How To Create An eBook Using WordPress Plugin Anthologize

Many bloggers want to find new ways to market their site and services. Learning how to make an eBook from their WordPress blog is sometimes put on the backburner due to the enormity of such a project. No one looks forward to wading through hundreds or thousands of blog posts to organize it into a cohesive book project. Even if you hire someone to do it you are looking at a high price tag to put something together of this magnitude.

If you have ever wondered if there is a plugin for that, be assured that there is. Anthologize can be downloaded from WordPress.org and is a developer supported plugin for self-hosted WordPress blogs only. The plugin site provides a user guide, FAQs and a forum to discuss using the plugin. Anthologize is the perfect tool for grabbing content from one or more blogs and organizing it for publication in print or digital formats.

Install Anthologize Plugin

In the Plugin profile area of your Dashboard in the left sidebar, select Add New. Then select Term in the search area and type in “Anthologize” in the text area. Click the Search Plugins button. Select the Details link to the left. Before installing any plugin check out the FYI feature area to the right to make sure your version of WordPress is compatible. Anthologize is compatible with WordPress 3.0 or higher with PHP 5. Before clicking the Install Now button review the necessary changes you will need to make to your php.ini file in the Other Notes tab.

Setting Up Anthologize

In the left-hand sidebar of your dashboard find the Anthologize panel and select Settings. If you are going to allow multi-users of a site to work on a number of projects select the minimum role allowed to create and edit projects. The default is Administrator but you can select Editor or Author.

Create a New Project

Select New Project, fill in the necessary information and save project. Visit the My Projects area and click on the name of your new project to start.

Building an eBook

To build your eBook project you will create Parts (chapters) and drag and drop posts to the parts. Posts are on the left side of the dashboard under the Items panel. You can filter your posts by Tag, Category, Date Range or Post Type (posts, pages, imported items, and other post types in custom themes). If you have more than one similarly themed blog or permission from another blogger who is providing content for the project, select Import Content, input the Feed URL and click the Go button. Then use the imported items filter to review content for inclusion in your project.

Editing Items

After adding the desired posts into parts you have the ability to Edit, Append, Preview or Remove each item. Selecting Edit brings up a page of content that is a replica of your post. You can make additions or edits as you see fit for your project. Append is useful if you’d like to combine a number of posts into one item.

Exporting Project

When you are ready to create a draft or publish your eBook, select Export Project. Provide the necessary copyright and author information and click the Next button. The next screen allows for you to write a Dedication and Acknowledgements and choose the Publishing Options. After you’ve made your selects click the Export button. If there are any errors visit the plugin site link that is posted on the WordPress.org download page.

Now don’t put off creating that eBook any longer!

Create a Blog – Month 1 Report

It’s been almost a month since I first launched the “Create a Blog” case study and went live with the test site at http://techsupportjobsource.com.

The first few weeks of setting up a new web site or blog are the most exciting… then things tend to slow down as you continue to focus your efforts on content generation, link building and monitoring your site stats.

So what have we accomplished since going live with the case study?

1. Found a quality niche
2. Went live with blog and theme design
3. Installed the top wordpress plugins
4. Created a logo and brand for the site
5. Established social networking pages
6. Published 12 live blog posts on the site
7. Ranking and receiving search traffic
8. Went live with 8 guest posts on various sites

That’s quite a list for just the first month of the case study and I’m quite thrilled with the results so far.

But let’s take a deeper look at the traffic and search engine rankings we have been seeing.

First Month Google Analytics

The blog actually went live on January 24th, so we are running our monthly report a few days earlier, but it’s all good.

As you can see, there is a steady flow of traffic coming to the site, even though it’s not a significant amount.

More importantly than the volume of traffic coming to the site, is where it’s coming from.

When we first started the case study and looking for keywords for the site, I mentioned that I wanted to focus heavily on the use of long tail keywords.

So far it looks like it’s working out pretty well, and we can see that the site is currently ranking for at least 22 different long tail keywords that are sending in traffic.

With only 12 articles live on the site and 8 guest posts live on other sites, this great to see.

Should the blog update during the next page rank and I keep up with content creation and guest blogging, I’m excited to see how the site continues to grow over time.

As I’m looking at some keyword ranking reports it’s ranked fairly well for some high traffic keywords (page 2-10) for just going live less than a month ago.

First Infographic Created for the Site

In the beginning of the case study I mentioned that there are some creative and out of the box methods to bring viral traffic and news to your site.

