My India

The recent hunt for blog landed me to a Beautiful picture of India from the eyes of a German resident. The blogger had written beautifully and took great care in the portrayal of the true India.

I'll suggest that each one of you must read the blog My India to know what people from outside think about India. The true picture of the Indian Culture that makes you go back to the memory lane.

Getting more increased no of readers

THE TOP FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR BLOG...

Marketing is useless if you don't have a good 'product'. Here are five ways to ensure you do.

1. Provide something unique: There are so many blogs out there, even if you're writing brilliantly, you won't attract an audience if someone who's already more widely-read is writing on the same subjects. First-hand accounts or data, original research, surveys, original ideas, original graphics or photos or artwork, all help establish your uniqueness. World O'Crap, one of the newest and yet most popular Salon blogs, is written by a liberal who almost exclusively frequents right-wing conservative blogs and news sites, catches them in lies and exaggerations and inconsistencies, and then writes biting, hilarious satire about them. Unique, brilliant, and very funny.
   
2. Provide something valuable: Give readers a high 'return on their investment' in reading your blog by (a) entertaining them, (b) teaching or helping them to do something (lessons learned etc.), (c) informing them about something they need to know about, (d) giving them a 'take-away' (checklist, great quote, useful tool, etc. -- something that will cause them to immediately bookmark or blogroll or write about your site and revisit it often), (e) saving them time (distilling something down, analyzing it, researching it), or (f) providing deep insight about what something means (great graphics can help do this).
   
3. Be first: The first person to write about a particular topic will probably get a large share of traffic about it. Even if a more popular blog picks up on it, they're likely to link to you and send even more readers your way. First-hand accounts, on-the-spot photos, comments from people who were at the scene of breaking news all make fascinating reading. Even the first reviews and synopses of new movies and books usually attract a lot of attention.
   
4. Do your research: Invest time to learn as much as possible about what you're going to write about. Spend much more time reading and researching than you do writing. Check your facts. Learn to use search engines powerfully, so no time is wasted looking for just the right information. Don't neglect primary research -- stuff you get from offline sources like real people, in-depth television reports, people you can call or survey to get information that isn't available on the Web. Always cite and if possible link to your sources. Dig for great finds, stuff that isn't on the first page of the Google results, information that you need to go through multiple links to find, information embedded in the many databases that are online but aren't Googled at all. And never lie or exaggerate.
   
5. Learn to write very well: Master the art of story-telling. Learn to be brief without being too dense. Write in a conversational, accessible, friendly style. Eschew obscure and intimidating words, like 'eschew' (it means 'avoid' ;-) Ask people you trust to comment on your writing style. Use point form, examples, restatements for clarity. Be natural. Learn the 39 steps for story-writing; most of them apply to non-fiction, too. Have fun, be loose, show your emotion. Try to avoid clichés.
   

... AND THE TOP FIVE WAYS TO ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION TO IT

Once you've got a world class 'product', here's how to get people to look at it.

1. Use other media to pull people to your blog: Don't just write great stuff and wait to be discovered. Use e-mails (sparingly, selectively) to tell people you think might be interested in reading your blog about a particular article you've written. Make comments on others' blogs and include your blog URL when you do. Try to find an A-lister or two who might be interested in one of your articles, and e-mail them (just be aware many others are also looking for A-listers' attention, so do so sparingly and be patient). Or just comment, early and frequently, on A-listers' posts (first commenter on any new A-lister post often draws a lot of traffic). Join and participate in discussion groups, always leaving your blog URL at the end of every message. Contribute to e-magazines, either online versions of hard-copy periodicals like Ms., or specialized online journals like Virtual Occoquan. Use outgoing links on your blog and blogroll to articles and blogs written by people you'd like to have as readers: Chances are, they'll note you when they look at their inbound links list and come over to see what you said about them. And when people write to you, always answer, always acknowledge that they took the time, and always include your URL in your response. But don't feed the trolls (i.e. don't reply to readers who write hurtful, malicious or baiting comments or e-mails) or you'll have readers you don't want.
   
2. Write, at least sometimes, about 'hot' topics: You don't have to be a Googleslut to occasionally get some special buzz on a topic everyone is talking about. Being very focused on narrow, deep topics will get you a faithful readership, but not a particularly large one. Writing about something popular from time to time, especially if you do so before everyone else is writing about it, and say something unique or insightful, will broaden your audience, and bring in what Malcolm Gladwell calls connectors, people who can bring their entire, large networks of potential new readers to see your blog.
   
3. Make a great first impression: The average reader who links to your site looks at 1.5 pages and stays 90 seconds. Google hits command a small fraction of even that attention span. That's how long you have to make an impression that will bring them back. A memorable look, a powerful theme, easy navigation, legibility, making sure your links work and that you've spellchecked, using clear headings, clever, attractive graphics, summarizing your long posts, making sure your page doesn't take too long to load -- all these things help create a great first impression, and give your blog what's called 'stickiness'. The longer they stay, the more they'll remember and the more likely they'll come back.
   
4. Learn by studying who's reading what, and what works: I look at the end of each day who's been reading How to Save the World (most blogs have a 'referrer log' tool that lists your visitors; services like SiteMeter also provide this information). If I don't recognize a reader by their URL, I'll go to their site to see who they are and what brought them to my site (and often say 'thanks for visiting' while I'm there). And I track total popularity three ways (see chart above): Average hits/day per the Salon Rankings list, Number of Inbound Blogs per Technorati Cosmos (I also visit any new additions to my Inbound Blogs list), and Number of people subscribed to my RSS feed per Dave Winer's Who Subscribes List. I know that when I write about certain subjects like blogging or business innovation, I'll get a spike in hits. But I also know my posts on other subjects, like the environment, economics, and social networking, have different and loyal audiences, who I'd lose if I narrowed the focus of this blog. And some things, like poetry and short stories, I post despite knowing they have a very small audience, because the few comments I do get are essential to improving my writing skills. And because I love writing them.
   
