Instead of paying for an eBook that promises get-rich-quick bucks, the "Masked Guru" reviews them thoroughly so that you're essentially getting the content of the eBook - plus his take on whether or not the advice in each book is legit or BS. At first I was miffed with the Masked Guru because his site says you'll get 3 eBooks "instantly". Well... only after getting a email a day did I thoroughly scan through the MaskedGuru.com site to see that he does say it's a "part" a day email service... not the entire eBook at once.
The three eBooks are TheRichJerk, Day Job Killer and the Ultimate Wealth Package... in that order. TheRichJerk comes in 11 parts - so 11 emails over 11 days. And right now I'm on Day 9 of Day Job Killer. For future posts I'm going to review the reviews... but only for what I find interesting and informative... I'm a newbie... but feel like I know much of the stuff that is being reported, so I'll just summarize the basics, and report on what I learned that was new to me.
For now... since I'm in the middle of Day Job Killer... one suggestion that I had not thought of is promoting high-ticket items like music equipment, electronics like TV's or video game consoles. This might be a good suggestion since it seems like the entire world is going after the eBook industry. Now eBooks make sense because they are digital and delivered immediately... and therefore you may get a higher conversion since people like to buy things that satisfy their need for instant gratification. But if you can do a bang up job selling guitars... you'll probably have less competition.
As with ALL of the eBooks about getting rich on the internet, Day Job Killer seems to recommend the exact same basics as everyone else (hence my belief that you should buy one eBook one time and never bother with any others - that is if you're a newbie and want to learn the basics quickly. Otherwise, just reading forums, other's blogs, and doing some trial and error will get you up to speed to). The basics include:
1. get an affiliate account at ClickBank and Commission Junction (the main two but there are others)
2. find products to promote on the above two sites
3. promote them - via Pay-per-click (ie AdWords), articles you write and submit to the article sites, and commenting at forums and on others' sites with links back to your site or the promotion page with your "hoplink nickname", or SEO (search engine optimization) of your own site
That's affiliate marketing in a nutshell. Each of the "guru" eBooks throws a spin or two on this... but largely the spin is in how they market their products - not necessarily in the content. More to come on the review of the reviews of the Masked Guru's 3 current books.
8/28/2007
My AdSense - on the rise
I have no idea how (I have some guesses)... but I had a $7.07 on August 16th getting a lot more clicks than in previous days. Then it averaged about $1 per day for the next four days... then up to $3 to $4 for the next five days... and then a $8.29 day... my highest yet, followed by a $4.64 and so far today with a couple of hours remaining, $6.11
So... while I can hardly retire even on $8 per day... I'm obviously doing something right... the question is WHAT???
Since I STILL haven't figured out how to set up "channels" and track each of my Blogs with AdSense separately (all of my sites - about 10 blogs - roll up into one account). So I can't break it out until I figure out how to set up AdSense correctly for better tracking. Now I KNOW tracking is critical... after all, how do you improve when you don't know what you're doing wrong... or in this case... right? But, only three of my 10 blogs generate any "real" traffic (between 100 and 500 impressions a day... not a ton... but yes, I'm a newbie).
Since I've only got 3 "meaningful" sites, it seems to me that only a couple of things could have caused the "big" jump.
First... I posted articles about "hot button" issues for two different groups... the groups are two different Network Marketing companies, or MLM's. I didn't necessarily do this on purpose... meaning, I post everything hoping that it's valuable enough to get a lot of traffic... so I wasn't trying to find "hot buttons", but in hindsight this is OBVIOUSLY a very effective technique and it's teaching me a lot of lessons... lessons that I'll be posting more about after this post.
One lesson is that MLM's are very controversial in so many ways... controversy means there can be a LOT of hot button issues. A hot button could be positive, and one of the two MLM's I wrote about had an incredibly positive story (it happens to be the MLM I'm involved in) and I just happened to be one of the first Bloggers to refer to the article... and I did it on all three of my most trafficked blogs. One of the three got a P1 ranking on Google (position 1, page 1) for several key words... so not surprisingly I got a lot of traffic from that ranking... well, a lot for me... the key words are not one that anyone else other than those in that MLM would bother to put together. But with over 500,000 distributors in the company... that's a lot of people who might Google it.
The other "controversial" or "hot button" post was about an MLM with some bad news. Actually - now that I think of it, I wrote "bad news" articles about two different MLM's. For these two I actually had to go out of my way and post at a couple of "forums" with links back to my blogs. So this is another lesson... forums practically invite you to insert your link... not in a spamming kind of way... but within your signature, or if you can post in a way that doesn't look like spam... saying "gee, did you all see this post? Do you think it's true?" or something that gets others to look at it... and more importantly start a discussion about your article.
This leads me to my final lesson... FORUMS are something I HAVE to look into. Forums have AdSense and other ads all over them... and I must assume that the owner of the Forum is collecting all of that revenue. And when a Forum has a lot of controversial conversation going on it gets a lot of traffic.
Oh, and yes, I've been trying to experiment with ad placement... but I can't tell what's working and what's not... so I'll repeat the lesson I haven't learned apparently... the importance of tracking.
