If you are a blogger or you have a photography business, you know that stock photos are important to your livelihood. This is why I put together a list of free image website resources for you to refer back to when you are just having a tough time finding the right photo.
I know as a blogger you don’t want to be caught using a photo that is not public domain or wasn’t created by you. That’s why having free image website resources is very integral to a blogger.
Starting out as a blogger, you need to have these resources until you can either get your own camera or have the funds to hire someone to take photos for you. In that spirit, I’m going to give you 15+ top free image website resources.
15+ Free Image Website Resources
Pixabay
Pixabay is one of my favorite places to get photos. As you browse through my site, you will see many photos that have come from this site. Combine Pixabay with Canva and you have a blog masterpiece.
Not only can you get free images, but you can search vectors (mathematically generated images that never get blurry when resized), and video.
Life of pix is a free resource that I have really overlooked but when I write posts like this, I’m reminded that I should be checking in on this site more often. They have some great resources for bloggers that other sites do not have.
One thing you’ll notice is that if you type in the same terms on different sites, you’ll start to see the same photos pop up. This seems to be the case here as well, but they offer more images that other sites do not have.
A site that touts death to anything is usually not worth taking a look at.? However,? I found this one a bit off the board.? It’s not stock photography in the sense of the word.? it’s really a site all about the non-standard photo.
Photos with models that may have signed their name saying that you can use their image from this website.
Canva is yet another resource that most people do not think about using.? Yes, this is a place to create your images for your blog posts, and social media.? Yes, this is also a stock photography site that has many FREE images, vectors, etc.? However, they also have a paid option.? If the photo is worth it to you, you can pay $1 for the photo.? Do as many edits to the photo for 24hrs and then your access is shut off.
I get around this 24 hr bit by downloading a copy of that photo to my hard drive in a Canva folder.? I see no reason to pay for an image 2 or more times.? You shouldn’t either.
I’ve found this one intriguing.? However, the only reason for this intrigue is the mere fact that the free photos are there to entice you to sign up for there service.? All of these photos after your free 10 pack allotment are on a paid basis.
Sure, I would trust them that they would have great photos to use.? Just remember, whatever you do, it’s going to be free at first.? But then…
This site is one of those paid subscription sites that will give you rights to the photos you download.? it’s a one time fee and you buy your photos by purchasing packs of 10, 150, 200, 780 or more.? These are allotted to you in a one time fashion or on a monthly basis. The monthly plans start out at $39/mo and go up to $229/month for the 780 plan.
They give you a pretty good discount for purchasing the plan on a yearly basis.? For instance, you can get the 10 plan for $25 instead of the regular $39.
This site is also in the other post that I wrote about free images.? I chose this again because the site is not as robust but it has so many different images to choose from.? I would recommend using the search function if you’re short on time though. The way its setup you can really spend some time on this site searching for your photo.
The only downfall to this site is that Tumblr?is the system of choice. I’m sure the reasoning is due to the cost (free). I also presume this is why the site is not very friendly in searching for the photos.
The site is completely free, which is why I’m including it here for your reference.
To round off the top 10 is a site that has photos in categories for you. Both free and paid photo categories show up in very obvious places.? However, they are presented to you up front before clicking on the image, then being notified it’s a paid or free image.
As I go through some of the photo sites that I see on other blogs, I want to get a good feel for them.
One thing that I am almost always never going to promote is another blog on a free site such as blogger, Tumblr with free photos of them.? Long story short, they need to be self-hosted sites.? To me, that shows they are truly providing value and aren’t bound by the T’s & C’s of the site that’s hosting them.
As you can see in the photo below, this is another site that promotes free creatives by creatives.? In my book, it’s always great to see people in the same niche supporting each other.
Free pictures for your website can be tough if you’re looking for the photo for free.? Dreamstime is a site that covers a vast amount of subjects and you could very well find the perfect photo here.
As you can see, there are free photos to be searched here as well.
Originally, I found this photo site as a top professional site for photo enthusiasts only.? However, upon review, you definitely can search this site for the perfect photo for your next social media or blog post.
I think the trend (as of Jan 2018) in this world of stock photos is to have a site that has a section of free photos – if you sign up for an account.? Then offer you photos that are just too good to pass up but they are not free.
Now, I haven’t done much searching on this site, but one thing that I took note to was that my firewall blocked this site on my home network.? I checked it out on my phone and everything seems to be all in the clear.? The error that shows up on the block page says…
These are the top 15 that I have full confidence in. Most of these are free to start out and have premium features if you choose to go that far. Some, have premiums right out of the gate. That said, if you’re on a budget, I think it’s a no-brainer to do all you can and stick with the freebie photos until you have a budget to spend on photos. Some bloggers never do any spending on photos. it’s all a matter of your photo-taking skill set. Which really isn’t tough these days with a selfie iPhone / Android available at a moment’s notice.
I will be adding to this list as I get more resources for you to check out. Side note: each link will open in a new tab/window. Remember to please bookmark this post and share it around.
It’s that time of year that people start new projects. They either are looking for a new business or want to do something on the side.? Blogging can be very lucrative if done right,? That’s why I’m going to give you 9 must have plugins for WordPress?bloggers to use that will improve your blogs bottom line.
Before I get into those plugins for WordPress, I’d like to give you a little strategy input for your?blog.
Plugins for WordPress?or any other platform like Joomla?can bog down a blog/website’s speed.? That’s why it’s best to keep your plugins to a minimum.
when I started blogging, I thought that any plugin that I could get to add functionality to my blog would be great.? This made complete sense as I’m very focused on gadgets and automation.
One thing to take note of in this blog.? All of the plugins that I mention in this post are free.? However, there are a couple that has a paid version, which I will mention when this option is available.
That is the basis of this post, which is why I’m only giving you 9 plugins.? This will give you a little wiggle room for a couple of others that you can add to your liking.
The first plugin isn’t necessarily the one that is you need the most.? However, as a collective unit, these are the top must-have plugins for WordPress.
