Wow! I’ve plowed my way through all of the getting started material and as I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve got all my other sites in place. I think this blog is coming along nicely and I’ve started receiving some traffic as well as comments. So how in the heck has that happened since it’s brand new! Well my friends, here is your first lesson.

Having a blog that is related to what you are doing is a key ingredient you don’t want to overlook. It doesn’t have to be pretty, as long as you provide good and unique content. As you can tell, this blog is no looker but hey, I like simple. Personally I can’t stand the blogs that are so darn busy that I can’t tell where I’m suppose to go to find the information I am searching for. To each his own, right!

Okay, so I’ve got my blog in place so how do you get traffic to your blog? Let me share with you a few ways I have been taught and they work.

#1 ~ Blog Commenting

Go to the search engine and type in whatever subject you are searching for and blogs. An example would be: affiliate marketing + blogs. Go through the first couple of pages of blogs, read some of their content and start commenting. Now, you HAVE to read the blog posts and be honest with your comments. Don’t sell anything just comment about what you read. When you put your name in the comment box, that is what is going to link back to your own site. People appreciate you leaving comments on their blog and they will in turn, visit and comment on yours. Or that’s how it should work.

Another way to find blogs is head on over to our favorite place, Facebook, and go to the very top of the page where the search box is. Type is once again the subject you are interested in and all the groups and fan pages will appear. Don’t click on the name of the group/fan page, but look under that information and click on the number. That’s how many people are in that group. You can go to each of those people’s profiles and they should also have their links to their sites on their profile. Or, you can just join that particular group and start interacting with those people and comment on their blogs as well. This is how you build up a following.

#2 ~ Blog Carnival

I heard about this site awhile back but like most people, I just didn’t follow through and give it a chance. It’s a cool and free site to use so I have stuck with my guns and started using it. Just head over to http://blogcarnival.com. Over on the right hand side just hit the “Submit” button. This is where you provide your information to your recent blog post.

The top box is where you find the section that your blog post belongs. After that, put in your URL and the site will grab the information from your blog post. If you have the All In One SEO plug-in, it will grab the information from there. After that, fill in the name and email information, the category section, I usually put “none” in the remarks section and then the captcha code.  After that just hit submit. It will send your blog out to different sites which will generate traffic for you.

#3 ~ Social Bookmarking

I know, people have their own opinions about social bookmarking but I’m going to share with you a really easy way to accomplish this dreaded task.

Head on over to a site called IM Automator and you can find that at http://www.imautomator.com. Click on the “Join Free” button at the top and sign up for a free account. Once you have given them the necessary information, click on “Submit New”. Type in the URL of your blog post and it will also generate the rest of the information for you just like Blog Carnival does. Select the category and then I would leave it set on “15 days”. You don’t want your link sent out to a bunch of sites all at one time or that will send up a red flag. It will send your information out over the next 15 days to all the social bookmarking sites. Be sure to include any articles you write here as well. I believe with the free account you are allowed 10 URL’s a day so I would just stick with the free account.

Okay, so that’s what I’ve been working on this week. I’ve also been writing articles and posting those as well.  Have been tweeting but mostly just interacting with others.  You know, retweeting their information and posting helpful article and blog links that provide some good tips.  If you aren’t sure how to find that type of information, just go sign up with Google Alerts.

I have already been receiving visitors and opt-in’s for not only my website but for my blog as well.  That’s what I’ve been doing to warrant those visitors so get busy.  You have to start somewhere right!

Okay guys, see you next week and stay tuned for more.  Don’t forget to sign up with my RSS Feed so you can keep up with what I’ve been doing.  Am excited for everyone who is on this journey with me.

Here’s to you my friend!!!