Here ye, here ye bloggers around the wold. Hear the rules and commandments of the blogesphere. Thou shalt bind them around thy neck like a choke chain. Thou shalt keep them in thy mind like that catchy "Free Credit Report Dot Com" song. If thou keep not these 10 great Blogmandments, then thou shalt flee like the a on "Cops", or a man with diarrhea. If you want to draw people into your "blog world" please take these rules seriously....

The 10 Great Blogmandments

1. Thou Shalt Not Be Scatterbrain
I'm reminded of a friend of mine who wants to lose weight. 1st they are doing the "Atkins Diet". Then they're doing the "Master Cleanse". The next thing you know, they're doing "Slim Fast"! I mean, come on! "A man with no direction is like a ship with no rudder". What is the "theme or topic" of your blog? Take the time and define what you want your readers to experience through your topic. Be specific and you'll find your posts will flow like a river.

2. Thou Shalt Not Open Weak
How you open determines how many readers will keep reading. Here's a good example. Think of your favorite song. How does it start? Is it forgettable, or does it capture you from the very beginning. Would you have listened to the entire song if it started weak? The same principle goes for your posts.

Drive thy business or it will drive thee

Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

3. Thou Shalt Not Have A Sucky Title
When a reader comes to your blog, they see a lot of little words all scrambles over the place, but the 1st thing they look for is...... can you say it with me.... A Title. My favorite thing I do every morning is go on www.msn.com (my default homepage) and look to see what's going on in the world of politics, sports, and entertainment. The very 1st thing I look for is catchy titles that draw me in. If the title stands out to me, I will click on the link . In your world of blogging, you have to catch your fish with a great hook (title). What good is it going fishing for fish when you don't have the right bait to lure them in?

4. Thou Must Get To The Point
Some people blog to talk about their feelings. Others blog to tell about their experiences. Then, you have those who blog to help people. All in all, when you blog, what are you blogging about? What's your.....point? You want your audience to be on the same page with you, but you need to know what page you're on. Make sure you have a solid point when posting.

5. Thou Shalt Command The People

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.

Frank Tibolt

We've talked about capturing your audience with a snazzy title and a great opening. We've talked about not just writing, but having a point behind your posts. Now it's time for action. You said everything you've said for what? What do you want your readers to do? Have you thought about it? If you lead them, they will follow. Have a call of action for your targeted audience.

6. Thou Shalt Not Swim In Shallow Water
Your readers are looking for a "memorable" post. Something that's unshakable, and hard to forget. I'll give you my example. I was looking up some information on Google about detoxing my body, and there was a lot of information out there, but one article in particular just stood out to me. I've read it about 4 times now, and have bookmarked their site. The article had so much more "meat" than the other articles I read, it was ridiculous! Also, it had to be good to other readers as well because of how many sites were linked to that particular article, and their page ranking on Google. Content people. People are looking for REAL RICH content.

7. Thou Shalt Be Perfect

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Take the time and care to push out a great post. The thing I hate to see are half hearted posts with quotes that make no sense and gibberish talk. You don't want to look like the class idiot to your readers, do you? It's better to take the time and post less frequently, than to hurry up and throw something together for the sake of saying you post everyday. People like "rich content" and that means going over you draft and seeing if there's anything that needs to be added or subtracted. Make sure you don't have any typos. Read through it to see if you enjoyed it, and if you don't, then go back to the drawing board.

8. Thou Shalt Not Forsake Timing
WHEN you release your post is very important. Never release your posts at night, unless your targeted audience are night people. Make a strategy for when you will release your posts. The right timing can ensure your post was not written in vain.

9. Thou Shalt Not Hide Thy Treasure
OK, you've followed the 1st 8 Blogmandments and you're feeling great! You hit publish. Abra-cadabra, your post instantly appears on your blog. You feel a degree of excitement, but there's a slight problem.........no one knows it's there. This commandment is the "greatest" of all the Blogmandments" and should never be taken lightly.

