A couple of weeks ago I wrote a review post about Comment Luv premium and I received a question in the comments that I thought would make an excellent topic for this week’s blogging debate.

Here is the question that was posed by Rebecca Watkins

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We all know that Twitter is a valuable resource when it comes to connecting with others and driving traffic back to your site or blog. I am willing to bet that Twitter is in most peoples top 5 in regards to traffic sources. There is an easy way to increase that metric and gain more traffic through getting your tweets retweeted by others. The best part about using these services is that they are free and most also offer ways to help increase your twitter followers as well. This is what I call a Win-Win situation.

Here are the Top 5 Twitter Retweeting Services

Retweet.it

Retweet.it is the oldest and most established Retweeting site of its kind. I also think it is the easiest to use. You simply sign up, when you do you will earn 5 credits. You earn more credits by retweeting other people’s tweets. You then enter your own tweet and use your credits to entice them to retweet you.

Just Retweet

Just Retweet is a relatively new site that I discovered by reading the Grow Map blog.  This site works in the same way as Retweet.it, where you earn credits by retweeting and then use those credits so others will retweet you.  There are a couple of cool features that help this service stand out.  I like how you can specify how many followers the user must have if you want them to tweet your message.  That way your credit is not wasted on a twitter account that has 18 followers.  I also like how you can earn credits by following others and by browsing websites.  In turn you can set credits and have people follow you and browse your site.

For a more in depth review of Just Retweet – Check out the review written by Shurley Hall over at Basic Blog Tips

Easy Retweet

EasyRetweet.com is very similar to Just Retweet.  They do have several additional features that are worth noting.  They recently implemented a list building section where you can earn credits for subscribing to someone’s list.  You can also offer credits to those that will sign up for your list.  They also offer many ways to earn free credits beyond just a referral link.  You earn credits by liking them on Facebook and signing up to their list and several other ways.

 Ad Retweet

AdRetweet is basically a clone of Retweet.it but is works well and is easy to use.

Favo.rs

I saved the best for last.  I just started using Favo.rs and I am hooked.  The concept is pretty  strait forward, you sign in with Facebook or Twitter and you earn points for granting favors.  There are 4 main categories ; promote a link, review a site, introductions, and general.  Most of the favors that members are asking for are retweets, likes and Linkedin connections.  Exchanging retweets is only a fraction of what this site is all about but I am betting that this site will eclipse all the others I just mentioned in regards to driving traffic back to your site.

Did I miss any?  Which one is your favorite?

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I am reintroducing a feature that I used to highlight on this blog.  The concept is simple, each week I will introduce a topic that is sure to bring about a lively discussion.

Examples of previous blogging debates over the years:

Has the Bubble Burst on Popup Domination

The Do follow versus No follow Debate

How Long Should a Blog Post Be

I also came up with a list of the top 10 things bloggers debate about , but this list is a bit dated but most of the examples on the list still apply.

Today I want to discuss the topic of Twitter accounts.

Here is my situation, I have about 10 different Twitter accounts.  Every time I start a new blog or develop a new site, I will create a new Twitter account.  For example, my main Twitter handle is @thedankeller but I also have @tycoonblogger for this blog and @careerblogger for my career blog and @iwriteresumes for my resume writing business.

Should I focus on building up my main Twitter or split things up and have a focused Twitter account for each project/blog?

I really need help with this one as my opinion changes on a daily basis.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

As an incentive to comment (as if the comment luv premium isn’t enough ) I will be picking the top comment at the end of a week and offering them an opportunity to place a free 125×125 ad for the following week.

UPDATE

Thank you all for the lively conversation in the comments.  It seems that the majority of people recommend sticking with one twitter account.  Out of 13 definitive opinions, 10 recommend one account.

I have decided to stick with one account and it will be the one that is my personal account @thedankeller.  I think this will work because most of what I am involved in online is technology or blogging related.  I also run a career advice blog but many of the post I write are about how to use social media to find a job so that fits right in.

The winner of last week’s best comment goes to Donna Young.

Check back tomorrow where I will open up another debate.

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Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business

When I first started blogging in 2007, comment luv was one of the first plugins that I installed and I truly believe that it helped establish this blog and gain an audience sooner rather than later.  I was able to interact with like minded bloggers and because of the comments and the fact I felt like I wasn’t blogging in a vacuum this helped me to push ahead and keep blogging.

I have written many posts over the years about increasing comments on your blog.  Here are a couple:

How to get more blog comments

7 ways to Reward your blog readers 

I truly believe that the comment luv plugin is the single one thing that will have the most impact on increasing comments and engagement which will lead to traffic and conversions.

Since September I have been reading the buzz around the blogosphere from some of my blogging buddies like Hisham and Ditesco and deciced that Comment Luv Premium is just way to cool and useful to ignore.

For me, installing CommentLuv + is the first step for me to get more serious about blogging.  Over the past year I have not focused as much on my blogging projects because I have been busy with several other online ventures.  Those ventures are cruising on auto pilot now and I want to get back into blogging big time and I want to bring this blog to the top in the “helping small business and entrepreneurs through blogging and social media niche.”

