What I would like to do is have a healthy competition with our Affiliate Members. Over the next 30 days, May 08 to June 08 we will be holding an Affiliate Lights Bonus Offer competition. During this time, the affiliate member to get the largest commission wins 100 USD paid via PayPal. If we have a tie the money will be split between all users that have the tie.

So the first step to join is signing up to Affiliate Lights. This site is owned by me, it’s no third party so you know 100% this is the real deal. Take a moment, go sign up and then come back here… … go we’re waiting … …

The second step is messaging me so I can approve your account. This is the easy part I’m always sitting in chat so simply log in and send me a chat message. So hurry uip, send me a message let’s get this started you can’t waste anytime.

Once you sign up and your account is approved you need to grab some affiliate code or banners. You can see the banners link in the left hand navigation section. Click banners and scroll through all the Blog Engage and Affiliate Light banners we have. Take one or two and add them to your blog sidebar up high and in your articles where other bloggers will see them.

Whoever has the largest, newest commission over the next 30 days will win $100 USD cold hard cash via PayPal. What are you waiting for? Sign up to Affiliate Lights today.

A great way to get some sales is to write about our community and the benefits of being a member. Tell your friend why you love blog engage so much and what it will do to help their blog. Explain our RSS and Social Media Marketing Services. Do not miss out on anything you need all the info possible to close that sale and win this $100 USD.

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Twitter, bbrian017

Blog Engage $500 USD Guest Blogging Qualifying Article

Facebook groups, although not new, were restructured late last year and since then there has been an uptake on the number of groups created in every imaginable category, including groups aimed at blog owners. This is great for several reasons including getting help for your blog, asking questions of other members, pitching in and contributing to the blogosphere and or simply for the camaraderie.

Groups are great for bringing a niche community together of like minded individuals; be it for business, sports, travel, tech or whatever topic the group was formed for.

(link to photo)

In the specific case of blog owners, below we highlight four additional good reasons on why to join Facebook groups.

4 Good Reasons To Join Topical Facebook Groups

1. Relationship Building

One of the best reasons to join a Facebook group (or any group for that matter) is the relationship building aspect inherent in the set up. When you join a group you get to meet a variety of members of which you could possibly have a lot in common with. You might be a new blogger with a ton of questions about how to manage, run and grow your blog. If as a newbie blogger you join a group with diverse members then you know that being able to brainstorm or get feedback from an experienced blogger is a nice advantage to have. There’s nothing like having a buddy to help you along with questions, feedback, tips and advice. However it’s a give and take, which means – you need to bring your cards to the table and offer as much of yourself as possible, and this may manifest itself in various ways. Maybe you have a massive (and active) Twitter following and can help other bloggers promote their article, service or product. If that is the case, you could offer to tweet out in exchange for content, links, referrals, etc. Speaking of referrals, referrals are the lifeblood of any business, so if you’re (what is called a connector) as in you’re good at connecting people – consider this an asset to be leveraged. Who doesn’t want their wares promoted by someone who is well connected? Use this to your advantage and ask for something in return, but not just anything – something you really want and would help you in your business.

Take away – Relationships are like a garden, you must grow and nurture them until they fully bloom.

2. Exposure

Another great built in feature of joining a Facebook group is the exposure you stand to get from just being a member. You can share your website with others, you can link to blog posts, share a tweet and so on. The group might partake in various activities to get members engaged and keep them active, such as monthly or weekly challenges, contests, giveaways, interviews, jobs and more. However the key to getting exposure is to become an active member of the group and help when needed and or simply show up and let your voice be heard via regular status updates. Also give it time, as some groups (if they’re new) may not be quite as active, but if you stick with it and at least show up, this contributes to the overall growth of the group. So don’t give up too soon. However if your main goal is to become part of a large and active group, then look for such and join up. No need to join a group you don’t feel is a good fit.

Take away – Participate to elongate.

