We always seem to have great fun running contests @ WhyDoWork. I always try and set them up to coincide with popular holidays. This time of year is perfect for a holiday giveaway. Wouldn’t it be nice to get gifts this year from us?

Read on for the contest details and a great new service we are providing to our visitors and readers of the blog totally free. 

Introduction

Before spilling the details on the contest, I’d like to introduce you to the WhyDoWork Job Search Widget:

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I thrive on Google Analytics data. Pages where this widget has been posted report an increase in ‘time on site’ of over 76%. That is an outstanding increase in a very important metric.

The Contest

• Add the widget to your site or blog using the “get & share” button. For maximum control, copy the javascript code and paste it wherever you plan on displaying the widget.
• Refer others to get the widget from your site by using the “get & share” button on the widget. Blog about it, Twitter, add it to your MySpace, and pass it on!
• Every time you generate a referral who adds the widget to their site, you’ll get 2 points, every search conducted will be 1 point.

On Monday, December 8th we’ll add up the points and the following prizes will be awarded:

• First Place: $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, and 1 month free advertising on WhyDoWork.com (total $300 value)
• Second Place: $50 Amazon.com gift certificate, and a mention in the WhyDoWork Insider Blog (over 600 RSS subscribers)
• Third Place: $25 Amazon.com gift certificate

Hope you enjoy this great new tool on your site! If you have any questions you can add them in the comments.

ShareThis

They include:

• Use colours that either blend with or complement your site’s colours. Make the ads a part of your site.
• Use lighter colours for borders, or no border at all.
• Try rotating colours or occasionally switching the location of your ads on the page.
• Save sets of frequently-used colours as a palette.

I have been an AdSense user since the dawn of time and have a few more techniques (on top of the above) I use to ensure I am getting the most out of the program:

• Every 6 months, change all the colors on your ads across your entire site, and note the effects daily for 7 days. Keep the changes that have better results than previous versions.
• Set up multiple versions of the same page to serve to users and trial different ad positions tracked with separate channels.
• Use ad formats that support both text and image ads, they will likely pay higher
• If you can, avoid serving ads to repeat visitors (we don’t serve ads to supporters and moderators and this site)

ShareThis

“A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client, or he sells you on a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made, the only question is, who’s gonna close: you or him. Now be relentless!”

It doesn’t get much better than that.

I had a few readers ask me about some different sales strategies and techniques. Stay tuned for an overview of one of the most powerful sales techniques out there in my next post. Regardless of the size of your business, these techniques will increase your sales. Stay tuned!

ShareThis

I was just reading about the Open Web Awards this year and saw there is a blog plug-in category. What better way to get the word out (and show your thanks for all its greatness) than by voting for us!

Here is a widget to make voting easy. Enter your email address, and make sure to confirm your vote, you will not receive any unsolicited email:

Feel free to leave a comment if you vote! Maybe if we get a lot of voters we can give out a sweet prize.

ShareThis

Tonight, they broke new ground with the introduction of holographic correspondence. Here’s a quick look at their first run:

Without a doubt, CNN has been the most popular source for election coverage. I attribute their success to their ability to stay on top of bleeding edge technologies and put them to practical uses. By connecting with the audience in a more personal way, (like their iReport service) have made them the new standard for traditional news broadcasts, proving that embracing new technologies and experimenting can have great results.

ShareThis

Lets take a closer look about how this works, and how you can make it work for you.

1. How Fast Is Your Site Indexed?

This is essential to success with this method. The faster your content makes it into Google’s search index, the faster you’ll be able to capitalize on the “hot trends” traffic from Google. In the case of WhyDoWork.com, I’d say we’re towards the top end of the scale in indexing time. Take a look at this example:
A few days ago, at 5:22 PM, one of our members LadyBug made this post:

At 6:05 PM, I was searching Google for something else and came across that same post, already indexed in Google:

In order to have the greatest success with using Google Trends Hot topics to drive traffic to your site, common sense dictates that the faster you can get a “hot trend” topic indexed in Google, the faster you’ll be able to capitalize on any traffic it may generate before it goes cold.

