Boy, I’ve been really busy lately. Getting into full swing with the blogs. I made a decision about a year ago to take my blogging much more seriously. The previous year I had made a lot of little sites, Bans, Niche sites, link farm sites, but this type of blogging wasn’t really for me. I needed to build something that I could show off to my family, not something that simply existed to make money. My involvenment in the book selling business has been dwindling so The Bookshop Blog wasn’t filling all my personal needs. I decided to start up a blog on my lifelong passion, the sport of hockey. The Hockey Writers is now a year old, has a crew of 35 writers churning out terrific original content multiple times per day. Readership continues to grow, now surpasing 50K per month. I can finally show off the site to friends and family without the feeling of emptyness that I had with sites that were strictly made for adsense (or Bans).

At the begining of this year I decided that some better training was needed. I’m getting decent at driving traffic, using social media and building sites. What I find I’m lacking are the skills to turn all of that into $$$. I have signed up for The Shoemoney System since he’s a king of making money. I’ll have some updates on that in future posts. I have also become a member of The Keyword Academy. The first webinar form Court was about the best 2 hours I have ever heard when it comes to traffic building. His site is a real goldmine. I’m learning tons over there. Again – I’ll go over that site in more detail in an upcoming post.

One more thing that I’ll be writing about shortly is the seo plugin Scribe. I’m testing it now and will give you a full report with my actual Ranking changes. I’m testing this out on 7 URLs – we’ll see after a week using Scribe and 0 link building if actual ranking changes.

And a final note. If you enjoy popping by here, I’ll be posting much more frequently in the near future. At the end of March I’ll be working from home (still with my present employer) but it should free me up to write just about everyday. Here’s to the future!!

1 Twitter account + 1 link request = 1 Link

or

Oh Twitter, how I love thee

Some tools just get the job done. Recently a gentleman I was speaking with mentioned that he didn’t really understand twitter; who cares if “Brian J is eating a mushroom pizza”. Yesterday I had a real world need that Twitter was able to fullfil. I thought I’d share it with you.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post I am embarking on a 30 day challenge to create more links on my hockey blog (did you notice the careful inclusion of yet another link there).7 down, 143 to go. The idea is to pump out 5 new links each night on stale posts. So I created 4 links on some of the usual haunts and decided to try something new (new to me). I decided to ask Mr. Twitter for a link.

I simply Tweeted, “Looking to trade 1 link on a hockey blog”.

Within just a couple minutes I received a reply from Curtis at Crash the Crease (now he’s up a link in the trade!). We shot a couple emails back and forth and within a half hour or so my link was on his blog. He also agreed to do another one next week. Our hockey blog’s Twitter account has over 5K followers, this may not work quite so smoothly if you’re just getting off the ground. It should help encourage you to build your Twitter reputation, you never know when I could come in handy.

Link Trading – one more reason to love Twitter. Do you have any similar stories to share?

our Twitter Account

@TheBigDesk

Links Baby, it’s all about the Links.

It’s Google Currency and the more you have the better. As in life, friends will find you and strangers will be nicer and the sun will shine brighter…

Court from The Keyword Academy is doing another one of his experiments. 5 Links per day for 30 days. His tests are a great way to work harder and smarter. They tend to not only focus your efforts and help you to understand more about what drives traffic but also have a beneficial result on your actual blog. It’s not just theory.
The idea is to find 30 lonely, unvisited posts on your blog or blogs, each day pick one of them and create five unique links. Bring out your dead…Bring out your dead…

Some benefits should be:

• A better understanding of what can happen to posts on your blog and how to revive dead posts
• Practice a required skill, link building
• Find great places for your links (some resources below)
• Better work ethics, force yourself to go 30 days and you  will strengthen those muscles

If you can think of other benefits please let us know with a comment.

I’m going to be adding an additional bit to my own customized 30 day challenge. I plan on creating 1 Google Adsense add and place it in each of these 30 posts, make 1 or 2 small on-page SEO edits and see if I can draw a couple of dollars out of this challenge.

I’ll be updating you every few days on work completed, any traffic that trickles in and any dollars made. To be frank I don’t think this will generate anything more than 2 or 3 dollars but I can’t think of a reason to not test this.

I’m wondering if Google Analytics will allow me to create a group of Pages in order to more easily manage this? I really should pick up a good GA book.

If you decide to embark on this challenge and post your results let me know. We can each add a little section linking to each other, do a little Carnival on this.

There seems to be growing voice within the blogging world stressing ultra-success. It’s mainly due to the need of being vocal by the Make Money Online crowd. Their chosen niche demands that they stress big money in order to attract a following.

I want to remind folks that there is nothing wrong with building a cool site, a growing site that you thoroughly enjoy and not worry so much about building it into a huge money making machine. Keep it fun.