I had a “Top Work at Home Jobs” infographic created for the site and will probably have a nice 700 word article written to go along with the post and send it out as a press release.

I will keep everyone updated in the next monthly update on how well infographic and press release works out.

Monetization is Still Down the Road

Until we start to see at least a few hundred clicks to the site per month from the search engines, I still won’t even think about placing ads on the site.

Monetization methods worth testing are likely Google Adsense, school/tech related affiliate programs and connecting with job listing sites.

*** Join in on the create a blog case study –> Click here to start your blog!

Struggling to Keep Your Daily Blog Content Fresh?

Blogs are very useful Internet marketing tools. They’re a great way to share your fresh prospective with the world. Plus, they interact with search engines, in order to deliver quality traffic and garner you regular readership. For most business owners, and entrepreneurs, blogging is a necessary part of operating a successful business. No matter what type of business you own, a blog is an easy way to get your voice out to consumers. It’s necessary, but not always easy, to blog every day.

Continuously updating your site, with fresh content, can be daunting. Regular blogging becomes especially difficult when you factor in family and work obligations. It’s easy for your blog to take a backseat to other obligations. Because search engines notice when a blog is slow to produce content, it’s important to update your blog daily. So, how does the savvy blogger combat burnout, ensuring their site is updated regularly?

The following 5 tips are surefire ways to continue producing quality content, without wasting all of your precious time toiling away at the keyboard.

1. Set a Schedule Planning ahead, and creating a blogging habit, are two of the most effective ways to ensure your blog is up-to-date. You need to set a blogging schedule, and try to stick with it. If you always have a hour of free time, before bed, write your blog posts then. If you’re a mid-day writer, use a calendar to send you a reminder to blog at a specific mid-day hour. Choose convenient times, and try to create the habit.

2. Write Ahead Of Time Scheduled blog posts are a convenient tool, ensuring you’ll never miss a day. Most blogging sites, like WordPress and Blogger, offer an easy way to schedule future posts. When you have the free time, write multiple posts, and then schedule them to auto-post at a future date. Save even more time, by cutting down on consuming research time, and writing posts that all revolve around one single topic. For example, if you’re running a candy blog, tailored to DIY candy makers, create a number of posts around a single candy related topic. You could write about a popular candy buffet idea one day, and include a fun candy recipe the next.

3. Research Finding time to research new topics can be very difficult. Think about all of the time you spend doing leisure activities, like checking Facebook. If you have a few minutes of free time, do some of this research. Keep a notepad, and stock it with links to free images, and web pages devoted to your niche. When you do have free time to write, you’ll have cut back on the time you need for research. This will allow you to write for longer, scheduling more posts for the next few days.

4. Guest Blogging If you’re ever leaving town, or simply want a few days off, you could offer someone the opportunity to do your blogging for you. Many bloggers relish the opportunity for guest blogging, because it grants their blog more exposure. Writers guest blog for free, so you don’t have to worry about paying someone. Reach out to bloggers who write within your niche, and ask if they’d like to guest blog on your site. One person can manage your site for an entire week, or you could offer multiple writers the opportunity to each post something new to your site.

5. Keep it Simple Write smaller posts. It may seem that you’re doing your readers a disservice by keeping posts short, but research has shown that readers prefer shorter posts. If you have 1000 words written on a topic, why not spread that across multiple blog posts? You can break it up into two three posts, and then schedule those posts. Plus, if the information is good enough, your readers will return eager for the next installment.

Although you may think that regularly posting can be daunting, with these tips, it really isn’t! By following these simple tips, you can be on your way to a better blog. No matter what you blog about, your posts will be more meaningful to readers. By becoming updating your blog regularly with meaningful and useful content, you will be able to share your knowledge with other hungry bloggers.

Guest Blogging—3 Unique Reasons Why It’s Powerful Web Content

If you’re looking to build a brand for your company and establish yourself as an expert in your niche, then guest blogging should be your number 1 marketing tool. In fact, guest blogging is one of the most powerful forms of web content.

I’ve been a guest blogger for quite some time now and I’m really proud to have published over 100 guest posts within the space of 4 months!

So back to the main subject of this post:  what exactly is guest blogging?

I hate to complicate things–so I’ll try to make this as simple as possible.

Guest blogging is the act contributing a quality to another blog with a link back to your blog.

It’s that simple!

You don’t have to be a blogger to take advantage of guest blogging.

