MelvinBlog

A blog that chronicles my journey on online marketing, blogging, social media, technology and life.

Ramblings

Providing Something, That’s What People Love

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So I don’t really know if I can still compete to the blogging Idol. I would be entering the busiest week of this month. If you aren’t subscribed to my feed then consider subscribing now! 😉

Most people are thinking “how can I make my site popular?” And I admit, this is something that everyone of us wants but only few can have it. You see all the tips everywhere on how to run a blog and get tons of traffic and readers and how to promote and so. But the truth is, it boils down on how you make other people like your site, how you can provide them something that is useful. For this matter let’s take some examples on sites that do this one very well.

JohnChow.com – I know many are despising and hating Chow for putting so much ads on his site, for doing ten paid reviews a day, for having posts not related to making money online and more. But does it make his traffic suffer? how about the comments? Not even close! The truth about Chow’s traffic is that people enjoy him as him! I have seen many video posts of Chow and he’s very hilarious (looks very hilarious)! In this way, he provides ENTERTAINMENT for people like us. Of course, he’s still one of the more established make money online blog. But he does this with a twist! That’s what make John Chow’s blog grow!

JackBook.com – Well I am sure not many of you know this site. But I think it’s a popular one! Jacky Supit, the owner is a Malaysian blogger. Upon looking at his blog you can count on  both of you’re fingers why you will not like his site so much. Plenty of ads, lack of value of posts, atrocious grammar (worse than mine), an ugly tagline of “a master of blogger”, a 728X60 advertisement at the top of his header and doing reviews about casinos! Yeah, I don’t really much comment on his site. So why there are about 50,000 people following his site? Because he provides things! He converts wordpress themes to blogger for free, he shares his hacks to blogger blogs, he let people scorn at him, he’s very generous with most people and many more. That’s because he started with Blogger and then later moved with wordpress and he’s also a good coder. To count the rate of positives over negatives is just too much. Now, no wonder why many people are subscribed to his feed.

DoshDosh.com Dosh Dosh is probably my favorite blog. It is probably one of the more super duper informative blog about many things. Blogging, Social Meda, Internet Marketing and so. With Doshdosh I know people don’t bother with the anime faces at his blog. Now think if someone unpopular do this tactic. I’m sure people would question it and scorn at it. Also Dosh Dosh has also decreased his posting frequency. I think he’s just posting two to three times a week! Does it affect his traffic? No! Because every single post there is marked with educational and proven tips and techniques (in a formal language) that we could surely apply.

You see, these blogs are blogs that other people can easily think the reverse way what we (I) think of them. But because they have overdelivered with something that is beneficial to us, readers, they remained to be at the top of their niche. At the end it’s not important, how your site looks like, how you hide your privacy too much and even where you came from! It boils down to how you can greatly affect the society, and that is what people will follow!

You and you’re blog, what do you provide to the society? Do you just do it in hopes that you’ll make money from it sooner than later? Or you really have a genuine intention of providing something?

I’m Making Money Online

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Update: I am still accepting sponsors, so if you are godly then you can contact me

Back to the days when I was starting out my venture on making money online, friends usually ask me “What the heck are you doing bro?” I normally respond and say “Im trying to make money online. They didn’t mind and never asked a follow up questions anymore.

So some time early this year and recently I was showing them some checks and moneys from affiliate programs and my records on paypal and that’s the only time they have got interested into what I am doing. Problem is, they ask me now seriously. How did you do it? How are you doing it? How can I do it also? Can I also get rich doing that? I respond by saying “I do affiliate marketing, I promote other people’s product and get paid by commissions”. Then they respond with so many many more follow up questions. Because for them it’s hard to understand technical terms such as CPA, CPL, Adwords, Squeeze page and so. Now I want to ask you guys, how would you explain this to someone who knows literally nothing about internet marketing. I mean when they ask you “How do you make money online and how can I too?” How can you answer them (meaningful answer that would enlighten them and not confuse them) in less than 5 sentences?

