So you've gone through all the hard work of creating a website or blog - congratulations! You put in some content, added your product links or affiliate links, and got a really cool header banner made and you're ready to start making money.

But now what do you do? How do you get the traffic you so desperately need? And most of all... how do you get the traffic for FREE?

Here's a list of a few of my favorite free traffic sources:

Article Marketing - Start writing articles and submitting them to the article directories, especially Ezine Articles. Don't forget to add your keywords in the title and the article without "stuffing" it. Make sure your bio is attention-grabbing and has a call to action.

• Tip - Keep track of where your articles go by using Google Alerts. If you see they are being published routinely on a well-ranked blog, ask the site owner if they would like to have you send your articles directly to their in-bin whenever you write one.

Read more »

...FunTagged!

Mirjam from MeMyselfAndI tagged me for this new meme with a fun twist to it. There are only 26 links, one for each of the letters of the alphabet. If a blog is hosted on it’s own domain, it’s listed after the letter the domain begins with. If it is a Wordpress.org or blogger blog, it can be listed after the name of the blog (i.e. mysuperblog.blogspot.com can be listed after M).

When you decide to join the game, you will nee to follow these 3 simple rules:

1. Copy all the links and replace a single link under the appropriate letter of the alphabet with yours - see an example above about the correct way to choose the letter. An explanation in your post about how to change the links will be nice as well!
   
2. Put at the bottom of the list the replaced link and the full link to the tagger (meaning the link to the actual post where you got the list) - this ensures that you complied with the rule #1!
   
3. You now have to “tag” at least five people and encourage them to take part of the game - tag blogs only and only those without bad rated material like pornographic, violence, racism etc.

The ABC List:

A acowboyswife.com
B bloggingcents.com
C chatbugkaren.com
D delusionsofgrandeur.org
E everythingandanythingblog.com
F -
G GeekMomMashup.com
H hoysater.no
I ipentimento.com
J juliesjournal.com
K kabalyero.com
L ladylike4.com
M makemoneyonlinewithejcooksey.com
N nicusor.com
O originalmx5.net
P peapodsquadstuff.com
Q qweddings.com
R rowdigrl.com
S stephanmiller.com
T TenaciousCreations.com
U utada-online.net
V valmg.com
W wickedbabylon.com
X xaviermedia.com
Y yimto.com
Z zbudapest.com

Replaced Link: MeMyselfAndI

Previous Tagger: http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/03/24/first-time-i-got-tagged/

Here are the five blogs I am tagging:

Funk13.com

Down On Our Luck

Cheaper By the Half Dozen

OperationBob

WillYouMind

The Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers Meme"

This is the first meme of the year that I have been tagged with. What I really like about this meme is the opportunity it offers to give back to the Entrecard readers who visit me often. Jean Costa at JeanCosta.com tagged me for being one of his "Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers" and he was tagged by Colin King at CK Marketing.

Here are the simple rules of this Meme:
----------------------------------------------------

1. Post your "Top 10 Entrecard Dropper's Blogs", and write a little comment about them, which you could use as a recommendation should you choose to.

2. Message them with the Entrecard message system to let them know that they have been tagged, and encourage them to continue the chain (and thank them for dropping so many
cards).

3. Include a link to the Entrecard Meme article of the person who tagged you.

4. Include a link to the original post: The Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers Meme.

5. Drop your card on your Top 10's sites, if you haven't already!

6. Drop cards on the other sites that were tagged along with you if you wish, as they will probably drop back.

7. Copy these rules onto your post, so that others can easily participate!

----------------------------------------------------

My "Top 10 Card Droppers" on my site are...

CK Marketing - offers great internet marketing tips and tricks - has case studies and tutorials that can teach you how to make money online for little or no cost.

JeanCosta.com - offers tutorials and information on Graphics Design, Website Design, Coding and more!

Toast & Egg & Me... - is on a search of sites for Money Making Opportunities and offers tips on getting traffic to your site.

Life With Roxxymetal - offering various ways to make money and save money.

Reward Rebel - sharing the adventure of internet marketing and online money making opportunities.

artconstellation - an artist's who blogs about her life and her art.

The Big Bald Blog - posts about advertising, marketing and internet fun. Be sure to check out the cool contest going on right now which gives you a chance to win $100!

Earn Blogger - offering information about blogging and making money online.

Mottekaero jDonuts - an Australian who tells his readers about his experiences while living in Japan.