So... while I can hardly retire even on $8 per day... I'm obviously doing something right... the question is WHAT???
Since I STILL haven't figured out how to set up "channels" and track each of my Blogs with AdSense separately (all of my sites - about 10 blogs - roll up into one account). So I can't break it out until I figure out how to set up AdSense correctly for better tracking. Now I KNOW tracking is critical... after all, how do you improve when you don't know what you're doing wrong... or in this case... right? But, only three of my 10 blogs generate any "real" traffic (between 100 and 500 impressions a day... not a ton... but yes, I'm a newbie).
Since I've only got 3 "meaningful" sites, it seems to me that only a couple of things could have caused the "big" jump.
First... I posted articles about "hot button" issues for two different groups... the groups are two different Network Marketing companies, or MLM's. I didn't necessarily do this on purpose... meaning, I post everything hoping that it's valuable enough to get a lot of traffic... so I wasn't trying to find "hot buttons", but in hindsight this is OBVIOUSLY a very effective technique and it's teaching me a lot of lessons... lessons that I'll be posting more about after this post.
One lesson is that MLM's are very controversial in so many ways... controversy means there can be a LOT of hot button issues. A hot button could be positive, and one of the two MLM's I wrote about had an incredibly positive story (it happens to be the MLM I'm involved in) and I just happened to be one of the first Bloggers to refer to the article... and I did it on all three of my most trafficked blogs. One of the three got a P1 ranking on Google (position 1, page 1) for several key words... so not surprisingly I got a lot of traffic from that ranking... well, a lot for me... the key words are not one that anyone else other than those in that MLM would bother to put together. But with over 500,000 distributors in the company... that's a lot of people who might Google it.
The other "controversial" or "hot button" post was about an MLM with some bad news. Actually - now that I think of it, I wrote "bad news" articles about two different MLM's. For these two I actually had to go out of my way and post at a couple of "forums" with links back to my blogs. So this is another lesson... forums practically invite you to insert your link... not in a spamming kind of way... but within your signature, or if you can post in a way that doesn't look like spam... saying "gee, did you all see this post? Do you think it's true?" or something that gets others to look at it... and more importantly start a discussion about your article.
This leads me to my final lesson... FORUMS are something I HAVE to look into. Forums have AdSense and other ads all over them... and I must assume that the owner of the Forum is collecting all of that revenue. And when a Forum has a lot of controversial conversation going on it gets a lot of traffic.
Oh, and yes, I've been trying to experiment with ad placement... but I can't tell what's working and what's not... so I'll repeat the lesson I haven't learned apparently... the importance of tracking.
8/21/2007
Battle to increase AdSense via MyBlogLog
OK, well I haven't started writing articles to increase my traffic as I intended to do a week ago... but I've explored other ways. One cool site that is new to me... maybe not to the experts... is MyBlogLog. You see their widget on others sites... which I didn't get the value of... but I was indexed on one of my sites with a top 5 Google Page rank within 24 hours... it was my article with "MyBlogLog" in the URL. Very interesting... and sure enough, I got a mini spike in traffic.
You can also install their traffic counter and get visitor stats... I use "StatCounter.com" which is a free counting service up to 500 page views per site (it remains free after 500 page views, but they erase the history, so you can only stay on top of recent history with the free service).
But this isn't a web site stat counting and tracking post... it's about the increase in traffic I got by when I added my sites via the "Add site/blog I author" link at the site. It's really easy to sign up and "prove" you own the site... and just a bit of a trick to figure out where to post their stat tracking script if you're an HTML novice. But overall... MyBlogLog is worth checking out.
Of course I still seem to be no where with AdSense... I had a few $3 days, but I was back to averaging $2 per day again... and only got back to $3 today with this new trick. I guess I need to author articles.
You can also install their traffic counter and get visitor stats... I use "StatCounter.com" which is a free counting service up to 500 page views per site (it remains free after 500 page views, but they erase the history, so you can only stay on top of recent history with the free service).
But this isn't a web site stat counting and tracking post... it's about the increase in traffic I got by when I added my sites via the "Add site/blog I author" link at the site. It's really easy to sign up and "prove" you own the site... and just a bit of a trick to figure out where to post their stat tracking script if you're an HTML novice. But overall... MyBlogLog is worth checking out.
Of course I still seem to be no where with AdSense... I had a few $3 days, but I was back to averaging $2 per day again... and only got back to $3 today with this new trick. I guess I need to author articles.
8/16/2007
Resell free stuff - add value with tutorials ala MindMovies
I bought this program... and love the "product" almost as much as I love the money-making idea they are using.
The idea.... create online video or flash tutorials for something you are an expert at - then sell access to the tutorials. Nothing new right - but an interesting take on this idea is "MindMovies" which is $27 to get access to otherwise free downloads... I thought I was buying the software... but the software can be found elsewhere for free.... what you are really buying is access to 12 tutorials for how to use the software to build YouTube-ready videos.
These guys are also pretty smart in their marketing... they have a $5,000 contest for the most watched YouTube video created with their service, and to qualify you must include their ad in your video. Not surprisingly they are selling a LOT of $27 licenses to their tutorials.
