Is Your Blog Mobile Internet Friendly

Most young people I know are accessing the Internet from their mobile phones. Mobile Internet use is probably going to out weight PC Internet use in the next few years (if it hasn't already). This is why it's vital that your blog is Mobile Internet friendly.

Internet Mobile for Blogger in 2 clicks

Thankfully, Blogger is on the ball where this is concerned, and Blogger users can get Internet mobile with literally 2 clicks. Many bloggers use their mobiles or cell phones to blog straight to the Internet, but this article is aimed at those who just want to make their sites look good to the majority of people accessing them.

Internet for mobiles

If you're on Blogger, go to your settings

Click 'Email & mobile'

Click 'Yes, Show mobile template on mobile devices'

Choose 'preview' to see how your blog looks to people accessing the Internet from mobile/cell phones.

Play around with the mobile templates in the drop down box until you find one you like. I prefer the 'travel' template.

Click save.

Note: you can also write down up to 10 email address to send your new blog posts to when they're published (in the email notification's panel at the bottom of the page). 

Now you know how to easily make your blog Mobile Internet Friendly. Please share this article so that others can too. And while you're here, why not check out 4 Brilliant Online Sites to Write For. Thank you. 

Google Analytics Best Features

In my recent article, What Is Google Analytics, I started a discussion about this tool that every blogger must and should have. Google Analytics have several features - they are far too many to name. So in this article I'll show you my best Google Analytics features and give you a chance to show us yours. 

Google Analytics is supremely fascinating. When I log in I have to make sure I have more than a few minutes to spare because (be warned) time slips by when you discover the details and information it's collecting and storing about your sites. 

My top four Google Analytics features

Page views

I think it would be hard to find anyone who doesn't agree that Google analytics page views is the top feature when it comes to tools for your blog. Granted, my Google analytics always gives a different number of pageviews than my Blogger stats (usually fewer), but the other features that come with detailing your page views far outweigh any insight to traffic Blogger stats can provide. You can choose weather you want to see your pageviews on a weekly or monthly basis, and toggle between the two.



Google analytics is the only tool that gives you a detailed break-down of each day and each visitor. This if course helps you to properly determine what posts brought more visitors to your site, and perhaps help you to gauge which days are best for posting new articles on your blog. 



Top content

This feature not only tells you which of your posts are viewed the most. It tells you how many unique page views are related to that post, how much time people spent reading that post, the percentage of exits you got from that post, and how much that post earned you.  I like this because based on the top contents (and how long people spent reading them) I can clearly see how my next article should be written. The top content on Google analytics also helps me decide how long my posts should be, what they should include, what my visitors liked reading, and what types of posts kept them clicking through to the rest of my site.



Entrance sources

Google analytics also provides a very detailed breakdown of the paths though which people got to your site. There's of course, a further breakdown of how long people from different sites stayed, how much they read, etc.

I particularly like this feature because it shows me where I need to concentrate my efforts. I see various sites sending traffic to my blogs. According to my Google analytics, people who come directly to my blog stay the longest. This is followed by people who arrive from Blogger. Stumble upon does send a significant amount of traffic to my sites, but unsurprisingly, these are the people who spend less time and leave without viewing other pages. Clearly, if I only want traffic, SU is the place to stick around, but if finding people who read and get involved in my site is important, then I have to concentrate on other Blogger blogs to bring me that traffic.



Map overlay (visitors)

This may not be at the top of many people's Google analytics best features list, but I find it quite fascinating. I can see where people are coming from, whether they're using computers or mobile devices. I see a large increase in people visiting my sites using iPads and other mobile devices. I can see visitor loyalty - how many people are visiting once, twice, 100 times. Not surprisingly, most people who visit my blogs come only once.  I can also see what operating systems my visitors are using.

What I like best of all, is being able to see which countries my visitors are coming from. This helps me to target my ads and articles better,but it's just intriguing to see where people are coming from to read what I write. I have more US visitors than UK ones. However, the UK ones stay longer and visit more pages. My Ghanaian friends seem to stay the longest, even though there are only a few of them.



Now, you've seen my best Google analytics features. What are yours and how do you use them to better your site and your viewers' experience? How do you think I can use Google Analytics to improve this blog? 

Great Book Deals! Amazon October Discount

This is just a very quick update to give A Blogger's Books readers and subscribers a heads up on a massive Amazon book sale in October. Apart from the usual top-selling Autumn books, Amazon has rolled out the red carpet and has put hundreds of good books in a 50 % off sale you should not miss. So click on the link and have fun choosing one that suits you! 



