You will be aware if you have read other posts on my blog that I have a lot of respect for what Yaro Starek teaches but I am not always aware of all the side projects he has, especially those for beginners as I don’t need that information so much now.

While I was reading the Clickbank blog yesterday though, I came across a post suggesting Clickbank publishers to use a blog for their pitch page and I was curious enough to take a look. What I discovered is a great site from Gideon Shalwick and Yaro Starek with free videos you can watch that lead you through the process of getting a Wordpress blog set up for the first time.

The videos are high quality and answer many questions that someone new to the process will ask.

It is the very last video in the series however that I want to talk about today.

How to Set Up Feedburner To Handle Email Subscriptions To Your Blog.

The last video is about using feedburner to handle email subscriptions to your blog. Wordpress comes ready made with a RSS feed and people who know what these are, have no difficulty using the icon in the address bar to add a blogs RSS feed to their reader.

For those people who haven’t explored RSS however, its a murky area they are perhaps unsure of,  so head on over there if that’s you – because RSS is a valuable tool for promoting and bringing the message of your posts to your readers with a minimum of fuss.

The ability to get updates from your blog is the best type of automatic delivery you can have. It can be set to deliver after each post, or weekly or monthly, whatever suits you best. For people who don’t have time to actively promote to a list, broadcasting your RSS feed via email to subscribers is a steady reminder to them of your blogs presence and an invitation to come back and read some more good information from you.

You can do this via aweber using the blog broadcast feature or you can use feedburner. I have not yet used feedburner so I was interested to see what you can do with it . It was impressively easy and it has some cool features that will make your message look professional, clean and modern.

Using a text widget you can enter the subscribe code for RSS readers or email subscriptions easily to your Wordpress blog’s sidebar. You can also customize the message they receive on subscription easily so they know that everything happened correctly. Last, within the interface of feedburner, you can get statistics about your subscribers.

So if RSS is something you have heard about but have not thought about, now might be the time to learn to make the most of it. Also if you are new to Wordpress and need information on how to set up your own hosted version of it the former videos will be very useful to you.

Become A Blogger at http://www.becomeablogger.com/ will help you.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

If you don’t know what a niche is or why you should pick a niche, please refer to the niche marketing articles on the main site for more information. When you understand the principle, you’ll often find that either you know exactly what topic you want to start a blogging business in or you face the difficult decision of picking a niche that you can be successful in.

Some people feel picking a niche market is the hardest decision to make when starting a blogging business . It can certainly be a frustrating process of trial and error before you get the right mix in the complex recipe that needs to incorporate demand, products and a playing field at a level you can compete on. If you pick a highly competitive field with experienced players while you yourself are a mere beginner you are unlikely to succeed. If you pick a low demand niche with only a few products to promote then your results may be insufficient to warrant the time spent on developing a blogging business around it.

Don’t pick too competitive niches to start with

Although high demand niches in topics such as golf, dog training, pharmacy, forex, insurance, gambling, dating, real estate and marketing products have a lot of promotable products and PLR and MRR material to use, unless you have insider knowledge (ie you play golf, you have worked in real estate) then these topics may be just too competitive for a beginner.

Having an inside knowledge of a topic is the best place to start when picking a niche market and you may be surprised to know just how much inside knowledge you already have about a niche that can turn out to be very profitable.

As an example, many people, especially since the release of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” film and book have an avid interest in being more proactive about reducing their carbon footprint and making “green” decisions regarding their waste, their appliances, their heating and water usage and cleaning products – to mention just a few issues. So within the wide topic of environmental conservation there are many small green pastures where someone new can place a toe in the water and get a feel for the potential in a specific niche.

Do pick a niche that you may have some insider knowledge of

Let’s imagine that solar panels are something that this new marketer has either installed (to heat their swimming pool) or is considering using to do so. They make a note of sites they visit and get product brochures as they research for themselves what brand to get and how it can be used. In the process they learn a great deal about the topic so that they can make an informed and economical decision. If that research is expanded somewhat, then the information that has been collected can help someone else reach a faster decision, especially if you draw up a few charts with comparisons. (example: for energy saved, capacity, price, location, installation, weight, modifications to existing structures, solutions for problems that may occur etc.)

So the first place to go looking for a niche to pick is in the topics you may already have done some research or had some education in already. Being an “expert” on a topic is so much easier when you really do know what you are talking about! Making a list of your job descriptions and home improvement skills is a start. It is highly likely that if you have spent time researching a topic, that other people will also have done so, and therefore new people will be starting to. This may be a good niche for a blogging business.

Get new ideas for niches by visiting bookstores

The next step, if this avenue doesn’t throw up something you want to use, is to visit a library, a bookshop or a magazine area in a large newsagency. Wherever there is a large range of books or magazines on a topic, there is likely to be a high demand for niche information within the topic. Make notes about large topics that you might be interested in but don’t leave the store without narrowing down five possible niche sub topics to do some further research on.

