If you have a WordPress blog or a website, you may be wondering how to keep it safe from hackers and from accidental changes or deletions. There are four things everyone needs to have in place to keep your WordPress blog safe.

These are a few easy steps you can take within the next few minutes to make sure your WordPress website is secure.

1. Only connect to WordPress on a secure WiFi connection.

Did you know that when you connect to a website using unsecure WiFi, such as airport WiFi, Starbuck’s WiFi, or public WiFi, that anyone can see your username and password? That means when you connect to your website via FTP or simply log into your WordPress dashboard anyone can see exactly what your username and password are and use those names for themselves!

That’s why it’s important to only connect to your WordPress site and only connect to FTP if you have an SSL connection. This can be a “real” network or you can connect with a cellular 3G network instead of WiFi (I use the one on my iphone or you can buy a mifi separate device. It’s like having your own portable network!). If you don’t know what any of those things are, then simply make it a point to only connect to your FTP website and WordPress from home instead of in public.

2. Only use plugins that you trust.

Are you aware that any WordPress plugin, if it so chooses, can have access to your entire WordPress site? All of your users, all of your content, and most of the time, to every single file on your website!

That is the reason why it’s very important that you only use WordPress plugins that you trust. Don’t go out and install 200, 300 plugins just because they all seem like they have cool features. If a plugin is brand new, if no one seems to be using it, that is not a good sign. It may be a Trojan Horse type of plugin where someone has simply put it out in the hopes that someone else will install it on their website, and now you have given the hacker complete access to your files and your content.

3. Keep WordPress up to date.

People find security holes all the time, and WordPress is quick to fix those holes, but it does you no good unless you update your blog to the current version which is safeguarded against most attacks.

Luckily the most current versions of WordPress have a single button you can click to update it, which means it downloads and installs the most recent version so you are now protected. I generally wait a week or so after a new update comes out before updating – that way if they find problems with the update, they can fix that, too!

And here’s a time-saving tip for you: I ask my webmaster to do the updates. He’s much faster at it than I am AND he can immediately fix anything that breaks in the process.

4. Back Up Your Blog Regularly!

I use a plugin I love and trust from a reputable programmer. My blogs backup every Saturday night – and store the backups where I ask them to. It all happens automatically,  while I sleep.

Click here to backup your blog quickly and easily.

How do you make money from your blog?

Most people start a blog with the idea of sharing content. They don’t have any  monetization plan in mind. While  it’s always easier if you’re clear on how you will earn money from the beginning, this is a situation that can be easily corrected.

To give you some ideas, here are 10 straightforward ways you can earn money from you blog:

1. Affiliate Marketing: A common choice for many is to go the affiliate marketing route by earning commissions through recommending products. Many bloggers place ads in their side bars, at the bottom of posts and so forth, but the affiliates who make the most money make product recommendations directly to their audience. They write about products, recommend relevant products in their posts and so forth.

2. Product Sponsorship – Sponsorship is a similar concept to advertising, but in many cases, no money exchanges hands. Instead, bloggers are treated to free product in return for mentioning their product, running a giveaway and so forth. Many large and small companies are actively looking for the opportunity to reach their target audience through bloggers, so there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy a variety of perks.

3. Sell Advertising: Many bloggers capitalize on their traffic by selling advertising for their blog. This works well for high traffic blogs that can attract high paying advertisers. It is often the choice of bloggers who don’t want to do any selling on their blog and want to focus solely on content. Still, there is selling involved in attracting advertisers and there is plenty of work involved in serving advertising clients.

4. Sponsored Posts – Like successful bloggers, many companies understand that the most premium ad space on a blog is the blog post itself. Sure, you can put ad banners in your sidebar, but those are most likely to be ignored because people focus on your content. That’s why many companies are willing to pay for the opportunity to post on your blog. Sponsored posts are usually more commercial in nature, but as the blog owner, you ultimately decide which posts you will accept and which you won’t.