A bit of background:  I never entered blogging with a view to doing it full time. I owned a used bookstore and created The Bookshop Blog to help other shop owners become better sellers. The site has grown slowly, my ad spots are all sold and the site puts a couple bucks in my pocket. Then last year I decided to launch a blog on my other passion, Hockey. I’ve convinced 35 writers to provide tons of original content (1600 posts in year 1) and the site is gaining a nice following/ making a bit of money.

Realistically, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be a full time, 6 figure blogger and that’s just fine. It seems the Make Money Online guys always stress the idea of treating your blog as a business. But a business is dog eat dog, tough, wrought with failures, struggles and missed goals. Here’s another way to view your blog, a very enjoyable pastime that enables you to connect with a pile of bright, fun people all while putting a few bucks in your pocket.

Think of other hobbies that chew up a good amount of time. How many of them give you the opportunity to:

• Communicate daily with a cool group of peers

• Grant you a potentially huge audience for your creative side

• Exercise your mind by reading and doing so many different things each day, as opposed to the same thing over and over again like most hobbies

• And the big kicker – Put money in your wallet – whereas stamp collecting or flying model plans will severely deplete it.

All this sounds great to me and I feel there is no shame in proudly declaring that I am a very successful 4 figure blogger.

I will continue to work at my pastime, develop it, improve it, and we may even get around to selling our own information product on The Hockey Writers this spring.

Like most young kids dreaming of the Major Leagues, most bloggers hope to be amongst the A-Listers one day. The reality is that if you can be comfortable in the C-List, make a few bucks and be proud of your site(s) then don’t knock yourself for not making it to The Show. This year, if I make enough extra dough to take my wife on a nice vacation – well that would be something! And I would be feeling mighty fine…

Ps  feel free to remind me about this post when you see me speaking at one of the big blogging conventions in a couple years (wink)

Are you just starting out with your blog? Is 2010 the year that you have decided to take your blogging more seriously or ‘take it to the next level’ ? I now I am!

You’ve probably seen a ton of videos, read all the free e-books you can handle but getting the nitty-gritty on exactly how to implement some of your new ideas could come up against some hurdles or at the very least, you may have questions. Where do you turn? There are a couple of good Forums that have been created just for you.

Authority Blogger Forum

ProBlogger Forum (my preferred spot)

The problogger forum actually requires a paid membership ($5.95/month) but the cost is very reasonable and keep in mind that if you hope to treat your blog like a business then you must be willing to invest in the appropriate tools. I use the Problogger forum almost daily. The community has a nice feel and because you need to pay to join it tends to attract only those who are more serious about their online brand.

If you’ve ever had questions on the look of your blog you can get free critiques from experienced bloggers.

• Need a particular plugin but not sure which one to use?

• Have questions on how to better monetize your blog?

• Would like opinions on a Hosting Companies?

There’s nothing like being part of a group of serious bloggers looking to make more money or gain a stronger audience for there sites. You’ve probably heard that Networking is a great way to build up your blog well here’s your chance. Come join us.

Posterous

Am I late to the party? I honestly had only heard of this site/service in passing and had no idea what it really was – until yesterday.

I had a blog post from Tim Ferriss drop into my Reader, checked it our and noticed something at the bottom. Tim included his Facebook link and right below it a Posterous link. Now I know Tim is about as near to the forefront of all things web that you’re likely to find so when I saw this link I was pretty intrigued.

First impressions are so crucial and on the Web they happen in an instant. At least when you meet somebody they get a few chances. The first seconds may make an indelible impression but when they begin to speak those impressions can alter when he/she speaks.  Even if they take a look at you, snub their nose, turn and walk away – you may still think ‘nice ass’ and reconsider your position. That could take 30 seconds or more. Now on the web you land on a page, take a fast look and do one of two things.

a) get some aversion, either design/headline/colors/image and quickly move on, never to return.

b) see something that catches your attention and dive in giving it your attention.

So I see Tim’s link, visit his Posterous page, decide that it looks interesting, read his profile, go to the Home page, check out Laughing Squid’s posts and I’m practically hooked. It’s obvious right off the bat what they are. An easy way to get some content up where it may be a touch to much for Twitter but not quite something that you want on your blog. A great middle ground.

So I’ll be trying it out over the next few weeks. If you’ve used it and have an opinion, please share.

Many of you have probably already seen this beautiful short film. It’s a mini-masterpiece. I have a two and half year old boy who just entered the stage of asking “why?” four hundred times a day so my appreciation of this is that much stronger. Please – do yourself a favor and stay until the last sequence.

Father and Son watching a sparrow…

Searching amongst my multiple personalities…

I think this may be a problem with a lot of folks that hope to make a few dollars in the blogging world. Here’s what I did yesterday. Checked my stats, that’s always number one. I’ve read many places that it’s a waste of time constantly looking at your numbers. Well it’s a compulsion of mine and I’m guessing for many of you as well. I’ll allow myself this vice. I then watched an hour or so of blogging related videos. Then read a half dozen ‘Pro Blogging’ type posts, spent a half hour looking for a new theme for this site before deciding to stick with Thesis and just modify it as time goes on. All in all, about 2.5 hours of ‘blogging’ with Zero actual output. Productive eh?