Akismet – This is a plugin that will literally save you months of work on your blog.I left this blog unattended once without Akismet and when I came back to it, I had thousands of approved comments that were nothing but spam and junk.This plugin is worth every penny you donate to them (the donation is optional – but know you are supporting a great plugin for your blog.Plugin link:Akismet
Pretty Link – I’ve been using my blog now since 2010.? Pretty link has been a part of my blogging for 80% of that time.? What you can do with Pretty Link is shorten an affiliate link or even a longer URL?from your blog.? I love that I can see reports on how the link is doing.? Also, you can put in several links to see which links are getting more attention.Pretty Link also has built into its service a way to brand your blog.? Basically, giving you the owner of your blog authority.? It says that you have a relationship with the other service providers when you offer a link such as https://jonmccaw.com/prettylinkpro, versus prettylink.com.? ?Lastly, I can say that if you’re just doing the shortening of URLs, you can use the free plugin.? No need for the Pro version.? But, if you want to do more, there’s a free trial you can use.
Plugin link: Pretty Link
SNAP – Social Network Auto Poster.? This is a plugin that I started using?about 2 months ago.? I absolutely love this simply because its main job is to send out blog posts to your social influence.? The one drawback is that you need to know how to follow directions when setting things up.If you know how to deal with API keys and secret keys, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.? This will send out your post to as many Facebook pages as you need to be notified.? Also, it will send to Twitter, Tumblr, Stumble upon, Blogger, Plurk, De.Licio.us, Reddit, and you get the idea.? There isn’t a network that you can think of off the top of your where it will not post your blog.
Plugin Link: NextScripts – SNAP
Disqus – This plugin is great for social reach because of how it’s setup.? The idea is that people can comment on your blog and have those comments show up on your blog but managed on the Disqus website.? It’s the best of both worlds.? I’ve gone with other commenting systems before.? But I like the community that Disqus offers.More reasons to use Disqus, rather than it’s just a great commenting tool.? Disqus will allow you to back up your comments separate from your blog back up.? This will allow you to restore your comments if your blog goes down and is not recoverable.? The next reason that I love is that it will work?alongside with Akismet to help remove spam comments.? Lastly, in my list of reasons to have Disqus as your commenting system is you get a notification of new comments.? Other systems do not notify you of new comments.? You are responsible for logging in and checking.
Plugin Link: Disqus Commenting System
Pinterest Verify – If you’re doing or plan on doing Pinterest. You need to have your website verified.? The reason for this is that Pinterest can then start showing you what pins are being pinned from your website.? That said, make sure your blog is Pinterest ready.? Create tall graphics for pinners to spread the word about your blogging.? As the page says, this plugin hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, but it still works great with the current version of WordPress.
Plugin Link: Pinterest Verify
Google Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools).? This “plugin” really is just a connection to google so that you can see analytics on your site.? The data you want to see is what pages are doing really well and what your demographic is.? Age, male or female, location, and even what hobbies they like to do.
Plugin Link: Google Console
Better Click To Tweet – The best way to describe this is to actually put it into use.
I love using this plugin as it’s being used more and more to get better engagement.? Not only do you get more exposure, but people love to tweet something that is worth tweeting.? It’s a win-win for you and your visitor.There’s plenty of options that you can customize to your liking.? Go check this one out.? Coded by TodayMade.
Plugin link: Better Click To Tweet (BCTT)
WP Smush – One of the detriments to the online health of your blog is the size of your images.? Most bloggers will tell you to use JPEG or JPG format for your images.? However, if you use PNG (yes, it’s a larger file size), you can use WP Smush to reduce the file size on any PNG file.? Most of the time you get a smaller file than if it were JPEG and more customizability.? PNG is a vector based image which allows you to resize and keep clarity/focus on the image.? If given the opportunity, I would take a PNG over JPEG any day of the week!This plugin has a pro version that will allow you to smush more files at a time and better compression.
Plugin link: WP Smush
Email Marketing by Drip – If you’re starting a blog or even thinking about starting one.? The best advice anyone has ever given is to have an email marketing solution set up to collect leads on your blog.? As you can see, this site is set up to collect leads using the built-in form creation module.
Plugin link: Email Marketing by Drip
If you like automation and being able to segment your list on autopilot, drip is the way to go.? They are MUCH cheaper than Infusionsoft or other high-end email autoresponders.? ?In fact, it’s right on par with Aweber as far as price and offers more features.? Take your time to try out this software.? You will not be charged until you reach 100 subscribers.
I thought since I have been blogging for years now that I would sit down and actually write a blog. This blog will explain in layman’s terms How to Start a WordPress Blog with no prior technical experience.
In that spirit, this is a perfect venue to get your ideas put on digital paper. This will allow you to help hundreds if not thousands per month by sharing your knowledge and life. I know when I started a blog I found it to be a bit intimidating – even though I work in the Information Technology field for years. There were things that I knew had to be a big part of blogging and just being able to start a WordPress blog the right way is very important.
Honestly, I do have a few ideas rolling around in my head all the time.? However, it’s actually implementing those ideas into a blog post.?Let’s jump in and I’ll start to show you just how to start a WordPress blog with no prior technical experience.
Where To Start First, Your Guide To How To Start A WordPress Blog
You’ve got an idea in your head to start writing about a particular subject that you’re passionate about. I know how much blogging is one of the best income solutions online. It allows you to pretty much have a story written presence online 24/7. But you have to keep in mind that you’re going to need this to be a long-term solution to whatever it is you are aiming to solve.
So, the first step is to have a place to write these great ideas down. Ideas that you could talk days and perhaps months and years about. Narrow these ideas down to 1-2 and then select the one you want to talk about.
Structure Of A Blog
All websites are set up like a house. The website is akin to the inside of your home. The place you decorate inside and outside would be akin to your theme. However, you don’t have a website until you first have an address (you.com).
The only missing part that we haven’t talked about yet, is the hosting. This is the equivalent to the land which you will be building your house on. The hosting gives you a place to be creative, build things, write things and then share it with the world by inviting them into your special spot on the internet.
