Vloggers’ ultimate gadget: The Flip Video Ultra

For readers of top money making blogs such as johnchow.com and problogger.net, video blogs are nothing new. Both sites supplement their written content with more in-depth (and in the case of John Chow, occasionally inane) videos that cover a specific topic. Whilst the equipment these guys use is not advanced, a new gadget has recently hit the market that makes it even easier for bloggers to produce, upload and share video posts with their audience.

The Flip Video Ultra is an inexpensive digital camcorder designed to be taken almost anywhere in your pocket or briefcase, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. With up to 2GB of flash memory, you can take up to 60 minutes of fairly high-quality video with audio - perfect for blogging on-the-go. The device has a built in USB extension, making uploading a breeze, and combined with an ultra-portable laptop such as the Asus EEE PC, it becomes the ultimate tool for mobile media gurus.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Another widget making site: pimp your blog

Following on from my recent ‘make your own Facebook appliction to publicise your blog‘ post, here is another widget building application for all you money making bloggers out there. Sprout is a new service that lets you quickly and easily create a custom widget that can include anything from a simple RSS feed to a full on bells and whistles promotion for your blog, which is hosted on the Sprout servers. You are given the option to More »

Popularity: 31% [?]

Asus eee PC for entrepreneurs on the go

I have recently been eyeing up a great little laptop which looks perfect for mobile web-based entrepreneurs, and trust me, as soon as I’ve made my money online, I’m investing in one of these little beauties. For anyone serious about making money online, staying connected is a must, and the Asus eee PC looks like the perfect gadget to do so. This micro-PC runs a simple Linux bases operating system for ease of use, a 4GB solid state hard drive, a 7″ screen and wireless connectivity, ensuring smooth web access wherever you may be. The best bit about the Asus though is its size: not much bigger than a hardback book, you can take this baby all over the place.

The word is that later this year Asus will be releasing a new version with built in GPS and a touchscreen.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Make your own Facebook application to publicise your blog

I have just made my first Facebook application… and it was a lot easier than expected. I used the super-slick site widgetbox.com to first make a widget which displays the output from my RSS feed, which I then converted into a Facebook app. The process was a breeze from start to finish and could turn out to be really useful for publicising nicksmithblogs.com.

To set about making a widget to publicise your blog, you first have to sign up to widgetbox which takes a matter of seconds. You are then asked More »

Popularity: 36% [?]

Monetising a blog from Day 1 - yes or no?

I have been pondering this question for a few days now, ever since I earned my first few pounds through Adsense. Clearly I have been fairly gung-ho with the advertising on this site from quite early on, but is this a bad thing? The general school of thought amongst the blogging community seems to be that there is no point in trying to monetise your blog until you have ’sufficient’ content and a readership base to justify it. This is fairly reasonable I suppose: you’ll never succeed with Pay-Per-Click if you’ve got nobody to click your ads. There are also compelling reasons for not putting up any content-related advertising until there is enough content for Google/Yahoo/whoever to work out what your site’s about.

So why have I decided to keep up so many adverts and affiliate deals on a blog that is only just finding its feet? Here are my top 8 reasons for attempting to monetise a bog from day 1…

1. Readers are readers, whether you have 1, 10 or 1 million. If we treat blog monetisation as a numbers game, then we should also consider the fact that your first visitor is just as likely to click an advert as the 1 millionth (all other things remaining equal), so why miss out on making something from your early visitors?
2. Quality not quantity. If you are blogging in a particularly small niche, you may in fat never get more than a handful of visitors per day, but what you will miss out on in terms of numbers, you make up on with the fact that your adverts are likely to generate more revenue per click. Your targeted readership will also be valuable in terms of selling products specific to your niche through affiliates, so why wait for readers who will probably never come?
3. Getting used to all the systems takes time, and learning to optimise ad positioning etc can take years. Why not start early so that when you eventually do have the large readership you are looking for, you are already up to speed with what works/looks best on your site?
4. It’s important to make mistakes, and you don’t want to make them when you’ve got a readership to entertain. There is every chance that as a blogging virgin you will have some problem along the line with placing advertising within a template, displaying out of context ads or simply getting over zealous with your advert frequency. Making these mistakes is how we become better bloggers, so make them early and get them out of the way. More »

   Popularity: 23% [?]

   Tags: advertising, monetising a blog

A great site to get you making money online

Probably my favorite site at the moment is the fantastic blog written by Adnan and co at blogtrepreneur.com. The site is packed full of useful and insightful articles on creating great content for a blog you wish to monetise in the future. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, whether it’s for fun or as a money-making scheme, I suggest you rifle through their archives.

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Popularity: 15% [?]