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Hi welcome back.

This is another great tip from Yaro Starak’s Blog Tips Newsletter. The information that Yaro provides is always interesting and very informative.

By Yaro Starak Money Blog

This is a story from the very early days of my blog, when I
joined a “blog network”.

I think you will find this relevant if your blog is new…

Let’s get a definition out of the way before I go on to discuss the traffic virtues of being a member of a blog network.

For me, and for the purposes of this article, I’m going to define a blog network as any group of blogs that share links under the banner of a “network”.

The blogs in the network may overtly link to other blogs, for example writing a post directly discussing a post made at another blog in the network, or more covertly by including links in a blogroll, footer or header area.

The idea is that blogs in the network trade links with other blogs specifically because of their affiliation. There may be a central blog network homepage that links all the blogs together or a banner or icon that signifies the link.

It doesn’t matter the form, it’s the function (the purpose) – to get traffic moving between blogs and improve search engine rankings because of increased backlinks – that matters.

ALL BLOG NETWORKS ARE NOT THE SAME

Across the web you will find all kinds of different blog network formats. Some will be loose affiliations under a banner or title. Others have revenue sharing arrangements where the blogger splits advertising profits with the blog network owners, or where the blogger doesn’t own his or her blog and is considered an employee who is paid a regular salary in return for blogging.

If you are looking for examples of blog networks there are three major players you may be aware of that demonstrate the three different formats I just mentioned.

1. 9rules.com – no profit sharing and a loose affiliation under a banner and a “network ethos”
that all member blogs must adhere to.

2. B5media.com – A revenue sharing blog network.

3. WeblogsInc.com – Bloggers are paid to write.

There are many more blog networks out there and if you can’t find one suitable for you then starting your own network is a possibility as well.

The main idea is to increase you exposure, expand your audience and help your blog(s) improve search engine rankings. It's a good idea to contribute something valuable to the "community" within the blog network so you are giving something back and not just leeching traffic.

I’m not going to recommend a specific network to you because which you join, if any, depends entirely on why you blog. What I can share with you is how joining a blog networked impacted my blog.

A TRAFFIC EXPLOSION

In mid 2005, after I had been blogging solidly for a few months, writing quite a few pillar articles and starting to earn some exposure for my blog I was emailed by Paul Scriven (aka scrivs, the owner of 9rules) and asked whether I wanted to join
9rules.com.

I had heard of 9rules before, but only briefly looked at the site. I confirmed with Paul that by joining 9rules I didn’t lose any control over my content or my revenues and agreed to join. I got access to the member forums, looked around, introduced myself, stuck the 9rules banner and link on my blog, made an announcement about my membership to my readers and then went back to blogging.

A week or so later my “new member” announcement went live on the 9rules blog and my traffic doubled overnight.

I thought it was a traffic spike. I was wrong.

A few weeks later, although my traffic had dropped somewhat I had effectively gained a permanent increase in my blog readership, including my RSS subscribers, of about 25%. I could only attribute it to joining 9rules.

And that was only the start…

ITS ALL ABOUT THE NETWORK EFFECTS

Months later I wrote a pillar article on my blog introducing the concept of Google’s PageRank and explaining how much attention we, as website owners, should pay to it.

This one article did more to bring in traffic to my blog than any article I had written previously. It wasn’t any better than my previous articles. It wasn’t necessarily covering a “hotter” topic. There was one reason why it did so well – One very prominent design blog linked to it.

The owner of this blog just happened to be a 9rules member. His blog was very popular and had a significant audience. When he linked to my article it caused a viral effect, with many other smaller blogs linking to my article and so on and so on.

That one article brought in nearly 100 backlinks and tons of new traffic to my blog. The only reason I received the attention was because I joined a blog network exposing my blog to all the other bloggers in the network.

BLOGGING AWARENESS

The power of a blog network is not just the direct traffic you get when you first become a member. It’s also about the awareness you create in the blogosphere.

Other blogs are one of the most effective traffic building resources available to you and by joining a blog network you suddenly become a member of special bloggers club that share a passion and are eager to help each other grow their blogs.

Blog traffic building is about creating communication channels. Directly you control your own blog and your voice. You then want your voice – your words – to be heard (and listened to) in as many places as possible.

A blog network opens up hundreds of new communication channels for your blogging voice to travel on. You can’t control these channels because they are the voices of all the other bloggers in the network. But hopefully every now and then you will say something interesting enough that other bloggers will pass it on. This can only happen when someone is listening to you in the first place.

