We are going to continue, and close out our talk about finding a product as we narrow our focus on our niche, quit claim deed form.

A refresh of the Wikipedia definition for our niche:

The most common use for a quitclaim deed is a divorce in which one party is granting the other full rights to, and eliminating any interest in, a property in which both parties held an interest.

Quitclaim deeds are also typically provided in cases of tax deed sales where property is auctioned off to pay outstanding tax debt.

Solely due to the nature of the search query that we have based our niche on, I'm certain we are looking at seeking a digital information product, so we will most likely end up at ClickBank Affiliate Marketplace. But, we'll poke around and see what we can find.

Searching For A Digital Product

Digital Products are cool as heck, especially if you write your own or purchase one with resell rights. You get to post them once and the interface takes care of the rest forever.

Affiliate links operate the same way, but the restrictions are greater because of selling price and resell rights, but either way you get a chance to rake in some dough.

Okay, the first thing I did was search Google for quit claim deed form. What I found was a bit discouraging as the forms were being offered for a price range from free to $10, and a lot of the URLs where these are found have "Legal", "Law", or "Real Estate" in them.

I don't find the URLs to be threatening as much as I do the price of the product. We will be using a targeted, narrow focus URL which may help us in the long run with the "free" competition.

Besides, there are other things to consider, which we will talk about much later. For now, it's time to march ahead.

We are going to go right over to ClickBank and see what they have to offer. Why ClickBank? Well, the affiliate pool is all digital products, the commissions can be up to 75%, and there are stats attached to the products that indicate how strong those products are. These are attributes that most other affiliate pools don't offer. Plus, once you sign up and are approved at ClickBank there are no other programs to sign up for approval. Once again, most affiliate pools require a sign up for each individual affiliate program in the pool.

One drawback at ClickBank is the lack of promotional banners. But, if we use a graphic generator such as the free GIMP, banner links can be made pretty easily.

Once our account is approved at ClickBank, we can log in and look through the Marketplace for products to market.

After using  our keyword to find a product, I am disappointed. There are no products that deal solely with quit claims. However, there are many products that offer information and even quit claim deed forms, but these products are primarily geared towards information about foreclosure or other legal documents.

Furthermore, the gravity of these products is low. ClickBank gravity is how the affiliate pool gages the performance of the product. It is the most important number when looking at what to market from ClickBank, because it is a measure of how sales the product has made and how recent those sales have been.

Obviously, the higher the number, the hotter the product. But, we don't want to fall into the trap of promoting products that have highest gravity, because the competition is just too stiff.

Generally, a gravity between 75 and 100 is a solid place to start with, but the best product we can find for our niche is just over 1.

Pathetic.

Honest marketing ethics tells us we shouldn't try to bring visitors to our blog to sell them something they weren't looking for. Throw in the gravity of the product and the situation appears to be dire for marketing in this niche.

Did We Choose The Wrong Niche?

All is not lost though. We can make a banner for this product and put it in the sidebar of our blog (a subject to be covered in a future post), because we may get visitors who are looking for such a product. We just shouldn't write all of our content to push the package.

Besides, even if we sell just one package, that would be $45 to the good.

Let's take a look at another affiliate pool, Commission Junction, and see what they have to offer.

Wow, look at that. The publisher has a quick claim deed form for every state in the USA.  With the 20% commission, we stand to make nearly $3 a sale. If we take in account that the potential number of hits on the number one slot in SERPs is just over 90 a day and a lowball conversion rate of 1%, there is a real chance to make about $100 a month on this product alone.

On the surface, this doesn't sound very lucrative, but when we consider that we are building a niche blog, this can be inviting. After a certain point, niche blogs go on near auto pilot and only require a very occasional maintenance.

We will build several niche blogs, some of us will build 3-4 a month. Simple math tells us that with a few blogs that generate $100 a month can be enticing.

So, I say we go ahead and apply for the affiliate program at Commission Junction and go ahead with our marketing strategy for this product.

Not Giving Up

I am more stubborn and thick headed than most folks, and I have the head scars to prove it. I also know that if I build at least two niche blogs a month, I'll have 100 plus income producing  blogs at the end of one year.

All blogs won't make $100 a month, some will make much more, but whatever we do will require work. There are no guaranteed get rich quick and easy systems that truly work on a consistent basis.

On the other hand, any thing worth obtaining, is made so much better by working for it.

Next time, we'll talk about how to set-up a WordPress blog for our niche, which will include some basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Some of the mechanisms taught in this series about how to make money blogging are also included in the insightful Niche Navigator by Tony Shepherd and the highly instructional tutorial WordPress Goldmine.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

Related posts

• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2 What Do We Serve?) (10)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.1 Is The Niche Viable?) (9)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1- What Are They Hungry For?) (12)
• I Want To Fail In My Blogging Efforts (10)
• Discovering Permalinks (16)

Google acquired the Internet's number one Blog Tips blog, ProBlogger, from Darren Rowse. The acquisition was announced today as a move on Google's part to bolster the Blogger brand and to start a build-up  of the professional blogging suite of applications,  ProBlogger.

