After a month long silence one of my favorite blogger finally decided to write a post on his blog, SmartWealthyRich and the post made it clear why exactly he hasn’t been able to post for that long.

SWR is a conversational blog that talks about productivity, blogging, entrepreneurship and everything else. The thing that I find very positive about this blog is Jon has been able to create a networking tool through his blog, so to speak. His every post engages discussion among the commenters and therefore he has built a loyalty within the readers giving him and the blog itself more exposure.

There are different factors that makes a blog successful and lately it’s all about blog subscribers. SmartWealthyRich has 499 subscribers while I am writing this post. What I find very amazing is the loyalty among readers for this blog. Notice I wrote ” after a month long silence ” above, exactly, the blog hasn’t been updated for a month and the readers were and are still there. The reason Jon is selling this blog isn’t just for money but due to the lack of time. Well, what does he do? I wish I could sum it all up in one post, but there are so many things he is constantly tied upon I would have to make it a series of posts.

Lately, you can find Jon working on,

Spyrestudios - His portfolio site, and
The Gods of Now - His music band

among other things. I bet there are a few more he has his hands on. Anyway, enough of my rambling. If you would like to get the details on ranking, traffic and all that good stuff please head over here.

Whoever buys this blog will be a lucky one and I wish I could be that person. But again it all comes down to money and I am a little tightwad like that. So if you are someone looking to build upon something, this is the way to go. A great blog from a great blogger who has readers waiting even after a month of silence and now you have a chance to make it yours.

Goodluck with whatever you will be doing next Jon! Hopefully, we will see you guest posting on SWR every once in a while. By the way, it would have been nice to get SWR as a christmas gift ( told you I am a tightwad ).

Tags: News by Ritu - 2 Comments »

The domain name is worknplay.net and I almost find myself working everyday. I haven’t taken anytime for play at all and it’s long over due. So I just decided to start a fun game ” Challenging Your Blog IQ “ through this post. Well, I will talk a little more about the game below but first a quick note to remind you that for a couple weeks worknplay will be featuring interviews from some key bloggers. You can read and gain some insight on how they started and what they did to make themselves and their blog successful. I am not sure what day of the week the interviews will be published each week. So to stay current you can subscribe to this blog using the menu on the sidebar or simply visit everyday ( subscribing would be easier I think

Back to the play we are going to be playing. It’s a simple game that I call Challenging Your Blog IQ. This game will test your knowledge on whether or not you know these popular blogs. Here are the details on how the game will be played

1) I will list one blog with words scrambled up.
2) The first commenter will unscramble the word and find out what blog it is.
3) Then the commenter will create his own scrambled word for another popular blog and the next commenter will unscramble and get it right and the game keeps going until, well, whenever.

Here is an example

I will leave one blog as a scrambled word, say ” lapwrkony.net ”
Commenter will unscramble it and get it right and make his own unscrambled word ( has to be a blog, well known ) in the following format,

Correct answer: Worknplay.net
My word: “rolpgergbo.net”

and the next commenter will go ahead and unscramble and find out what blog it is, and leave one for the next commenter who might be interested in playing the game

You can choose the blog only from the top 100 technorati blogs. This makes it a little easier to find the answers and make up your scrambled words.

Ohh, by the way, although it is just a game for fun, I would like to quick add that 10 random commenters who get the answers right will be featured on my blogroll. This blog is predicted to be a strong PR 5 next update, so it might be worth something to get a link.

But most of all let’s all have fun. Enjoy Work N Play and unscramble the Blogs

Ready to Play Challenging Your Blog IQ? [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging, Games by Ritu - 22 Comments »

There are basically two types of bloggers in the world - reporters and experts - and some people perform both roles (usually the experts, it’s hard for reporters to become experts, but it’s easy for experts to report).

If you have ever taken an Internet marketing course or attended a seminar specifically for beginners, you have probably heard about the two different methodologies. Whenever the business model is based on content, and if you blog for money then the model is based on content, people are taught to either start as reporters, or if possible step up as experts.

I’ll be frank, you want to be the expert.

Reporters leverage the content of the experts and in most cases people start off as reporters because they haven’t established expertise. Experts enjoy the perks of preeminence, higher conversion rates because of perceived value, it’s easier to get publicity, people are more likely to seek you out rather than you having to seek others out, joint ventures come easier, etc… experts in most cases simply make more money and attract more attention.

Most Bloggers Are Reporters

The thing with expertise is that it requires something - experience. No person becomes an expert without doing things and learning. Bloggers usually start out without expertise and as a result begin their blogging journey by talking about everything going on in their niche (reporting) and by interviewing and talking about other experts (reporting again).

There’s nothing wrong with reporting of course and for many people it’s a necessity at first until you build up some expertise. Unfortunately the ratios are pretty skewed when it comes to reporters and experts - there are a lot more reporters than there are experts, hence reporters tend to struggle to gain attention and when they do, they often just enhance the reputation of the expert they are reporting on.

Don’t Replicate Your Teacher

If you have ever spent some time browsing products in the learn Internet marketing niche you will notice a pattern. Many people first study Internet marketing from a “guru” (for lack of a better term). The guru teaches how he or she is able to make money online, and very often the view that the student gleams is that in order to make money online you have to teach others how to make money online.

