June 29, 2007 By

6 Tips to Attract More Comments on Your Blog

Do you ever wonder how to attract more comments from your readers to your blog posts? Blogs are unique because they enable writers and readers of a blog to add comments which in itself add to the unique content a blog provides. After conducting some detailed research, I discovered 6 tips that you can use to attract more comments to the posts you write on your blog. The 6 tips are as follows:-

  1. Interact with your readers – When readers leave comments on your posts, make sure you reply back and ask questions to continue a discussion that your readers started.
  2. Ask questions at the end of your posts - This will enable your readers to start a discussion that could end up involving many other readers.
  3. Make it easy for readers to comment - Do make sure that your comments section is set up such that readers don’t have to go through a long process to register. This sometimes deters readers from commenting.
  4. Notify commenters of new comments: A Subscribe to Comments plugin enables commenters on your blog posts to check a box before commenting and get an e-mail notification of further comments related to that particular post. This will encourage readers to come back and take part in the conversation.
  5. Reward your commenters – You can encourage commenters to increase comments on your blog by rewarding them. You can do this by using the Show Top Commentators WordPress Plugin.
  6. Use plugins that attract more comments – There are a couple of other plugins in addition to the Show Top Commentators WordPress and Subscribe to Comments that you can make use of to attract more comments from your readers. These are Comment Relish and Brian’s Threaded Comments. The Comment Relish plugin sends a thank-you email to your blog’s first time commentators. This will surely encourage them to come back again and comment regularly. Brian’s Threaded plugin adds a ‘Reply to this comment’ link to every comment which means, your comment is placed directly under the comment you replied to. This plugin make comments easier to follow and also prevents readers from scrolling down to look for answers to their questions.

These 6 tips will surely help you get your readers to add more comments to your blog posts and at the same time provide you with more unique content which in turn will keep the search engines spidering your blogs more often.

Filed Under: Free Tips
June 26, 2007 By

Internet Marketing Bullies – Google

How much of your Internet business today is a result of some big company telling you what you can and cannot do?

Let’s see, based on my list of the Top Internet Marketing bullies.

Big Bully Number 1 – Google

Ah, Big G a.k.a God

Job Title: The almighty god of the Internet

Job Scope: Decides which website goes to Internet marketing heaven and which ones go to hell.

Biblical Reference: Came out of nowhere in 1997/98 and crushed all other search gods and goddesses, rules from the kingdom of heaven (Mountain View, California). A few centuries ago, Nostradamus predicted the rise of Big G. It was foretold that Big G will crush the Devil (Microsoft) and that the people will love him. But in time, Big G will assume the role of the devil as well. Spiritual leaders are still analyzing the data on their Windows Vista. It may take some time.

Why you should cover in fear: Big G can crush your life in an instant. Therefore, you should log into Internet marketing forums everyday and see what message Big G’s carrier pigeons (so called SEO experts) bring. You may also find some fake prophets that claim to carry the mandate of Big G. They will tell you they know how to get past the system, and get a free ticket to heaven.

But don’t be fooled, because Big G works in mysterious ways. To please Big G you must get up every morning and check your PageRank. If it is low you must make a human sacrifice. This will please Big G a lot.

While not in heaven, Big G actually runs a big casino business on the Internet. It’s called Google AdWords. You must pay for every minute you spend in this casino, and if you’re smarter than the average patron you can end up making a lot of money. However, for most people the house always wins in the end. A lapse of concentration (or just plain bad luck) in the Adwords casino can cost you a few thousand dollars – or your life.

But Big G is not all about taking your money. He also gives back via his charity foundation, known as Google Adsense. This foundation has helped many people earn an extra 20-50 bucks a month in return for 20 hours of their daily time. Not much, but if you stick to it Big G may find it in his heart to reward you with a better salary and maybe a new car or house.

Either way, it’s always better to spend time in the charity home than in the casino.

Filed Under: Search Engine SEO
June 26, 2007 By

Paypal New Website

Paypal: New website, same attitude.

Just another day in Internet marketing.