The obvious angle is that Google recognizes the strength of blogging and how the application has matured into a powerful Internet force, as observed by on Google rep:

Blogging continues to grow in popularity, not only for personal use but by entrepreneurs and businesses around the world. Once seen as a ‘fools game’ – blogging has now grown up.

What other powerful truth is hidden below the surface, and it speaks to a huge misconception about Google. Google does not favor it's own properties when we talk about SERPs performance and indexing.

If this were the truth, they wouldn't have to make such a huge purchase to compete with WordPress. I'm thinking that should be pretty damn obvious now.

The search engine giant has always proven to be more than helpful on both sides of the search engine football. The information that is churned out at the Webmaster Central Blog is enough in itself to prove how willing Google is to facilitate the needs of webmasters. And what about Analytics? Does any other search engine come close to offering a tool so powerful for free?

All in all, this move once again Google proves its noble standing as the true king of the Internet with another quality acquisition that serves a vision of servitude to the entire Internet.

As for Darren, he's going to hang out at ProBlogger for another 331 days, presumably to help kick off the new package of blogging tools. This will also give him time to concentrate on his first love, that enviable Digital Photograhy blog, where he cut his teeth, and some upcoming pet projects.

For me, I'll be thick skulled and stick with WordPress, but I think that the Google/Problogger union is just damn cool.

What do you guys think?
Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

Related posts

• The Link Wheels On The Bus Go ‘Round And ‘Round (21)
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By combining some of the many techniques from Tony Shepherd's Niche Navigator with some of my methods and tools, we started with how to file a quitclaim and ran it through the wringer until we ended up with quit claim deed form.

Now it's time to find product(s) to serve that niche with, but before we look at our niche, we should talk about niche products in general.

I learned some time ago that just about every niche has a way to serve it. We are not pioneers here, and there's millions of different products to serve millions of different niches. If you do find a niche that needs a product and has none, you'll be that dude that says he made a gazillion bucks in six weeks. Only you'll be for real.

All the information that follows is relevant, because we can employ any or all of it on a WordPress blog set up for marketing. Any blog can be made into a storefront, remain as a information point that is monetized for a niche, or a combination of the two.

Niche Product Types

All products to be sold or bought can be placed in one of two categories, Digital and Physical.

Digital Products include:

• eBooks
• eReports
• Videos (mp4, swf, etc.)
• Audio

Physical products are:

• Everything else

Often times, niches will have products attached to them that come from both categories. Those products may produce new niches in themselves.

Take the worn out example of Dog training, for instance. There may be eBooks or videos that are instructional in various methods, or there may be a whole market in different types of Dog Training Collars (there's a blue moon full of those).

Product and Methods

There are different ways to get products to virtual shelves in our shops so the prospective customer can purchase them. Most of our potential products will fall under one or more of these situations:

• Creation
• Purchase/ resell
• Consignment
• Affiliate

Product Creation

Some of us have a hobby or skill that we would like to use to make money with. Personally, I think this is a bad idea for Internet Marketing, with a couple of exceptions.

I know a family that  various members tried to make money selling plaster cast ceramic figures. The pieces were sold at booths rented during various in season festivals.

Each cast takes hours to complete, from pour to paint and glaze. Then, the seller (usually the crafter) spends 12-14 hours a day during the weekends under a canvas roof trying to sell those pieces.

My opinion is that you better REALLY love ceramics as a hobby to go through all that for the little bit of return you get.  Something that a lot of people fail to consider is the moment you begin to sell something, you are in business and should calculate all costs associated with the product.

How much would you ask for as a wage when you go to work for someone? Charge yourself that much when you start working independently and tell me you don't see the gravity of the above ceramic example.

But, what if you could create something once, and sell it forever without having to recreate it? This is where creating digital information products really pay off.

The creator writes/records an information packet that is focused and useful to a niche, then sets up a download mechanism that is on autopilot. The mechanism is an interface that handles all file transfers, list building, and money transactions.

Passive income generation.

For a complete and detailed set of lessons in creating the interface for passive income creation, I suggest you visit Michey's Affiliate E-Course.

Of course, if we write our own eBook, we have to create it in a format that is universal and readable by virtually every purchaser. The two popular methods are creating a PDF file or compiling the publication into a stand alone executable file.

I like eBooks that are compiled by software programs such as Ebook Compiler, the software I used to compile Blogging Theory. The books are aesthetic and easy to use. Most compiler software has features that allow for security, like devices that can be put in place to limit one download per purchase.

Purchase/resell

Here I am going to talk about wholesale, what I call scavenger sales, and digital products.