A treasure hid is no treasure at all
George Burnett

If you've created this Jerry McGuire "You Complete Me" post that's a tear jerker, then the world need to know about it and share the experience. Get the word out through different avenues, such as Technorati, PPC, etc. Doing so will increase your customer base, and help build your name and brand of writing on the net.

10. Thou Shalt Dialogue With Others
When someone reads your posts and are jumping with joy or anger, they'll most likely leave a comment (some good and some not so good). This is where you create a community. Getting people to your site doesn't create a community. Interactions within the site does. Make sure you respond to comments about your posts, whether good or bad. Even controversy gives you exposure. If a reader comments with a question, be sure to answer it. That let's readers know you're taking the time to review their comments, and leave feedback.

I hope I've helped you to become a better blogger from this post. Please think of these Blogmandments when writing. Sooner or later, your blog can become a hit because you followed these strategies. I'll go into details later on each Blogmandment, and how you can become the "Moses" of your blogesphere.

Understanding keywords is the foundation of success on the internet. Why you say? It's because it's the backbone of optimizing your website. Keywords are what drive you up in the search engines. I'm going to reiterate the importance of understanding this. Out of all the lessons you will learn in the Basics, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT! Let me explain why keywords are so important......

1. Keywords optimize your site, ranking you higher in the search engines.
2. The higher you rank in the search engines, the easier it is for people to find you.
3. The easier it is for people to find you, the easier it is to pitch your products or services.
4. The easier it is to pitch your products or services, the better chance you have to close a sale.

This all happens through optimizing your site through keywords. You can choose from single keywords (which I don't recommend) or multiple keywords. There is so much more to say about this subject, but once again, you have to start from the basics, and understand what this is and why it's important. There will be further posts on this subject.

Google Analytics is a very useful tool that will help you understand the traffic flow to your website. It allows you to see how internet searchers are visiting your website/blog, and also tell you exactly where they are coming from, how often they visit, how long they stayed on your site, what pages they viewed, what links they clicked on, the average time they spend on your site, and much more. Google Analytics is a free Google tool, and will help you optimize your site, and be more successful with your online business. It's a must have tool if you're serious about your customers, their needs, site improvements, and optimization.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO is defined as "the process of improving the quality and volume of traffic to a site through search engines". This process is a way of optimizing your website to appear higher in the search engine's natural listing.

This is a very important thing to understand. Basically, the higher your page is ranked in a search engine, the more searchers will visit your site. Search Engine Optimization can also target different searches, including images, local searches, and industry-specific vertical searches.

You have your online site set up now, whether it be a blog or website, and you’re ready to start attracting customers to it. There are many ways this can be accomplished. Some methods are free, while others cost money. Google Adwords is a great tool for generating the right traffic to your website or blog.

Google Adwords are ads that are placed on a blog or website, and attracts potential customers through relevant content. Basically this means if a website owner or blog has content on their site, such as makeup…………..

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….then the Google Ad(s) placed on the website will coincide with the content on the website. Cosmetic ads for a cosmetic site.

Google Adwords also appear in search results…….

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When the user types in a keyword in the Google search bar, the keyword triggers relevant ads that are shown on the left hand side (sponsored ads).

Google Adwords are a great way to increase business, or to learn more about you or your company. Even if you already show in Google’s (or other’s) search engine, having Adwords can give you the target audience you desire, and when it comes to building a successful business online, it’s all about getting the right people to your business website or blog.

Google Adwords allow you to have total control (for the most part) by creating your own ad(s). You can edit your ads to your satisfaction, modify it if it isn’t productive, and even pause an ad until a later time. You also can set a daily or monthly budget that you want to invest. There is no minimum spending requirement, even though I recommend that if you are a beginner, you should wait until you fully understand how to use this tool. Trust me, I have lost a lot of money through Google Adsense in my earlier years, but only because I didn’t fully understand what I was getting myself into. I was just posting up ads and not really taking the time to create the perfect ad that would bring the right people. We’ll talk about writing a killer ad later (learn the basics first people).

