Judy Cruse

Not Making Money Blogging? Maybe You’re Missing The Point

 Business  244 Responses »
Dec 152011
 

The one thing that I’ve been trying to figure out this week is how a blogger is able to translate traffic into customers for his business. Trust me this isn’t an easy problem to solve!

As Sonia Simone points out in her post “Why You Can’t Make Money Blogging” having a huge amount of traffic on your site won’t translate into sales if your readers aren’t coming to your site for solutions to real world problems. If your readers are just looking for entertainment or a good way to kill a few minutes, they most likely won’t look at your banner ads.

So if a huge amount of traffic isn’t how bloggers make money, exactly what are they doing? I’m glad you asked! Brian Clark, Executive Director of Copyblogger, made four suggestions in his post “Blog Money: The Income Outlook for 2009” that I thought were outstanding suggestions:
1. Direct Sales – Having something to sell your audience that they have told you either directly or indirectly that they are interested in buying.
2. Affiliate Marketing – Brian points out that the key to successful affiliate marketing is to pick a product or service that is perfect for your audience and then stand behind it 100%.
3. Integrated Sponsorships – If you’re passionate about a product or service, seek out fee based sponsors and then work out some kind of contest, bundled deal, or discount that will benefit your readers.
4. Network Marketing – Very similar to Affiliate Marketing except you need to use and be passionate about the products of the company you choose. If you’ve read Ann Seig’s free e-book “The 7Great Lies About Network Marketing”, then you already know the benefits of doing Network Marketing online!

I think Sonia sums things up pretty well, “If you don’t offer customers something they dearly want, whether it’s to gain some great pleasure or escape some great pain, you’re not going to make any money.”

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 11:17 pm

The Power To Attract!

 Health & Wellness  135 Responses »
Dec 112011
 

After watching this video today on Facebook, I had to share it with you!  I’ve heard people talk about your music and how people respond to your music, but I don’t think I really understood what they were talking about until I saw this video!




I think the thing that impressed me most from this video, was watching the tumor disappear! To think that we have the power within us to be heal, but haven’t got a clue how to tap into it is almost sad!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 9:03 pm  Tagged with: ,

New Year’s Resolution Rewards

 Relationships  60 Responses »
Dec 092011
 

New Years's ResolutionsWith the New Year fast approaching I thought it would be a good time to talk about resolutions.  Most people look forward to putting past failures behind them and look forward to a fresh start to accomplish something important in their lives.  Whether you want to lose weight, exercise more, stop smoking, or do something to improve your finances, it takes more than just good intentions to be successful. 

I found some expert advice to help you avoid common pitfalls at the University Of Maryland Medical Center:

I was also pleasantly surprise to find out that my company, ViSalus, is trying to give people some extra motivation to be successful!  If your resolution is to lose some weight, the ViSalus meal replacement shakes can help you reach your goal weight and then maintain with ease!  If you need to bring more money into your household, ViSalus is growing by leaps and bounds and could help you earn extra money for your family! 

For the entire month of December, ViSalus has set up what they are calling the “World’s Largest Resolution Rally” for Customers and Promoters. Not a customer or promoter yet?  No problem, click here to join the Challenge as either a Customer or Promoter.  Once that’s done check out the details about how you could win money by declaring your resolution and what you’re going to do if you don’t stick to it and then start sharing with your Facebook friends and family.  Sounds like fun and a great way to keep yourself motivated!!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 1:56 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

Promoting Your Blog For More Traffic – It’s Important!

 Business  166 Responses »
Dec 072011
 

While looking for information about promoting a blog, I came across an article at Search Engine Journal that really hit home for me!  According to Wasim Ismail of SEJ, “Other than writing relevant content, driving traffic to your website is also essential and it is not an easy task. It takes time and persistence to build online history and gain consistent traffic. No traffic, no money.”  That’s pretty sobering, isn’t it?  No traffic, no money! 

Wasim talked about the importance of your blog’s appearance, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and then pointed out five important areas of Social Media Promotions. 

  1. Twitter
  2. Facebook
  3. Other Online Communities and Blogging Sites
  4. Commenting on other blogs
  5. Forums 

In order to be effective in these areas you need to do your homework.  Be sure that the information that you are passing along on these sites is accurate and helpful to your readers. 

Wasim also discusses the importance of email marketing and guest blogging. 

