Pretty Good Advice and Observations About Online Advertising

Noted:

"Recommendations for Optimizing AdSense Earnings"
Dragon Blogger (March 16, possibly 2010)

"Ben over at WildTips.com not only left me a comment about my article on how I am experimenting with AdSense but followed up with his own blog post on recommendations that I should follow to improve and optimize my AdSense on my website. The tips for maximizing AdSense Earnings were very thorough and detailed and Ben states that he makes more than $300 per month AdSense from his blogs and has less traffic to his blogs than I do and is able to achieve these results.

"I visited and extensively reviewed WildTips.com and can see how it is heavily Optimized for AdSense, it takes full advantage of 1 Skyscraper ad blog, and 2 350×200 ad blocks inside every post. In addition there are 3 AdSense Link Units and a Google Search Bar inside the site. I appreciate the feedback and recommendations given and will look to implement some of them in the near future while I am still testing out others...."

The rest of the post is more of the same: common-sense advice and a few useful anecdotes. Also links to relevant posts elsewhere, and an online tool.

How to Engage Others Online - Without Annoying Them

"highly recommended."
Tweeted by danielsnyder1, on Twitter (July 29, 2010)

I was one of five people mentioned in that Tweet. (Thanks, BTW!)

A bit.ly link in that Tweet leads to "Twitter: Follow Friday recommendations for July 30," Information Carnivore (July 30, 2010).

What struck me about the list - apart from my being on in - was the criteria that Daniel Snyder used to select his 10 Twitterers for this week. It's not number of followers, or the kind of bot we used to spam other folks. It was "tweeting regular and valuable content."

Here's part of his post's introduction, and the reasons he gave for including each person:

"...These ten people come with my stamp of approval (That's right endorsed by Daniel Snyder), so you can be certain they are tweeting regular and valuable content. Here we go, in no particular order...."

"...tweets valuable content, he is quick to engage, and regularly invites users to participate in a random word poetry game. He's also a fantastic blogger who is genuine and open, and quick to share advice, tips and his experiences. If you are learning to blog, Dragon Blogger will be candid and helpful, pay attention to his blog and his tweets...."

"...is a great engager, and faithful retweeter, he's also been good to me by giving feedback on my posts along with the retweets, which always sparks conversation...."

"...is a blogger, who tweets some really interesting stuff, she also engages in conversation which as you can tell always earns points with me...."

"...is new to blogging and someone who is super friendly on twitter. I recommend we follow him, and encourage him on his way...."

"...has an amazing knack for digging up the latest scoops and interesting stories and sharing them with all of us. Interested in info sec? She is a must follow. Jovi is also super friendly, and a friendly retweeter...."

"...Has breaking info sec scoops and valuable tweets on a regular basis. Absolutely a great follow, and will keep you in the loop...."

"...is a blogger, and friendly twitter guy. He is an advocate for my posts, and promotes me (so hopefully you too…)..."

"...is an excellent blogger who is very social on the web, she is quick to engage on twitter, and interact on other social networks
as well. Tweets valuable and interesting content...."

"...is a wealth of information and good tweets, she is educated and tweets valuable info sec. content, she also has a blog called Tek Blog for which she writes...."

"...is a friendly twitter guy, who retweets and comments on valuable content. He is also very intelligent and has a great blog worth reading...."

(Daniel Snyder/Information Carnivore)

Who is Worth Following?

What I took away from that list, in terms of what makes a person well worth following on Twitter (or anywhere else) was this:

• Create "valuable and interesting" content
• Be friendly
• Help people
  • Respond with constructive criticism when they ask for it
  • Promote them
    • When that promotion is "valuable and interesting" content for your readers
• Engage with others on social networks

"Engage" Online - Soon to be an Overused Buzzword

Considering some of what I've seen online, maybe I'd better explain what I mean by "engage."

What Engaging is Not

Fist, what it's not. From my point of view, "engaging" others on a social network isn't:

• Sending them direct messages with links to your advertisers
• Telling them that you're buying dental floss
• Doing anything that you wouldn't do to a friend you met at a bus stop, coffee shop, or wherever

What Engaging is

"Engaging" others on a social network is pretty simple:

• Assume that the folks you "engage" are people
• Treat them the way you'd like a friend or acquaintance to treat you
• Be interested in something besides yourself

Funny, how when you boil down acres or erudite prose on how to deal with people online, it often boils down to "play nice."

---

A tip of the hat to danielsnyder1, for including me on that list.

Waiting for Inspiration? Start Working!

Thought for the day:

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action."
Frank Tibolt, The Quotations Page

Negative Online Review? Here's What to Do

I'm storing up posts for another blog, where visitors expect about a half-dozen new ones a day. Normally, I write them within minutes of posting, but since I'll be distracted for a few days, that won't work.