Google Adwords uses a CPC (cost-per-click) option. This means for every click that you receive from your ad(s), you are charged only then. You set the amount of what the CPC is going to be. The minimum amount is determined by what keyword(s) you use. Each keyword you use does have a minimum amount, and that value can be changed over time.

Google Adwords also allows you to demographically select where you want your ad to appear. This is important because you can target a city, state, or even a region. You can even target online customers within a target range of 25 miles from your destination. I will be sharing more information about Google Adwords and how to properly use it in future postings. Please leave a comment if you have any other questions until then.

The craze. Everybody's doing it. You've probably seen one without knowing. You've probably even bookmarked a site, and didn't realize you could subscribe via RSS (don't even ask what that is right now). I'm talking about blogging. Blogging is a fairly new rave that's taken the internet by storm. I know grandma's that are blogging. Why aren't you? Let's break down what a blog is, and why you should be blogging......

What is a Blog?
A blog, according to Wikipedia is... "a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order." That’s the basic definition of a blog. This website is actually a blog. Do you know that in 2005 there were about 70 million Weblogs? The blogosphere (the universe of bloggers and blogs) is always growing and expanding. There are many aspects to a blog, some of which will take me too long to even explain (go to the bookstore and get a book on the subject). My goal is not for you to completely understand the ins and outs of a blog, but to know the basics of it. To be able to use it as a tool for generating income, through the blog itself, or as a portal to your main website.

Why Blog?
The internet has changed, and is constantly changing. As of this writing, we are in Web 2.0. The old web was about selling. Sell, sell, sell. The new information. Free information, henceforth the birth of blogging. People blog for many different reasons. Some blog to share their interest with others. Some blog to help people on a subject they need help with. Some people blog to keep in contact with friends. Others blog to keep a record of their life and life's experiences. A lot of teens blog to their friends (get stuff off their chest). For whatever reason, blogging has become a way of life for most people on the internet. Some people are just observers, and others participants, but there's no denying the power of blogging.

Make Money Blogging?
It's true that you can make money blogging. There are many success stories of people making hundreds, even thousands a month by blogging. Soon, I will post some of these stories on my blog to share with you. I don’t promise that you will have the same success as some of these individuals. You have to work your blog in order to make money, but you can make money. If you have any additional questions about blogging, please post a comment, and I will do my best to answer your question.

Google Adsense has taken the internet by storm. Everywhere you turn, there's the famous "Ads by Google" logo. Google Adsense is by far a good way to earn extra cash from your website or blog. There have been countless number of people who have claimed to have made hundreds, if not thousands from this method. Even I have had some good success with Google Adsense from my other websites, and I have to admit from my own personal experience that you can definitely generate money using Adsense, even earning enough to replace your part or full-time job (if that's something you desire). So, lets break down Google Adsense, and learn the basics.......

The goal of using Google Adsense is for you to earn money by through your website. Adsense accomplishes this by placing relevant ads on your site. What this means is if you have a website or blog that talks about drums, then the content in the ad will focus on that subject. Let's look at a sample website to see an example......

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Do you see how the content in the ads are relevant to the website? This is an example of a site that has the potential to earn revenue through Adsense, if it has the right target audience coming to it (of course), but we'll dive into that later. When a visitor clicks on any of the ads that's on their page, the owner of that site gets paid a certain amount for that click. Most of the time, the ads content is so relevant to the content on the website, that the visitor gravitates toward it. If you look at the ads on the right hand side, there's one that talks about getting a free drum set. That made me actually want to click on it (I didn't since I'm no drummer).

Another way that you can earn money through Adsense is by placing an Adsense search bar on their website. When a visitor searches your site or Google via the search bar, Adsense displays relevant sponsored ads to the keywords that was used on the search result page. You earn revenue (same as above) if the visitor clicks on a sponsored ad. The amount you get paid is determined by how much the advertiser set their CPC (cost-per-click). You get paid a portion of that amount.

There are a lot more areas that need to be covered, but this is the basics of how Google Adsense works. If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me, or look for upcoming posts. I look forward to helping you succeed online.