I will be getting back on the commenting circuit and reacquainting myself with old friends and meeting new folks who have jumped into this space over the past year.

The best part of Comment Luv premium from my perspective is the built in incentives for readers to leave a comment.  I have tweaked my settings so if the reader wants a do follow link they must either Tweet, Like or Plus my post.  This also plays into anoher blogging goal I had for this year which was to get more focused on social media, specifically maximizing Google Plus.

Another awesome feature is the antispam technology that is built into the plugin.  This works to eliminate bot spam by adding a box that must be checked to confirm you are not a spammer.  This box uses javascript and bots suck at reading javascrit so this will work to eliminate almost all the bots out there.  Just yesterday, Andy added some features that combat human spam.  You can now set how many words a post must be, eliminating the “nice post bro” type of comment.  You can also set a certain amount of time that they must spend on the site before they can comment. .  This will eliminate those punks who just come in go right for the comments and preload one in and press send.  This will not work on my blog as I set the time for 30 seconds about how long it would take to read my posts.

I can go on and on about all the features but it would be best for you to get it straight from the horses mouth.

Here is a link (aff) to the Comment Luv Premium page.  Watch the video and see if it is right for your blog.

Oh, and don’t forget to leave me a comment.

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There are literally hundreds of ad networks available to webmasters around the world.  Which one do you pick?  How do you know which one to pick?  You could try them all out of course, but that could take some time.  Why not cut that time and start making money immediately?

Here are the 6 Most Popular Ad Networks for Bloggers

Google Adsense

This is the behemoth of the ad world.  You can find Google Adsense on just about every blog, forum, or static website.  Not only do they serve most countries, but they have the best payouts too.  The Adsense network is the network to be in, period.  As your blog grows your Adsense revenue will grow as well.  Over the past 3 years I have made tens of thousands off dollars just with Google ads.

Chitika

If you don’t have traffic from the USA or Canada then don’t bother using Chitika.  It isn’t for you.  They don’t want traffic from foreign countries due to the low payouts and high-fraud clicks.  I do however recommend them as a substitute for Adsense.  That is, if you can’t get on Google Adsense for some reason or another.

Adbrite

Probably one of the bigger networks.  Most people would actually recommend using Adbrite over using Chitika.  They usually have a solid amount of advertisers, but you may not always have ads running.  For that reason it’s up to you if you use them or not.  When you do have ads they usually do pay pretty well.  Adbrite isn’t as good as Google Adsense but it does work and it does pay.

Bidvertiser

This company is pretty horrible.  I only recommend using them if your site is low in traffic and you don’t mind the random ads you get.  They aren’t great at targeting and they don’t have great advertisers.  In my opinion, this is a last resort but I guess it works for some folks because they are a major player in the ad world.

Tribal Fusion

You can’t get into this network until you have a specific amount of visitors and page views.  This network comes recommended by a few top bloggers.  All up to you.  Once you meet their requirements you can try them out.  Check out their requirements page as they tend to change every so often.

Kontera

Kontera has a ton of options for ad displays.  This makes it highly recommend for medium sized websites.  When I say medium I mean decent amount of traffic and page views.  I always recommend split testing ad networks to see which one performs better for you.  Kontera is the choice of many bloggers, maybe you too?

Finding an ad network that is good for your blog takes time.  If you can get into Google Adsense, then do so.  Adsense is the best for most blogs, but you could of course go into private selling.  All niches are different and they all have different types of advertisers.  It’s all about finding what works for you.

What ad networks work best for you?

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Every blogger gets tempted to copy another blogs post format.  It’s natural and happens often.  No one blog or blogger has a particular way of formatting their content.  In fact, there isn’t much uniqueness to anyone’s content other than the actual information.  The rest is fair game.  So if you’re new to blogging or you just want some new ways to present your content, continue reading.

The List of Best Things

This type of blog post is a lot like reviewing something.  A lot of people don’t have the time to try and research every possible option.  The next best thing is to have a pre-ready list of services or products that will help out your reader.  This can also bring you some nice contacts from owners and companies that serve these products.  Expect emails thanking you or blog post comments from business operators if you have a solid foot hold in the industry of your blog.

The Resource List

Everyone needs resources and tools.  So why not make a list that offers it to them?  The best resources you can offer are free ones.  You can also list paid ones if you feel that they are worth your readers money.  However, I wouldn’t list paid products or services that you personally haven’t tried -especially if you have a good reputation for being reliable.

Showcases

The internet is large and vast giving your average reader too much for too little of time.  Showcasing other’s work and skills is a good way to get your readers inspired.  There is nothing like seeing other people’s success to fuel your ambition.

Short Tutorials

Quick and simple tutorials for any type of product, service, or niche related to your blog is applauded.  I haven’t seen many blogs not offer tutorials on one or two things related to their subject.  Why not be the first to offer it in yours?  You can even take it a step further and create a video tutorial for the topic rather than a written one.