By the way.... there is a TON of free software (shareware, freeware and open source) and if you're an expert at any of it... create a tutorial that you sell while providing the download links. Or... the superior way... do as MindMovies did... come up with a creative end-user application of the software... in this case... create a "self-affirmation" video ala "The Secret" using their tutorials and the free software.
The idea.... create online video or flash tutorials for something you are an expert at - then sell access to the tutorials. Nothing new right - but an interesting take on this idea is "MindMovies" which is $27 to get access to otherwise free downloads... I thought I was buying the software... but the software can be found elsewhere for free.... what you are really buying is access to 12 tutorials for how to use the software to build YouTube-ready videos.
These guys are also pretty smart in their marketing... they have a $5,000 contest for the most watched YouTube video created with their service, and to qualify you must include their ad in your video. Not surprisingly they are selling a LOT of $27 licenses to their tutorials.
By the way.... there is a TON of free software (shareware, freeware and open source) and if you're an expert at any of it... create a tutorial that you sell while providing the download links. Or... the superior way... do as MindMovies did... come up with a creative end-user application of the software... in this case... create a "self-affirmation" video ala "The Secret" using their tutorials and the free software.
Don't buy a How-to make money eCourses or books until you read this
One of the most promoted programs on the web is "The Rich Jerk". It's been around for years. They're pretty much "legit" and a more or less a "scam" at the same time... what I mean by this is that they do offer something of value... but once you buy their eBook and program... they start asking for more and more money... and it describes how you should more or less sell the same thing to other newbies. The above is a severe over-simplification... but I've got good news for you. You can just about all of the "The Rich Jerks" content if you sign up at http://www.maskedguru.com/
The Masked Guru is obviously trying to build his own list, and garner affiliate sales... just as The Rich Jerk recommends... and the value he (for all we know it's a she) offers is to "blow the lid" off the various guru products being sold... and the his favorite one to sucker punch appears to be The Rich Jerk program.
I gave the Masked Guru my email (the one I use to sign up for all things internet that is my defacto spam email - so as not to interfere with my personal email) thinking that I would get what I was promised... access to reviews of three different programs. Unfortunately... I didn't get access... what I got was a series of reviews of The Rich Jerk via email. Now maybe I am doing something wrong and the content really is on his site... but... I guess I'm unmasking the Masked Guru's tactics to an extent. Let me say though that I REALLY APPRECIATE the info I am getting from the Masked Guru and recommend anyone who wants access to the "secrets" in The Rich Jerk's program... get them for free via the Masked Guru's review.
Finally... whenever you are tempted to buy ANY eBook touting "secrets"... do an internet search for reviews of it. If any give it a 9 out of 10... it's probably someone trying to earn from affiliate sales. You'll develop trusted sources over time (who will have some way of monetizing your trust)... and one for me is the Masked Guru... I just want to know how to see the review of the other two products he's got listed on his site since he DOES HAVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS :)
The Masked Guru is obviously trying to build his own list, and garner affiliate sales... just as The Rich Jerk recommends... and the value he (for all we know it's a she) offers is to "blow the lid" off the various guru products being sold... and the his favorite one to sucker punch appears to be The Rich Jerk program.
I gave the Masked Guru my email (the one I use to sign up for all things internet that is my defacto spam email - so as not to interfere with my personal email) thinking that I would get what I was promised... access to reviews of three different programs. Unfortunately... I didn't get access... what I got was a series of reviews of The Rich Jerk via email. Now maybe I am doing something wrong and the content really is on his site... but... I guess I'm unmasking the Masked Guru's tactics to an extent. Let me say though that I REALLY APPRECIATE the info I am getting from the Masked Guru and recommend anyone who wants access to the "secrets" in The Rich Jerk's program... get them for free via the Masked Guru's review.
Finally... whenever you are tempted to buy ANY eBook touting "secrets"... do an internet search for reviews of it. If any give it a 9 out of 10... it's probably someone trying to earn from affiliate sales. You'll develop trusted sources over time (who will have some way of monetizing your trust)... and one for me is the Masked Guru... I just want to know how to see the review of the other two products he's got listed on his site since he DOES HAVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS :)
Google Adsense Horror Stories
As a relative newbie to monetizing my online activity... I'm learning a lot... and reading stories about people who had been earning thou$ands per month via Adsense only to have their account banned shocked me awake.
I've since read blog posts about the Adsense Terms & Conditions as well as their Program Policies and have cleaned up my act... I wasn't doing much wrong... but I was making a couple of mistakes... and I even chronicled them here... like sharing my effective CPM... trying out competitive ad companies... and labeling the top of my Ad sections with phrases like "support our advertisers" (which might be OK... but I'm not taking chances that this might be too directive and get my account banned).
So... what are the key policies you need to look out for if you want to avoid your own Google Adsense horror story... this is a partial list... of what stands out to me... so PLEASE do NOT rely solely on my list... you MUST read both the T&C's and the Program Policies at the Google Adsense site:
1. they reserve the right to ban your account at any time... AND they may change their policies at any time. In other words... they are in control, and you had better stay up to date
2. an obvious one is NEVER to click on your own ads... that's fraud. a not so obvious one that I've seen many so-called "experts" actually recommend is to join "traffic exchanges" where you promise to visit other peoples sites and in exchange they'll visit yours. This is "artificial" traffic - and you will get banned if they find out.
