You might want to take a look at the new social bookmarking service Second|Brain.

You could win a Macbook Air, iPod, or Xbox 360 too.

What does Second Brain do?

Second Brain captures many of your action and bookmarks frm other social bookmark services and displays them in one place. You can then search and find them using tags.

For instance, My Second|Brain account is currently capturing my Twitter comments, WordPress.com posts, StumbleUpon stumbles, and Del.icio.us bookmarks. You can add DIGG, Flicker, Blogger, Google and a few others. You can also bookmard directly to Second Brain.

This allows Second Brain to be a second posting for your social bookmarks.

In this case, unlike StumbleUpon and Digg, you can freely submit bookmarks of your own sites without incurring the wrath of others. Basically, it’s a second chance for your bookmarks to be noticed.

I have notice that Second Brain even gets a screenshot of the page that is Del.icio.us bookmarked.

I find that a cool feature. You can also organize your bookmarks into collections and make some bookmarks private. I haven’t had a chance to see if they add the screenshot from other services.

The next step is following and getting followers to your content or lifestream as SecondBrain calls it.

Much like friends on StumbleUpon. You can follow friends on your SecondBrain page. It works a bit like a MyBlogLog home page where you have a list of social bookmarking actions of your contacts.

I recoment you take a look at Second Brain for two reasons.

First, this a simple way to get more exposure and traffic using social bookmarking and once set up,

it takes no time to use. It is all automaticly fed from your other social accounts. You can ad SecondBrain buttons  to your browser just like Del.icio.us. The buttons work just like the Del.icio.us browser buttons work. Better yet, bookmark with Del.icio.us and your bookmark goes to two places at once. Plus MyBlogLog if you added your account there.

Secondly, they have a contest.

Join (it is free) and you are entered in a contest. First prize is a MacBook Air. Second is an XBox 360. Third prize is a iPod Nano. And no, you do not have to blog about it. Those who create the best content and networks will win. Adding content is soooo easy. Join now, the contest only runs while SecondBrain is in beta.

Care to follow me?

• Second|Brain shokthx
• MyBlogLog shokthx
• Twiter shokthx
• Del.icio.us shokthx

Choose the right domain name for your online business!

How do you know you have chosen the right domain name for your blog or website?

There are a few good rules you should always follow. There are also lots of examples of successful blogs or websites that break those rules. Still, following the rules will help make things easier for you to get your site to rank well in the search engines. Keep in mind that even when I give examples of rule breaking domains, these are the exceptions and you will be better off following the rules.

Let’s get started.

Always, always get a .com domain!

This is probably the single most important rule I can think of. Chances are, if you try to work on a non .com domain, all you are doing is advertising for the owner of the .com. You may be tempted to save money with a .info (I was) but after talking to those who have done some research, .info’s seem to rank lower in the SE’s (search engines) than .com’s.

Darren at problogger.net spent years trying to get the .com domain for Problogger. Now that he finally has it, it is not easy to switch the domain over to the .com without taking a hit from the search engines. At least now Darren can redirect the traffic from the .com that he was losing back to his original domain.

An example of another successful non .com domain would be del.icio.us.

del.icio.us is a popular social bookmarking site. Probably one of the few well known .us domains. Of course, if you have the option of a .edu or .gov domain those might make an exception, but most people will automatically put a .com on the end of a domain if they try to type it in. Avoid the chance and stick with a .com over any local or other type of domain.

Try to have a niche related keyword in the domain.

While not as important to SEO anymore, it may still help you rank a bit better if you have a popular keyword for your niche in your title. Also, Google bold faces the keyword if it is in the domain. Also, when someone sees the keyword in the domain itself, they know that site is likely to be about the subject they are searching for. Every little bit helps.

Keep is short and simple.

Shorter will be easier to remember, write down, and spell. Avoid too many words. Avoid words that are easy to misspell. We all want success, but can everyone spell it? Is that with one or two C’s and S’s?