Your Plot Of Land
In order to get your website to live on the internet, you’ll need to purchase some web hosting. This is pretty cheap and can run as low as $2.99/month for the cPanel web hosting. I prefer to use the Managed WordPress hosting, which normally runs at $7.99/month. However, through my relationship with GoDaddy, I can get you a discount using my link that brings your cost down to $3.99/month.
You’re going to be in search of a web host so that your website can live on the internet. I use the best hosting around. It’s called Managed WordPress hosting and most companies have it but you’ll want to find the host with the most uptime, as well as, the best speed.
I have been with Godaddy for a few years now and each time I need their help, they always manage to exceed my expectations. Whether they go the extra mile in showing me something new about their hosting, or they are just happy to help in any way possible.
They are always first class when I need to get in touch with them. Both the chat and phone models are great but I prefer to talk to an individual that is based right here in my time zone which is in the western part of the USA. Generally speaking, using the phone is better when calling support. You’ll get more skilled technicians.
Different Types Of Hosting
If you’ve Googled or Bing’d a few keywords about hosting accounts, you’ll notice different types of hosting packages. There’s cPanel hosting (uses Windows or Linux) and there’s “Managed WordPress Hosting” solutions. The cPanel installations allow you to do all the legwork of installing the WordPress installation. This can get quite tedious if you don’t know what you are doing.
I personally use the Managed WordPress hosting on my blog. Having a blog should be about blogging and not doing technical support on your blog installation. This is something that I found myself doing a few times when I moved a couple of sites to a different host.
Ultimately, I returned back to GoDaddy and remain a happy customer. If you’re ready to change hosting companies or are looking for a great place to start your WordPress blog, You’ll be happy with SiteGround hosting packages.
WordPress Automation Hosting
I love that the Managed WordPress Hosting has a migration assistant by GoDaddy which does all the common tasks for you during the installation. This allows you to get your website up and running in a matter of minutes rather than hours. This feature will greatly minimize your need to know technical things if you already have a blog on a different hosting platform.
That being said, if you already have a blog on a different host, consider coming over to SiteGround. They have awesome customer service and they have a plan that will make life much easier for you.
So, if you’re ready for a smooth, hassle-free experience, then set yourself up with Managed WordPress Hosting, for around $3.99/month. This includes 1 website and 10GB of storage. Perfect for anyone that is just getting started.
SiteGround Managed WordPress Plans
Key Features of WordPress Hosting
Right off the bat, you’ll notice that there are a few features that come with your Managed WordPress hosting account. So let’s go take a look at these features that are going to help you start a WordPress blog the right way.
Automatic Daily Backups
I’ve used this several times to fix something that I thought would be lost in translation or what most would call editing. I was SO GLAD that I had this available to use because it allowed me to do more of a time shift on my blog. This is a huge bonus and a lifesaver. You have the option to restore the files, database, or both files and database for up to 14 days. What does this all mean? Well, your WordPress installation is essentially a database. That database (or DB for techies) is loaded up with a bunch of files. You’re going to have complete control over what you restore, down to the day.
How To Use The Staging Site
The staging site is something that has recently come on to the scene of hosting. When you move a site into Siteground hosting, the system will automatically put your site into a staging mode.
This will change all of your links to reflect the auto-generated staging domain. The main reason for using the staging site is so that you can do upgrades on your site without having to affect the live site. Once you have made all the changes, you can sync up your site with the production site and then you will not have been in a downstate.
This will help build your authority in blogging or whatever niche you decided to serve.
This feature comes in very handy, as it allows you to go to your site to verify that everything transferred successfully.
Pictures, posts, links. All of it synced to perfection before you hit the button to transfer over to the live domain. As far as testing your website, you can test your plugins to verify that they will not crash your website. If there’s a question at all in adding a plug-in or code to your website, I can’t stress enough the importance of using your staging site. It’s very important to test things before publishing to a public view.
Multiple Site Management Once again, I run a few different sites and the ability to log into my account on Godaddy is so very convenient. The website management page is very easy to understand and navigate. All in one place. Another part of the multiple site management is auto update and site performance measuring. Pretty much everything you have to do on a website using cPanel is automated for you with WordPress Hosting on the GoDaddy platform.
Site Uptime Guarantee
This is one stat that seems to get ignored because of the efficiency of all the web hosts. However, keeping your website up and running is one area that SiteGround excels in. The site uptime guarantee for SiteGround is 99.9%. I have never seen my website go down in the years I’ve been with them. This is a testament to the proficient GoDaddy system.
These are just a few of the features that you would enjoy using WordPress hosting with GoDaddy. If you already have a hosting account and have been using cPanel the whole time, you’ll definitely want to change over to the WordPress hosting.
Moving YourSite.com to SiteGround Managed WordPress Hosting
There’s another easy option to move over to GoDaddy. It’s the migration assistant by GoDaddy.
If you have a running website on another hosting platform, simply input the website address. When you see “login URL“, it’s just asking for your website address. For instance, I would use JonMcCaw.com in this field.
Select the button below the field that you input your website address to start the process.
Almost there…
This is the perfect time to go get that cup of coffee (or a refill).
Actually, the time required is all dependant on the size of your website. My website took a mere 40 minutes to migrate over. Just for measurement sake, my site has been on the net since 2010 and I posted occasionally.
The only caveat for migration assistant by GoDaddy to work is to make sure all your links are set to your domain name and not an automatically generated staging domain name before you migrate over to the GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting.
Now that you have set up a WordPress blog on the Godaddy hosting system, it’s time to start blogging.
What To Blog About
Hosting is the part of the setup that you’ll want to get set up right before doing any blogging. I keep going on and on about Godaddy because with the managed service they really have taken the difficulty away and automated backups for the previous 30 days.
So what is it that you want to blog about?