3. you can't "encourage clicks" - not by a phrase you write above or next to the ad like "please click on your advertisers" or even "favorite sites". Nor can you add graphics that make the ads appear more attractive or covert. "support us" is illegal too... so I'd even suggest not saying anything. It's obvious to most people that ads on a site support the site... and the ads are already labeled "Ads by Google" so just leave it alone.
4. watch your content... drugs, gambling, guns, tobacco, sex, alcohol, profanity, and even hacking tips... basically if it's a vice or it's illegal.... DON'T write about it
5. don't manipulate the ads... don't change the code - period. Any "clever" idea to get more clicks will almost certainly get you banned... that includes turning them into pop ups and more.
6. the # of ads is confusing to me... it starts by saying "up to three ad units" per page and then follows with three other maximums... "a maximum of two Google Adsense search boxes", then "up to three link units" and finally "up to three referral units". So... can that be 11 total Google items... or can you only mix and match for 3 total items???? I don't know the answer to this question... but I've often felt that 3 was my personal max anyway so as not to overwhelm my sites with ads. If anyone knows the answer to this.... please let me know!!!
7. Competitive ads are OK... but competitive ads like AccessoryAds.com are NOT!!!! They look like Google's ads.... so they are banned. Besides... I tried AccessoryAds and they produced next to nothing... so don't get yourself banned from Adsense because the alternatives seem pretty poor. But again... you can have other advertising on your site... as long as it can't be confused with Google's ads.
The above are the key points I pulled out of the "Program Policies" document... but there is more in the Terms & Conditions. Much of it is legalese... and I am NOT a lawyer, so don't base any decision about your web site on ANY of my interpretations or information... but one big thing did jump out at me:
1. you can not share the click through rates or any other performance statistic for how your Adsense program is working. You can say how much you've made... but you can't share impressions, clicks etc that will help people gauge how Adsense performs.
Now... I'll repeat again... the above list is NOT all-inclusive and should not be solely relied upon. For example... I read on another blog that you are not allowed to have videos or MP3 recordings on any site that has Adsense ads... however, I could not find anything in the TOS, T&C's or PP's that mentioned this. You can't violate copyright laws.... but if you create a video tutorial for how to make a paper airplane... it would appear to me to be OK, but another blogger said it's not. So... please read Google's terms and policies if you're concerned.
I've since read blog posts about the Adsense Terms & Conditions as well as their Program Policies and have cleaned up my act... I wasn't doing much wrong... but I was making a couple of mistakes... and I even chronicled them here... like sharing my effective CPM... trying out competitive ad companies... and labeling the top of my Ad sections with phrases like "support our advertisers" (which might be OK... but I'm not taking chances that this might be too directive and get my account banned).
So... what are the key policies you need to look out for if you want to avoid your own Google Adsense horror story... this is a partial list... of what stands out to me... so PLEASE do NOT rely solely on my list... you MUST read both the T&C's and the Program Policies at the Google Adsense site:
1. they reserve the right to ban your account at any time... AND they may change their policies at any time. In other words... they are in control, and you had better stay up to date
2. an obvious one is NEVER to click on your own ads... that's fraud. a not so obvious one that I've seen many so-called "experts" actually recommend is to join "traffic exchanges" where you promise to visit other peoples sites and in exchange they'll visit yours. This is "artificial" traffic - and you will get banned if they find out.
3. you can't "encourage clicks" - not by a phrase you write above or next to the ad like "please click on your advertisers" or even "favorite sites". Nor can you add graphics that make the ads appear more attractive or covert. "support us" is illegal too... so I'd even suggest not saying anything. It's obvious to most people that ads on a site support the site... and the ads are already labeled "Ads by Google" so just leave it alone.
4. watch your content... drugs, gambling, guns, tobacco, sex, alcohol, profanity, and even hacking tips... basically if it's a vice or it's illegal.... DON'T write about it
5. don't manipulate the ads... don't change the code - period. Any "clever" idea to get more clicks will almost certainly get you banned... that includes turning them into pop ups and more.
6. the # of ads is confusing to me... it starts by saying "up to three ad units" per page and then follows with three other maximums... "a maximum of two Google Adsense search boxes", then "up to three link units" and finally "up to three referral units". So... can that be 11 total Google items... or can you only mix and match for 3 total items???? I don't know the answer to this question... but I've often felt that 3 was my personal max anyway so as not to overwhelm my sites with ads. If anyone knows the answer to this.... please let me know!!!
7. Competitive ads are OK... but competitive ads like AccessoryAds.com are NOT!!!! They look like Google's ads.... so they are banned. Besides... I tried AccessoryAds and they produced next to nothing... so don't get yourself banned from Adsense because the alternatives seem pretty poor. But again... you can have other advertising on your site... as long as it can't be confused with Google's ads.