Best sellers on offer

I've also searched for some of Amazon's top books which are both best-selling and presently on offer. The following are too enjoyable to get from the library on loan. Such tasty reads desire your full attention and certainly 'earn their keep'. I've also included part of the product description for each of these great books to help you make up your mind. If none of these take your fancy, the discount books on the 50% sale above, just might!

Charles Dickens : A Life

Like a hero from his novels, Dickens trod a hard path to greatness. Born into a modest middle-class family, his young life was overturned when his profligate father was sent to debtors' prison and Dickens was forced into harsh and humiliating factory work. Yet through these early setbacks he developed his remarkable eye for all that was absurd, tragic, and redemptive in London life. He set out to succeed, and with extraordinary speed and energy made himself into the greatest English novelist of the century.

The World of Downton Abbey

A lavish look at the real world - both the secret history and the behind-the-scenes drama - of the spellbinding Emmy Award-winning Masterpiece TV series Downton Abbey

April 1912. The sun is rising behind Downton Abbey, a great and splendid house in a great and splendid park. The way of life it represents seem secure enough to last for another thousand years... 

This TV drama tells the story of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, on the verge of dramatic change. On the eve of Season 2 of the TV presentation, this gorgeous book, illustrated with sketches and research from the production team, as well as on-set photographs from both seasons, takes us even deeper into that world, with fresh insights into the story and characters as well as the social history.

Twisting My Melon

Shaun Ryder has lived a life of glorious highs and desolate lows. As lead singer of the Happy Mondays, he turned Manchester into Madchester, combining all the excesses of a true rock'n'roll star with music and lyrics that led impresario Tony Wilson to describe him as 'the greatest poet since Yeats'. 





The young scally, who left school at fifteen without ever learning his alphabet had come a very long way indeed. Huge chart success and a Glastonbury headline slot followed, plus numerous arrests and world tours - then Shaun's drug addiction reached its height, Factory Records was brought to its knees and The Mondays split....





And then there was the jungle...Rock'n'roll legend, reality TV star, drug-dealer, poet, film star, heroin addict, son, brother, father, husband, foul-mouthed anthropologist and straight-talking survivor, Shaun Ryder has been a cultural icon and a 24-hour party person for a quarter of a century. Told in his own words, this is his story.

Heroes of Olympus: The Son Of Neptune

In The Lost Hero, three demigods named Jason, Piper, and Leo make their first visit to Camp Half-Blood, where they inherit a blood-chilling quest:

Who are the other four mentioned in the prophesy? The answer may lie in another camp thousands of miles away, where a new camper has shown up and appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea.

With an ever-expanding cast of brave-hearted heroes and formidable foes, this second book in The Heroes of Olympus series offers all of the action, pathos, and humor that Rick Riordan fans crave.

Survivors: A Novel Of Coming Collapse 

WHAT IF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT ENDED TOMORROW?The America we are accustomed to is no more. Practically overnight the stock market has plummeted, hyperinflation has crippled commerce, and the fragile chains of supply and high-technology infrastructure have fallen. The power grids are down. Brutal rioting and looting grip every major city. The volatile era known as “the Crunch” has begun, and this new period in our history will leave no one untouched. In this unfamiliar environment, only a handful of individuals are equipped to survive.



There you have it! Paperbacks and hard covers of different genres, all good books to read at a price you can afford. Autumn is here and winter is swiftly on its way. Grab yourself a deal, sit back and curl up with a book you're sure to love.

What is Google Analytics

Google Analytics Facts

Google Analytics is a free Google service that allows you to see all the details of how visitors interact wtih your websites or blogs - in other words, where they go, what they do, what they view and how long they stay etc. These details also include how many people stopped by, your top posts, entrance paths (where people are coming from when they visit your blog), exit paths (where people are going when they leave your site), how much money you're making on your blog, your bounce rate  and much much more.

Why Google Analytics is important to you

If you know what's bringing traffic to your blog, you'll know what to concentrate on to attract even more visitors. If you know where your visitors are coming from (which part of the world) then you'll be better able to target what you say, holidays, and pictures etc more effectively to match your visitors' style. Google analytics improves your blogging because you're given every possible information you need to make your blog the best it can be for your target audience. You're never working in the dark. 

Who should have a Google Analytics account

Anyone who has a website/blog should have an analytics account. You're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't. Google analytics can help you increase your earnings and profits. Assuming you already have a Google account, (if you don't register for a free Google account here), all you have to do is add the analytics feature to your profile. No one can have access to your analytics account unless you want them to, so this is for your eyes and information only.

Google analytics will also show you which phrases and key words are bringing traffic to your blog, and what sort of information the people visiting are looking for. 