3. Joint Ventures, Partners And Bartering

Have you ever traded services for a product or vice versa? Maybe hooked up with a neighbor to throw a garage sale? Well the same concept applies online in the form of joint ventures, partnerships and bartering. With bartering you exchange what you have with what you need, with a partnership (or JV) you join up with someone else to maybe co-author a blog together, host a contest together,  launch a *hot* new product, share each others content, promote each other on social media and well, the ideas – can go on and on.

Take away – A partner is like a puppy, show him or her some love and rewards will soon follow.

4. Conduct Business With Friends

Looking for a specific service or product to buy, maybe an ebook or WordPress theme or other similar item? If so, then ask the members of your group and do business with friends. Once you’ve established a relationship with others, it will be that much easier to conduct business. Who would you rather have design a blog header for you? Some stranger you met on Fiverr for $5 or someone from your group you’ve been talking to for a few months and have really gotten to know and even like. That’s a no brainer. It might cost more than five bucks, but you might also get better service and top notch quality.

Take away – Doing business with peeps you know is good business.

Summary:

As with any other social media effort, you get out of it – what you put into it. You’ve now read the four reasons why you should join a Facebook group for bloggers, what did we miss? Do you belong to any groups, if so – which one? Leave the name, and link below in the comment area.

Social media has become a boon for bloggers and that most definitely includes Twitter and Facebook. Sorry Google + and Pinterest, we will mention you next time.

Blog Engage $500 USD Guest Blogging Qualifying Article

Guest blogging, guest posts – These are the words I can see, hear all over the weblogs from a few months. I get lots of email asking for guest post on my blog. And guess what, I reject or deny 2 guest posts on daily average. But why I do so? I love to accept guest posts. But don’t I like to get another article for my blog? Yes, I do. But I have got some rules. And my 10 reasons to not accept a guest post may help you to understand why you were rejected OR how not to get rejected by the host while guest blogging.

10 reasons why I will not accept your guest post?

#1 You are writing the same old stuff:

Why should I publish an article which is on the web, already? Right? Everyone wants to publish new and interesting content on his or her blog. And everyone knows search engines penalize for duplicate or similar content. But still you are sending me an article with a very common topic and almost with the common content. I’d prefer not to publish it. It may give a bad impression to my readers.

#2 You are an article spinner:

I would like to let you know that using synonyms will not make your article different. Even bots know this and they penalize bloggers considering it as duplicate content. No matter how effectively you twist or spin, I can see a clear image of another article in your articles. I would not risk my blog image in front of search engines by publishing your post.

#3 You didn’t read my guest post guidelines:

Did you see I have a page for guests? So, the question is, why have I written a long page for the guest bloggers? The page describes how guest bloggers can proceed for guest blogging on my blog. How, what and when to do. For example; I have stated the article should not be less than 600 words and you have sent me an article which is less than 600 words.

Another example (happens with me most of the times); I have clearly stated that your links should not point to any commercial site or to any site where you are selling something. But still you have that.

Tip:  Guest post guidelines page is written just and especially for guest bloggers, of course. That single page helps the host and the guest to co-ordinate. It makes easier for guests to understand the rules for guest blogging on the particular blog. Read all the guidelines before submitting guest posts.

#4 You don’t have a gravatar:

Don’t you know the importance of a gravatar for a site?  For a person? It lets us build a brand for ourselves. It also affects the image of the blog. But you don’t have a gravatar even after I have stated in my rules that you need one to write a guest post on my blog. I can’t risk my blog’s reputation for a single free article.

Tip: Getting a gravatar is easier than writing a guest post. Just visit gravatar.com and associate your close up image with the email address you use for commenting. The gravatar shows up whenever we leave a comment on any post out there.

#5 You don’t know what you have to say:

You have written the same thing so many times in different ways. You are moving just around your single thought. I prefer meaty posts. Not those which just revolve around a single tiny topic.