• Wholesale: Buying products wholesale and reselling them at a marked-up price can be an involved process. We have to find reputable wholesalers and compute our mark-ups accurately so we can reap a profit with every sale.

Now, the really big decision concerns the logistics of the process. Do we buy the goods and stock/sell/ship from our facility (home), or is there another avenue?

The other avenue is called dropshipping. A lot of Wholesalers will ship orders to anywhere. And they will do this with label from marketers, so that the product looks as if it came from the marketer.

For my leather store, I use dropshipping because I have neither the room or financial resources to warehouse products. But, finding reputable dropshippers was a very important task.

My reputation is in the hands of my suppliers.

You know, here's where the ceramic hobbyist may find a way to make some cash in a somewhat effortless manner. Advertise and sell wholesale/dropshipped supplies.  I'm sure there are suppliers of plaster, molds, glazes, and even ovens that will dropship.

Besides searching the Internet for good wholesale/dropship suppliers, the Thomas Registry is an excellent source because it is a business directory that gives in depth details about each entity listed. These books can be found at your local library in the Reference Books section.

• Scavenger sales: I recently talked to someone who likes to hang out in the Junk Stores (Goodwill et al) and pick up some really good deals on items that can be resold for a higher price, sometimes much higher.

She told me she found a handful of those manual beaters used for cooking at a cost of $.99 a piece. She went home and checked on eBay and found them selling from $9.99 to $49.99!

Insane.

Guess what? WordPress has plug-ins for eBay that will allow a blogger to display eBay products on their blogs. But there is a plug-in that is even better than that for scavenger sales, Wp Auctions. This plug-in allows a blogger to hold auctions on their blog. Free of (fe)eBay!

How cool is that?

• Digital Products: Some information product creators package their products with licensing that permits the reselling of the product by the purchaser.

These allowances in these licenses, or Rights, can range from simple resell with a sellers name only as a presenter, to a full blown license that allows the purchaser to modify the product and sell it as their own creation.

There is a stellar series of articles, beginning with Selling Rights and Viral Marketing, at Monetize Your Blog.

Consignment

Consignment is when a seller places an item in a store and doesn't get paid for the sale until the item is sold. An agreement is struck between the owner of the store and the seller that determines how much the seller will get paid post sale.

In most cases, consignment deals with secondhand items that are in no less than good condition.

Since the middle of 2008, the demand for online Consignment stores has experienced a steady rise in the trends. In fact, when I queried online consignment in Google Search, I got nearly 2.5 million returns.

Here's what Google Trends showed me about the searches for online consignment:

Clarabelle's Closet is a great example of an online consignment store, and once again, WordPress Blogs can be set up as Consignment Stores, thus serving potential niches.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is selling some one's  product for a commission. Generally, the owner of the product offers a program through a "pool" such as ClickBank, Commission Junction, or Amazon, to name a few.

This is the most common way to sell a niche serving product on a blog or other web properties. The trick is to find the product with the highest commission and best chance to sell.

For instance, as Mark Thompson tells us in WordPress Goldmine, Amazon has about the most products offered for their affiliates to sell, than anyone else. But, to rely on Amazon for every niche would be ludicrous because of the 4-6% commission and realistic 1-2% conversion.

However, Mark does tell a story about an associate who has a niche blog set up that sells tractors from Amazon. His associate sells 2-3 tractors a year and these babies sell for $25,000. Not a bad haul for writing some solid content and listing an ad on a blog.

If it is Information Products we want serve the niche with, then ClickBank is probably the best way to go. I mean heck, some of the commissions are as high as 70%.

There are hundreds of Affiliate programs available, it's just finding the right ones that can deliver the product you want to sell for a fair an honest return.

Whew!

All of that and we didn't even look for a product for our targeted niche, quick claim deed form. But I thought it would only do the process of niche blogging justice if I presented all the ways I know of to find products in which we can serve niches.

I'm going to let you digest this post and maybe point out some product solutions I may have missed. After all, I am as much of a student as the rest of you are. Teach me something.

We will search for our product in the next installment of the Can You Make Money Blogging On Wordpress series.

I promise.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

Related posts

• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2.1 Finding a Product) (5)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.1 Is The Niche Viable?) (9)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1- What Are They Hungry For?) (12)
• I Want To Fail In My Blogging Efforts (10)
• Discovering Permalinks (16)

In the last post on blogging for money, we took a look at some solid ideas and how to use them to find potential niches. I took on of the methods from Niche Navigator and came across a possibility, how to file a quitclaim.

Today, we are going to try and see if that niche has real potential, or is it one that we should leave alone.

Our Niche

First, let's look once again at what Wikipedia says a quitclaim is:

The most common use for a quitclaim deed is a divorce in which one party is granting the other full rights to, and eliminating any interest in, a property in which both parties held an interest.

Quitclaim deeds are also typically provided in cases of tax deed sales where property is auctioned off to pay outstanding tax debt.

