BlogEngage Invite only now!  Many of you know I am a huge supporter of Blog Engage.  If you haven’t joined Blog Engage by now a few things have changed.  No longer can you just join BlogEngage.  In order to become a member now  with this site you will need an invite.  The good news is existing members can provide you with an invite.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the best network and communities of bloggers please comment below and I can review your blog and sent you and invite.

Announcement from Brian Owner of BlogEngage

Blog Engage Closes Registrations and goes invitation only!

How to Invite Others

*** 1st you must be an existing member if you are then you have a simple 3 step process to follow details below.  The process is really simple nice work Brian.

Step 1 Log in to BlogEngage

Step 2 Click Invite Friends (Screen Shot Below)

Step 3 Add your e-mail and the person or persons you want to enter.

Is this a good move?

I would love to here you comments on this.  I personally think it is.  BlogEngage has grown tremendously in the last year.  Going invite only can is a technique that Google has used when it first launched G-Mail, Google Wave, Google Voice.   It worked for them it can create a buzz and demand for your product or service.  I been a member since July and I can tell you that I have made so many connections here.  I have found and connected with a lot of quality bloggers and made a bunch of blogger friends.

Wow, hard to believe it been eight months since I launched The Money Cult.  For those that are new and haven’t seen this before each month I take some time to review the previous month and recap what I learned, accomplished and how I am feeling about my site before the next month begins.

First I would really like to say I am sorry to everyone and myself for slacking the last two months but I am officially out of my funk.  I am not sure exactly what happed but basically I stop putting in the time and effort and my blog almost died.  Enough with that lets move on to review which will be a little on the negative side but you can’t always report the good.  This should help me document my mistakes and finally put this behind me so I can move on.

So here is what happened after working early morning and late nights  everyday for the last 6-9 months I just stopped doing everything.  If you looked at how I was finding time to spend on my business it wasn’t something that was sustainable.  I would get up at 5:15am and work on things till 7:00am got to work and then be back on them at 9:30pm till 12:00pm most of the time. This wasn’t everyday but most of the days I would spend at least 2-3 hours on this stuff.

This is not something that anyone can sustain for a long period of time the only result will be burnout which is exactly what happened to me.  So what am I going to do differently.  I going to limit the time I spend and try to have more a a schedule for working on this blog.  I hope that the results will be that I can accomplish more by being more focused during that time.  I not going to push myself so hard and just realize that with consistent efforts and time good things will happen.  I think part of my problem was I had some unrealistic expectations.

Lessons learned from last month that still hold true.

I don’t have much to say here other then I learned a lot about the effects of burnout and what can happen to your blog if you stop.  Take my advice and learn from me on this.  Make sure you have some content stored for a rainy day.  I lost a lot of traffic and readers which I hope I can recover by taken a unplanned break.

State of Mind

The last two months were difficult for me however I look forward to the future and upcoming year.  I am excited that get back at it and really want to spend the month of December doing the following.  I will finally get around to switching to more professional looking wordpress theme and recapping my 1st year of my attempt to become an internet marketer.  This should be a good serious of post most of what I have talked about to this day is really the last 3-6 months but before I started blogging regularly here I was doing a lot of learning and experimenting.  I think others that are starting out can learn from this so I will share.

Month End totals

I want to give a little credit to David Risley for this one.  Recently David been doing a few post like this where he asks his readers a question to get their thoughts.  I really like this approach as it really encourages readers commenting.  So I am stealing his idea because I like it and part of what I do is take idea’s from other blog that I like and try them on my blog.  This is an open invite to share your blog advice.

What’s the biggest mistake you made when you started your blog or online business?

Everyone makes mistakes what is important is that we learn from our mistakes and move on.  Often you learn more from making mistakes vs. getting it right the 1st time.  So with that I want to ask everyone to share some blog advice and what their biggest mistake that they remember or care to share.

I hope that everyone can learn a little from each other here as we share.  So to start thing off I and going to take about mine which is not focusing on the fundementals. 

The key fundemental I overlooked was TRAFFIC. 

When I started I went more down the road of making a product and didn’t even thing about how important traffic or difficult getting traffic would be.  I also bought in to the hype that I was going to make all kinds of money right away and from what I read or heard about driving traffic was easy just do some PPC and some adwords campaigns and the traffic would come. 

