Ever wanted to own your own piece of land? Ever wanted that land to be in any state of your choosing? Well, that day is today. With Own a Piece of America, you can own your own 1-inch parcel of land in any state in the United States!

According to their website: “You’ll immediately be a registered owner of your own one-square inch “parcel” of land in any state in the USA…and, as a land owner, you’ll have the option to buy an individually numbered, legal Deed certifying your ownership. The land you will be receiving, our free gift to you, was purchased one acre at a time, state by state, by American Acres Incorporated with the issuance of Deeds to one square inch parcels having been approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Click here to own your own piece of America! (oh, by the way - the land is yours and you are free to build on it, etc)

With so many blogs being created every day, it’s a mystery to many bloggers how to make their blog stand out. It’s simple. People want to read good content, and with good content comes ad revenue. Well, maybe it’s not that easy… We’ve finally unleashed the secrets of successful blog marketing. Do note that these are not guaranteed to increase your click-through ratios and they will not bring good karma to you or your ads.. If only.. Nonetheless, these tips should benefit your blog and make it more user-friendly, more easily accessible, and more content-enabled.

There are many types of blogs or purposes for blogs and a certain number of tactics are applicable to just about all of them, so here is a “short” list of tips for marketing and optimizing a blog:

1. Decide on a stand alone domain name www.myblog.com or directory of existing site www.mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted services that do not allow you to use your own domain name!
2. Obtain and install customizable blog software - WordPress and Moveable Type are my favorites.
3. Customize blog look and feel templates - aka design.
4. Research keywords and develop a glossary - Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint, SEOBook Keyword Research.
5. Optimize the blog:
   • Template optimization - RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
   • Add helper plugins specific to WordPress or MT
   • Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
6. Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality.
7. Create Feedburner Pro account and enable feed tracking.
8. Setup Google acount for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.
9. Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogroll.
10. Format archived posts, related posts.
11. Enable statistics for tracking - Performancing, Google Analytics, ClickTracks.
12. Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.
13. Engage in an ongoing link building campaign.
14. If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.
15. Submit blog url to paid directories with categories for blogs - Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.
16. Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog.
17. Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
18. Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.
19. Post regularly. If it’s a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it’s an authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value.
20. Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog - Google Alerts, Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21. Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22. Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.
23. When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don’t be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you’ve made.
24. Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.
25. Remember when web sites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.

These are just a few examples.. feel free to share your ideas!

Thank you for visiting rygoBlog. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to e-mail them to ryan@rygo.net or utilize the comment form below.

Free stuff, it seems to be everywhere. From those less than amusing pop-ups on internet sites to free coupons in newspapers, free stuff is the new age. Many people have profited greatly off of marketing free stuff. The free stuff is really there, it just requires more detail and attention than most people are willing to put forth.Let’s take for example the website freeipods.com. This site launched several years ago and was the first of it’s kind - opening up a new wave of “incentive-based” freebie sites (that is, sites that offer something for nothing in turn for completing offers and referring others to do the same). FreeIpods.com has boasted millions of users and has delivered millions of dollars in free gifts (more popularly, iPods).As a matter of fact, most of those pop-ups or advertisements at the tops of pages are indeed legitimate. People are getting free gifts and prizes from these sites every day.

The question arises - how do I get my freebie?

Step One: Understand the Basics
Sites offering something-for-nothing aren’t ready to hand you that shiny new 80 gig iPod for nothing.They want something in return. Most sites (like the one featured in this article) require that you fill out your home address and phone number. This information is safe and it is against the law for these companies to sell your information without you agreeing to it. Read the terms and conditions carefully! I cannot stress this enough. Often, it is better to create a disposable e-mail address that you use for sites that you are prepared to receive a lot of spam e-mails from. Enter valid information! This is the address that your gift/prize will be sent to, so you don’t want it being shipped to some John Doe in Connecticut.

Step Two: Follow the Rules
Often, the rules are laid out in the terms and conditions of the website and often require that you complete a set of offers (anywhere from 6 to 20, depending on the price of the gift/prize). With incentive-based referral sites, you will have to refer a certain number of friends and/or complete a certain number of offers.

Doing the offers - Why?
You do the offers because that’s how they make money. Many of the offers give the companies upwards of $40+, which adds up. Even if what you are signing up for is a free trial, there is still that chance that you will keep their service. A lot of the offers are free trials, but some sites require you do at least one (1) offer that is more pricey. Never to fear, if you don’t like an offer that you signed up for (most, if not all, require a valid credit card), you can cancel (so long as that is there policy). Most of the offers I have done in the past were from very reputable companies like Napster, Blockbuster, Video Professor, Stamps.com, Visa, Mastercard, and many more.

Step Three: The Referrals
If the site requires that you do referrals (which is not required for the site that’s the main image for this article), you must keep in mind that the referral must complete an offer, not be living in the same house/apartment as you, not have the same last name as you, and have a different shipping address than any of you or your other referrals. They check this thoroughly! Finding referrals can involve paying people to signup under your “referral link,” getting the guys at the bar to do it, or convincing people on the street. Referrals can involve lots of work, but it’s well worth the reward.

Step Four: Wait
You may have to wait quite some time (1-2 months) before seeing that shiny 60 gig iPod (or whatever gift you selected or signed up for), so don’t fret when 3 days has gone by and you don’t see anything. Sometimes the offers that you have signed up for don’t show up as completed and that can take extra time.

So now you are well-enough educated to begin your journey of getting free stuff for a little bit of time and a little bit of money. Give it a shot, at least. I’ve received well over $3,000 from doing these sites. Most importantly, have fun!