Welcome to the Thirty Day Challenge Action List 2008. This Thirty Day Challenge Action List 2008 is designed to give you a step-by-step guide to completing Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge Internet marketing program. This is the second year for this action list. Here is where you can find the Thirty Day Challenge Action List 2007.

If you are not familiar with the Thirty Day Challenge, you are in for a real treat. You can sign up for this incredible free Internet marketing course here. It is the best Internet marketing program I have ever seen. And, it is FREE!!

Now back to discussing this 2008 Thirty Day Challenge Action List. One of the problems that I have with the Thirty Day Challenge is turning Ed’s excellent videos into actions. I watch the videos, learn a lot, but in the end don’t really know what to do. This action list is designed to help you to always know what you need to accomplish each day of the course.

For those Thirty Day Challenge participants who are not subscribers to Newest on the Net, please subscribe to my RSS feed so that you always know when I have updated this Thirty Day Challenge Action List 2008. Without further adieu, let’s get started.

2008 Thirty Day Challenge Action List

STEP 1 – Setting Up Flock: Download, install and setup Flock Internet Browser

1. Download Flock
2. Setup the Flock Preferences as shown here
3. Setup a Google Reader account
4. Speed up Flock by following the instruction here
5. Install the Google Global Flock extension
6. Install the Google Notebook Flock extension
7. Install the SEO for Flock extension
8. Install the SearchStatus extension
9. Install the StumbleUpon toolbar (please note – If you are interested in learning more about StumbleUpon, read 65 Must Read StumbleUpon Articles)
10. Install the Thirty Day Challenge Toolbar

STEP 2 – Sign up to Twitter

Follow me on Twitter
Follow Ed Dale on Twitter
Follow Dan Raine on Twitter

STEP 3 – Learn to Use Twitter in Flock and Install Twirl

1. Read instructions on how to use Twitter in Flock
2. Install Twirl

STEP 4 – Learn How To Set Up Google Reader and Google Alerts

1. Read these instructions for setting up Google Reader and Google Alerts
2. Subscribe to Newest on the Net so that you know when this action list is updated.

STEP 5 – Learn How To Use StumbleUpon

1. Read these instructions for using StumbleUpon
2. Add me as a friend on StumbleUpon

STEP 6 – Subscribe to Ed Dale’s YouTube Channel

STEP 7 – Join FriendFeed

1. Join FriendFeed
2. Add me as your friend in FriendFeed
3. Add Ed Dale as your friend in FriendFeed
4. Join the FriendFeed Thirty Day Challenge Room

STEP 8 – Day 1: Start Brainstorming Niche Ideas

1. Come up with 5-10 niches that interest you
2. Use Amazon.com’s magazine and newspapers section to come up with niche ideas
3. Remember the “small is better”
4. Subscribe to the Google Alerts for your chosen niches

STEP 9 – Day 2: Market Samurai

1. Download Market Samurai
2. Realize that for Internet marketing a niche markets and keywords are the same thing
3. Find keywords that are used by a lot of people, who are looking to buy something, and not a lot of competing pages for that keyword
4. Find keywords with the following attributes:
   a. SEO Traffic (SEOT) > 80 searches a day
   b. SEO Competition < 30,000 competing pages
   c. Adwords CTR > 2.00% (this means that it is a buying keyword). Adwords CTR is just used to prioritize your keywords.
   d. Look at the keyword’s OCI percentage. The higher the percentage the more likely that the keyword is a buying keyword. OCI is just used to prioritize your keywords.
5. Narrow down your niches to a few keywords meeting the above criteria.

STEP 10 – Day 3: Determine the SEO Competition

1. Determine SEO Competition of your keywords
2. Find a keyword that you believe that the SEO competition is low enough that you can compete for the number 1 ranking in Google

STEP 11 – DAY 4: Finding your affiliates products

1. Find 2 affiliate products within your niche that you can promote
2. Learn how to write articles that sell by following Dan Raine’s Writing Your First Copy guide
3. Learn how to create Amazon affiliate links
4. Join Picnik
5. Learn how to resize images and edit images with Picnik

STEP 12 – Day 5: Research your niche

1. Research your niche. Find articles about your keyword using sites like Ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com, google blog search, and google news.
2. Find enough content so that you can write 5-10 300-500 word articles about you niche.
3. Write a few of your 300-500 articles. You will be using this content throughout the Thirty Day Challenge.

