Funny Video For The Author In You!

If you or someone you know is an author, this is the video to watch!

Put RSS On Your Blog

Frustrated with all the dead end searches in trying to figure out how to put RSS on your site? I was. It seemed that all the searches were either telling me how to pick up someone else’s RSS to read, or was a lengthy article explaining all the boring technicalities about what RSS is, not how to put it on my blog. You already know that you want RSS on your blog and it will help your traffic. So when I finally figured it out, I decided I would chronicle my stupidity and give you the short answer on RSS.

First of all, if you are using WordPress.com, or Blogger, your RSS tag is probably already there. Duh. Most of WordPress.com themes include it as part of the template, or you can ‘plug it in’ . On Blogger, at the bottom of your blog page, if you see a “xml” icon, then you have a version of it. If you want a pretty orange RSS icon at the top of your blogger blog anyway, Feedburner makes it extremely easy to generate the html, and then you just put it in ‘Add html or javascript’ (NOT ‘Feed’) in the ‘Add Elements’ part of the ‘Design’ area. Then, just move your elements around so it’s at the top. You can add a “Subscribe via Email” with html from feedburner, you can see an example of how it looks on Blogger at Momma’s Choice.

If you are on WordPress, on Become a Blogger, the tutorial #10 shows you how to get your RSS feed from Feedburner and how to put it on WordPress. There is also another site on toprankblog.com that creates the html you need for a large variety of RSS buttons. Be sure to watch the video at becomeablogger.com before you start anything, it’s a lifesaver…well, at least a time saver!

RSS video tutorial

Feedburner

Top Rank Blog, RSS buttons

Great Blogging Tutorials

Today I watched over half of the blogging tutorials that Yaro Starak has posted online to see if they were worthwhile, and was really impressed! I’ve gotten Yaro’s blog Entrepreneur’s Journey via RSS for awhile now, and it’s not the best of the entrepreneur blogs, but he does have alot of good information. The biggest downfall of his blog, IMHO, is he is too wordy. They say you are bothered the most by faults in other people that you struggle with personally….so be it.

These tutorials at Become a Blogger.com are a little annoying because they cover every little detail, right down to how to type in an url and fill out a form. I can deal with it though, because I know there are people that are very new to everything online, and, well, been there, done that! Ideal for the ground zero newbie, there was also good material on how to put an RSS feed on your blog, which I had been anquishing over the last 3 days. Every place I went to assumed I knew MUCH more than I did, or was teaching you how to place someone else’s feed on your site. This alone has endeared these tutorials to my heart. Thank you, Yaro!

Starting with reasons to use WordPress hosted on your own domain, moving on to getting your own domain name to signing up with a web host, I have a big money saver to add to his suggestions: use wordpress.com (it’s free) with your own domain name. You can get domains for $6.99 at One & One, and it’s very easy to navigate their site to make the changes, and if you can’t figure it out, they have fairly quick tech support.

If you do want to sign up for a web host because you are in this for the big bucks, then be sure to get the coupon codes on this site to save substantial moola. I try to keep them current, and if you can’t find them, just do a search in the search box (at top of page) for “Host Gator”. You can always email me, if you still can’t find it, it’ll be worth your time, I promise! Host Gator is being recommended more and more by the online ‘gurus’, and for good reason. They are feature-rich, reliable and no gimmicks! And their support is in-house! Anyway, this post isn’t about Host Gator…sorry.

So, other than disagreeing with Yaro’s domain and hosting recommendations, these videos are perfect for anyone just getting started. I think I’m going to do a separate post on how to figure out the RSS post via these videos, just so others don’t have to go through what I did trying to find info on it.

Find the videos at: Become a Blogger

or on Yaro’s blog: Entrepreneurs-Journey

Have a great weekend!

How To Make Money Blogging-Part 4

Ok, now the last 3 blogging “lessons” have been on getting your blog set up, and hopefully you have found a comfortable home for your blog. I have hopped around looking at and trying different platforms and it’s such a pain to move your blog once you’ve started, be ABSOLUTELY sure you are happy where you’re at before you get started and you will save yourself alot of time and frustration.

There are two books that I have bought and will try to pass along the essentials to you. One of the books is a Startup Guide by Entrepreneur Press called Start Your Own Blogging Business (Startup). It’s a 96 page paperback that is very basic, and is seems to be more theory than actual how-to’s. It’s also a good primer if you have never had a business before.

My favorite part of the entire book is a little story they tell at the very beginning that I think you find encouragement in also. It’s a story about Caroline, who publishes a blog on everything about iPods, her favorite thing in the world. Currently, her blog receives an average of 15,000 visitors per day-reportedly a modest amount of traffic for her chosen topic, receiving the “typical” amount of ad revenue of $.80-$1 per click from her readers. If only 1% of her daily traffic of 15,000 (150) click on her ads, she will earn between $120-$150/day in ad revenue. That’s $4500/month, or $54,000/year with very little business expense, which isn’t bad at all considering she is doing something she loves!

