*
<—— A quick reminder to Retweet if you enjoy the post … Thanks!
OK guys ~ I’ve gone back and revised the Q & A post with Julie (Part One) and instead of breaking it up by date and doing it in a series I’ve decided to give you what we’ve discussed so far (in its entirety) but in a little different order and format.
I’m hoping this will be easier to read and follow along with too. A HUGE “thank you” to both Angie and Dennis for their honest feedback on the last attempt. This is YOUR blog and I don’t write this stuff for myself … so your feedback is really important to me. I want to make the information here valuable to you. Please, please let me know if this was any better … do you have any other suggestions for any future Q & A posts, etc. I’m open to all ideas and suggestions!
Julie’s questions and comments are in blue and my responses to her are in black and I’ve added a couple of comments in red.
I will also be doing some keyword research for Julie’s blog and she’s given me permission to share that with you (most likely via video) so watch for that here soon!
Suzanne:
I was looking over your site and I wanted to ask you what your keyword phrases are for the blog?
Julie:
Funny you should ask. I keep hearing about keywords and I understand the concept but I can’t seem to find anyone to tell me what to do with those words!!!! Can you? I’ll be your best friend forever. I assume my keywords would be Provence, France, South of France, French Travel, French Tourism, etc. Is that correct?
Julie:
Are you willing to give this kind of help for pay? I’m looking for someone to provide me with just this kind of help. Can we discuss?
Suzanne:
Do you use any type of SEO plugin (do they have that on blogspot?)? Sorry … I’ve never used Blogspot so I’m not familiar with it at all.
Julie:
Ha, I know less than you! What is an SEO plugin?
Suzanne:
Hi Julie ~ I don’t know exactly which one of these would help you the most but for sure the keyword tools and checking out the competition …
The keywords you gave me earlier were too broad! I did a quick look before I emailed you earlier and I think “visit provence” and “travel to provence” jumped out at me (but that was without doing the whole process) … I also have a tool here that will help but I want you to understand this process before I put it into the tool for you.
http://www.suzannefranco.com/what-is-a-niche
http://www.suzannefranco.com/keywordresearch-tools
http://www.suzannefranco.com/checking-out-the-competition
http://www.suzannefranco.com/keyword-research-follow-up
NOTE: These are some of the lessons from BootCamp. If you are not signed up for BootCamp please use the Contact page and let me know you’re interested. I’m about to close it to newcomers.
Suzanne:
Also, I wanted to link to one of your posts from my Twitter and I don’t know much about blogspot but it wouldn’t let me get the direct URL to that specific post???
Julie:
There’s definitely a problem linking to Blogger blogs (Google’s blog program is called Blogger. The word Blogspot is the site I guess. But it’s one and the same. ) to Facebook. There’s a way around the problem which I can tell you if you’re interested. I’m not sure about linked to my blog from Twitter (although it would be awesome if you did!) Here is a direct link to today’s post…does that help?
http://theprovencepost.blogspot.com/2009/10/tour-dargent-cellar-sale.html
Suzanne:
I know how to link from both … but the strange thing was that when I clicked on the title of your post it should (and it did) go to the individual post but the URL in the browser bar should change to the whole long URL like the one you sent me (but it was still the main URL). I can see it when I hover over it … but it should be up top so I can do a simple copy/paste. I tweeted about your post using your main URL because I was being lazy and didn’t want to have to type out the entire URL (LOL). When I tweet it goes onto my Facebook page automatically so you might get a bit of traffic from it.
Julie:
PS: The solution to linking to Blogger posts from Facebook seems to be to place all the info, including the link, into the main message box…and ignoring the link box completely. With regarding to Twitter, I’ve never done it so I don’t know whether it works or not. And thank you for the very nice comment you just left on ProvencePost.com!
Suzanne:
If you have a second … go to my blog and leave a comment on the newest post (maybe just what you sent me below) and for name you could do something like travel to provence – Julie and then with a link back to your blog. This will give you a good backlink to your site with that “anchor text” telling Google that’s what your blog is about.