Check your spelling.

I remember a demonstration video where the author did a search for possible domains and purchased a domain before realizing it was misspelled. Double check your spelling before you click the purchase button (triple check if you spell like me). Google is a play on the word googol. Sometimes spelling may not be that important.

Don’t use hyphens or dashes.

These are nearly impossible to tell someone unless they read the domain name. Maybe you will run a radio advertisement or be on a podcast someday. It is really inconvenient to explain dashes by voice. While the dashes or hyphens can make it easier to read the domain in a listing, you are better off just avoiding them.

Avoid trademarked names in your domain.

Even if you are planning to do an affiliate program for a company, avoid using and trademarked names in your domain. Nearly all affiliates will have a list of words that you cannot use in a domain if you wish to advertise their product. Even if you do get permission from someone at the company remember the person that replaces him or her may not feel the same. Don’t become lawyer bait. Find a related generic term. That way if the Zune never takes off your mp3 player site can still talk about iPods.

Avoid using free domain name search tools.

More than once I have read complaints from someone who used one of these services only to find that the domain names they checked were suddenly taken. I understand that there are some sites that apparently use the searches people do to find potential domains to purchase for themselves. Stick with the domain search tools provided by your registrar.

If you have the time and money, a used domain can have advantages.

A domain that has already been used can give your site or blog some advantages from the start. It may already have some page rank associated with it. It may have links pointing to it. It may still have some traffic coming to it. This can help your site hit the ground already running. It could also have been banned or delisted considered spam or associated with bad subject material that will prevent the domain from becoming successful at any level. If you go this route, be careful and check everything you can about the domain first.

Stick with well-known reliable domain registrars.

It will do you no good to save a few dollars on your domain if you cannot renew it because the registrar is messed up. This has happened to me. I also know someone who lost hundreds of domains and thousands of dollars in monthly income after a registrar failed to renew domains that he had renewed.

There are 3 registrars that I trust.

GoDaddy.com , eNom, and NameCheap. GoDaddy is the best known. Avoid purchasing anything other than the domain and whois protection. They will try to sell you everything under the sun. Also, I rarely hear good things about their hosting. I find eNom expensive. I do recommend NameCheap. They have been reliable and very affordable. The GoDaddy link is an affiliate link. This site is registered with GoDaddy, I have one or two with eNom and the rest are now with NameCheap. Personally, I find NameCheap to be much easier to buy from than GoDaddy.

The most important rule is to get your own domain.

Any domain is better than no domain. Use your name (unless your last name is difficult to spell like mine). If you are putting your traditional business online, using the company’s name would be good, or using part of the company’s name.

There are lots of examples of very successful blogs and sites that do not necessarily follow the rules I have given. Many popular blogs are on domain names of the author’s name. There is whatever.com that has become a million dollar business for a teenage girl. However, these recommendations should help your site get more traffic from the SE’s.

The last $1.00 ScratchBack link for this blog has been taken.

I really like the ScratchBack ad system.

They have added some new designs to the widget too. I am still hoping that narrower designs will be coming out soon.

I have raised the price of the links to $2.00.

It will stay at $2.00 until the last $1.00 link is bumped off. Then it will go up to $3.00.

In the meantime, it is my job to bring traffic to see these links. Otherwise, there will be no reason for anyone to pay $2.00 to purchase one. Unless, of course, they are just purchasing the link as a tip. That is also greatly appreciated.

I would also suggest taking a look at the various links yourself and seeing how people are using them.

You can learn from what others are doing to further your own efforts. There are one or two sites that are very good blogs. I find the car wax ad an interesting idea, and don’t forget Jim Kurkral’s Flip camera ad.

The Firefox SEO link surprised me. I have been using the Firefox SEO extension for a while myself and it can be a useful addition to anyone running a blog or website or several blogs or websites.

