What Quid-Pro-Quo Blogging Means

Give, Then Get, In That Order!

Quid pro quo means you scratch my back, I scratch yours. But what does that have to do with Blogging?

Simple, quid-pro-quo blogging means that in order for you to get readers and links and even click-thrus on your text ads, you must provide something of value to your readers.

In other words, you must provide a quality blog. Not many people understand this point, and think that junk ad sites or poor content with catchy keywords and search engine optimization will do the trick.

Half-Hearted Attempts Don’t Cut It Either

Others think they can provide a semi-decent site and just use it to make money. I say that in order to truly follow the rules of quid-pro-quo which is also follows the principles of capitalism and Adam Smith, first we Must be out to serve others, and only then can we serve ourselves.

This means we will have demand if we provide good quality supply. Then we will know exactly what someone is willing to exchange for what depending on the intrinsic value it has to them. It’s like another saying that goes “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure”.

Bottom Line

Provide something of value. don’t just provide content that has no value. If you do, you’ll be too generic and won’t make it in the blogging world, because blogging is about specifics based on what people are looking for.

In my next blog post I’ll try to touch on this value and niche thing a bit more.

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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Top 7 POST-Launch Bits of Advice EVER for Bloggers

Here's some blogging advice...

Truly, as a blogger, speaking from experience, your blogging will never get to where you want it unless you get this down to a science like a self disciplined machine.

Do these things exactly and you will prosper and become as great as any A-page blogger. Am I an A page blogger yet? No. But I am experimenting from several different angles and in some of my sites or blogs where I follow this, I have had much more success. I am sure any professional blogger will agree.

1. Write as much valuable content in advance as you humanly can.

2. Post at least 2-3 times a week but always with a great article or post. No great article no post. These two rules will force you to post 2-3 times a week with good stuff and will help your blog in volumes.

3. Prepare, set up your routine and stick to it.

4. Make your batch processes as efficient as you can like clockwork and stick with it for the long haul.

5. Don't chase the small stuff (20%) at the expense of the big stuff (80% yes the 80-20 rule for enduring bloggers) per the above 4 points.

6. Do seek continuous improvements through and metrics as well as implementing opportunities to get better.

7. Market and promote your blog without ever being a spammer or doing any black hat SEO or trying any other useless shortcuts or gimmicks. Keep on blogging and if on a year from now you are still nowhere, see step 5 and 6 and re-evaluate. Also get involved with a forum, maybe there someone can give you the answer when you can't figure it out yourself. There is a community out there willing to help, don't forget that!

Leave a comment below for your advice for pre-lauch, if you have something worth adding...

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The Top 5 PRE-Launch Bits of Advice EVER for any Blogger

Pre-Launch Bits of Advice:

1. Find the right Blog idea, name and Niche for the opportunity and the talent you have

2. Find the right domain name that is genius for your blog name, idea and niche and is not something that will die out in 10 years from now

3. Find the perfect template and blog system (software, hardware and procedure) that will take you to the next level

4. Prepare as much in advance of launching as you can

5. Launch when you are ready but also don't wait for too long, thus be willing to make mistakes and learn by experience

Leave a comment below for your advice for pre-lauch and Stay tuned for The NEXT Best 5 Bits of Advice EVER for any Blogger in my next post and be sure to bookmark and/or subscribe below so you don't miss it!

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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Niche Sites, Keywords and SEO Part 3

So My Counter Argument to the Counter Argument about Keywords and Search Engines is This...

Make the search engines better, not a human doing SEO stuff to their sites day in and day out, Let people talk. Search engines catalogue it accordingly. If people are using codes, search engines should be smart enough to pick that up. If they are talking normally, then search engines have it even easier.

Search Engines Are The Problem and the Solution

Make them understand us, our context, our language, variations and the way they can tie together to really “optimize” the search engine world, they must focus on the optimization of their algorithms for similarity associations.

I think The Swickis of Eurekster and the buzz clouds out there, for instance, may try to take advantage of this sort of optimization. It's the next best thing for a lack of AI (artificial intelligence).