Also that way when I reply others can see what we’ve said to each other and it helps them out too. *huGs*
P.S. Stay in touch any time and let me know how I can help.
Julie:
I’m going to do this as soon as I finish writing you. I love the ideas you are giving me and am very appreciative.
Julie:
Suzanne, on which of your blogs should I do this? Should I do it here?
http://www.suzannefranco.com/category/affiliate-networks/
Suzanne:
Try this … go back to the original email with the title “I Wrote You a Letter” and in the body of that email where you read the article try clicking on the Title of the Post and it should be a hyperlink …
Julie:
I’m getting lost now!! You’re referring to the group email I got from you this morning, obviously. From what address was this email sent? I can find it again alphabetically.
Suzanne:
LOL … this is VERY valuable feedback for me … last night my husband was reading my RSS email and he didn’t know how to get to my blog from there either so it’s a great post idea
Try this … go back to the original email with the title “I Wrote You a Letter” and in the body of that email where you read the article try clicking on the Title of the Post and it should be a hyperlink … then you can scroll down to the comments section (at the very bottom). This is very important for you to learn to do and it’s a GREAT way to get traffic to your site (and new subscribers). If you don’t have the email or don’t understand this don’t waste too much time on it but again this is a great topic because I know a lot of people reply to the RSS emails directly to me and I have a feeling many don’t know how to go back and comment.
Suzanne:
I tweeted about your post
Julie:
I saw it on Facebook. I can’t believe how kind you are!
You’ll be rewarded….
Suzanne (to Anthony):
Good morning … just wanted to help put a smile on your face! This is the rewarding part of our business
NOTE: I forwarded one of Julie’s nice emails to Anthony because I know he loves helping others as much as I do … I knew it would make him happy to see what I (now we) do behind the scenes.
Julie:
Hi
Ok! I found the email you were referring it. I posted a comment. See? There’s hope for me! I’ll read your emails slowly later when it’s quiet. You’re the best! Can you just tell me quickly how leaving a comment on your blog with my name as TRAVEL TO PROVENCE–JULIE is helpful? And when I comment on other people’s blogs in the future, should I also comment that way? I’ve just been commenting as Julie from ProvencePost.com. I’ll do as you say from here on!
Suzanne:
Good job! Yes, I saw your comment come through ;) Google wants to know what your blog is about … so one way to tell them is by linking to your site with your keyword phrase (not just your URL) from other sites. In fact, the higher ranked the site is that links to you the better (I have a PR3 so that’s pretty good for a link back LOL). This also works on your own site! Internal linking is also important so when blogging about one subject and referring to a post you’ve already done be sure you link to it using the keyword phrase for that post. With that said you will want to get into the habit of doing the keyword research for EACH POST not just for the main page. So if you blog about something as a “must see” in Provence … you’ll want to put that term into the keyword tools and make sure you choose the best term to optimize for before you write your post title and your post so you can work that phrase in there.
Here’s a post that will help with blog commenting (pardon the title LOL):
http://www.suzannefranco.com/are-you-a-blog-comment-pussy/
Julie:
S,
I am a total blog comment pussy!!! No offence taken.
I’m going to read all of this…
Just as soon as the driveway black topper guys are gone.
I need you to work with me on the whole keyword thing and of course I want to pay you. But in the meantime I suppose I better click all the links and read the stuff you sent, like a good little student. But as you well know, there’s so much to read on this topic and sometimes you just want someone to TELL YOU WHAT TO DO!
Anyway, more soon and many thanks.
Meow!
Suzanne:
i will definitely help you!