Guest blogging can work for any kind of online business. In fact, most online businesses harness the power of guest blogging to drive traffic and build quality backlinks to their affiliate and business websites.

So now, how can guest blogging work for you? How does it work? Here are 3 reasons why guest blogging is a powerful web content tool:

1.      Exposure

I love fame and I believe we all do. You don’t have to blog for 5 years before becoming a go-to-expert.

In fact, with guest blogging you can achieve great fame and exposure in less than 8 months. Bamidele Oni and Michael Chibuzorare two expert guest bloggers who’ve gotten exposure through guest blogging.

With guest blogging, you get your expertise and link in front of a high-targeted set of people.

Pro tip: If you want to get exposure through your guest post, then prepare your blog. Write 10 quality posts that’ll ”wow” readers that come to your blog. (This will wind up your traffic).

2.      Guest blogging will position you as an expert

If you want to establish yourself as an expert and make your blog a  go-to resource for web surfers then write ”epic” guest posts that drives comments. Here’s one of my post on Socialmediatoday that received over 2,000 views within 36 hours and about 300 visits to my blog within 24 hours:

The Best Days and Worst Days to post on Facebook

A great guest post will show readers that you know your game. Once readers see you as an expert, they’ll visit your site and if you play your game well by sharing informational contents on your blog, then you will easily convert them into regular readers.

3.      Build Juicy, ”Fussy”, Backlinks!

When I first started out online as a blogger, I never really believed in building backlinks not until I came to know about guest blogging.

Guest blogging is one of the best and infact, the fastest way to build quality and juicy backlinks to your blog. By contributing a quality guest post to a top blog in your niche, you may never know who may link to it!

The key is to create a perfect guest post that’ll get people TALKING!

Pro tip: The possibilities of guest blogging are endless. Take advantage of it!

Other benefits of guest blogging

Attract quality prospects and subscribers

Win new businesses

Build relationships

Become a better website content writer

Learn to cater and write for any type of audience

Build a quality resume for yourself

Reach new community hubs

Have fun

Baby, You can rule your world (business) with guest blogging.

Now that you know this, don’t postpone or procrastinate. Start a guest post campaign today and stick with it until you start seeing gargantuan (immense) results.

5 Ways to Build Blog Traffic

A blog doesn’t survive without traffic. Doesn’t it feel awesome to see 20, 50, 100, 1000 of people visiting your blog and praising it for its awesome content. The worst thing is that even if we know how to start a blog, most of us are unaware about how to maintain it, aka, about bringing traffic and retaining it.

5 Ways to Build Blog Traffic

Here are 5 suggested ways:

• Create a Smashing Bio

A blog bio has two roles: (a) you can optimize it to sell services via portfolio and a dedicated service section; (b) a blog bio encourages reader engagement. When I visit a new blog and I happen to like what I read, its a natural response to know who’s behind that blog and if the ‘About’ page reveals nothing, it will be a huge disappointment and loss for the blog owner.

• Avoid Self Promotion

One of the reasons business blogs do not succeed that much is because of the propensity to boast or discuss their products and services rather than adding anything beneficial for the readers and consumers. Blogs that are appended to a business website are rarely updated and they tend to be negatively self promotional. Avoid it.

• Add Pillar Posts

This is an often recommended traffic strategy and it still works, believe. Take any top blog like Income Diary, Basic Blog Tips and this one too, there are minor and major pillar posts to draw huge traffic.

• Add a CTA

CTA or “Call to Action” is a must have for any blog. You could have a CTA for adding comments, sharing the post or becoming a subscriber. A visitor does not have a “blog map” to know what to do and what not. It is your responsibility to direct the reader and build engagement; therefore, use a CTA.

• Add Content…More Content

Seth Godin, the marketing guru once said to Geoffrey James, a columnist on Inc.com:

“Comment less, contribute more, retweet none. We need you to be generous, not Dan Rather.”

Even if you are blogging once a week, make the content count. It should add meaning, solve one or more problems and engage the reader. Adding one blog post per week that fulfills these purposes is much better than publishing daily without any returns.

Takeaway

Before you start making your blog pretty and finalizing content ideas, think about how you can draw traffic. Don’t you think?

3 Unexpected Ways to Find Blogging Inspiration

Listen, it happens to the best of us: you just don’t feel inspired to blog today.

Maybe you’re tired, maybe you’re bored. Maybe you’re just feeling like you’ve got nothing to say this time.