Ok, actually this one is a little contest. Everyone is running big contest just to boost their feeds and I don’t want to be the same with them. This one is just a small contest with very small prices (can’t even see them). And here are the prices first:

  • 2 copies of how a newbie could make “$500 a month in affiliate marketing sponsored by Simple Cash Blog.
  • 1 copy of the “Atomic blogging ebook” which I have won in the contest
  • Mega PLR package hosted by Me… 😉
  • Update 3 links for 1month free from Zigtur
  • Adsense Profit Unleashed by Zigtur Again
  • 2 125X125 ads at the sidebar
  • 5 text-links at the sidebar

As you can see I did not even include the price for the prizes. Let the quality do the talking. 😉 You see, just a very little contest that benefits other people and great value of prices. What do you have to do to get points?

  • Answer the question – Obviously this is what the contest is all about, right? This would not benefit me, but others who have very little knowledge of this one. Only 1 answer please. 5 points + 5 to the best answer.
  • Stumble this post – Obviously I was getting very little traffic from social media except reddit so maybe you can help me. 3 points
  • Linkback from this one – 2 points

As you can see I didn’t even include you subscribing to my feed because I know you guys are subscribed. But if you aren’t the best way to give back is to subscribe to my feed. Another way of gaining points also is by signing here (available only to United States and Canada)

That’s it. Everything would be randomized and the higher the points the better the chances of winning. 10 winners will be taken and I will post the result here next week since my exams are pretty close. Goodluck to everyone and happy blogging… 😉

Laying Out My Initial Plans

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Most of the contestants for the blogging idol have already revealed what they are planning to do to gain rss subscribers on the first week. I have read most of it and I can say that they really have a nice plan to gain subscribers. Today I am going to share with you what are my initial plans that I have thought of. Of course writing good content, doing some forum promotions and others stuffs are obvious. My thoughts are a bit of out of box but I think is very very effective. So how do I start promoting this feed? Well I have started doing it offline. 😉 But of course I also had some great plans for online promotion

  1. Begging – yeah I am going to admit this one is a little unorthodox. But so what? I did some statements that would surely touch the readers heart on some discussion sites. Of course I made sure the statements wouldn’t look exaggerating to them. So where did I do it? First is Smorty Forums. I have a pretty good image there as I have helped a lot of people earn (or at least what i think). Another is in the Blogcatalog discussion area. Obviously Blogcatalog is a high-trafficked site averaging about 50,000 page views per day. The problem there is that all members want to take the spotlight so if you had posted there, come back after 2 minutes and you’ll see that you’re thread is already in the second page.
  2. The family and friends – this one is so easy to understand. The great thing here is that the more friends you have the more chances that there are more who will subscribe to your feed. Filipinos are very close to each other and it’s not hard to see why they would do what you requested for.
  3. Using my University – As I have said before I am an officer of an organization in our university. And not that just I am an officer, I also have a huge influence all throughout the org. So the thing would be simple, you’ll ask everyone in the IT and CS department as well as the students to subscribe.
  4. Giving away free stuffs! – Here in Philippines, people hold a lot of bloggers party. And I have a lots of giveaway cards printed that has my feed address at the back asking to subscribe. Now what do I say about Filipino people?

Right now, as the contest goes on I am seeing how little, I mean very little, a bloggers chance are. But this does not stop me from getting motivated! This is a great challenge for me and on how can I improve things that I am not really an expert in. So far I only had a 20+ increase in my feed count but I am very optimistic. How about you? How motivated are you? Well, if you are, then you may like to subscribe to my feed. 🙂

Your Face In Your Blog!

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So today I was reading doshdosh and again I have noticed Maki still not putting his face in his blog. Actually I know so much that Maki loves anime and have nothing against it. However I always feel that having your picture in your blog helps. Well I think I have said last time that blogs represent yourself and most of the times, the content, picture reflects to ourselves. Having your own picture in your blog specifically in the about page helps the readers value your blog more. I think one of the first pages that a visitor would read in your blog is your about page and what would you think he will think upon seeing a cartoon or no picture? Hmm..