The above are the key points I pulled out of the "Program Policies" document... but there is more in the Terms & Conditions. Much of it is legalese... and I am NOT a lawyer, so don't base any decision about your web site on ANY of my interpretations or information... but one big thing did jump out at me:
1. you can not share the click through rates or any other performance statistic for how your Adsense program is working. You can say how much you've made... but you can't share impressions, clicks etc that will help people gauge how Adsense performs.
Now... I'll repeat again... the above list is NOT all-inclusive and should not be solely relied upon. For example... I read on another blog that you are not allowed to have videos or MP3 recordings on any site that has Adsense ads... however, I could not find anything in the TOS, T&C's or PP's that mentioned this. You can't violate copyright laws.... but if you create a video tutorial for how to make a paper airplane... it would appear to me to be OK, but another blogger said it's not. So... please read Google's terms and policies if you're concerned.
8/10/2007
Adsense update & a Challenge
I'm up to about $3 per day on Adsense... not even enough to buy a cup of coffee. But I'm a newbie... and have just found some excellent sites and forums of others trying to do what I'm doing.
I'm going to take a similar challenge that "John" from Blood and Guts Marketing gave himself... his was 30 days to make $2500 was his... but I can't seem to commit to such an intensive program since I'm juggling many projects... I really am trying virtually everything out I mention in the first post at the top. I'm also concerned.... John didn't provide his final tally other than to show that he made about $450 via ClickBank... I've got a comment over there asking for more info.... but it appears an intensive amount of work only yielded mediocre results. So I'll be studying more before committing to an all out effort... this whole blog is my commitment anyway... just a long term one of discovery, implemenation and learning... and of course sharing what I learn.
Another site I'm going to spend time on learning the craft of online marketing is the Warrior Forum. Everyone is promoting something over there via their signatures... (hint, hint, tip, tip) but some actually have a lot to say... very helpful to a newbie such as myself.
Unfortunately I'm away all weekend... so my self challenge and quest will have to wait until Monday... so check back... and I'll do my best to let you know how I'm doing.
I'm going to take a similar challenge that "John" from Blood and Guts Marketing gave himself... his was 30 days to make $2500 was his... but I can't seem to commit to such an intensive program since I'm juggling many projects... I really am trying virtually everything out I mention in the first post at the top. I'm also concerned.... John didn't provide his final tally other than to show that he made about $450 via ClickBank... I've got a comment over there asking for more info.... but it appears an intensive amount of work only yielded mediocre results. So I'll be studying more before committing to an all out effort... this whole blog is my commitment anyway... just a long term one of discovery, implemenation and learning... and of course sharing what I learn.
Another site I'm going to spend time on learning the craft of online marketing is the Warrior Forum. Everyone is promoting something over there via their signatures... (hint, hint, tip, tip) but some actually have a lot to say... very helpful to a newbie such as myself.
Unfortunately I'm away all weekend... so my self challenge and quest will have to wait until Monday... so check back... and I'll do my best to let you know how I'm doing.
7/11/2007
Amazon Affiliate program
Yesterday I sent a book recommendation to my real estate list of 1800 emails...
For my efforts I got 15 unique visitors yesterday and 9 more today. 24 total visitors and 7 clicks to Amazon and 12 items were ordered... 8 were of the book I recommended, and 4 other orders (I get all orders that occur due to my efforts whether it's a book I recommend or not).
My referral percentage is 4% and so while they don't tally up orders until they ship, I'll estimate that I'll make a whopping $5.76. So like AdSense you need a LOT of traffic to generate any "real" money from the Amazon affiliate program.
Making only a half cent per page impression with AdSense, and now I've just made one-third of a cent per email via Amazon Affiliates.
I'm also testing out a ClickBank product... so far I've spent $18.43 on AdWords getting 52 clicks to the "pitch page" of the product. So my clicks are costing me 35.4 cents... and for this "test" of this particular product I've gotten 1 order (a 2% conversion rate) and earned $13.35
So I'm actually in the red by just over $5 so far. The test is still new enough that I can let it continue, and I can tweak my AdWords to lower my CPC (cost per click) and increase it's effectiveness... but now you can start to see why I like Network Marketing so much. It's tough to make money any other way.
For my efforts I got 15 unique visitors yesterday and 9 more today. 24 total visitors and 7 clicks to Amazon and 12 items were ordered... 8 were of the book I recommended, and 4 other orders (I get all orders that occur due to my efforts whether it's a book I recommend or not).
My referral percentage is 4% and so while they don't tally up orders until they ship, I'll estimate that I'll make a whopping $5.76. So like AdSense you need a LOT of traffic to generate any "real" money from the Amazon affiliate program.
Making only a half cent per page impression with AdSense, and now I've just made one-third of a cent per email via Amazon Affiliates.
I'm also testing out a ClickBank product... so far I've spent $18.43 on AdWords getting 52 clicks to the "pitch page" of the product. So my clicks are costing me 35.4 cents... and for this "test" of this particular product I've gotten 1 order (a 2% conversion rate) and earned $13.35
So I'm actually in the red by just over $5 so far. The test is still new enough that I can let it continue, and I can tweak my AdWords to lower my CPC (cost per click) and increase it's effectiveness... but now you can start to see why I like Network Marketing so much. It's tough to make money any other way.