2. Choose Hot Topics Wisely

Going for the #1 topic on the list probably wont do much for your traffic. Picking a mid-range term will. In keeping with providing relevant content for your audience, choose a term related to your niche as closely as possible.
Lets look quickly at what’s hot today:

Since hardly anything on there is remotely related to this blog, Let’s pick something random like #27:, qvc shopping channel, which is one of the world’s largest and most successful home shopping networks.

Click through to the next screen. You’ll be presented with data and an indicator of just how hot this term is (and why):

It’s pretty clear this term has taken off today, and the “Hotness” is relatively spicy. : )

3. Make Your Post - If It Makes Sense

Ensure you’re not just posting garbage for the sake of posting. Remember this technique already requires you to have some web-clout (via speedy Google indexing) so posting off topic is not advisable. While I am all for driving traffic to your site, I am not all for putting more crap online. 

If you regularly follow Google Trends and stay abreast of what’s hot, you can be ready to post about something related to your niche when the time comes. It is perfectly OK to post about a hot topic if you are legitimately providing something of value to your readers. The way I see it, Google Trends is just another source for blogging inspiration.

Let me know if you’re doing this, and if you aren’t let me know how it works out after you give it a try!

ShareThis

This is a major, major development and will definitely help increase your earnings if you take the time to study the data, and set your marketing budget accordingly.

They are just rolling it out now, but when it is active you’ll see the link to sign up here:

Once you sign up, you’ll see all of your AdSense stats in your Analytics account. Take a look at this video for some details on what new features they’ve included:

I’ll post some tips as I discover how to put this new tool to use. Remember when I was able to double subscribers overnight using just Analytics? Hopefully I can do the same for AdSense income.

ShareThis

There are a lot of questions and very few answers.

I came across a presentation from Sequoia Capital which does a good job of putting things into perspective for any online business, large or small:

Sequoia Venture Capital Warning to CEOs -  If you’re an email subscriber, you’ll have to visit the site to have a look.

Personally, I think there are a few simple things you can do to help weather the storm:

1. As i mentioned above, pause and figure out your scenario. Go through best case and worst case scenarios in terms of sales, web traffic, and cash flow over the next year
2. If you are currently running paid advertisements, do a deep dive and trim the fat: Cut any low performing or low return campaigns
3. Eliminate any non-essential spending. Do you really need to schmooze at Conference XYZ in Vegas this year?  
4. Do not go crazy with experimentation. Another great article on this topic at problogger has some excellent advice, but I don’t know how far you can really go when any mistake can make (or break) you. If you’re making money, keep doing what you’re doing.
5. Have fun! Getting down on yourself during difficult times can bring down everyone around you, adversely affect your business, and limit your ability to succeed. 

 

Keep your head up and remember that the economy is cyclical. If you fall off the wave now, you won’t get to ride it back up to the top!

ShareThis

Can the plugin be used with only Adsense?

No. You can use whatever ad code you like from javascript to static images wrapped in link text.

How do I exclude posts from having advertisements?

All you need to do is enter the text: < !-no-adsense–>  somewhere in your post to exclude that article.

Is there a more detailed tutorial somewhere?

Yes, it is located here.

Can you implement feature xyz?

Sure! Use the contact form if you have any great ideas you’d like to see end up in the plugin.

Advertising Plugins are IMPORTANT

If you run a Wordpress based blog and implement advertising, a plugin can do wonders for helping you manage and maintain advertisements. Find one that works for you, (probably ours in most cases) and put it to work for you. I was just reading one of the trackbacks on our plugin and MacBros was able to increase his earnings by 300% just through activating the WhyDoWork plugin. 

Give it a try.

ShareThis

 A pop-culture term denoting an instance in which an intoxicated individual places phone calls that he or she would not likely place if sober. The term often refers to a lonely individual calling former love interests. The term drunk dialing is a parody of drunk driving, and is intended to imply similar undesired consequences. 

What about drunk emailing?
Google Labs has a new feature for the popular email client called Mail Goggles, which is designed to counter this phenomenon.

prevent drunk emailing

When you turn on Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email to your ex-girlfriend. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind?

While it may be somewhat far fetched as a regular feature, it demonstrates Googles flexibility and freedom in deploying new features, experimenting, and having a bit of fun.

It’s probably not the best idea to ever come out of Google, but success is a game of numbers. The more ideas you try, the more likely you’ll stumble across something great.

ShareThis