This gets better… NOW…if Caroline increases her traffic, let’s say to 150,000/per day with the same daily percentage of 1% clicking the same ads at $1/click …that’s $1500/day or just over a half million dollars per year.

Seem a little outrageous? Not really. 1% is a low percentage as well as $1/click is a low estimate, too. As your traffic increases, your advertisers pay you more to advertise for them. Granted, 150,000/day visitor traffic will take a bit of work (duh), but it is not an unrealistic goal if your subject matter is a popular one.

If you’re thinking that you could never acheive 150,000/day traffic to your blog, there are a variety of opinions on this. In the reviews of ProBlogger’s new book, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, the point was made that it is more likely that your average blogger will make that 6-figure income with many blogs, not just one gigantic one. However, considering there are an estimated 1.6 billion internet users world-wide, 150,000 seems like a small number. Suggestion? Open a file on your computer or in your favorites and start recording your blog ideas and as you come across information for those ideas, copy the link and keep it with your idea file(s).

What is the final lesson here? It’s two-fold: choose your topic carefully, and really work at building your traffic. Go to the website Problogger.net for lots of tips and information on building traffic, or check out their new book, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. Another good site is Dailyblogtips.com, a clean, well organized blog that you can learn alot from.

How to make money blogging-Part 3

As a fellow blogging newbie, the blind leading the blind has it’s perks. For instance, much of the blogging advice I run into is assuming I know much more than I do. I know there are blogger wanna-bes out there that have no clue how to install a WordPress plug-in. There are so many articles telling us the must have plug ins, but how do you “plug it in?”

Help is here! I found a website that has video tutorials telling us HOW to install those plug ins. Tubetorials is a site of video helps on all things blog. There’s even “Blog Law 101″ to get familiar with the fine print aspect of writing a blog.

So, part 3 of your blogging class assignment is to get your blog running smoothly and clearly. Be sure to keep writing at least 3 posts per week, 2-3 per day if you are really serious about making money with your blog.

How to make money blogging-Part 2

First off, I really want to make it clear that I am NOT an expert at blogging, actually, I am just really getting started. If you’re wondering what am I doing writing a blog about blogging when I’m a new blogger (say that 5 times really fast) , so am I. What I am is a teacher, and a researcher. To clarify my purpose here, it’s to give you a concise outline to get started and point you to all the resources you need to make …GOOD…money blogging. I am happy to walk along side and compare notes as we go along, too!

OK, now that we have that out of the way…..Step 2. You should have your topic now, your next assignment is also one of the most important foundational steps you will take and that is deciding on your blogging platform. Here is where I have freedom to tell you my experiences with various platforms because no one is paying me to say what they want me to! In case you aren’t sure what I mean by ‘blogging platform’, then you are at the right place. This means you aren’t up on the latest CSS or HTML, or other alphabet software and you need a basic recommendation.

There are so many choices, and so many variables, that I choose not to go into because it probably doesn’t matter to you anyway. I spent so much time looking at different applications, that I wished someone had just told me what to do, but we will do a little more than that.

There are two types of blogging platforms-online and offline. Online is where you sign up and everything you need it right there online….sort of obvious, right? Offline is a program you buy like a website design program and you write it and upload it on your hosting account. If you have a website and domain, you may have access to a blog program in your Fantastico control panel. Call your host’s tech support and ask them to walk you through it.

We are only going to deal with online programs…and the free ones. I discovered WordPress.com later in the game and absolutely LOVE it, and it’s free. Unless you have a friend or relative that highly recommends another program and is willing to coach you through it, I highly recommend WordPress.com. It’s very simple to set up, has a good selection of premade templates and many extras you can add at the click of a button. The best part is that as you get more advanced in your knowledge of all this stuff, WordPress gives you the freedom to get in the code and tinker around. That may not sound appealing at this point, but you will want to do that at some point, I guarantee it. Did I mention it was FREE?
Another good option is the well-known Blogger.com, Google’s baby, and it is easily set up with Google Adsense, too. However, being somewhat of a remnant child of the sixties, I have struggled with how big Google is getting, and thus a little too powerful. So I enjoy promoting the free spirited WordPress. That’s all I will say, in case Google hears me…..

The platform I am using came with my hosting package and is an installed WordPress hosted on my webhost. I feel limited in what I can do, but maybe I just haven’t discovered all the options, yet. Can you tell I’m not a pro at this stuff?

That’s all for today, look around yourself at different programs and let me know if you find another one you really like and why. There’s a really good list (yes, again!) at Problogger.com……

till tomorrow, God bless!

How to make money blogging-Part 1

In looking at all the many sources of information about how to make money blogging, I can’t say I have any new info to add or unique tips, I am just offering a condensed step by step how to.

