Ask Me Why… Work From Home

Sorry about the absence. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been “helping out” at our local Senior Center. The food service contractor had a “family emergency” so I’ve been filling in. After all, until I retired 12 years ago, I did cook for large groups.

I’m slowly catching up, and will post my results with Project Wonderful, BookWise, and my “traffic generation” results with EntreCard in future posts.

See y’all soon!

Shari

Part of returning from semi-retirement to help build BookWise also includes generating income from as many sources as possible. After all, a drip becomes a trickle, then a rivulet, a creek, a stream and finally a river… with many of the same processes beginning again.

Across my active blogs, I run a little Google AdSense, and most recently AdToll, and now Project Wonderful.

I gotta tell you… I was pretty overwhelmed this morning when I found 47 pending bids for two ad spots, each on different blogs. Yeah, I’m a newbie, and I started the price at zero (is that free?)… but geez, I thought that would be the right thing to do.

So, I’ve added two more boxes so y’all can grab a 125×125 icon. If you hurry… you might get a real bargain… can you spell free?

In all honesty, you may want to bid a little higher as free won’t last long this time.

Now, about AdToll…

I’m running a single banner on my Ask Shari About PGA Tour Fantasy Golf blog, and it’s getting a lot of traffic. The banner is just below the header and above all the content. You really need to grab it while it’s cheap, and before I figure out how to make it more expensive.

I’m liking what I’m seeing, and if I get paid according to their terms, I’ll expand the advertising a bit with both AdToll and Project Wonderful.

Starting immediately, you’ll get more than just a 24-hour ad spot when you advertise with me on ANY of my four blogs.

Here’s what you get.

When you place your first ad on one of my blogs, I’ll record the purchase price on a spreadsheet. Once your ad is completed, and I’ve been credited with my 25% share of the cost of that ad, I’ll place 25% of that amount into a pool. That means if you pay 80 credits, I get paid 20 and I’ll put 5 into the “Ad credit pool”.

When that pool reaches 200 EC, I’ll hold a drawing and award the lucky winner all 200 credits. Then, the pool will start again. All the names will remain in the pool. That means when you advertise more frequently, your chance of winning is increased.

Beginning with the second time you advertise on the same blog, I will refund 10% (rounded to the nearest credit) of your purchase price, once the ad has run. That means if you place a repeat ad on one of my blogs, and it cost you 75 credits, you’ll get 8 credits back from me.

Once you’ve advertised 10 times with me on ANY of my four blogs, you’ll earn a spot in the blogroll of your choice.

This program only works for you when you are a member of Entrecard. To enroll, go to Entrecard.com. There is no referral program, so no need to hunt around for a special link.

Here are my current stats.

“Success Notes“, a blog about my BookWise business, found in the category “Books”. Ad cost is 123, and as of right now, you can get immediate placement. Yes, it’s before the “Ad Loyalty Program” kicks off, however, I need to “beta testers”, and you can become one. All aspects of the program apply. This site is getting just under 100 visits per day at this time.

This blog will cost you 75 credits today, and yes… you can be a ‘beta tester” here, too. It’s located in Category “Internet Marketing”. This site is getting nearly 90 visits per day for the month of January.

“Ask Shari About PGA Tour Fantasy Golf” is located in the “Sports” category, and will cost you 49 credits today. I need “beta testers” here, too. At the start of the current season, this site is currently averaging 45 visits per day.

“Shari’s Gone Country” is in the category “Personal Diary” and will cost you a mere 33 credits. “Beta testers” are welcome here, too. This site averages about 77 visitors per day.

I look at it this way. When you advertise with me, you show confidence in my ability to improve traffic to my site. I am rewarding you for that effort.

As the traffic increases, you’ll get more bang for your EC. Should the cost of the ad go up, you’ll still get a 10% discount, as well as a more frequent opportunity to win and extra 200 EC, and also a spot on my BlogRoll.

Advertise with me. Tell your friends. After all, the more folks advertising, the faster the “Ad Credit Pool” grows.