How to create a Google Analytics account

After logging in, put in your site's url, choose an account name, your country and time zone.

Record your name, email and country.

Agree to T & C.

You'll be given a code to paste on your website/blog. Copy the code and leave this page open. You'll need to come back to it.

Pasting the Google Analytics code to your blog

Go to your blog (Blogger) and do the following

From your dashboard, go to Design

Click on edit html (which you'll find on the top right of the page)

Scroll to the bottom of the html page. On the right hand side you'll see an orange button 'save template'. 

I advise you to save your template just in case something happens and you lose your settings. When you've saved your template, continue:

Look towards the bottom (you won't find this at the very bottom of the page. It'll be closer to the bottom than the top, though) of the html page you've just opened. 

This may take a while to find, but once you've found it, place the code you just copied right before the closing body tag which looks like this: . 

Save template or else all your work would be in vain.

Go back to the Google analytics page you left open and click 'save and finish'. If you've done it properly, you should see a confirmation in your 'status' panel. It takes about 2 days to start working. 

Now on your analytics page you'll see +Add a new profile at the top right when you click on your existing profile. Click on this to add all your blogs to your Analytics account. Note: you'll have to add a code to each of your blogs for your traffic, etc to be recorded.



TIP: The above is the best way of adding the Google Analytics code to your blog. However, if you desperately do not want to mess with your html page, you can add the code like this: On your blog, go to Design. Add a gadget. Add an HTML/Javascript. Paste your code into this panel. Drag the panel to the very bottom of your blog (in Design) then save. Note: some newer versions of Blogger won't support this, so if this does not work, the above surely will. 

Subscribe to this blog to get all the further Google analytics articles coming in the next month or so. We'll talk about bounce rate, traffic, keywords and much more.

e-Books For Free

These days it's easy to get e-books for free. Where to get those free e-books may be the big question, but not any more. This page gives you the ultimate guide in getting your free e-books online with just the click of a button. I've outlined the e-Books singly, then by categories. For your convenience, I've also included a few directories you can browse for a more general collection of e-books for free. 

Note: this list of e-books will keep changing as I add more to it. 





Free e-Books online

Popular, free e-books in various e formats

Feng Shui Assassin (fiction)

Of Water, Spirits and Tequila Sunrise  (non-fiction)

The Unsuspecting Mage: The Morcyth Saga Book One (fiction)

Minnie (fiction)

Smashwords Style Guide (non-fiction)

How To Get A Literary Agent (non-fiction)

Hostile Witness (fiction)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (fiction)

Little Women - series 1 (fiction)

Grimm's Fairy Stories (kids)





Where to get free e-books (top lists in categories)

10 Free e-Books for Web designers

Top 10 free e-Books For Bloggers

Top 10 Free e-Books on Parenting (for people with young kids)

Hottest Free, e-books on Weight Loss

Free e-books on Cooking

30 Free e-books On Personal Finance

Free e-books on Marketing

Free e-books On Health and Fitness





Download e-books for free (large directories listing free ebooks) 

An extensive range of free e-Books by Gutenberg. (Out of print books - general topics for you to browse)

Free e-book Directory 

Hundreds of Free e-books on Smashwords





My own e-Books

(These are not free)

How To Raise Kids To Be Responsible Adults

How To Really Lose Weight Without Dieting

How To Spend Less





If you have a free e-book which is presently available to download, please feel free to add it (with the link) below. If you ARE leaving your link, please add a link to my books on your blog or webpage in return. Thank you. 

If you're here, why not share this resource with others who may benefit. 

Earn With Your Blog: Blogvertise

With the growing number of people looking to earn extra money with their blog, more and more pay per post sites are making their services available for both bloggers and advertisers alike. 

Blogvertise is one such free site. I've written for them in the past, but this post is a personal share - not a paid advertisement - to show my subscribers and readers one other way of earning extra cash with your blog. Today I'm featuring Blogvertise. 





On the other hand, advertisers can with sign up with Blogvertise here.

Earning, blogging with blogvertise

You will be asked to register as a blogger or an advertiser when you sign up with Blogvertise. Fill in your details, including your profile information. You'll be asked to upload a picture of yourself too. This is to be placed beside your bio when writers are featured on the front page. 

A large part of earning money online is the willingness to put yourself forward, so be patient and fill in all the boxes. When you add a blog, supply a description, keywords and exclusions (sites you'd like to NOT get assignments from). The trick to earning more money with your blog on blogvertise is to make sure you accept or decline tasks on time. When you do accept a task, be certain to write the requested amount of words and add the links you're given. Payment for blogging is usually between $4.00 - 20.00 (each post).





