I have decided to finally try out and add the blog commenting system SezWho. It basically gives a rating to the comments people leave and allows you, the reader, to vote the comment’s relevance. It also adds a voting system to the posts as well. (Not sure if I’ll leave that operational for the network)

Using SezWho also gives you a profile. It shows who you have commented, the quality of your comments, and links to your blog. In a way, it’s a cool incentive to add for people to leave better comments. As of today, I received an email announcing the partnership of SezWho and Entrecard. As you know, I use Entrecard on a select few of our blogs. I will be expanding the use of it and adding SezWho to every blog. The partnership allows you to get credits for leaving comments now. Its something that I give high praise to. Before this partnership, Entrecard gave you traffic but it was a quick click through that didn’t really benefit the blog. I look forward to working with this system and to see the results of this new partnership.

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I wanted to clarify something about a follow up comment I received. On my post regarding borderline personality disorder, I do not personally have this. I am in psychology and was writing ABOUT the issue. I received a comment of sympathy for my “condition”. I am just fine and have not been diagnosed with this disorder. In any case, I do want to thank my readers for the comments you send in. If you post them on this blog or any other blog in the blog network, I thank you. It’s almost like a pat on the back saying, “job well done”. So keep sending them in, entertain me or my other authors, and please please don’t assume I have the disorders I write about.

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Free For All is an old blog that we started way back when.  I shut it down at one point. I have recently decided to bring it back. It is full of interesting and strange opinionated posts. Below I have gathered some of the favorites….

Two years ago in Spain, Thomas Delgado, was speeding along a country road.  He hit a seventeen year old boy on a bike and dragged him 347 feet.  For some reason, charges were not filed against Delgado.  After all that, Delgado had the nerve to file a law suit against the dead boy’s parents….. Continue Reading

A very bored Icelandic teenage called the White House, convinced the White House that he was the president of Iceland…..Continue Reading

This has come to the attention of the general public because of the movie ‘Awake.’ 30,000 people a year are mentally alert during surgery. They are physically paralized, but feel every cut and hear everything around them…..Continue Reading

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Until recently I would say I was relatively clueless about search engine optimization. I still don’t know it all and am in no way claiming to. These are just some of the steps I have taken to increase my SEO…

Format your posts
Format your posts to include the title and date. This will help search engines to be able to find your posts easier and more in tune to what your post is about. You can do this by [Wordpress only] selecting settings in your admin panel and then selecting permalinks. Choose the day and name option. [Picture Below]

Install Google Sitemap

Install Google Sitemap plugin for Wordpress. It will automatically ping or let Google, Ask, Yahoo, and MSN know that you have updated your blog. Here’s the one I used.

Use tags
Use tags and or Technorati tags. You can display the tags below each post by inserting this code in your page.               

There are a few Technorati tag plugins out there. Here is one that I know of. I haven’t personally used it on any of the SizzlingSkillet sites, but it looks promising. One more. Again, Worpress only.

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I am a newbie to PayPerPost. I just joined last week and already find their system fascinating. If you don’t know who they are, let me explain. PayPerPost is a sponsored or paid posting site. Advertisers pay for you to write about them. Sounds cool huh? You income potential is unlimited as long as you follow their guidelines, have traffic, and don’t “over clutter” your blog(s) with ads.

I first heard about PayPerPost from another blogger. He wrote an article about making money with sponsored posts and I found it interesting. So I decided to check them out and sure enough, they are great!

I run a blog network called SizzlingSkillet. I wanted to implement some ads in with the normal posts to my network. Its a great way to gain extra revenue to invest back into my business. I eventually want to make enough money from each blog to support full time writers. That’s exactly what I will do with my PayPerPost income.

Sponsored blog reviews makes earning some extra income from your own blog easier. Its a way to improve your website from extra money and make new advertising relationships in the process. PayPerPost makes all of this possible and more. I named this entry PayPerPost love for a reason: I wanted to spread the love of what they offer so more people can get back some of what they have put into their blogs.

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First of all, let me tell you this. Making any money by blogging is tough and by far does not happen overnight. It can take up to five month for longer of hard work. That means frequent posts, interesting posts, useful posts, and un-spammy posts. Meet those criteria mixed with a good site and you are ready to begin.

Audience

Making money on any website is more than just good content. You have to have decent web or social networking skills. For example, someone who has the best content in the world will go no where without an audience. Your audience is key to the basics of monetizing your blog. So in a nutshell, audience and good content go hand in hand.