With this new program, the “ad rejection” policy is changed as follows. I’ll only reject a site if it contains material not suited for a 7-year-old’s eyes. When you’re in the ad queue and I approve you, your price is locked in.

Yeah, looking back at my last four posts (three weeks time), it appears I’ve been obsessed with Entrecard. Well, yes… I have, but now I’m over it and ready to move forward.

No, I’m not leaving Entrecard, I’m simply working it “smarter”… and you should, too.

I’ve been slapped to my senses by some good friends at ChainDrop. Dane got slapped, and he’s forwarding the favor… so Dane, I’m doing my part.

It’s a case of remembering how your mother always hounded you to send “Thank-you notes” for gifts you received, and deeds done on your behalf. Ya’ know, that applies even more today, as we’re constantly bombarded with rudeness, apathy, and downright ignorance.

What’s that got to do with Entrecard, and my BookWise business?

Everything. Let’s see if I can keep this promise. I’ll lay it out here to show accountability.

I have begun responding to ad requests on my blogs through Entrecard with a personal thank-you note sent through the system.

I’ll also be thanking regular card droppers. Who knows, they may be readers, but the stats won’t tell me. I can see the “Top Ten” regulars, and I can also see the sites (Top Ten) that sent the most traffic by way of my purchased ad on their site. They’ll get notes, too.

Now that I’ve been with Entrecard for just short of a month, I’ll be passing out more frequent “link love” by way of site reviews (especially if you’ve ended up in my favorites folder), and sites that reference very handy tools.

After further investigation, I’ve discovered that the internal linking at Entrecard is what is confusing my cPanel as well as Google Analytics.

Here’s what I found.

The link showing advertising (both cPanel and GA) is http://entrecard.s3.amazonaws.com/adspot/xxxx where xxxx is a variable that I’ve not yet deciphered. I say that because on one day, I drilled down to find icon “xxxx=a” and then on another day I drilled down and found icon “xxxx=b”… neither of which were directly related to where the recorded click total could be matched.

In simple English that means I haven’t yet found a way to reliably verify traffic sent my way from Entrecard at the individual site level.

So what’s a gal to do when she really wants to spend her EC wisely?

Since I run four different blogs in four different categories with at least three completely different goals, I’m setting individual strategies.

The two blogs which are specifically business, Success Notes (Book Category) and Ask Me Why… Work From Home (Internet Marketing) are designed to feed each other. My ultimate goal is to earn Preferred Customers and Associates in my BookWise business.

That means I”ll advertise on sites that speak to audiences who are likely to be interested in my business.

For Shari’s Gone Country (Personal Diary), I’ll advertise mostly with “friends” or people with whom I establish a relationship. I’m not sure yet what criteria I’ll use… message delivered by blog, comment levels, shared interests, etc.

My Fantasy Golf (Sports) blog is kind of a no-brainer. I’ll advertise that amongst the sports blogs first, and then amongst friends who have an interest in sports. Finding others who love golf would be a plus.

As you can see, some returns I’ll measure based on “social aspects”. Others I’ll based on pure traffic with a nod (when I can identify it) to specific visitor actions.

I’ve been analyzing my stats. I use multiple ways to look at traffic, who’s visiting, how long are they there, where do they go, etc.

Now, this is a very time-consuming process, but I believe it’s the only way I can determine what’s working, what’s not, what’s in my control to change, etc.

For this blog, I use Google Analytics, Entrecard Stats, and cPanel.

With regard to Entrecard, I’m specifically looking for how many people clicked on my icon through ads on other member sites. Once I have that information, I can compare the cost of the ad (EC Credits) against how many clicks (EC Credits) to determine a rough Return on Investment.

Beyond that, with Google Analytics, I can observe the time the site was open (doesn’t mean the eyeballs were there, though), and then by looking at the blog, I can see comments. All these pieces of information will eventually drive my advertising strategy, as well as my “social strategy”… that’s card dropping.

What it all comes down to, is that I am looking for the optimal way to maximize my time and resources at Entrecard. If other social networks provided some kind of stats, I’d do the same there.

