I Took the Amazon A-Store Plunge

After putting it off for a while, I finally decided to take the Amazon A-Store plunge. For those of you who haven't heard of an A-store before, it's a store that is made up of Amazon affiliate products. You pick the products and then when someone purchases a product, you get a percentage of the profit.

I knew that niche marketing was important in setting up the shop. As a vegetarian, I always have problems finding high-fashion products that don't use animal materials, so I decided to create a Vegetarian Fashion store. I also incorporated a blog onto the site to drive traffic using SEO blog posts.

I set up the store on a Google Blogger site, just like this blog. I integrated the store into the heading and then placed the blog postings at the bottom of the page. I have no idea if this will be successful or not, but I will monitor my progress and report back.

I'm really just feeling my way through this process blindly. I really enjoyed choosing my products and setting up the site, but I have had very little success with affiliate marketing. I decided that it might be worth my time to invest a little more effort into the process though.

Anyway, I would love to hear any advice from those who have had some success with an A-store. I am sure there are some marketing tips that I am missing. I'm curious to see how the first month of the store pans out. I'll make sure to report back on my progress and let everyone know what worked and what didn't.

Suite!!! I'm a Winner!

I have been so happy with Suite. I find that my earnings are steadily growing and the community of writers is the best on the Internet. This month has been especially great for me as I passed my 50 article goal and started receiving my 10% bonus. I also was a winner in the Sweethearts Writing Challenge.

My Article "Unique Valentine's Gifts" was chosen as a winner in the challenge. My philosophy is to participate in all of the challenges on the off chance that I could win and make some extra money. That said, I was really shocked that I won, especially since Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday. Perhaps it was that unique angle that gave me the edge though.

Anyway, I must say that Suite has really paid off for me. I am making more money per article than I do at any other site. They also have challenges each month that provide extra opportunities to make money. I also have learned so much through Suite with their Learning Hubs that teach about keyword research and seo writing. Perhaps that best part of Suite though, is the supportive and knowledgeable writing community.

By frequenting the forum, I have learned so much from other writers. I am still somewhat shocked at how willing so many writers are to share the tips that have made them successful. I love this aspect of the writing community. I find that everyone wants everyone else to succeed. Their are very few people who are guarded or resentful of others' success.

So basically, I just want to say thank you to Suite writers and editors for helping me become a better seo writer. And another thanks goes out for choosing my little article for a winner in the writing challenge.

Online Freelance Writing Terms for Beginners

When I first started out as an online freelance writer, it took me a while to understand all of the lingo and slang used in this profession. So, to help some of the newbies out, I decided to write an article on online writing terms. I've posted a portion of this article below. The entire article can be seen here.

Google Adwords - Google Adwords is an advertising program run by Google. Online writers use Google Adwords to research keywords. When those keywords are used in an article, they help to generate ads on writing websites and article pages. The ads, when clicked, generate income for the writer and the writing site. This is how most online writing sites make money.

SEO - SEO refers to search engine optimization. An online freelance writer uses SEO keywords and phrases to make an article easier to find by search engines. These keywords are commonly typed into search engines to find articles and web sites. A writer can find keywords using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. By typing a few keywords or phrases into the keyword tool, a list of related keywords will be generated. For example, a writer who types "cocktails" into the keyword tool might generate related keywords like "fruity cocktails" or "cosmopolitan cocktails". By using a variety of these keywords, a writer can make it easier for search engines to find an article. When articles are easily found by search engines, more people read the article and the writer makes more money.

PV's - PV's is an abbreviation of page views. It refers to the number of views that an article, or a collection of articles, receives in a given time. Writers strive for high PV's but it is only one piece of the puzzle when writing to make money online. Writers must also pay attention to CPC.

CPC - CPC refers to cost per click. When looking up keywords on the Google Keyword Tool, writers can choose to view the average estimated CPC for each keyword. The CPC is the estimated amount of money that an ad will generate when someone clicks  . . . read more