Enterpreneur Blogger Research

Here is a quick video I made tonight. I recorded it 4 times and decided there was no way it was going to be perfect so I stopped. You can hear my cat in the background.



Here is the link to Hydra Media if you are not already promoting their stuff.

I have a neat project lined up for November. There will be some special Email only stuff too, so don't forget to subscribe to my email list in the upper right of the blog.

Tomorrow is the announcement of the Halloween Contest winner. I will allow entries up until about 5PM EST tomorrow. There are only a couple entries so I decided to extend the deadline a little.

Right now I will be able to use a die (single dice) to pick the winner. As noted, the prize will be reduced as well because of the low entries. That is unless I get 12 more by tomorrow evening.

Thursday I won't post, but Friday or Saturday I will have a project update including the financial info for the month of October. In that post I will also tell you about the new project I am planning to start in November.

Michael

Make Money Project Updates

Most of the projects are running on auto pilot. I do need to start working on some marketing soon.

Next Sunday is my big day, so after that I will be back to focusing on the make money projects.

The 2 audio books I got last week were ok. I'm anxious to get back to reading the Donald Trump book though.

I'm not into watching much TV, but my favorite show Amazing Race will be back on next Sunday at 8:00.

I am currently testing some offers from Hydra Media. If you are not a member, it is free to join. They have some very good offers that pay better then what I am making with AdSense. My first little test was a big success.

Michael

Halloween Contest Ends Tuesday Night

Don't forget the First ever Halloween Contest ends on Tuesday night. Don't miss out on your chance to win some cash. So far there are only a few entries. Thanks to Jaleana for this entry. There was no blog URL listed in the submission, so I can't give out any link love right now.

Note that I would prefer if you could write "One Penny Project" on yourself instead of editing it in the photo.

There was a request on the 1 hour and $20 project. I just checked my stats and my Ad spend was below $1, so this could take a while. I checked my affiliate account and there were no sales yet. To be expected with the low number of clicks.

Based on my stats the past few days I am going to do another 30 Day Challenge type site. It should only take 2 days to get running.

Time to get back to work.

Michael

Make Money With Google

There is a commotion going on right now about the latest Google PR update. For most of my sites and blogs I am unchanged.

But I also have no concern about what Google does with their algorithm. That is because I am willing to pay for the keywords that I want to be found for.

I will gladly pay Google to have a first page placement. That is because I know how to turn that position into profit. I spend a little on advertising and make some profit.



Michael

Update To Posting Schedule

As you may have noticed I am no longer posting daily.

After testing I found that traffic does not go up or down based on how many times I post. So I will be switching to a 3-4 post per week schedule.

My tests will continue to run and some of the sites I use for testing may need to be updated more often.

So far I am happy with my latest test and can't wait to collect more data.

Take Care,

Michael

Blog Traffic and Adjustments

I made a few adjustments today. There are a few advertising tests I need to run before the end of the month.

I don't know if I will ever fully understand blog traffic. My 30 Day Challenge blog continues to increase traffic with no effort. Heck I only did 1 post on that blog this entire month. Why can't I get the easy traffic to my other blogs and sites.

So far the best way I found to get traffic is PPC. Free is great if you can get it, but PPC is so much easier.

Tomorrow is audible day. Can't wait to get my 2 new audio books.

Michael

I Love Wealthy Affiliate

I love Wealthy Affiliate. A few months ago when I first found the site I didn't join right away.

Early last month I finally decided to give them a try and see if I could improve my business.

I can say without a doubt, that joining Wealthy Affiliate was one of the best things I have done in a long time.

The Research Top Listings tool alone is worth the price of membership.

About 5 weeks ago I used the tool to track 17 keyword phrases. The Top Listing tool went out and took a snapshot of the Google AdWords listings including the destination URL of the link. This is important and you will see why shortly.

Of the 17 keyword phrases I had this tool monitor I want to tell you about 2 of them.

First one is a niche that had 8 ads showing. Of the original 8 from 5 weeks ago, only 1 remains. What does this say about the niche? What does this say about the advertiser who is still spending money on the keyword phrase?

Considering 7 other sites filled the 7 empty slots I think this is a niche to avoid. Even if I could come up with a better offer then the 1 remaining advertiser the niche is a little overcrowded.

Now the second niche I want to tell you about had only 2 advertisers. But guess what. They are both still there. What does this say about the niche? What does this say about the advertisers who is still spending money on the keyword phrase?

With 2 of 2 still spending money on advertising now my job is to come up with a better offer and move in. I found a gold mine, time to start digging.

Since this tool was also tracking the URL of the landing page I can easily see if the advertiser is testing landing pages.

