Using Google Notebook Instead of Those Little Sheets of Paper

November 29th, 2008 2 Comments

Seriously, why didn’t I think of this before? My method of writing notes on pieces of scrap paper needed work. The paper creates clutter. I lose them, and then find them again several months later when the note isn’t important anymore.

As a by-product of working through the Thirty Day Challenge, I’ve realized that Google Notebook is incredible. All I need to do is click “Open Notebook” and type my note. And it’s always there. It doesn’t get lost. I can add and subtract information as I need.

And in one of the videos, Ed Dale demonstrated that you can be on a website and if you find an interesting tidbit to save somewhere, you can highlight it, right click, and select the option that has it automatically go to the bookmark. Awesome.

Now, I just need to go through all the leftover scraps and transfer my notes and start throwing things away.

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Keeping Track of All Those Business Ideas

November 28th, 2008 Comments Off

It’s almost embarrassing how many ideas I have scribbled in random places. I have this notebook which is largely empty except for a few pages with ideas. I wrote this list almost a year ago, and I haven’t even really done any of these. I also have ideas scrawled on scrap paper, on my calendar, and probably several places I don’t even remember.

Since I’m not doing anything about it, it’s really just paper clutter. Besides, I need that notebook for something else.

But some of these ideas are good – or at least worth considering.  So I clearly need a better way to keep track of them.

So, I started a file which I am leaving on  the desktop for “ideas”. I have three categories on it so far: squidoo lenses, ebooks, and blogs. When I feel like I need to get inspired, or I’m just ready for my next project, I can visit that list knowing that something will be waiting for me.

There’s something about an ignored idea that’s a little unsettling…

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My Niche Blogger Test Blog

November 27th, 2008 Comments Off

I realized that in order to meet my financial goals (and not just my crazy goal, all the realistic goals in between) I need to get good at something. Amy Bass even says in her Niche Blogger course to set one blog up first. Once it’s all set, then move on.

I Need to Listen!

The problem is, I haven’t been listening to this advice, and it’s left me in a state of paralysis. So I am going to build blogs one at a time and learn about it as I go along. I have two other Niche Blogs set up, and a few other ideas. But I am forcing myself to sit down and complete just one…

My Guinea Pig Blog Is…

This One! I’ve decided to use the system on this blog. I’ve set up a few income streams (though I am not sure which I’ll keep and which I’ll scrap) and I have 15 posts queued up – the goal is to get about three months worth in there.

The nice thing about queued posts is that I can post messages like this in between when I feel the need. When I don’t have the time, the blog won’t sit idle without an update – the queued posts will still get published.

I am currently on Month 2. Months 1-3 are considered beginner but she is currently adding Month 4 in the system which focuses on more advanced techniques.

Is Creating Hundreds of Blogs Really a Good Idea?

I am really wrestling with that because frankly, I’m not sure I have it in me. There are different schools of thought in internet marketing. Some people believe that having multiple sites in multiple niches is best. Others believe in having one or two bigger sites. I’m still too new at this IM thing to be able to tell which method is best for me.

Either way, I’m happy to have found the Niche Blogger but I may be using other resources to build bigger sites either in addition to the Niche Blogger system, like the Super Affiliate Handbook, to help build on what I am learning.

And I am happy to report that I reached my income goal for this month. :)

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Free Quick Start Guide to Make Money Writing

November 25th, 2008 Comments Off

Writing is currently my main source of income. I’m good at it. I know how to make money doing it. But the road hasn’t always been easy. I spent at least a year floundering, not knowing where to start.

So, I put together a Free 7 Day Course on How to Make Money Writing.

You’ll learn how to start your business from scratch, and you may even make your first $$$ before the course is even over!

Sign up by filling your name in the box:

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November 2008 Progress Report – My Quest to Make Money Online

November 25th, 2008 Comments Off

A few weeks ago I contemplated the idea of making $1 million in 5 years. At the time, this seemed like a crazy goal. In a lot of ways it still does – but now that it’s digested and I’ve started to generated some support, it’s starting to feel doable.