Another very important point is to sign into your account at least twice a week, even if you have no assignments to complete. An active member is seen as one who's eager and interested in getting jobs.



How blogvertise helps you make money with your blog





1. Once your blog is approved, wait for assignments to be sent to you. (Or get grab bags - discussed below).

2. You will receive an email with your assignment stating in the brief, the number of words required, the amount you'll get paid for the blog post, and the links you should include in your article (usually 2 or 3).

3. Once you've written the post, there's a link to 'accept task' on the email you've been sent.

4. Copy and paste the url of your post into the appropriate panel and submit your task for approval.

5. Check back within a couple of days to see if your task has been approved.

6. Wait for payment.



Advantages of blogging with blogvertise





1. The Blogvertise site has self-explanatory, detailed help on every aspect of their system. You can find whatever you need to help you.

2. You can set your payout rate to whatever is suitable for you. You may still get offers lower than your requested amount, but you can always decline them.

3. The system allows for negotiation where payment is concerned, providing you're a steady blogger and does the tasks on time and properly.

4. You can log in to find 'grab bag tasks' on your account. This simply means you can find extra assignments if you log in and update your blog regularly enough.

5. Blogvertise offers prompt payment for tasks submitted. Earning money online can sometimes be problematic because clients take a long time to pay. Blogvertise pays up 30 days after the approved post went live.

6. Making money with your blog is not such an attractive proposal if your writing assignments roll on for ages before they're approved. Each post on blogvertise is approved (or declined) promptly.

7. You also get the chance to edit your post if it's declined. You're told why it isn't, and what to do in order to get an approval.

8. Payment is by Pay Pal.





Disadvantages of earning with blogvertise





1. The site does not offer a referral programme, so even if you were to sign up with Blogvertise and start earning money with your blog today, I would get nothing from it even though I told you about their site. 

2. The earnings can be slightly less than other pay per post sites.

3. You have to write all posts directly on your blog. If for some reason, the advertiser rejects your post completely, you've already given them a link which has been on your site for perhaps a couple of days.

4. Blogvertise, though a great way of earning money with your blog, does not send out a lot of offers.



If you're a writer/blogger and want to start making some money with your blog, Blogvertise is a great way of doing so. There are precious little writing opportunities out there, so we have to make the best of sites like these which can significantly add to our online earnings. 

Earn With Your Blog: SocialSpark

A lot of people are looking to earn some extra money online. Bloggers and website owners are continuously looking for, and writing about the best ways to make money online. Today I just want to look at one way in which small-time Bloggers can make money with their blogs online: Socialspark. 

Ins and outs of earning with your blog

In two days I'll be receiving $50.00 from SocialSpark, with another $30.00 in my account to be withdrawn at a later date. So far I've written 5 posts for SocialSpark on 3 different blogs. I went away on holiday just before another 2 posts were due, so I've missed out on about $20.00 worth of earnings from that particular site.

Now there are lots of other ways to make money online. As most of us know, making money with your blog tends to be about writing lots of posts for a small amount of money. Some pay-per-post sites will even offer as little as 0.50c to write a post of a hundred words. I won't even consider taking these, but the fact that they're still on offer means that someone is. Other sites will offer highly rated blogs as much as $10.00 for one link in their post - but your blog is not yet highly-rated.

Note: I haven't been paid for this post. I've written it to help my readers and share some inside knowledge about Socialspark - one of the best ways to make money online for small-time and new bloggers.



How socialspark helps you make money with your blog

1. Join the site (link below).

2. You will be asked to submit a few details and some information about you and your site(s). Make sure you fill these in to the best of your ability. This is what will get you jobs - or not.

3. Choose how much you wish to be paid per post. I advise using their guidelines which are based on your traffic.

4. You will need to verify your site. This involves placing a bit of text on your page or joining it with your Google Analytics account. The latter is simpler and more straight-forward.

5. Your blog will have to be approved.

6. Once your blog is approved, you will start to receive relevant leads.

7. Log in, write your post (include the links they give you) and submit for approval once finished.

8. You will receive an email once your post has been approved, telling you it will be posted to your site.

Advantages of  working with Socialspark





Before you start making money with Socialspark, make sure you take care of the following steps. It may take some time for your blog to be approved, so make sure you provide all the information you're asked for upfront. Tagging your blog and putting it in the right category will help tremendously. There are several advantages to you as a blogger (below) and in addition to making you money, your blog will be more visible because big companies use Socialspark.

1. The work you receive does not depend on your Google rating. You can have low-rating blog, but as long as you get a decent amount of traffic, you'll get work.

