Archive for the ‘Content Promotion’ Category
Nov 10, 2009 Blogging, Content Promotion
Sponsored Tweets is the brainchild of IZEA, the same company that offers paid blogging opportunities. Joining Sponsored Tweets is free and you get paid to tweet advertiser’s links. All opportunities have to be approved or declined by you. The system does function automatically, so that once an opportunity is approved the link is automatically posted in your Twitter. No work to be done, but you get paid for it!
Two Options Available
The first option is where an advertiser pre-determines the text of your tweet and provides a link. You approve the opportunity and the tweet is sent out. The second option is where you write your own text and include the link provided.
FTC Regulations and Twitter
You may have heard about the new FTC rules where bloggers have to disclose where the reviewed product came from. We will have to disclose if the product was bought with our own money or if it came for free. This gives better transparency to reviewing and advertising. IZEA is very good about following FTC rules and disclosing paid opportunities. Every Sponsored Tweet has to include a disclosure (a hashtag such as #ad, #advert, #sponsored, etc). This is one of my favorite features of Sponsored Tweets, as we publicly disclose to our followers if this is a paid opportunity. You cannot accept a paid opportunity on Sponsored Tweets without a disclosure.
Sponsored Tweets and Pricing
The best thing about Sponsored Tweets is that you get to choose your own price for advertising. There is a suggested price feature, which says how much you can expect to get paid per tweet based on the number of followers and quality of your Twitter account. I priced mine lower though, because it attracts more advertisers and brings in great opportunities. You have to remember that Sponsored Tweets is still gaining popularity and advertisers. There is more paid Twitter users than advertisers, so it’s good to price yourself reasonable and attractive.
To cash out, your account has to have a minimum balance of $50. The minimum amount may seem intimidating but it is easy to reach. I look at it as a savings account and money that I forget about. Then one morning I wake up to see that my minimum payout is reached.
I have recommended Sponsored Tweets to my freelance writing friends, because many of us already use Twitter to advertise our article links. You don’t have to do any additional work but you still make extra cash on the side. The work is done for you and all you have to do is accept the offer. I’m very pleased with Sponsored Tweets and plan to use their service for a very long time.
Tags: advertising, making money, sponsored tweets, twitter
Jun 8, 2009 Associated Content, Content Promotion
Article promotion is essential to becoming successful on the web, especially if you are writing for Associated Content. A higher page view average can make a monetary difference in upfront payments. Page views also equal good money from AC, because of their monthly page view payments. Some people on AC are making hundreds of dollars a month, just from page views alone.
I am so excited to see a lot of happy writers that commented on my AC article “How to Promote Articles by Submitting RSS Feeds”. I have gotten a lot of feedback both on comments, and on Twitter about how everyone appreciated the information, or have already started using this method. It feels good to help other fellow writers, and I plan to do more articles geared towards helpful tools. It’s all about using the power of technology.
In terms of statistics, I used the same method for my AC articles as well as for my blog. Now AC does not allow me much information as far as statistics, so I’ll use mostly my blog to explain the benefits of RSS feeds. I can tell you that my AC article page views have doubled, and have been consistently higher since I started doing this.
As far as the blog goes, 11 Feeds and 352 Spiders crawled this page for content in May. So far in June; 44 Feeds and 715 Spiders. Visitors on the blog have quadrupled, and many of the web users are coming back. Page views on the blog are in the thousands. Not bad for a website that just got off its feet, and has much more to accomplish.
This promotional method is absolutely free, and as I stated before, the web is moving towards RSS Feeds with more websites offering this option. If you are a fellow writer, check out “How to Promote Articles by Submitting RSS Feeds” and start promoting your work too. Bukisa articles can be promoted this way as well, and I am certain that Examiner, Demand Studios and others can be done this way too. Happy writing!
Tags: advice, article, Associated Content, promotion, writing
Jun 4, 2009 Content Promotion
Being a freelance writer means fending for yourself, and utilizing new technology to find jobs and promote your work. A major part of success in freelancing is promotion, and getting your name out to the public. Remember, there is plenty of competition and other freelance writers willing to take the work. Letting your work be seen and read online is free, just use the latest tools to get the work done.
I am surprised that so many freelance writers still have no idea what RSS Feeds are, or how to use them. My online life is busy enough, and despite my best efforts to procrastinate, I actually get work done. This means limiting my web browsing to only necessary websites. When I have no time to browse for pleasure, I use RSS Feeds to keep track of my favorite websites and their newest content.
Windows Vista made my life even easier, with the Favorite Feeds listed on the right hand side of my desktop. I grab a cup of coffee, catch up on news, and my favorite websites first thing in the morning. Then it’s off to get serious work done…
Why am I trying to tell you this? Because RSS Feeds can help promote your blogs, freelancing websites, and even content libraries such as your Associated Content Source page. And, it is completely free.
I use Feedburner.com to create all of my RSS Feeds, including the one for my Associated Content page. After that, I look for free directories that my RSS feed will be accepted at. Normally, this is just a submissions form that accepts a valid RSS Feed url, and that also validates the contents of my feed. I do the same for my blog feed.
A valid RSS Feed will help promote content, bring in visitors, generate higher page views, and it can help with search engine optimization. When it comes to SEO, RSS Feeds can get tricky for beginners. There is a lot of involvement in optimizing a feed, but it does produce good results.
Today I submitted my blog and AC page to several RSS Feed directories. AC does not allow me to view any stats, but my blog does. I see that sixteen RSS bots have crawled my pages, and “burnt” feeds. Each of them displays content somewhere in the blogosphere, giving me greater chance of exposure. We all know in AC terms that visitors mean article viewership, and that in turn means money for us writers.
I plan to go into further detail about RSS, since it can be so beneficial to my fellow writers. I’ll share with you several websites I’ve used for RSS Feed submission, and as I mentioned before, it is completely free.
http://www.blogdigger.com/add.jsp
http://www.blogpulse.com/submit.html
http://www.feedage.com
http://www.blogstreet.com/bsibin/add.cgi
http://publisher.yahoo.com/rss_guide/submit.php
Tags: advice, Associated Content, freelancing, promotion, rss feed