Julie:
Hi,
I just spent the last year writing a book that took up (no lie) at least 12 hours of my day, every day. I sent the book to the publisher last week and now have a little break while my editor does her thing. Then I’ll do revisions and photo editing and recipe corrections (it’s a cookbook), etc., but having time to finally focus on blog is my gift to myself. I’ve been waiting a year to have it. I’m a full time freelance food and travel writer and have to work very long hours to make a living. So all this blog stuff has had to take a backseat. I hope to crash learn as much as I can in the next few weeks, while my book is off my plate.
I’m going to print everything you’re sending me and work my way through all your ideas and tips one by one. Thanks again for your willingness to share and help.
With the magazine journalism world (my world) crashing around me, I’m looking at every way possible to replace the lost income. ProvencePost.com started as fun but now I’m starting to sell small ads so I want to see how far I can take it. Still my main intent is just to provide great info.
MERCI MILLE FOIS!
Suzanne:
Wow! I’m so excited about your book! And proud of you! That’s huge! I know the industry is taking a huge turn so it’s a great idea to be self sufficient when possible. The biggest piece of advice to anyone who wants to blog is to blog about your PASSION! If not, no money in the world will motivate you and you won’t do the “work.” The work is writing … so you have a leg up on the rest of us. LOL … Writing is the best way to make money online … PERIOD! I can teach you what to do with your writing and how to monetize what you do write. I’m envious because you have the piece of the puzzle that is the most difficult for the rest of us (the writing). You will do great with this. *huGs*
P.S. How much content have you put on your blog so far (sorry – I didn’t check)? You really want to consider your own hosting and possibly wordpress. Sorry I just had to say so. You are building THEIR business for them! They own that site and can do whatever they want with it … whenever they want. If you’re going to put effort and energy into it … more than a hobby … you should seriously consider it. I can help of course.
Suzanne:
have you considered a twitter account that’s more specific for your keywords?
… there are all kinds of tools that will alert you when a certain word/phrase is mentioned too … that could be helpful? you can also do searches whenever you have a bit of time … and find people talking about provence and offer to help answer questions for them and direct them to your blog
http://www.suzannefranco.com/use-twitter-to-promote-your-niche-site/
Julie:
Ah HA!!!! Double HA! I never Twitter. I just tweeted. And I just used Bitly for the first time. And I just changed my Twitter name from YIFNIF (which means nothing) to ProvencePost! Is that a good Twitter name for me? SEE HOW YOU’VE IMPROVED MY LIFE ALREADY???
Suzanne:
yes … much better! now you’ll need a photo for your profile and a background
I personally think you should use your face as your photo (people like to “know” who they’re talking to) and if you have a really pretty Provence image you can do your own background for now. I’ll get the dimensions to you for the background … remember you’ll meet all kinds of people through twitter … those who travel, who want to travel, travel agents who want to advertise … etc. It’s good for you and for your blog
add a few more tweets when you get a chance … your favorite thing to see in provence? the weather there today? whatever so that when people check you out to decide whether or not to follow they’ll see you tweet about provence (and not spam LOL)
P.S. Twitter has grown my blog subscribers by at least 200-300 in the past few months! and it’s grown my facebook friends too … this is my twitter landing page: http://www.suzannefranco.com/twitter
Julie:
Hi–Your wedding pix are gorgeous!!! Congrats!!! Funny I was going to book a trip down to Tulum or somewhere nearby to celebrate finishing my book but have already moved past it and on to other projects, the way those things go. Who’s the lucky guy?? How did you meet him? Do I need a Twitter landing page? Have I asked one question too many yet today???
Suzanne:
Never too many questions
It’s how you’ll learn. Ken and I met online – our first date was October 26 just about 5 years ago
The wedding down there was so fun … we just love the area … in fact, I am planning on launching a destination wedding site specifically for the Riviera Maya (so excited!) … I have this one http://www.thedestinationweddingsite.com but it’s very broad and that’s a not good for a blog LOL
I love the Twitter landing page and I believe it’s the reason for the increase in RSS subscribers. I might need to shorten mine? But it’s working for now it seems.
NOTE: Others have asked my “permission” to steal this idea … YES! Please do … set up your own Twitter landing page (or maybe even a separate landing page for each of your social media sites).