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Niche Sites, Keywords and SEO Part 1

So Much For The Death of Keywords?

There are some definite counter-arguments against my post # 6 - Why I Want Keywords Dead - Don't We All?

In that post, I basically said I wanted keywords dead. Did I really mean that, completely? Well, kinda. But I think some people misunderstood what I was saying,. So allow me to clear this up.

What I meant was that keywords, when used not as a search method but instead as a method to somewhat dominate the way content is written, what I think results is a site not as well written as it could be. Quality suffers and I don't like that.

It’s as if we’re after that new buzz phrase or popular expression or faddish terminology that we want everyone to use. We make up our own buzz cloud, and others catch on. This may not be a bad thing in certain respects, but I think overall it has a clogging effect to solid, quality content so we must be careful.

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 6

We Have a Dilemma With Keywords...

Ok, now for some Irony. After I wrote all of this...I actually "Googled" the words "Keywords Must Die" since I was going to use the title but wanted to be sure others hadn't yet. They did. I could've but decided not to. Sure enough the #1 spot had an article with a couple points that I also made so I see I'm not alone here in my frustration and my thinking. Yes and it was the #1 hit...so yes search engines are maybe hitting 50-50? Has anyone found a study on this? Let me guess, Google it right...Ha!

See: http://hubpages.com/hub/Keywords_Must_Die

Ok, he obviously knew about using those very keywords he wants dead too, because he was #1. Irony! We're hooked on what we all want to get rid of. Isn't that even worse, and will make it even more difficult? Of course.

Maybe I need another perspective here, someone please articulate this wisely and in a balanced way...if you don't I will do more homework and find the solution myself.

Kinda like the dilemma of a "Big Government"...people don't want big government, but they sure like the benefit handouts...we must make a decision here people! To thine own self be true...and...we can't have it both ways! Can we? Should we allow just a little? Sorry, but if not 100% elimination how about a 95% compromise?

Next let's talk about how Blogging is actually helping against some of the keyword stuff, maybe...I haven't been able to tell conclusively yet, I'm looking at whether or not blogs are as keyword-stuffed...we already know they are over-spammish...thoughts?

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 5

Keywords, You've Been Marked For Extinction!

Keywords are great, Not! Goodness can we please get off the keyword bandwagon? Keywords distract me from saying it in my way, how I want, how others may want it. Why should I care where keywords are, where they are not, how often they're used, etc. This is ridiculous. Why should it matter?

Adwords and Adsense of course make this difficult to get rid of, I know that, so that's why I asked from the get-go if I'm off base here...for some other opinions.

Look, there has to be a better way. Keyword focus needs to stop. If keywords were no more, would too much revenue then be lost? After all, we do like text link ad click-thrus, don't we? Can it at least be re-worked somehow then? Yes of course I still want an Adsense campaign option.

Real content focus should not even consider "keywords". We're doing the search engines' bidding when we do that, aren't we? Unless anyone can convince me otherwise, I still want the whole keywords thing dead! 80% at least!?

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 4

Do We Need Anymore Proof Why SERPS Still Don't Meet the Mark for Top 10?

Sure, maybe 20% of the results pages and 20% of the results a given search engine results page are relevant and good, still a whopping 80% as I see it, are not, still, in 2008! Where is the technology and algorithm and science and all that, to change this?

Has Google and have other search engines settled for "good enough" and themselves failed to further optimize, resting on their laurels and putting too much stock into Wikipedia as a number one result for most things? I say, yes.

There is so much more and so much better that could be delivered. Why haven't they done it? Because they seem to have been focused on other than their core niche, and they also wanted their stock to go up without reinvesting as much as they should into truly being something spectacular. They may have gotten distracted by other-than-search stuff as well. Did they leave their primary niche behind?

Am I being harsh? You bet. I will always be harsh for a multi-billion dollar hugely profitable company. Microsoft, Google, etc...I expect better, because it's been almost a decade people and computing power is now capable but search engines are not truly meeting the needs better than half as good as they could be. Why?

