It’s obvious to almost anybody who was watched a YouTube trailer movie that online Video is one of the most powerful and persuasive forces online. Movies is used to entertain, inform, to demonstrate, prove or disprove a theory and as a means of clarifying a complex issue. The old saying that “a picture speaks a thousand words” has never been more true than it is today.

Just like the rest of the Internet online Video has gone through all the usual stages of development to such an extent that now anybody with even the minimal amount of knowledge is perfectly capable of putting up a screen capture movie on a webpage.

You Tube however is only one aspect of the Online video Phenomenon. It’s true that since Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for the enormous sum of $1.6 billion, and poured a Ton of resources into the project that online video has really exploded as a medium online.

Watch the video below.

Online Video – YouTube plugins for WordPress

Perhaps the easiest method of getting a video into a blog post is to simply go to YouTube and take the video code and insert it into your post. If only it was that simple, well actually it almost is.

In order to you to pull YouTube video into your blog post you need a special plug-in called Smart YouTube. The plug-in is installed and activated it simply a matter of putting the right code into your post along with the YouTube code for that video and you’re all set. The plug-in itself is free and it doesn’t cost a thing to download a video from YouTube or to use the coding to embed the Online Video. So perhaps the simplest method for getting Online Video onto your blog is to take one from YouTube that happens to be relevant to the subject you’re blogging about and to use that.

Why you Need Video on Your blog

Video has a separate class when it comes to Google and its indexing algorithm. In other words Google values video over the written word. Google also loves the blogging platform especially WordPress. So A video hosted on a wordpress blog has more value and is ranked higher which will result in a better chance that your video will be listed in the search engines.

In terms of your readers, Video is a visual tool and some people prefer watching over reading. So if you have a written post and a video that shows the intent of the written word then you are catering for a wider audience and making the post available to more people. Which of course leads to more viewers and more potential customers.

Other video Plugins

there are lots of plugins that are designed to help with Video hosting. Some of the more popular ones are below.

1. WordPress video Plugin

2. Embedded video

3. Flash Video Player

If you need anymore options for hosting video on your wordpress blog then check out wordpress.org where you can find a bazillion options for any plugin they have in their repository

Website Speed – Why This Matters

Does your website or blog take a long time to load in Firefox, Chrome, Safari , Is its  performance not at it’s best? How quickly does the page load? Do you even know. Is it sluggish and slow and kind of annoying………? If the answer to those questions is yes then you should take notice because if you find you website or blog is slow to load then so do your visitors who are looking for Information and don’t generally display a lot of patience. More importantly the mighty Google is watching your Website Speed and its costing you…..

Back in April of 2010 Google added a new requirement to its algorithm for its Page Rank score; Website speed. Which means if your website or blog is Slooooow to load then you are losing ground to your more savvy competitors. They profit whilst you lose Money and have to spend time you don’t have trying to figure out what’s wrong.

Read more about Website Speed and page speeds here In Google’s own words.

Your website’s performance is one of the key factors Google measures to make sure that the visitors that it sends to your website or blog are having a “good experience” when they visit. Particularly as that pertains to your Website speed, so its worth it, in my humble opinion, to spend a little time optimizing your website or blog to Increase your Website Speed. However there is a problem…………how the hell do you measure your Website speed, which is essentially measuring how long it takes for your Blog to load.

How To Measure Your Website Speed

Now a word of caution here, Before you go diving into an optimization frenzy I would recommend that you measure your current Website Speed performance and find out exactly what is going on with your website or blog before you take any actions that could do more harm than good. Its important to measure first and then act second…….Do the opposite and you run a high risk of totally screwing your website or blog and then it may never load at all.

My favorite way of measuring my sites performance is a free service at Gtmetrix. There are also free services at Pingdom tools The video above explains how GT metrix works and how to make use of its many features. Both of these FREE services are very powerful and that must be used with caution. Make a single adjustment and re-measure the page to see what that has done to the page load speed. Some changes may have the opposite effect.

All in all don’t make adjustments for the sake of it, only make adjustments that are measured and have a positive effect on your Website Speed or blog load times .

So once you have completed your Website Speed Test you can now go ahead and find out what’s slowing it down and fix it. There is of course a couple of plugins that will take care of 95% of the common issues that slow your site down. To find out what I use and How to optimize these effectively read this post;

In 2007 I decided I wanted to pass on some of my Worldly knowledge to the wider community that was growing in the ever expanding universe of cyber space.