So far, I have approved all the ScratchBack links that were requested/tipped for.

As long as they do not lead to anything that could be termed offensive I will most likely approve a link. If you have any concern about your link feel free to contact me first, that or $2.00 is not really a risk anyway. Since the ads are no-follow, there is no need for concern on my part about linking to spam.

The ScratchBack widget is a great alternative since Google started to crack down on paid links without no follow.

The catchy graphic help the links stand out. The marketplace also helps advertisers find your site to purchase a link. While there are some alternatives that will let you keep all the profit from an advertisement, without a marketplace, you may not find advertisers. While ScratchBack has not replaced the income I used to get here from TTLA, it is doing well and shows promise. I kind of wonder what it would do on John Chow’s blog.

If you haven’t given ScratchBack a try, what are you waiting for?

Most sites have things that take up space and are less profitable. It is a safe and easy way to monetise a site or blog.

Internet marking constantly changing and Keyword Avalanch has changed to NicheRockets.

Why should you care? Keep reading for something really cool (and free) if you are trying to make money online.

What is NicheRockets?

At it’s core, NicheRockets is the same paid forum just like Keyword Avalanche was. In addition to the forum, Keyword Avalanche featured keyword lists that were useful to build niche sites around. However, the Internet marketing world is changing and AdSense does not pay what is used to and keyword lists are not as effective. So to add and keep real value to the forum they increased value of the benefits of being a member.

NicheRockets gives you five businesses in a box on a monthly basis.

More than just five niche sites ready for you to build, they are actually 5 businesses. You get a complete site. Graphics and template plus articles for content. You also get a complete Nichebot keyword search so you can change the content for your articles and know what keywords are hot. The real kicker is the product. A quality ebook for the niche site with sales page. That is not just one, but five per month. All you need is a domain, hosting, and to set it up.

Why not just sites and articles?

The fact is, Adsense is not as great as it used to be. Having a product to sell can really help create a true income from the sites. Let’s face it, if 10 out of 100 visitors click an Adsense ad, you are lucky to make $10 from all of them and in most cases you will make less than $1 from those 10 clicks. Now, if just 2 visitors buy your product, you’ve made over $20 instead. Plus, you can run your own AdWords campaign (or even set up your own affiliate system) to send more traffic.

Curious about NicheRockets’ business in a box? A free offer!

NicheRockets has a free business in a box for you to check out. Yep, a free site with content, graphic, product, and sales page and even a Nichebot keyword search done for you. You can even create the site and sell it. It is also not a ebook on making money online!  NicheRockets places the value of this gift at $1000 and it could very well make you more than that if you know what to do. I would suggest you download it right now before they remove it. Use the following link:

Free Business In a Box

What if you do not know how to set up a niche site?

That is where the NicheRockets forum comes in. With NicheRockets you can get complete training. They have videos to guide you each step of the way, including both a more basic system to get you started and guides for a more robust system when you are ready. If you find that you have questions after the videos and instructions, you also can ask in the forum.

The Nichebot forum is a real value by itself.

There is real advice there from people that really make money online. Tim Gorman (who is one of Ezine Articles top authors) shares his advice and experience. You cannot get more practical than a full time Air Force recruiter who makes the kind of money he does online. What he does works! There are other members that give great advice too. While there are not any real "secrets" in internet marketing, there is also advice that cannot be shared "out in the open" that some members feel safe to share in a closed forum like NicheRockets. There are also other products made available to members on the forum including resale rights products to sell that others are paying just to read (and members get them free). Great products, great education and great advice all in one place. What more could you ask for?

How about a $1-7 day NicheRockets trial?

Check it out for 7 days. If you do not like it, $1 is nothing to worry about it. If you do decide to stay (they wouldn’t make this kind of offer if they did not think you would be impressed) you get $50 off the normal monthly subscription. Give the $1 trial a trial and save the $50 on the subscription using the link below:

NicheRockets $1 trial

If you are interested in making money online, NicheRockets may be a good investment for you.