The Optimizer SEO News - offers readers search engine optimization tips, Internet marketing tutorials and SEO news to help increase traffic to your site.

So who is in your "Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers" list?

Not a member yet? Why not?

Join FREE today at http://entrecard.com

I found a new link building technique while I visiting at AskAnissa. It was originally started by Alex over at HowtoSpoter.com. This is a great web 2.0 link building tactic and can greatly increase your incoming links if you use it.

Thanks to Anissa for passing this on, and to Alex for starting this genius link building campaign!

— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions below this line —

Reciprocal Review Carousel idea is based on a few simple yet effective link-building and blogging techniques I have learned:

• Build value of the blog by creating a helpful link from within content.
• Provide value to community by doing a review on a blog you personally like.
• Link to YOUR blog has exact anchor text you want and helps you boost Google Rankings.
• No more than 30 outbound links from any page to prevent penalties for link farming.
• Viral effect of the link – as more bloggers participate, link to your blog with YOUR anchor text, coming from quality content post will spread.

Check out how this started (opens in a new window) then come back here and see what has changed on the review list below and you will see how this works immediately.

Here is How to participate:

• Copy the entire text between the specified lines.
• Create a post on your site and put at least one paragraph explaining how you joined the Reciprocal Review Carousel.
• Paste the text you copied into your post.
• Remove the Bottom Review and At the Top add your own review with a link to a site reviewed, at least 2 sentences about the site and a note – Reviewed by: Your Anchor Text. Link your anchor text to your site.

Here is an example:

WordPress Web 2.0 Guide is a blog providing very useful information on building your very own Web 2.0 portal based on WordPress. Detailed instructions and how to guides make it possible for anyone to create a sparkling and engaging blog and join the community of like-minded individuals. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-er

Sites Reviewed:

• Carol King's Home Business-Know How Blog Carol King has a wealth of information about home business opportunities as well as ebooks, reviews, articles, tips and ideas. If you are needing to know more about online home based business then be sure to visit her site. Reviewed by: Make Money Online the Quick and Easy Way
• OnlineSecurityAuthority has everything you need to know about online security. Whether you are in need of the latest information on personal computing, blocking mySpace, ID Theft, RFID, Dating, or Banking this is the site to visit for all online security information. Reviewed by: AskAnissa
• Peter Lenkefi writes about Web 2.0 marketing strategies at Web2Center.com. He has some killer videos over there you should check out along with a ton of good information on blog marketing and various "new media" promotion tactics. Reviewed by: Link Building Maniac, Jack Humphrey, for the Friday Traffic Report
• Andy-Coates.com is an original creator of Viralink concept and a blog publishing information on Magic, Personal development and blog development. I have found a wealth of information on getting your blog noticed and generating the traffic for free. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Guide
• FitForFreedom is well-established blog where you can find multitude of information on achieving financial freedom. Blog is run by Marco Righter and his writing style greatly adds to the value of information he provides. Reviewed by: Alex
• Secure Your PC For Internet blog run by Colin and provides essential information everyone accessing internet should know. Identity theft is becoming more and more of an issue and by visiting his blog you can minimize the risk of being compromised. Reviewed by: Alex
• Home With Heather is a great informative blog targeting WAHM (Work At Home Moms) and run by … you guessed it – Heather Masson. Information on what works for her in Internet Business written is very easy to read and comes from her personal experience. Reviewed by: Alex
• A Copywriter’s Blues blog published by Alex Badalic, a veteran of advertising turned musician gives you great food for soul. I have found some nice old videos of Johnny Cash performance and he has a lot more of vintage videos to satisfy fans. Reviewed by: Alex
• Did You Smell That blog authored by one of the veterans on network marketing filled with business ideas you can use. David Ledoux is well known and respected in online community and now he makes his experience available via blog posts. Reviewed by: Alex
• Best Damn Blog run by Richard Wing is all about Internet Marketing. Your visit will be rewarded by honest reviews, freebies and information you need to succeed in this cut-throat business without sacrificing your integrity. Reviewed by: Alex

— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions above this line —

Feel free to join the carousel and please add reviews to the sites you like. Just take the whole thing above including the lines –copy and paste…etc–, do an opening paragraph like the one I started this post with, paste what you just copied, take the bottom review in the review list off and add a review like I did for Carol King's site with a "Reviewed by:" link back to your site.

Post it and watch your traffic grow!

To Your Success!