Blogging appeared to be the way to go and like most who make that decision I was full of optimism and believed that I could teach someone, anyone, something that would make their life simpler, more rewarding or just plain old better in some minuscule way. What ended up happening was the realization that in order to teach, I first had to learn. The world of the web was a complete mystery, full of potential pitfalls and sharks that were willing to strip me bare for their own ends.

It was akin to the frontier days of the the Wild wild west only guns were not necessary in order to conduct a highway robbery.

For every gap in my knowledge of Blogging I identified there were 50 people who had JUST the solution for $47, or $97 and even higher.

Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately one of the lessons I was to learn very quickly was their solution was based upon techniques or solutions and it was, so their solution was in fact NO solution. I also learned that web pages back then stayed up for years, so as long as suckers bought they remained nets cast in electron waters waiting for the next minnow to get snared. Most of the information programs available then were trash 10 page e-books that left more questions than they answered. Some were genuinely helpful but in a single dimension. The whole picture was just not available in a single solution.

Blogging is a technical challenge

I wish I had fully understood the technical challenges that were ahead, before I had ever decided to go and explore the murky waters of the Internet Marketing world and Blogging in general.

Just as most fledgling business owners will attest, when I started my first blog I had no idea how difficult it was to simply go put some words on a “virtual webpage” and how to begin the arduous task of making the doubtless Millions of people searching for that info, aware of its existence.

As it turns out getting a post up was perhaps the simplest challenge I was to face, there were much bigger challenges ahead, most of which I had never encountered before. Like the language of the web. As in Life there were many languages “spoken” on a web page. HTML, Javascript, J-Query, Flash and so on. I had never heard of WordPress and had no clue just what it could do or even what FTP was. The more I think about it the more I realize how unprepared I was for the adventure ahead. the real trouble was that despite my growing knowledge there was so much still to learn. Overcoming challenges was almost a daily business, and to some extent that remains true even today, 5 years on.

At that point I had not considered the pace of advancements that would render a lot of those initial challenges mute, only to replace one challenge with another equally complex challenge. In truth the world of cyber space is a self perpetual world of renewal. which if you consider this for just a minute, you realise that’s life in the 21st century. Companies the world over survive by renewing an old idea and replacing that 5 year old Ford Model t with a newer (no less capable) and better (slightly more fuel efficient) model than its predecessor. Online marketing is like traditional marketing, in that there are a Million corner stores eking out a living from the downtrodden masses out there all looking for their keys to the mansion house. Whilst the Multinational or national BRANDs dominate the shopping Mall. There are also an online elite referred to as “Guru’s who make a killing 2 or 3 times a year with their version of the Model t. Faster, better simpler.

When I first started in 2007 I was a total void when it come to anything to do with websites. I had never heard of WordPress, HTML was another language I would never master and I was never going to be taken for a ride by anyone. Yet, here we are some 5 years later with my unconventional education behind me and my professional development seminars still ahead and YES i have bought more junk than a scrap yard in my pursuit of that all important golden highway. I have had a lot of success and a few dismal failures along the way.

I have been educated, and its now my time to reciprocate and try to educate those who follow. So if you read this, understand one thing; I have chewed the same grass you chew on now. I have spent the time, money and dark winters nights huddled up to a 5 year old clapped out laptop on a journey of discovery. I ask nothing from you but to hear my wisdom. What you do thereafter is your damn fault.

Blogging

is an education. I hope you learn well and prosper as I have from what you read here. Blogging is a lot of fun, but its also not for everyone. So, that’s my take on my Blogging education, have something to say – Leave a comment.

You do that through making your visitors satisfied. There are a multitude of hopeful web marketers on the market which are simply out to come up with a quick buck so they believe that they can con individuals to gain monetary success. You will soon learn that these individuals don’t accomplish monetary results very well. There are a few things you’ll want to know regarding making your web visitors happy to bring in product sales.

1. Providing quality and relevant content material is crucial because it helps you to acquire reliability with your consumer base. If you establish this trust you can be assured that your buyers will continue to keep coming back for more. With internet marketing it is important for your customers to keep coming back for more because that is precisely how sales are created.

2. Via search engine optimization it is possible to provide exactly what your visitors desire. Search engines have got a great idea of what folks are searching for once they surf the web so they are going to be requiring you to structure your internet site correctly.

Once you carry out your SEO the way you really should you will find improved search engine rankings. These kinds of rankings will certainly enable you to get the buyer interest and sales you deserve.

3. Concentrating upon a particular niche is important also. This type of niche marketing will allow you to reach just the people that will be enthusiastic about your products or services. People have a tendency to get frustrated when they’re promoting toward just anybody so it is essential to get at people that will be prone to buy.

This is efficiency that we are referring to. If you are efficient you will be able to keep heading ahead with your economic results.