Here’s to your blogging success,

Yaro Starak

Yaro Starak

Click this link to receive Building a List

PS. The great thing about any kind of network is through participation you create awareness of what you are about and also of course, increase exposure of your blog too.

Blog Mastermind has a built in networking function because all students become instant members of the private community forums, full of like minded bloggers all working towards the same goal.

If you want to be part of my network, please consider taking my course -

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Step-By-Step Guide to Launching a Membership Site.

Yaro Starak has written one of the best reports I’ve ever read on how to profit by creating and then selling your own information product.

His report is called the Membership Site Masterplan and as you would guess, it is a step-by-step guide for launching a profitable online membership site.

You can download the report from here:

Membership Sites

Yaro’s a great teacher and writer, and whenever he releases a report people always eagerly await what he has to say.

His gift is the ability to take complex subjects and make them very easy to understand. As you will see in this report, Yaro makes the process of setting up and profiting from a membership site so easy, anyone can do it, including you.

The Masterplan doesn’t disappoint, and once again Yaro has not held anything back. This is a report that is full of CONTENT, it’s not some hype-filled document just designed to sell a product and not really teach you anything.

In the Masterplan Yaro explains how he was able to make $250,000 from just one membership site and then goes on to lay out a plan so you can launch your own membership site and earn at least $100,000 within the next 12 months.

In the report Yaro takes you through the following process:
>

- How to find topics for a membership site

- How to develop preeminence, which means people choose to join your membership site over all the other options

- What sources of traffic Yaro uses to bring members to his site and build his list

- What technology Yaro uses to deliver content (this is so simple, anyone can do it)

- How to make money from a membership site BEFORE you create the content for it

- How to fill your membership site with hundreds of new members in a matter of days by conducting a powerful, yet simple, launch campaign

- and much more…

Download the Masterplan here:

Yaro Starak

This is by far the most comprehensive report I’ve ever seen on this topic and I can’t believe Yaro is willing to give it away.

Of course Yaro hasn’t put all this work into the report for nothing. He’s launching a training program next week and this report is designed to introduce you to his teachings.

That being said, this report is a complete document – no matter whether you decide to join Yaro’s program or not, you will benefit greatly from this report, I know I did.

If you’re thinking of selling something online, a membership site is definitely the top choice. A product that you sell once, yet continues to deliver income month after month, is by far the best business model.

But listen, I don’t need to convince you of this, read the Masterplan. Yaro has put together a very compelling story and followed it up with a very detailed plan so you can do it yourself.

Go get your copy now –

Membership Site

Good luck with your membership site!

Click this link to Building a List

P.S. You can download an audio MP3 version of the Masterplan too, again at no cost. If you prefer to listen in the car or on your ipod as you run about, you will appreciate this audio file.

You can go register for both versions here –

Masterplan

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This is the table of contents of the free report “The Membership Site Masterplan” How To Make $250,000 By Launching Your Own Membership Site By
Yaro Starak.

Table of Contents

How I Earned $250,000 With Just One Membership Site. …………………………..4
What People Are Saying About Yaro’s Membership Site Training. ……………….. 5
Earnings Disclaimer and Other Legal Things ……………………………………………. 6
Would $100,000 A Year Change Your Life?. ………………………………………………7
Do You Need A Blog To Make This Work?. ………………………………………………10
Chapter 1: Build Your Preeminence. ……………………………………………………… 11
Demonstrate Proof. ………………………………………………………………………………11
Without Preeminence You Will Struggle. ………………………………………………… 12
How A Free Report Established My Preeminence. ……………………………………13
Chapter 2: Marketing Through Communication Channels. ………………………14
You Must Have An Email List. ……………………………………………………………….. 14
The Sales Funnel. ………………………………………………………………………………..16
Chapter 3: Technology. …………………………………………………………………………. 18
What Membership Site Software Should You Use? …………………………………..19
Today I Only Use WordPress. ………………………………………………………………. 21
How To Take Payments. ………………………………………………………………………. 22
Don’t Underestimate PayPal ………………………………………………………………….25
Include Audio, Video and Forums. ………………………………………………………….25
Affiliate Management. ………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Putting It All Together. ………………………………………………………………………….. 28
Chapter 4: Content and Pricing. ……………………………………………………………..29
Two Critical Questions: How and What?. ……………………………………………….. 29
What is Value?. ……………………………………………………………………………………32
How Important Is Pricing? ……………………………………………………………………..33
Chapter 5: Psychological Triggers. ……………………………………………………….. 35
How To Use Triggers To Influence Decision Making. …………………………………36
Trigger #1: Social Proof. ……………………………………………………………………. 36
Trigger #2: Proof. ………………………………………………………………………………37
Trigger #3: Reciprocity. ………………………………………………………………………38
Trigger #4: Risk Reversal ………………………………………………………………….. 38
Trigger #5: Urgency. …………………………………………………………………………. 39
Chapter 6: Prelaunch and Launch. ………………………………………………………… 41
Launch vs. Prelaunch – What is the Difference? ……………………………………….41
What Is A Prelaunch?. …………………………………………………………………………. 41
How Do Affiliates Fit In?. ……………………………………………………………………….43
How To Create Your Sales Page. ………………………………………………………….. 44
The Launch Phase ……………………………………………………………………………….46
It’s Time To Rock and Roll. …………………………………………………………………… 46
Keep Momentum Going ………………………………………………………………………..47
Don’t Forget Your New Customers. ……………………………………………………….. 48
Return To “Normal” Life. ………………………………………………………………………. 48
Chapter 7: How To Deal With Attrition. ……………………………………………………49
Monitor and Combat Attrition. ……………………………………………………………….. 49
How To Reduce Attrition. ……………………………………………………………………….50