Well I gave that a try and nothing.  I then realized I forgot all about one of the key fundamental of the internet TRAFFIC.  I immediately changed my focus on finding out how to drive traffic.  I started to play and experiment with youtube and my blog and many other things like social networking.  Prior I didn’t really post much on my blog but crap.  I even forgot to install google analytics huge mistake.  I was using my hosting stats that doesn’t even compare.  I didn’t even know that I wasn’t getting traffic and what little traffic I was getting I didn’t know where it was coming from or why I was getting it.

Since July I have made a lot of progress with my blog.  I have since doubled my traffic every month.  I found out which actions produce positive results for this site.  I have learned techniques that work I can use and repeat them.  I will continue to build a nice steady stream of traffic for years to come.  I will continue to learn as that is just how this business is and the rules change form time to time.

So with that what is your blog advice? 

What’s the biggest mistake you made when you started your blog or online business? 

I like to make blogging fun.  Please share any of your blog mistakes, blog advice or tips blogging.

Here’s the deal I have the GoDaddy Promo Code for this month and it a great one.  Act now through Sept 21th and get 25% off if you spend $75.  So this is your chance to move your blog it own domain or start up a new one.  You can’t beat this one year of hosting is dirt cheap hear without the Promo.  1 year of hosting.  Just click the link below and use the following.

GoDaddy Promo Code

code. gdr917an

www.GoDaddy.com

 My Extra Special Bonus

***Free IT consolation 50-100 Dollar Value

If you sign up via my link I well offer the following personal bonus for you.

Here’s the deal sign up for Hosting with Godaddy and get 1/2 hour of Free IT Business Consulting. A $50 dollar value.  Look chances are I will help you even more if you truly need it.  I like to help people and the startup phase is really a great time to get to starting to know and help people.  Plus if you ask me installing a Wordpress site on Godaddy is about as easy as it gets.  A couple clicks and and you are ready to go.

If you are interested in this either contact me for more information on how it works.  You can ask questions here or contact me via my contact form.  All you need to do is let me know once you signed up forward me your conformation and I then we can setup a call.

Why I use www.GoDaddy.com Here is the deal.  I use Godaddy as my web host cause I got tired of small no name unreliable companies.  I use them cause the are cheap and have a great support network, are not going to go away.  I use them cause the servers are located in the USA and reliable and fast. If you want to reserve a domain or do some domain purchasing.  Then GoDaddy is a great place to register cheap domain.  I have had a few crappy experiences with others that claim to host top web site but can’t even handle a small site 5 page site and service didn’t respond.  No thanks.

So one more time.  Act now and get click on the godaddy link in this post and use the following godaddy promo code (gdr917an).  If you have questions about them let me know.  I can help with the process.  Then once you sign up forward me the conformation and I will then be in contact with you to setup a call. 

I will assist you in with at least 1/2 of personal support of one on one support.  You can ask me anything you thing you want about your new site or your online business.

In this post I going to talk a little bit about your overall plan for you blog and making money.  So the question is do you have a blog strategy and if so what is it and what does it include.  Now isn’t that an interesting question.  Here are a couple more you should ask yourself. 

Do you a blog strategy?
Do you follow it?
Do you review it?
Do you like to here about other  peoples strategies?
Do you like to experiment with new ones?

I started written this and it got a little long so I going to break it up in at least 2 parts.  So far this is what I plan to cover but I might think of other things to add as there really is just so much to think about.

Part One

• Posting
• Commenting
• Affiliate Marketing
  

Part Two

• Learning/Reading
• SEO and Keyword Research
• Entering and Running Contest
• Connecting with people
• Helping Outs

Since the earlier in the year I been trying and figure out a 10 hour work week.  I figure most part time bloggers would only have about that much time so I want to figure out a plan of action for myself that I could share about managing a blog business on 10 hours a week.

Right now I will say I am well over that amount of time but I enjoy doing what I am doing.  As for as my blog strategy mine is try everything that I see others doing that seems to work as long as it fits my style and personality.  When I try something that has positive results I repeat that action.  Lets explain how that works.  So I read a lot of blogs and listen to others that share there success stories.  If I see something that I am not doing and it seems interesting and looks like it would with help with getting me to reach or accomplish a goal then I am up to give it a try.  Right now here are a few things that I do and I plan to keep doing that seem to having positive affects on my blog.