Oh, and don't even get me started on Microsoft and how they're still learning from Apple...ouch! Their help to Apple was 80% in their favor as a "quid-pro-quo"...whatever, how about that for R-O-I! Then they used IPOD and again did the old style thing when they came up with Zune...on and on it goes. And they still change little things we don't need changed, and have little irritants after so many years none of us like...

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 3

5 Proofs that Search Engines Could Do It Better

* Adsense relevancy, as I said before, still doesn't match content in many cases...why?

* Search engines still list probably 80% non-relevant or non-quality sites, which says their algorithms and technology is still quite simple and immature and not as advanced as it probably could or should be. The advances are not coming from R & D but from peoples' own "socializational innovation" as I call it. More on that later.

* Search engine results in their top 10 lists are still about 50-80% non relevant!!! Check for yourself...do some searches. Does the cream really rise to the top, or is some good stuff buried at find #200 or 2000?

* Often #1-3 content after a search is not the #1-3 best but instead only the "best keyworded", most historical site, etc. Doesn't this show how bad algorithm weights and measures still are? C'mon...if I were a rocket scientist I would re-look this stuff....

* They are far from doing things that take humans out of the loop, they need us as much as we need them, so I guess it's "quid-pro-quo" with 80% in their favor! Proof? Just look at how high Google stock soared since its IPO...

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 2

Web 3.0, Semantic Webs, Social Networks and Swickis - Will It Help?

These have become a vital gold mine for search engines. Think about it, a search engine has to do less cross correlation algorithmically, by instead relying on the intrinsic associations and linkages that teach the engines who's who and what's what.

Unfortunately search engines are still in the one or two dimensional keyword model phase after all these years, and that's pretty lame. Sorry but let's be honest here...

An article in Business 2.0, a stellar magazine for any professional (full or part time information site Blogger) covered the issue well, and even mentioned the possibilities of some of these things unseating the giants, Yahoo and Google. Unless they get bought out by the giants, I say. But it's interesting regarding the cross-correlation of information.

Here's the Business 2.0 article:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/07/01/100117068/index.htm?postversion=2007070316

I remember there was talk in 1999 of such technology but it turned out to be mere pre-bubble busting hype, it seems. The thinking then was that there was such technology, but the technology didn't happen. It was an era full of empty promises and hype. But are we there yet? Obviously not!

Let me just say a word of caution about what you just read however (in the Business 2.0 article). It's too optimistic because it's a sales pitch. Taking people completely out of the loop? Yeah right, that's still a ways off...

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Why I Want Keywords Dead Part 1

Am I Being Ignorant By Thinking This?

Well, before you judge this too harshly hear me out. My thinking is that the whole focus and concern about keywords is not good. It keeps us from our full potential as content providers because it puts us inside a box and limits us to what we can say, and more importantly how we can say it.

The whole keyword thing has become, in my opinion, quite ridiculous. It has exacerbated the development of shortcuts, trickery and poor quality content rather than the opposite of what the search engines claim they want.

Forget SEO? I Wish!

Alright, can you tell that anything other than content development is a frustrating thing for me?

Search engines that really want quality content should allow websites to be what they are. Those who use better words than others automatically rise to the top based on searches, but who cares because shouldn't search be better cross-examined with synonymous words rather than so logically simple and one or two-dimensional?

Seems to me the whole keyword thing is the purposeful way for search engine technology to get out of having to spend more to get better faster, so that it can make Billions without having to give much back, for several years. Well, I say this, you may have fooled everyone but you haven't fooled me. It's always about the money, isn't it?

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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5 Ways Blogging Makes Things Better Part 2

The "Poor Man's" (and Woman's) Media Outlet?

3. A blog can be the ultimate poor person's solution to idea spreading, thought-provoking, cause-starting and mass marketing and advertising without spending any money. Think about it, once the blog popularity is built, then you offer your product or service and because of the extent of your blog network, the traffic you get, and the niche market you tap, you're bound to get sales and support and hopefully rave reviews as long as your product or service is good. A bad one will get slammed. Case in point? Digg.