One of the suggestions that Wasim made was to offer games, rewards, or other promotions to attract visitors to your site.  I must admit, I am at a loss.  I’ve hunted for games used on websites in the past without success.  If you have information that would help me in this area, please pass that information along to me!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 9:17 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

5 Tips to Get Your Blog Post Noticed

 Education  94 Responses »
Dec 062011
 

To blog or not to blog. That is the question!

While hunting for information about blog content, I came across a very interesting article in a rather unexpected place.  I thought I would find what I wanted at Problogger.net  or possibly through one of the other professional bloggers out there, but was pleasantly surprised to find an article by Susan Gunelius at About.com.

Susan pointed out 5 tips that I thought were worth thinking about:

  1. Choose the Appropriate Tone for Your Blog
  2. Be Honest
  3. Don’t Just List Links
  4. Provide Attribution
  5. Write in Short Paragraphs

Blogging is time consuming and it would be really easy to make some of the mistakes that Susan pointed out in her article.  For instance adding a link to a piece of interesting content without providing your own point of view and a reason for your reader to take time to look at that content could eventually cost you your readers! 

We all learned about plagiarism in school, but these days people seem to think the rules don’t apply to them!  Guess what, stealing other peoples content will cost you your reputation and could get you into some pretty hot water legally as well!  If you need to refresh your memory, check out Susan’s article about Copyright and Fair Use Considerations.

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 5:21 pm  Tagged with:

What’s better than retirement? Financial Independence!

 Business  138 Responses »
Nov 262011
 

Work Towards Financial Independence!

I was hunting around the internet and was surprised to find an article that ties in perfectly with what I posted yesterday!  The article written by Aziz Jangbar is about the fact that financial independence is better than retirement.  I couldn’t agree more!  I’ve never felt that depending on the stock market for my retirement was wise and have lost more money than I care to admit in my 401K plan while invested in mutual funds.  

I’ve come across several people in my own profession that have retired and ended up going back to work because they were board!  They had spent time with their grand children and traveled, but simply ran out of things to do.  As Aziz points out we are happier when we are productive.  When we feel good about what we’re doing we enjoy our vacations and everything else more! Click here to read the entire article; it will be worth the time spent!

 As I pointed out yesterday, we as a society have become way too dependent on the government and large corporations.  We need to move away from the idea that we are supposed to work for 30 or 40 years and then retire and enjoy the fruit of our labor.  Instead you should consider doing something that you love and that is so fulfilling that you would never consider retiring. 

MLM or Network Marketing creates a large number of independent small businesses and as a result can help to stabilize our economy.   So when you start an MLM business you’re not only helping yourself you are helping society as a whole.

Obviously you need to do some research and find a company that not only produces a product that you have an interest in, but also has a good compensation plan and has shown some stability in the market place.

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 4:28 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Teach a man or woman to fish!

 Relationships  124 Responses »
Nov 252011
 

Homeless Veterans - Single Moms

I saw a news story this week about honorably discharged female veterans that are now homeless single moms.  I also saw a news story about new college grads that are now facing huge student loans and are unable to find a job.  In fact 55% of college grads from 2007 through 2011 can’t find a full time job!  It seems to me that there is something wrong with this picture!  

It seems to me that we’ve all become too dependent on big corporations and the government!  Whatever happened to the independence that drove people to cross the ocean into the unknown or across the country not knowing what lay ahead?  

College Grads Can't Find a Job

I’m sure you’ve heard this saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  There are many different network marketing companies and many different products that a person could sell as an affiliate.  Surely there are successful network marketers and affiliate marketers that feel the same way I feel about this situation and would be willing to sponsor a few deserving veterans or college grads and teach them how to do this business.  Since the most successful method of network marketing that I know of is Ann Sieg’s Renegade Network Marketing System, I would hope that someone that has been using her system would volunteer for this project! 

Let’s face it.  If we don’t reach out and help one another, the situation in our country will never improve!

 

Update:

This is a picture that has been almost 100 years in the making.  God Bless this fallen Hero and the many that have followed him. 

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check payable to “The United States of America ” for an amount “up to and including his life.”

That is honor, there are too many people in this country who no longer understand this.  “God Bless Our Veterans”

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 9:49 pm  Tagged with: ,

Lose an additional 4.5 pounds!

