Postcards from the Funny Farm

I was fortunate enough to have another set of my words published today at the renowned Blogcritics Magazine.  My post there is a commentary on teaching as a career choice.  It is aimed mainly at young people considering going into the trade.  I discuss how/if the coming recession might affect the profession.  If you care to comment over there I would sure appreciate it.

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Ok, so you want your blog to have more value … scratch that, you want it to have mega-millions of value … you’ve come to the right place. We’ve been outlining value on a blog through the acronym: “v.a.l.u.e.”. Let’s do a quick review:

1. “V” stands for visceral
2. “A” stands for aphoristic
3. “L” stands for linkage

Now, as promised, we probe the mysterious area known as “U.” It stands for “Ubiquitousness.” If you don’t know the meaning of the word, check this out:

ubiq·ui·tous
Pronunciation:
\yü-?bi-kw?-t?s\
Function:
adjective
Date:
1830

: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread <a ubiquitous fashion>
— ubiq·ui·tous·ly adverb
— ubiq·ui·tous·ness noun

In theory, if you could post a link to your post everywhere on the interweb at one time, then you would have “U” down pat. Obviously you can’t. The more I think about the hundreds of millions of blogs out there the more fatigued this letter can become. So you can’t do it all? What CAN you do? Here are a few suggestions to increase the ubiquitousness of your post (all of which I do on a pretty regular basis).

1. Make a Google Alert for 2 things: 1) your blog’s url through the Google Blogsearch feature ie: link:http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com and 2) the title of your blog. This will send you an email whenever someone links to you and whenever your title shows up on a page on the web.
2. Create a Tumblr.com tumblelog and use the Tumblr bookmarklet feature to post the link with a description. In the description of the permalink, include a standard linkback to your blog’s main url. This will help your backlink count and with some online measures, your rank and authority.
3. Create other blogs on various “subtopics.” Link to your post there, sometimes through a related short article using the text: “More info on this topic at: (your blog url)”
4. Use social bookmarking. DIGG and Stumbleupon only work if other people submit. You can ask friends to on the posts you really want to get out there. But most all the rest it is “kosher” to bookmark your own posts.
5. Guestblog and link back to your article.
6. Post to AC or Blogcritics and include a relevant linkback to your article.
7. Get the free info on backlinks and blog promotion at socialmediadaily.com
8. Other ideas out there?

Getting your posts link out there so many people have access to it is key to producing value for your blog. Being “ubiquitous” is a full time job. Get ready!

Ok, now for the last frontier of this series. We’ll be looking at the letter “E” in the next couple of days. While you wait, why not pick one thing at a time and work on it. These are all equally important to gaining value for your blog.

I made more money in March than I have made blogging to-date. In this post I show how. So, without any further ado, lets get to my March 2008 goals and results.

In February’s post, I broke down my March goals into three categories. This worked so well that I will be doing the same for April. You may recall the three categories are:

1. Traffic Goals,
2. My Web Publishing Goals, and
3. Monetization Goals.

First, let’s look at last month’s stats:

March 2008

1. Traffic Goals:
   3,532 Visits: Goal exceeded! (was 3500)
   114 Visit/Day avg.: Goal of 100 visits/day exceeded!
2. My Web Publishing Goals:
   Just to reiterate: One of my main goals with my blog is to establish more of a name and an online presence through multiple online locations. These also help with backlinks, Google PageRank and Technorati authority. I went on a publishing field-day to put it mildly! I hope to do even more next month.
   
3. Monetization Goals:
   Feeling a little jaded after Google smacked my page rank from a PR4 to a PR2 because I used IZEA, I decided to set my PayPerPost goal low in March at $30. I exceeded that goal with an income of $65 from PayPerPost in March. Also, I was able to make $20 from Loud Launch and an incredible first month of $70 with PayU2Blog. The PayPal payment just went into my bank account an hour ago. Can you say Sarah and I go to Chili’s for lunch today??? ;) Oh, one more money item: I gained 2 125×125 paying advertisers this month. It is a pleasure having them and I plan to do all I can to keep them happy.