I am not going to tell you it will make you thousands per month. Most people buy the guru ebooks and never make a dime. Sometimes, it is because the information is useless and everyone is already using it. Other times, it is simply because they do not use the information. Ether way, they have wasted the money they spent. Sometimes that can be hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can see the what the NicheRockets product will look like for free and test the forum for just $1. I feel safe recommending that to anyone.

Once more here are the links:

Free NicheRockets business in a box

NicheRockets $1 trial and $50 off monthly subscription

I have been with NicheRockets nearly 2 years.

It is one of the two paid forums/products on internet marketing that I can really recommend. If you just want to run a blog, it may not be for you. If you are looking at eBay, it may not be worth the monthly expense. If you are interested in affiliate income, Adsense, and niche sites, I would think it definitely would be worth it. In any situation though, I would recommend you see for yourself because $1 is nothing that will set you back financially and it may be just what you need.

Jim Kukral is demonstrating some great internet marketing ideas on his blog.

In fact, he has a video on his blog that he could use to market 3 different products effectively in one video.

Take a look at Jim Kukral’s blog and watch the video about Somethingstore

Can you identify the 3 products that he is selling in the video?

Actually, I think he is only promoting 2. The subject of the video, Somethingstore.com, is just being reviewed and I didn’t spot any affiliate to it. I could be wrong, but you could substitute any product and use an affiiate link.

The real products are the Flip camera and Scratchback.

The video is shot using the Flip video camera.

This is a product that Jim used to test the effectiveness of Scratchback for marketing products. A test that was profitable for him also. My only suggestion is that on the page with the video, there is no real link to buy the camera. A shame, since he does such a great job of demonstrating how useful it can be.

The other product Jim is marketing is a link in the Scratchback list next to the video.

Notice how he uses the graphic of the video to point to Scratchback. While no mention of Scratchback is made, you will notice it. This would be a great place for Somethingstore or any business featured in the video to purchase a link on Scratchback. If you are a truly evil internet marketer,  a great place for a link to a direct competitor to Somethingstore. You could also simple take advantage of traffic to the page and place any link there.

This is an excellent example of internet marketing to follow.

I’ve added Jim Kukral’s blog to my reader list. He has many great ideas for marketing that are simple and easy to follow.

Internet marketing is more than just getting traffic.

Once you get someone to your page, you need to monetize the traffic you have. Otherwise, you will be working for free. While it’s nice to enjoy your work, you will enjoy it a lot more if you make money so you can keep enjoying it. Jim is showing how to get traffic and how to monetize effectively. Here we also see an example of using graphics effectively.

I would suggest you subscribe to Jim Kukral’s blog.

If you are a ScratchBack user, the Scratchback blog would also be a good read. ScratchBack is one of Jim Kukral’s ideas and there are some good things to learn about using ScratchBack there. You will not find the attitude you see on many interenet marketing blogs. Just simple, good ideas and how to use them.

Christmas themes too!

ScratchBack has announced it’s new marketplace blog directory.

This will aid both publishers showing the widget and advertisers. The marketplace should provide a single location and increase the usefulness of the ScratchBack widget.

If you are using the ScratchBack widget on your site or blog make sure you sign up on the marketplace!

This will help advertisers looking for a place to advertise find you. I think most of my Text Link Ads advertisers came from the TLA marketplace. I think eventually many advertisers will be using the ScratchBack directory to find blogs and sites to advertise on.

If you are an advertiser, this directory will provide a great place to find places to advertise you site or product.

Right now, the list is small. I think this is because not too many publishers know about the site. I think this will fill up quickly with some very good advertising options. Don’t forget, links are just $1.00 on this site.

For more information about the directory or to get your site listed, take a look at the post on the ScratchBack blog.

Visit the directory and make sure your site gets on it.