When you think about setting up a WordPress blog, you think that there’s a lot to think about when writing each blog. This is true but what I kick myself for is when I started blogging, I didn’t go all out and blog more consistently. So the technical side will work itself out. But, if you’re not blogging about what makes you go then you’re leaving things on the table.
And you know, you may not want to be leaving these things on the table.
If you made it this far you have officially learned how to start a WordPress blog. Now, if you’re ready for the next step, go read the next blog post that’s all about the best plug-ins to have loaded in your WordPress dashboard.
Your Resource For Embed?Codes for?YouTube Videos Into Your Blog
There are always ways to manipulate your videos if you have a service like YouTube or you have your own server (which most don’t). ?So, this blog post is for people who want to control how their videos look on YouTube. ?I’ll show you through the steps to customizing your YouTube videos using YouTube embed codes that only YouTube supports. ?Do things that are upright and above-board so that you will be backed by YouTube if anything happens to your account.
That being said, here are some great ways to change the look of your YouTube videos.
First, we are going to start with the video that I’m placing on this blog post as?the base or example video. ?To insert a video on your blog or anywhere a web page is accepting embeds is to copy the embed code on YouTube, then paste it on the page you wish to share the video on.
Title Bar removal
This will remove the title from the top of the video. ?Go ahead and play the video and then watch at the top and you’ll see that the title is gone. ?The command that you need to put in the embed code will be at the end of the SRC portion of the code and INSIDE of the quotes
If you’re looking to embed your video on your blog or capture page, you can simply paste the following?code into whatever media page you want the video to show up on and the video will automatically play upon the page loading completely.
Again, the code to add into the embed portion of code is in RED
I found that adding this to my code when embedding is a good thing to do.
YouTube already gives people a plethora of?videos to watch when on their website.
However, adding this specific YouTube embed code will keep people focused on
your stuff that you provide on Yoursite.com.
Sure, there are those that will click the YouTube logo and then watch from
YouTube.com.? However, those are pretty negotiable.
Modest branding is YouTube’s way of saying, we will give you less “YouTube”
branding.? So all you will see is the YouTube logo?on the bottom right of the video
.? This is the option to use when using?YouTube embed codes on your blog.
START AT SPECIFIC TIME IN VIDEO
?Added Feature URL:?https://youtu.be/fcBftezTuDU?start=x(x=seconds from the beginning)
This option is for inserting a video and having the video start at a
specific time in the video. Most commonly used when pointing
out something?in a video.
This is used when you do not want the viewer to have control
over the video. A classroom setting is a common place to see this,
or even in a video sales letter (capture page). youtube embed codes
are going to be your friend when you learn which option does what.
Example of All Commands into One URL
Here’s the way to get all the branding (YouTube) off of your video.
This is not a 100% solution. However, it does remove about 95% of the
YouTube branding. ?If you’re looking for a solution that will allow
you to brand your videos to you and not YouTube, then you should
check out the video solution that I have started using. ?Get more info on it here?(affiliate link)
Those are some of the little tweaks you can use to change how your videos
look on your blog or wherever you choose to embed your videos.
This last version is going to be a “locked down” version.? I say that because
you’ll essentially have a play button and that’s it.? If you’d like to have more
control of who you want to view your video, take a look at the video hosting company I’ve been using.? There are more options such as
color branding and an?opt-in page before you can watch the video.
Final Thoughts On Using YouTube Embed Codes
Why go to all the trouble of making these videos look like they are NOT on YouTube? ?The quick and short answer is to have your audience’s attention. ?It’s a statistical fact that people watch up to 4 hours of YouTube video per day. ?Think about this for a moment. ?This has literally replaced what Television was 20 years ago.
So, if you want the attention of a potential customer you’re going to have to make it slightly harder for them to browse to other videos on YouTube or any other social media video hosting site.
You might be wondering why I take time out of my day to post things like this to help people out like yourself. ?Well, it’s all a matter of providing your niche and avatar the answers to their problems. ?If you’re interested in getting more great value and training just like this, be sure to subscribe to my RSS Feed.? I’d also like to show you how you can start making money from home with only a couple of hours of time each day.
The subject today is brand marketing. This is what I’m going to address and how you do it as a new or advanced business owner. This applies to all small and large business owners alike in the internet marketing space.
…even if you’re new to the entrepreneurial space, this works for you too!
Most new business owners have a perception that they join up on a business with their sponsor and they can ride the wave that their sponsor has created. Some of that is true but you have to create your brand and know what you stand for in business. It’s the same in businesses you see in your city too.
Target has their way of selling that is different from Walmart or Kmart. It’s their brand that sells people (and location)
So while you may not be a brick and mortar store, setting up shop the proper way is most imperative!
Setting Your Brand Marketing Up
The first thing you need to start doing as a new business owner is
Provide Value This means actually searching places out on the internet and taking notes, and then sharing it via a blog, video, or both on all of your social media outlets.Get focused on who you’re serving and give them what they are searching for. Be consistent because you are their answer to the issues they are having. If you aren’t consistent, you’ll likely miss them on the day they need you most. This is where the sales come from.Providing value on a daily, weekly basis is what you should start your focus on right out of the gate. I’d say a good rule of thumb is to be posting on social media multiple times a day and doing a video at least once a week to multiple times a week.
Encouragement It’s always the positive person that reaps positive actions.  I’ve always seen the positive person show up again and again. They never quit doing good, which in turn, pays them VERY WELL. This one skill will keep your business and personal life full of blessing – and not just for you as you speak life into others.Realize that the world we live in right now is one of turmoil and when we leave work for the day, people do not want to sit and listen to you complain and berate on social media. Do you ever hang out on a post that is negative? Most of the time, you’re looking for a reason to laugh, gain knowledge, or to be encouraged.
Problem Solving One of the first questions I had when I started as a business owner online, was where do I find these problems?  I’ve been a problem solver for well over 20 years and they usually just put a ticket in and I go fix their problem.  (This is the mindset of an Information Technology employee). So in order to start looking for problems to solve, you have to know where to find them. The first place to look is in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ groups.  You can start a twitter feed using lists to find problems to solve as well.  These are just a couple of the many you can use to find problems to solve. The best problems are the ones you find with people you already know.