Two factors come to my mind right away. The divorce rate being around 50% and the number of foreclosures in the current economic condition. Those are pros.

The one con that keeps nagging my addled mind is the legal side of the issue. It is never good to tread in the waters of pharmaceuticals  and legal advice. These are two areas that extreme caution must be made in marketing, because as marketers, we will be held accountable for our recommendations.

But, never let a nag stop you in your tracks. Of course, a well placed blow by a rolling pin wielding nag may stop just about anyone in their tracks.

The Niche: Is There A Need?

As we saw in the previous post there were 19 hits total, in one day,  for our key phrase. Those hits were registered through a quick and basic keyword research tool, so I think it's time to take our phrase to Google Keyword Tool for a better look.

Here, we can get an inkling for real interest and competition. We can also glean the additional relevant keywords we'll need if we decide to market in our chosen niche.

Before we actually look at one way to research the niche viability, we should consider a few variables. One is product. I stepped ahead in this series and found a product that offers a $45 commission per sale.

Knowing that, combined with the accepted conversion rate of 1-2%  and allowing that about 45% of the search queries will land hits on the number one ranked content in the SERPs , we can make a good stab at potential monthly income.

Okay, some of you know this method, so please bear with me as I catch everyone else up to speed.

We're going to point our browser to the Google Keyword Tool and leave the keywords options set at Descriptive words or phrases, insert our keyword (how to file a quitclaim), and enter the captcha.

Once at the results page, make these selections:

1. Show/Hide Columns to display Search Volume Monthly Trends
2. Match Type set to Exact (pure results for our term)
3. Left Click Global Monthly Search Volume to arrange the results in an ascending order

Ouch! Looks like our keyword may be sour. Not enough data for how to file a quickclaim. Let's not give up so easy though. I want to cruise down the results and see what we can find.

Hey, look at that. I like the keyword term quit claim for a number of reasons. Monthly search totals are about 3600, the trends are reasonably stable and the advertiser competition is high. The high competition doesn't bother me, in fact since we are setting up an organic traffic site, this could be a good thing. Plus I like the idea that there are so many queries using a misnomer (the actual term is quitclaim).

I'm kinda fiendish that way.

I am curious about the trending and want to see if news articles have an effect either way, so I'll take my term to Google Trends and have a look.

Looks like the number of news articles has seen a minor increased over the last year, but the search volume for our new term has remained stable.

The niche is looking more promising all the time. I think it's time to do a quick reality check on competition, so let's pull up our Google Search Box and type in the query intitle: "quit claim" inanchor:"quit claim".

This will show us how many pages are indexed by Google that has our keyword in anchor text and in the title.

Damn. That's some steep competition, but if I am anything, I am thick skulled, so I won't give up the ship quite yet.

Time to bring out they big gun.

Let's just see what my favorite keyword tool, Market Samurai (free version) has to say about our niche term. First we need some quick definitions of the acronyms we will be looking at on the results:

• Searches: Total searches (all major engines) in the previous 24 hours
• SEOT: Potential number of hits the number 1 result in the SERPs a page can expect
• SEOC: The total number of pages that list the term, in order,  in their content
• SEOTC: The total number of pages that have the keyphrase in the title
• SEOTCR: The ratio of SEOTC to SEOC (the lower the percentage, the better)

Another strikeout. The SEOTCR is low, but the number of pages is still way too high.

Two outs, bottom of the ninth, tie game. The batter has the full count and here comes the pitch...one last look, while I have the program up at any rate.

Scrolling down the results, I find something very interesting. The term quit claim deed form has about hundred more searches, the competition percentage is about the same, but look at how few pages actually have that term in the title. And check out that beautiful trend,  stable with a slight rise over the past few months.

Home Run!

Wow, based on the 1% conversion rate, the number one site in the SERPs stands to make $1215 a month with the product I found. But, before you begin to drool, there are some things to remember:

• There are no guarantees in this business
• To get to the first page in the SERPs takes work and patience
• All systems have weaknesses as well as strengths

Summary

Just because we start with what looks like a bona fide killer niche, doesn't mean we will end up with one. We need to remain flexible and receptive as we look at viabilities.

Talk yourself into success and you will be 90% 0f the way there.

I think we have a potential niche, so next time out we'll look at different ways to find product to sell as we answer the question, Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress?

Tony Shepherd's Niche Navigator is a no bullshit presentation of more than a few of the many ways to discover niche markets and how to research those niches for potential profitability.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

Related posts

• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2.1 Finding a Product) (5)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2 What Do We Serve?) (10)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1- What Are They Hungry For?) (12)
• I Want To Fail In My Blogging Efforts (10)
• Discovering Permalinks (16)

The very first piece of the puzzle is all about discovering and researching a niche to market.

What Is A Niche Market?

According to Wikipedia, a Niche Market is:

A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs

In other words, it is a slice of a larger market. And typically, we want to be marketing to a slice that is being under serviced.