2. Your blog will earn more money on SocialSpark (per post) than on most other pay per post sites. You can expect to be paid at least $10.00 for 200 words.

3. Social spark offers a referral program. You can make a little more extra money by getting other people to write for them.

4. Socialspark pays you the money you make through paypal.

5. If you do your job well, advertisers are allowed to rate you and your work. Good ratings get you more jobs. More jobs of course, makes more money for your blog.

6. The support team is always prompt, personal and helpful.

7. Each post is your personal opinion with no influence from Socialspark.



Disadvantages of blogging with Socialspark





There are advantages of making money online. However, hard you work, and however much money you make with your blog, there will always be little, nagging things about how you go about doing so. There are a few disadvantages of blogging with socialspark. And even though they do not outweigh the advantages in the least, I thought I should mention them to you to give you the complete picture of this site.

1. You have to wait 30 days after your post has been approved before you get the payment. Keep in mind that your advertiser may take days to approve your post.

2. You have to wait until your balance has accumulated to at least $50.00 before you request payment. If you did request payment before the balance is at least $50.00, you have to pay a 'penalty' of $2.00.

3. You write all your posts on the Socialspark site. Therefore, the format your text is eventually published in may not be up to your usual standard. Paragraphs and lines are not always where you think they'd be.



Sign up to Socialspark here This is my link, so you'll be signing up through my page as my referral. 





So, are you ready to make some money with your blog? If you are, I can recommend Socialspark. It's upfront and the payment is real. 

Have You Enabled Adsense For Feeds

Adsense for feeds allow ads to show with your feeds. You can choose if you want them to appear at the top or the bottom of your posts. They're always relevant to your topics and appear in small windows (just like on your blog). You earn money when visitors click on or view these ads. A feed, simply put, is a plugin that offers your reader a way to get regular updates every time you publish something new. 

You have enabled targeted Google Adsense on your blog and you've burned your feeds. If you haven't targeted your Google adsense on your site you may be losing lots of money. Go to the link and you will see a very simple tutorial of how to make your Google adsense work better for you.

On the other hand, if you want to burn a feed here's a super, step-by-step article showing you how to get a feedburner account for your blog.

After publishing Google adsense on your site, you may think that your Adsense for feeds are automatically enabled, but  this is not so. However, there is great news! You can enable adsense for feeds with just a few clicks. Please note that you need to have a feedburner account before you set up adsense for feeds. The above, linked article will help. 

Enable Adsense for feeds on your blog

1. Go to your dashboard.

2. Click Monetize on your chosen blog.

3. In the top panel you'll see Adsense overview, Adsense For Feeds, and Amazon Associates. Click on Adsense for Feeds.

4. You will be brought to a page that guides you through the Adsense for feeds set-up. It will show you the address to which all your feeds are being directed.

4. Choose your ad type (picture and text is ideal). Frequency and Position.

5. Click on Next and see your results. There, you're done!

Adsense for feeds earn you extra money, so if you've already enabled Google adsense on your blog, it would be a shame not to also enable Adsense for feeds. With just one click, you could potentially earn yourself some extra cash. 





If you enjoyed this article please share it on your favourite networking sites. Thank you. 

Net 10 Unlimited

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Net10 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Isn’t it amazing how cold callers expect the right to all kinds of private information about you, just because they called you up?  In no other area of life, will a stranger expect you to tell them about your expenses – phones, electricity and otherwise – simply because they asked. I received one of these calls the other day and was slightly irritated to be called away from my work by someone I didn’t know, just to be asked some stupid, private questions about my phone bills.

The caller wanted to know what type of phone I had and how much I paid a month. I told him I wasn’t interested in a new phone, and that I was perfectly happy with the phone I’m using, without wondering how much each phone call was going to cost me. However, this was before I'd heard of Net 10 Unlimited and seen this Cute NET10 commercial from a Real NET10 customer online.

They have  excellent deals, and have cut many a cell (mobile) phones bills by half, leaving you the freedom to spend a bit more on the finer things of life. Net 10 Unlimited doesn't have to offer contract and uncomfortable credit checks. You get unlimited talk, text and data for only $50.00 per month. Their coverage is nationwide and the reception is twice as good as many other mobile phone companies. Airtime can be purchased online as well as from stores and directly from your phone. This is perfect for people who work unusual hours, have their own businesses, or make overseas calls to contacts abroad. After all, Net 10 Unlimited provides a long-distance service to more than 75 different countries.

 Their choice of phones is also excellent. They use LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Samsung and Nokia (which is the phone I have). Nokia takes remarkable pictures for a phone. I take all my blog posts pictures with my phone nowadays. It’s very handy and does the job.



