Squidoo

I participated in the closed beta of Squidoo and created a few lenses to test. Recently they went into open beta, so I can now talk about my experience and encourage others to check Squidoo out.

I bet you are wondering what a lens is... Well, they say that everyone is an expert on something, so a lens is like a glimpse into specific topics, created by individuals. A lens is one page that points to many other places.

For example, Jane Goodall has a lens called Jane Goodall: The Big Picture, which points to various projects and websites about her work.

I think it is very cool and a great way to promote an idea, share your work, or teach others. I have made several lenses to test, that I will develop over time.

Since I love ferrets and I'm involved in ferret rescue and rehab, I created a lens called Ferret Fun.

I also love to collect and share recipes, so I created a lens called Recipes.

Photography is my passion and flickr is my current obsession, so I knew I had to make a lens called We Love Flickr.

P.S. You can also make money doing this, or donate your royalties to a charity of your choice!

Google Analytics

Google has done it again. Google Analytics is a fantastic (and free) tracking tool that tells you everything you want to know about your Web site traffic. I immediately signed up installed it on my pages, and I am thrilled with the amount of data this program provides. This is really going to give the other tracking programs a run for their money.

Analytics is very simple to use and only requires the addition of a small snippet of code to your pages. The program uses a Web-based interface, so you can check your stats from anywhere, at any time. You may also add users to your account to share this data with other members of your team.

While this free version is limited to five million pageviews per month, there is no limit for active AdWords publishers. If you have an AdWords account, Google Analytics automatically provides detailed tracking for your campaigns

Their tagline says, “Google Analytics shows you which keywords perform and which ones you should cut.” Perfect!

What Works

I've tried several methods to monetize my sites over the years, with varying degrees of success. Curently, I focus most of my efforts on specific affiliate programs and Google Adsense.

Google Adsense
Currently, Google Adsense performs very well. Adsense provides a consistent income every month. They also provide wonderful tracking tools, and excellent customization options. I have been with Google since the beginning, and I am impressed with their program. I am a loyal fan and highly recommend them (with or without the new referral program).

Affilite Marketing
Affiliate programs are a fantastic method for publishers to monetize their Web sites. With affiliate programs the publishers have control over who they promote, and how. The important thing to remember is that thoughtful planning in necessary for success. It is essential to use care when selecting relevant merchants to partner with. It is also important to remember your visitors needs when deciding what type of links to use, and where. For affiliate links to be effective, they must provide a value to the visitor, because in most cases, the publisher is paid a commission based on sales.

Yahoo! Publisher Network
This is a beta program that is offering contextual text advertising, similar to the Google Adsense program. I am testing this on a few of my pages. Unfortunately, this program is not compatible with Google, so it would take a lot for me to consider switching.

AdBrite
I am about to begin testing this program on some of my pages. A lot of big sites are having success with this. It is a simple method to automate individual ad sales. A vistor may click on a link and easily purchase ad space on specific sites.

Site Feeds

Anyone who has a blog should know the importance of their site feed. This wonderful feature allows readers to subscribe to a blog, without signing up for anything, or joining a mailing list. Every time one posts to their blog, the site feed is updated, as well.

I absolutely love RSS. It allows me to know at a glance, which sites have updates and whether they look interesting enough to visit. This saves me the trouble of visiting sites that may not have been updated recently.

To have a successful blog, it is important to post regularly, write interesting headlines, and make it easy for visitors to subscribe to the site feed. Then those visitors need an easy way to read these feeds.

There are a number of services that allow one to organize and subscribe to various site feeds, but they require the user to create an account, and then take the time to visit that site to see updates. It’s an extra step, an extra password to remember, and a waste of time. I think a better option is a customized home page like Google personalized, or My Yahoo that allows the viewer to load the page with their favorite RSS feeds. If this page is the user’s start page, then they see their favorite blog updates each time they launch their browser. The new Google Reader is looking very promising, as well.