7/09/2007
Use MySpace to make money - find prospects
MySpace has about 55 million people visiting their site every month... a HUGE market for any type of business. It's a social networking site... so it's ok to network. I'll share tips on how to network... an no, it's not to blatantly spam people, and you should not lead right out with your pitch. You should first make a friend. Then you can share your business, product, service or opportunity.
The easiest way to make friends is to do it how you would in the "real" world. Socialize with people who have similar interests as you... find them by conducting searches vie the "search" or "browse" options on MySpace... and when you contact them, contact them out your common interest. They are likely to check out your profile... so make your profile a fun one... NOT a salesy one.
To speed up your contacts... go ahead and use one of the mass invitation products like MySpace FriendBlasterPro. This free download (advanced version is about $60) will pick up tons of email addresses and send out pre-written invitations to be your "friend". Once they accept... you then have a virtual invitation to talk to them.
To get started... create a MySpace profile... and while you can include info about your business.... make sure it's a soft sell... and is just a small part of your overall profile. Your profile should be about you... and if you're not a fun person... or well read or well travelled... then do as "The Secret" suggests... and imagine the life you want to have... then present yourself as already having it. This way... even though you're doing a mass invite... people will visit your profile... find a fun person and accept your "friends" invitation.
Finally, when you do start a conversation... and let's say you both are pet lovers... after you've developed a nice online friendship (which can be done in one to 10 or so online chats) you can say "gee, you'd be a great person to work with... are you open to new opportunities" (I use this line when pitching my Network Marketing business. When presented this way... they don't see you as a sales person, and are MUCH more likely to enterain your "pitch" since you're "friends".
The easiest way to make friends is to do it how you would in the "real" world. Socialize with people who have similar interests as you... find them by conducting searches vie the "search" or "browse" options on MySpace... and when you contact them, contact them out your common interest. They are likely to check out your profile... so make your profile a fun one... NOT a salesy one.
To speed up your contacts... go ahead and use one of the mass invitation products like MySpace FriendBlasterPro. This free download (advanced version is about $60) will pick up tons of email addresses and send out pre-written invitations to be your "friend". Once they accept... you then have a virtual invitation to talk to them.
To get started... create a MySpace profile... and while you can include info about your business.... make sure it's a soft sell... and is just a small part of your overall profile. Your profile should be about you... and if you're not a fun person... or well read or well travelled... then do as "The Secret" suggests... and imagine the life you want to have... then present yourself as already having it. This way... even though you're doing a mass invite... people will visit your profile... find a fun person and accept your "friends" invitation.
Finally, when you do start a conversation... and let's say you both are pet lovers... after you've developed a nice online friendship (which can be done in one to 10 or so online chats) you can say "gee, you'd be a great person to work with... are you open to new opportunities" (I use this line when pitching my Network Marketing business. When presented this way... they don't see you as a sales person, and are MUCH more likely to enterain your "pitch" since you're "friends".
Adsense - how much can you make?
Like everything else... nothing appears to make you as much money, as fast, as any promise... and that's true of Adsense.
I use a traffic counter on my blogs... comparing that to what I've earned on AdSense so far, I earn roughly a half cent per page view. So to earn a living only on AdSense... let's say you're happy with a $60,000 annual income (just above the average annual household income in the U.S.), you'd need 12 million page views a year, or 33,000 per day.
Sure this is possible... but then you've not only got to write lots of great content, you've got to work hard to promote your blogs to have a chance at getting that many page views. My average visitor gets to 2 to 3 pages per visit, so you'll need at least 11,000 unique visitors per day. That's a lot.
I also find AdSense annoyingly confusing (I'd love your help in the comments section if you know of a work around) because they don't seem to let you exclude certain types of ads. For example, on my Network Marketing blogs, I'm obviously promoting my business... called MonaVie. Yet AdSense places other distributors ads on my blog... so in essence, for my 1 cent per page return, I'm inviting competition and possibly losing that much from my MonaVie business.
I also find Google Adwords MUCH easier to understand and work with... and since I pay Google for Adwords, and Google pays me for AdSense... I guess that makes sense... to them at least.
Personally I think this is a really dumb mistake by Google... it just invites competition. I found one competitor called AccessoryAds.com or "Search7". You can be a
Be a 7Search.com Advertiser! by clicking the link.
Unfortunately they're small right now... while you can choose any category of ads to show on your site, it appears they have to include categories you don't choose because they don't have enough advertisers in all categories.
So... how much can you make in AdSense... if my sites stats are reflective of the web at large, then figure a half cent per page view. And if you've got the space, ada 7Search.com Advertiser link to your site as well. I've only just experimented with this service, and in my first 100 page impressions I got 1 click and earned 51 cents.... so that's an exact match to AdSense so far. But of course I do have both on the same page... so combining them I'm earning 1 cent per page.
By the way... PLEASE do two things for me... one... please do check out the ads on this site... I don't want illegal clicks... but if you see an interesting ad, please do visit the advertiser. Second, if you have AdSense or a competitor on your site, would you mind "commenting" to let me know how much you make per page impression. Who knows, maybe some optimization (if I can figure more out on the confusing AdSense site) will help me earn more.... so if you're earning more (or less) let me know.