In all my years of looking for ways to make money at home, there was always many ideas and “the best ways” to earn money from home. What I found out (the hard way) was no one told me exactly how to start. All the information was concentrated on how much I was going to make and rarely where to begin. So I would dive in and a ways down the road I would realize it wasn’t going to work for one reason or another.
So! To begin your blogging career, you will need to decide what you want to blog about! This is probably your most important step. You don’t want to sign up for a domain name or service yet, you only want to have a PLAN for your blog.

Your blog should be something you’re interested in or your apathy will show through your writing. You will also find it very hard to be writing every single day about something you don’t have a passion for. Another important factor in your subject choice is profitability. Are there products or services connected to your blog that are in demand? Think about where your experience and knowledge intersect with a subject that people want to read about.

Make a list of 5-10 subjects you think might be possibilities and tomorrow I will give you a few places you can go to check without a doubt which subjects have profit possibilities and which don’t! If you are having problems thinking of ideas, try looking at some of these sites and look at what others have done:

blogflux-top blog sites

blog of the day awards

top 100 blogs (if you can stand the flashing ads…)

another top 100 blogs…(no flashing ads…)

have fun! You might want to set a timer, it’s easy to get lost in time when surfing the top blogs!

God bless.

How to make money blogging-Intro

I’ve spent the last 4 hours researching and looking at blogs and what others are doing to make a GOOD income blogging. Obviously, there are many, many people doing it as a full time job and doing very well with it, but all will say that it is work. Those who have journaled their journey tell how they virtually lived online at first. So, it’s not a get rich quick income, but it certainly seems to suit the typical homeschool family as a way to make money at home!

Think about it, your blog could be a topic of special interest to your family and you could make it a daily school assignment! Writing practice, research, and creative thinking all rolled into one ongoing assignment! The best part is you can get started for free!

OK, here is my plan. For the next 6 months, I am going to dig online and offline for the best of the best blog advice there is and journal my creation here on bizyhomeschoolers. I’ll let you know every detail, including what I make, so that you will know what to do -or what NOT to do – to make money blogging! I also would like to link to as many homeschool bloggers as possible, so watch out. However, that’s all for my intro because it’s late, and I’m going to bed, good night!

My Vision for this blog….(aka Our Story)

This is your traditional ‘Welcome to my blog’ first post. The first post is always the hardest, not sure why that is but I have a feeling that I won’t be at a loss for words.

So, I would like to share with you my vision for this blog. Homeschooling has changed a lot since 1989 when we started homeschooling our 11 year old daughter. Actually, we tried to start in 1983 when Rachael’s kindergarten teacher (Calvary Christian Academy in Denver, CO) told us that due to her ‘precociousness’,  she would do much better in a home school situation! I really wasn’t sure how to take that, but being somewhat of a 60′s throwback turned newborn Christian, I found the unconventional idea of homeschooling intriguing. However, at the time we were “professional” foster parents for an unwed mothers home and the administrators of the program did NOT like the idea at all. I guess they thought the young mothers might want to try it themselves or something.

Homeschooling is so much more accessible now, with abundant support available in almost every capacity, more curriculum choices than we know what to do with and last, but certainly NOT least-the internet! You could almost design an entire curriculum from online resources alone.

Aside from all the wonderful changes that the early homeschoolers didn’t have, there is one thing that hasn’t changed at all. The homeschool family’s finances, or lack thereof. It is a rare family that successfully homeschools without one parent staying home full time with the children. Homeschooling is definitely a full time job!

Our economy is geared around a two income household, which makes surviving on one income very difficult for the majority. Not that it can’t be done, and done well, I personally know many that have taken up the challenge enthusiastically, but I know more families that struggle with it immensely.

We were one of those families that struggled with it immensely, and found our solution in a variety of home business endeavors. Finding ideas and resources were scarce and scam awareness was not in my biological data base. As a result, over the last 20 years I have researched 100′s, if not over a thousand various ways a homeschool family can make money and maintain a respectable homeschool at the same time.

One day a friend was over and we were looking at an article on “How to Choose Your Perfect Business” and one of the questions was, “What do you know the most about?” While I was musing over the last 20 years of homeschooling, playing ‘soccer mom’ and all the other mini businesses that I had run, my friend pops up with my long sought answer: “Your perfect business is finding home businesses!” I was always coming up with new ideas, or new takes on old ideas, and actually, was  probably almost annoying at my constant obsession with finding another “new” idea that could solve someone’s financial woes, but now I finally began to see how God might be able to use those countless hours searching every knowledge source I could lay my hands on.

All that to say is my vision for this blog is to put in print all the possible ideas and resources for homeschool families to make money at home while still keeping up with the kids’ home school. Part of the solution also lies in teaching your kids to start their own business and make it part of their everyday school. But that’s another website, and would love to have you stop by HomeSchool-Entrepreneur.com sometime and say ‘hi!’.

Huge List of Great Blog Resources!

Here’s another HUGE list of great blogging resources- everything from blog helps to platforms to search engines and more. If you are serious about making money with your blog, spend some time here!

go to :  <a href=”http://dfinitive.com/category/blogging” title=”blog resource list” target=”_blank”>dfinitive.com </a>