Unfortunately, research is somewhat addictive and you will need to be extremely firm with yourself to overcome the mind numbing procrastination that can occur when there is too much to choose from. Imagine Mary Poppins ( or even better the teacher at school that didn’t take sh** from you or the boss who is always looking at his watch) standing over you and commit to decide on five possible niches before you leave the store.

It is preferable to pick one topic with five niches – (example: “native [to specific area] flowers for rock gardens” – succulents, perennials, bushes, rockery landscaping and water features) than to pick five topics with one niche each (example:  “collecting” – [your country's] stamps, “cooking” – bread recipes, “work at home ” – selling brick a brack on ebay, “cars” – how to avoid buying a lemon, “finance”- setting up a trust fund for your granchildren.)

You can also niche market research to pick a niche using various “analysis” or authority internet sites for inspiration. The page link above has several links to sites that will help you with more advanced niche choices by displaying trends and high search topics.

Keep a niche ideas notepad for future blogging business projects

By all means keep a “niche ideas notepad” with these new great ideas in them but when you are just beginning, diversifying too soon will give you insufficient time on each project to develop it into a business that will make an income for you. Try to pick 5 niches within one related topic at first, so that your site can really offer benefit and diversity to a reader. You will gain by being able to cross promote related niches and also have more approval from search engines for your main topic when you can add internal linking to your promotional efforts.

When you have built your mini “book” made up of niche chapters around a sub topic and monetized it with products or advertising and have spent some time promoting it and building rank and links, only then move on to the next topic to start the process again. You will still continue to promote and maintain your first sites but at a lower level of activity so you will then have time to start and develop the new project. Doing several projects at one time can work for some people, but in general, most people will merely end up with several never finished projects.

The last piece of advice I have is to start as soon as possible to treat your hobby as a business. It is normal to try this and that, and dilly daddle about experimenting while you are learning and it’s a good thing to do, but each new thing you try eats into your time. Incorporating adsense, affiliate products, your own product, a membership site, a forum …. all these things take time. You cannot know if this is how you want to make money until you try it .

It is part of the learning process we all go through, generally on our own without anyone to guide us. Only the written words of prior travellors – most of whom are hoping to be sent a cut of the cost of your education.

Take nothing as given until it has proven itself to you by you doing it.

When it has been proven a good strategy continue your education by investing in better tools and organizing a schedule of work that moves your business forward in the proven direction. When you know something already, stop researching for more information and use your knowledge to improve your business. Further free products are a distraction from your goal and a waste of time that could be spent doing a task that will improve your business. Never forget your goal, whatever it is. Playing the field won’t win the game.

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Popularity: 61% [?]

I’m a bad writer but so many people have bad taste that I manage to get away with it most of the time. I like to think that I have original thoughts but more than half of what I perceive to be original is really imitation. Adam was the worlds only non plagiarist . Most of the human race goes through life without an original thought. After much consideration I’ve come to believe that imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism

There are three essential rules for blogging but nobody knows what they really are. They say add fresh original content – meaning check the news, paraphrase it and post it quickly. They say speak in your own voice, meaning don’t be pedantic, boring or stupid. They say don’t plagiarise someone else’s content, meaning give credit where credit is due and get a trackback if possible.

As for every concept there is a hard edged black and white silhouette point of view and a fuzzy unfocused stripes of grey with dots of colour point of view. The first point of view regarding plagiarism is easy to see and to understand . Don’t right click, select all and copy and then paste it into a new document and sign your own name to it.

The second point of view examining plagiarism is, as always, a somewhat messy and hypocritic, overly moralistic, clichéd and plagiarised repetition of an old argument between the angels conscience and the devil’s advocate. It involves the law. If the law says you own it then you do. If it falls outside the law then finders can be keepers.

You can only practice plagiarism successfully if you’re already famous. If you are then most people will assume that even if some dead dude in the 17th century said it first, you said it better. An example being John Lennon’s line from a song that went “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. It is a quote, as were many Beatles lyrics, and as Procol Harum said in another line from a song “We’re taking turns in trying to pass them on.”

The ratio of literacy to illiteracy is constant but nowadays the illiterates can write. Unfortunately they have also realized that writing is time consuming and a brain strain to come up with an original idea. To think is not enough, you must have an idea. They have found the best way to have a good idea is to read someone else’s good ideas. And discovered that some ideas grow better when transplanted.

In defence of their actions, it should be said that plagiarism is immoral but if you must do it use only the best of sources. Stealing from the moderns is considered plagiarism, while stealing from the ancients is erudition. To steal from one modern writer is plagiarism but to steal from many different modern writers is called research.