Ad Networks

Its now time to discuss some techniques to monetize your blog. We’ll start with Ad Networks.

Google Adsense

AdBrite

Yahoo Publisher Network -Coming Soon (Currently in Beta)
Microsoft Ad Center -Coming Soon

The granddaddy is of course Adsense. I have used Adsense and AdBright, but prefer Adsense. I had trouble with AdBright’s code that soon turned me off to them. Adsense will send you a check or direct deposit for every $100 you make. I’m currently at $70. Almost there for my next check. All of these are relatively easy to install on your blog. It just takes some copying and pasting to the proper location you want your ad to appear. (Assuming you have created an account with them). For every click you receive, you get paid anywhere from .5 cents to .35 cents. (Give or take) Better than nothing thought, right? If you have high traffic, this will better serve you.

Pay Per Post

A somewhat more fullfilling way (time wise) to make money is Pay Per Post. This method is more of the sponsored review type. Advertisers give you a product to write about, a few links, and a couple bucks to go along with it. Don’t over crowd your blog with these though. Below are some programs that will help connect you with advertisers.

Blogsvertise
Sponsored Reviews

Smorty

These sponsored posts will get you anywhere between $4 to $100 depending on your blog’s traffic. Depending on how much space you want to take up for advertisers, this is a good options for blogs with lower traffic. It won’t make you a ton, but it will net you some.

In the next part of “Making money blogging 2″, I will go over text link ads, video ads, and going out on your own to sell direct ads. Subscribe to my blog to keeps updated on new content.

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Starting and working with my very own blog network has been more fun than I can possibly explain. It has also been an amazing amount of work. I know I have been told before starting out that it would be quite the load, but there’s no way to get that through your head until you’ve actually attempted it.

How long?

It has taken me a half of a year to get the basic web/network infrastructure down. That’s the look, feel, usability, SEO, and functionality only. (Before a single piece of media is written)

Now I admit I have had my ups and downs. Its been hard to keep up with it and stay completely motivated to take on such a large, over bearing task. My life doubles as a student attending university so time is limited. Despite everything, I kept at it. Slowly but surely.

Current stats

-10 sites or blogs total
-Some fully operational, some limited
-Page views are irrelevant at this time. Just got things going, be nice!

In the works/ future goals

-Get every blog on a posting schedule. Encourage user/reader submissions.
-Up page views by 50%
-Keep expanding and create tech channel with 6 new blogs.

Keep those comments coming and subscribe to my feed! I will write another blog network reflection (part II) in about a month and see where we are. Explore the network, comment up, and link back to show some love.

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I’ve decided that today I’m going to try out some new marketing techniques. I have always been curious about affiliate marketing and Pay Per Post. For new blogs and bloggers just starting out, it’s a great way to pay back your hosting fees. I have used Blogsvertise before and made a total of $6 in a given month. I know what you are going to say…”That’s hardly worth it”. It’s not much but it paid for my domain name for one year. Not bad, eh?

I wanted to try out other services and see what I can find. I’ll post back and give another update on this after some exploration. This is also a great way to get some preliminary funding for my network.

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Image details: Two people watching sunset served by picapp.com

I haven’t posted to my blog lately, but now I’m finally free to get some web work done! Stay tuned for updates on new blogs we are adding and minor website changes here and there. As you can see from this post, I’m testing out a cool picture application “PicApp.com“. It allows users to display high resolution images for free. Also, they provide news, entertainment, and editorial images you would otherwise have to ask permission to use. Great tool!

Many updates on the way so stay tuned to SizzlingSkillet.

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I recently came across a discussion that talked about reasons for blogging. It was interesting to see the differences of opinion and motivations people have for blogging. I decided to make a post about it and here are my reasons:

Studying: I use my personal blog as a study tool. It helps me by being able to write out my notes or create an outline based on what I’m learning. (yes, college student) And why not share what I’m learning? Maybe someone would find it useful.

Money: Of course I focus on making money with my blog and network. It’s almost like a part time job running all of this and making no money would put a cramp in my already “broke” college lifestyle.

Hobby: Having a personal blog and running a small network is fun. It’s my hobby.

Experience & Knowlege: There is a wealth of technical skills and knowlege I get from blogging. First of all, gaining knowlege of basic coding is a must if you want a catchy template. Secondly, it constantly improves writing skills.

And maybe just a little bit of fame! What are your motivations to blog? Do you have several reasons or just one? Do particular motivations have an effect on success or failure of a blog?

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