Answering

Start answering people’s questions and show off.  If you feel like you know enough about your subject to help others, then do so!  I would hope that you do if you own a blog about it. . . Nothing helps you more than being able to help others.  It creates a trusting relationship.  You know the answers and they come to you for help.  That’s the best type of blog you can have.

Feel free to expand on the types of blog post formats in the comments.  I would love to hear from you.

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Most bloggers know that writing viral posts is one of the most powerful ways to promote your blog. If you can get everyone linking and talking about your posts, you can generate a swarm of traffic. Quality and “uniqueness” is the key to that game. But another viral game that bloggers can play has to do with viral ebooks. Very few bloggers use this marketing technique because most bloggers surprisingly don’t know how to write an ebook. Well guess what? If you can write a blog post you can write a viral ebook. And no, you don’t need to write an ebook that’s as long or as good as a New York Times Best Seller. Some viral ebooks are less than 10 pages long and fare quite well.

So what should your viral ebook be about? Well, if you want to bring “targeted” traffic to your blog, your viral ebook needs to be related to the subject of your blog. And if you actually want the ebook to go viral, it needs to be BOTH bizarre and extremely useful. In order for the ebook to be bizarre, it needs to somehow tie in with a subject that some people believe to be taboo while still staying on-topic. In order for it to be extremely useful, it needs to be somewhat of a black book with information that most people don’t know about. Combine the two together and you could have a winner. Some people might say that extremely useful would be good enough. In some cases it would be. But it’s really hard to get people to talk about your viral ebook if it doesn’t fall into those two categories.

Once you have your concept down, you’re half finished so pat yourself on the back. All that’s left is the actual writing of the ebook. Don’t worry. You don’t need expensive software to create your viral ebook. In fact, most viral ebooks are nothing more than a simple PDF file. The best software to create a PDF-style ebook can be downloaded at www.OpenOffice.org. After you install this application on your computer, you’re going to need to open the Open Office Writer. This program works in the exact same way as any other word processor. Write your ebook and once you’re finished, click on the PDF icon which is on the top of the page. Wallah! You’re finished and your ebook is ready to be distributed.

But what if you want a much nicer ebook? Simple. All you have to do is find somebody who can create an ebook cover for you. Prices vary but most designers will create a professionally-designed cover for $50 or less. Not all designers are created equal so take your time. When the cover is finished, add an image of the cover within your ebook on the first page and save it as a PDF file. Now your ebook has a face that more people will notice.

Now it’s time to distribute your viral ebook. While there are many ways to do this, the first way I would suggest you promote it is by contacting other blog owners with related blogs. If they like it, they’ll blog about. And if other people follow their blogs, they’ll blog about it too. Let’s not forget all the social bookmarks you’ll get from the people who visit those blogs. If you’re lucky, you’ll get lots of people talking about your ebook and your ebook might even be mentioned in some book one day on how viral marketing should be done. Wouldn’t that be something!

This was Guest Post submitted by Greg Davidson.  Check out his site at Script Package.

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Don’t worry this is not a post debating the merits of do follow blogs versus blogs that are no follow.  That topic has been debated into the ground by us bloggers over the year.  This is a quick post to introduce you to my new do follow blog directory.  Actually, it is an old site of mine that i have neglected for years and now that i have has some time off during the holidays I decided to give it face lift and relaunch it.

The site is called Do Follow Movement and it is a PR 3 – hand edited blog directory that features only blogs that are do follow.

Take a look and let me know what you think about design.  It is pretty simple but that is what I was after.  Luckily, Nick at Elegant Themes recently designed a theme called Elist that helps transform WordPress into a directory.

This is your invitation to add your do follow blog to the directory.  To help eliminate spam I have set the price to $1 for submission.  For my readers I will wave that fee and you can simply leave your information in the comments and I will submit the link for you.  Please use this format:

Name of Blog – (your real blog name -  no keyword stuffing)

Description -

Link -

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I discovered a super easy way to help bloggers monetize their content and wanted to share the news.  The concept of affiliate marketing is not new.  I have pretty good success as an affiliate for various theme makers and hosting providers over the years.  A new company has sprung up to take that concept and multiply it by a thousand.  The company is called VigLink and they have automated the process of inserting links into your existing content.  When your reader clicks the link and makes a purchase you get paid.  It couldn’t be easier.  The good news is we are talking about real money here, not a buck or less that Google pays out per click.  Don’t worry, you can use VigLink along with Google Adsense if you like.

If you are a wordpress user the installation is a snap.  You simply down the plugin and enter your api and click save.  You will then be on your way to making some cash for your content.

This service will work for all bloggers but will be most beneficial if you have a product centric blog.  I can see a tech blogger or gadget blogger making a killing with this service.

Although I do not focus much on product reviews on this blog, I am giving this service a test drive to see what happens.  At the very least, I am hoping to make some referral money through other bloggers who read this and try out the program and enjoy success.

Follow this link to see what VigLink is all about

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