Blog Catalog provides some stats, however, I’ve not taken the time to really dig into the prospect of determining Return on Effort. Many folks who are at Entrecard, are also members of Blog Catalog.

I have discovered that some “clicks” at Entrecard are not recorded by Google Analytics or cPanel. I’ve yet to determine why the difference, unless it’s related to “chain dropping”, the process of opening a site with an Entrecard icon, clicking on that icon, then proceeding to click on successive icons until you come upon either your own icon, or a repeat of the any of the other icons.

If that is the case, then it will be very easy to identify sites that provide less than ideal traffic. I think I may be inclined to refer to those as “hits” much as if someone saw an element of a page, but not the whole page.

If you have any insight as to why not all stats get recorded equally, I’m open to your ideas. I am tracking stats across four sites, and have seen the phenomenon on at least two sites. Just drop me a comment, as I’d like this to become an intelligent discussion. If you’d like to “borrow” this article, please provide a link back.

After just over two weeks, things are finally coming together for me. I’ve spent countless hours dropping cards, reading other blogs where folks are discussing various Entrecard systems, and analyzing ad results.

Here’s what I’ve come up with. It will work for me for a while until it becomes time to tweak. If it works for you, great. I’m happy to share the information.

I run four blogs. I believe that when you have more blogs you can drive more traffic. Do you need four? Probably not. How many are too many? If you can’t keep adding fresh, original content on a regular basis, to each blog, you’ve got too many.

I’m still struggling to develop a “quick” way to drop cards. I go to Categories, first selecting my own category and visit all my “competitors”. Then I go to closely related categories and do the same. In the very large categories, I alternate starting at the top of the list, or the bottom of the list, or in the middle. My goal for each blog is to drop a minimum of 100 cards.

I do not “chain drop” by clicking on the ad on any given site. My personal position is that leads to “inflated ad returns” and dilutes the quality of the traffic. I’ll discuss more on this later.

Thanks to some other bloggers, I’ve discovered it’s acceptable to transfer credits from one account to another. Therefore, I’ve now begun moving my credits each morning to one of the four blogs.

Since two of the blogs are about my business, I’ll be transferring two days of traffic to each of them, and then one day each to the other two blogs. That leaves me one day’s traffic that I’ll probably use for my fifth blog.

With this new pool of credits (in excess of 500 daily), I purchase first from “the most popular list”. Then I go to my own niche and purchase the highest value ads possible. If I run out of ads (small niche, like “Books”), I purchase from closely related blogs.

I do keep an eye on the “most recent” list, although I’ve learned to take the time to investigate them for quality just as soon as I make a purchase. There have been a few times when I’ve canceled ads after looking at blogs. Either they’ve been very low quality (splog type), or have contained content that offends me (not in violation of the TOS).

For accurate analysis, I’m using Google Analytics. I’ve found that by drilling down, I’m able to get statistics at the advertiser level. There is a minimum of 24 hour delay, but I’ll get used to it.

If you have “systems” that are working for you, drop your link here, and maybe we can help each other (as well as our readers). My goal is to make Entrecard work for me. By that, I mean drive quality traffic to my blogs, which in turn will lead to sales and associates in my BookWise business.

Entrecard, another one of those programs I heard about at least two weeks before I got around to looking at it.

I got my first icon up for Shari’s Gone Country on Dec 20, a mere 10 days ago. So far, my I can see from cPanel that I am getting about 20% more visitors. What’s really nice is the time on my site… 24% spend more than 30 seconds and the average is 370 seconds… over 6 minutes.

My second icon went up for my BookWise blog… Success Notes on Dec 21. This is a very new site (old domain name… gathered up my “lost traffic”). The response is even greater here, as Entrecard is the “primary” traffic driver. Average daily visits have doubled, from 25 to 50 and the average time on the site is 313 seconds… over 5 minutes.

The Entrecard for this blog went up on Christmas Eve. Again my average traffic doubled from 30 t0 60 average unique visitors per day. One visitor liked the article on “Chat Netiquette” so well, he “Stumbled” it… and that resulted in a spike of another 175 visitors. Even with that, I have better than 20% who spend more than one minute and the average is 248 seconds, or just over 4 minutes on the site.

