Helping WAHMs Earn Money Online

Content is what makes the internet go ’round. Any website owner knows this. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the time to create all that content ourselves. Not only that, but sometimes we just don’t have the knowledge about certain topics. In this case, turning to private label rights (PLR) is a great option.

Alice Seba and Mila Sidman have recently launched All Green Content and they’re giving away a free 5-pack of articles about all things green. Grab your copy here.

You can put these articles on your website, break them up into smaller “tips” and mail them out to your subscribers, or you can turn them into a short report and sell it! It’s up to you. Here’s what you get:

• Easy Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly
• Organic Chemical Free Gardening
• Natural Homemade Beauty Recipes
• Getting Started with Homeopathy
• Nature – The Ultimate Playground for Kids

These are definitely topics that a lot of people are really interested in right now.

RT @cassiegermsheid: "All Green Content – Free PLR"

I was looking for a web safe color chart that I could buy and there doesn’t seem to be much of a selection online. That’s OK though because there are some great options at VisiBone.

I found a mousepad and a chart that I’d love to try, although I don’t think the mousepad would work with my optical mouse. It would be really handy to have a chart on my desk when designing websites, so if you also dabble in design, this chart may be something that could come in handy for you.

(I’m not an affiliate for them. Just pointing out a cool resource.)

RT @cassiegermsheid: "Web Safe Color Charts For Your Desk"

If you’re in affiliate marketing, it’s always been my motto to buy what you sell. In the case of leads, “try” what you sell. If you’re being paid to generate leads for someone else’s email list, make sure you’re signed up for it yourself.

I’ve seen a lot of people promoting programs and services that are either extremely outdated or are completely inactive, and it’s hard to know when they become outdated or inactive unless you’re keeping tabs on them.

This is why it’s important to keep track of everything you promote. Keep this information in a database somewhere. Use OpenOffice Calc for a quick and easy solution for that.

Any time I promote a new product or service, I add it to my Calc file and I’ll periodically go through the rest of the list to make sure everything is still up to date.

There have been many times when programs were discontinued so I had to change the links. (This is where using a redirect for your affiliate links comes in super duper handy.)

So if you haven’t already started an affiliate list, it’s time to do it now. The list can get quite long so you’ll definitely want all that information in one, easy to find spot.

If you have a virtual assistant, this would be a good task for them. Get them to go through the list every few months and make sure all the programs you’re promoting are still active or that coupons you’ve been promoting haven’t expired. Not only that, make sure the programs are still worth promoting.

Promoting something that is outdated or inactive doesn’t reflect well on you. Maintain your reputation by maintaining an affiliate list.

Another advantage of keeping an affiliate list is that you can go through and easily find new products to promote. Many of the companies you promote for have other products to sell that are related to your niche. If one of their products converts well for you, chances are the others will convert well also. Going through their list of products can also generate lots of new ideas for fresh content for your website.

Something else you should do with your affiliate list is analyze your sales statistics so you can decide which products you should continue promoting and which ones you should not. If you’re promoting an ebook about how to set up a WordPress blog but it’s not converting well, try finding another ebook that explains it better (or with a better sales page) and change your affiliate link to that one instead.

So you see there are multiple benefits of keeping an affiliate list. More than what I’ve listed above. Try it out and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

RT @cassiegermsheid: "Keep An Affiliate List – Boost Your Sales"

I’ve been meaning to add a “Tweet This” button to this blog for awhile but I didn’t want the standard look of the WordPress plugins that were available. Instead, I decided to add the code right to my theme so there would be no need for a plugin, plus I could customize the look of the button.

I decided on this graphic and just added “Tweet This” to the sign using Fireworks:

There are lots of free Twitter graphics kicking around the web or you can create your own. Either way, you’ll need one for this tutorial so I’m assuming you’re going to do that right now or you already have one.

This requires you to be registered with bit.ly which is a URL shortening service much like TinyURL. I like bit.ly because of their link tracking features and many people are now switching from TinyURL to bit.ly. If you want to use this code to track your ReTweets, you’ll need to go ahead and register with them.