Julie:
Hola
Your new site idea sounds really good…that area of Mex. is so hot right now. I have a good chef friend down there, John XXXX. Last I heard he had five places…I wonder if you know them? File him away as someone who might be able to help you somehow with your site or maybe you guys can help each other. He’s an extremely talented chef, who was exec chef at the Ritz Carlton Cancun before deciding to go out on his own. I can’t find his corporate site but you can Google him to learn more. I emailed him for his site…weird it isn’t coming right up. HE NEEDS YOUR MARKETING SKILLS!
Meanwhile I’ll see about doing a Twitter landing page. Smart!
Thank you!
Julie:
Hope you don’t mind one more question. How many pages does my site have? It’s this simple stuff that keeps tripping me up!!! I know that I can specify how many posts I want per page and I know there more there are the slower everything loads. But how do I know how many actual pages I’m using? Or does each post count as a page? I know older posts go to Archives…and I’m sure there’s a whole science on this…but if there’s anything you’re willing to tell me easily/quickly, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Suzanne:
Hi Julie … Did you figure this out or understand what I sent?
Julie:
HIya
Have been busy with other stuff today since we last spoke. I’ll get back to THE BLOG tomorrow morning most likely. Thanks for checking back…I’m a couple emails behind so I need to click the links you sent and read what’s what and stumble through it and come back to you. Every 12 year old seems to know this stuff…
THANKS and enjoy your evening.
Suzanne:
sounds great … i’m usually online throughout the day (and night LOL) …
Julie:
Hi Suzanne,
Good morning!
I watched this video the other day on the BlogWorldExpo site but it came in an email this morning and I thought just in case you missed it you might want the link.
NOTE: This is an awesome video with some amazing blogging stats so be sure you watch it!
I’m sure you’ve seen it but just in case.
Anyway my blog project for today is to read some of the great links you sent me and start to take action. Can I ask you a quickie about the commenting thing? Am I supposed to always comment as “Travel to Provence–Julie” rather than “Julie” or “Julie Mautner”?
Thanks and hope you have a great day!
Julie:
Hi
I forgot another very obvious question and then that will be it for the day!
When I go to comment on a post on a blog, usually it’s already filled in by Google/Blogger. Meaning, I see a version of what I’ve pasted below. So how could I comment as “Travel to Provence–Julie” when my name, tied to my Google account, is already in there? Would I sign out first?
Thanks!
Julie:
Oh my I’m making so much good progress in such a short time, thanks to you!
No need to answer my last question about commenting…I solved it.
The answer is just sign out of Google and put in whatever name I want.
You are a GODDESS.
NOTE: I just love how I’m a GODDESS … even though she figured this out on her own
LOL
Julie:
Hi Suzanne
Your whole bootcamp package is great…bravo. I just did the lesson on keywords, which you linked me to below. I’m sorry but I just don’t get what I would do with the keyword(s) I choose. It sounds like you’re saying I should use those words or phrases in the titles of my posts as often as possible? Or am I missing something?
Thanks and hope all is well…
Julie:
Suzanne/Sadie–
How are you?
Quick question?
When people refer to ”pages” (with regards to a blog), does each post constitute a page?
Or does the word page mean a whole screen of posts?
Thank you! !
Suzanne:
Hi Julie ~ I’m so sorry! I just remembered reading your email this morning … been out most of today. If you go to http://www.suzannefranco.com and look at the top navigation … “Home” “About This Blog” “Recommends” … those are “pages” on my WordPress blog vs. the posts which are the chronological articles I post. The pages are considered “static” … they don’t move … where the posts move down the page as I write new posts. Does that make sense at all? I have other “pages” on the site … but I use a plugin that helps me easily decide which pages are seen on the navigation and which ones are not. On my http://www.thedestinationweddingsite.com I set up WordPress differently … I used the feature where you can make your “home” page a static page and then I link to the “blog” portion on the left side navigation. I know it’s a bit complicated … so let me know what other questions you have. Is there something specific I can help you with? You are asking about pages … why? LOL … Hey … we (Anthony and I) are going to start doing some Q & A … do I have your permission to answer this for the readers?