Filed Under: News and Updates
June 25, 2007 By

Number 34 on List of Blogger Salaries

Galadriel email me today, alerting me that I’m number 34 (out of 120) in Paula Mooney’s New List of Blogger Salaries.

My listing there is based on my interview with the New Straits Times, and a few other Malaysian bloggers were also featured:

This is Paula’s update to her first list on blogger salaries. Feel free to copy this list to your website / blogs or refer to the full list here.

Filed Under: Blogging Tips
June 25, 2007 By

Clickbank Recurring Payments Option

This is a feature a LOT of people have been waiting for. But now that Clickbank has recurring payments, should you use it?

I was looking at the FAQ page today, and since I am already selling the WordPress Adsense System product on Clickbank, I was interested to set-up a new monthly recurring option as an advanced package.

This means that I can now use the advanced membership features of Amember Pro, and yet accept payments via Clickbank. All charges are processed automatically, and affiliates are paid off automatically too.

Here’s how the set-up page for recurring products looks like:

Similar to recurring payment options offered by Paypal or 2Checkout, the Clickbank version also has options to set the initial price, rebill price, frequency and duration.

But their definition of each is slightly different:

  • Initial Price – The price the customer pays for the initial purchase of a recurring billing product. The initial price is equal to or greater than the rebill price.
  • Rebill Price – The price the customer pays for each subsequent payment for the duration of a rebill product. The rebill price must be equal to or less than the initial price.
  • Frequency – The timeframe for which rebilling will occur (ex. monthly, quarterly). The initial frequency allowed for recurring billing is monthly.
  • Duration – The number of times a customer is billed (ex. 2-99).

However, Clickbank says that the Initial Price and Rebill Price must be the same value, which means that you cannot offer a cheaper “trial” membership, or even give the first month free.

A few other key points:

  • Recurring products are also subject to the same 8-weeks money-back guarantee
  • Clickbank fees are 7.5% for the Initial Payment and a whopping 9.9% on the rebill price, all of which are deducted from the sales price so it effects both publishers and affiliates
  • Currently, recurring billing products can be purchased using credit/debit cards only – this is sad because I’m sure most people would prefer to use Paypal too

So for me, I’m still thinking whether I should use the Clickbank option. After all, I already have access to more powerful software like JV Manager Fantasos, in which you can use multiple payment options, and still credit the affiliate.

Please also not, that Clickbank only provides recurring payments which you can use to start your own membership site, but they do not offer you any membership site software to create members-only access.

If you’re from Malaysia, do also check out Malaysia ClickBank Secrets for the best system to make money from ClickBank.

Filed Under: Ebook Marketing
June 20, 2007 By

Courtesy of Kim Standerline

Kim Standerline from Easy Member Pro has decided to sweeten the deal for my Easy Member Pro competition by offering another free copy of the software – now I can select 2 winners instead of one :)

Kim has already selected the winners actually. I’m in the process of notifying them and confirming the details. Once the winners have accepted their gifts I’ll announce the results on this blog.

Thanks Kim!

Filed Under: News and Updates
June 18, 2007 By

Outsource with RentACoder

I use only two outsourcing service – www.Elance.com and more frequently, www.RentACoder.com

I logged in to RentACoder today and found this message:

While we are proud of all the kudos listed below, the ultimate kudo is the 92.29% of repeat business that we receive from our buyers. According to a study by KPMG, the average software industry business has a 64% repeat business rate.

I’m not surprised at all. The thing I love about RentACoder is their escrow process and their arbitration process. They really make it transparent to both coders and buyers, and I fell safe outsourcing at RentACoder.

See: www.RentACoder.com

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship
June 14, 2007 By

Paid Freelance Blogging Opportunity

Time to give something back again. If you’ve been reading my blogs, either GobalaKrishnan.com or Easy WordPress, I’m looking to expand the writing force by getting contributors, freelance bloggers, staff bloggers and a blog editor.

