and buys something that isn’t #1? That’s right… not too many people!

Step One:
First, we need to search out a niche that we think will be good all year round. For example, let’s try to do a list on online dating. Especially around Valentine’s Day, this seems to be a hot trend that has been picking up steam as we get more and more into the future. Perhaps this is a strong long-term trend that we could be targeting? Instead of thinking “online dating,” let’s give ourselves a better shot and try “online dating for women” in the title of our article. Who knows, you could still hit on Google for “online dating” with this strategy!

Step Two:
Now that we have searched around a bit and found some offers that we like… all we really need to do is to compare what the affiliate programs are offering. Additionally, I usually check out what I am looking at… just to make sure that the company isn’t a “rip off” to anyone reading. You always should aim to stay ethical in everything that you do! I like offers that give a fixed payment rather than a percentage (just a preference)… so let’s use the top offer “MatchMaker.com”.

I’ve checked things out, and this company is reputable as a dating website. So, I would form my list… perhaps name the article in WordPress “The Top Five Online Dating Websites for Women in 2009″ and put MatchMaker.com (with my affiliate link cleverly inserted) as the number one result! This should ring in some top placements from Google with a little luck, and bring in the cash for the new year!

Bottom Line: Don’t let 2009 go to waste… turn it into $2009! You really can capitalize on “best of 2009″ lists by using the method above as I have done successfully in the past. But remember, don’t turn into an article spammer and never recommend a bad product for the referral money. In the long run, stick true to your guns and recommend what you truly feel is the best product… and you will be a wealthier individual!

-The Net Fool

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How many people could you name off the top of your head that have great looking websites and blogs? Probably quite a few!

My second question is how many of these people actually write solid content?
About half.

This disturbing fact has gotten me flustered over the course of blogging up to this point, I’m not going to hide that fact at all. In fact, it seems that when I advise people about starting their first blog… or even how to make money online in general… the problem is not how you are doing it… but your ability to project a professional appearance! I want to talk to you today about how to build a blogging empire online simply by deceiving your users, simply because so many people have been able to do this. Sometimes, it’s not about the content that you write, but how well it is received on the other end.

Deception? What Are You Talking About?

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, you are being duped by many bloggers into the belief that because they are putting up content… they are the “real deal.” In fact, it stretches far beyond this. While some people simply make blogs on generic-looking templates that have some level of credibility… but never really get over that bump… quite a few bloggers go the extra mile and order custom templates that make them seem downright immaculate. Once a blogger orders a custom template and you visit their blog, simply seeing their personalized settings immediately triggers in your brain the notion that “oh, they have a custom built blog… they must be good… I think I’ll subscribe!” Let’s take a look at an example:

Which blog would you subscribe to?

If I were to show you the two websites here, you would probably think I was crazy if I were to recommend you actually subscribe to the second one… right? Well as it turns out, the one on the left is theNetFool.com. The one on the right… is theNetFool.com.

For about 4 months I operated under terrible conditions with around 20 RSS subscribers (including myself) at the peak. Why? Simply because my design was generic. I decided to invest a few hundred in a professional template… and boom! My quality of work didn’t go up at all, yet my RSS subscriber chart was off to the races! The bottom line here is that you could be the best blogger in the world with money-making ideas that will feed a family. If you cannot relay your information on a professional-looking website, you will never succeed.

Sounds Simple Enough… What’s Wrong Then?

I consider myself to be a writer that gives you useful information and a reason to read. I don’t trap anyone into scam deals, and I sure as heck don’t waste your time with posts about my personal life, my next contest or even constant advertising. The problem is that for the same reasons that you would rather choose blog LEFT over blog RIGHT are the reasons that there are so many success stories out there that don’t deserve it. It’s not your fault, it is human nature to trend toward the aesthetically pleasing, eh?

No, I am not going to name names… that wouldn’t be fair or very nice of me. I like to be constructive, not destructive. Because of this, I want to challenge you to go through your list of “favorite blogs” and really take a look at the content. Have a quick glance at the archives and see if they are still writing interesting content! Chances are… if it is a fashionable blog, they are giving you about as much information as (insert metaphor here). I could run off a list of bloggers 20+ in length that I know personally, that only exist because they have “cool” looking blogs that people subscribe to because they associate good looks with good content.

Using Deception to Your Advantage!

Let’s turn it around, eh? Perhaps you are a fantastic writer and you are still using a “premium WP theme” that is completely free for anyone to download. A quick news-flash to these “blogging hopefulls:” anything “free” is by definition not premium. In fact, if I visit your website and I see a design that I have seen somewhere else, I am already half discrediting your authority in my mind! It’s sad, but it’s entirely true! If you want to be a successful blogger in a tough niche, one thing that you absolutely need is a customized theme… or at bare minimum a fancy logo that will designate you from the pack. Heck, you can grab an awesome logo for under $20 if you set up an auction on GetAFreelancer.com, DigitalPoint or WarriorForum.

Another great tip is to create a mascot for your blog. With me, I represented myself in a cartoon rendered version. There are many professional cartoonists out there on the internet just waiting for you to drop a few bucks in their direction. Think about it this way, the cost of an RSS subscriber is somewhere around $10-$18 as estimated by comparable blog sales in the past. A new mascot will run you anywhere from $40 to $100 depending on the quality of work you choose. Because of this, any cost you take on the front end will be almost immediately recovered by an essentially automatic RSS boost.