If you would like more details and information, why not pop over to their twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Net10_Wireless

or Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NET10Wireless You can also see this video of what What Rob has to say here. 

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How To Get Blog Traffic: September Update

I've recently been scouring the Internet to find good articles to improve my sites and increase my blog traffic. I know that high blog traffic translates into better impressions and higher earnings for blog owners. Blog traffic is not something which can be increased over night, but there are steps we can take in order to gradually get the kind of traffic we deserve. 

There are several articles on this blog, aimed at new bloggers, about ways in which we can write better to increase our traffic and quality of content. I'm not an expert so I constantly need to teach myself new ways to make my sites better and improve traffic to all my blogs.

This new page has a collection of great articles dedicated to helping new bloggers improve their blog traffic in areas of content, settings, gadgets and customization: Get Blog Traffic: 20+ Articles For New Bloggers. 

However, I'd like to link to 3 other extremely helpful articles which can help you get blog traffic in totally different ways. 

Three different ways to get blog traffic

Comment on dofollow sites to get traffic (and backlinks) to your blog 

List of 51 DoFollow Blogs To Comment On

The above article is a fabulously useful list of dofollow blogs you can comment on. 'Do follow' simply means that when you comment and leave your blog ID, this link counts as a backlink to your site. (No need to spam them with your extra links. A simple comment with your blog ID will do). This is good for SEO and Google ratings. Backlinks, simply put, are links from other sites pointing to your blog. 

Someone who clicks on your linked comment (providing it's approved) goes straight to your blog. This is a potential for you to attract new and regular subscribers/readers.

Use backlinks on the web to get new traffic

101 Ways To Get Quality Backlinks To Your Blog

The above article is a gem. It gives you more than a hundred ways to build backlinks to your blog. Backlinks seem to be the 'in' thing this year when it comes to increasing your Google rating. Building backlinks, however, does not only positively affect your site's ratings, it also gets you free traffic to your blog. This article tells you to build links on forums etc. What this does, is bring people to your site through your comments and interaction. 

Optimize your page for blog traffic

How to Optimize A Page For Keywords

This is another fantastic article. It shows you simply how to properly place keywords on any page of your blog. Great keyword placing means you get traffic from people using search terms on search engines. This means you don't have to place links anywhere on the web or become active in forums. Merely taking care of the stuff on your own site results in blog traffic, because people can find your posts better and more effectively.

So, getting blog traffic doesn't seem to hard after all. Of course you have to work constantly at it, but if you start with the above three points, these should see you on your way to attracting more free traffic for your blog. The only question is, which one are you going to try first?

• Comment on great sites to get blog traffic


• Build backlinks on forums and other parts of the Internet to get free traffic


• Or learn how to choose sound keywords to attract traffic to your site?

The rest is up to you. Please leave your comment for A Blogger's Books subscribers if you have other tried-and-tested ways of getting free blog traffic. Thank you.

Above image link: http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/event.php?id=228

Free Blog Gadgets For Blogspot

Free Blogger gadgets are always in demand for both new and more experienced bloggers. New bloggers naturally grab hold of all the gadgets they think look pretty on their blogspot site. They (the free gadgets) get weeded out as bloggers become more experienced, but more often than not, most of us keep quite a few on our site for years. Google blogs (Blogger) has provided an unlimited amount of free blog gadgets for us to sink our teeth into. Writing blogs like A Blogger's Books have enjoyed gadgets to increase page views and other useful, fun, free blog gadgets that make writing sites more productive and satisfying.

To share this with you, I'm featuring a collection of favourite gadgets for blogging. The list includes tutorials on adding the free blog gadgets (for brand new bloggers) and a brief description of them. More importantly, I explain how and why these gadgets are important to your blog and the ways in which they can be useful to you. Why not check it out! This page will be updated regularly, so drop by again to see what this writing blog has put together for you. Click on the headings to go to the individual articles. 

Fun Gadgets For Your Blog

These include: Event, Flickr photostream, The Daily Puppy, 'Twitter Follow Me' buttons and more. Blogging for many, is about sharing life's experiences, having fun and making friends. If this is you, then you'll certainly like one or more of these gadgets.



Free Gadgets To Improve Page Views

These include: Blogger Play Gadget, Recent Post Gadget, 'You May Also Like' gadget, etc. The last thing a blogger wants is to be the only person who visits her/his site. These free blogspot gadgets will help you gain more views and have visitors returning to read your new posts.



Free Gadgets To Monetize Your Blog

These include: Pages, Search box, Adsense and Amazon Deals. These gadgets can seriously add to your income while doing something you love.