Is Your Passion A Profitable Niche?

We are often told that we should market what we know, what we are passionate about. Doing this DOES make life simple, or it would appear to, but there is a minor problem with this. The problem is that all too often, what we are passionate about isn't very profitable.

Take me for instance. I am passionate about riding my motorcycle and decided to turn that passion into an Internet business.

One of the first things that comes to most people's minds when they think of motorcycles is, leathers. So, I decided to get into the leather biker apparel niche. I researched and found wholesalers that would drop ship, built a store, filled it up with leather motorcycle clothing that included everything from jackets and vests to boots and sexy biker chick wear.

What I didn't do was research my niche as close as I should have. I didn't start making a profit until after 18 months. And that was because I chose to market in a niche that was too broad. Totally my fault because I should have narrowed my focus.

Maybe just chaps, or just vests.

But, that doesn't mean we can't find something else that holds our interest until we have the resources to pursue those interests in a marketing venture, and the real job is finding a niche we can market in that is interesting, hungry, and profitable.

Where To Find The Hungry

Before we head out to find the hungry buyers, we must understand one thing. That one thing is the fact that hungry means desperate, and this is who we should target.

To quote Tony Shepherd from his book Niche Navigator:

It is like the difference between somebody searching for information on how to make money buying and selling houses, who is interested but skeptical and may buy if you convince them hard enough. Compare that to somebody who is about to have their house taken off them, and is looking for information on how to stop that happening! Which do you think is going to be more motivated to buy!?

Now is this taking advantage of them? I know that is the first question that most people ask when they are told to seek out a 'desperate' niche, but in fact it is quite the opposite. If you think about it then the person who is about to have their house taken off them is looking for a solution, now as long as the information you are providing does give a genuine solution to that problem, then you not taking advantage of them, you are actually helping them out of a bad situation.

We have to remember that our ethics and reputation are at stake and we must always market products that provide an honest solution.

As we talked about in the introduction of the Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress series, there are hundreds of ways to find niches, bit most of them don't work all the time and some work great a lot of the times.

One of the best ways I know of is to keep a pencil and notebook with you at all times. Look for things that more than three people are buying, or show interest in. Ask questions.

Other productive sources of finding niches are trade magazines, trending tools (i.e. Google Hot Trends and/or Yahoo Buzz), and Wiki.Answers.com. But these don't even scratch the surface when it comes to resources.

Another cool exercise that will reveal hundreds of niches,  is to plug in a few "needful" search words or phrases in a keyword research tool and watch a rich list of possibilities unfold before your eyes.

I used one of the over 40 in Niche Navigator as an example. First I used the Wordtracker SEO Blogger FireFox add-on and got these results for how to quit:

The Wordtracker add-on gives us a glimpse of search terms used and can provide springboards for further research into keywords or niches.

The second image shows two of the thirty queries delivered by the tool. I chose those because they are relevant to each other and when the total number of hits are added together, the package falls in the middle of the pack as far as number of hits.

Here's what quitclaims are typically used for according to Wikipedia:

The most common use for a quitclaim deed is a divorce in which one party is granting the other full rights to, and eliminating any interest in, a property in which both parties held an interest.

Quitclaim deeds are also typically provided in cases of tax deed sales where property is auctioned off to pay outstanding tax debt.

Quitclaims and how to file them may be a viable niche market.

Just by typing how to quit in a keyword search tool we got a glimpse of many possible niche markets and maybe, just maybe, one that may satisfy all the requirements we look for in a possible market. Given the current state of the World economy, I have a hunch that how to file a quitclaim has promise and might satisfy all of our requirements for honest niche marketing:

• Desperate buyers
• Real solutions
• Profitability

This is just one of the many ways to find niches. The point is, a list of possible niches can be built in no time flat, and there should never be the question of  "I think I'm tapped out for niche ideas?"

Is That All There Is To Finding Niche Markets?

No, but it is the very important first step. We have to prove the viability of a niche. Trends, buyers, searchers, an available product all play a part in finding a killer niche.

We will talk about researching the viability of a niche by using how to file a quitclaim, a niche I chose as I was writing this post, in the next installment of Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress.

Tony Shepherd's Niche Navigator is a no bullshit presentation of  more than a few of the many ways to discover niche markets and how to research those niches for potential profitability.

Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

Related posts

• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2.1 Finding a Product) (5)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.2 What Do We Serve?) (10)
• Can You Make Money Blogging On WordPress (Part 1.1 Is The Niche Viable?) (9)
• I Want To Fail In My Blogging Efforts (10)
• Discovering Permalinks (16)

Second, I want to answer the question posed by that long tail (more like long winded) key phrase search query. Without any doubt, the answer is yes.

But...

Money can be made on any blogging platform. Honestly. Cross my heart and hope to die a slow Farmville Children of the Virtual Corn kind of death.