TIP: Better do a proper research on the topic you want to write a guest post and make your thoughts clear in your sentences. Remember what you have said already and what you have to say. For this you can make a simple basic layout of your post with main headings and sub headings and then explain them.

“Your grammar is horrible and your writing is not interesting”

Ok, sorry if I am being rude but your grammar is really BAD. Now, I completely know the importance of good writing. People like our articles because we can share the knowledge in an interesting way, with humor. But you need to work on your writing skills a lot. Bad writing, grammar gives a really bad impression to the readers not only for the guest author but it also affects the blog reputation.

Tip:  Understanding some simple basic rules for diagramming sentences can help us to write very good articles. You can have a look to writing tips post from a professional writer (Holly Jahangiri)

#7 Your previous guest blogging record is not good:

I have seen some of your guest posts on other blogs and some on mine even. This is what I observed:
a) You just disappear after writing your posts;
b) You never reply to my email at once;
c) You never reply to comments on your post;
d) You are rude when replying to comments;

Tip: Replying to comments on our guest post is also a part of guest blogging. This is where we meet new readers, get traffic and that’s why we do guest blogging. And as a bonus, we can build back links to our blog when replying to comments.

#8 You guest post just for back links:

I have seen many guest writers looking for blogs where they can publish their posts. And they ask bloggers for guest articles like this – “800 words, very well written post, ONLY for PR5+ blogs”. Ok, what does it mean? Blogs with less PR will never get your guest post. So it means guest blogging is not building relationship with the host or readers. It is just about getting high quality back links. Sorry, but I don’t work that way.

Tip: I have said it before, guest blogging is not JUST link building. It is meeting new readers, making new friends and building relationship with other bloggers and blogs.

#9 You send articles which are not written by YOU:

I did see your author bio at the end. Every time you send an article you have different author names and none of them is YOU. And the links even don’t points to your blog. So, it means you are just building back links via guest blogging. And maybe, you don’t have the rights from the original author of the article. Publishing someone else’s articles is by someone else is not in my rulebook.

#10  Most important:

I don’t accept guest articles just to get another article to publish on my blog and increase my total published articles count. I don’t take guest blogging as a business. And I really hate those who do so.

There can be more reasons for me, for you or someone else to reject a guest post. But I think, these are the most basic but important think we need to keep an eye on, while guest blogging. I think, instead of JUST getting 2 silly do-follow back links, we should do guest blogging more to build healthier relationship with other bloggers and readers.

And yes, I do accept guest posts on my blog. You just have to visit my guest blogging guidelines page to get started.

Have you ever rejected any guest post? Or Have someone rejected your post? What were the reasons?

I would be happy if you can add value to this post.

Blog Engage $500 USD Guest Blogging Qualifying Article

Anyone can create world’s most popular post.

“If one can do, you too can do. If no one can do, you must do” – Japanese proverb

Sounds easy, right? Actually it’s not. Reason is, most of us don’t even think about creating the world’s most popular blog post, do you?

Why do some bloggers create EPIC content everytime while others are stuggling? What makes A-list bloggers stand out from the remaining crowd?

Shall we get into the details then?

How to Write World’s Most Popular Blog Post

Before going to know about writing popular content, you must know what exactly the popular content is..

Few qualities of popular posts are:

• They attract new visitors
• They get more comments, tweets, likes, traffic, subscribers etc.
• It will be definitely worth bookmarking
• Generally It will be a one stop guide, timeless content and the list goes on..

Put Yourself Into Their Shoes

Think from your readers point of view before you are going to create the content. Don’t write about yourself unless it’s a personal blog.

How can you do this?

Get personal with your readers: The best way to get personal with you readers is to make a conversation in your comment section. Try to add value to your comments and give suggestions every time.

Do Q&A sessions: If you focus on solving your readers problems, then it certainly adds credibility to your blog. Try to do Q&A sessions once in a week or at least once a month. Best way to do is, ask your readers, email them about what type of content they want to see in your blog.