The total time it took me to do this research was under 10 minutes. It was that easy. I'm going to let all my "Research Top Listings" projects run and add a few more to look at next month.

Had I spent advertising money to test all 17 niches I was looking at I would have easily spent way more then the Wealthy Affiliate membership fee. Not to mention I also have easily identified the competitors that are regularly advertising for the keyword phrase I am interested in.

Wealthy Affiliate is my leverage for working smarter.

Michael

1 Hour and $20 Project

I started the 1 hour and $20 project yesterday. The plan was to build a 3 page mini-site to promote an affiliate product, but I recycled an old blog instead. Even though I didn't spend the time to create a mini-site I will charge myself 30 minutes.

After I finished the copy to promote this product I created a Google Adwords campaign and picked out a few keyword phrases. They may not be high traffic, but are more what I think a "buyer" will use to search for this product.

I don't have time or money to waste on high traffic keywords that don't convert into sales.

So that leaves me with 10 minutes and then it will be hands off. But I am going to save that 10 minutes for a few weeks from now.

Tomorrow night I will check that my AdWords spend is below my limit then just check in on it every 3 days or so. This time will account for the 10 minutes I have remaining.

My other projects are going well and I should have updates on them shortly.

Take Care,

Michael

Make Money Project Updates

Yesterday I had to do some audio work for a project on Monday.

I was planning on starting the 1 hour and $20 project, but that will be delayed until tomorrow. There is another project I will probably also start tomorrow.

Since it does not look like I will reach $1,000 by Thanksgiving I decided to set a new goal. This one does not have a time deadline. I am learning something from the Sermon I am working on and that is we can't control time.

So here is the new goal.

To make $35 a day not including expenses. When I reach this goal I will work on trimming expenses and raise the bar to $50 a day.

To give me a reason to reach this goal I have decided what I will do with the money. Actually I have a plan for the money I will be making at each new goal.

So when I report the project balance on November 1st I will also include a breakdown on how many days I reached the goal. If one day produces $70 and a second day produces $0 then the sum goal is reached, but the actual goal of "Daily" income will not be considered as completed.

After the $35 per day goal can be maintained for 2 weeks then I will move up to the $50 a day goal.

Heres to blogging success!

Michael

1 Hour and $20 Project

I kinda started the 1 hour and $20 project today. I say "kinda" because I did a little research and found a merchant I wanted to promote. After getting approved I found that their data feed didn't contain images.

There was a special FTP data feed that I could register for, but at this point that will involve more then 1 hour.

So I guess I will have to pick another merchant. Or do a general promotion instead of a targeted promotion.

With $20 to invest I should be able to get 400 visitors.

I will need about 30 minutes to make my landing page, create an ad campaign and load my keywords. That gives me 20 more minutes to decide on a merchant.


Michael

Keep Track of Everything

Check out this service from Amazon, just found it today.

How often do you make design changes on your site? Do you track all your changes?

The best way to improve your income is by tracking your results and doing more of the stuff that works.

Michael

Read Business Magazines

Do you read magazines in your niche?

I read at least 2 books a month, but what you probably didn't know is that I also read a bunch of magazines.

Some magazines are even free is you do business in that niche.

I finished half of Wealth Building 101 then had to stop to work on a sermon for November 4th. When I get that done I will finish the Donald Trump book.

I didn't get a chance to start the 1 hour and $20 project yet. Hopefully by this weekend.

Michael

Why CPC Is Like A Shopping Mall

I got this idea on my way to work this morning.

When you go to the shopping mall there are all kinds of stores. You may be able to find the item you are looking for at multiple stores, but for the most part the stores will have their own niche.

Now what if there was a shipping mall just for cordless drills. Every store in the mall sold nothing else but cordless drills.

A customer looking for drills would go to this one shopping mall.

If you were one of those store, how would you get the attention of this prospect? On what point would you compete with the other stores?

CPC advertising is much like this scenario I just described.

As a CPC advertiser how do we measure up to the other advertisers. What can we do to close the sale.

Something to think about.

Michael

Sunday Morning Update

I was debating about only posting Monday thru Friday and taking the weekends off. What I will probably do is just post on weekends if I have time.

Today is going to be busy so I won't have an update later.

So far traffic on my 30 day project is down a little but still up from what it was. I didn't get a chance to run a test on one of my other blogs.

Income is flat since I stopped posting at PayPerPost. I found 2 other sites that I will check out to replace PayPerPost.

Tonight I plan on using my Wealthy Affiliate membership to its full advantage. Included in the membership is hosting and access to the new SiteRubix tool. I'm going to buy a domain and build a website with the SiteRubix tool. In about 30 minutes I should have a site built to promote about 100 products in a niche.

Michael

Did Google Update Today?