Blogger's Most Useful Gadgets

These include: Get answers, Recent posts, 'Share This' and Popular Posts. Fun, earning, and lots of new followers are great, but sometimes bloggers need a bit of creative help to give back to the people for whom they write. These free gadgets are just what you need.

Top Gadgets

These include: Followers, Pages, HTML/Javascript, Recent Posts etc. Generally, bloggers have their best (top) gadgets which are almost standard on all the blogs we visit. This list gives you the favourites of the thousands of gadgets available.



If you know someone who could benefit from this article about free blog gadgets please share it with them and on your favourite networking sites. As always, thank you for your visit and your comments.

Facebook Speaks! Your Favourite Self-Help Books

I asked a 1002 people on Facebook what their favourite self-help book was. The list below is the result of months of searching. Many of these books are now available in hard copy and ebook format, so it's easy to download any of them on your kindle or any other e reader. They aren't exactly free ebooks, but most of them are very affordable indeed. 

Facebook votes for self-help books

The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr Norman Vincent Peale

A self-help book teaching readers how to gain strength to achieve their goals through the power of positive thinking. This is manifested in - personal relationships, gaining control over your life and breaking the cycle of worry.

The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B White

A description of healing herbs, beneficial for all kinds of conditions and diseases.

The Green Pharmacy by James A Duke PhD

New discoveries in Herbal Remedies for Common Diseases and conditions from the world's foremost authority on healing herbs.





Emptiness Dancing by Adyashanti

A Buddhist-based system of mindfulness practise. It teaches readers personal development through strengthening their inner psyche and becoming confident in who they are. 

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruitz

A practical guide to personal freedom. A Toltec wisdom book.

The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing by Ted Biringer

Based on the teachings of Zen, this is a self-help book which attempts to give the reader the confidence to heal themselves and find direction through meditation and enlightenment. 

The Bible

The teachings of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. A book that leads to the salvation of people everywhere. No home should be without one.

How To Change Your Life in Seven Steps by John Bird

Change your life in seven easy steps. A self-help book to turn your life into something of which you can be proud. Direct and firm; based on the writer's own life. 

The Success Principals by Jack Canfield

How to get from where you are to where you want to be with confidence. 

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers

Positive thinking and a clear-cut plan to help readers replace their fear with confidence and high self-esteem.

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L Hay

This is a self-help book about personal development and self-healing based on knowledge of how to increase your full potential.





I'm confident you too can benefit from the self-help books listed here, chosen by a group of Facebook users. It's not too late to add your favourite to the list by leaving the name of the book, the author and a one-sentence description in the comment panel below. 

If you're a writer and have a free ebook to give away please leave a comment on this article because this is my next project.  I will give your book away and you can come back and get someone else's ebook for free.  Please also leave a one-sentence description about your book. I'll also be adding my self-help books to this event. I'll be offering a free e-book too!

Amazon Launches Kindle Indie Bookstore

Amazon has this month launched its first Kindle Indie book store. This has come as great news to indie, e publishers - like myself - around the world. If you're looking to publish your digital book, this is certainly the way to go. 





(What are Indie books? They are books published by Independent authors/publishers who're not affiliated to established publishing companies like Harper Collins for example. It's the same idea of indie musical bands. Kindle indie books are merely those independent books published on kindle).

Readers can log into the Kindle store and browse for an e book at their heart's content. There are currently only 7 genres available in the store front. These are obviously the popular ones like memoirs and thrillers etc. We hope in time, that Amazon will see how popular this is with readers and general users of the site, and would extend their lists to cover most of the genres of e books available.

What you should know about Amazon's e books

(Quick facts about publishing on KDP)

Top selling  e books in each genre are updated hourly.

Top 7 popular categories (the ones people are mostly buying) are listed in the digital book store.

Amazon editors, and they only, pick featured authors of said digital books.

Only highly rated and top selling  e books get listed in the Kindle Indie store.

If you're an author looking to publish your e book on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), there are dozens of links from this information page to get you started. If you're a reader looking to browse or buy cheap, Kindle, digital books, here's your link to the Kindle Indie Book store, now open for 24-hour browsing. 

Remember you don't have to have a kindle to read these amazing e books. If you have a mac, most of them come with a free kindle installed. If you have a PC, download your very own kindle here and read fantastic digital books to your heart's content.  Of course, you can buy a kindle now they're on offer. 

Finally, don't forget that if you get my e books listed below please leave at least a rating for me (they're also available in hard copy). Who knows, I may be the next featured author on Amazon's new Kindle Indie Book store!