 Health & Wellness  190 Responses »
Nov 222011
 
Drinking more water before meals can help promote weight loss, new research suggests. (Credit: iStockphoto/Lise Gagne)

If you’re like me you’ve tried more than one method or program to lose weight and it doesn’t matter whose program you try they all tell you to drink 8 to10-8 oz glasses of water every day.  

I read recently if you are hungry all the time and eating doesn’t seem to help you are probably severely dehydrated.  It seems that we’ve been ignoring our thirst for so long that we mistake hunger for thirst.  As a result we eat way more calories than our body needs.  I tested this out for myself the other day and sure enough when I stopped trying to find something to satisfy my hunger and had a glass of water I was finally satisfied.  

I found some really interesting information at ScienceDaily that talks about a clinical trial that was conducted that confirms that two 8 oz glasses of water taken before meals can help you lose 4.5 pounds more over a 12 week period while eating a low calorie diet than you can lose without the water.  Considering that water also helps you to eliminate unwanted fat and toxins from the body, I think we could all benefit from drinking more water!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 12:39 pm  Tagged with: , ,

My Secret For Staying Healthy

 Health & Wellness  83 Responses »
Nov 202011
 

Virologist Developed and Tested - Sambucus

With winter fast approaching, I thought I’d share a couple of products with you that I’ve been using for several years now with great success. 

Several years ago a coworker showed me a magazine article that showed a picture of an aboriginal man with the following caption:  ”Would you take medical advice from this man?  Perhaps you should!”  The article was about a Virologist developed and tested product called Sambucus.  I’m not in the medical field, but from what I understand the product works by stripping the virus of the barbs that allow it to attach itself to a cell.  Since it can’t attach itself, your body is able to flush out the virus.  You can purchase this product at you local health food store.  A word of caution to people with ulcers, this product could cause you extreme discomfort. 

The other product is Colloidal Silver.  You should definitely not use this product if you are allergic to silver!  I’ve found a site with great information about this product as well as other colloidal products as well as information about the Herxheimer Reaction, feeling worse before feeling better.  I’ve had several people tell me that they feel worse after using Sambucus and Colloidal Silver than they did before so…I highly recommend that you read the article on the site about Herxheimer Reaction! 

The minute I feel the least bit off, I usually take a tablespoon of each product and then another tablespoon either before bed or first thing the next morning.  That’s usually all I need to do to kick out what ever bug is trying to attack me!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 3:39 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Visalus – Easy and it works!

 Health & Wellness  62 Responses »
Nov 182011
 

As I told you in one of my previous posts, I have to lose weight in order to avoid Type 2 Diabetes.   When I first started working on getting the weight off, I had two different friends approach me about two different methods of getting the weight off. 

My first friend, “Betty” (not her real name), was planning to buy some HCG drops and follow the same system that her sister used successfully.  Since I had to do something, I decided to buy the same drops that Betty was buying and do the program with her.  I think the main reason for the decision was Betty and I worked in the same office which meant we would be able to support each other’s efforts.  It would be a lot more enjoyable than going it alone!

After I ordered the drops, another friend “Joanna” (not her real name), called me about a business that she had just gotten involved with that had a “Shake mix that tastes like a cake mix” meal replacement program.  Since I usually try to support my friends when they decide to try new business opportunities and I really needed to get the weight off, my husband and I decided to go to the meeting with her.  You can learn more about that here.  The meeting started with shake samples.  My husband and I loved the shakes!  I was shocked at the end of the meeting when my husband turned to me and told me he wanted to do the shakes!  During the 40 years that we’ve been married, he’s never gone to a meeting and immediately wanted to buy the product!

Now I had a tough decision to make, shakes or drops which was it going to be.  There was a mix up with the shipping of the drops and I ended up receiving the shake mix before the drops.  Since I had some time before we were going to start the drops, I decided to do a week of the shakes and just see how things went.  I ended up losing three pounds that week.  It was easy, very convenient and I felt really good. 

I had to spend the weekend eating as much fat as I could in order to do the drops the next week.  I will admit it was really hard to convince myself to do all that eating, but I had to do it if I was going to do the drops with Betty.  Long story short, I lost five pounds the first week of the drops and two the following week, but I was hungry and was getting sicker and sicker so…I just couldn’t continue the program and couldn’t wait to go back to the shakes!!

 Posted by Judy Cruse at 9:16 am  Tagged with: , , , ,
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