People Want Answers - Wiki Answers

This isn't a paid review of any sort, just a bit of info sharing about a site The Monetizer found. The site is called Wiki Answers and one of its question pages came up within the 1st two pages of a specific search I did on Google. Wiki Answers is just what you might expect; a site where people pose questions and others provide the answers. It's easy to register and use, and can potentially provide you with a flow of extra site traffic.

The coolest part of the site, is you can add in your own answer to a question or even "Improve an answer". You are given an option to supply a site link as part of the answer, with anchor text for your link. The Wiki Answers site currently has a pretty high traffic rank, so this makes a ton of sense to do. Leave a link if you have a blog post that answers a popular question, even if the question has been answered 10-20 times. People who view that question will see your link and possibly visit for more info on the topic.

I placed a link as an answer there and it has brought about 400-500 visits in several days time. That's not Digg like traffic, but it's not bad either for a new steady stream of traffic. It basically means you're listed within the first few pages of Google search results too. Consider this technique: Do a search on keywords or phrases on Google related to your blog. See what comes up in the first 2 pages of the results. If there's any Wiki Answers listing or another Ask & Answer type site, you may have struck a new traffic source for your blog. You can also register for the site and just poke around a bit. Find out the popular questions related to your blog, and see what you can answer with blog posts. While this may not be groundbreaking, it may be a technique many overlook in terms of getting some extra traffic.

(Note: The above technique may vary based upon the popularity of your search terms. Also use the obvious ideas of leaving links on forums, blogs and YouTube videos that may come up in the 1st few pages of a Google search.)

The Failures & Successes of 2007

2007 was a pretty cool year in terms of blogging and moneymaking for The Monetizer. I discovered a plethora of great new blogs this past year which have helped me along the way. There were also several very useful innovations introduced to bloggers, and they seem to get bigger and better than ever. Not only that, several of these innovations were free of charge.

2 Successes in 2007

First up we had BloggingZoom, an amazing Digg-like service for Bloggers. Rather than trying to get "Dugg", bloggers could now get Zoomed to top rankings. Not only that, but the Zooms were coming from fellow bloggers and not spiteful Digg artists. Many a blogger has noted how tough it is to reach the front page of Digg, while stating its traffic benefits are great. However, getting Zoomed is even better because b It also provided new feedback for articles and networking opportunities, as bloggers worked to help each other out. BloggingZoom should stay strong and continue to be a great service into the next year.

Second up, we had Graham Langdon's Entrecard system. The online business card for bloggers allows a blog owner to get new exposure, traffic and free advertising. The catch phrase "Drop Yours" is now something many bloggers are aware of. According to Graham they recently reached 1000 blogs owning business cards at Entrecard. An amazing feat and the number will continue to grow in 2008. The make money category started around 30 when I first joined, and is now reaching 200 or so. It shows the saturation of this topic, but also how fast the service is growing. Nonetheless, newer and smaller blogs have a way to get discovered and advertise their blogs on bigger sites. Kudos to the developers of this 125x125 means of free advertising for all bloggers. Entrecard will continue unrolling new developments and features next year, so it will only get better for bloggers.

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2 Failures in 2007

While there were those 2 successes, Monetizer saw what he also considers 2 failures in 2007. The first we all would agree is Agloco. Agloco can be equated to a make money con artists site, and many of us took the bait early on. It gave false hope and promises. For months many a blogger and site owner were pitching Agloco to others, in the hopes they could amass a huge network of referrals. The more people they had, the greater the chance for "riches" from the site. There was a quirky viewbar involved, or several versions of one. However, now that Agloco can't deliver on these promises, there's no way to get a refund for time and effort spent trying to promote their concept to others.

The second failure in my opinion is BlogRush. Some may disagree as many site owners believe it's great to run that widget on their site. In the beginning there was nothing but stalling as the site kept promising "soon we will have stats", "soon you will see how great this product is". But soon after a few months of trying it out, the Monetizer realizes that BlogRush works best on blogs already receiving steady traffic. Or it requires you to get a lot of people to sign up and hope they are getting traffic. Entrecard is much easier to employ and brings traffic and new subscribers. BlogRush requires luck, traffic, a catchy headline and referrals. I think I'll stick to Entrecard in 08'.

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Wikis, Cows & What's to Come

Wiki Wiki Wiki Wiki... 2007 also saw an abundance of Wiki sites popping up. The jury is still out on whether they are a success or failure. Wikipedia is the current champ, but it spawned MillionDollarWiki, MillionEuroWiki, Ten and Five dollar wikis and even the new QuarterWiki. How will these do in 2008? Time will tell on these, but they still can offer benefits in terms of a new place to advertise and set up shop.

My favorite new blog I discovered in 2007 was easily John Cow. I discovered it because of John Chow, and Monetizer finds it very creative and entertaining to read. Even though Cow seemed to reject my Entrecard there's no hard feelings. He ran a Monetizer ad in his RSS feed for quite a while, which helped out here. So I wish the Cow the best of luck as he continues in 2008!

So what will be the next big blogging or money making development of 2008? There's a ton of blogs being born on the web daily. Some will fade away, and some will survive. There's also plenty of creativity and brainpower floating around the blogosphere, so it won't be long before we see "the next big thing".

Get Wiki at Low Prices - QuarterWiki!

If I had a million dollars..think of all the Wiki pages I could buy. These days the internet has become a breeding ground for the Wiki page, most likely piggybacking off the success of Graham Langdon's "Million Dollar Wiki". That site allowed the internet entrepreneur to drop out of college and start up his other business ventures, including the recent Entrecard.

Well just when you thought there couldn't be another Wiki site, there is. And this time's its offering you internet real estate at rock bottom prices. Monetizer learned about the QuarterWiki site from blogger/money maker extraordinaire John Chow, and the deal seemed too good to pass up. The way it works is you can buy a Wiki page for your search term or terms. For example: "Make Money Online" (yes that phrase was taken). You then receive the rights to that specific page for just a quarter. You're obligated to buy 4 pages though, so in reality you will pay a whole dollar (via PayPal). Monetizer had to jump in and buy 4 pages. With a little creativity, the Monetizer decided on "How to Make Money Online" as one of the four.

I started to poke around a bit to check out the editing of wiki pages. Although the coding is different at times (the site explains it in How-To's), it seems to allow for quite a bit, including the ability to add Technorati tags, internal and external links, videos, images, and even the ability to embed another web page into your Wiki page. So why not buy a page and insert your RSS feed? At least until you can do more editing. For a quarter, you'll be able to really do some great advertising with this. Not only that, but you can add Google Adsense code and other advertising money makers!

So just a dollar later, The Monetizer is the proud owner of 4 Quarter Wiki pages. How successful will it be? It's hard to say. I believe in keeping advertising costs low right now, and this site will certainly do that. It offers the same benefits of every other Wiki you've seen, long-term SEO, traffic benefits, a place to advertise your sites or products and even re-sell your page(s). You're paying just a quarter to own your Wiki page for a minimum lifetime of 15 years, which according to the site is just 2 cents per year. It's very similar to that Big Choice game you see at Pizza Hut or Chuck E Cheese. You're spending a few quarters to play and maybe win with the pages you buy. And if nothing else, you gain very cheap internet advertising space for your site or product.

At last check, 426 pages ($106.50) have been sold, most likely thanks to Mr. Chow's paid review on his blog. If you're interested head over and Buy a Page! (Remember there is a minimum purchase of 4 pages = $1)