*Before you start this process though I must warn you that this only works on Word Press blogs that you are hosting yourself.  This does not work on Word Press blogs that are hosted free at Word Press.

1. You’ll want to go to http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/ This link opens in a new window so you can go back and forth. If you don’t already have some type of Google account you are going to need to get one.  So, on this page you either Sign Up or Sign In.

2.  After you get signed in you’ll want click Add new site.  On that page you will fill in the name of your site and the URL.

3.  If you did the last step properly you’ll be taken to a page that says Congratulations you added…. Click the Add the Members gadget box.

4. Here is where you will choose the size of your gadget and colors. Then click generate code.  Easy enough!

5. Now you’ll want to log in to the dashboard of your Word Press blog.  Go to appearance and then to widgets.  For this choose a Text widget and drag and drop it in to where you’d like your Follow box to be on the side bar.  Click the arrow to open up the ‘editor’ on the text tab.  Copy the code from the Google Friend Connect generator to this open box.  Click save at the bottom of that box when you are done.  Adding a title to the text box is optional.

6. Visit your site, you should see your new Follow box.

I’m sure by now in your surfing the web you have run across the Follow button on Blogger, or blogspot, blogs with the great little pictures under it.  I have to admit it is exciting to see the number of followers increase on your blog.  I believe though that Follow gives us a false sense of who is really keeping up with our postings and how many people are actually tuned into your blog.  You see with Follow they will only see your blog by logging into their dashboard at the Blogger site and scrolling down to the bottom to see sites they follow.  The other way they could see your blog is if they take the extra steps at the dashboard page after they push the Follow button to have it published elsewhere like their homepage or receive it through email.  Most people will not take those extra steps, one because they don’t realize they are there and two because it’s a hassle.

I wouldn’t delete it from your site though.  It does serve it’s purpose and like I said some reader retention is going to come of it, just don’t expect it to be a big percentage.

One thing we really like about Follow though is the fact that every blog you personally click the Follow button and sign up for leaves a little avatar with the link to your blogger profile and in turn a link to your blogs.  This is great not only because a physical person could click on it but the itsy bitsy Google spider is also going to see more and more of you as you “Follow” other blogs.  It’s zero hassle backlinking!!! Gotta love that.

Now onto Feedburner.  Feedburner is just another service that Google has aquired so you can use the same account you use for Blogger, Adsense, and the like, for Feedburner.  You can see my Feedburner in the upper right hand corner of this blog where it says Subscribe Via Email. I believe this service is the best for a high percentage of reader retention because they are receiving your posts via their email. But wait it gets better!!! (Now I feel like the Sham Wow guy!) Really though it is exciting that you can monetize your feeds so that every email that is delivered to your readers contains Google Adsense, if you want them to.  So, not only do you have a chance to make money on your site itself, you have the chance to profit from one of your subscribers right there in their email inbox. And as an added bonus! Your post could be so great they might even foward it to a friend or two… or maybe their whole darn email list.  There goes your blog post being passed around via email with the link to your site and your Google Adsense embedded.  Pretty cool stuff!

To sum it up if you have a blog hosted at Blogger I strongly recommend you use both Follow and Feedburner for the best possible results.

Link exchanges are mutually beneficial in that both of you get a link out there for potential visitors to find you, as well as those search engines.  If you tend the relationships of those you have exchanged links with I would suggest contacting them about posting each others links via twitter and facebook maybe, once or maybe on a regular basis.

You can also start what I like to refer to as a link club.  This is when many bloggers get together on a similar topic.  All the bloggers get to exchange links without even having to personally contact each other.  Here is a great example of how this works.

I’m always happy to hear from you please feel free to post your questions or comments.

So here is a step by step of how to make a Facebook fan page and how to get people to join it.

Go to www.facebook.com If you are logged in log out.  On the homepage you’ll see under the sign up area Create a Page do NOT fill in the sign up area just click the create a page.

Once you click Create a Page you’ll be prompted to answer several questions and give the page a name.   If you are already a Facebook user at the end you will choose the option I already have an account and log in.   You will then be taken to your new fan page.  Be sure to click that button at the top of the page that says Become a Fan.

Now let’s fancy up your page a bit.

Add a picture by mousing over the picture area and clicking the pencil.

Add a short description of your website or blog, in the box provided below the picture area, remember to include your URL and don’t forget the http:// so that it will automatically be made into a clickable link for anyone visiting the page.

At this time you might want to complete filling out some information on your info page.  Do this by clicking on the info tab at the top of the wall.

It’s time to start to invite people to your new space!  Under the main picture for your fan page it will say suggest to friends.  Click that to begin to invite your friends.

Easy enough!

Posting to your fan page

You’ll want to post updates on your fan page as to what your business and/or blog is doing.  This will be seen by all of your fans on their home page wall.

Posting links is important too.  This will remind them not just about your fan page, it will remind them of your site. Posting links here will also help the search engines find your website.

Finally you’ll need to get people outside of your circle of Facebook friends.  Add a Facebook banner on your blog or website and link it to your new fan page.

*A question I’ve received in the past is how do I find my fan page?

Good question because after you close out it would seem it would be lost.  You can either bookmark your fan page or go to your main profile page go to the info tab and scroll all the way to the bottom where it shows your fan pages.

I hoped this helped you.  For some this is easy stuff and for others not so much so if you have questions leave a comment and I will try to answer asap.

Submit products for free – Inclusion of your products is completely free. There are no charges for uploading your items or the additional traffic you receive.

Reach qualified shoppers – Reach shoppers precisely when they are searching for items to buy on Google.

http://www.google.com/base/help/sellongoogle.html

Happy selling!

The box below contains the code you need to add your banner or picture to your signature line on message boards. Don’t forget to replace the words in all caps with your own. You may change the words right here in the box and then copy and paste to your profile on whatever message boards you belong to.

HINT: If you are not sure of the url of a photo right click the photo and choose properties. This will bring up a box showing the url address of the photo! Please make sure that you own this photo or it’s a big huge no no!

[URL=http://www.YOURSITEHERE.com][IMG]http://www.SITEWHEREPICTUREISHOSTED.com/NAMEOFPICTURE.JPG[/IMG][/URL]

The box below this contains the code you need to add a text hyperlink to your signature line for message boards or forums. Don’t forget to replace the words in all caps with your own. You may change the words right here in the box and then copy and paste to you profile on whatever message boards you belong to.

[URL=http://www.YOURSITEHERE.com]YOUR MESSAGE HERE[/URL]

Check out the message boards at Dabbling Divas