5. Bolster Your Product Sales – If you already have an existing online business where you sell your own products, a blog can be the perfect complement to this. Engaging your audience, building a more loyal relationship and educating them on your product is a win-win for everyone.

6. Ebooks and Info Products – If you’re into blogging, chances are you love writing. This is the perfect path to creating your own information products and ebooks. You can sell them on your website, through Kindle, Smashwords and more. If your blog readers love your content, they’ll love to get even more that they can add to their mobile device and take wherever they go.

7. Contextual Advertising – You’ve probably heard of Google Adsense and Chitika. These are advertising networks that display content on your pages. The ads displayed are related to the topics of your specific blog posts…thus, the term “contextual”. Working with an ad network means you don’t have to find your own advertisers and you don’t have to deal with client service either. It’s all taken care of by the ad network and you get a percentage of the profits. Or you can maximize your revenue by displaying contextual ads and accepting advertisers on your blog as well.

8. Blogging for Pay – One of the simplest ways to start earning money from blogging right away is to simply be a blogger for hire. It’s a guaranteed way to get paid for your work, but it doesn’t have the scalability that doing your own blogging does over time. After all, as a blogger for pay, you only get paid when you blog and most jobs don’t pay incredibly well. Still, it’s a great place to get started and start earning money almost right away.

9. Feeding Traffic to a Mailing List – You may have heard the term, “the money is in list” and it’s absolutely true. Growing your own email subscribers list ensures that you have a growing audience of people that you can keep in touch with over and over again. Many bloggers keep their focus on content on their blog and simply funnel people into the mailing list, so they can make offers and sell products via email. Email marketing is an important topic, so we’ll definitely be talking about it in a later post.

10. Speaking – While many bloggers prefer to communicate with their fingertips to the keyboard, many also have a very commanding presence and enjoy speaking to audiences. Speaking is definitely a good skill to cultivate as it can be very profitable. Whether you run your own webinars or speak at various live events, having an active blog following can help you bring more people to your speaking events and increase your income.

Certainly, this isn’t an exhaustive list of the possible ways to profit from a blog because every blogger and business is different, but it gives you plenty of ideas to get started. You might just use one idea to start with, but most successful bloggers use a combination of a few or more monetization opportunities. The key is to start exploring ideas, testing them out and further developing those methods that work for you.

It’s the frustration of many a blogger. They keep writing, writing, writing, but the comments are few and far between. If you’ve dealt with this, you may have felt like you were talking to yourself. I’ve been there myself, so know how you feel.

The good news is that commenting is not a true indicator of success for anyone who blogs for profit. You can measure your success by whether or not you are reaching profit goals for your blog. The fact of the matter is, we can have a nice sized audience reading our content, appreciating it and taking action on it, but they may never leave a comment.

Still, a nice steady stream of comments is good for community building and provides a sort of social proof for your blog. It shows that people are reading your content and like it, so others may follow suit. So the goal of increasing comments is a good one, as long as that is not your main focus in your blogging for profit journey.

To help you, here are 14 ways you can encourage more comments on your blog:

1. The first key to more comments is simple. It’s traffic. If you’re only getting a few hundred visitors per day or less, you probably won’t see a lot of comment activity. That doesn’t mean the traffic isn’t valuable, but it means you shouldn’t be alarmed by low comment volume. So your first step is to increase your traffic and we’ll actually talk about growing your following in the next post, so be sure to come back for that one.

2. Ask questions in your posts. If you want people to leave a comment, ask them a direct question. Ask questions about things people are passionate about to get a bigger response.

3. Use Controversy. When a post is controversial or shows a very strong opinion, that’s when you’ll find the commenters come out of the word work. That doesn’t mean you have to be rude or offend, but just make people think and don’t be afraid to express yourself.

4. Humor. Just like controversy, humor is something that gets people talking. Make people laugh and they’ll thank you, share their own jokes and more. Making people smile is a good thing too.