The end result of this process is a huge army of amateurs attempting to replicate what their teacher does in the same industry - the Internet marketing industry - not realizing that without expert status based on a proven record and all the perks that come with it, it’s next to impossible to succeed.

Even people who enjoy marginal success, say for example growing an email list of 1,000 people, then go out and launch a product about how to grow an email list of 1,000 people. Now I have no problems with that, I think it’s fine to teach beginners and leverage whatever achievements you have, the problem is that people gravitate to the same niche - Internet marketing - and rarely have any key points of differentiation.

How many products out there do you know of that all claim to teach the same things - email marketing, SEO, pay per click, affiliate marketing, and all the sub-niches that fall under the category of Internet marketing. It’s a saturated market, yet when you see your teachers and other gurus making money teaching others how to make money (and let’s face it - making money as a subject is one of the most compelling) - your natural inclination is to follow in their footsteps.

If the key is to become an expert and you haven’t spent the last 5-10 years making money online, I suggest you look for another niche to establish expertise in. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging by Ritu - 2 Comments »

Online video is one of the most effective way to market yourself and your blog or business. With the rise of user generated videos from users around the world, this has added another dimension to the internet marketing. These videos created by users like you and me are then embedded into blogs or websites and shared with friends and families via email. If the video is liked by many, it will also be shared by many, giving you rapid exposure. Ofcourse, to be able to do that we need service from sites like You Tube which allows us to share videos. Although, You Tube is the ” Big Dog ” when it comes to sharing videos, others sites and services shouldn’t be ignored. The more the better, it allows you to expose your business or blog to more people from around the world.

I usually try to list sites that offer service that might be useful for you, the readers. This post lists 48 video sharing sites that might be of interest to you. Not that you need to try all of them but more than one is certainly better. I hope the list will introduce you to some new sites, enjoy! [Read more →]

Tags: Videos, Websites by Ritu - 9 Comments »

I have been wanting to get couple interviews lined up for the readers at Work N Play. Since then I have emailed some influential and successful bloggers, some replied and were kind enough to take some time out of their busy schedule for an interview and others have yet to reply.

For the next couple weeks you will find one interview post ( each week ) on this blog with a successful blogger. This will allow me and you to know the blogger better and learn from them as they share some advice and suggestion as to what we should do to succeed in blogging.

Today’s interview is with Ian from Ianfernando.com.

Let’s get right to the interview,

Most of us already know about you and your blog and ventures. But for Work N Play readers who might not know you, could you please give them a brief introduction?

Ian: No Problem. My name is Ian Fernando and I have been on the internet for quite sometime. I started making money from the internet when I first started making a Pokemon website, back in high school. (Ancients Years Ago) I was always in to web design and made multitudes of websites on angelfire and geocities. It was just recently when I started to get into blogging and it makes sense to me since I can track and speak what I had on my mind about a specific topic. [Read more →]

Tags: Interview by Ritu - 4 Comments »

Commenting - a great way to communicate, proven way to generate traffic and for some, a perfect way to spam, humiliate and degrade others. After reading a post at Problogger few days ago I had to write how I felt when it comes to commenting on blogs. Before going any further, I would like to quick point out the meaning of the word comment according to dictionary.com

Now that we know what exactly comments should do, let’s take a look at why some people shouldn’t comment in regards to blog commenting,

#10. You Are Annoying

You might not realize but the blogger and everybody else does. YOU ARE ANNOYING, plain and simple. Your comments add nothing but may be a link to your own site. This only causes you to be seen once as you have proved yourself a spammer. After that you never get to comment on that particualr blog. Sayonara sucker!

#9. Your Comments Are Irrelevant To The Post

Why even bother commenting on a post if you are not adding value to the post. I myself try to encourage readers to post their views and ideas through comments as I find it intriguing to see how other people view things. It’s always nice to see somebody add value to a post and give the blogger a fresh perspective to look at. It breaks the monotony of the blogger’s own views and opinion and gives him something fresh to think and ponder about. Well, you didn’t add anything relevant so get the heck outta here!

#8. You Have No Respect For Yourself Or For Others

You are rude, disrespectful and you think you are the only one whose views matter. Just cause you don’t agree with the blogger’s or other commenter’s views doesn’t give you the right to target them personally. So beat it and never come back you foul mouthed Son of a ***** ( you didn’t like it so why say it to others )

#7. You Can’t Distinguish Between An Argument and A Discussion

You see couple commenters discussing about something and how they are supporting their own points. You jump in and start sharing your’s but in a rather rude manner. You become aggressive because you want to support one of the commenters ( may be there is a popular blogger among them ). Guess what? It won’t do you any good. They are having a healthy DISCUSSION not an ARGUMENT.

#6. You Think Your Views Are The Only One That Matters

Just because you think something is right doesn’t mean it is. People have their own views and a blog is a medium for people to express their own views as they see it. If you feel you are right and can’t take how others see it, please make use of this .

Let’s take a quick break and see what Elise had to say on her guest post at Problogger,

What has been surprising to me is that even with the comment moderation tools available to bloggers, extremely rude and obnoxious comments are tolerated, allowed to post on many blogs. My guess is that many bloggers feel that in a democracy, everyone should have the right to be heard.

I disagree. I believe that our democracy gives you the right to publish your own blog, not to spit all over mine.

Moving on to more reasons, [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging by Ritu - 52 Comments »