Natespost

   Quick update on the contest ending Friday, 3/14. For those that haven’t already read about it, I will be giving away $50 on Friday. To be eligible, all you need to do is sign up for my email feed and end up in the top 5 on my top commentators list. I will put those 5 names in a hat and draw the winner at 5:00 pm CST and announce the winner no later than 5:30 CST. You have the option of being paid by PayPal or money order.

   Bonus: Anyone that writes a post about my contest and sends me the link in this post’s comments will have their blog added to my blogroll for the rest of the month!

   $4.38, folks! That’s right, four big ones. Or little ones I guess. But don’t forget the 38 cents. I know you’re thinking that a guy bragging about making $4.38 is pretty ridiculous, but I have to admit I was excited when I logged into my adsense account for the first time since starting the blog on Feb. 25. I really only set up the ads to learn the technical aspects of it and didn’t expect to make anything yet, so seeing that someone owes me any amount of money for what I have done so far was a thrill. It also motivated me to look into other money making possibilities.

   Affiliate marketing. I’m not talking about the junk emails you get promising to make a certain part of your body increase by 3″ within 2 weeks. You do get those, right? Is it just me? Anyway, affiliate marketing is where you place a link or ad to a certain product or service and with the tracking code involved, you either get paid per click or paid a percentage of the purchase. The thing I like about the idea is that it gives you more control over what is being advertised on your blog. This allows you to keep your credibility by advertising only products or services which you either use yourself, or have done enough research that you can recommend them to your readers whole-heartedly. So after much research, I am sincerely recommending shareasale to anyone interested in taking that next step towards monetizing their blog. It’s free, it takes about 3 minutes to sign up, and you get access to thousands of companies that have set up their affiliate marketing programs with shareasale. In addition to giving you control over what you are advertising, the fact that they are a third party affiliate company gives you added protection against fraud. They run regular checks and keep reports for you to see about the merchants, ensuring there is no click or sales fraud. In other words, they make sure you don’t get screwed.

   So this week I am going to look for a few services to recommend for my readers, and bust my butt on getting traffic. Maybe my income will swell up past the $5.00 mark. By the way, would it annoy you if I had an adsense ad at the bottom of each post? I really want your input on it. The contest is going well…Anca seems to be kicking your butts.

   What should a wordpress plugin do for you? Any plugin you think about installing should serve one of three functions for you, otherwise it will simply clutter up your blog and risk making it look like a 2nd grader is in charge. And I don’t mean a normal 2nd grader. I mean that kid in the back that eats crayons and writes with the fat pencils. So before you install that fancy new gadget, ask yourself if it will do one of the following for you-

1. Will it help you gain/retain traffic?
2. Will it help you analyze traffic?
3. Will it ease your admin duties?

   Here are the 5 plugins I use, where to get them, and why I use them. Best part? They’re free.

1. Akismet - Automatically blocks spam comments, making my admin duties easier and faster.
2. Google Analytics - Gives  an in-depth view of where my traffic comes from, what readers like, why they return, etc.
3. Top Commentators - Livens up my site by encouraging readers to comment every day. Nothing will kill your readership faster than a blog with no comments. works great with contests. Did I mention my contest?
4. Feedburner - Simple to set up, this is your single best friend in getting readers to come back to your blog.
5. Social Bookmarkers- Gives my readers the option to submit each post to various outlets such as digg, stumble, etc is an excellent way of getting a little extra traffic here and there even if I don’t hit a homerun.

   Now I want your input. What is your favorite plugin not listed above, and what does it do for you?   p.s. - Don’t forget, one week to go on my contest!

    An Introspection

• You Have No Goals- Sure, you have dreams, but you know what? That smelly guy on the bench smoking cigarette butts off the sidewalk has dreams, too. Neither of you have goals. A dream is an abstract fantasy, a goal is a concrete mile-marker to be striven for. The only thing separating you from  smelly guy are the cigarette butts.

• You Have No Drive - You read about the hard work it has taken others to succeed and you think there has to be another way. You think they are exaggerating the amount of hard work involved in becoming a success, that it will come to you because you are so nice and smart.

• You Are Easily Satisfied - You make a little money and think you have made it. You think it will just keep coming in, in ever expanding denominations. This just in, money does not have sexual organs. It does not procreate. You are the creator.

• You’re A Quitter - Doesn’t go your way? Wasn’t meant to be. You worked hard for a little while with no return, so what gives? You have better things to do.

• You Blame Others- Wasn’t your fault. Nobody would help you. Even worse, nobody would give anything to you. All a conspiracy to keep you in your place, THEY keep sh#tting on you. Now go have a seat before smelly guy smokes all the butts.

   Want to win $50? Simple! Just sign up for my email feed AND be within the top five commentators listed on the right by 5:00 pm Friday, March 14th. The winner will be drawn from the names of the top 5 commentators. I know it’s only $50, but here is what those $50 could mean to me - Food for one week -or- Gas for one week -or- Beer for one week. Plus, your chances are pretty good at the moment! The winner will be announced at 5:30 pm on 3/14 and will be paid via PayPal or money order. Now get to commenting!