Okay, now it is time to list my future goals for April:

1. Traffic:
   3750 Visits.
   175 Visits/Day (I know it is almost doubling last month’s goal, but I am networking through 9Rules and BlogCatalog much more as well as some sources I’m choosing to wait to mention in case they don’t work).
2. My Web Publishing Goals (10 published articles in April): Publish on …
   BlogCritics (2)
   Associated Content (1)
   FuelmyBlog (2)
   GuestBlogging as the coveted offers come in. I would anticipate a minimum of 5 offers, but we’ll see. If I don’t get that many, I may approach YOU! ;)
3. Monetization Goals: I’m making a goal to make $100 minmum on PayPerPost and PayU2Blog. We’ll see what the ads bring in as well but I am not setting an ads goal at this time.

Think I can pull it off? I am confident I can. You might consider subscribing to my feed so you don’t miss an update! This month should be an exciting month of meeting these new goals. Oh, and if you are interested in getting traffic from this blog, I would like to do a guestblog or interview for you on your blog. Let’s talk! Thanks for reading Postcards from the Funny Farm.

It was an amazing Safari last week. I read some great blogs by old friends and added several new ones through the binoculars. Most my new blogs here were discovered through Entrecard.com. Just a little plug for them, they are cool. Check these out. As always, each post received a well deserved Stumble. If you have a post you’d like me to consider on a safari, please drop me an email.

Ask Mimzie Great Q&A in the spirit of “Dear Abby.” Mimzie has other styles of posts where she truly cracks me up with her wit and sassiness. This is a neat little section of her blog. You should check it out and if you like it: subscribe. Oh, and of course you can send in questions.

FreshPeaches I have always loved fresh peaches. This great diet/nutrition blogger tells you all the buying secrets.

My Top 5 Songs From the1960s What are your favorite songs from the 1960’s? Malcolm gives his awesome 5 and invites your input in his comments.

4×4 Sources Of Writing Inspiration: Group W... This is a great creative idea for a writing challenge. If you are looking for a backlink and want to write something creative, do this one with me.

Name Brand and Generic OTC meds A story of how a cougher learned why name brand meds cost more.

My TiVo thinks I am deceased I love TiVo and I found out one of my new blogger friends does as well. Is this something we should feel guilty about? nahhhhhhhh.

How to Use and Optimize for Google Image Searc... Having an alt and title tag within your pictures is an SEO must. In fact, if you don’t have the alt’s it will fail a validation. Katy writes a great post as always with photos showing you how to include these. If you are not doing this, I highly recommend reading this post.

Deflated While the trip do donate platelets didn’t pan out as she had hoped exactly, this post is phenomenal because she manages to photograph step by step her trip to give blood. That is dedication to blogging. This is an interesting post.

Danny Boy Jessica the Rock Chick wrote this little gem of a post about being Irish and about St. Paddy’s Day. The words are poetry as always but the peak of the think is the picture of an actual green river. I don’t even think it’s photoshopped.

Organized, I am Organization is such a powerful tool. This post shows how Marcia is getting her computer stuff organized and in line. I believe when you are organized, you can do anything! Oh, and she’s using Flock as a browser now which is also a great move!

Four Days Off A great reminder to her readers that work is just work and not something to get a “bleeding ulcer” over. I think we all could use this reminder in the form of a diary entry.

Damian A post about being cursed (or blessed) with the name Damien. She gives lots of examples of Damien through history that often get ignored in favor of the OMEN fame.

Movie Review: Vantage Point Is An Original, Exciti... A movie review on the famous “BlogCritics” about this clever, original suspenseful film with an all star cast including Dennis Quaid and Forrest Whittaker.

Do you Know Where Your Widgets Are? Article that examines which widgets are worth your time and which aren’t by giving some basic principles.

I’d say there are three main types of bloggers:

1. Online Authors
2. Service/AD Promoters -and-
3. Purely Personal Bloggers

I am a mixture of 1 and 3 and I am working daily to become mostly a 1. I would say for types 2 and 3, online publishing is not really a necessary concern. But if you are trying to develop on online name as an author, then it should be a priority in your blogging week.

A commenter asked me today the following question that I am choosing to answer in this post. She wrote:

How do you go about getting published on the web? Do you approach people, or do they approach you?