My latest blog… a fun one just went up on Dec 28. It’s a blog I’ve maintained “off and on” for the past two years. This is where I report my PGA Tour Fantasy Golf results. I love the statistics of golf, and really enjoy the challenge of playing fantasy golf. Since it’s on a “blogger” platform, the stats will record differently. At this point, it’s too early to report any meaningful statistics.

So, what can I do with all this increased traffic?

It’s my responsibility to provide my readers/visitors with quality original content. Each blog is specific.

Shari’s Gone Country journals my life here with three other “boomer” women as we labor to build our little homestead in the desert. I’m using it at the basis for a book I’m writing… blog-style, called “Four Country Gals“. I know… it doesn’t have an Entrecard icon and I’m not sure it ever will… if you want to read it, be sure to bookmark the link, and then grab the feed.

Success Notes is where I can elaborate on my BookWise business and experience. It’s where you can get a more in-depth look at the business, as well as where you can pose questions for me. I want it to be interactive… BookWise is as much an experience, as a business.

Of course this blog, Ask Me Why… Work From Home is my commitment to you. I didn’t come out of retirement on a whim. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life… it’s what Zig Ziglar says… “If you help enough other people get what they want in life, you’ll have more than you could ever want in your life.”

That is why I am committed to sharing whatever I find with you. From time-to-time I’ll share an affiliate link (and please… honor it if I do). Often I’ll simply post a root link, as I’m not here to “make money off you”, rather, to “make money with you”.

Ask Shari About PGA Tour Fantasy Golf is just plain fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Yes, I have “monetized” it using Google AdSense, but that’s more to make the template “balanced” than anything else.

Now… one last thing… when you run across the little “Buy Me A Beer” icons, if you like what you’re read, learned and enjoyed, please… take the time to buy me a beer. I promise not to drink and drive.

It’s that time of year when I look forward to the next year. I take the time to analyze what worked this year ( and am therefore keeping), and what has not worked this year. Yes, I give things a few months to show signs of life before moving them off my site.

First, things that are going bye-bye…

Blogrush, I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt. I know, I never referred anyone, but how could I… you’ve yet to really get going. I’ve given you prime sidebar real estate that can be better used this next year. So, over the next few days, you’re being eliminated from all my blogs.

“Help me Blog for a Year” may have stimulated some return traffic… but the contest is ending on December 31, 2007. I got a late start and was reluctant to stomp around at Blog Catalog where the obvious leader had established her territory. I’ll be finishing in 30th place, and happy that I got that far along, having had a mere six months to do what others have done over the past 18 months.

BlogSkinny… maybe you’re good for someone… but I can’t figure you out. Every time I go there I have to request my password. I can’t find my stats… You are next to impossible to navigate… and that’s not something my readers like… so, you’re going bye-bye.

So, who stays?

BlogCatalog stays. They are awesome! I’ve gotten meaningful traffic, and have gained much knowledge over the past months. The site is well-run, the widget works as advertised, and it looks good on my blogs.

Entrecard is a recent addition. This one requires work on my part… but ya’ know what? I’m enjoying it! I’ve met many other bloggers I’d never had seen if it weren’t for the “drop cards” requirement. I’ll be writing more about this traffic tool in time.

What’s coming?

I’m restarting “Shari’s Golden Nuggets”. This is a newsletter I maintained for 5 years prior to my retirement. It’s on a “blogger” platform, but I think I’ll move it to a wordpress platform… not sure yet if it rates it’s own domain name. Plans are for me to write a monthly (just like I used to) newsletter that covers just two or three things in greater depth. It will also allow me to publish quick bulletins as necessary

Ezine Director is my newsletter provider and I am able to segment my list. That’s good for you as it lets me make sure you’re getting what you want… and no more.

I’ll be continuing my presence at MySpace, BizzyBlog, and working to figure out FaceBook. At this point, it’s too early for me to write anything really coherent about these experiences.

I’ll be writing about how to work highly targeted forums through posting and commenting. This is a very viable method as long as you are contributing in such a way as to establish yourself as an expert on something. That doesn’t mean you’re always leaving a “sales message”.