I use a traffic counter on my blogs... comparing that to what I've earned on AdSense so far, I earn roughly a half cent per page view. So to earn a living only on AdSense... let's say you're happy with a $60,000 annual income (just above the average annual household income in the U.S.), you'd need 12 million page views a year, or 33,000 per day.
Sure this is possible... but then you've not only got to write lots of great content, you've got to work hard to promote your blogs to have a chance at getting that many page views. My average visitor gets to 2 to 3 pages per visit, so you'll need at least 11,000 unique visitors per day. That's a lot.
I also find AdSense annoyingly confusing (I'd love your help in the comments section if you know of a work around) because they don't seem to let you exclude certain types of ads. For example, on my Network Marketing blogs, I'm obviously promoting my business... called MonaVie. Yet AdSense places other distributors ads on my blog... so in essence, for my 1 cent per page return, I'm inviting competition and possibly losing that much from my MonaVie business.
I also find Google Adwords MUCH easier to understand and work with... and since I pay Google for Adwords, and Google pays me for AdSense... I guess that makes sense... to them at least.
Personally I think this is a really dumb mistake by Google... it just invites competition. I found one competitor called AccessoryAds.com or "Search7". You can be a
Unfortunately they're small right now... while you can choose any category of ads to show on your site, it appears they have to include categories you don't choose because they don't have enough advertisers in all categories.
So... how much can you make in AdSense... if my sites stats are reflective of the web at large, then figure a half cent per page view. And if you've got the space, ad
By the way... PLEASE do two things for me... one... please do check out the ads on this site... I don't want illegal clicks... but if you see an interesting ad, please do visit the advertiser. Second, if you have AdSense or a competitor on your site, would you mind "commenting" to let me know how much you make per page impression. Who knows, maybe some optimization (if I can figure more out on the confusing AdSense site) will help me earn more.... so if you're earning more (or less) let me know.
6/29/2007
How to recruit customers via the internet
One of my many ventures is a Network Marketing company I'm involved in. I'll spare you the details in this post... but I mention it because while learning how to build a downline I check outed tons of "gurus", books and programs. The one that stands head and shoulders above the rest teaches you how to prospect online.
He shows you how to make the internet your "warm market". How to make friends online, and then attract them into your business. And while he's focused on Network Marketing, his techniques can work in any business where you need to "sell" or find customers. Realtors, CPA's, or even Affiliate marketers can find customers this way. Plus, you can use his concepts in the "real" world - offline, in-person.
Now, while I highly recommend him... he is pretty expensive. His name, Max Steingart, and his sites are www.maxsteingart.com and www.prospectingmastery.com. I took his $500 boot camp, but could have just bought his $197 program that teaches the same thing - but the boot camp was live training online and on the phone.
If you want to learn from a master... you've got to pay him. However, since I'm a former sales trainer, sales manager, and do currently train my downline EVERYTHING I learn - including his techniques, drop an email to monaviedrinker@gmail.com and I can train you too. But I'll do if for a fraction of his price since I'm not yet an expert in his system and don't have the same wealth of examples he does.
I'd consider charging $50 instead of $500 and you'd probably get 95% of what he teaches.
For now, let me share the basic concept... he searches online profiles at places like the Yahoo Member Directory (members.yahoo.com) to find people you have something in common with. He then teaches you how to strike up conversations via an Instant Messenger like Yahoo's.
Finally, he's got a formula for how to advance the conversation towards your business without ever sounding like you are selling. The way he does it people thank you for contacting them. When you hear his ideas they sound pretty obvious.... but they are not obvious until you hear them. Everyone... and I mean EVERYONE... tries to do what he does, but totally opposite of how he does it.
Most people spam, and sell, and push. They also fill their own profiles with nothing but their network marketing opportunity. I was quilty of all of the mistakes but now that I'm doing things correctly, I can meet anyone I want, at any time, and create hundreds of prospects for my business.
Go ahead and pay Max for his $500 boot camp, or buy his $197 package... or email me... in fact, if you're interested in my Network Marketing business, and join it (for $39) I'd just include you in my regular free trainings.
But the bottom line... of all the gurus, programs, books and seminars I've found... Max Steingart's in the one I like the best.
He shows you how to make the internet your "warm market". How to make friends online, and then attract them into your business. And while he's focused on Network Marketing, his techniques can work in any business where you need to "sell" or find customers. Realtors, CPA's, or even Affiliate marketers can find customers this way. Plus, you can use his concepts in the "real" world - offline, in-person.
Now, while I highly recommend him... he is pretty expensive. His name, Max Steingart, and his sites are www.maxsteingart.com and www.prospectingmastery.com. I took his $500 boot camp, but could have just bought his $197 program that teaches the same thing - but the boot camp was live training online and on the phone.
If you want to learn from a master... you've got to pay him. However, since I'm a former sales trainer, sales manager, and do currently train my downline EVERYTHING I learn - including his techniques, drop an email to monaviedrinker@gmail.com and I can train you too. But I'll do if for a fraction of his price since I'm not yet an expert in his system and don't have the same wealth of examples he does.