Provide Value to Your Readers: Why should your readers visit your blog again? Give actionable tips which can be implemented right away. These type of quick tips can grab more readers to your blog and soon they will start loving your blog and your content.

Entertain or Educate: I’ve read somewhere that, online readers will visit other sites only for two reasons.

One is: to get their problems solved

Other is: to be entertained

If possible try to educate them with adding some humor in your posts.

I’ve written adequate no. of posts on creating great content on my blog, yet it’s difficult to describe the viral content creation tips. But, I’ll try to give you optimized and effective tips to create most popular blog posts. Try them now..

Now get ready to write your popular content

1. Decide the topic: Decide what you want to write about. Are you writing about SEO? blog tips? business or traffic tips? Have an idea about your topic. This is the first thing you have to do while creating your most popular post.

2. Research: This is essential before you start writing for your readers. Never pretend as you know everything. You must research on what you are writing about. You should have better knowledge about the topic.

3. Pre-write first: After collecting the information about the topic, go offline(it makes your mind peaceful, you can focus better – use ‘zenwriter’ if possible). Start brainstorming your ideas and write them down into a paper.

4. Start writing by using mind map: After finishing your pre-writing, write for your readers now. The best tip I can suggest here is, “write like you talk”. Even a sixth grade student should understand your language. Don’t use complex words in your writing, instead try to write in simple language. Your readers will love this.

5. Craft it and eliminate the unnecessary words: The best tip here is, keep your paragraphs short. It’s better if it contains 3-4 lines. Short paragraphs look more appealing than the long paragraphs. Your readers can easily skim few topics, even if you write lengthy posts. Use lists, numbers, headings according to your posts. Eliminate unnecessary words. Make it easy to read the whole post.

6. Killer headlines are vital: What made you to read this post? Absolutely the title of this post. It’s attention grabbing and promising the benefits to create great content. That made you to click on this post and still making read the entire post. This is the most essential part while creating the great content. No matter how valuable the content is, it will be of no use if you don’t use attention grabbing headlines. No problem, take some time to create killer titles. But come with the great titles. Your readers should click on your posts by looking just at the titles.

7. Add at least one image: First off, why should you add images for your blog posts? Simple. Image is the first thing your readers look at. If it’s grabbing their attention, they you are half done! Use appropriate, funny and compelling images. Don’t forget to give the credit if you use from other sites.

8. Use CTA(Call To Action): Call your readers to action at the end of every post. This grabs your readers attention. If you don’t use CTA, you can’t make your post as much popular as you expected.

How can you do this?

End with a question or ask your readers to comment about the corresponding blog post. They will surely comment if they find it useful. I’m sure this will work out, because I’ve experienced this many times on my blog.

9. Proof read: You will be doomed if you don’t double check your post before hitting the publish button. What if you write “Lets eat Grandma” instead of using “Lets eat, Grandma?” Gone, right?
That’s why it’s important to cross check what you have written.

10. Publish, promote and sit: Publish your post. Promote, promote and promote. Sit down and give it some time to go viral..

Look, how simple it is to create the best blog content. Follow these tips for every blog post you write. Who knows, one day you will become the world’s best writer.

Length of your post

This is the common question that every one will get before going to create a blog post. Should you write a detailed post or a typical blog post with 500-600 words?

BTW which is better? Any answer?

Unfortunately there’s no specific answer..

It totally depends on YOU. You can’t predict whether your present post go viral or not, but you can make them go viral by writing DETAILED posts. Generally, detailed posts will attract more than the normal posts because they add so much of value.

Moreover, detailed posts take much time to create, but they worth it. Remember, popular content needs a lot of research and effort.

Make Your Readers Addicted to Your Blog

Next step to do is, making your readers stick to your blog. For that you need to do the following things.

Read popular posts in popular blogs: You can learn how to write the content in most compelling way and crafting it by reading popular posts. You can learn more better if you learn it from the top blogs like copyblogger, problogger, basicblogtips, dailyblogtips etc.

Don’t  focus on money: This seems to be funny though, but it will definitely increase your authority. At least for the first few months(say 6 to 8 months), don’t try to monetize your blog. Because that is the time, your blog will start gaining the momentum. Try to focus on enhancing skills in your field first, money comes easily then.

Write Like You Talk: Yeah, the best writing tip here is, “write like you talk”. Don’t use complex words. Just write with ease. Use simple words in your posts. But, be sure about your spelling mistakes.

KISS it baby: Hey naughty, stop!! I’m not saying you to kiss Keep It Simple Stupid. Make your posts easy to read. Your readers shouldn’t feel stress while reading your content. Guide them with the proper navigation. Don’t make your blog design complex, make it simple and use better typography.

Make it easy to comment on your posts, never strain your readers with unreadable CAPTCHA’s. Get rid of CAPTCHA if you want more comments.

OK, it’s time to wrap up

I’m done now!

In summary:

• Make your blog a wonderful place to learn what you are writing about
• Your blog should come into your readers mind when they have any blogging problems

Blog Engage readers, your turn now:

I’m glad to know your thoughts about this article.

Any new strategy you think can work to create most popular post?
What’s your most popular blog post?
Which methods have you tried to create it?

Did you retweet this post?

I have a tradition of introducing the subjects of my articles with a short rant- just in order to get all of my ideas clearly on the table.  A rant can be a great way to communicate, if used sparingly and accurately.  Oh, and try not to take it personally.

The short rant

Have you ever noticed that blogs, all too often, suck?

For the past 10 years you the blogging community as a whole has been doing it all wrong.  To name a few of the most widely-accepted mistakes…

• Writing to attract the search engines
• Writing lists of worthless information.  If a blogger is going to write a list, there should be a reason for it being a list- otherwise make it into a real article.
• Writing just because they think that the blog will suffer if they miss a day, so they write something useless in the name of improving the blog-  Often bloggers admit to doing this right at the beginning of their post- if you ever see a post like that, for goodness sakes, click away
• Writing without editing
• Writing about some disgusting and greasy lunch, with a picture of it courtesy of the iPhone

But there is more

I just wanted to speak directly to only one or two of you, of course, and you know who you are- the content espionage artists, and the SPAMMERS- shame, shame on you…

• Content Espionage Artists

So you had writers block.  You looked on someone else’s blog, rewrote what they said, checked that copyscape doesn’t notice that you are PLAGERISING, and post the ideas as your own.   Of course you have an excuse, “I’ll bet that they stole these ideas from some other blog anyway,” you tell yourself.

• SPAMMERS

Then you tried your hand at SEO, and shamelessly increased the amount of SPAM in the world in a pathetic attempt to get thousands of backlinks.  If the Panda update didn’t shoot those down, this recent Google update will.

We can do better than this- It’s time to get real bloggers.

My List

Here is my list, yes list, of ways that we as a blogging community can repent for our errant ways.

• Post only the good stuff
• Get social on social media sites, and comment on other blogs (not just for the link)
• Love your niche- unless you are genuinely passionate about hemorrhoid medication reviews, let someone else have that niche.  Pick something that you really love.
• Focus on your readers- as every successful publication in history has ever done, it’s important to focus on giving the readers what they want.

Where to go from here

Listen, my blogging community friends, it doesn’t have to be that blogging remains a two-bit supplement to respectable publications.  A great blog, your blog, could be a fantastic exploration into a niche.  We should not be aiming to compete with one another, rather we should get so awesome that we, as the blogging community, can take on the mega-publications like newspapers and magazines.

It’s all about thinking on the next level- let’s go there.

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It’s not often when we have actual jobs available for our members to do but right now thankfully business is good and I’m looking for a writer that is interested in doing about 10 – 15 articles for me at an average of $12 USD per article. The articles would be 500 words in length and require some market research.

If you want this contract please Contact Me. In the form please explain why you feel this is something you want to do. If you have experience with writing please include some of your previous work and perhaps how soon you can start. The sooner I can fill the position the better.