Not a problem! Try one of these simple but unusual ways to get your idea machine running again, and you’ll soon have more fresh blogging ideas than you need.

1. Get Big Ideas from Very Small Things

Literally or in your imagination, take a look at how things work on a very small scale. This is more fun with a real microscope, but you can also use documentaries, YouTube videos or photo collections for microscopic inspiration.

When you see the world on a tiny scale, your viewpoint changes and you begin to get a feel for the tiny events and issues that affect the smallest things. Because small things can be the cause of much larger events, what you’re looking at through a microscope lens represents the underlying workings of the larger whole.

Now take this perspective and apply it to your blogging. Choose a topic, if one hasn’t already popped into your head during your microscope adventures, and drill down into it until you see the building blocks and processes that make it what it is. All you have to do is convey that small-scale insight to your reader so that they can understand it without breaking out the science equipment!

2. Use Opposites to Attract Inspiration

It’s a weird thing about the human mind: thinking of something often makes us think of its opposite, too. You don’t know what light is unless you compare it to dark.

Use this phenomenon to draw new insight and inspiration out of any topic you choose:

First, what’s your blog or post topic? Next, what ridiculously opposite or different things can you think of to that topic?

This isn’t always easy, so let’s run through some examples:

• My blog/post is about hair and beauty, so mud wrestling is different or opposite
• My blog/post is about business software, so circus clowns are different or opposite
• My blog/post is about outdoor sports, so channel surfing is different or opposite

All you have to do is write out some potential headlines that use one of those opposites to attract your attention, interest and inspiration, like:

• How Mud Wrestlers Scrub Up for Red Carpet Glamour
• Warning: Your Business Software is Being Coded by Clowns
• Why Channel Surfing Makes Your Outdoor Activities More Fun

From that point on, those posts will pretty much write themselves! That’s the power of a good opposite – it provides surprise and curiosity for you as well as for the reader, and gives your thoughts something to latch on to.

Steal From Your Readers

Let’s call it borrowing instead, shall we? The point is, your readers give you feedback all the time with their comments, emails, tweets and so on. Take a look through the comments on your most recent and most popular posts – you’ll discover a goldmine of new questions to answer, fresh angles to approach, and opportunities to be inspired by your readers’ personal stories.

Inspiration isn’t something that comes and goes. It’s all around you all the time, like the air we breathe.

All you have to do is open up to unexpected sources, and let a nice refreshing breeze of inspiration into your blog.

You’ll be surprised how easily it flows!

How to Use Blog Traffic?

So you have a good blog, responsive design andgetting steady traffic, the question is –

“What are you going to do with all that traffic?”

Sounds stupid? Not at all.

Much of the information found on the blogosphere is centered around how to get traffic and not its other facet, how to use blog traffic.

5 Ways to Use Blog Traffic

Here are my recommendations on using blog traffic.

• Build an Email List

If you are into long term blogging strategy, building an email list will be high on your agenda because you would want to use the email list for blog monetization. Personally, I recommend using a subscription form below the post or the sidebar but never as pop-ups.

• Sell Product

You can direct the incoming traffic towards a landing page or change your homepage to a landing page. Either way, if you have heavy traffic knowing what the readers expect from your blog and can weave a product around the same, you will see a lot of conversions, engagement and $$$.

• Collect Leads

You can also use blog traffic to collect leads for product pre-launch. For instance, if you are planning to sell a product for $3.99, you can create a special page where those who will sign up will get the same product at a reduced price of $2.99. If you want to use this list of collected leads for future product launches, make sure it’s mentioned in your blog’s privacy policy and disclaimer.

• Offer Coupons

If you are into affiliate marketing and have some awesome coupons to share with blog readers, it will give positive results. Create separate page to redeem coupons or disclose the coupon on the sidebar linked with your affiliate link. Those who will click on that sidebar and purchase will make you money. Of course, ensure that the product is relevant.

• Get Advertisers

If nothing else, you would definitely want advertisers to use your blog for sponsored posts, banner advertisement, paid reviews and others. You can use blog traffic data to convince advertisers for placing ads on your blog. Advertisers always look into blogs stats like traffic, geo-stats, Alexa rank, Page Rank, outbound links and blog quality before advertising.

• Use AdSense

Lastly, you can insert AdSense ads and when any visitor click on it, you earn money. Its one of the oldest ways to use blog traffic and make money online.

How do you use your blog traffic? Do share.