You might remember my previous post - Hey, Ezine!  I Double Dog Dare ya! in which I invited a member of Ezine Articles to be a guest poster on this blog and explain to the masses why some authors are allowed to get by with publishing dreck while others are held to such high standards that it’s impossible to ever get past the editors.  Did they ever take me up on it?  NOPE!

So I’m issuing a TRIPLE Dog Dare because recent events have become increasingly unbearable!  In fact, not only have obstacles been met, they’ve been ensuing for almost 3 years, and they appear to be impossible to overcome!   (For those of you who don’t get the reference – Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates II)

So here’s what’s been happening:

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I’m sure you heard it  because it was all over the news yesterday – Blogger Andrew Breitbart, of BigGovernment.com posted irrefutable proof that Shirley Sherrod, USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, admitted she based a decision on whether or not to help a white farmer, who was about to lose his farm, on the color of his skin.  In his post titled “Video Proof:  The NAACP Awards Racism – 2010″, Breitbart posts a video of Sherrod addressing the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner in Georgia.  In that video she admits that, at the beginning of her career, she did indeed do less than she could have to help that white farmer.

The only problem is – Breitbart only showed part of the video.  He doesn’t show the part where Sherrod explains that working with that farmer helped her to realize that she was there to help ALL poor peope – not just poor black people.  He also doesn’t include the pleas from the farmer and his family, asking that the world also be told that, without the help of Sherrod, they would have lost their family farm.

Here’s the COMPLETE video if you’d like to see what REALLY happened.

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For the past 5 weeks I’ve been writing for Examiner.com. Well, when I have time… and a computer… but that’s a whole ‘nother story.  Let’s not go there today.  It’s a beautiful day and I’m in a good mood… for a change!

Anyway, Examiner.com.  First, let me tell you what it is..

What is Examiner.com?

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Google and Interest Based Advertising

If you’ve noticed a change in your Adsense earnings since the end of May it may have something to do with Google’s Interest Based Advertising which appears to have something to do with Mayday, although Mayday occured around the beginning of May and IBA seems to have started rearing it’s head around the beginning of June.  But it’s still important to understand what it is and how it affects your sites, so let’s take a look.

In a never ending effort to provide the best search experience possible for it’s users Google threw yet another monkey wrench into it’s Adsense toolbox.  What it does is track the searchers interests.  If you want the complete Google explanation, visit Google Ads Preferences.  But here’s how it breaks down in a nutshell:

Let’s say Mrs. Smith is an avid gardener and she looks up lots of gardening sites and blogs and clicks on lots of Adsense ads related to gardening.  Google is now recording that fact and they’ve got her tagged, with cookies, as someone who is interested in all things gardening.  So now, no matter what site she visits, if there’s an Adsense ad it’s going to be something about gardening.

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In case you’re new to this blog I’ve been doing a series of blog posts on Article Marketing – particularly with Ezine.  It all started with the Ezine HAHD Challenge and it’s just kind of ballooned from there.  But one of the things we talked about in my last post was writing a series of articles to increase your leverage.  You can see that post at Leveraging Your Articles at Ezine Articles – Become a Serial Killer.

Never one to preach about it without practicing it first, I wrote and published a series of articles on How to Make Money With Adsense and published some early results in the above mentioned blog post.

I occurred to me while I was writing those articles that ya’ll might be interested in the source of my inspiration and information.  I say “Inspiration” because yes, I use the information and tips in this book myself.

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As promised I’ve got some tips today for leveraging your articles at Ezine Articles.  What’s that?  You’re not sure what “Leveraging” means?  Don’t be embarrassed.  I wasn’t quite sure either.  And as Miss Noll always said, “The only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask!”

A lever is a tool used for increasing you power so you can lift something you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to lift by yourself.  So leveraging your articles means to use them as a tool to help you lift something – in this case – your business.  The simple fact that you’ve published an article is leverage because now you have 2 links pointing back to your website and they’ll help increase your visibility.  But there are other things you can do with those articles at Ezine to get even more torque out of them.

Write a Series of Articles

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Let’s get back to article marketing for awhile because it’s time to get back to work.  I know I have a desk full of work and you probably do, too.  If not, maybe this post will give you some ideas.

Leveraging Your Articles to

Get More Bang for Your Buck!

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Let’s forget all about the facts that, in the last 4 weeks I’ve been A) Deathly ill and managed to recover, B) Driven to distraction by my idiotic cousin, C) Driven to distraction by having to drive over 3,000 miles, leave half my belongings behind in Florida and find a comfortable place to write at my mom’s house where, I might add, I’m not allowed to smoke unless I do it outside, and D) there isn’t a 7-11 in sight and NONE of the stores in the area carry Doubleshots, and just concentrate on this one freakin’ dilemma -

The previous tenants in the little house I rented almost 2 weeks ago felt sorry for a stray cat and left it, ALONE, in the house when they moved out – with no food or water.  And the little BEAST tore the place up!  So now I have to wait for the landlord to repair the place before I can move in!  Somebody somewhere definitely has it in for me and some day my cousin will pay for this!

On Stephen King and Article Marketing

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Everything is packed and I just need to load the car.  It’s 4:13 AM and I’ve got my first RedBull of the day, a full pack of smokes and I’m getting ready to unplug the computer.

I’m going to miss this place.  Outside my door I have palm trees and an angry squirrel and lots and lots of sunshine.  I think I’m leaving at a good time though.  Thanks to BP, Florida is headed for some even tougher times than they’ve been having.   First the housing industry now the oil.

Anyway, yesterday I received an email from Spencer.  You remember Spencer, don’t you?  I told you about him in my post Spencer’s Niche Adsense Challenge.  Spencer had a little problem with de-indexing but he’s recently sent me two emails that I thought you might be interested in.  In  May Update on My Niche Sites Spencer spills the beans on how much his sites made in May and, in my humble opinion, I think he did quite well even though he’s not too pleased with the results.  And in In Search of Black Swans he has an interesting outlook on Internet Marketing to share with you. Read the rest of this entry

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Friday is National Donut Day – Are You Ready?

Every year, on the first Friday in June, Donut shops across the nation celebrate National Donut Day.  Or maybe I should say that Donut LOVERS across the nation celebrate National Donut Day.  The Donut Shops just supply the donuts!

Anyway, if you’re lucky enough to have a Dunkin’ Donuts or a Krispy Kreme in your area then you need to waddle on over tomorrow and get a free donut.  If neither of them is in your neck of the woods, give your local bakery or donut shop a call and see if they’re participating, too.  And if they’re NOT – then go buy a donut anyway in celebration of this most popular breakfast item.

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