5. Reply to comments. Think of comments as the start of a conversation. Where possible, reply to your comments and engage your readers. They’ll be more likely to come back and comment more if they feel like someone listens to and appreciates what they have to say.

6. Make response posts. If you get a great comment that opens up a new discussion, make a new post out of it. It’s a continued conversation and encourages the same people to come back and add even more to the conversation.

7. Ask friends and family to give you a boost. If you’re just getting started, ask people you know to come by and get a little discussion going. Others are more likely to speak up if they see others doing it too.

8. Don’t require registration. If you feel you’re in need of comments, don’t put up barriers for your readers to make comments, including registration. Requiring registration just creates a couple more steps for someone before they comments and most people will simply click away, rather than bother.

9. If comments are moderated, do it swiftly. If you moderate all your comments before they’re posted, make sure you do so quickly and frequently. Making people wait is a definite conversation killer.

10. Consider using a Facebook commenting plugin. There are a variety of plugins that allow your readers to post their comments through Facebook. This can encourage discussion because the comments can appear on your visitor’s timelines and then their friends can join in the discussion as well. Just remember, not everyone has a Facebook account, so it’s a good idea to have other options too.

11. Make it easy to reply directly to specific comments. Make sure that your commenting system is set up so people can comment to specific posts. It makes is easier to create sub-conversations from the main post and it’s also easier for your readers to follow the comments.

12. Use your mailing list. Tell your subscribers about new blog posts and encourage them to come by. These are people who have already indicated they are interested in your content, so share it with them.

13. Respect and encourage the opinions of others. People will disagree with you, but you can still respond respectfully and engage them in a discussion that is educational for both sides. It’s a great opportunity to show that you’re open to other ideas and you’re willing to discuss the issues.

14. Acknowledge your regulars. If people comment more than once, welcome that back and thank them for their contribution. After all, by commenting they are contributing to your blog and making it more vibrant. Show you’re grateful for that and they’ll be back to do it again.

Think of your blog as your community. If you want people to be active, you need to be a gracious host and active yourself. While traffic will usually increase your comment volume, there are other things you can do to encourage comments from the visitors you already have.

Guest blogging is an important way for you to share your message and expand your reach. I do it because there is tremendous benefit to me and my business. Guest blogging allows you to reach new audiences and establish your expertise further.  Plus, it allows you to forge new personal relationships with fellow bloggers and that is always a good thing.

Guest posting example

There are a few things to keep in mind when participating in guest blogger opportunities. While they don’t all apply to every opportunity, they will be helpful as you consider guest blogging.

– High traffic is good, but not always necessary. Obviously, guest blogging on a high traffic blog is likely to give you the most exposure, but there is often competition to get posted. In addition, there are plenty of highly targeted smaller traffic blogs that can provide good exposure.

– Learn about the blog’s audience and write specifically for them. While you may write about the same topics, no two blogs are exactly the same. Learn what makes the blog you’re writing for unique and keep in mind what their audience wants to hear.

– Always read the submission guidelines carefully. Look forward what types of topics they want, what formatting you should use or any other specifics they are looking for. Don’t get rejected just because you make a silly little mistake.

– Promote an opt-in, not a link to your home page or a product. You’ll get the best results for with your guest post if you make a free offer to their readers. Linking to your home page may bring in plenty of traffic, but what happens when they click away, never to return? You want them to opt-in to your list, so that you can bring them back to your blog later, make product recommendations and keep in touch with them for months and years to come.

– Engage the audience and respond. Just like with your own blog, readily ask your readers questions and respond to their comments. Consider this your opportunity to forge new relationships with those interested in your topic area.

– Write for the same blog again. Let the audience really get to know you and look forward to your posts. While you can see benefit from just one guest blog post, the benefits multiple as you come back and become a more familiar face to the readers.

Make guest blogging a regular part of your promotion plan and you’ll start to see which opportunities are worthwhile and which are not. You can also use your contributions to certain blogs as leverage to get the opportunity to write for even bigger audiences.