Julie:
Hi
Of course you can use this as a Q&A…I ask because I’m reading a lot online this week about building readership and SEO and all that and they often refer to pages. As in “do this or do that on every page of your blog.” But the main thing I still can’t figure out is what I’m supposed to do with regards to METADATA. Everyone talks about it. I know I need a meta description and meta keywords. But where do I put this info? I’m still working my way thru the links you graciously sent earlier this week so maybe the info is there. But I’ll read this whole online article from someone about it, impressing the need for it and explaining what it is, and then they don’t tell you where to put it…or how. Sorry to be a whiner…sick with a cold…bleary eyed…and logging off now! Thanks for all your help and I’ll keep readin’!
Bonne Weekend!
Suzanne:
I hope you feel better! When you find something like that just forward it to me and I’ll read through it and maybe I can shed some “light” on it for you. There’s soooo much to learn with SEO that it’s hard to teach via a few emails LOL … but I can help explain what you find out there for sure. I’m also not very familiar with BlogSpot so that makes it a bit harder for me … with WordPress (self hosted) you have plugins and such that help with all of that. Have you considered a blog “of your own”? It won’t be the last time I ask! LOL. *huGs*
Julie:
Sorry…but if you look at my blog (ProvencePost.com), I have just one page…correct?
Or are the archived posts (posts #26 and up) considered to be on another page?
Finally, if I only have one “page”–could I have more if I wanted?
Does Blogger allow for that, if I had a designer to do it for me?
MANY THANKS!
Suzanne:
Which page do you have now? Don’t pay a designer! If I can’t help we will find someone who can
Is there anything in your admin panel that says, Page?
Julie:
To be honest there was such a huge learning curve learning Blogger I can’t right now imagine trying to learn a whole new program. When I’m feeling a bit bitter I may ask you pros and cons but as it is, trying to learn the nuances of tags and meta and search and all that is taking up hours every day and soon I’ll be out of time and have to get back to my “real” work which pays the bills.
Suzanne:
One of the bootcamp lessons I did addresses how I feel about Blogger and WordPress.com (vs WordPress.org)
http://www.suzannefranco.com/blogging-communities-self-hosted/
Julie:
It’s frustrating. I know I’m not alone but it just seems that anything one wants to do, there’s a whole bunch of things one has to learn first.
Suzanne:
I’ve spent 10-14 hour days for almost 4 years now studying this stuff … so I know exactly what you mean! There’s so much to learn and quite honestly you will never know all of it … just when you get good at SEO … Google will change all the “rules” so it’s never-ending. That’s not to discourage you … it’s important for you to focus on your business (writing great content and selling advertising and finding ways to monetize your site) and then look for those who are willing to help you with the other stuff. It’s more time consuming to look for free help … but don’t spend money until you know you would make more with your time if you outsourced the “crap” you don’t know or don’t enjoy.
Julie:
That said, I’ve come to realize Blogger is a crap program and have been told by others as well that it would be better to switch. I appreciate your nudging and will come back to you on this if you don’t mind.
Suzanne:
Because you are building a valuable business I don’t want to see you cling to Blogger out of fear or anxiety! The longer you wait the harder it will be for you to make that decision. The great thing is that you own your domain! Yes! Awesome! We can talk more later about where your traffic is coming from and what your best move would be on this.
Julie:
Question! Why do you always cap one letter of your closing word? It’s cute…does it mean something?
Suzanne:
I guess it’s my way of being “different” and it makes me smile LOL … I’ve had a couple of people say it’s annoying and at this point in life I just quietly respect their opinion and kept on keeping on … *huGs* LOL
Julie:
I’m afraid if I let you go now I’ll lose you but I do need to log off even though I’m so appreciative. Can we try this page thing later, maybe over the weekend or next week? Thanks!!!!
