One day I sat and wrote a 295 word article for one of my sites. The article will not win a Pulitzer Prize, but it wasn’t trash either. I think it took me a total of 20 minutes. The majority of the time was spent signing up as an author.

I submitted the article and had it reviewed by their editors within two days. The article went live on 30 Aug 2007 and I was named an “expert author”. To date the article was viewed 319 times and I’ve received 25 site visits. These visits spend 4.22 minutes on the site and view 2.25 pages.

This is just one article. What if I wrote nine more? You get the picture. From my brief experience, I would definitely recommend you write a few articles to support whatever site you’re working on.

• Go to the Technorati Top Blogs
• Check out those blogs and make relevant, non-spammy comments
• Find a way to link back to your site (many let you post your name/website)

I would suggest you only start doing this once your site has compelling content.

Here’s a summary of the respondents:

• 49% are in the 22-30 year old range
• 77% are Female
• Music and Books were the highest purchases online in the 0 to 100 dollar range
• 86% read blogs for humor followed by 73% for pictures

Need I say that if you’re doing a celeb blog, you should focus on affiliates for music and books? And yes, this did confirm my hunch.

Setting up an account is easy enough and posting an item for sale is a snap. One particular challenge with Craiglist is that you have to set your price. This is not an auction system like eBay. In the beginning you’ll need to decide a reasonable selling price and be prepared to revise it if you don’t get any buyer interest.

From experience selling seven items, Craigslist should definitely be on your list of ways to make money online. So where does the futon come in? I had nice wood futon with an eight inch mattress I wanted to sell. I listed the futon at a reasonable price and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. I was getting calls for the futon from people 120 miles away. It was almost enough to make me want to start a futon business! I had one guy almost cry when I told him it was already sold.

Tips for selling on Craiglist:

1. Research your price
Look at other listings and check completed auctions at eBay for similar items. Also factor in “haggling”. Leave a little room for people to suggest a lower price. It makes them happy.

2. Always use pictures
A lot of people don’t include pictures! You will stand way above those people, especially if your item is in good shape. You will also save a lot of phone and E-mail time since you won’t have to answer tons of questions about color, size, etc. A picture is definitely worth a thousand words. Craigslist gives you the ability to upload four free pictures with each listing.

3. Include a telephone number in your listing.
People want to talk to you and will need directions to come pick stuff up.

4. Be willing to lower your price
If you don’t receive any interested inquiries within the first two days, consider revising your listing and lowering the price. I had one item that would not sell at 40 dollars but did sell when lowered to 35 dollars.

5. Be a salesman
When someone does call, even if they decide they aren’t interested, try and sell them some other item. I suggested other items in a friendly manner, and it was well received.

6. Always be on the lookout for bargains
My experience with Craigslist showed me there are a lot of buyers out there. Keep an eye out for bargain items that you can resell easily. There are NO listing fees with Craigslist so don’t sweat trying to sell there. Try different copy and different prices. You have nothing to lose.

Now where can I import futons for dirt cheap…

Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
0.35	0.36	0.62	1
0.39	0.37	0.56	1
0.36	0.42	0.52	1

I’m getting these numbers from the Google Adwords keyword research tool. I’m running numbers on a particular DVD player and you can see the spike in traffic volume coming in November and December. Now is the time to find the products you want to promote!

I’m starting to go through the catalogs, looking for niche products for an affiliate Adwords campaign. I’m also redesigning one of my websites to take this traffic and sell it. The basics remain the same. You have to do your homework and make sure that what you are going to pay for the traffic is acceptable at a 1 – 2% traffic conversion rate. If you can’t turn a profit off the affiliate commission, don’t run the campaign. There is no need to donate to Google this Holiday season.

Let’s examine being an Amazon affiliate. Currently, the basic payout for electronics is 4%. If you want to run an Adwords campaign, you’re going to need a fairly expensive item in order to make a profit at the typical 2% conversion rate. If you have to pay 20 cents a click, you will need to promote a product that sells for > 250 dollars. The higher your pay per click goes, the more expensive the item must be.

Stay tuned for more…

1. Showcase Your Expertise
You need to answer the question “why should I listen to you?” What particular qualifications demand attention? What have you done that others have not? What degrees do you hold? What life experience do you have? How many hours research have you spent? What training or certifications do you have? If you don’t have a particular expertise in an online venture, partner with someone that does.

As an exercise, open up a phone book and look through major ads. Can you identify how companies are showcasing their expertise?

Some examples:

“Over 70 years combined construction experience”
Pictures of completed work
Former District Attorney

2. Establish Your Trustworthiness
Expertise without trustworthiness is worthless. If you’re a crook, nobody will want to do business with you. You need to answer the question “how do I know I can trust you?” Do you have a contact E-mail address and/or phone number? Do you have a privacy policy? Do you have testimonials? Do you offer a money-back guarantee? You must build trust with your prospective buyers and maintain that trust.

More examples from the phone book:

Logo from the Better Business Bureau
Free estimates
Independently audited and approved

3. Increase Your Exposure
If nobody has heard of you, your expertise and trustworthiness are great but useless. You need to get “face time” with your potential clients. Are you writing quality posts in appropriate forums? Are you writing articles that demonstrate your expertise? Are you sending PR releases? Are you soliciting radio talk shows? Part of establishing your credibility is being out there as an expert.

How many of these keys are your currently implementing?

For more great “how to” articles, check out: Problogger Contest.

The same techniques that they want to train you on they are using on YOU to sell their products, their seminars, and their coaching sessions. You are always one “secret” away from being successful. There is always one more “amazing discovery” that will blow the doors off your earnings.

The sales copy is personal and friendly, but remember it is a “sales” letter written specifically to tap psychological “triggers” to get you to buy.

I liken this to religious scammers who prey on people desperate for a touch from God. Note well: if you are desperate for anything (love, money, success, etc.) you are vulnerable to being taken advantage of.