You probably found this blog post because you want to know the affiliate secrets to Blogging Successfully, right?
Aren’t we all in this to have the biggest and best blog around?
Well…
Writing content for your blog makes for a busy lifestyle of blogging. ?What I’d like to show you are techniques to blogging. Even if it’s a brand new blog.
Making money is not that tough when it’s done correctly. ?It’s common for someone in the affiliate space to start a blog and start making money within the first 21 -30 days.
The key to a successful blog is also not that hidden.
First, I want to cover a very important question:
What is SEO?
This is essentially a way for bloggers and website owners to play by the search engines rules so that the best page will get the best ranking.
SEO can be quite easy to get on the first page if you put into practice?the key ingredients for each page you produce on your blog.
To be a bit more detailed, SEO is a set of rules that are ambiguous to the masses so that everyone is on an even playing field.
Except for those that use trial and error or the very select that have access to people who are in the know (former employees of Google or Bing)
The Effects of SEO
Whether you know it or not, your blog is being affected by SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
There are google bots, Bing bots, and all manners of search engine bots. All of them scouring the internet to see what new posts are worthy of ranking on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd pages of their search engine.
So, know that every piece of content you write is being judged by all search engines. ?There are several key items that you need to pay close attention to when writing a blog or a webpage in order to rank it
The Affiliate Secrets To Blogging Successfully Means Being CONSISTENT
Consistency is the key to anything that is successful. ?Imagine what sort of player Michael Jordan would have been had he not been cut from his high school team and from then on thought that he no longer needed to practice his shooting (or sticking that tongue out before a dunk 🙂 ).
In practice, you need to be doing on a regular basis and preferably on a daily basis.
I’ve heard of quite a few Julliard students that practice several times per day to speed up their learning curve and become a master at their trade of music.
Why can’t you blog in a fashion like those students?
But the second step in this formula is to be entertaining. ?I know that when I first started to blog, I took it like a job and that bled over to the next blog and the next.
This isn’t good because when people are reading your blog they want to hear in your writing a sense of personality.
Stick With One Blog
So, I thought the next step was to create another blog – not another blog post.
The way my mind was wired was to do busy work and look like you’re busy. ?This works well when you are working at a job but when you’re an entrepreneur, you need to do things that make money.
Setting up blog after blog and only blogging on them for about 10 posts is not a successful blog. ?Affiliate blogs are just the same as any other blog except they are geared for the affiliate in mind.
The best strategy for those that want to have multiple blogs is to work on one blog at a time.? Get one to be successful, then move on to the next.
I know that people are on a budget. ?Using a free blog is an option for you while you’re in the personal space of blogging.? What is meant by personal space is this.? If you do not blog on a regular schedule and are just blogging to let people into your life.? Essentially sharing your perspective in your world.
Not so when you’re making affiliate claims, business building, and promoting anything that has any sort of monetary transaction.
So, If you’re already blogging about your business affiliate (Shakes, Oils, Soap, or any other product) you need to have a blog that is yours. One that will not penalize you for putting content that is in the make money online niche, for instance.
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I’ll show you just how easy it is to drive traffic to any targeted niche website you want to use for your business promotion. ?I’ll even give you a FREE 8-day Crash Course along with a PDF for safe keeping.
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Your blog should be immune from a company shutting you down (e.g., Empower Network’s Kalatu Blog), putting ads on your blog page without you having control over them, and most of all do not allow affiliate blogs to live on their servers.
Having an affiliate run blog is not a sustainable strategy.
Ideally, you want your own hosted domain to handle your blog.? You should be able to pay your own rent to the hosting company and you decide if your blog is getting more traffic or shutting down.? You can learn how to start a profitable blog in less than 30 minutes?
A place where you have control of what happens to your media.
Sure, there’s a huge reason for you to have affiliate managed blogs, and the reputable blogs have a way to back up and move the content over to a new platform.
However, do you want to go through all that work to transfer the content and then make sure all the posts look great on the new platform?
Affiliate Blog’s Downfall
Affiliate blogs are more commonly known as the Free blogging solutions.
The reason for this is that they are free and offer an instant solution to blogging.
Look at the T’s and C’s on?some of the more popular blog services such as WordPress?(not WordPress.com), Google Blogger, and Tumblr. ?These specifically state that businesses that use their services are bound by the Terms of Service.
What does this mean? ?It means that you are more than likely either violating the TOS (Terms of Service) of the free service you are using for business. Or they just haven’t found you yet and/or are ignoring your blog until you look like you’re making money.
Case and point:
I’m not here to discourage your use of free platforms. ?We all have seen people push their limits waiting for WordPress, Tumblr, google to crack down and see if they get shut down. ?I know the best way to get your stuff removed from the web is to store it on a free service that you DO NOT OWN.
So, if your content is at all important to you and you would like to have some control over it, then start using self-hosted blogs.
Sure blogging costs money to start.? However, it’s one of the cheapest endeavors to start.? You could offset that cost in no time by being consistent in your blog posts, and do the right advertising.
Just talk to your friends on Facebook and find out who likes to blog.
Show your friends and family how to blog and what you’ve learned.? That will start a small tribe that will help each of you gain page views.? Page views equal monthly income.? Your goal should be to get over 100,000 page views. That will cover your cost right there and after a couple of months, you’ll be profiting!
Learn To Do SEO The Profitable?Way
there are several tools out in the space of SEO. ?I personally have been using Market Samurai for a long time to rank. ?The key to SEO is:
BLOG BLOG BLOG all about those keywords in as many ways as you can.
That’s how you start taking over the first page of Google or Bing!
You can see how I do my SEO using Market Samurai, as well as the free options out there. ?I’ll show you how to use Bing or Google Keyword Tool – which is the source that Market Samurai uses. ?This can be used in any online or offline business
To get better rankings you will also need to know how to get back links to your blog as well. ?Not just any backlink either. ?The latest release of google panda has made blogs become more interactive with each other and sharing each other’s links (in other words, getting editorial links). ?For more on this, you can visit Pat Flynn’s blog.