Suzanne:
OMGosh! Go rest! I’m almost always online or on my blackberry and this is what I ENJOY doing
I know my kids need and appreciate me … but this is my “adult” interaction and I love it! I will send you an email with the other questions you asked … but I will “be here” when you’re ready.
Julie:
Good morning you little internet temptress!
I swore I would do no blog-related anything today.
And yet here I am.
Each day I look at one or two of your recent emails to me and “process them.”
So I just processed the email below and it was soooo good!
You have convinced me of course.
I’m not going to switch now but soon.
Question: I wanted to do some design work on my blog. My friend, an art director, is going to do it for me. Would it be better to do that at the same time I move to WordPress.org or to do it now?
My guess is do it all at once: make the move and get a redesign. You agree?
Thanks! And how old are you kids? I wondered if they’re barefoot, starving and tattered with you online all the time??? Joke.
Suzanne:
Hey there … it depends on what you mean by a redesign? Are you talking about colors … a header? Or what is she doing exactly? With WordPress you will pick a theme to work with (there are a ton of good free themes) … and you will want a header and a color scheme. I “think” it would be best to do it at the same time but you could get started with the look and feel now?
Julie:
Good Morning Sunshine!
Since you are so willing and helpful…
How do you bill your advertisers??
I have four paying ads now (woo hoo!!!!) and they want to pay.
Do I set up Pay Pal?
Or should I just invoice them each month and have them send a check?
Also I’ll have people paying in euros and others paying in dollars.
Does Pay Pal allow for that?
Love,
Your Biggest #1 Fan Julie
Suzanne:
Good morning! I don’t have paid advertising (yet) but when I do I am considering http://www.oiopublisher.com/. Probably looks intimidating right now but I’ve heard it’s wonderful. That’s awesome you have paying advertisers? What are you charging? I personally use PayPal for everything online and I’ve never had any problems with them. I believe they will allow you to choose the type of money/currency. You can invoice them through PayPal and that’s pretty easy too. Are you monetizing in any other way? Any affiliate links? Paid reviews? *huGs*
P.S. What time is it there?
P.P.S. Anthony and I were thinking we need to come there and help you and interview you! (great business trip don’t you think? LOL) … I think I read you’re back and forth to the states … where are you now?
P.P.P.S. Did you hear the audio where we mention you and your blog? LOL
Julie:
Hiya!
I’m in Milwaukee now, heading back to France in early December. Of course you should come see me there, not to help me but to let me thank you by giving you the grand tour!!! Do you know Provence? It’s just glorious and it would be a treat to show it to you. Yes, I go back and forth. My mom is in Milwaukee and that’s where I grew up. I come here to hang with her and since I can work anywhere, it works out nicely.
I’m charging XXX and XXX euros/dollars an ad. I’m embarrassed to tell you how low it is but I had to start somewhere! When you start charging I’m sure you’ll get top dollar. I don’t do paid reviews (I’m not even sure what that means) but I do have Google Ad Sense ads on my blog. Is that what you mean by affiliate program? I would like to join others but don’t know which ones are still accepting new members. Do you happen to know? Also, once again, I got confused once I started looking into it….pay per click and all that.
No, I didn’t hear the audio where you mention me!!! Do you have a link? Thank you for that!!! I’m a couple days behind on my blog related emails.
THANK YOU!
Suzanne:
Don’t be embarrassed at all (about this or ANYTHING for that matter – I’m here to help not criticize)! I think that’s a great start for your ads … and I don’t know anything at all about your traffic or your visitors. In fact, do you have analytics or any way of tracking your stats for visitors? How they get to your site … search terms they use, etc.?
Julie:
Yes, I use Google analytics. I’ve just started looking at it and learning it.