My favorite RSS reader is included in Thunderbird. Thunderbird is an open source email and newsgroup client that includes a built in RSS reader. This is perfect solution. All one has to do is add the feeds to their News & Blogs section, and then they can get updates every time they check their email. There is nothing to sign up for, nothing to buy, and one can monitor as many blogs as they would like. I highly recommend Thunderbird to anyone who needs a robust email client.

What is your favorite RSS reader?

Filed in: GenGlo blogs rss thunderbird

My Thoughts

I just discovered my comments posted on the Affiliate Tip Blog, and I had to share.

Affiliate Program Brand Risks includes my response to the survey question, What is wrong with affiliate marketing and how can it be improved?

Basically, I think we need higher standards for publishers, and merchants need more involved affiliate managers. Personally, I will work with companies that not only offer a good value to my visitors, but that make it easy for me to do my job.

Two easy things that affiliate managers can do are staying in touch with affiliates, and keeping their offers updated.

Filed in: GenGlo affiliate blogs

Blogging For Affiliates

For anyone who missed the eComXpo last week, Shawn Collins has made the powerpoint of his eComXpo presentation, Blogging to Recruit and Retain Affiliates available online.

This is a very good read and helpful for affiliate managers, merchants, and anyone new to blogging.

Blogs at Yahoo!

The Yahoo! Search Blog announced that Yahoo! News Search is integrating blogs in their results pages.

This is just further evidence of the importance of blogs, for both business and personal use, and as a form of expression. I firmly beleive that everyone needs a blog.

In the same announcement, Yahoo! also mentioned that they are will be including ncluding flickr photos and links from their My Web service. I love flickr, and I was thrilled to see my photos show up in a search on ferrets.

What do you think?

Google Blog Search

The Google Blog announced the launch of Google Blog Search today. In my opinion, this is the best thing to happen to blogging in a long time.

I already believe that blogs are essential for any business that wishes to have an online presence, but this seals it. Having a public blog allows your customers to easily include your site feed on personalized home pages like Google Personalized and MyYahoo. This puts your business in the eyes and minds of customers on a daily basis. Blogs also create an atmosphere that encourages repeat visits and a sense of community.

The other blog search engines out there have not impressed me at all. I am hopeful that Google's Blog Search will get it right. I had some problems searching for sites that should have been listed under various search terms, but I am hopeful that this will improve, since this is a new feature in beta.

The Blogger service seemed to be spotty this morning. I wonder if this is related to the announcement about Blog Search, and the changes to the Blogger NavBar?

Yahoo Publisher Network Beta

I finally received an invitation to join the Yahoo Publisher Network Beta. I decided to test it out on the Parents Cafe site. I will track the status and see how it goes.

So far, I like the interface, the ad layout and custimazation options.

I am very pleased with the Google Adsense program, so it will be interesting to see how this program compares.

I would love to hear comments from other people who are testing this program.

The Beginning

GenGlo Consulting & Design was established in 1997. I was working in the accounting department of a large insurance company, and my husband was working in the IT department of the same company. We had two small children and were working long hours and leaving the children in a preschool/daycare all day.

It was killing me. I loved my job, but every day that I left my children, I felt a piece of me die. To top it off, I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which was taking its toll on me. In February of 1997, I made the difficult decision to leave my current career behind and try to make it on my own.

I had been thinking about starting my own business for quite a while, and I had the perfect name for it, GenGlo! What is a GenGlo, you ask? Well it is a combination of my maiden name Glover, and my married name Gentile.

I started out as a Web Designer, creating small business Websites. I also created The Mommy Mall for the purpose of promoting my client's Web sites.

Through the mall, I became involved in affiliate marketing. The world of affiliate marketing has changed considerably over the years and I have been involved since the early days, as both a publisher and consultant.

I read so many blogs written by people who have been involved in the affiliate world as long as I have, and I decided perhaps it is time for me to put my own thoughts in writing.

And this is the beginning.