My traffic numbers are way up for today. Normally Friday, Saturday and Sunday slow down and the beginning of the week I get a high amount of traffic.

For some reason most of my blogs are showing high traffic today. The source is Google search.

In checking my websites the traffic numbers are the same so this is only for blogs.

I have no idea if Google did an update or something, but I am linking whatever is going on.

Michael

Should You Display Video Advertising?

I was in my AdSense account last night and saw a sign-up for Video Advertising. I clicked on the agreement, but after confirming my email address I got a allow access screen.

Google wanted me to allow access from YouTube to my AdSense account. Now I know that Google owns YouTube, but I don't want anyone messing around with my AdSense account.

I guess over the next month or so I will see if the trend takes off or not. At this point allowing someone access to my account just to earn a few bucks is not worth it.

I should be ready to start the 1 Hour and $20 project soon. I have so much new knowledge now and so many things I want to do.

Michael

Invest In Your Education

Today I picked up a few games. I know what you are thinking. What does a game have to do with education.

Great question.

I am now half way through Wealth Building 101 by Donald Trump. I feel so energized at what is taught in that book that I want to get started right away.

So I purchased a "Simulation" game to help me get my feet wet for $9.99. When I have our debt paid off I will have more knowledge from the books I continue to purchase and read as well as the simulation games.

There is no experience like real experience, but I feel that the simulation games will help me do better research and planning.

I have much to do tonight, time to get back to work!

Michael

No More Pay Per Post

After contacting Pay Per Post support I have decided to stop promoting them.

I have close to 50 people signed up, but none of them are confirmed. This is a very poor conversion ratio so I asked support if they follow up with the people who sign up. They do not and would not give out the email addresses for me to sign up.

I know from promoting poker that the vendor has to send out follow-up email messages to get further action.

While I may still do an occasional post I am no longer going to promote them.

I am in business to make money so if the merchant isn't going to cooperate then I will find another merchant.

Michael

Halloween Costume Contest & Wealthy Affiliate Secret

We have our first Halloween Costume Contest Entry. I will show the link love this weekend. Very cool costume.

I decided not to show any photos until after the deadline so that I don't get any copycats.

There is plenty of time to enter, but don't put it off too long. You don't want to forget and miss out on your chance to win a prize.

Something else I wanted to mention. Tomorrow is the launch of Site Rubix, but here is an insider secret. Site Rubix is free for Wealthy Affiliate members.

Wealth Building 101 - Donald Trump

My copy of Wealth Building 101 arrived on Friday. I had a chance to read the first chapter and browse the rest of the book.

So far I think this is a very good book for someone like me. I know how to make a little money, but want to know how to make much more money and join the wealthy like Donald Trump.

The very first topic Donald discusses is Passion and that is something I talk about often on this blog. If you love what you are doing you have a better chance of success.

Since I didn't get the audio version this time I will need to devote some quiet time to reading. I should have this book done in a few days and I will follow up with my final review.

Michael

Back From Our Philly Trip

We are back from our Philly Trip.

It was a nice trip and we had a good time. I don't think I would stay in the city again. It was a little pricey. Not to mention Radisson didn't have our gift bag and made very little attempt at fixing the situation.

I paid an extra $15 to get a city shopping guide and a CD of local Philadelphia music. I was able to get a coupon book, but they are going to look into how to mail me a CD. I won't be using Radisson again and would have a hard time recommending them. I paid for an experience that they promised, but didn't deliver.

Don't forget about the Halloween Costume Contest. Top prize is $50 with two $20 prizes. The prize amounts will be reduced if the number of entries received is under 20.

Take Care,

Michael

The Blogger Halloween Costume Photo Contest

I am giving away $50 to one blogger in my first ever Blogger Halloween Costume Photo Contest.

Halloween is a fun time of year and I love to see all the cool costumes. So here is the deal. I will randomly pick one entry to win the top $50 prize from all entries submitted. In addition to the top prize of $50 I will pick a "Best Costume" winner and a "Creative Photo" winner each to receive $20.

Here is how to enter:

Submit a photo of yourself in a Halloween costume to the email address listed below. In the photo you must include a sign with "One Penny Project" or write "One Penny Project" on your body so that it shows in the photo.

Email your photo to meekel@yahoo.com with the subject line One Penny Project Halloween Costume. Include your name, age ("18 and over" or "under 18" is fine) and blog URL in the email along with your photo. Also let me know if it is ok to show your photo here on the blog. Photos containing partial nudity or "Adult Themes" will be accepted from the "18 and over" age group only.

Contest ends Tuesday October 30, 2007 at 10PM EST. The winners will be picked on Halloween night and notified by email as well as a post here on the blog.