This is what makes up my blog strategy

Posting: I have a goal to post at least 3 times a week.  I would like to do more but I must do 3.  If you are not posting regularly then you need to end of story.  In addition to posting to my blog.  When I do post I also include the following activities as part of my posting routine this ensure my post is broadcasted outside of my blog to help drive more traffic.  I Tweet my post with su.pr link so I can track it and also su.pr which is also part of stumbleupon.   I also then submit to blog engage and stumble  I recently have seen a nice jump in traffic from doing this.

In addition to the extra 2 steps about I have my blog feeding friendfeed which also feeds facebook.  The day I post I usually have a nice amount of traffic from the fresh content and these activities.  I then on the days I don’t post make sure to do commenting or some bookmarking and tweets to some of my older content or more popular content to help keep the traffic flowing.

Commenting: I make it a habit to commenting  on other sites.  I have a list in my RSS that I make sure to cover at least once a week.  Again I would love to do this more then once a week and generally do but I am sure to plan an hour or two of focus time toward this each week. 

I also make sure to comment right away on any new commenter I see day one not sure how long I will be able to keep this up as my comments are really growing fast but I will try to do my best.  Here is how this works.  So if someone comments on my blog and the name is new I am sure to check out there link and see if I can leave a message or some comments somewhere as a way of saying thanks.  Plus this helps me identify and understand the type of people that are coming to and reading my site.  I made some really good connections doing this.  I am really believe that this process really helps with repeat comment from people.  It starts the relationship.  I addition to all this I pretty much find myself commenting whenever I have free time or just a few minutes.  Leaving meaningful comments has a lot of power!

In addition to posting on other blogs you need to make sure to reply to comments on my own blog.  I make it a point to at least reply once or twice on each post.  I not the best about this and could probably do a better job but I think it also can really get a conversation going in the comments that will encourage other comments.  Plus it looks good when the owner is in the mix.

Affiliate Marketing: One of the easiest things to do on line if find affiliate products and market and promote them.  In minutes you can be doing this on click bank or any other product that has an affiliate program.  I also recommend if your not using gocodes yet try it on wordpress as you can change the affiliate url to something more friendly.  You can also track clicks on the links.  Now you might not make any money but affiliate marketing is a key part of your business.  You need to understand it so you can be sure to be including just the right about of mix of marketing and blogging.  You can try different banners of products that you like or think fit your site.  I have found that one of the more clicked ads or the text link ones that you put within a post.  I think people trust links more than ads.  My approach here is keep add it and keep trying till I find something that works.  I make sure to throw an affiliate post in every 5 post.  I will end this section with a quote David Risley which really makes sense. 

”SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY” David Risley from 6 Figure Blogger Blue Print.

In conclusion you can see that fitting all this in to 10 hours might be a challenge and this is only part 1.  I am up for it and I would love to here your thoughts and suggestions.  I know I am missing things but writing this down and sharing should only help get all this out of my head and reviewed by others for feedback.

My goal is to get to a 10 hour work week until I can do this full time.  Can you fit all this in to 10 hours a week?

I let you know when I figure that one out.

I am also missing product development, e-mail marketing and a bunch of other stuff.  I need to work more on those but don’t have the time right now but they are all part of the plan.

Let face it we all have our strengths and weaknesses.  Why I can put to together some simple lame graphics so things are just better left to a Pro or Guru.  Graphic design might be one of the 1st things you can outsource or out task to help is give your business the right look and feel.  The process is pretty simple you figure out what size graphic’s you need a lot of places will do bundles.  Then you put together your idea’s and requirements and send to to a designer.

Who to use.

A couple companies that are know for this are 99 designs.  With 99 designs you submit your project and then people from around the globe can compete for about a week.  You then can pick the winner.  I never used this site but have heard of many that like the way it works.  Your not stuck with one design.  You get to pick which one you like.  Project cost range from from $100 to $600.

If you looking for quick turnaround and awesome work you should check out 20DollarBanners. 

