Sponsored Post: Blogging to the Bank 2.0

I’ve been into professional blogging for the past two and a half years, and I’ve been through most “stages” of problogging, including being a corporate blogger, a network blogger and an independent problogger trying to earn my own income online through advertising and affiliate programmes. I know I haven’t exactly been earning riches from my blogging, but I do get a decent living–at least to my standards. However, I’ve been regularly reading blogs by the “Gurus” in problogging (you probably know who they are), and of course the very useful tips here on Performancing, and I thought I could probably earn more if I’m able to better optimize my blogging. Maybe if I followed certain formulas in my blogging work and business I can earn better.

Checking out bloggingtothebank.com, the site at first came to me as one of those standard get-rich quick schemes carried out via affiliate marketing. The home page starts with a promise that one can earn up to $34,244 per month from just a few hours’ work. Well, it’s not really a promise, but an example that author Rob Benwell makes of himself. He says that even “one dumb little blog can earn over $3,947 per month.”

So I thought maybe it’s worth checking out. There’s no harm in trying to learn more about my trade, and probably even earning more than I already am. Actually that’s the most difficult part of working any job or running any business–trying to unlearn and re-learn stuff with the hope of being better at what you do.

I did go on to reading more, and eventually downloading a copy of the Blogging to the Bank 2.0 ebook. I’ve actually read about “BTTB” before, and this one is a revised version, supposedly updated with more lessons and tips from Rob. I did realize that the point behind the ebook is that the author is sharing a success story, and would like to share his “formula” for that success in making money from blogging, so that other bloggers might follow suit.

I can’t exactly provide quotes and snippets of the ebook here, since that would be against the ebook’s copyright. But I will summarize some salient points that Rob Benwell’s ebook makes. Somehow, I think all this information is available online through various blogs (including Performancing, even), but the value added of Blogging to the Bank 2.0 is that it has these tips in one handy, convenient ebook. And Rob provides concrete examples.

BTTB 2.0 shares five “Blogging Commandments” and advises bloggers on how to conceptualize and run their blogs. In summary, BTTB 2.0 says a blog should be of good quality, and should add value to its readers. A blog should also be fresh (i.e., regularly and frequently updated) and well-marketed. BTTB 2.0 further advises against running those spammy blogs that I find quite common these days (those blogs that scrape content off other, legitimate sites, and even attempt to trackback with links from other blogs).

Then BTTB 2.0 shares a step-by-step “blueprint” for creating highly profitable niche blogs. This blueprint includes doing keyword research right, and how to use these with affiliate programmes. The blueprint also explains why it’s better for you to own your own blog, and even gives a few tips on where to host your blog (especially if you’re allergic to getting deep into server and database settings to install software). BTTB 2.0 recommends WordPress and gives some tips on WP Plugins that can be useful in optimizing one’s blog for profit.

As for content, BTTB 2.0 recommends various ways of generating good quality posts for your blogs, which include writing them yourself, outsourcing or free article directories. And then there are tips in optimizing one’s blogs in terms of search engine optimization (SEO), design and marketing. Some tips include submission to directories, social bookmarkers and even forums. The tips in BTTB 2.0 include both basic and advanced. For instance, the SEO tips can be your usual keyword optimization to “latent semantic indexing,” a concept that the book tries to explain in layman’s terms.

Lastly, bloggers can earn from the ebook itself, with the Blogging to the Bank affiliate programme which is done throught ClickBank.

I would think that BTTB 2.0 mostly targets beginning bloggers–those who would like to get into blogging as an occupation or business. As I earlier mentioned, many of the tips in BTTB 2.0 are available on various blogs about blogging (including Performancing itself!), the value added being a convenient summary and explanation contained in a single handy ebook. As for more experienced bloggers, the book lets one review and rethink their problogging activities, whether these are optimized and productive enough. The Blogging to the Bank 2.0 ebook’s intro disclaimer itself says that success from the use of the tips and information is solely in the hands of the reader. So it’s up to us readers how to act and how to use the tips effectively.

The above is a sponsored review requested for Blogging to the Bank 2.0.