Great question. The answer is: BOTH, but mostly you ask them. Lately I have been working on guest blogging on sites I respect and that I feel have a similar audience to my blog. In doing so I have the chance to attract new readers and give the host blog my traffic for the day I have the guest blog up. They get a link from my announcement of the post and I of course get a backlink from the post in the short bio credits. Guest blogging is the best way I have found to publish on the web. I recommend you frequently let your readers know you are interested in doing it and then that you approach specific bloggers through email with your proposal. If they say no, don’t be crushed. But mostly they say yes in my experience.

In addition to guest blogging, there are many web publishing blogs and ezines that will publish your writing. Two that I write for on a regular basis are:

BlogCritics -and-

Associated Content (AC)

You must apply to BlogCritics and AC approves on a post by post basis.

As I said, there are many many services and blogs you can publish online to. Have a look around the web and see what’s right for your style. In publishing your work other places than your primary blog you get your name around the web. These create backlinks to your blog thereby giving it better seo authority (ie; your posts come up higher in the searches) and advertisers see you as a better value when they consider paying you to show off their products.

The other benefit, which is to me most paramount, is it gets you more familiar with the worldwide audience that is the web. I like to get out of my blog comfort zone and challenge myself to write for new audiences. Ultimately, the “writer” type of blogger, as opposed to the commercial or strictly diarist type, should be challenging him/herself with new writing situations as this will improve her/his ability to attract and engage readers for the lifetime of their blog. (I hope mine is as long as my own lifetime ;) Actually one of my secret dreams is to make enough money through online publishing to be able to buy some Briggs and Riley fine luggage and take my wife to Ireland on a romantic vacation. Who knows, stranger things have happened right? If nothing else, whether the online publishing pays out or not, I know I’ll be a better writer and since I started, that has always been what it is all about for me.

Do you know of some other online publishing avenues out there I haven’t mentioned?

It’s the end of the month and time again to see how I did with my blogging goals. Setting goals is an effective way to improve a blog and feel a sense of accomplishment when you meet them. This month I will be placing less of an emphasis on money but I feel strongly this will only be a temporary change. The non-monetary goals I am focusing mostly on will translate into more income but it will probably take 2-3 months I predict. Developing an online voice and presence is a surefire way to gain an audience. And everyone knows that audience translates into advertising success. By summer I will hopefully be talking about money as the main thrust of this series, but first things first. I broke down my goals into three categories:

1. Traffic Goals,
2. My Web Publishing Goals, and
3. Monetization Goals.

First, let’s look at last month’s stats:

Feb 2008

1. Traffic Goals:
   3,028 Visits: Goal exceeded by over 1,000 visits!
   93 Visits/Day avg.: Goal of 70 visits/Day exceeded by 23/Day!
2. My Web Publishing Goals:
   One of my main goals with my blog is to establish more of a name and an online presence through multiple online locations. I set goals to guestblog, write for BlogCritics, and always be open to writing for other blogs and websites. Below are the external articles I had published. These also help with backlinks and Technorati authority.
   *Guest Blog at Dad Balance
   *Guest Blog at The Outboard Brain of a Geek
   *BlogCritics Review
3. Monetization Goals:
   PayPerPost $69
   Total earnings for February: $69. Exceeded goal by $39
   In every category I exceeded my goals in February! That is a great feeling. Now, my goals for March:

March 2008

1. Traffic Goals:
   3,500 Visits
   100 Visits/Day avg.
2. My Web Publishing Goals:
   *2 articles for BlogCritics
   *1 guestblog post. (HINT HINT, I am available!)
3. Monetization Goals:
   PayPerPost $30

Think I can pull it off? I am very confident I can. You might consider subscribing to my feed so you don’t miss an update! March should be an exciting month of meeting these new goals. Oh, and if you are interested in getting traffic from this blog, I would like to do a guestblog or interview for you on your blog. Let’s talk! Thanks for reading Postcards from the Funny Farm.

What do you think of these 3 blogging goals?

Be Kind, Rewind to Nacho Libre

If all Jack Black’s movies were on VHS, I’d want to rewind his latest,
Be Kind, Rewind to the Nacho Libre mark.

Read my full review of this film published on on BlogCriti....

My opinion article on the CBS series “Dexter” has been published at BlogCritics. If you’d like to read it, you can get there from here.