We’ve sorta quietly launched our new directory, or marketplace, the other day. Check it out at www.scratchback.com/directory.

Are you a ScratchBack widget user? Feel free to add your blog or website to the free directory. Adding your site or blog allows advertisers/tippers to easily find your blog based on categories, so they can tip you.

ScratchBack Marketplace Blog Directory Now Open! | ScratchBack

The directory is a bit rough yet.

It seem like they have taken some kind of directory script and adapted it. It was not obvious to me where the URL was for the sites. But, it is a great start. It would be nice to see a specific place for the cost of an ad as well as some kind of traffic ranking for sites. Right now, you would have to visit the site and check everything out yourself.

ScratchBack announces Christmas themes for the widget.

If you would like to add a little Holiday spirit to your ScratchBack widget they have a few Christmas themes now. I like them. My only complaint is that they are still to wide to go in the column I wish to place it in here. I have been told that thinner widgets are in the works – I wish these were available in a thin version.

You do not need to change the code on your blog or site.

Just go to the ScratchBack admin and select the widget manager link. You only need to go through the steps. Once you get to the point it gives you the code you are done. No need to copy the code to your blog.

Courtney Tuttle has published a list of posts reviewing Blogging Zoom.

I have simply copied it here since there would be no point in retyping the list with with same links. I wanted to share a link with those that are helping to promote Blogging Zoom.

*Update – Bogging Zoom is no more. The domain is now being used for something else.*

If you have not taken a look at Blogging Zoom yet, read a few of these reviews.

There are some good reviews here and you will see both the good and bad about Blogging Zoom. Most of the posts I have read have seen some good traffic from using Blogging Zoom.

I think you will find that Blogging Zoom is worth the time it takes to use.

Take some time to read some of the posts there and Zoom a few you like. It is off to a great start and continues to improve.