Now realize the reverse in terms of huge negative effects could occur and this could be detrimental though there are also ways to recover. Just be careful. A good product or service that satisfies customers should be ok.

How It Will Be In The Internet Democracy? -- Simple...The Blogosphere Rules -- Mainstream Media Outlets to Follow Behind Them...or at least that's what some will tell you...

4. Blogs are sometimes picked up by mainstream media and the associated press, depending on an article's popularity and appeal. If this happens, the blog ideas and concepts reach even a greater market and the powerful social network only grows. Once such a network is huge and continues to grow, the blogger's influence to effect positive change and inspire positive action can influence events and make a great difference in the world.

For Ordinary Folk and Fun...that's the main thing...

5. Finally, a blogger can find a great deal of self satisfaction and personal or professional fulfillment with their themed, opinionated blog. It can be a hobby or a business and whatever it is, it's fun, where the creative juices can flow and be released and where a blogger and other people can be inspired. This is a win-win situation! reading and/or creating a blog?
Do you feel the same way when reading or posting to a blog?

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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5 Ways Blogging Makes Things Better Part 1

Why Blogs and Blogging?

Blogging is a way for someone who otherwise would get no exposure for their unique, powerful, entertaining or worthy ideas to get them out to as wide of an audience as possible, and practically for free! What better opportunity could there be for the ordinary person to finally be heard and have some influence for a change? Blogging is it, and can be used as a way for ordinary folk to make things better. For instance...

1. Blogging can get good solutions and recommendations to others when there would be no other way of doing so. For instance, say a blogger had a new idea about how to repel mosquitoes and they lived in some small town and didn't have a lot of money.

With a blog, they have an open gateway to the world via the Internet, and the blogosphere, and can now tell the whole world about it. Such capability and possibility would've been unheard of in previous generations. This is a huge opportunity for bloggers that are ordinary people, to actually make a difference!

2. Blogging is a way to build a niche group of like-minded people into a powerful social community that grows like a snowball. The effects of this are viral, because a popular and good concept or opinion blog can catch on to other blogs, and still more and more and before you know it the site becomes one of the most popular in the world.

The niche people link to the blog and the powerful social network and hub structure and authority of the blog forms. The search engines are built to recognize this and rank the blog like this amongst the highest for its content and keywords, based on the relevancy of the material and words it contains as well as the relevancy related to or associated with the various sites as incoming links.

- Qualityblogger, your advocate for quality blogs and value blogging

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Make The Blog World A Better Place Part 3

What to Focus On To Make The Blog World A Better Place...

Focus 80% on the quality of your content, for a correct 80-20 application on that one. That way you know your efforts align with where Google and other search engines and technologies are headed, and what they are trying to achieve.

Read next why I want Keywords dead though, because I think they have been somewhat of a hindrance and search engines should get better at relational cross-correlation rather than simple word or phrase relevancy.

Google Adsense Words a Possible Acid Test?

Take my last page for example. My Google ads will probably be about environmental stuff, not information pollution or overload. This association will probably take a couple years to develop, so the ads actually become relevant to the content but at a later date.

That, in my opinion, is one of my personal "acid test proofs" as to how good Google has become with relevancy. Think about it, money, content, relevancy...the first area of priority they'd want to get as accurate as possible, no? If not there, then nowhere...

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Make The Blog World A Better Place Part 2

Hobbyists - No Worries

If you have a pure hobby site, fine. No need to start a quality campaign unless you want to turn your site into something profitable and useful for others (these usually go hand-in-hand).

In other words, if you want a Blog that gets well known, you better provide something of value, not just a site with a bunch of Google ads.

I hope you take this seriously, because as the search algorithms get smarter and as social networking gets refined, the way ahead is to promote the good and let the cream rise to the top, while eliminating the useless junk out there.

Google and other Search Engines Always Change The Rules

Google has been at this for quite some time actually, and does things we're all familiar with such as relevancy, weighing vote amount and irrelevancies of links, etc.

Wouldn't it be best just to be legitimate and not focus on keywords hardly at all? In a perfect world, I would've said not at all, and maybe one day 99% of keyword stuff will be over. But for now the focus is needed at least in a 20% mode.