I'd consider charging $50 instead of $500 and you'd probably get 95% of what he teaches.
For now, let me share the basic concept... he searches online profiles at places like the Yahoo Member Directory (members.yahoo.com) to find people you have something in common with. He then teaches you how to strike up conversations via an Instant Messenger like Yahoo's.
Finally, he's got a formula for how to advance the conversation towards your business without ever sounding like you are selling. The way he does it people thank you for contacting them. When you hear his ideas they sound pretty obvious.... but they are not obvious until you hear them. Everyone... and I mean EVERYONE... tries to do what he does, but totally opposite of how he does it.
Most people spam, and sell, and push. They also fill their own profiles with nothing but their network marketing opportunity. I was quilty of all of the mistakes but now that I'm doing things correctly, I can meet anyone I want, at any time, and create hundreds of prospects for my business.
Go ahead and pay Max for his $500 boot camp, or buy his $197 package... or email me... in fact, if you're interested in my Network Marketing business, and join it (for $39) I'd just include you in my regular free trainings.
But the bottom line... of all the gurus, programs, books and seminars I've found... Max Steingart's in the one I like the best.
Mind Movies - build video affirmations with this cheap tool
I love the whole concept of "The Secret" and "The Law of Attraction". But writing down affirmations, or taking time to visualize can be surprisingly hard... that is until I stumbled upon someone's visual affirmation on YouTube. I had never posted anything on YouTube because I don't own a video camera... but with a new service called "MindMovies" you can create videos made up of slides.
Scroll down just a bit and hit the "Play" button to see the introduction to MindMovies and see an actual example that the company made.
With MindMovies you go through a 3-step process to create your video. First, using PowerPoint you write the affirmations you want to say to yourself, like "I live life to it's fullest". Second, you upload photos that make you feel good to the MindMovie software. And third, you select music you like. In the MindMovies software you combine all three, and it allows you to do all kinds of effects. If you're more advanced than am, and have a video camera you can also add video clips to your creation.
If you visit the MindMovies.com site you can see an example right on their front page, and they have an entire library of other examples to give you even more ideas of how to use the service.
The best news of all... they only charge $27 for EVERYTHING you need. That's what blew me away about this service. What's more, all of the software you download once you'd paid your $27 fee is free, and MindMovies provides step-by-step tutorials to create your first video.
For only $27 I can't recommend this service highly enough. And in addition to creating "The Secret" type of affirmations, you can create virtually anything else you want... how about a photo montage of your family's last holiday together. Or promote your business with a video. Or if your single create a presentation about yourself and post it to MySpace. The possibilites are endless... all for $27. My hats off to the creators of MindMovies... they've also figured out how to make this a "viral" service by offering $5,000 to whoever creates the most watched MindMovie on YouTube. I love free and cheap internet tools, and this is my current favorite of everything I've found out there.
Scroll down just a bit and hit the "Play" button to see the introduction to MindMovies and see an actual example that the company made.
With MindMovies you go through a 3-step process to create your video. First, using PowerPoint you write the affirmations you want to say to yourself, like "I live life to it's fullest". Second, you upload photos that make you feel good to the MindMovie software. And third, you select music you like. In the MindMovies software you combine all three, and it allows you to do all kinds of effects. If you're more advanced than am, and have a video camera you can also add video clips to your creation.
If you visit the MindMovies.com site you can see an example right on their front page, and they have an entire library of other examples to give you even more ideas of how to use the service.
The best news of all... they only charge $27 for EVERYTHING you need. That's what blew me away about this service. What's more, all of the software you download once you'd paid your $27 fee is free, and MindMovies provides step-by-step tutorials to create your first video.
For only $27 I can't recommend this service highly enough. And in addition to creating "The Secret" type of affirmations, you can create virtually anything else you want... how about a photo montage of your family's last holiday together. Or promote your business with a video. Or if your single create a presentation about yourself and post it to MySpace. The possibilites are endless... all for $27. My hats off to the creators of MindMovies... they've also figured out how to make this a "viral" service by offering $5,000 to whoever creates the most watched MindMovie on YouTube. I love free and cheap internet tools, and this is my current favorite of everything I've found out there.
6/08/2007
Which business model is best?
The opportunities are endless. The more I've searched for "the one" opportunity, the one best way to earn income, the more I've uncovered... good and bad. Use the internet for an MLM. Promote "affiliate" programs - directly to places like Amazon, or using ClickBank or Commission Junction. Add AdSense ads to your sites to earn advertising revenue. Create your own product (eBook for example), a service, or offer training - and charge for them.... then sign up at ClickBank to have the affiliates market your new product.
The goal of this site... chronicle my journey... share what I've learned... and hopefully get some of the experts posting here to help me out... I've got a LOT to learn. So I hope you newbies will join me too... and share what you're learning as you go. This post is a placeholder at the top... the following post will always be the newest content....
The goal of this site... chronicle my journey... share what I've learned... and hopefully get some of the experts posting here to help me out... I've got a LOT to learn. So I hope you newbies will join me too... and share what you're learning as you go. This post is a placeholder at the top... the following post will always be the newest content....
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