• CashQuests.com | Blogging Zoom Has Increased My Traffic.
• SuperBloggingTips | Do You Want Your Blog’s Traffic ZOOMING Through The Roof?
• Blograters | BloggingZoom.com
• Jason Clark | The BloggingZoom Backlink Participants 1-10
• Jason Clark | The BloggingZoom Backlink Participants 11-20
• NewsNotion.com | Zoom Your Traffic With BloggingZoom
• LocalRef | Get Your Prospects To Call You Using The BloggingZoom Tool
• MakingSalesMakingMoney | BloggingZoom New Social Network Increases Traffic
• Blendworx | Blogging Zoom for small to medium blogs
• EasyWordPress.com | Courtney Tuttle Launched Blogging Zoom
• Ejcross.com | New Social Networking Site Launched
• Ejcross.com | Pros And Cons of BloggingZoom.com
• JennyLens.com | BloggingZoom Empowers Bloggers Kudos Courtney Tuttle
• The Monetizer | Blogging Zoom – Explode Your Blog Traffic
• YourWebsiteProfit.com | Zoom It: A Blogging Zoom Review
• Ask The Admin | Blogging Zoom finally a social site for self promotion
• Rich Gilcrest | BlogginZoom – Very Cool New Blog Promotion Pligg
• TheNextPost | Is BloggingZoom Headed For Boom Time?
• MakeMoneyForBeginners | Blogging Zoom, A New Traffic Source
• Make Money For Beginngers | Blogging Zoom Stats – It Works
• Howtospoter.com | What Is Rocking Blogosphere?
• Zelixy | BloggingZoom.com-”Digg 2.0″?
• Tatraplan.com | Bloggingzoom – Bloggers Self Promo Paradise
• TheHonestWay | Shiny New Button
• Tellinitlikeitis.net | Blogging Zoom Launches New Social Networking Site For Bloggers
• StevenWilsonMarketing | Blogging Zoom
• Court | Blogging Zoom – The Blogger’s Coup Against The Mainstream Media Monsters
• Court | BloggingZoom Day One Recap
• EricSocia.net | BloggingZoom: Get Zoomed And See The Difference!
• FreedomIdeas | Never Got Dugg? Then Get Blogging Zoomed!
• Localref.com | BloggingZoom – Tool for bloggers
• BloggingNotes.net | BloggingZoom: I’m Going To Keep Using It
• PabloTheHat | BloggingZoom / User / Pablothehat / Submitted
• TheCaymanHost | Blogging Zoom First Submission Goes HOT
• TheConsumersCorner.net | BloggingZoom – A Blogger’s New BFF?
• Jason Clark | BloggingZoom – First Week Review
• Blackysky | A real blogger or a Bloggingzoom spammer
• Digitalkeyto.info | Using Blogging Zoom To Get Traffic To Your Blog
• Mcgrath.ca | Blogging Zoom: Did It Do The Job?
• HowToSpoter | BloggingZoom Sucks More Than BlogRush
• AllTipsAndTricks | How Much Is Your Blogging Zoom?
• Jasonaclark.com | Easiest Way Ever To Get A Backlink From A PR4 Website!
• Zybron | BloggingZoom
• Infektia | Getting More Traffic with BloggingZoom
• YourWebsiteProfit.info | Zoom It: a BloggingZoom Review
• HomeWithHeather | Awesome New Place to Display YOUR Content
• TheNextPost.com | Is BloggingZoom Heading For Boom Time?
• SlyVisions | Blogging Zoom Defines What Self-Promotion Is All About
• Court | Blogging Zoom Zooming
• JennyLens | Bloggingzoom by Courtney Tuttle
• CutieGadget | BloggingZoom : Blogger’s new best friend!
• MDailyDouz | Courtney Tuttle creates BloggingZoom
• Monetize-Your-Blog | Want Free Traffic To Your Blog? Try BloggingZoom
• Monetize-Your-Blog | Blogging Zoom – 5 Tips To Get Your Next Post Zoomed
• Continuing Adventures | A new type of Social Networking – Blogging Zoom
• Ageeksjourney | Blogging Zoom – New Kid On The Blogging Block
• TechnoMoney | How Effective Is Blogging Zoom And StumbleUpon? Take A Look!
• Technomoney | BloggingZoom: A Revolutionary Idea
• OnARidge | Blogging Zoom – A New Social Site
• BetShopBoy | Bloggers Of The World Unite!
• MyExtraBucks | Do you know Blogging zoom?
• Jason Clark | BloggingZoom – Week 2 Review: Traffic Surpasses Google
• BloggingNotes.net | BloggingZoom Sends the Traffic
• Digitalkeyto.info | Why I Am Saying Goodbye To BlogRush And Text Link Ads And Switching To…
• Blackysky | BloggingZoom Problems
• Monetize Your BlogspotBlog | BloggingZoom 5 Tips To Get Your Next Post Zoomed
• CarloSelorio| Want Free Traffic Try BloggingZoom
• SearchForBlogging | See How Easily You Can Increase Traffic
• TheWritersManifesto | BloggingZoom Review

The Ultimate List Of BloggingZoom Reviews | Internet Marketing | Strategy & Services

I think you will enjoy reading some of these reviews. I have really enjoyed using Blogging Zoom and look forward to its continued success.

Many thanks to Courtney Tuttle for the list and to both him and his partner Vic for their incredible work on Blogging Zoom.

Monday was the biggest traffic day this blog has ever seen.

Take a look at the Google Analytics Graph for my traffic over the past few days.

The first bump is what happened when I first started to use Blogging Zoom.

*Update-Blogging Zoom is dead while the domain is now used for something else.*

That last part is Monday.

While I have been adding a reader now and then over the past few weeks it has been very slow growth. I have seen a few traffic bursts from posts that were linked on other blogs.

This is the first time I have had traffic on this scale.

A large part of the traffic came from StumbleUpon with nearly all the rest from Blogging Zoom.