Stay tuned for part 3 of Make The Blog World A Better Place

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Make The Blog World A Better Place Part 1

Starting Point - Start a Blog "Quality Initiative Campaign"

Inspired yet, about creating a more quality Blog? If not inspired, then at least be concerned with the fact that if you don't do this, you will contribute to the equivalent of global warming in similar ways, but for the Internet.

This is again something that using the environmental analogy, we can experience a long-term disastrous environmental effect on the Internet world if we don't do our part to help. As it stands in the future of the Internet and Blogosphere, as I see it...

...You may either

* Lose your place where you stand today (where you worked so hard to get to) in an instant when search engines and SEO changes tactics again, which will happen. Then you'll start all over, with your site drowning out amidst all the noise and junk.

* Never break into the Blogosphere fast again like the old days, since the sea is much larger and now has to create some things that rank and set one apart from the next and therefore takes much more time. Soon it may take months, and then years.

* Get slow rolled. Getting listed in directories already takes months, and even the search engines are slowing a bit for listing sites. Alexa rankings are not very accurate. Overture is done, too many bots corrupting and polluting everything. Keywords are out and I've always wanted them dead anyhow (see my next article!). Need I go on?

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3 Reasons Google Spread Like Wildfire

Why and how did Google do it, and do it so well?

I think Vision is probably the right word, but I also think that the approach maintained the most simple yet most effective approach. So I came up with 3 reasons, with that in mind.

The 3 Reasons

Reason #1: They knew the timing of meeting a key demand, and they became the supply to meet that demand! People were tired of directory-based searches and the inadequacy of search engines that weren’t good enough or brought back trashy content, like AOL’s search tool. They also got too distracted from the rest, and wanted something that searched, period. There was a void, and Google filled it just in time, and the timing was indeed super.

Reason #2: They kept it simple, and still keep it simple. Often when businesses grow, they get over-complicated and over-do it a bit, They take away their core strengths when they do so. Google started simple and kept it simple. Simple colors, simple interface, simple page and not extra fluff, clutter, annoyances or busy stuff…It’s that simple, and always will be…what a study on what people really desire on a web page…

Reason #3: They found the key anchor points to hook others and hooked them! Their best was how fast their page loaded. Like I talked about in my article Why Google Will Always Be My Homepage, one of the key reasons is because their page loads so fast and we all need speed when we’re online.

Another anchor point was their name. Think about how unique it is, and what a super job they did picking it, since it’s such a terrific branding opportunity. Yahoo did this too with its name, but Google did it better because not everyone was into “Yahoo” but “Google” sounded a bit more nerdy and interesting and kinda funny and stupid at the same time, so it was an intriguing name that tickled our funny bone, and hence it stuck. What a master strategy, if it was done on purpose!

Summary

So there you have it, timing, supply and demand, simplicity, anchor points that hook the worms and bait the fish. They also used a catchy name…another great success story and model case for the Biz and IT world to study well, emulate, and learn a great deal from.

What else can we learn from Google, for business best practices?

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3 Reasons Google Is My Homepage

Is Google your home page?

I see it more peoples' home page than ever before. Let's briefly look at why. I know. More of the obvious right? Well, in case you don’t know or have never thought about it, here goes…and some MBA insight as well…

3 Reasons to Make Google Home

Reason #1 – Their Page... Loads the Fastest of Any Other Page!

Do you think they did this by accident? Before computers had the memory and processing power like they do today, one of the reasons why I and many others made Google the homepage was, because it loaded the quickest, and I was sick and tired of slow loading web pages!

This built instant credibility and trust, and made people love it from the start…a great first impression and an awesome Biz strategy by the way…do it right the first time! Spend the time, and don’t release until it’s ready. I think even Microsoft could learn something here.

Finally, for this point, something that back then and even today still loads in the blink of an eye (see reason 3)makes Google tops, a small but important detail! So I bet it’s one of their core Biz strategies to be the fastest loading page on earth. Smart move Google!