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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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.