Full List of Positions Available:

Contributors:

  • You’re free to post whenever you want, non-contractual
  • Non-paying position, you get credit for your writing by linking back to your site / blog.
  • Contributions may be accepted / rejected depending on the suitability of content

Freelance Bloggers:

  • You’re free to post whenever you want, based on freelance contract
  • Paying position, you get paid for each post (pay per post) based on the contract

Staff Bloggers:

  • You have to post a specified amount of content every month, based on freelance contract
  • Paying position, you get paid monthly based on the contract
  • Revenue-sharing possible, subject to individual case

Editor:

  • You’re responsible for editing / approving / rejecting new blog content
  • You’re also responsible for compiling blogger payment requests monthly
  • You may also write blog content if you want, but not required
  • Paying position, you get paid monthly based on the contract

Full List of Blogging Opportunities Available

Here’s a full list of blogs where you can apply for any of the positions mentioned above. For editors, we need one editor for every 5-6 blogs.

GobalaKrishnan.com – Internet home business, Internet marketing

  • Contributors: 5 positions available

Easy WordPress – WordPress news, WordPress tutorials, blogging tips and Web2.0

  • Staff Blogger: 2 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 2 positions available
  • Contributors: 5 positions available

The Music Tube – Unpublished music from YouTube, music news, celebrity gossip, music events etc

  • Staff Blogger: 2 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 2 positions available

The Music Gig – Music equipment reviews and news, gig advice, music writing / composition tips

  • Staff Blogger: 2 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 2 positions available
  • Contributors: 5 positions available

The Music Marketer – Music marketing, independent music distribution

  • Staff Blogger: 2 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 2 positions available
  • Contributors: 5 positions available

My Business Voip – Small business voip, voip news, communications technology

  • Staff Blogger: 2 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 2 positions available
  • Contributors: 5 positions available

Network Marketing Revolution – MLM news, MLM product & opportunity reviews

  • Staff Blogger: 1 position available
  • Freelance Blogger: 1 positions available
  • Contributors: 5 positions available

How to Apply for Positions

Please send a complete email to my helpdesk using this link, and include the following details:

  • Full Name / Email Address
  • Type of application: Contributor, Staff Blogger, Freelance Blogger, Editor
  • Your Website / Blog URL
  • Sample of writing (blog, MS Word)
  • Which blog you’re interested to write for
Filed Under: Blogging Tips, News and Updates
June 14, 2007 By

How To Install WordPress In 5 Simple Steps

As a WordPress blogger, I haven’t had to install WordPress from scratch on my host servers because my hosting company provides a Cpanel that does it in a breeze at the click of a button.

However, if you ever wanted to know how to install WordPress from scratch, there is a detailed post over at BloggingTips, titled ‘How To Install WordPress’.  A summary of the 5 different steps described in the post are  outlined below.

  1. Download WordPress.
  2. Set Up Your Database.
  3. Add your Database details to the wp-config.php file.
  4. Upload Your WordPress Files to Your Host.
  5. Running the WordPress Installation Script.

There are some other helpful resources that you can use in addition to the detailed steps in the ‘How To Install WordPress’ post.

Filed Under: Free Tips Tagged With: ,
June 12, 2007 By

My Ironic Journey Towards a Better Life

My ex-MLM leader said:

Unless you can write a best-selling book or produce a hit music album, your only chance of having a better life is via MLM.

Ironically, those two things are exactly what I’ll be doing for the rest of this year.

I’m not sure if you can consider e-books as part of the “non-MLM” plan, but I will be publishing a physical book this year for the local Malaysian market. And next year, something for an international audience.

Did I mention I was in a band?

We’re coming up with an EP (short album) in the next few months as well, and we’ve already lined up a few TV interviews, gigs, and some half-baked plans to market our music via the Internet.

key to success So the real challenge would be the “best-selling” and “hit album” parts of the plan. I mean, anyone can have a book or album but the key to success is to make it sell like crazy.

I can’t really say that I know 100% how I am going to achieve that, but yes I do have a plan. The rest I believe will come along the way and I don’t have to worry about it just as yet.

For now I just want to believe in the Law of Attraction. I just want to focus and imagine having accomplished those things, and I believe the doors will open up to show me the way.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship