Pre-approval and The Keyword Academy

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It completely blows my mind that the month is almost over!  How did that happen?

The month isn't a complete loss though.  I've learned a lot and I have added quite a few articles to my residual earnings sites.  Not as many as I wanted but getting there.  I know that one of the things that is holding me back is the fact that I really, really need to get a schedule.

Honestly, schedules have always been the thing that stops me from getting past a certain level of success.  If I could get a grip on this schedule thing I know I would accomplish so much more.  So, I'm going to focus on schedule in June and nothing else.  The amount of articles I write and the amount of money that comes in will be secondary.  But the truth is that I think if I develop a schedule and stick to it, both of those will increase as a result.

I've still got 2 and a half days in the month so  I'm not going to give you any numbers here.  You'll have to wait until my update!  LOL

But I will tell you that I got pre-approval at InfoBarrel, which means no more waiting for articles to be approved.  That's a good thing.  I'm enjoying automatic publishing now! LOL

Oh, and I joined The Keyword Academy.  I figured why not - the first month is free so why not see what they have to offer.  I doubt that I'll continue on past the first month because I find that I am suffering from information overload.  I have enough reading to do as it  is. I have to say the forum is pretty good and the Wordtracker tool is cool too.  But  I'll likely let you know  how it goes later in June.

Keyword Luv

If you are looking for some new ways to get some backlinks to your blogs and your articles you should consider doing some blog commenting.  People have been doing this for ages to get traffic to their blogs but now there are some blogs where you can not only get a good "dofollow" link but you can also get quality anchor text, too!

Keyword Luv is a WordPress plugin (I don't think you can use it on Blogger but I'm going to check on that and update later) that allows you to leave a comment with a "dofollow" link back to a blog or article and by typing "@your anchor text" behind your name, search engines will recognize "your anchor text" as being the keywords that identify your blog.

I have used this for my blog before (my main blog) and I plan to try it for a few of my articles as well.

Here are some of  the blogs that have Keyword Luv enabled (just make sure that you leave valuable comments - none of this, "Great post" BS!):

• Just Ask Kim – Internet Marketing Made Easy!
• WassupBlog For Blogging Tips,Tricks, Blogging For Money, SEO
• Jacqueline Gates — Goddess ~ simply a Label to step Up to, and IN to.
• "Dream, Believe, Become..." - Free MLM Help ROCKS! - Tracey-Keefer
• Linda Grace online
• Toronto Search Engine Optimization | Toronto Internet Marketing
• Dehydrated Dog Food, Freeze Dried Dog Food, Diet, Treats for Dog
• Blogging tips, Wordpress SEO, Internet Marketing tips
• TheBitBot SEM Blog - Home Of The Spindication Directory
• Social Networking And Online Marketing Resources
• FREE Blog Setup Services and Resources | BeFree Blog Setup
• Home Business Ideas | Online Business Ideas
• Online Cash Blogger
• Netchunks | Webmaster Tips | Money Making Ideas | Blogging Ideas
• Work At Home - Best Home Based Business - Working From Home Jobs
• Massive Money Group Videos, Ways To Make Money At Home
• larrydkeen - Internet Business Ideas - Marketing - Home Business
• Find All Answers | Blogging tips, Relationships, Self Improvement
• Organic SEO Marketing | Organic SEO | Organic Marketing | Marketing Coach | Internet Marketing SEO Made Easy |
• Internet Marketing Uncovered
• Earn Money Online
• Keywords Shack >> Keyword Research - We Give More
• | Go Green and Save Money
• Personal Development Business - Home Based Business Success
• Screw You Google - Teaching You To Earn Money Online
• WordPress Tutorials | How To WordPress Videos
• SEO Outsource
• Search Engine Optimization Practical SEO Blog
• TradeWindSalesMedia.com
• Directory Blogger

Oh!  and don't forget me!  My main blog is The Social Freelance Writer and I love comments - even if you aren't a writer!  I have Keyword Luv and Comment Luv enable and you can leave your Twitter url, too!

What are Link Wheels?

Since my last post I've had a few people ask me about link wheels and I figured that since there has already been so much information written about it that I would share some links with you:

What is a link wheel?

• What is Link Wheel & How it Can Help Your Blog Rank Higher
• LINK WHEELS EXPLAINED >> Building Powerful Backlinks To Your Sites
• Link building 101: What is a Link Wheel

Here's a video that I found helpful:

Way Behind

Well, I started the month off with a bang but things got busy and before you know it I am way behind.  It is only the 20th though so there is still a possibility of catching up.  Maybe.

I am seeing more clicks on my ads though.  I'm almost at the same amount as last month so I should have a little more incoming ad clicks yet.

I'm starting to think that I should do more stuff in bulk.  Like write 20 articles and then do the backlinking and other stuff.  One of the things I've seen suggested is to write articles in set.  Like 5 articles about being an administrative professional all with different keywords and then doing a linkwheel that links to each of those articles and each other.  Does that make sense?

This is what it would look like (click to see bigger):

So, five articles on InfoBarrel, 6 articles in the linkwheel.  Each of the articles on InfoBarrel are linked to each other with anchor text.  Each of the linkwheel articles is linked to all 5 of the InfoBarrel articles using their anchor text and to each other.  Every article (all 11 of them) have backlinks going to them from Stumbleupon, Tagza, etc.

I've done this (actually I paid for it) with two of my niche sites and about two weeks later they are both starting to show results with more traffic generally and specifically more search engine traffic.

I'm going to try this and see if I have better results than just putting up loads of articles.  Work smarter, not harder, right?

It's Really Not Easy

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I really hate it when people say how easy it is to earn residual income online.  If you're one of those people stop saying it because it just is not true!  Earning passive income is just as hard as earning money from writing in other ways - sometimes harder.

I think the hardest thing is the motivation.  For me anyway.  When I'm earning money by writing for a client I don't really  need any motivation other than a deadline and the lure of getting paid and padding my Paypal account.  I love seeing the numbers go up there.  And doing client writing means that I don't have to wait until some point in the future to see the money - usually no more than a week anyway.

Now residual income - it's like gambling a little bit.  You might see some great return on it - you might not.  All depends how much work you put into it.  I mean, if you don't build your backlinks, you aren't going to see much in return.  If you don't promote your articles, minimal return is what you'll get.  But even if you did the job right and you put the hours in, the big money isn't going to come for awhile.  Even then, you have to have chosen the right keywords and so on.

There are so many variables!!!

So, if you think that residual income is an easy way to make some fast money, you are barking up the wrong tree.  You're better off sticking to a paying, outside the house job.

But, if you are willing to learn, put in some hard work, write like a crazy person, and then wait a bit (short bit, long bit, could go either way), then you should definitely jump right in and join me on this crazy journey. :)

Too Much Reading Makes Me Confused

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If you're involved in the making money from residual income niche you have likely felt the same as me at some point.  You're trying to learn all you can about earning from passive income and there's so much out there to take in that it just gets all muddled in your brain.

That's what is going on with me right now.  I've been reading the forums over at InfoBarrel (and don't get me wrong - there is loads of good stuff there) and checking out other sites for building backlinks and building up other forms of passive income.  And I just feel like I have to stop because I keep coming across new sites or new places that I could use but I can't take  it all in.  There's just too much!

I honestly don't know what to do first.

I have kept up with my article writing and I've actually told one of my private writing clients that I need to take a break from writing.  I want to be able to focus on getting the articles out there and backlinking them - at least to my main 26 sites.

The  thing that is driving me crazy is that I know there is more.  26 backlinks on social bookmarking sites is just not going to be enough to do the trick.  I have to do more.  So I'm wondering if I should just put the "more" aside for a little bit and focus on getting some content up there.  Once I have 100 or so articles on each site (Bukisa and InfoBarrel) I can stop or slow down the article writing for a bit and focus on building links in like building linkwheels and stuff.

Linkwheels are something that really fascinates me because you know, I could build one linkwheel that would serve as backlinks to more than just one article.  It could have links to several articles in it.  I've paid to have two linkwheels done for me (for my niche blogs) and I think that I could handle it on my own now.  The only thing it that it does take time.  And if i am going to build my own linkwheels I'm going to want to create somewhat different articles for each part of the wheel   (the ones I bought for $5 used the same article).  But if I had a good article spinning program that would make it much easier.  I'm not sure if I want to invest in that or not.

Anyway, just some thoughts.  If you'r building up your passive income or have already had success, how do you deal with  all the wealth of information that is out there?

Keeping Up!

I'm pretty darned proud of myself because so far this month I am actually keeping up with my residual  earnings article writing.

I've written 6 articles for InfoBarrel (3 are still waiting for approval) and 3 for Bukisa. I'm going to at least one more for Bukisa today and maybe one more for InfoBarrel. InfoBarrel is having it's monthly contest on Top Lists - I love doing those.  I did my first list on The Top 20 Reasons for Freelance Writers to Use Social Media.

I've got another idea for a top list building already so I'm not going to write much here today. I just wanted to update about it. :)

May Goals

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I’m not a big goals person but I realize that I need to be so I’m going to set some goals this month but they are not financially related.

1. Write 50 new residual earnings articles and backlink them all.

2. Write a new blog post each week for all 3 of my niche sites (3×4=12).

3. Write a minimum of 2 new blog posts a week for The Social Freelance Writer.

4. Finish off my two new Amazon blogs and have linkwheels made for them.

5. Build 4 more Amazon blogs and complete and have linkwheels made for them.

and the big one…

6. Work on developing a schedule and sticking to it!

and a non-work goal…

7. Join Curves and go 3-4 times a week and walk 4 times a week.

I had posted this on a writing forum that I go to often and got some feedback immediately.

I love that you are making goals. I love that your goals are specific. This way you know for sure whether you have reached them or not. ( I would re-write number 6, so it is like the others…more specific). I would suggest that now that you have written out your goals, that you write action steps for each one. What do you have to do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in order to reach each one before the month is over. In doing this, you may find that your goals are not attainable and need to be revised, or that they are not challenging enough and that you can do more. Finally, my biggest hope for you is that you build in ways to reward yourself along the way. Don’t forget to celebrate your successes! Best Wishes.

…and I totally agree on her point about #6 – I do need to be more specific about that.  I’m just not sure how to do that so I’ll come back to that later.

As for the action steps:

1. Write 50 new residual earnings articles and backlink them all.

a) Using the index cards for the keywords that I have already chosen to focus on, come up with 50 titles.

b) Write 2 articles each day, Monday – Friday; schedule time for this.

c) Backlink the next morning for the articles that were written the previous day.

and for the next one:

2. Write a new blog post each week for all 3 of my niche sites (3×4=12).

a) Brainstorm for titles.

b) Schedule time once per week to write all three blog posts for the week.

c) Post them on blogs.

Same steps for 3.

And for the last two…

4. Finish off my two new Amazon blogs and have linkwheels made for them.

5. Build 4 more Amazon blogs and complete and have linkwheels made for them.

a) Do research for product/domain

b) Register domain and set  up blog with plugins

c) Add content – 4 product posts and 2-3 info posts

d) Let sit until Google is indexing it

e) Outsource linkwheels on Fivver

REWARDS!  Yes, I deserve rewards.  But I’m not sure what I want so I’ll have to think about that, too.