As one sarcastic teacher commented on the essay of one of his students “Your manuscript is both good and original, unfortunately the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good…”

Originality is often only undetected plagiarism or the art of concealing your source. That which we think is original is based on the gist of what we no longer specifically remember. Even our thoughts are based on other people’s thoughts – it’s called education. If you discarded everything you owe to others there would be nothing left.

It is difficult to think of new things to write about. Not because new things don’t appear but because everything is related to something in the past. Nothing is new except the way it’s arranged. Between the rock and the water, there is a point of view where plagiarism can be viewed that is not so broad minded that your brains fall out nor so narrow minded that your ears touch each other .

If you do have an article, such as PLR, that you want to rewrite as an original then make an attempt to put 50% of it “in your own words” ( don’t cheat by looking at the original, take it all from the top of your head). Taking out a comma and adding a full stop doesn’t count. If you do find an article that consummately describes it’s topic, don’t just totally rip it off. Consider merely linking to it with a quote from it, rather than stealing it.

We call it plagiarism (for modern writers) because modern writers still have feelings, not like those dead dudes. They also have legal rights. Such as the right to sell their own copy and give or withold permission to use it.

If you want to see if your articles have been plagiarised or whether a PLR is already rife online you can type in the url of your article at http://www.copyscape.com/ and they’ll tell you. You’ll also find much information there on protecting yourself from word theft and advice about what to do if you discover you are a victim of it.

Freelance writers have the freedom to starve anywhere. Leave them their copyright, find your generosity and credit them with their work. Link to them. You will get a link back as a reward. Unless you are famous of course. Then you can do as you please and the wages of sin are royalties. If you have any comments please write them on the back of a cheque.

PS. Over 50% of this article is recycled “quotes” from “Caustic Quotes” by Helen Ingram.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Even though lots of dead dudes said these things first and the publisher has given them no credit or mention because they haven’t a clue who they were.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

You know you can get a free wordpress blog hosting on their server. You can also download the Wordpress software for free as well. To use the software you’ll have to ftp it to your own domain, install a MySql database and install the software so as it links to your database.

Or you can install it using Fantastico. Fantastic tool!

For ease of use and peace of mind, I suggest that when you go from free blogs to your own site, you invest in a host with CPanel. Yes, you can get cheaper solutions, but honestly, you’ll lose your savings in wasted time.

Hostmonster hosts my sites. They have a fantastically cheap hosting solution including Cpanel and the use of addon domains. I’ll talk more about CPanel later, but for this post, I just wanted to say that the addition of fantastico to your toolbox, which comes with Cpanel is worth mega savings in time and convenience.

Fantastico will install a wordpress blog with a simple online form. Fill in the blanks, save a record of what you entered in a notepad file, start posting into your blog. Literally only a few more steps than a free blog. But here’s why, apart from this, fantastico is so fantastic…

Wordpress updates its software regularly. Each time there is an update your fantastico panel will show there is an update available. To update, you just click on the update link for a specific blog and fantastico automatically backs up and updates your Wordpress software.

That first option, to download and install the Wordpress software, involving ftp down and up loading of the software to your domain – you’ll have to do that for each update and installation as well. It will be such a hassle, especially if you do have multiple blogs, that you will sometimes fail to do it and miss out on bug fixes and new features.

If you are just starting out, do yourself a favour and find a host with CPanel and Fantastico. Hostmonster has CPanel, Blue Host does, Hostgator does and many other more expensive hosts do. Just check their home page for details and make sure it says Cpanel and Fantastico are part of your deal.

For Wordpress Blogging, having Fantastico is comparable to having a dropsaw, rather than a hand saw. Speed and efficiency. Fantastic!

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Popularity: 15% [?]

I said I’d let you know what I thought about Mark Joyners blogging course and I had a good look around last night. It’s all a good summarization of what you need to do with your blog to get traffic or readers and make a bit of money. You do have to sign up to get inside but once there there are videos that run through a lot of information. As an introduction to the blogging its excellent but if you’ve done a bit of reading already, you will know most of what he’s saying.

Where you’ll be stuck is in the how of it all. For example – OK I need to submit articles and there’s a list of article directories but how do I do this and which one do I pick to start and what kind of article and what’s a signature. All the nitty gritty details about things like this are what we cover in the rich niche blogging course.

If you are still wondering what a blog is and what it is for and how you can make money with it, sign up for the free simpleology course and work your way through concepts. If you want the details about how to get all that done, come and join us at rich niche blogging. Get the kit with access to the library, get in the forum and start asking questions and we’ll make sure you get answers as soon as possible.

There is a lot to learn but its not hard. Its just a bit time consuming. Take it one step at a time and see where you are in a month. I know you’ll be a lot closer to your dream.

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Popularity: 8% [?]