I think the Stumbles also were triggered directly or indirectly from Blogging Zoom. I occasionally get a few Stumbles but never anything like this.

I should also point out that I have only recently put Google Analytics on this site.

I have been using other stats until now. While they were not as accurate or precise and Analytics, I am sure that there has never been traffic close to this on this blog before.

This has been quality traffic as well.

Some have said that StumbleUpon traffic just clicks away. Take a look at the visitor performance from Analytics.

• 293 Unique Visitors
• 684 Pageviews
• 2.29 Pageviews per viewer
• Over 1 minute time on site
• A bounce rate under 30%

Not only did they visit, they looked at more than 1 page and stayed to read.

The bounce rate is lower than most of the Google searches that I get.

This is very good quality traffic.

I am looking forward to seeing what Blogging Zoom is going to be capable of in the future.

It is just getting started. If you are not using Blogging Zoom, sign up now. If not for yourself, to help other bloggers.

One last point about StumbleUpon.

I have made it a new rule not to Stumble my own pages. I’ll leave that to others. I also try to find other post to Zoom and Stumble. I am finding the more you give, the more you get.

Of course, if you like this post please Zoom and Stumble it.

What have your results been with social networking sites like Blogging Zoom and StumbleUpon? Any others you find easy to use?

Linkbait done right still makes a happy reader

Linkbait can get you traffic.

Linkbait done right, can turn that traffic into readers. Readers can then make you money.

Linkbait done wrong can get you traffic.

Linkbait done wrong will make potential readers feel cheated. Readers that feel cheated will not return.

Linkbait should never leave your reader feeling like he or she fell hook, line, and sinker for a scam!

It is ok to use linkbait to attract attention.

In this case it should really be called trafficbait. Just like the headline in a newspaper is used to get people to buy a paper and read the story.

If you provide content that does not leave the reader feeling cheated, they will even appreciate the fact that they took the bait. The reader needs to feel they received value for the time they spent.

There are many common uses of linkbait that seem to work well.

Often, the use of a well known Hollywood star in the title can get a lot of traffic. Cashquest’s post 6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging is a classic example of doing it right. The catchy title draws you in and the good information in the post keeps you entertained and informed.

In some ways it is the old bait and switch.

A title about something that will catch the reader, but the article is really about something totally different. As long as the content can satisfy the reader it will work. If you fail to provide something the reader is looking for, you are looking for trouble.

Examples of terrible linkbaiting are common.

Offten, an outrageous claim is made and nothing but a poor Photoshopped image is given as content. The author’s claim’s throughout the post about his great discovery and secret fool nobody. Even when the author has no intention of fooling anyone and thinks it is humorous the reader will feel cheated.

The reader feels he had been made to look like a fool.

You fell for my stupid trick.

Ha Ha. I made you look.

This is the type of linkbait that will kill a website or blog.

If you have a good reputation, this will hurt it. If you do this twice to your readers and you are going to lose readers.

You have built a new reputation.

You now provide totally unsubstantiated claims. You make empty promises. You provide no value. You are a waste of time to read or pay attention to. Not the reputation you want.

Anyone can claim to have a new secret method of ranking high in the search engines.

But if you do not back it up, you look like an amateur. A joke. A cheap scam.

It is not a PR stunt.

It is just dumb.

I read a post recently that claimed readers should not expect credibility from a blog.

Could not be more wrong.

People will read your blog for information or entertainment. You need credibility for both. Maybe not scientific credibility, but the reader must be able to trust you to provide what they came for.

If you are known for information and suddenly only have pranks to show, who is going to continue to look to you for information. You lose the reputation for information and your credibility to provide it.

If you are known for entertaining, your readers trust you to provide entertainment.

You have creditability even then. If no one finds you entertaining and your trying to entertain, you have no credibility to entertain and probably no readers.

It does not matter if your blog is just opinion or even fiction.