I can’t argue with DoshDosh. It’s an established site that has given everyone a great help. In fact it’s one of my favorite blogs (a blog I read every morning). With Maki, he already had set his own standard of putting anime girls (sexy & yummy) and anime pictures in his blog and you can see that the readers don’t bother about it. For smaller blogs, it’s really important to have your face there. In case you’re trying to imitate him or just wanting to be anonymous, I’m very sure you’ll not duplicate Maki’s success. I really really do not see reason/s why you should not put a picture of you on your blog. Just look around, Chow being evil is being punctuated by his picture, Shoemoney has his every friday and almost everyone is proud of their face. And i’m not even talking about being gorgeous or ugly 😉

If you do not have a face in your blog, then how can you interact face to face with them? Or could you tell me why you don’t have a picture of yours and maybe explain your side.

I Forgot The Top Commenters!

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Everyone in the blogosphere seems to be talking about the launch of Blogging Idol. Of course I know everyone is getting themselves ready to launch their attacks to gain rss subscribers. I’m not gonna talk about the competition. Today I am giving something away to the top commentators last month. As you may have remembered I told you that I’m giving something for those people who have commented even w/an almost unseen comment form. So I just feel they deserve to get credited for doing so. So here are the top commenters for last month

As you can see, the criteria of top commenters is based per month. BUT it isn’t just end there. I have an algorithm done by a friend that detects people who are just running up their comments. As I have said before I’m not strict in comments but of course I don’t tolerate trolls. Another thing to add is that I have the editorial decision to remove a commentator who is sporting a spammy keyword. That’s why I always believe that when you put a comment, then you might as well want your name to get credited for it. For winners to claim your prizes shoot me a mail or a comment stating you’re email address. Don’t forget to put [@] to avoid spam on your inbox.

And before I forgot of course, everyone is doing it so do I. I’m not forcing you but see I can say I have something to be proud of my content. You can say I’m great, I’m sloppy, I’m lazy, I’m not ugly, but the best thing you can do is say nothing and subscribe to my feed. 😉

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Catching Up With All The Stuffs

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I really hate to post recaps but I have to. I feel drained because of all school works and all the stuffs surrounding me. Sometimes being healthy really helps a lot. And I can say I am not! wtf! So here are the things that happened and will happen in the next few days.

Pacquiao vs Diaz –> Not really a big fan of boxing but then it’s Manny Pacquaio! If you do not know Manny Pacquiao is the savior of the Philippines. Everytime this country faces crisis, he always back us up by giving us glory and winning his fights against everyone, yes everyone. It’s he who makes this country unite. Go for Glory Manny! Btw, I had a bet which costs $100 for it. Good luck to me!

I won in Carl Ocab’s Contest –> I wasn’t really serious and haven’t even think of winning a price. But Carl seemed to be very generous in this one. I think he didn’t follow his own criteria for winning and he just decided to make everyone that comments on his blog happy! Carl, I’m waiting for my price!

Monthly hosting paid –> I don’t seriously know why I have settled for monthly billing. Maybe because I would want to feel how is it to be like a parent who pays and budgets monthly.

Comment Form Fixed –> Again thanks for Alkorani. I’m lucky to have people commenting on my blog even with a white comment form. You’ll surely get something from me at the end of this month. Watch Out!

StandOutBlogger Logo –> Well SOB is one of the great blogs out there that I am really reading. It contains great tips for newbies/intermediate. I like your logo man!

Blogging idol –> Well I’ve joined this one. I have no idea how can I win in this contest and I know it’s very impossible. But then it can improve my marketing skills. I’m planning everything for this and as Daniel said, avoid Blackhats, so I would. Good luck to everyone who have joined it. Shoot me with tips to win it! 😉

Winning The Web Shirt is a Great One!

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Well just this day I have received something in a brown envelope that I first suspect as a bomb. And upon looking at the back I saw the name Gyutae Park so I guess it’s his shirt of winning the web. I have purchased it last month from him because I’m a big fan of shirts that promote sites. I pretty feel the price is very fair with everyone. The shirt also looks better when you wear it than when you just look at it.

I guess the shirt makes me look better. 😉 For those who do not know Gyutae, he is the proud owner of Winning the Web, a site that is about internet marketing. He has a lot of great content there. I can remember he hosted a certain contest there that is really really great. His site definitely worths a look. For others who are selling great shirts, let me know it so I can take a look at it. 😉

me!