You’ll need access to your server so an FTP program is recommended. If you don’t have one, you can download one for free. I’ve got a quick post about installing an FTP program here.

Once you have access to your server, you’ll need to edit your header.php file. This is in your themes folder which is located in the wp-content folder.

In your FTP program, right click the header.php file and click “Edit”. Search for the tag </head>.

Copy the code below and paste it right above that </head> tag.

<?php if ( is_single() ) { ?>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://bit.ly/javascript-api.js?version=latest&login=LOGIN&apiKey=KEY"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://s.bit.ly/TweetAndTrack.js?v=1.01"></script>
<?php } ?>

Where it says LOGIN and KEY in the code above, you need to enter your own bit.ly login and API key so that you can track your links. This is important, so don’t forget.

Make sure you save your header.php file and close it. Now right click the single.php file and edit that.

Look for the part that says “php the_content”. If you need to, paste the entire file into a text editor and use the Find command to locate it.

Right under that line, paste the following code:

<a href="#" onclick="return TweetAndTrack.open(this, '<?php echo get_permalink();?>');"><span style="display:none;">RT @cassiegermsheid: "<?php the_title();?>"</span><img src="/twitter.png"></a>

Change “@cassiegermsheid” in the code above to your own Twitter name so that any ReTweets will show in your Twitter timeline.

You’ll also need to save the Twitter graphic you want to use to your root folder. You can simply drag it in there using your FTP program. Your root folder is the folder your blog was installed in.

The code above assumes your Twitter graphic will be named “twitter.png”. If it isn’t, be sure to change it in the code to match your graphic name.

Save the single.php file and close it.

Now it’s time to visit your blog and admire your work.

With this code, your Tweet This graphic will show on individual posts. If you want it to show on the main page as well, you’ll need to add this code to the header.php file. Just put it under the last code you entered, right above the </head> tag.

<?php if ( is_home() ) { ?>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://bit.ly/javascript-api.js?version=latest&login=LOGIN&apiKey=KEY"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="http://s.bit.ly/TweetAndTrack.js?v=1.01"></script>
<?php } ?>

You’ll also need to add the same code you pasted in the single.php file to the index.php file. Look for the part that says “php the_content” again and paste it right underneath.

Now your Tweet This graphic will show on individual posts and the main page.

If there are any questions or you need help, please leave a comment.

Thanks to labnol.org for the code.

RT @cassiegermsheid: "Adding a Tweet This graphic to WordPress"

If you don’t already have an FTP program, now is the time to get one. As a blogger with your own domain and self-hosted blog, you’ll benefit from having one. In some cases you absolutely need one to install certain files. I’m going to show you how to download and install the free FTP client FileZilla. This is going to be a fairly comprehensive “how to” so if you are pretty computer savvy, you can probably skip this.

First, go to FileZilla and download the program.

Since I’m running on Windows XP, I’ll be choosing the first option. Choose according to what operating system you’re using.

Depending on your operating system and browser, you’ll have the option to save the file. Hopefully you have your download folder set to something that’s easy to find and not some obscure folder hiding on your hard drive.

Once you save the file, locate it in the proper folder. Double click the file and start the installation process. Leave everything set to default and finish installing. Click “Finish” and let FileZilla load.

When you load FileZilla, you’ll come to this blank screen:

This is when you’ll need to use your FTP login information. When you signed up for web hosting, you received a welcome email with your FTP info. Hopefully you’ve kept this in a safe place. You’ll need your Username, Password, and IP address. Enter those three things in and hit the Quickconnect button.

If you entered the information in correctly, the folders on your server will be listed in the main window. Now you can navigate to the folders and files so you can edit, delete or add to them.

Having an FTP program will save you loads of time and allow you to perform certain tasks like editing WordPress files without changing permission settings.

RT @cassiegermsheid: "Installing an FTP program"