How To Raise Kids To Be Responsible Adults

How To Really Lose Weight Without Dieting

How To Spend Less

Straight Talk

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I received a call a couple of days ago. It was one of those with the slight pause before the person at the other end answers your, ‘Hello’. You know, as soon as you get one of these, that someone is going to try and sell you something they describe as everything you need.

The caller wanted to know what type of phone I had and how much I paid a month. I know if I called you up and asked you what type of house you had and how much you paid each month on your mortgage, you’d tell me to get lost – what audacity!

I told him I wasn’t interested in a new phone, and that I was perfectly happy with the phone I’m using, without wondering how much each phone call was going to cost me. After all, if I wanted to call a friend I'd just do so without considering how much each second of the conversation cost. If he’d been from Straight Talk, perhaps I’d have listened with more interest. After all, they’ve cut many a cell (mobile) phones bills by half, leaving you the freedom to spend a bit more on the finer things of life.

Straight talk offers no contract and no uncomfortable credit checks. Their coverage is nationwide and the reception is twice as good as many other mobile phone companies, so there will be no more uncomfortable silences and repeated, ‘Hellos’ while you’re on important phone calls.

Their choice of phones is also excellent. They use LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Samsung and Nokia (which is the phone I have). Nokia takes remarkable pictures for a phone. I take all my blog posts pictures with my phone nowadays. It’s very handy and does the job.

Unlimited monthly service includes calls, texts, picture messaging and the web. 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 MB of web data would suit even the cell phone addict! All for just $45.00 per month. Even the teenager who's permanently stuck to his/her phone would be proud of such a deal. However, go outside and enjoy the summer. Listen to your mom when she says you need a social life outside of phone conversations and texts! After all, mom knows best, right?

Here's a customer's view on Straight Talk (video).

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qjoWtd6-vWg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

7 Ways Blogger Is Better Than Wordpress

The debate between Blogger and Wordpress has divided bloggers for generations (in internet years). Both services have their own niches in the blogosphere, and they certainly have their own advantages. I’ll admit now that this article is shamelessly pro-Blogger. If you’re a fan of Wordpress, you may want to stop reading this article now. What follows are seven pros that gives the Blogger an edge over its longtime rival.

Wordpress addict, why are you still reading? 

Blogger is more user-friendly than Wordpress

A newcomer to Blogger will notice its basic advantage: user-friendliness. Blogger has an easy-to-understand setup with a dashboard of intuitive action icons for the new blogger. Setup, design, posting: all processes within Blogger are streamlined to maximize its efficiency. Within a matter of minutes someone can create and customize their blog with Blogger and start posting. I would recommend Blogger to anyone with limited Internet experience who's starting a new blog.

Blogger enables customizable domain names

Unlike Wordpress, Blogger users can create a customizable domain name for their blog at no extra cost. You can create a sensible domain name catered to your blog’s theme without having to add “.blogger” at the end of the URL. Original domain names are particularly useful for bloggers cultivating a unique online persona.

Blogger is good for ad-free layout

Distracting ads often serve as a deal breaker for new bloggers looking to post clutter-free content. While Wordpress can place advertisements on their users’ blogs, Blogger chooses to refrain from doing so. This pro emphasizes how Blogger allows the user to be the ultimate controller of their content. If you don’t want ads on your blog, Blogger is for you.

Blogger gives you the option of choosing your own ads

Conversely, if you notice that your blog has generated a large following and you’d like to capitalize the traffic, you can include advertisements on your blog at no extra cost. Blogger allows you to customize your ads to fit the aesthetic of your blog, so you can choose from small, discreet ads to huge banners.

Blogger lets you add your own code

For the more ambitious user, Blogger allows for the addition HTML or Javascript. By adding code on Blogger, users can endlessly customize their blogs to accommodate any desired change in layout, format, color, font, etc. Sites like SimpleCode demystify the programming basics for those intimidated by HTML but want to utilize the coding features in Blogger.

Blogger lends itself to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Blogger’s custom coding advantage also allows for increased SEO. Users can alter their Blogger-hosted blogs so they feature meta tags that attract search engine hits. You can also change the code so that the titles of your posts appear first in a search engine rather than the title of your blog. If your post title appears first, there’s a greater chance that you’ll be found by someone interests in your posts.

Blogger is always free

Of course, there are paid options, but Blogger has always been the least costly blogging service.  While Wordpress can be free, many of its additional services (like the removal of ads) require an additional fee. Blogspot offers its users complete control over a blog from creation to deletion without ever asking for a single penny of their money.

License for photo: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Italicised phrases have been added by Anne Lyken-Garner