Progress this Month

I’ve come a long way this month. I’ve stopped accepting low pay for my work. I drafted up a business plan for both my writing and my internet marketing pursuits. In it, I promised to find ways to make money writing while still doing things I enjoy (something that I had gotten away from over the past few days) and to work on building up my websites and blogs using the techniques outlined in all of those internet marketing products I’ve purchased.

Learning to Let Go

Another key success of this month is that I’ve let projects go that haven’t been fulfilling. There was a time when the majority of my business focused on working for clients. Well, the majority income has come from a different source this month – one that I find enjoyable and fulfilling. It has hardly felt like work at all. And, I am making more money this month that I ever have. I increased my income from last month by around $1000 dollars.

What Will it Really Take to Reach My Goals?

So, I’ve declared that I will make $1 million dollars in five years. That means that I need to make around $84000 per month in order to pull that off. Increasing my earnings for this month is a great start. I need to keep up the momentum into December and the New year in order to reach my goal. If I increase my income by $500 every month for the next five years, or even by $1000 every month for the next five years, I won’t make my goal. But that is still a very substantial amount of money.

To make money online, I understand that I will get better at it as time goes on. If I work hard and stay focused I am quite sure I will actually reach my goal. I can crunch numbers all I want. But the end result is what will really matter.

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How to Monetize a Blog – My Favorite Article

November 23rd, 2008 Comments Off

This blog is fairly new. I like to post for a few weeks before I really step up my efforts to monetize my blogs. Each new blog project I have, I find myself looking for an article that Steve Pavlina wrote about how to monetize a blog. It is by far my favorite article of its kind.

So, now that it is coming time to think about monetizing this blog, I had to go on google to find it. (The bookmarks on my computer have disappeared.) I hope that you find this just as helpful as I do.

And, don’t worry. When I think about which ways are best for monetization, I always keep you, the reader, in mind when I do it. For example, when I recommend products where I am a member of an affiliate program, I will only do it if it is something that I personally know and believe in. I think this is important.

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Why Haven’t I Made the Purchase?

November 22nd, 2008 Comments Off

I’ve been studying martial arts for over a year now (tae kwon do) and I occasionally purchase Black Belt Magazine to help with my training. In one of the issues, there was a product advertising for a resource (probably an ebook) that promises to introduce me to body weight exercises that will increase my strength and make me a more effective martial artist.

I’ve almost purchased that product on at least two separate occasions, but never have. I didn’t think anything of it – but I know there’s a lesson there. What is it that could be going wrong? It’s clear that he’s a successful marketer, so why has his message not reached me?

The first time I almost bought it, I stopped myself because I felt inexperienced with the subject matter and I didn’t want to be dependent on the ebook to teach me. So I went online and read some reviews. They said basically what I suspected – that the information is out there, for free. I wrestled with that for a while. Do I want to pay someone $97 dollars to do the research for me, or do I want to do the research myself?

Granted, I know that personal experience is a big part of the draw with buying that product, but it didn’t interest me.

I don’t remember much about the second time. It probably went pretty much like the first because I recall reading the same review twice.

So, what have I learned?

  1. You need to reach your customer and have a voice they will come to trust. It is in that trust that you will make someone feel like they can’t live without your product.
  2. No matter how hard you try, you simply won’t reach anyone.
  3. It’s in the fitness niche. I seem to have digital impulse buys related to internet marketing, but not fitness.

I’m sure this particular marketer isn’t crying that I haven’t bought the product. To them, I am a statistic. I am a member of the list that simply didn’t convert. But it definitely is a good learning experience to sit and figure out why that might be.

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How to Make Money With Associated Content – Where I Stand

November 20th, 2008 Comments Off

Join Associated Content When I first started writing, I had some articles published with Associated Content. At the time, they paid me on average $6 per article – and I had the confidence of knowing that my article would be accepted.

