The web is moving quickly in various directions all at once. Opportunities come and go in a snap. If you plan to make money online, you have to be able to keep up. It can be quite intimidating trying to follow every emerging trend, not to mention time-consuming. There are millions of blogs, forums, twitter feeds and the list goes on and on. However, using an RSS aggregator like the Google Reader and a few techniques, monitoring conversations in the web can be fast and easy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Everyone has been saying that Knol is the new Wikipedia. But is this comparison fair — or at least accurate?

I’m going to tell you what I think.

Knol is the new Squidoo

Let me tell you why I think so:

• A single topic can be discussed in multiple knols, exactly as seen on Squidoo’s lenses. Wikipedia, like any encyclopedia, only allows one entry per topic.
• Everyone can edit Wikipedia. Lenses can only be edited by their respective lensmasters. Knols can only be edited by their respective authors, or upon their approval.
• Knollers are given full credit for their work, just like lensmasters. Wikipedia’s articles can’t have their authorship claimed by any individual.
• Knols can be rated and commented on; this also happens on Squidoo’s lenses. Wikipedia’s entries can be flagged for revision and are regularly reviewed by contributors, but this is much more of a behind-the-scenes activity.

With so many similarities between Knol and Squidoo — and so many essential differences between Knol and Wikipedia –, I must return to this post’s title: why is Knol compared to Wikipedia? And why isn’t it compared to Squidoo instead? Read the rest of this entry »

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As you surf the web take a look around at many of the sites you see. Do you notice anything that seems strange? Well, let me point it out to you. There are hundreds of thousands of web sites that just don’t get much traffic. Some of these sites house hundreds of articles, reviews, tutorials, tools, products, forums to mention a few things, yet still they do not receive large amounts of traffic. What is their problem? They have the content. What is left?

The problem is these sites aren’t optimized for the search engines. SEO, Search Engine Optimization, SE Friendliness, however you refer to it doesn’t matter, the fact is it works and I’m going to tell you what’s involved.

Before we continue let me familiarize you with some relevant terminology in my own words. Read the rest of this entry »

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Many of you are reading this article because you would like to further promote your Internet business and are looking for new ways in which to do this. You have read lots of articles covering various Internet Marketing techniques and are still looking for the “Holy Grail” strategy that will take your website to a higher level. After all, others are achieving this so why shouldn’t you.

Here, I will describe a technique that, with some creativity and effort, can significantly boost your promotion efforts while at the same time setting it on autopilot. Is this the “Holy Grail”? For some it has been but like everything else it all depends on you.

“Less Work, Greater Results”

If this sounds good to you then do read on. Read the rest of this entry »

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These last days have been extremely exciting for everyone who follows Google-related news. Speculations on Digg’s acquisition, experiments with a Digg-like interface, the release of Knol… Yes, the “googlesphere” is a hot place to be right now. And it seems that things will become even hotter in the very near future: Matt Cutts announced an upcoming toolbar PageRank update. Here’s what he commented on his own post:

I figured the SEO industry could use something to discuss, so I thought I’d give people a heads-up about the toolbar PageRanks.

Oh, really? As if we all didn’t have enough to discuss already. Not that we should complain. Much on the contrary: Google news are always welcome, especially when they come from one of the most reliable sources available on the Internet.

And if you’re preparing yourself for another whining season due to decreased PageRanks, you may have a surprise: of course many sites will be penalised as usual… but many others will have their penalties expired!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t hardly wait for this PR update. I’m sure we all are going to have a nice time browsing through forums and blogs, keeping track of the changes, speculations, predictions, complaints, success stories and all that stuff that makes a webmaster’s life funnier.

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My previous post dealt with a business model especially aimed at service providers. Today I’m going to write about a type of site that also provides a service, but in a very specific manner and for a very specific audience: link shop sites.

1. What is this monetization model about?

Sites and blogs whose main purpose is to sell links to interested webmasters. A little bit of traffic may also be sent to link buyers. However, this is not a priority in most cases. Read the rest of this entry »

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As promised, today I’m going to write about an online business model that has a certain resemblance to the visitor-oriented sites. Let’s call it client-catching sites.

1. What is this monetization model about?

Sites and blogs that are used to attract potential clients for service providers. Mainly used by small businesses, freelancers and consultants.

2. Examples

• Small businesses’ homepages
• SEO sites
• Freelance writing sites and blogs
• Portfolios (photographers, designers) Read the rest of this entry »

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In my previous post I discussed the pros and cons of fast money making sites. Now I’m going to write about an online business model that is quite the opposite of the latter: visitor-oriented sites.

1. What is this monetization model about?

Sites built for long term results. They tend to be heavily based on informative, entertaining or otherwise helpful content. Developing and maintaining a good relationship with the audience and with peers is essential.

2. Examples

• Content-oriented blogs
• Fan sites
• Web projects that depend on user-generated content (like social bookmarking and social networking sites) Read the rest of this entry »

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There are several different ways to monetize your blog or site. In this series I’m going to discuss four methods. My aim isn’t to write an exhaustive list, but rather offer you a basic guide. You can use it to compare the proposed business models and then develop a strategy for future web projects — or modify existing ones.

Let’s start with a business model that is suitable to entrepreneurs who want quicker financial compensation for their efforts: fast money making sites.

1. What is this monetization model about?

Fast money making sites and blogs are those created to generate profits as fast as possible (yes, you guessed it). They can either be part of a short term plan or be used to generate passive income for several years.

2. Examples

• MFA (Made For AdSense) sites and blogs
• Mini sites
• BANS (Build A Niche Store) sites Read the rest of this entry »

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There are a lot of reasons to like LinkedIn. It has a clean interface, it’s easy to navigate, and you get the opportunity to network with various individuals to enhance your business (something that used to take thousands of dollars to attend conferences and a good number of hours burned on the golf course). Last year, LinkedIn grew by a phenomenal 319%, and by latest estimate is now valued at $1 billion. Clearly, the people behind it are doing something right.

LinkedIn’s most recent project is DirectAds, a way for members to post their own text ads on the website, and it really looks promising. See, the great thing about LinkedIn is that compared to Facebook, the average member age is older and the average income is certainly much higher. It’s an extremely targeted form of advertising to business professionals – the movers and shakers. Furthermore, the ads can be tuned to appear to a specific age range, gender, industry, and seniority. If you haven’t signed up with LinkedIn yet, you might want to take a look around.

There are a few things to note about DirectAds:

• For now, these ads can target only the members located in the US. However, there are plans to include other locations in the future.
• In the spirit of transparency and visibility, a text link to the advertiser’s profile is displayed below the ads. This is to minimize gaming and help the advertiser’s promotion efforts.
• DirectAds are based on the CPM model (cost per thousand impressions) and the minimum purchase is $25.
• The service available only to members who satisfy a few conditions like meeting a certain number of connections, completeness of profile information, and/or age of account.
• It’s a self-service ad paid thru credit card. Premium Account users get a 50% discount.

So far it all looks great on paper, except that if I was an advertiser, I’d be more comfortable if they used the CPC model (cost per click). Anyway, reviews will start to trickle in once more people start using it, and then you can decide whether it’s a worthwhile ad platform for your business. As for the site itself, it seems like it can only get better.

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