Scenario #1 If you: Regularly create high quality, valuable content Actively promote your blog Don't make a reasonable hourly wage You are UNDERPAID. Scenario #2 If you: Spend more time checking ad/earning stats than creating high-quality, valuable content Are more interested in monitoring traffic than promoting your blog Also don't make a reasonable hourly wage Whatever trickle of income (if any) you're making is JUST RIGHT - get used to it. If you are a Scenario #1 blogger: Keep doing what you're doing; you will likely be rewarded sooner or later. You are a winner. If you are a Scenario #2 blogger: Punt the ads, get off the daily traffic rollercoaster and spend your time doing something productive; like building and promoting a blog you can be proud of. Winners do it. That is all.

It's not that you aren't willing to invest time promoting your blog - you are. Indeed, you spend so much doing so that you haven't got much left. Have you, therefore, hit a wall in the amount of exposure you can generate for your blog? Not if you can tap into some slacker-friendly ways to broaden your community. To that end, here are a few examples of services and techniques that work. I invite you to add your own favorites, too. Slacker-Friendly Services: Communities Now, I'm not promoting a self-centered view of online communities, where the only goal is to receive and not to give. However, if you truly understand and believe in the value of your blog ( do you ? ), then even limited community participation can pay off. Does your blog sell itself? Here are two such communities that are sending traffic my way: SpicyPage A Digg-like voting site for blogs that I joined recently. Setting it up is quick and easy, and possibly all you need to do. While active community part...

I've read a number of ebooks - paid and free - and have come to rely on their nigh-monolithic failure to approach the charm of, say, your typical dentist's drill. Therefore, Chris Garrett 's excellent ebook, "Killer Flagship Content", has slightly screwed up my whole idea of God, right and wrong, the universe, etc. I already subscribe to Chris' blogs because I like his writing. Had it been almost anyone else, the mere utterance of the words "ebook" and "killer" would have ended the story right there ; but it wasn't just anyone, so I decided to scan it. Then I read it. Then I started taking notes. In other words, it was the hotness. Atypical of free ebooks, there's no sales language or anything to buy (unless you consider "sales" to be one invitation to subscribe to his RSS feed, which I would encourage anyway). Instead, it gives practical advice that can get you thinking about new ways to distinguish your blog from the r...

Cool points are hereby awarded to StumbleUpon . Think of it as a mid-point between del.icio.us and Digg , with a great social element. Here's why winners use it: It's fun, and the toolbar is actually useful. It's easy to integrate into your blogging/surfing habits. It connects your blog to a larger community. The 'Stumble Effect' is arguably better, and far less painful than the 'Digg Effect' (traffic over time as opposed to all at once) The friend/contact mechanism makes much more sense than, say, MyBlogLog 's. You get ME as a buddy. (This clearly should have been #1) The Basics and More The Basics: There's really not much to using StumbleUpon (I like this). There's a toolbar you'll use to find, vote on and review new pages, and there's your profile page which includes a mini-blog that catalogs your Stumble activity. The Toolbar: The main functions of the toolbar are the "Stumble" button, which takes you to various websites...

So you discovered the concept of link-baiting , but it isn't working for your readership-challenged blog. Chances are, you're baiting the wrong people. Who are the right people? Why will they read our blog? Who do we have to lay What do we have to do to get a link in this town? The answers are so, so simple. Who Are the Right People? The right people are bloggers somewhat more successful than ourselves. Additionally, we: Like them Read their blogs regularly Actively contribute to their community Why Will They Read Our Blog? Because we provide them with readers. Oh, yes. Call it enlightened self-interest. Want to get the right people to read your blog? Follow this simple rule: a link is not enough . Me, I'm easy; if you link to me and click that link, you're fairly assured of a visit (because, you know, I'm bored). The majority of popular/busy bloggers are not. Therefore, if you're going to link to someone, make that link damn compelling . Actually liking th...

Dosh Dosh - A Very Simple Method to Increase your RSS Subscribers & MyBloglog community members. The idea is that instead of pointing your comment name-link to your blog, use your RSS feed or MyBlogLog community page instead. Cool points awarded. ChrisG - Are You Burning Blog Bridges? Some people (NOT ME) are fond of using a snarky, snide, and otherwise smartass-y writing style. While this may get you some short-term attention and link-baitage reward, you could be hurting yourself in the long run. A good reminder for those of us (NOT ME) who's mouths and fingers get us into trouble a little too often. Kumiko - AGLOCO Will Not Make Money Online! Ever! While it is indeed possible that AGLOCO will fail to deliver, this is the most wrong-headed analysis I've seen yet. I like all the exclamation points, though; that's passion.