You are working to gain credibility in providing a service to your reader. Nearly always that is information or entertainment.

Good linkbait or trafficbait keeps that credibility you have with your readers.

It is not just a cheap trick to raise your page view, but an attempt to lure a new reader that you can build credibility with.

In the long run, any business needs return customers to survive.

Why? Because it is far less expensive to keep a customer you already have than go find a new one. There is a cost either in money or time to get someone to your page. That cost is less if they return.

Bad link bait will get you page views.

But you lose credibility with those readers. Perhaps you will profit if they click an ad as they leave, but don’t expect them back. Don’t expect them to trust your recommendation for a product or service. You already cheated them.

How do you feel when you find linkbait or traffic bait?

Do you feel like I do when there is still good content? Do you feel cheated of your time when there is nothing of value there? Have you fallen for linkbait that you still found useful? Do you think blogs can be credible?

Bloggers have a new tool that could bring tons of traffic to your blog.

What is Blogging Zoom?

Blogging Zoom is a new social bookmarking site aimed at just bloggers.

While it may look a bit link Digg, its focus is on blogs and getting traffic to blogs. Bloggers will not have to compete with large media sites on Blogging Zoom like they do on Digg.

Let’s face it, your new blog is not going to compete well against a large established site or blog.

Your chances of getting a large amount of traffic from Digg or any other social site are pretty slim until you already have an established readership. That readership also has to have good standing in the social networks. Most likely, no one is going to submit that post that you feel is your best work to Digg and if you submit it, you will probably do more harm than good. Unless you are already a power user at Digg.

Blogging Zoom is your chance for an even playing field.

Blogging Zoom is a place where you are encouraged to show your own posts. Not only will you get exposure to a larger blogging community, but you will get targeted link pointing to your site in the search engines. Courtney Tuttle and Victor Franqui have designed Blogging Zoom to not just send traffic but to give you a highly SEO’ed link to your post. That will also help you in the search engines, something that Digg will never do.

How to use Blogging Zoom to get traffic to your blog.

First, go register at Blogging Zoom.

It is simple. You just need to be a blogger. You just need a user name, email, and to make a password. You can add an avatar.

Next, start submitting your posts to Blogging Zoom.

This is easy. You can use the Blogging Zoom bookmarklet that is in your profile. Just go to a page you want to submit and select the boolmarklet in your bookmarks.

You will need to provide a good description of the post you are submitting.

Blogging Zoom requires you to use at least 350 characters in the description. This will give the search engines something to rank. All it takes is a few sentences. This should also let anyone looking at it what the original post is about.

Start to zoom other posts.

Look for quality zooms. While it can be tempting to go to the front page and zoom leading posts, you will often find extremely good posts in the upcoming post tab. Try to find good posts. When you find good zooms, friend the person who posted it.

Don’t submit all your own work or do it all at once.

I do not pay much attention to post after post by the same person in row down the page and I do not think others do either. Space out your submissions.

Submit your better work and the good work of other bloggers.

Develop a reputation for great zooms and others will friend you and zoom your zooms. I have seen a post get zoomed that did not deserve to get zoomed simple because the Zoomer was a well known blog. Good headline, but misleading and if you read the actual post, you would be embarrassed to have promoted it. Your user name is shown with your zooms. Protect your reputation.

Blogging Zoom has the potential to really help the small and mid sized blogs get traffic.

Use it wisely and help others do the same. This is a chance for bloggers to Google-slap proof their blogs and secure their future in the blogosphere.

Right now, Blogging Zoom is just getting started.

Tell others and help promote it. Zoom other blogs and show them how it can help them. The more you help others, the more it helps you. We need to get the word out about Blogging Zoom to give it it’s full potential. You will also find that some of the Blogging Zoom users are users of other social networks. There is also a widget that will put a Blogging Zoom badge on your posts.

And hey, Zoom this post if you find it helpful to you or think it will help others!