Supplying consumers with precisely what they desire will be the key component to your own financial success with your web business. Happy clients tends to make good product sales.

Do this by providing top quality content material, practicing valuable SEO, and recognizing the significance of niche marketing. Form more great tips sign up for my Free Make Money Online Guide today and start making money tomorrow!

Thanks for reading and please link and share this – Ryan

Article marketing as a concept is quite simple:

1. You write articles that include a link to your website or to an affiliate page

2. You submit articles to free online article directories (free-press-release, prlog, goarticles, etc..)

3. People read your articles online and click the link to visit your website

4. Once at your website (or affiliate page) your readers purchase the item you are promoting and you earn commission.

Article marketing can also be used as a vehicle to send visitors (also known as “traffic”) to websites or blogs which contain classified advertisements. In this case you will get paid a small amount by the advertisers each time a visitor clicks on one of the advertisements. The actual amount depends upon the popularity of the keywords in the ad. These ads are called pay per click advertisements (usually referred to as “PPC”). The most popular source of these ads is Google “Adsense” but there are other companies who run PPC advertising as well. (MSN, YAHOO)

Another valid aspect of affiliate article marketing is the writing of articles to use as content on your own websites or blogs. If your websites or blogs contain daily fresh unique content, they are more likely to achieve higher rankings in search engine results. This content should be written daily (if possible), but no less than 3 times per week. If you are not a good writer, then find a quality article writing company or individual to write for you. You can also purchase article writing and submission software like “Article Marketing Robot.”

To capture the full power of article marketing, affiliates (or other online business owners) should write articles for their own websites or blogs as well as submitting articles to online article directories and posting their articles on various “Web 2.0″ or social media sites (facebook, twitter, etc..) to form what is called a “link wheel”

Article marketing has many advantages for internet marketers, and for affiliate marketers looking to promote their products or services online. Here are a few of those advantages:

1. Article marketing is free

2. Article marketing is simple

3. Anyone can do article marketing (if you can’t write your own articles, you can use a ghost writer)

4. Article marketing is entirely legitimate.

The increasing popularity of article marketing is mainly due to the fact that it is free. It is also popular because it works so effectively to generate highly targeted leads. Employing article marketing techniques can result in generating daily income from home for absolutely 100% free.

The most successful marketers use a combination of free and paid for tools and resources to generate leads. You have probably heard the old saying “less is more”, but on the internet more is definitely more: the more you promote your affiliate products, the more you will earn. You can definitely acheive success at making money online using free tools and resources, but you can increase your profits exponentially by investing in good marketing tools.

So you are a blogger and you decided to be called by that name. Blogging without the rudimentary knowledge is just another potential blog to be dumped and a burden. No matter how ambitious you are to take over the blogosphere, here are 25 powerful steps that comes handy in your blogging campaign. We shall proceed in TWOs.

AUDIENCE: The first and foremost step an aspiring dotcom mogul like you should bootstrap is a winning knowledge about the right kind of people, your audience. You may be the only reader of your blog coupled with some friends you told through word of mouth if you lack this vital knowledge.

So you think you have got something reasonable enough and helpful enough to make people want to come back to your blog frequently? Whatever knowledge you have must be spread to the right kind of people for the right kind of result. So, who are your audience.

Blogging is a niche with several categories that even you can dominate any category you wish. But you have to understand what they want first and then you create a hard ball authority blog just on that niche. Here are quick action steps you need to make right away in case you haven’t done it yet.

Grab a notepad and write: What do you have? In fact this is the first question you have got do deal with. Remember this is ADVANCED and so don’t settle for less. Everything it will take to make you a problogger lies in your discipline to start right and maintain progress on course.

Have you found out a really hot topic people are craving for? Write out 5 most important hottest topics on a niche you decided to blog in that has high demand for help and solution. A niche is a category of expertise or specialization for instance BLOGGING TIPS, DIGITAL MARKETING, SEO, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, TRAFFIC are both niches and sub-niches. Blogging is a huge niche on its own with other sub categories like Blog Traffic, Blog SEO, Blog Social Media Marketing and so on.

Having done that, lets consider these two options, blogging from your wealthy resource of information that forms your passion which I call PASSION DRIVEN Technique and blogging with a need at hand called SOLUTION DRIVEN.