If I have said it once, I have said it two or three times, Google (or any other search engine for that matter) doesn't care where you blog from, or what e-commerce platform you use. To make money, you need traffic, and it is the search engines' job to direct the traffic where it needs to be.

The targeted destination is relevant content, no matter where it's located.

It is our job as Bloggers to make sure the destination is clean, well lit, and comfortable. We should also set the table to feed the hungry.

I have two friends who have recently proven to themselves that making money blogging is a reality. The blogs  Gifts For Grandkids and Got Moxie Style have had sales happen less than a month after starting them.

And then there is AJ. She discovered one niche in a place she didn't think she'd go to. She started a blog  and wrote support articles, now Google is dropping traffic off at her Year Of The Dragon Tattoos Blog left and right.

All three owners found niches to serve and are ready to feed other hungry bus passengers.

Finding A Niche Is Feeding The Hungry

Seriously, before anyone attempts to make money blogging, they need to find out who is hungry and ready to eat. This is the very basics of starting a niche centered blog.

If you think you can do the nearly impossible and "create" a niche, go for it. I wish you all the luck in the world, and if you make it, please remember who wished you all that luck. You'll be a Rock Star!

Otherwise, the sensible thing to do is find out who is hungry and how many are clamoring to be fed. This is "finding" a niche, and believe me, there is not one single sure fire method or software that will make gold for you every time.

But, there are hundreds of ways that work at one time or another. And some of those methods even work more often than not.

Where Are The Hungry?

From Google's Keyword Tool and Google Trends to the classified sections of trade specific magazines and keeping a pencil and pad at all times, niche finding can be an on going project.

The point is, no matter where we look, there is a piece of pie that needs to be served. Bake it deliciously fresh, and the traffic will run off that bus to our door.

But, getting the traffic on the bus route that includes a stop in front of our diner is all about billboards, bus stop bench advertisements, and route maps.

Directing The Hungry

No matter what neighborhood we find the hungry searchers who have money in hand, we need to point them to our diner.

We need to support our blogs by writing at other places as well. Whether we do this in the structured manner of a Link Wheel or using the solid suggestions put forth in WordPress Gold Mine, we need to publish so that not only searchers find our blog, but the search engines find it as well.

We know that search engines find us through links and if they find what have to be relevant and useful, they will promote us as well. Just proving that content really IS king, and linking is the perfect queen.

Let's never forget the importance of Social Networking. Google Buzz, FaceBook, YouTube, or another social networking platforms provide the ideal placard for our branding efforts. These web 2.0 properties provide a place we can build an interest in what it is we are cooking.

We can look at them as virtual portfolios and business cards.

What Niche Are We Cooking?

We found the hungry searchers, we've prettied up the diner, we have started to let those that want fed know where they can find us, now we need a menu. We need to monetize our blogs.

The major part of monetization is providing useful content that is in no way spammy, but unless we display a product or products that we want to sell, our visitors (who were delivered because they are looking to buy) will find a place where they can buy.

Showing what we have is really a science and has a proven track record. There are plenty of places to learn this science, but one of the best free resources available is at How To  Monetize A Blog.

Michey is giving in-depth teaching through a thirty day blogging challenge. Her lessons are something you won't find anywhere else, especially under one roof.

I've Prepped My Niche Blogging, Now What?

If we have thoroughly researched our niche, set up our blog, and sent the maps out to our location, then the rest is easy.

Think of the whole process as a funnel. Targeted traffic gets poured into the broad end of the funnel and the wanting traffic comes to our blog through the narrow end. Interested buyers are filtered to our content.

Unless we miss one of the steps talked about above, making money blogging on WordPress , or anywhere else, is highly possible.

This is the intro to a multi part publication that will be found here over the next few weeks. We will be talking about finding niches, driving traffic and monetization so that we all can realize our dream of making money blogging.

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© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

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Oh, Okay... since you have twisted my arm and tweaked my nose, I'll tell you about one incident.

Shortly after I started the leather store, I got a call from an Internet SEO expert who asked almost immediately, "Why don't you have a sitemap?"

"Hey man, I do have a sitemap." Click.

How dare him insult me, I thought as I logged into the store to make sure my sitemap was still visible. And sure enough, right there for all to see, was my sitemap. Upper left hand side, every page and every category could be navigated to from any page on the site.

As I smugly sat back in my computer chair, with my hands folded behind my head, a question began to filter in through my self pleasure. How can that so called "expert" be making a living if he can't see my sitemap? Hell, you almost trip over it when you visit my store.

The more I pondered that question, the more confused and farther away from the answer I was. So I Googled "sitemap" and was somewhat embarrassed, because it became quickly obvious I had no idea what the expert was talking about.

On the other hand, the SEO guru didn't ask why I didn't have an xml sitemap. Geeks are going to have to learn how to communicate better.

Google XML Sitemap

In June of 2005, Google introduced the xml sitemap protocol to make life easier for webmasters. Actually, the sitemap protocol also serves Google well.