What Type Of Content And How Many Words Should Your Write In A Blog Post?
I’ve heard from many gurus saying that all you need to write on a blog is what you are knowledgeable about.? If you choose a topic that you are both passionate about and is proven to be profitable, then you’ll be well on your way to blogging successfully. It doesn’t have to be that long of a blog – say about 700-1000 words minimum.
You need to have a blog post that is going to solve the problem of your reader.? They can go to social media to get a short version of what you’re writing about.? After all, is said and done, you need to have superior content to any social media outlet.? This will give your reader a reason to make the move away from social media and on to your site where you have a solution to their problem(s).
If you were to google a keyword phrase, then visit each of the top ten resulted searches, you would find out that the top 3 have between 3000 and 5000 words and the #10 spot would have a minimum of 2000 words.
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To say you only need 300 words to rank high on Google. That is a flat-out joke, unless the keyword is not desirable, which has no traffic to be worth writing a blog post in the first place.
Granted, there are exceptions to the rule.
If you know how to use backlinks, and using your keywords, without stuffing them in. You will do quite well for less competitive keyword phrases.? Like I’ve always said…
As for what to put on your blog? ?I’d say the mind is your limitation.
That, my friend, is one of the biggest discussions among all the internet discussion groups & marketers. ?So, if you’re in business for yourself and want to get free traffic, blogging is for you.? Especially if you like the idea of?Blogging Successfully and getting a return on your investment.
Here’s the kicker though…
Blogging isn’t the ‘end all, be all’ of marketing. ?Of course, you already knew that, right?
The main purpose of blogging is to get people off the social network and onto your social network – your blog. ?The underlying strategy to social media is TRAFFIC.
I have been working with a proven system that does everything but drives traffic – that part is up to you.? If you’re not really sure how to get traffic, or even run an online business, that’s where systems can take you a long way.
So get yourself a trial access to this system which gives you access the system that is generating money for people who have previously never seen a paycheck and even the experienced marketers are seeing 5 to 10 times the income.
Blogging can be a big difference in what your bottom line is.? Whatever you’re promoting, you will have a presence on the internet.? Which, by the way, never closes.
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I’ll show you just how easy it is to drive traffic to any targeted niche website you want to use for your business promotion. ?I’ll even give you a FREE 8-day Crash Course along with a PDF for safe keeping.
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Everyone needs to have a book or two or three that they rely on to help them through difficult times. It’s those books that bridge the gap between the possible and the impossible. That’s why I put together a short list of books that are a must read. So here are 5 life-changing books about personal development that you should read at least once in your career.
If you’re reading this blog post, you are more than likely an entrepreneur or are looking to be one. How you approach business in the everyday world is how you will treat your personal business. So it’s important to build what you have into something that will take a business further than you can imagine.
So, here’s a few life-changing books for personal development that are very important when working on bettering yourself.
I put this book first because it literally has all the business secrets on its cover. Too many times, I see a lot of people bashing the Bible and saying it’s just for religious hypocrites.
But the Bible is more than that.
The Bible has been 100% right in everything that it says, never wrong, and literally has the keys to success. As you can see, from the image below, there are several versions of the bible. You get to choose which version you can understand, or that just speaks more to you.
How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People
I’m going to tell you one nugget of wisdom here. Those that do not have time to read are also telling those around them that they are not ready to deal with people in a way that will create a huge following that ultimately can turn into a huge business.
Do you want to live the way you desire with time and money freedom?
This book is really designed to get you out of your thinking small. Too many people say “all they want…” and it’s usually something that is just above broke thinking.In this book, you are taught to expand your horizons and start feeding your mind what you want to go after. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between right or wrong, big or small, or healthy or unhealthy. You have to tell it by your self-talk what is ok to go after.Click Here to Learn More About The magic of thinking BIG
What to Say When You Talk to Yourself
Have you ever told yourself that you could never have this or that, and then justify your words?
I know I used to think stuff like that but what I have learned through this book and through reading the Bible is that we are able to achieve greatness and when we achieve greatness more times than not, you also have things that go right along with that greatness.
“Success leaves clues” and so does your mindset. People that have a poverty mindset do not accomplish the things that abundant mindset people accomplish. The book here will teach you how to talk to yourself in a way that is self-serving – allowing yourself to be successful at a much higher level.
Remember you are only awake for 12-16 hours tops per day. Our sub-conscience is awake 24hrs per day. So to get your sleeping hours under control you must feed your mind and ultimately your heart what you believe.
It’s at the point your heart comes to an agreement with your mind is when you start to see things that you never could imagine happening.
WOW! What a powerful book to read. It’s one that is a long read in that there are more pages than the standard 200-250 that most books have. This one is just a mere 521 pages.
The things you will learn in this book are structured like a college class. Og Mandino brings in 50 world-renown experts. You’ll learn how to be successful in all that you do.
Here’s one brief subtitle in the book that I thought is very thought-provoking and ultimately true.
found on page 162. Very impactful titles and also very encouraging.
Do you have books that you have read and they have impacted your life in a positive manner? I encourage you to share your thoughts and add to the list in the comments section below.
Share this post with someone who you think would benefit from it. I know there are several people struggling in network marketing and they should not be. These books will help you get the right mindset and in turn, will help you get on with your business and into positive cash flow!!
When you’re off to your blogging journey, you quickly learn that using images and video are very much needed in order to make your blog a great reading experience.
These images help the visitor to create the image in their mind and henceforth, remember your blog, website and hopefully will keep them coming back for more.
The other side of the coin is that most people when they start out, will go to google and type in a keyword and find an image from the search engine result.
Word of advice —- DON’T DO IT!
Instead, get your free images and then use a program called Canva
Google does not actively send out agents to find photos that are being used fraudulently, but if someone decided to complain or a photo owner finds you’re using their content without permission, you can be slapped with a hefty fine. This fine is anywhere between $8,000 and $12,000 from what I have heard from friends.