STEP 13 – Day 6: Publishing a Blog

1. Find an available domain name with your keywords in the name. You can use nameboy.com or namecheap.com.
2. Consider signing up for web hosting with Host Gator
3. Check out WordPress Direct for creating a WordPress site
4. Create a self-hosted WordPress site. Consider using WordPress Direct, Fantastico or Simple Scripts to help with the installation of WordPress.

STEP 14 – Day 7: Learn how to track traffic and click throughs on your blog

1. Install Google Analytics on your Blog
2. Create trackable affiliate links using TDC Statcounter
3. Insert your trackable affiliate links into your blog content

STEP 15 – Day 8: Social bookmaking increases your web presence and Google search engine results pages positioning

1. Use socialmarker to bookmark your content. I actually like SocialPoster.com better so try that one out too.

STEP 16 – Day 9: Get more backlinks to your website

1. Find relevant groups at Google Groups
2. Find relevant forums that you can leave your link in your signature
3. Find relevant Squidoo pages for your keyword by typing the following into Google – your keyword site:squidoo.com
4. Make good comments with your anchored text link in each of these websites. Become part of the community at each of these sites. Do not spam them!! ADD VALUE!!
5. Get a few links a day
6. Find out if your site is ranked by Google by typing the following into Google – site:yourdomain.com

STEP 17 – Day 10: Thirty Day Challenge Free RSS Submission Service

1. Submit your site’s RSS feed to RSS feed directories using the Thirty Day Challenge Free RSS Submission Service

STEP 18 – Day 11: Promote your site using Squidoo

1. Create a Squidoo lens about your site
2. Socialmarker your Squidoo lens

STEP 19 – Day 12:  Promote your site using Hubpages

1. Create a Hubpage page about your site
2. Socialmarker your Hubpage page

STEP 20 – Day 13:  Analyze you traffic using Google Analytics

1. Focus on what keywords your traffic is coming from
2. Understand who is referring traffic to you

Day 14 Note: Deleted due to Tumblr deleting 30DC sites

STEP 21 – Day 15:  Promote your site using Weebly

1. Create a Weebly page about your site
2. Socialmarker you Weebly page

What is the Key To Making Money Online?

As most of you know, I have been focused on learning how to make money online.  I have been creating Squidoo lenses where I have been promoting affiliate products.  I have been creating niche WordPress sites focused on very narrow niches and keywords.  I have been creating niche Blogger blogs.  And, I am about to purchase the Build a Niche Store software so that I can more easily sell ebay products.

This might sound simple, but it is something we all have to learn.  You have to create websites and create content on the web in order to make money online.  The biggest mistake that I tend to make is not creating enough content.

As stated in Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come.”  Well, I am not sure that it is that easy, but I promise you that if you don’t build it, they will not come and you will not make any money online.

Most of the Internet marketers and bloggers that I have met who are making money online have many sources or streams of income.  It is imperative that you start creating you multiple streams of income.

Why not just stick to one website?

If you are already meeting your financial goals with one website, then go for it.  Stick with that one site.  However, most of us are finding it pretty difficult to make money from just one website.  Especially in the how to blog or how to make money online niche.  So, go out there and create new websites.

Each new income stream that I try to produce I learn something new.  I have a very specific focused strategy with Squidoo.  And, I can tell you that I am now making some pretty decent money with Squidoo.  I am also learning how to make made for adsense blogs.  But, what I am learning is that I am not going to be able to retire off of one website.  I am going to have to build a ton of them.

So what different ways are you trying to make money online?

Tools that I have reviewed:

• Secret Income Streams
• Micro Niche Finder
• Viral Mini Sites

Hey Fred, did you just say that I should pick a niche that I hate?  Absolutely!