Fast forward to the past year. I haven’t written for them much. When I do, I stand at least a 50% chance that the system will reject it for not being well written enough. They “encourage” me to submit it again, this time for no immediate pay. I would, however, be eligible for their compensation program.

My Past Experience

At first glance, this seems terrible. In the past, I could submit an article for payment and also be eligible for the residual income. Plus, I would never, ever submit a just written article to them anymore.

I would, however, submit an article where I still have the reprint rights. I often write articles for marketing purposes. Once I distribute them out to the different sites, I may put them on AC just to bring in some extra change. And coin is just about all it brings in, too.

Use it As a Portfolio!

But there is one valuable thing I use it for – as a portfolio. When I am applying for writing jobs, I always direct my clients to my articles on AC. It gives a well rounding view of what I am capable of. There’s food writing, travel writing, health writing, business writing, etc on there. And the site does a good job of presenting the articles in a pleasing way which is also important to the clients.

I suggest you use your AC account in the same way if you want to have samples to show potential clients.

How to Use Associated Content as a Portfolio

The first thing you need to do is sign up for an account if you don’t have one already. If you don’t live in the United States, you won’t be eligible for payment but you can still use the site. After you sign up, you can start submitting articles and other forms of content like videos by first clicking the “publish” tab.

Once you get your portfolio set up, you are ready to start making money with websites like Rentacoder and oDesk.

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Matched.co.uk has closed

November 20th, 2008 Comments Off

I just posted this on the Warrior Forum. I decided to post it here as well since I actually bothered to review them.

I have some Matched.co.uk ads on several of my sites. My whole experience with them has been unpleasant. On the surface, it looked like a good idea. They supposedly paid you 5 pounds per ad per month. I had three ads running. Each month, they would send me a message claiming that my payment couldn’t be processed even though I had, on many occasions, given them my payment info.

They also would send me multiple messages claiming that they couldn’t find my ads and it was causing errors. The ads had been up the whole time. Yesterday they sent me a “we can’t pay you, you need to give us your payment info” yet again. Seconds later, I got notification that they were paying me 9 pounds even though they owe me around 45 pounds.

I sent them a message to their help desk (not my first) and their response came to me this morning:

MATCHED HAS CLOSED
==================

It is with much regret that we announce that Matched.co.uk has closed.

Matched has been running as a beta experiment for some time and, after much careful consideration, it has been decided not to progress the project to the next stage.

As a result, Matched will not be accepting new sign-ups and will no longer be assigning adverts to its current publisher base.

If you completed your last payment run before November 19th 2008, you will still be paid, but please note that no future payments will be made after this. Therefore, we recommend that you remove any Matched ads from your websites.

Thank you very much for being part of the Matched.co.uk experience and we wish you the best of luck for the future success of your websites.

***

So I guess that’s it. I’m out of luck for the money they owe and I should have seen it coming.

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Is Weebly Worth It?

November 20th, 2008 Comments Off

I’ve known about Weebly for a while. There was a time when I used free sites all the time. At the beginning of my wriitng and internet marketing career, I used them to help me learn the ropes. I also didn’t want to invest in domain names and hosting until business picked up.

I hardly made any money. I could chock that up to inexperience and I’d be right in a way. But after starting a few blogs and websites that have their own domains – I’ve finally learned that the biggest problem I had back then was lack of credibility. Automatically, when people saw that my domain was on a free site, I know I looked like an amateur.

Now I have several blogs with several blogs and websites in the works. Yes, I am making more money. But I also find that it pays for itself within the first month of the site being live. If I had thought about it in those terms when I first started, I may not have lasted for over a year

So, enter Weebly. I noticed that it was one of the top keywords searched for on Google for today so I thought I’d get an account going and tinker with it. I got as far as the log in and knew I couldn’t do it. I really believe that having sites with their own domains is the only way to go.

However, I do know that free blogs and websites can be valuable to help drive traffic to your existing websites. However, that particular strategy is not in my plan – I focus mainly on article marketing for traffic generation.

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