I keep looking for excuses to make a more serious effort. I think I’ve found one. At worst it will be another good attempt. Now before I let you know what I’ll be up to I should admit that my blogging efforts have not all been a waste. During 2009 I launched and grew a rather successful Hockey News site called The Hockey Writers. This site is doing wonderfully and I fully expect to double the traffic on it this year.  It’s my ‘personal’ site that can’t seem to get off the ground. I have a couple other sites that are working out but this one keeps spinning its wheels.

The big problem – Direction.

I couldn’t decide what I wanted my own blog to be about; what character I should play, or at least – what portion of myself  should I let take the stage. Bruce the comedian, Bruce the traveler, Bruce the blogging/Internet guy, Bruce the Father, Bruce the sportsman, Bruce the writer….and so on. I couldn’t find a voice for the site. It’s gone through a few iterations, been scrapped a few times, I’ve chosen a few different domains…

It’s time to make a decision and run with it. This could very well be a great year for me, I should get busy and quite spinning my wheels. So – I’m sticking with The Big Desk for two reasons. The domain itself is over 10 years old and I like the idea/sound of the title.  And as for the direction, it will mainly be Bruce the blogging/Internet guy with a little of all the rest thrown in. My Personal Brand for lack of a better expression.

And that system I’ll be embarking on is one that anybody that has surfed more than 3 blogs will have heard of by now. The Shoemoney System. I’ll tell you why I’m going this route. My blogging needs some direction and I need to actually write a lot more. It should be a great excuse to work harder and I’ve enjoyed the Shoemoney site for quite a while now. I’ve already borrowed a couple idea that I’ve seen on his site. The THW Marketplace is one example of an idea taken directly from his site. The Shoemoney System launches a week from Tuesday. Although I’ve been creating websites and blogs since 1995 I’m really excited about this one. Should be a lot of fun!

With desires of a life filled with travel, adventure, love and wonder, Bruce keeps plugging away – hoping for the day.

I just came up with this tag line a few minutes ago, it seems fitting with where I am right now. This site will start to slant towards a free, mobile, unattached life. When I say that I mean in a professional sense not a personal one. I’ll start following a few guys like Tim Ferriss and Cody McKibben (the creater of the Thrilling Heroics theme). These guys lead what Cody calls A Life free from the Template lifestyle. I already made a few attempts in my life of breaking free of the standard mold. I shunned formal education, owned part of a bar, went to live on a beach in Australia, quit a nice corporate-type job to open a used bookstore and other non-standard attempts at a free lifestyle.

Beautiful Hallstatt, Austria

I’d be continuing my trip down this path right now if it weren’t for two things: Baharak and Kasm, my wife and child. Now please don’t get me wrong – I never feel stuck anywhere because of them, quite the opposite. They give me so much joy that it makes working 9-5 bareable. I would not trade what I have with them for anything and having this incredible family requires a stable income. No more goofing around. I can’t just pack my bags and take off for a month for a drive like I did with Barney back in 93.

That being said, I still have aspirations of leaving the corporate world again. And of living my life the way I want it lived. Both Baharak and I love to travel and would love to be bouncing around from place to place, exploring all the wondrous nooks and crannies of the world. But Kasm needs stability. He will need a good school, develop friendships, things that need a good foundation. So I know that a life of nothing but travel and adventure will have to wait sixteen years or so. In the meantime I can try and strive for some compromises though. Like working from home, building my websites and online life, taking exotic trips even if they are only for a few weeks at a time. I can still strive to break free of the mold without leaving my home and family behind. Let’s call it a hybrid life. Part travel/exploration, part family-man/foundation builder.

So there it is – to be free yet stable. Not have a 9-5 job but still have steady income for my family. A dream life (for me). Can it be done? Why not?

Step one – find some role models. I don’t think Tim or Cody count as I beleive they have no family that depends on them and on a salary to maintain security and sanity. Hopefully not all husbands.fathers have given up on this idea!

ps. you may notice that I will often associate images of Hallstatt, Austria when speaking of freedoms. My wife and I went there a few years back. It’s one of the most beautiful places I have experienced and it represents where I want to go in life.

I came across these videos at one of my favorite spots on the web, NixtheNews. There;s always something interesting to be found there; I suggest bookmaking the site.

I love the way Mr. Williams speaks and what he said back in 1987 still holds true. It’s one of those Universal Truths. Sit back and enjoy. And if you are considering starting a small business then soak in every word and turn it into your personal Mantra!

And Will Smith “Protect your Dreams” a quick burst of great advice.

..and while were at it, why not not some insight from the Greatest of deep thinkers -- Rocky Balboa.