Think this won’t happen to you? I know a friend of a friend that has had this happen to them and it’s not pretty, especially when you’re just starting out and don’t exactly have a 4-5 figure expenditure budget to pay such avoidable costs.
Protect Your Blogging Efforts With Free Image Resources
Instead of doing things the wrong way, start off by inserting photos you know are free to use and have expressly been categorized as such.
Stock Snap
Stock snap is a free image search engine if you will. On the page that you are taken to right away. Type in a search term and boom, you’ve got a list of photos that are free for download from different users around the world.You can then re-size them for your use and add text graphics as well.Click Here to Learn More About Stock Snap
Little Visuals
This site is an email based delivery photo catalog. When getting to the site you will be told that you can get 7 high-quality images sent to your email inbox every day.
Each day you will be sent a pack of folders that are zipped up “.zip”. So you will need a program to unzip the file. Thankfully, almost every computer these days has a pre-installed program to do just that – zip and unzip. On Apple machines, you will see that they call it to compress and uncompressed and Windows it’s called compact and compress
The design of this site is one of the sites that are not free on this list. However, the caveat to this is that the membership is so cheap it’s well worth the investment of $50/year or $5/month. Mopho.to is setup just like a few other sites that have monthly “credits” that you pay for. This is just a much cheaper version that has high-definition photos to use on your blog and social media.
If you’re still wanting just the free photos there is an option on this site for free photos at mopho.to/free/
So you wanted to know where the videos would come into play, right? Well here’s the site that you can use that has over 540,000 free photos, vectors and art illustrations.
It says so, right at the top of their page!
So as I dig into this site, I find that when you search for a term, you are presented with photos from different people as well as different sites such as the expensive (but legal) shutterstock.com.
When you go to click on the Shutterstock photos you are taken to a sign-up page to get photos from Shutterstock. My guess is that Pixabay is using Shutterstock as a way to monetize this site. If you would like to pay for your photos, go ahead and get them here at Shutterstock or you can stick with the free photos on Pixabay.
The point of this blog post is to provide you with an arsenal of websites that provide free photos in many forms.
The organization of this site is quite good as well. It’s planned so that anyone can choose video, vector, or photo on the results page of any searched term.
Jay Mantri has a site that has a few photos you can use online for your blog or social media. To get to all the photos you will need to click some links and browse the site a bit.
One thing to note on this site, if you have any filters you will probably need to turn them off or view the site from a wide-open network such as a coffee shop or from home. A corporate network will more than likely block some of the technologies to render the site correctly.
Very much a site that has imagination on the mind. photos are photoshopped with different heads on different bodies big heads on smaller bodies and other oddities.
Blogging is a way to show off your online business. If you don’t have images, what’s the point of blogging? With the resources above you have the ability to blog with resources that are free and usable on your blog.
Free Backgrounds, Textures, and Images for Your Website – Finding awesome photos to use on your website is grueling. Sure, there’s Google Image Search and swiping stuff the old-fashioned way but, if your website is or will become as popular as you expect, that’ll eventually come back and chomp you on the haunches. The world is a small place your ex-dating your ex-BFF should have taught you that.
Free Image Resources | Otis College of Art and Design – Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design is a national leader in art and design education. The College mission is to prepare diverse students for art and …
Have you wondered where to get some nice background music that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for all the videos that you’re doing for your home business? In this post, I will show you where to get Royalty Free Music For YouTube Videos
There are a few places that you can get this royalty free music for YouTube videos. Sure, It’s one more chore that you need to do – find some background music that will last the length of your video.
Royalty Free Music For YouTube Videos That Have Great Music
There are a few places that you can get this royalty free music for YouTube videos. Sure, It’s one more chore that you need to do – find some background music that will last the length of your video.
I’ve gathered up 5 websites that have royalty free music that cost as little as nothing and can also cost you as much as you want depending on the licensing you wish to have.
Freeplay Music
Most people will give you their favorite at the end of their list. Not Me! Of all the sites that I have scavenged through, I have to give this one the nod as my favorite. The reason is simple.
The website is there to fill a void. That void is the reason I’m writing this blog post. People want places to go to get good music for their background layer for all the videos they produce. In this case, if you’re using the music on YouTube, you will either get it for free or for a nominal fee of around $.99!
You just can’t beat that. Of course, they offer other types of licensing because the artists did put work into these songs and deserve to be paid – to be honest in how you’re going to use the tracks to help support good quality music.
DanoSongs has many different styles of music to download and also to buy from him on iTunes and other outlets as well. If you’re looking for background music, you’ll have to search a little bit but the music he puts up on his website is good stuff.
His website proclaims that his first love is acoustic rock. He is also a singer-songwriter and loves to experiment with other styles of music.
Some of the styles that are included on this website are
Techno / Electronica Acoustic Guitar and Piano Alternative Rock and others to round out the selection.
Be sure to support him with donations if you can. His music is worth it.
The name alone lends to thoughts of music making in the home or at a place of business. So, when I saw this website I first looked at the layout of the website and then the music selection. All looks great!
This site is not a free music site, however. It charges for each song and gives you several different formats to download the song in. For example, one of the songs that you could download costs $39. But for Royalty Free Music For YouTube Videos – which means you can do with the song as you please – that’s not bad at all!
This website gives you music that you would expect to pay for at the music store. Great artists that produce music for this website alone. They have several packages that will allow you to use their music. Royalty Free Music For YouTube Videos is one of their selling features. So as long as you use the music within the month you pay for the subscription, the music is royalty free.
Of course, if you’re looking for one site to supply your music, I would really suggest this site. I use this site solely now, as well as some other popular YouTuber’s. As you probably know, the subscription fee for royalty free music on YouTube can be a bit expensive. But on Epidemic Sounds website they have a YouTube package per channel for just $15/month. This is still a bargain if you are doing this for 2 channels or more. Some sites will charge you $49 just for one channel.