Now, in the long run, as far as you can ever generate a sustained passion to write about that topic or niche, you can become an elite. Again, blogging with a solution in mind also places you powerfully in authority over your niche. But hey, I wouldn’t state which angle is the best because both are effective. I have literally dumped 5 blogs before I started on high passion over a topic and yet seen many succeed on their passion so the problem lies with you
.
Downsizing your list: Now, you cannot be a jack of all, pretty much of what it takes to become an authority in blogging is mastery of at least 2 powerful topic, at least 2. Now, you may have knowledge in SEO, Digital marketing, social media marketing, blogging and blog monetization, writing but I sure bet it that your expertise, core expertise may hinge on at least any of the two or at most three.

Focus more on those two or three and build your strength on those areas. Advanced bloggers have an area of expertise, we shall come to that later.

BUSINESS: Now, you arent starting that blog just for fun, or maybe do you think so? But we both agree that your blog is a potential business platform to market yourself, your expertise to myriads of visitors worldwide. If you don’t get this, you may not be ready to build your blog from scratch. You are starting philosophy will determine whether you will end up a millionaire blogger or just another blogger.

Think business when blogging and businesses are guided by principles. General Motors had a powerful business plan to rise from scratch to the top with an exceptional business plan. Your blog must form a strong business for you. And every business has a thriving model. Blogging and blog monetization has a model proven for over a decade that has proved the most powerful model that is a winner. It is called the CTPM Model meaning Content, Traffic, Pre Selling and Monetization.

Content: This is churning out useful content for your subscribers that will make them come back. Provide powerful solutions through your blog.

Traffic: No matter how useful your contents are, visitors make your blog alive. That ends the discussion. Because, blog popularity answers to net-breaking flood of traffic pouring into your blog. Then, there are major sources of traffic which include Search engine traffic, social media traffic, RSS, blog synergies and contests, backlinking and guest blogging. Though, this isn’t about traffic, but a quick overview of blogging to zenith.

Pre Sell: This is also called overdelivering. You offer something free for an email address or membership subscription to your services. Remember, poor quality preselling strategy equals snobs by visitors. Give out something of real value.

Monetization: This is when your tons of cash starts pouring in. the real money in blogging is the ability to take visitors from the best content to preselling stage to monetization. All these steps has rudiments and guidelines which we shall talk about in details soonest.

Watch out for the next blog post on Commitment and Blog Design.

– Ryan

The most important thing about a blog is its traffic, visitor retention and backend (email list) sales. Way too many bloggers concentrate on the frontend (actual blog) sales such as promoting affiliate products, selling text links and banners or writing sponsored reviews.

Start building a list for your blog from day one, as this allows you to build a closer relationship with your readers and make recommendations of quality products and services as an affiliate. You will find that you will end up making more money from your actual list than from the blog itself.

Aweber is a service i use and has a great interface with an easy to use control panel. The lightbox feature is what you may have seen on profit academy when the page black out and displays an opt in box that offers a free ebook.

The ebook i offer is of great value and will teach you the essentials of internet marketing. You should offer something like this to your readers. I give access to this ebook from my left side bar, in a highly visible place as well as the lightbox found on aweber. All readers are required to opt in to get the ebook.

Your RSS feed will also play a vital role in increasing the overall income from your blog. Make sure that your feed is easily accessible from your homepage such as a highly visible feed button or email subsciption option like the one found on my homepage. Always set your feed to view as a full feed as most people wont even follow you if your feed requires them to click on a link to view the full post. Adsense can be integrated within the feed from your adsense account.

These are the bare essentials of making more money from your blog and if you start off with building a list with Aweber, then you are building an asset for your business. Try to think of blogging as a business and not as a hobby, even if your topic is your hobby. If you are serious about blogging then you will succeed in time so remain patient and be consistent.

The above information will be responsible for turning a $100/month blog into a $1000/month blog.

Got a question about this post? Or an opinion? Post a comment!

Show up at art openings, lectures, and meetings.

Show up sincerely because you want to learn and want to connect. However, you’ll be just another friendly face until others know you’re an artist.

Exhibit your work! Exhibit it often! Extend invitations to all of your connections in the art community.

2. Be Supportive

Support other artists and arts organizations that are doing their best to nurture the arts. This means saying nice things about them and sending them “Way to Go” emails and cards when called for.

People may not always behave as you would like, but you’ll make more friends by supporting best efforts than by criticizing.

(Have you noticed that the people who criticize the most are those who are least likely to put forth any effort to contribute?)

3. Be A Reporter

Recently I implored you to write art reviews due to the dearth of arts reviewers. Some of you have taken me up on it, which I’m thrilled about.

Being a reporter kind of goes hand in hand with being supportive and being seen.

When you write about local artists, organizations, and exhibitions, you can’t help but meet people. You need material and they want to get noticed.

Suddenly, you’ll be on every media press list in your community. That’s pretty neat.