A sitemap is an xml file that webmasters create to inform Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask about URLs that are available to crawl. The document also saves time for the search engines as the bots don't have to find the URLs through links from other sites.

This file by no means replaces the system of "dofollow" linking in terms of site or page indexing, but it is a supplement to the process.

This file will not guarantee indexing, and certainly has no weight in rankings, but it helps Google et al consider the pages a little quicker.

Here is an example of a typical sitemap:

Create Google Sitemap

Crap! I had no idea how to create an xml sitemap, let alone any idea what the heck xml was.

Here Google, Google!

Before I knew it, I was elbow deep in research and was about to start manually creating my xml file when I ran across Sitemapdoc, which was a good thing, because I had roughly 150 pages way back when.

Sitemapdoc is a free xml sitemap generator that allows the webmaster to generate a file in a matter of minutes. Not only do you point to the URL of the site, but other components of the protocol are set as well.

A sitemap doesn't just include the URLs, no, it also contains other instructions:

• priority
• last modified
• frequency of update

Priority

There are some pages that we feel are more important to be crawled on a regular basis than others. So we can assign those pages a higher priority.

Last Modified

Generally, this is the date the URL was created or modified that last time.

Frequency

This tells the search engines how often we expect changes to a given URL.

Once the sitemap is generated, it is saved as an xml file with UTF-8 encoding, placed on a server, and then the location is submitted to the search engines, usually at the engine's webmaster tools.

Also, every time a new URL is generated the file needs to be updated.

Oh, I see the grimaces out there as you consider the extra work for every post published.

You can stow those frowns as this method is generally reserved for static websites, and blogs being dynamic have driven decisions to create such great tools as the WordPress plug-in for Google Sitemaps.

XML Sitemap For Google Plug-In

If someone asks what are the recommended plug-ins when setting up a WordPress.org blog, this one nearly tops the list every time. Especially if a blog is looking for that added SEO punch.

This handy little tool will generate and submit an updated sitemap with every click of the publish button. The map will be submitted to Google, Bing, and Ask without anymore than just an activation. To get it to Yahoo, and API key is needed, but that only takes a few minutes to acquire and install. That process is only required during initial set-up of the plug-in.

A tutorial on basic  setting up of the plug-in can be seen at xml sitemap. There are advanced settings for the plug-in, such as the three protocol settings mentioned above, but the basics will be enough to start with.

Thank You SEO Guru

If I ever run across that guy who called me out a couple of years ago, I'll certainly buy him a shot or two of tequila. Because, if he hadn't asked about my xmls sitemap, I may never have went on to continue learning SEO.

Maybe it wasn't about Google sitemaps, but what blogging and/or Internet misunderstandings were you embarrassed about?

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© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

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Why do we see where the big dogs are linking and try to beg, borrow or steal a link from the same sources for ourselves? Why do we covet the all mighty link? Why do we jump at every chance to get a link? Shouldn't we grab every one we can because aren't all links the same?

Why are links so damned important?

Let's start with generalities. Search engines use links to find content. If the spiders find a link on a web page or in content, they will follow that link to look at the other end. This helps the linked to content get indexed (or cataloged) in the the search engines.

But, that's not all. Links tell a bigger story about the content on both ends, especially in the eyes of Google. And we do care about what Google thinks, seeing as how the search engine giant handles roughly 60% of all search queries.

Not only does Google use linking to find content, but they look at relevance of the linked content. If the linked to site or content is spammy, then both sides of the link may suffer some Page Rank (PR) damage.

From the Webmaster Central Blog:

As a webmaster, the things to be wary of regarding outbound links are listed above, such as losing credibility by linking to spammy sites

On the flip side of that, if the content is useful and relevant, then most certainly, the linked to content will get some of the linked from Google juice. This has been broadcast from Google on way more than one occasion.

Links to affiliate products or sales pages, and comment spam are definitely two places to use the "nofollow" rule. Not only does this make sense, it seems to be the best practice to uphold the quality of your content.

Always "dofollow"" content that is unique and pertinet to the discussion.

Again from Google's Webmaster Central:

If you accept payment for outbound links, it's best to rel="nofollow" them or otherwise ensure that they don't pass PageRank for search engines.

Think of not doing this as being guilty by association.

Google Favors Links From Certain Platforms

Wrong! Google doesn't care if a link is generated at .edu, .gov. Squidoo, Blogger, Warrior Forum, Twitter, Facebook, or the end of my little toe.

As long as they can follow it, they will crawl.

But, if they can't follow it (i.e. rel="nofollow" is in use) then they won't crawl that link and content discovery will have to come from another link. This also means that no PR will be passed down the link.

From January 2010:

A word about "nofollow"  from February 2009:

Backlinks, Shmacklinks, I don't Give A Crap

Well, you should.