Of course, there are several more websites that can give you royalty free music to put in your videos for marketing. This is just a selection of the places I would go to besides selecting the music that YouTube gives you to add to your videos.
Another way to get your message across is to get yourself a blog that has proven to be a huge success and very profitable. This is essentially YOUR home on the internet, built for marketers, YouTuber, Hobbyists and more to spread their ideas to the masses.
Where To Use The Royalty Free Music?
If you’re looking for a business model to start promoting, and you are just starting out or perhaps you’re a pro. The system I’m using is helping me do things that I never thought would be possible. I’ve got help from 6 & 7 Figure earners showing me all their “secrets to success”. In any case, you are the creator and should know where to put your music. I choose to put it where my audience listens.
There are some things in marketing you need to know about in order to stay sane while you learn the internet marketing business.? That one thing that will free your time up is something called an autoresponder – and I am currently?using the Get your GetResponse email marketing?system?as my communication tool of choice.? Now there are several other tools you can use to keep in touch with your followers, customers, and potential buyers. If you are looking for an autoresponder that has easy to use templates to use and very user-friendly interface, you should seriously consider using Get Response.? Not only are they a cheaper method to use for what you get compared to the others.? But you also get great customer service via the telephone or web (chat).? I’ve tried a few of the other autoresponder systems and like what they had as an offer but I feel Get Response rose above the rest. Here are a few?that I have tried:
GetResponse?My choice of Auto Responder in this bunch. ?It has many features that make you look good as a marketer, such as send email based on time or action.? It’s also improved and added workflows, tagging, and segmenting.? GetResponse email marketing is very much in the running for top autoresponder.? It’s not the most expensive, it certainly isn’t the least feature-rich
Aweber? This is a good auto-responder for those that are just starting out on a limited budget – and plan on making money in the first month.? There is a $1 trial for the first 30 days if you choose Aweber.??
Constant Contact?- One of the other choices that you could go with for $15 per month; They offer a free account however, you could get much more for about $12/month with GetResponse.
DRIP – One of the newest autoresponders in the marketplace. ?This service is built with all the things that were left out of the others plus much more.? Its built by the people at LeadPages and have a full version ready for use as a trial.? The trial is free forever as long as you don’t go over 99 contacts.
MailChimp?- An entry-level program to send out emails to your subscribers. ?This is a free autoresponder but they have limits – which is when you start to pay per credit or monthly. If you are on a tight budget, this is the one I would suggest until your list gets too big and/or you are making a decent income to switch to the more feature-rich autoresponder. ?As of September 2017, they allow you to have up to 2000 subscribers for free. ?Also, you get much more value with this service as they allow you to use their workflows at all service levels – free and paid.
How To Use GetResponse For The Beginner:
Getresponse is actually quite easy to use.? It’s one of those more advanced autoresponders that are based on a point and click model.? Much like you are doing when using your windows or mac computer.
The times of emailing everyone your offer and not paying attention to their behavior are over.?GetResponse Email Marketing has addressed this issue by providing workflows, tagging, and rules that watch what your customer or subscriber is doing and modifying the messaging to fit their needs.
After all, the customer / subscriber is there because you are offering them a solution, right?
What your aim should be is to have a business with several options for your customers to choose from.? The autoresponder of today is built to accommodate your business by learning your customers wants and providing a product that you sell to them.
Autoresponders For Business
Of the autoresponders that are in the marketplace, the best ones usually cost the most.? The reason for this is they have all the features built into their SaaS (Software as a Service).??
For instance, they have the ability to email a subscriber/customer that missed a payment on your monthly subscription.? All this is on autopilot so you don’t have to deal with any of the embarrassing emails or phone calls.
The method is simple to use but if it’s a autoresponder that has just the ability to email your subscribers without segmentation, then they won’t have other feature sets available either.
Fortunately, most of the autoresponder companies are moving their companies up to the present time by adding these features.? Most importantly, tagging.
Tagging is what allows your list to be fluid rather than static.
Businesses need to be fluid in their approach to sell to their online customers.? This all boils down to using tags in all of your?emails? Using tags will create a profile of a subscriber. This will tell you what they click on and what they are buying.? It will also continue to inform you if they are engaged or not.
As you get more information on your customer, you’ll be able to assign workflows to your individual subscriber.? This is what Getresponse Email Marketing is all about.
Many people have been curious how to get their blogs to rank better with SEO smart links. There are plenty of tools that can help you do this but here’s one that is free that I recommend everyone start using. Of course, this tool has a paid version that can do much more, but for the purpose of ‘securing’ your website, I would suggest the use of pretty links to start.
SEO smart links are key to securing your site. This will allow you to unleash your ‘mojo’, letting you shine!
What I mean about ‘mojo‘ and ‘secure‘ is this:
Think of your website as a glass of water or whatever your favorite fluid is. Now, when you have a website that has links to other sites you are putting a hole in your glass that leaks out your favorite fluid (water is my favorite – so that is the fluid I will choose to refer to). This is what I mean by leaking ‘mojo‘ or making your site more ‘secure‘.
In order to stop the bleeding so to speak, you need to add a patch in your code – don’t worry, you don’t need to know code to add this. You’re going to need to start using a function called “nofollow” in your links. What pretty links does is shorten up your links and make the link you are using look like it’s coming from your website, such as the ‘paid version’ link above.
Another SEO Smart Links Tip
Pretty Link will automatically install a ‘rel=nofollow’ on all of your links you create in this plugin. This is key to making sure your blog keeps its water in the cup you are using, rather than letting it seep out to other websites with less or more water in their cup.
When you have a website that you put so much effort in, you want it to start ranking well on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Altavista, and Alexa. So make sure that you start installing the nofollow on all of your links. This one tip will start increasing your traffic, ranking, and page rank authority in about 30 days – depending on how much you blog or update your website.
So if you want to want more SEO smart link tips to better your website or blog, I will be putting more on this site and creating a few more videos to go along with these posts.