72 FREE pages from Yaro Starak “The Membership Site Masterplan” How To Make $250,000 By Launching Your Own Membership Site By Yaro Starak.

Click this link to receive List Building information.

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Here are a few suggestions about topics that will most likely make for a very successful membership site:

1. Online Gaming: There are those who are so ‘into’ online games that it seems to be the subject that demands all of their time and attention. The only thing that gamers like better than playing online games is talking about playing online games. Gamers like to exchange information about the online games that they play.

2. Employment: There are thousands and thousands of people out there who are looking for jobs. Employment ranks close to the top of everyone’s list of concerns. Job hunting tips, job hunting information, resume writing, etc. are all topics of great concern to a great many people.

3. Medical Information: You can’t give medical advice as such. That would be called ‘practicing medicine without a license’ but you can report on the newest medicines and the newest procedures that are becoming available for a whole variety of human maladies. You can report on the results of studies and trials, too.

4. Relocating: We live in a mobile society. People move from state to state and from country to country in pursuit of their professions or education. Relocating is a project that is fraught with problems. People who have relocated can help those who are about to relocate!

5. Professionals: There are national and international organizations for many professions like doctors for example but how about a website where those who sell gardening supplies can gather and discuss the trade or a site where beauticians can gather and exchange information?

6. Fashion Tips: Men as well as women are very concerned about their appearance. They want to look stylish without looking weird. They want to be ‘today’ but they don’t really want to be ‘cutting edge’. In short, they want to dress well and most people aren’t confident about choosing clothing that is flattering as well as fitting.

7. Starting a Business: Because of corporate downsizing and the exportation of jobs there are people out there who are almost forced to start their own businesses. They may not have ever considered starting their own small business but now that choice is becoming more viable. They want information and they want to talk to others who have ‘taken the plunge’ so to speak.

8. Travel: There are, of course, all kinds of sites where people can book flights and reserve hotel rooms but there aren’t many sites where travelers can exchange information about their travels.

9. Elder Care: The baby boomers are reaching the age where they are caught between having teenage or college age children and elderly parents that all need their attention and their money. Some of these boomers have found creative ways of dealing with being the middle of a generation sandwich and they can share that hard earned knowledge with those that are just beginning the process.

10. Parenting: The most important job on earth that we are ever faced with is bringing a child into this world and guiding them safely to adulthood. New parents have questions and those who have been doing it for awhile have answers. Bring the two groups together and throw in some advice from grandparents while you are at it!

Membership Site

Click this link to Building a list, subscribe for free and you will receive great list building information and tips.

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This is another great blog tip form Yaro Starak. This tip is about spiders, pingbacks, trackbacks, traffic benefits, internal linking, I could keep going but I’m sure you’d like to get started.

Blog Tips Newsletter by Yaro Starak Membership Site

Your blog should be like spider’s web, with each article
linking to other articles in your blog.

This technique can deliver some nice traffic benefits. Here’s how
to do it…

Hi

Last issue of this newsletter I covered trackbacks and how to use them as a blog traffic building tool. This newsletter we’re going to start with the trackback’s distant cousin, the pingback and then move to an interesting technique for building traffic – interlinking.