Low rates and quick turn around, lots of experience 50,000 plus some designs over the years.  You also get up to 5 revisions.

You can learn more about the designer in this Tuan Nguyen Interview

Also my buddy Doug Dillard over at makingmoneyonline.com is running another contest and this time you can win a $109 custom banner package from here. You can learn more about the details by clicking the link.

I hope I win but if not I pretty sure I going to be sending Tuan some business as it is time for this site to get some professional graphics.

I started thinking about what I am looking for and here is a sketch let me know what you think.  As you can see graphic’s are not my think so I busted out the kids crayons.  Now there is a easy way to make some graphic’s crayons and a scanner.

I want something like this I am open to colors but my oldest daughter said green for money and I think that is a good call  

The Cult is sitting on a bridge, my site is to be a bridge between newbie and guru’s.  I want the bridge to have Dollars signs as the supports.  I want would love to see some social media icons sitting on the bridge and peeping out over the letters.  Throw my picture in there somewhere.  Maybe I could be on a boat under the bridge but this is about the extent of my graphic abilities. 

Please let me know and if anyone wants to do take a stab at free graphic’s for this site.  Send them over.  If I like them and use them I will do a post about you.

Here’s the deal I am teaching myself as much as I can about seo in the next month way more then 15 minutes, a couple hours a week.

Why am I doing this?

• I feel I need to better understand seo and its hidden powers.
• I want to make sure I am not hurting my sites when it comes to this.
• SEO consultants make very good money.

Search Engine Optimization is important and what you need to know how to drive traffic from search engines like http://google.com .   Do you know how much daily traffic starts at google.   I have seen rates as high as $500 per hour for this stuff.  I have seen company’s charging for site re-design for SEO services for $1000 to $10,000 per month.  I have seen some testimonials on site’s that claim double traffic and profits after doing having a little seo consultation.

That is pretty exciting to me.  I am lucky I tend to learn new IT skill pretty quickly.  A lot of stuff come natural to me so figured I would start learn more about seo.  My goal is not learning to become a consultant but really to put together a quick reference guide to SEO from my learning that I could share with others where you can learn the bare minimum simple no-brainer stuff you need to know in 15 minutes or 3 blog post.

Consider this part 1 of of SEO in 15 minutes, if you have anything to add or comment please do so below.  I am very thankful to others that share.  I like to give lots of credits to those that share.

SEO can be very complex and confusing.

I know a lot of what I have heard is either dated,vague or way over my head.  Look the basic stuff isn’t really difficult. Next I am going to list some stuff you can try out today.

List of some easy things you can do today to optimize your site for search engines

Choosing The Right Keywords

- use google to test searches for 3-5 word keyword searches notice how many returns
- Also note at the bottom of the search page common alternatives
-Keep a list of these by post category or topic so you can have it handy for each post
-Drop your keywords in your text body of your content target 7-10%
-This will improve and optimize keyword density

Your URL and Title Tag and Headers

- These have more weight tip use keyword in url and title and use some headers
- Make your title something that people would search for

Internal Links

- Create internal links search engines love these.
- Setup an archive page use display titles and categories for links not dates.
- Add related post plug-in to word press.  I use (YARPP)

Make sure you Meta Descriptions makes sense and is defined

-see if you can do something here to attract people.

This might be the difference between someone skipping your site and moving to the next one on the list.  Look at mine below just caught a typo in mine as I am writing this post. But see how this might attract people vs. blank or something that make on sense.  Some even put a nice call to action here.

A mater of fact I am going to change mine to Come follow or Click here to learn about the leaders

Above are some some simple things that everyone should know and think about as far as seo beginner stuff these a must at a minimum.

Like I said I am still learning this myself but think I can have a nice guide ready to share over the next couple weeks as some of the stuff is really common sense once you hear it you will think about it every time you do a post.

For those that have time for more and learn from an seo GURU here is the best site I have come across so far.  Seobook I would strongly suggest if you have the time you check out his free stuff, firefox plugins Aaron Wall gives away training and some crazy mad scientist tools for analyzing your and other sites.  They also have a paid program that seems like it would be really good for those that want to get more serious about seo.

Please comment and let me know if you have any that I missed.  I have more coming but I will be reading your comments for any additional tip’s thoughts or  idea’s.