Chow says, “Unless you’re getting paid a decent salary to run a company blog, most of us bloggers could use some extra cash. Most of the time we’re doing all this blogging for kicks or as a way to promote a scrappy up and coming business. In short, any sort of additional income would be a welcome perk. While there are many ways to raise some quick cash, one of the more lucrative and intriguing options is earnings per click. If you’ve never heard of the term, it’s simple and powerful metric that’s used by affiliate networks to determine your earning potential. So, whenever a company... [...]

Emily Fager says, “What would you do to gain more leads than 40 percent of your competitors? The answer is much simpler than you might think: build a business blog. According to Hubspot, 60 percent of businesses who blog acquire more customers. Considering blogging is free, unlimited and has a practically eternal lifetime value, it should be a no-brainer, right? Well, not quite. They key to building a good business blog is doing it consistently. Whether you publish once per week or daily, you must commit to maintaining that schedule in order to see real results. This unfortunately means answering... [...]

Liz Murphy says, “Okay, so we’ve told you why your business needs a blog, reinforced the importance of writing well and even shared some sweet hacks on how to streamline your blogging process. But let’s cut to the chase – just like your fancy sushi lunch doesn’t count unless you Instagram it, what’s the point of putting time and energy into a blog if no one is going to read it? Duh. There isn’t a point. So if you want your blog to capture attention, there are three critical factors you need keep in mind before you put your virtual pen to paper. Those factors are content, presentation... [...]

Verónica Maria Jarski says, “Captivating blog post images can help keep your visitors from straying from your site. Check out these tips for choosing the right images and avoiding copyright issues. “The quality of your images reflects the quality of your blog, so when choosing images, make sure you look for ones that are high quality,” suggests the following WhoIsHostingThis infographic. What’s a high-quality image? It’s one that has good exposure and lighting, clear and crisp details, good composition, and bright colors. And it has not been used on your other blog... [...]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “We’ve all been there before. You’ve written a great blog post, and you’ve plopped a featured image in there to represent the post on social media, your blog’s main page, and so on. Then, you hop on your social media accounts and paste the link into a new post. You’re all ready to share it with your network when you notice one glaring issue: The social networks are pulling the wrong thumbnail image! Or worse, none at all. Talk about a pain in the neck. Not only is this annoying — you were so close to being done — but... [...]

Lucy Jones says, “Are you struggling to stay afloat when it comes to blog creation? You’re certainly not alone. 66% of marketing professionals cite a lack of time as their greatest challenge when it comes to content marketing, and an additional 46% have difficulty producing enough content. There are few shortcuts to creating blogs that drive traffic, and cutting corners on quality certainly isn’t the answer. However, taking the steps to streamline your process can change everything. With sufficient organization, you can improve your quality and volume through standardization”. How... [...]

Amanda Clark says, “Last week, the Grammar Chic, Inc. team offered a few tips for businesses just getting into the blogging routine. Today, we’re going to hone in on an important concept for new and seasoned business bloggers alike—the concept of readability. Obviously, you want your blog to offer value, you want it to be interesting to read, and you want it to cast your business in the best light possible. All of that is predicated on your blog being approachable, accessible even to lay people. After all, if reading your blog is nightmarishly difficult, headache-inducing, or just flat-out... [...]

Pamella Neely says, “As effective as email marketing is, you need a list to make it work. Building a good list takes time, and buying a list is never a good idea. The good news is that building your email list can be sped up significantly. It doesn’t have to take two years, or even one year, to have a reasonably-sized list. If your website is getting anything less than a 2 percent opt-in rate — i.e., at least 2 percent of your website visitors are signing up for your list — then it’s time to add more prompts to get more people to respond. In addition to setting up a few of the free... [...]

Chow says, “Affiliate marketing is celebrating its 20th year anniversary this month and to honor the industry, the good folks at GeoRiotare honoring those that have shaped and continue to shape the industry in some big ways. It seems I’m kinda of a big deal. I’m #3 on the list. The industry has come a long way since the wild west days of the Internet 20 years ago. We like to think that these 25 game changers have a lot to do with that”. Top 25 Affiliate Marketing Minds of 2014 John Chow’s Blog  [...]

Pamella Neely says, “Content marketing can be overwhelming. There are so many tactics to try, and so much work to do. But despite all the complexity and work, there is one content marketing tactic that beats everything else: blogging. In fact, if you could only do one piece of the content marketing puzzle, it should be a blog. That’s my opinion, but it’s also the opinion of 37 percent of marketers, according to a survey by U.K. content marketing agency Content Plus. Here’s why so many marketers consider blogging the number one tactic for content marketing. Marketers who prioritize... [...]