Bottom Line: You NEED to upgrade your blog to stay competitive! With the amount of bloggers that run around with professional designs these days (and not much else), you need to be able to make a name for yourself with a flashy new design, new logo or a new mascot for your blog. Never sacrifice your content to put out what only has the appearance of professionalism, but remember that it’s not always what you write… but how you write it!

-The Net Fool

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Website owners, and bloggers in particular, often have their success gauged by third party ranking metrics. The leaders in this technology are Google (Pagerank), Technorati (Technorati Rank) and Alexa (Alexa Rank)… but some are clearly better than others in accurately measuring a site’s popularity.

Despite the constant complaining, I remain convinced that Google Pagerank is in fact the most accurate of the three, and is actually a very accurate grader of popularity (on average). Technorati is really only used to judge websites that exist in the tech and information areas of the market. The third option would be Alexa, which is without a doubt the most unstable of the three. While theNetFool.com held an Alexa ranking of around 88,000 over the past month, we have slipped into the mid-100,000s while traffic has continued to climb. This raises the question, if your Alexa ranking sucks… are you doing something wrong?

How The Ranking Is Determined… And Why It’s Unreliable
I had to have a look toward the official Alexa.com FAQ section to determine exactly how the algorithm works. Despite the fact that they have recently upgraded their ranking metric, things still rely on the same old factors: toolbar views, unique page views and website reach. Here is the official excerpt:

“A site’s ranking is based on a combined measure of reach and pageviews. Reach is determined by the number of unique Alexa users who visit a site on a given day. Pageviews are the total number of Alexa user URL requests for a site. However, multiple requests for the same URL on the same day by the same user are counted as a single pageview. The site with the highest combination of users and pageviews is ranked #1.”

We can see here that views are counted more if they are unique. This sounds good, but it’s naturally going to weigh social media hits too heavily. I truly believe that my Alexa ranking has self-imploded since I stopped actively marketing with social media. While I felt that getting hits from websites like StumbleUpon and Digg by the thousands was a cheap way to increase my real traffic, (and deceptive to advertisers to put it lightly) it was actually holding up my Alexa ranking the entire time.

You Are Getting The Short End of the Stick
The bottom line here is that the way Alexa scores ranking is putting you at a loss if you do not do everything under your control to boost your rating. Don’t care? Maybe you should. As unfair as it is, advertisers and other marketing companies look to Alexa ranking among other things to set their rates. If your blog is signed up under ReviewMe.com or SponsoredReviews.com, you are literally being compared by your Alexa ranking to determine pricing.

If you are not using the Alexa.com toolbar yourself, you are missing out on some good rank-inflation. If your readers and visitors don’t have it installed, you are getting hit even harder. Failure to use social media websites to drive unique visitors to your blog will negatively effect your Alexa rank as other websites gain ground on yours. And if you aren’t using any Alexa.com widget, you miss out on lots of potential.

The Net Fool’s Alexa Antidote
Since my Alexa.com ranking has slipped off the charts (despite record growth), I have developed a five-step plan that I think all of you should take in order to conquer Alexa and increase your site’s worth. Let’s break it down!

1. Install a chart or widget on your actual website
Notice a change in the footer of theNetFool.com? I installed the chart widget because each impression on the chart registers better with Alexa, which can help if your traffic doesn’t already have the official toolbar installed in their web browser. You can get the chart widget right on your site’s Alexa homepage, and can alternatively use a simple ranking-display widget if you don’t have as much space.

2. Install the Firefox “Sparky” Alexa toolbar plugin
By installing the official Alexa toolbar on your blog/website, you will be getting your website ranking boosted a bit more every time you visit, and will help out all of your favorite blogs as well. It’s really a win-win and the new Sparky plugin is easy to install, convenient and you won’t even notice it’s there!

3. Encourage your visitors to install the Alexa plugin themselves
The logical next step is to ask your readers to install the plugin themselves. I’ll do that now… “please install the Alexa.com plugin!” In all seriousness, having everyone use the Firefox plugin will increase your ranking big time. For my blog, most of my users are on FireFox, meaning that I have a potential 60%+ increase if everyone were viewing with the toolbar. It’s a chain reaction that really pays off.

4. Create content targeted toward tech/geek internet surfers
Despite the updates to the ranking metric, one thing remains the same: Alexa.com rankings are amplified by the tech/geek crew. Why? Internet surfers that look at tech-related material are much more likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed. Therefore, making a post about Alexa.com rankings (what I am doing now) or making a nice list of webmaster resources can really attract a lot of important views that will drive your Alexa ranking HIGHER!

5. Target social media traffic for increase unique visitors
Just like we want to create effective content that is well-received by the internet community, we want to reach out to social media bookmarking websites like Digg.com, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Technorati and Mixx in order to really throttle our results. Unique visitors make a HUGE difference, so by using social media networks, even if users stay for a half second, you are going to be artificially inflating your Alexa numbers which is a win-win any day of the week.

This five-step plan should be a great starting block in getting your Alexa.com ranking up with the pros. A lot of really high-quality websites get slapped with poor Alexa rankings, while some brand new blogs are getting sub-100k ranks! UberAffiliate.com has an Alexa ranking of 325,000; JohnCow.com has an Alexa ranking of 235,000; but TheNetFool.com somehow trounces both with a ranking of 112,000.

Is this accurate? No. Is this reasonable? No. Is this even fair? No. But until Alexa makes a shift to a more precise ranking metric, we have to claw our way to higher rankings by gaming the system.

-The Net Fool

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