Hi everyone, as you know our third Guest Blogging Contest has started and we are looking for bloggers to join. Here’s our offer, if you are not a Blog Engage member and want to join we will give you a free Blog Engage account for joining. This is valued at $9.99 USD so what are you waiting for?

Get Started Now!

Join our Facebook Group and or Send me a Twitter Message to get started and to get your Blog Engage account created today. Just say, Hey @bbrian017, I want to guest blog in your contest and receive my free Blog Engage account.

Special Note:

Blog Engage will be giving away $1000 USD at the end of 2012. This years winner for 2011 was Kira. If you want a chance to win this $1000 USD all you have to do is enter one of our guest blogging contests. Come the end of the year I will take the best guest articles everyone has written and create one big final contest to award someone with $1000 USD cash.

Start Date

May 1st, 2012

End Date

May 30th 2012

Winners Announced

June 15th 2012

Prizes

First Place – $250 USD
Second Place – $150 USD
Third Place – $100 USD

So don’t hold back, join our contest and receive your free blog engage account today. This is a great opportunity to win prize money while at the same time joining one of the most active blogging communities on the internet.

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Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017

Twitter, bbrian017

Sometimes all it takes to bring your blog to the next level is a new look. Trust me when I say people judge what your talents are by the way you look. Well in blogging just like real life people are judging you everyday.

You don’t want people to stop visiting your blog because of the way it looks do you? You can make a difference today by visiting the following theme designers and turn your blog into a professional looking website.

Don’t rush your purchase. Take a look at all the sites I’m going to list and find something that meets your personality and blog environment. Whatever you do don’t let your current theme or template set you back. Look professional and get a new wordpress theme asap.

Elegant Themes

The first theme designer I want to discuss is Nick from Elegant Themes. He has amazing talent and offers bloggers great themes at a low reasonable rate. Nick has a forum and provides full support for his members. If you want to look professional but have a low cash situation then this is the solution for you.

Simply Freshthemes

The Simply Fresh Themes project was started by a member here within our blog engage community named Keller Hawthorne. She is a young aspiring entrepreneur that is dedicated to helping everyone she meets. The theme is fresh, new and has so many amazing options via the admin control panel. Keller also offers a forum for theme support.

Woo Themes

Woo Themes has so much to offer the basic and most advanced bloggers. With their advanced themes and great support your blog will be getting more visitors then you have ever seen. If you have the money and can afford to spend a little more I recommend having a look and seeing if any of the Woo Themes collection can meet your needs.

Thesis Theme

When thesis hit the scene it was by far the most anticipated advanced SEO ready wordpress theme on the market. They offer support for customization not to mention the thousands of videos available online. The price is a little more than the themes previously mentioned but you always get what you pay for. Make sure to see if it’s something that can work for you and your blog.

Studio Press

With a unique look and feel to their designs Studio press has so much to offer you as a blogger. The developer of the themes Brian is a great guy and also provides a nice and relaxing community forum for theme support. Make sure to read all about the benefits and feature that come with your purchase. You will be very surprised what’s included.

Blog oh Blog

New to the scene Blog oh blog will give your personal or business blog a new look and feel that not everyone has seen. Take a look at what they have to offer. make your blog professional and start looking at their themes. Increase your readership and visitors.

Affiliate Themes

Last but not least I introduce to you Affiliate Themes. If your blog is all about making money with affiliate or you simply want a theme that is easy to customize them make sure to check this on out. Watch the video and see if it’s something for you.

Again when you think people aren’t judging you trust me they are. The first 6 months in a relationship people are on their best behavior. Why you ask? because it’s when we determine if we like them or not and the same goes for your blog.

Take the necessary step to avoid losing blog readers due to your poor blog design. Purchase a theme today and start blogging like the pro’s. Who knows it may be exactly what you needed to become that next great and popular blogger.

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Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017

Twitter, bbrian017