Suzanne:
I think reviews of other businesses would work well on your site. That is where you are paid to review someone’s busines i.e. a travel company there. They pay you (say $50 or $75 – based on your ad price) and you go to their site and do a blog review of their company … a mini commercial. You are most successful with this if you are completely honest! If there is something that you don’t like (maybe they run late occassionally – so you want to warn people of that so they can plan accordingly) or you think one of their tours is a bit pricey but only by a few bucks? you get the idea here).
Julie:
Great idea but not for me I don’t think.
Suzanne:
I forgot you have AdSense on there … are you making any money with that? Depending on how many advertisers and what you’re trying to accomplish … sometimes you don’t want to drive people to AdSense – you’d rathen them click on one of your advertisers or an affiliate link …
Julie:
I can’t remember my AdSense password so I have no idea how much money is in there!!!! It’s on my to-do list, like so many other things! I can’t imagine it’s more than a few dollars though.
Suzanne:
So on to affiliate programs. Amazon would be a good “match” for you but I personally don’t do much with them (just never been paid by them LOL). I use eBay quite a bit and that seems to do fairly well for me. And there are a ton of other affiliate sites we can help you explore. Being in the travel niche there are some great affiliate programs/opportunities like Travel Zoo and such that pay if someone signs up for their travel newsletter or something like that.
Julie:
I’m in the Amazon program…and will definitely check out these others that you mention. Who knew??
Suzanne:
Let me know what the main focus is for your blog and I can help you. You can also try this … go to google and type in “provence + affiliate” and variations of that and see what comes up. There are many different ways to get paid by affiliate programs so I can explain that better too.
Julie:
I will do this for sure, thank you!
Suzanne:
What (if anything) do you do to promote your site? Are you commenting on other blogs … submitting articles … anything like that?
Julie:
I do a lot when I have time and when I know to do it or how to do it What do you mean submitting articles?
Thanks as always for everything!!!
I’m back to work on my book this week so won’t have much time for blog stuff…but an hour or so every day I hope.
*************
I hope there were some nuggets in there that will help you too. I realize that I didn’t get to every one of her questions so I’ll address those in a different post and see if there’s anything else to add as well.
For comments I’d love to hear what you thought of this post (yes – honest feedback LOL) … did you learn anything? Was it helpful? Too much at once or a good post? If I hear from you I can get better and better at this as we go … so don’t be shy. *SmiLes* Suzanne
P.S. Please send us your questions too and let me know if we have permission to post here on the blog …
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Hi … My name is Suzanne Franco (Land) and I’m a wife (newlywed actually) and mother to 5 amazing kids (my 3 and his 2 – ages 9 to 16) and we live in the Texas Hill Country where we try to spend a lot of time in the water (river, boating, wakeboarding, the beach, etc.) and running from one kid’s sporting event to the other (mainly football, cheerleading, and soccer).
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
thanx for sharing this usefuk info with us…..
You’re welcome … please add your first name on your next comment so we can get to know you. *SmiLes*
Hi Suzanne,
First let me say that I read both versions you sent out of this interview and this format is the best, I think. Thank you for posting all this great information! As you’ll notice, I am utilizing one suggestion you gave Julie – adding my main keyword phrase to my name for this comment. I will do that with every blog comment I leave from now on. As for what questions I have? I would love to learn more about affiliate programs. I am an affiliate for several different programs, but have only made money on one of them. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me!
http://bestofbothworldsathome.com
.-= Work From Home – Tammy´s last blog ..Spotlighted Gift Idea =-.
Hi Tammy ~ Thanks for your feedback on the Q & A – it’s valuable info. I’m glad to see you understood the use of anchor text for your “name” … I did some quick homework for you and I want to make sure you understand how competitive that term is LOL … there are 2,740,000 searches a month for that term … and by a quick study there are 53,300,000 people competing for this term. If you’d like we might want to spend some time together rethinking that term? Let me know if that would be helpful.