Too often  I hear bloggers talk about the need to like what you are blogging about. Over the last year, I have learned that this is complete hogwash.  Well, at least partially.  Let’s explore this a little further.

For me, I break down blogging into two high level categories: flagship blogs and niche blogs.  My flagship blog is Newest on the Net.  However, I don’t make much money with Newest on the Net.  On the other hand, my money blogs are my niche blogs.  And, let me tell you a secret for these niche blogs.  DON’T BLOG ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE.  BLOG ABOUT WHAT CAN MAKE YOU MONEY.

That was a very important lesson for me to learn.  Every thing that I read said that I needed to blog about something that I am passionate in.  But, you know what?  For my niche blogs, I am passionate about making money.  I am not doing these niche blogs to gather a huge following of RSS subscribers.  I am creating these niche blogs to made money.

I have learned that I really don’t need to like what I am writing about.  I just need to research the niche very thoroughly, and write articles from this research.  And, despite not always loving the topics that I am writing about, I am motivated by learning more about Internet marketing, blogging for money, etc.

This is an important thing for us bloggers to learn.  Sometimes you need to go against the grain.  Don’t always listen to the professional bloggers.

If you need a good free backlink checker, I have the tool for you.  As many of you know, when you are trying to increase your search engine page results with Google you need lots of backlinks to your website.  I have been trying to find a good tool to see who is linking to my websites.  I have also been trying to find a good tool to show me the backlinks of the pages that rank higher than me.

The free backlink checker is Domain-Pop.com.  I absolutely love this tool. UnlikeYahoo Site Explorer, Domain-Pop presents these link in a very easy to read format.  In addition to this free backlink checker being easy to read, it seems to be very accurate.

Try it out.  Do you know of another free backlink checker?

Every now and then I come across a website on Internet marketing that blows me away.  First there was the Thirty Day Challenge.   After participating in the Thirty Day Challenge, I did not think that I would come across anything that compared to this free Internet marketing course.  Well, that all changed in the last two weeks when I read make money online, make money online blogging, and Internet marketing.  Grizzly, Vic and Court truly are the three men of Internet marketing.

These three blogs have reinvigorated me with the desire to try to make money from niche blogs.  Since I have learned so much from Grizzly, Vic and Court, I just knew that you would love them too.

These three bloggers are sharing all of their secrets for making money online.  It seems like they are competing with each other for who can share the most.  However, each does it with their own style and experiences.  It is also great to see these three bloggers commenting on each others’ blogs.  The three of them are really working together to educate people on Internet marketing.

How to Make Money Online for Beginners:  

Grizzly from the blog How to Make Money Online for Beginners has been writing some unbelievable article on how to make money online.  I encourage you to read all of his past posts, but I want to highlight one series of posts that is the best Internet marketing series that I have ever read.  Grizzly has written 6 comprehensive article on how to target a keyword and make money using adsense.

• Payday Loans
• Payday Loans Review
• Payday Loans and Adsense
• Payday Loans – Adsense Update
• Payday Loans Update

Blogger Unleashed:

Vic from Blogger Unleashed is writing is heart out to explain to people how to make money using niche sites and adsense.  Vic is the author of the blog Bu.bulicio.us.  In just 4 months since launching Bu.bulicio.us, Vic is getting over 20,000 unique visitors.  Vic’s Blogger Unleashed blog explains to readers how he used SEO to build this site and how you can make money online following his same techniques.

Vic has also recently started an make money online mentoring program. Vic’s mentoring program is free and available to anyone who wants to join.  Check it out.

Court’s Internet Marketing School:

Courtney Tuttle from Court’s Internet Marketing School has been writing some of the best Internet marketing articles I have ever read.  Courtney has recently written the best internet marketing article of 2007.  In this article Court describes how to target a specific keyword and take the number one position in Google’s search engine results pages.  You have to read this article.

Well, I hope that you like these articles.  I have been devouring them as fast as I can read them.  I am reading through Grizzly’s payday loans series a second time through right now.  I am also rereading Court’s keyword sniping article again tomorrow.

Please tell me how you liked these articles and blogs.