WHAT IS A PINGBACK?

In some circles I’ve read there is no difference between a trackback and a pingback. Many people will use the term interchangeably and in fact I’ve been known to confuse the two myself.

Generally there is one main difference – a trackback is forced by a human blogger while a pingback occurs automatically by the blogging software.

I read a description online which I think is a good way to discern the difference however I don’t agree 100% with the distinction presented. It does offer a simple way to get your head around the semantics of using the two techniques –

Where trackback is “Here’s what I think of that” a pingback is more simply “I’m using that”.

Trackbacks are intentional attention grabbers that give an opinion of another blogger’s work. A pingback merely informs another blog that you are referencing their writing.

INTERNAL PINGBACKS

I experience pingbacks when I reference to my own blog posts within my blog. I use the blogging system WordPress which automatically sends pingbacks if I link to one of my previous articles, creating a link between the two blog entries.

Yaro Starak

Linking between your own articles is a good thing, and certainly pingbacking your own entries helps make the process efficient because it’s automatic, but there is a lot more you can do proactively to create links between your own blog posts. As with most things in blogging, there is a “smarter way”.

WHAT IS INTERLINKING?

Interlinking means when you link one of your own pages to another internally within a website.

Since you control your site you can control your blog’s entire internal linking structure. This is important for traffic because of how search engines work.

If you want the search engines to rank every single page of your blog you need to make sure they can find every page.

Search engines use little software programs called “spiders” or “bots” that trawl around the web following links and “indexing” all the content of web pages.

If your site is internally linked well together then you make it easy for the little spiders to
index every page of your blog.

SITEMAPS

I will briefly mention sitemaps because they are a convenient way to tell the search engines where all your pages are. Most search engines do a pretty good job of finding pages but sometimes they have trouble indexing your entire site, especially if your site is new.

I’m not going to cover sitemaps in-depth because it is a whole topic on its own, however I do recommend you have one as the first step to create a good internal linking structure for your blog.

Here are some resources for building and learning more about sitemaps:

GOOGLE LOOKS AT WEB PAGES, NOT WEB SITES

Google ranks pages based on how many other pages link to it. That’s PAGES, not SITES, which means when you link one blog entry to another you are helping each blog article earn better search engine rankings so it will bring in more search traffic.

Simply linking to all your blog posts in every new blog post you make is not going to do much for your traffic and will turn away your readers (not a good strategy!), however a few well placed internal linking patterns can be very helpful over the long term.

During the first few months I blogged I wrote definition articles for many key terms in my industry, including RSS, PageRank and other Internet business and blogging topics.

I regularly link back to those articles when I mention the terms in a new blog post so that beginner readers can read my definition article to get a grasp of the concepts. Not only is this great for usability it helps my blog search rankings too.

GET YOUR KEYWORDS AND PHRASES RIGHT

The most important thing when you link your blog entries together is to choose the right keywords.

The keywords you use in the anchor text (the text your readers see as underlined links) help to define what search terms that article will rank well for.

Lets say your blog topic is “share trading” and you wrote a definition of the PE ratio (the price-to-earnings ratio).

Every chance you get you should reference back to it in new blog posts. Each time you do this you would use anchor text along the lines of “what is the PE ratio”, but be certain to mix it up with variations.

This helps that page rank higher for search phrases like “what is the PE ratio”.

INCREASE YOUR PAGEVIEWS

Even if I’ve totally confused you with all this talk about search engine rankings there is one very good plain and simple reason to interlink your blog articles as often as you can – to increase your pageviews.

Pageviews are how many individual pages each visitor to your blog reads. Obviously you want to increase the number of pageviews because that means your readers stay longer at your blog and read more of your content.

By interlinking your articles well, and that means placing links between your own articles in a logical manner, you create a nice pathway for a reader to navigate through your blog.

COVER THE BASICS

Some of the topics I covered may be too technical for beginner bloggers. If there is one piece of advice you should take away from this newsletter and implement on your blog it is to link back to your previous blog posts regularly.

Use logical anchor text links and don’t worry too much about keywords. If you label your links well for humans you generally label well for search engines too. It’s easy to get caught up with keywords so don’t spend too much energy worrying about how you link to your articles, just do it.

Whenever you write a new article think whether it would be appropriate to link to another article that includes relevant content.

It takes two seconds and can provide fantastic benefits in search engine rankings, pageview numbers and increases the length of time each visitor stays at your blog.

Here’s to your blogging success,

Yaro Starak

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