Here's a post which will be released on Apathetic Lemming of the North" over the weekend.

Consider it a sort of advance showing.

"A Guide to Answering Negative Online Reviews"
Blizzard Internet Marketing Inc. Newsletter (April 30, 2008)

"The negative review - every online business owners heart-thumping, middle-of-the-night, cold-sweat-inducing nightmare. Okay maybe not that bad, but to be honest hearing anything negative about your business tends to set one on edge, I know it does me and that’s usually on my clients’ behalf, not my own!"

What follows is a concise discussion, and a short list of dos and don'ts.

Looks like good advice.

Good Advice About Time Management

"How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week" assumes that the reader works in an office: and gives good advice about meetings.

The seven-point list is worthwhile reading for people who are their own bosses, too. It's the same touch-papers-once, sort of advice I've read for decades, with the possible exception of Michael Hyatt's advice about unfocused Web surfing.

What makes this list helpful is that

• It's manageably short (seven items)
• Recognizes human needs and limitations ("make appointments with yourself")
• includes a review/revise step

I'm not convinced that it'll open up ten hours a week, but I've been wrong before.

("How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week" is Friday's post in "From Where I Sit / Musings on My Life, Thomas Nelson and the World of Publishing" - Michael Hyatt, President and CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

For Smart Employees, and Bosses

"4 Simple Tips For The Smart Employee."

The title is the post's best description. Nothing new here: just common sense, well-presented.

A good read for bosses who want to keep good employees, too.

Home Business Opportunities: Earn a Fortune Working Part-Time?

Not likely.

• Wisdom prevents mistakes
• Wisdom comes from experience
• Experience comes from mistakes

That's how I remember a cycling bank sign's contribution to humanity's store of sagacious sayings.

Sooner or later, I figure I'll have made enough mistakes to be wise.

If you haven't seen "business offers" promising thousands of dollars a week through working part-time, a steady income from the privacy of your own home, or financial independence through envelope-stuffing, you haven't been looking very hard.

Envelope Stuffing

I took a look at an envelope-stuffing "opportunity" about a quarter-century back. The newspaper ad seemed promising, and the sales packet they sent was impressive. It also had several square inches of text that described exactly what was involved. If that description hadn't been there, I'd have tossed the packet.

I'm one of those annoying people who likes to look at how much time something is likely to take, how much money it'll bring in, and how often it can be done. I tossed the packet.

The other two "opportunities" worth mentioning involved a business-software company and a craft item distributor.

Business Opportunities and computer sales

The software business had a very well-designed marketing strategy. The company's owner was either among the most likable people I've encountered, or had very good writers. He offered not only software, but computers and peripherals as well.

His sales literature stressed how successful someone could be, using his own experience rather often. Taking a closer look, I decided that his success lay in his ability to sell computers at a bit above the going rate, and that his customers' success stories had involved similar businesses.

Nothing illegal or particularly unethical about the offer, but I declined.

Craft Items

Someone I know tried making money by buying parts, assembling then into a draft doodad, and selling lots of the things back to the parts provider. The numbers looked good, the company was legit, but the person involved isn't the best at making craft items.

The good news is that very little money was lost.

Instead of adding the way I decide whether or not an

The lesson? Some business opportunities are what they claim to be but aren't suited to the person pursuing them, some are a sort of share-the-wealth procedure, and a few actually benefit all parties.

I could describe how I decide which is which, but here's a better idea: Check out How to evaluate a home business opportunity,, eight points that the author calls "a short list of how to evaluate a home business."

The points are basic common sense: a quick review of what to do, and not to do, doesn't hurt now and again.

Getting Good Advice Without Consultant Fees

Business decisions depend on facts, and this is one case where more actually is better.

Getting those facts can be expensive. Bringing in a consultant seems to be conventional wisdom, although I suspect that it makes more sense to start a consulting business than do business with a consultant.

Besides, it looks like there's been discussion of whether consultants really pay for themselves for quite a while. For example: "Lifting the lid on bad consultancy" (CNN, 2005), and a blog posted a few weeks ago about marketing consultants in the construction industry.

Even if I were convinced that consultants were, generally, worth what they cost, I don't have the budget to pay or the time to select a reliable consultant.

I do, however, have access to consultants who come free of charge: and are often worth more than they cost.

Many networks of bloggers and similar online communities exist. The most famous is probably MySpace, which in my opinion is a waste of time and bandwidth. (I do have a blog there, but only in order to stay in touch with a contractor I met while evaluating the service.)

I've found LiveJournal, an online social service that seems to cater to the creative crowd, and ArtZone, an online art community run by DAZ Productions, useful sources of opinion for the creative end of my business, as well as satisfactory opportunities for socializing.

Not all of the feedback I get is useful, of course, but the fools and knaves have been much less effective at disguising themselves than their for-profit counterparts.