Will I be doing audio and video? Probably not. I know, it’s all the rage… but being from the “old school” I’ve learned that just because something is the rage doesn’t make it right for what I’m doing.

Don’t look for any auto-loading audio or video here. If I do that, it will be at MySpace, or maybe BizzyBlog.

You’ll see more posts here about network marketing as I move forward with my BookWise opportunity. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the background with my sponsor. We’ve updated our business opportunity sites. I’ve created a specific blog to augment the business site. The guys at corporate are working feverishly (involves leaning really hard on some vendors) to get to phase two and three… that’s when the good stuff shows up.

I’m not yet ready to talk about what comes in phase three, since they’re relying on third-party services. There’s just not enough control for me to be comfortable promoting something coming in the future… but, ya’ gotta know… I’m riding the BookWise business until it fades into the sunset… and that’s gonna be a long ride!

Way back in about 2001, I first coined the words “chat netiquette”. No I didn’t bother to trademark it… I wanted it used.

As of today, I googled for the term and came up with over 600,000 references. Many of those are actually “rules for chatting” at various venues.

What I wrote then, is even more valid today… therefore, rather than allow what I wrote to die in the “big bit bucket in the sky”, I’ve salvaged them from an old domain and am reprinting them here.

10 Unwritten Chat Room Rules for Successful Business Chats

You need a few rules to enjoy and profit when utilizing Chat Rooms as part of your over-all marketing strategy. Here are the 10 most important rules for you. Adhere to them and you will benefit greatly. Ignore them and every other businessperson in that room will ignore you.

Rule #1 — There are no rules on the Internet! That’s right, no rules, just “Terms of Service” and “Privacy Policies”. Every business program, chat program, mailing list group, newsgroup, etc. has a “Terms of Service” and Privacy Policy. You must read each of them in order to have a clear understanding of the “rules” of the group.

Rule #2 — Think of a chat room as a gathering place. It might be your favorite pub, or clubhouse. It might even be considered one huge party. With that in mind, consider how you act when you enter into that scenario. Do you SHOUT your arrival? Probably not. You generally ease into the room and LISTEN for a short while before you strike up a conversation. It’s the same way in an on line chat room.

Rule #3 — No one really cares about your business opportunity. I know that sounds incredibly harsh but that’s the truth. Especially in a business chat room. You can expect that if you’re involved in a certain home-based business, there will likely be several others there who are in the same or similar business. So, DON’T START ADVERTISING YOUR BUSINESS! All that will do is make the other chatters angry and you’ll be ignored for the rest of your time in that chat room.

Rule #4 — Private conversations are just that. They are entered into by mutual consent. NEVER INVITE TO A PRIVATE CHAT WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING PERMISSION!

Rule #5 — Because there are no rules, you must rely on the basic “Golden Rule”. That means: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That means if you are annoyed by a particular action, then don’t perform that action upon others. Treat others with respect and you will be treated with respect.

Rule #6 — It is not in YOUR best interest to speak negatively of other’s business. This will ALWAYS cause you grief. Chat rooms are not the proper place for such playground activities as “mine is bigger than yours”. The consequence of that activity is to be placed on ignore status.

Rule #7 — Your font (size and style of your printing) must be legible but not OVERPOWERING to the other chatters. You also should refrain from using light colors, as they cannot be easily read on many screens.

Rule #8 — TYPING IN ALL CAPS is a written way of SHOUTING. Learn to use capital letters properly and you’ll get along well in a chat room.

Rule #9 — There are many shortcuts in the “chatter’s language”. Use them sparingly and a lot more chatters’ll understand you.

Rule #10 — In a business chat room it is NEVER appropriate to ask “a/s/l” which means “age, sex, location”. Save that jargon for the personal chat rooms and you won’t look like a total jerk.

Follow those 10 “Unwritten Chat Rules” when you come to a business chat and you’ll be welcomed into even the most seasoned group.

Choose to ignore those rules and the majority of the chatters will ignore you. Bad news is that you may not even know you’re being ignored.