5. Get outside more: Real Live Preacher, consistently one of the three most popular Salon Blogs, deliberately seeks out (looking at the Recent Updates List for unfamiliar blog names) and welcomes and helps new bloggers -- a tremendous way to get grateful new readers for his smartly written, well-laid-out blog. By using blog directories like EatonWeb or lists like Technorati's Current Events (or just typing a topic of interest in Technorati's search bar) you can find other bloggers interested in the same things you are, and connect with them. Or explore the blogrolls of blogs you like. When you find a 'like mind', link to them, e-mail them, comment on their weblog, or otherwise let them know you exist and where to find you. But don't be pushy and overtly ask them to link to you -- just let them know where you are, and they'll come around.
   

And finally: Be patient -- Viral marketing is very effective but takes time to work. Stick with what you're doing, especially if people are complimenting you -- word will spread, and the audience will come. And be yourself. If you try to affect a style that isn't 'you' it will come off as forced or dishonest.

Few FAQ's

Many users have asked me the question " AGLOCO sounds too good to be true. Why am I getting paid without putting anything into it ? "

Answer 1 : You have Viewbar on screen, they pay you for it.
Having a Viewbar on your screen while you are actively
browsing the Internet offers benefits to AGLOCO, advertisers,
and Internet companies. The internet advertising industry is
booming, as companies are trying many different ways to get
their information in front of your eyes. As such, every inch of
real estate on your screen is valuable (as demonstrated by the
“million dollar homepage” last year). The Viewbar will show a
targeted text ad, and advertisers are more than happy to pay
AGLOCO for the opportunity to put that in front of you.

Answer 2 : You build the network, they pay you more.
Should you choose to build the network, you are ‘sticking
your neck out’ to build the community and make it valuable.
You are ‘paying’ with your time and effort, as well as risking
your reputation, in convincing the people you know to join
AGLOCO. You know that it could fail. If it does, you have
spent a lot of time working for nothing in return, and you might
look a little silly to the people you referred into the system.
Not everyone is willing to take that risk.
However, for those who do take that risk, there will be
significant rewards if AGLOCO succeeds.

Have You Heard About this ????

Dear Mahi,

We will be releasing the AGLOCO Viewbar software soon and want to update Members on how things will work when it is released.

Each Member will get an email informing them that their Viewbar is available. It will contain detailed instructions on the download, which will be done from the agloco.com website. Members will be invited to download in groups of 50,000 a day for a two week period, with Members contacted in the order in which they signed up.

Shortly before the first set of download emails go out, you will receive an email notice that the AGLOCO website will be ‘out of service’ for a few hours – this is necessary for us to move the Viewbar download system from the test server to the main servers.

Also, please be aware of the following:

1. AGLOCO Hours: You will accrue hours in your AGLOCO Member account (current maximum is five direct hours a month). Hours are earned during active surfing on the Internet. The Viewbar has a green light on it that notifies the Member when it is accruing time. Your referrals’ surfing will accumulate hours for you at a 25% rate, meaning if one of your referrals surfs for the maximum five hours you will get 1.25 (0.25 x 5) hours credited to your total referral hours. You can only get credit referral hours up to the amount you directly surf (meaning if you surf 3 hours but a referral surfs 4, you will only get credit for the first 3 of your referral’s 4 hours). AGLOCO accrues these hours each month and also has a cumulative total of all hours earned. These hours are what AGLOCO will use to calculate cash and other distributions. The Viewbar contains a one click inactive button which turns it off and removes it from your screen at any time.
2. Initial Release for Windows: The initial Viewbar release will be for Windows Vista, XP, 2000 Pro and 2000 Server. Later, we will release Mac and Linux versions of the Viewbar. Until that occurs, Mac/Linux users can still log onto any supported Windows computer and accumulate their five hours. The Viewbar works with browsers IE 5.5 or higher and Firefox 1.5 or higher.
3. Cash Distributions: To be a sustainable entity in the long term, AGLOCO makes Member cash distributions from its positive cash flow (revenue minus costs). Therefore, please do not expect a check after the first couple of months as it will take time to collect revenue from advertisers and this revenue must exceed costs in order to make cash distributions to Members. We will be keeping Members informed of our financials and you can visit the Official company blog at http://blog.agloco.com for the latest updates.
4. Multiple Users on One Viewbar: As stated previously, multiple Members may use the same Viewbar on the same computer. Only one Viewbar download will be necessary as the Viewbar software will enable each Member to log in and log out using their AGLOCO Member ID# and password (obviously, only one Member ID# can be accumulating Viewbar hours at any one time). Please note, only one Viewbar is allowed on a screen at a time.
5. One-Time Download: The v1.0 Viewbar is purposely simplistic and minimalist, but it also comes equipped with an automatic self-updating feature. Once you download the Viewbar for the first time, your Viewbar will be seamlessly updated with new additions and features as they become available. These future features include the direct cash back feature when a Member purchases items on sponsor site and a portion of the purchase price is added back to the Member’s AGLOCO account (as described on the Official AGLOCO Blog at http://blog.agloco.com/index.php/post35/ . )

We look forward to your active participation in the AGLOCO community.

Dan Jorgensen
Member Coordinator


TO JOIN CLICK HERE