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As for the affiliate stuff I’ve written a couple of posts that would be a good starting place and then we can probably drill it down further once I have a better understanding of your site content.
http://www.suzannefranco.com/a-newbies-guide-to-affiliate-marketing/
http://www.suzannefranco.com/make-money-through-affiliate-programs-affiliate-marketing/
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P.S. Thanks for your message ~ your comment was in the “spam” box because you added a link in your post. I probably wouldn’t do that on blogs … it’s considered spam. The “name” field is a link back already and then I offer the “Comment Luv” right underneath your comment too. *huGs*
Wow! I didn’t know that leaving a link in a comment post would be considered spam. Thanks for letting me know that. Yes, I would love to have you help me find a better keyword phrase for my blog. And, I will definitely check out the above affiliate links. My blog is a resource blog for parents who work from home and homeschool. I also include posts for just working from home and balancing family in general.
.-= Work From Home – Tammy´s last blog ..Spotlighted Gift Idea =-.
Tammy … most people consider the link spam since a link back is offered in the “name field” … and most spam features (Askimet) will flag it as spam. For your keywords I would write/type out all of the different words/phrases that come to mind for your site and some variations on each and then we can do some work with some tools I use OK? This is for your main term for your site … so that you know what term to do your SEO for and what to get into the habit of linking back with (so if you ask someone to Blogroll or link to you you can also give them that term … or for your forum signatures too).
Thanks, Suzanne, I will do that and get back to you.
.-= Work From Home – Tammy´s last blog ..Spotlighted Gift Idea =-.
Great post with great stuff…!!!
Glad you liked it … do you have any questions? Be sure you introduce yourself.
Really like it !!
Thanks Danial ~ Please let me know if you have any questions I can answer for you.
Hey Suz, a couple things here…
First off, MUCH better! Very nice job. I do know how you can make it even shorter (and easier for you too). If interested, shoot me an email and we can banter about it a bit.
I do miss that since I was away. LOL
FYI – if you use Akismet, the spam could very possibly happen because of the keywords in her name field…..she may want to try putting Tammy first, then her KW’s.
=-.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Only 4 Ad Spots Left – Meet The First Advertiser! And The Pot Just Got Sweeter.
Thanks for the great feedback! I’ve sent you an email and I’d loVe to hear any and all ideas. I’ve missed you and I’m sooo happy you’re back.
As for Askimet – will it make a difference if her name is first or will it grab anything with keywords in it? I have plenty of comments come through without a name … hmmmm …
Just from experience with my own blogs, 99% of the spam caught is linky comments, usually porn, or pure kw’s no name…I’m thinkin they might read left to right like others.
=-.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Only 4 Ad Spots Left – Meet The First Advertiser! And The Pot Just Got Sweeter.
OK I forgot, you seemed to have missed answering a couple of her questions within the post, unless I missed them. No worries, an easy mistake with so much back and foth.
I assume you answered to her privately which is cool for her, but some readers may want to see them too.
=-.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Only 4 Ad Spots Left – Meet The First Advertiser! And The Pot Just Got Sweeter.
Thanks for the reminder! I do remember putting it together think I don’t see the answer to this one … I’ll go back through it and see if I can finish it up. And … whenever Julie is ready I’ll do some keyword research for her too (on video) so that will be fun to share.
Dennis, Thanks for the advise – I just put my name first, so we’ll see how that goes.
.-= Tammy – Work From Home´s last blog ..Free Homeschool Curriculum – Ebooks =-.
No problem, glad I could help.
The other reason for name first is speed reading blog owners. They will go down the comments quickly looking for spammers…they may see your kw’s and hit spam or delete with no notice of your name afterward.
=-.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Only 4 Ad Spots Left – Meet The First Advertiser! And The Pot Just Got Sweeter.
What an interesting way of spreading knowledge! Thank you, I dig the interview format. Julie has a lot of good points!
Yes I must say that this one is much easier to read. I enjoyed the conversation and learned a lot from the process. Julie seems really nice.