Working at Home on the Internet

Distribution

Distribution is probably the hardest part of trying to get the word out about your site.
There are MILLIONS of sites to compete against for readership. They all have a message or something to sell. You have to find your niche.

If you use Blogger, you will default to Atom.xml. It is not compatible with most RSS Feeds. You can choose to use Blogger’s RSS, but once you make the choice that’s it, you can’t change later.
You can choose to be listed to Weblog.com for blog distribution (you’ll never find it if you look on their site). They spread it to other blogsites.
List your site to as many Feeders as you can find.

Some Blog Feeders I like are:

Blogcatalog.com
BlogTopSites.com
Popdex.com
Blogwise.com.

Some RSS feeders that accept the Atom.xml are:

FeedBurner.com (my favorite)
Feedster.com
Postami.com
2RSS.com (my least favorite)

If you use Feedburner.com you can list your site on most RSS Feeds with the link they give you once you list with them.
A good place to look for RSS Feeders for listing is RSSNetwork.com

These are only a few of the Feeder Sites I have found, there are plenty more if you look for them.

Let me know how you make out if you try any of my suggestions.

New Here? You may want to Subscribe to my RSS feed for daily updates. Or if you prefer, Subscribe by Email What is RSS? Thanks for visiting!

October 31st, 2005 at 11:06am | Posted by Joe | Basics | reader remarks | Print This Post

Tracking

Tracking is not something you want to do manually. You have to find a program to do it for you. Whether you have to track internally and/or externally, you have many choices.

If you use AdSense, they track sales through their system, which is very reliable.
If you have any Affiliate sites, they also track for you.
The more you have of these type services, the more you have to keep statistics of your own.

There are a few programs that still need manual input from you, or you will have to give them access to some of your accounts or passwords. This you DO NOT really want to do… So far I haven’t found one I trust enough to purchase.

The Other type of tracking, is for RSS & Blog Feeds. These are provided by each individual service. Some will send information on Aggregates and Readers directly to an E-Mail address you provide. Some you will have to log in manually to get your stats. Still others offer no statistics at all, YOU will have to determine which type service to use.

Two of the Best RSS feeders I found are FeedBurner.com and CompleteRSS.
So far the Best for Blog Feeds are Technorati.com and BlogCatalog.com

You can check out some of the Sponsored Links in the sidebar to get an idea of what’s out there.

As Always, leave any questions or comments, Help me Improve this site…

October 30th, 2005 at 12:53pm | Posted by Joe | Basics | reader remarks | Print This Post

Advertisements

It is totally up to you whether to include advertisements on your page or not. After all, it’s about what you have to show, your products, etc.

The idea is to generate additional income by including ad’s that are pertinent to your site. You can get something such as AdSense, which is provided by Google through Blogger. Choices range from Plain Text to various size Banner Ads. They use a Key Word Search to best fit ads to your site, and you can exclude competitors from the listing.

You could also use an affiliate you trust, putting links within your text or Banner Ads anywhere on your site.

These type of advertisements usually pay per click, and/or if someone actually signs up for the product. These services are mostly free, hoping your page will also draw potential customers to them.

Just remember to use these advertisements to your advantage, place them where people will click on them. One secret I have is when you put the link on your page, make sure it gets opened in a SEPARATE WINDOW. That way the customer never really leaves your page!
Good Luck!

Comments and suggestions are much appreciated. (Sorry, I had to add word verification)

October 29th, 2005 at 11:48am | Posted by Joe | Basics | reader remarks | Print This Post