Backlinks are one of the best demonstrations of trust in one piece of content and/or website. If a website is all about banana peel furniture and links to a site that provides the best information about hand sewn banana upholstery, then credibility is on the line.

One site is saying that it believes in the other's quality and you should take a look. Oh, and Google, would you please share some of my PR with the upholstery site, because they are trustworthy and relevant.

It should also be noted that a handful of relevant and quality backlinks are worth way more than a hundred links that are not relevant and of low quality.

Reciprocal links should be avoided because they smell like link exchanges. More of a "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" approach.

Okay. Again, Why Are Links So Important

It's not links in general, but specific rules about links that are important.

• Links know no platform boundaries
• "nofollow" links will not get crawled
• no spam
• backlinks

By following these rules and taking care of the core element in any SEO campaign, the quality content, then we can expect increasing PR.

Yes, PageRank is one of a whole bunch of factors that determine how your content is ranked in the SERPs, but it is a huge part as it is how Google shows how credible and relevant they see your site.

And links are the vehicles that Google uses to determine PR.

To see one way how linking can effect PR, watch the video Link Wheel Exposed.

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© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

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For those who have be adrift at sea for a year or two, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is the fastest way to read the web. Instead of of having to go out and find the new stuff at your favorite Blogs or News Wires, that content is now syndicated and can be subscribed to.

This means that any fresh content at your favorite places to hang can be delivered to you for free, thus saving valuable time.

From a publisher's point of view, an RSS feed is a valuable tool as links get sent to places like search engines, blog searches, and ping reader services. Really powerful if the publisher is putting up fresh content on a regular basis.

Now, what seems to be the hottest thing in RSS feeds is the "mashup". A mashup is taking feeds from several sources and displaying them in one location. Mashups can include blogs, status updates, and Twitter tweets.

This little tutorial is going to demonstrate how t use an RSS feed and the Blog Ping Tool to create a mashup consisting of content from several sources and send a feed ping to over 70 ping services.

Let's say that you have a niche blog and several articles outside of the blog to support your blog. Sometimes those articles get fresh updates to look good for the search engines, and of course you are posting at your blog.

By creating a single feed that contains the links to all your articles and adding new posts as they happen, you can use the Blog Ping Tool to broadcast your fresh content, thus casting a wide net to read traffic.

Creating the feed is as easy as can be. To see it is done, visit the RSS Feed tutorial.

The Blog Ping Tool tutorial gives the link to locate and download the free tool as well as gives a complete demonstration on how to use the tool.

All you need to get started is a simple text document creator (i.e. Notepad), those two tutorials, and a hosting service. After you go through the mechanics for the first time, the process is so easy, even a caveman can do it.

Grab some popcorn and enjoy the RSS Feed mashup show.

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The About page is the highest ranking page on a lot of sites, and if you don't believe that, ask someone who has had a blog up for a while. Ask them which page gets consistent hits.

In this day of building relationships over coffee, and sometimes thousands of miles, the Bio page is the front line soldier in the "hey, I'm a real person" greeting war.

Like every thing else on your blog, your About page needs to be relevant and focused. But it also needs to be casual enough to make the reader feel relaxed and want to know more about you.

There should be four elements to the Bio page:

• Qualifications
• Brief History
• A Clue
• Contact

Laid out like that makes it look like a resumé, which it is in effect. We are letting our readers know that we know why we know what we are talking about. We are letting them know they can trust us.

But good Lord, don't make it read like a resumé. We want to engage our readers, not bore them with pure facts.

A story that covers Brief History and Qualifications is a really good tactic. If it is an amusing story, so much the better. If you don't have an amusing story, then make something up that is so absurd it is obviously a lie, but a very funny one.

If you can't do any of that, hire a writer.

We also want to drop a little hint to what we are trying to achieve with our blog. Nothing so bold as "I am selling the BEST Blog coaching service available". Leave that for Blog posts and other marketing vehicles. Just drop some subtle hints.

Maybe just as important as letting our visitors know who we are and what we are cooking, is the fact that our About Me page can be a reminder to ourselves what we are doing. It can help keep us in line if we stray too far off topic.

That is, if we don't forget it is there.

We should always leave a way for anyone to contact us, even if it is just an e-mail address. A no strings attached contact form is a great way to do this, The interested party doesn't have to open their e-mail account to ask or say whatever it is they wish to express.

This makes us partially accessible. You have to answer those letters if you want to be totally accessible.

A picture is pretty standard too. Pictures just add a little more of a personal touch and puts a face to your words. We all feel a little closer to a person when we have some idea what they look like.

Writing about ourselves can seem like the hardest thing to do in the world sometimes, but it is an important part of gaining trust and establishing sincerity. Trust and sincerity are the keystones of solid relationships, and there is nothing better than establishing a relationship with your readers.

At what point in building a blog do you write an About Me page? Do you even write one?

© 2010, Alex. All rights reserved.

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