One entry per blogger not per blog. If you have 5 blogs, you may only enter this contest once.

Here is how you can get additional entries for the top $50 prize. Write a post about this contest on your blog and link to this post. Include the URL to your blog post(s) in the email when you send in your photo. Maximum of 10 additional entries per blogger.

Everyone who enters will get a link back to their site. Photos will be posted every 2-3 days.

The prize amounts will be reduced if the number of entries received is under 20.

Michael

What Is Your Credit Card Debt Plan?

Do you have credit card debt? Average debt among people with at least 1 credit card is $9,205.

SecureLoanConsolidation.com is offering a free debt analysis. They offer Credit Counseling, Debt Management, Debt Settlement Services and Home Mortgage Refinance.

One of the things I picked up from all my business book reading is that in order to take advantage of opportunity you need to have money. When you are in debt to a credit card company, there is a chance that you will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes along.

My online business helps me pay a little extra on my credit card bills and I have a plan to get out of debt.

Michael

30 Day Challenge Update

I was thinking at lunch today. In the 30 day challenge there was a huge amount of participants, yet the number of success stories is small.

I would guess that some may not have reported their success, but it got me thinking.

I want to do a project offline that drives traffic online. So that will either happen this month or next.

Can you make money online? Yes, you can. How do you make money online? Mostly by doing paid posts, but a little comes in from advertising and promoting affiliate products.

I am going to work on my projects and hope to include some charts that will help make a couple points about making money online.

Making money online is not easy and does require some luck. Many bloggers and website owners like myself make under $1000 a month. What does it take to go from under $1000 a month to over $4000 a month. I hope to find out.

Michael

My Project Updates

I haven't had the time to start my 1 Hour and $20 project. This weekend we are spending a couple days in Philly. I will start the 1 hour and $20 project when we get back.

In the 10 minutes a day project I have done nothing. There are some notes I made that I need to do a post about, but overall that project will be cut back to 30 minutes a week.

The 30 day challenge blog is still going strong but I have lost interest in updating it. If you are interested in purchasing the Jello Shots blog post a comment here with your offer.

I have to catch up on my Wealthy Affiliate reading and use one of the software programs for some project research.

Michael

Wealth Building 101 by Donald Trump

Last month one of the books I got from Audible was "Why We Want You To Be Rich" by Donald Trump and Robert T. Kiyosaki. Since then I have listened to it more then a few times and consider "Why We Want You To Be Rich" my current favorite business book.

Donald Trump is running a special deal from now until October 8th on his new book "Wealth Building 101".

If you buy Wealth Building 101 from the Trump University Amazon or Barnes and Noble links they will throw in over $300 in bonuses. I am anxious to read the bonus "How to Become Totally Debt Free in 3 to 7 Years" and "The Trump Way to Wealth". Included in the bonus items is a 1 year subscription to Performance Magazine. Check out the site to see all the bonuses.

One of the sections in "Wealth Building 101" is Master the Secrets of Starting or Buying a Business. This will come in handy as I grow the penny project and build up enough cash to buy a business.

After you buy Donald Trumps new book stop back at Trump University and check out the other great books and courses they offer. For example The Entrepreneur's Success Codes is a 3 CD audio course from Jeff Burrows. You also get access to a members only website with this course.

I'm off to purchase my copy of Wealth Building 101 now so I get the $300 of bonuses before the offer expires.

Stop back in a couple week and I will let you know what I think of Donald Trump's latest book.

Michael

Huge Deal on The 2008 Entertainment Book

I picked up a 2008 Entertainment Book on Saturday. There is a awesome deal going on right now. You can get a $25 restaurant certificate and $1 shipping right now.

I love the grocery store coupons. Not including the $25 restaurant certificate which make my book almost free, I save $20 at the grocery store from now until December 2008.

There are tons of coupons in this entertainment book. For example my wife and I are looking at getting a new bike rack to haul our bikes around. There is a $20 off Dicks Sporting Good coupon. So just between getting my bike rack carrier and grocery shopping I have a free book loaded with hundreds of coupons.



Michael

September Blogging Income

Profit for September was $5.67 after all expenses were paid. Not a huge amount, but not bad considering I didn't do as many Paid Posts as I did in August. Here is the breakdown.

Online advertising accounted for the largest expense at $41.06 from various sources. Other expenses included my Wealthy Affiliate membership and website hosting for the websites in this project.

Top income source was once again Pay Per Post at $30.80. I could have easily earned $300 last month, but just didn't feel like doing paid posts. Affiliate and Text Link income was $32.76 combined. Adsense was a fair amount at $21.51.

My new cash balance is $358.41 but that will change quickly.

Tomorrow I will let you in on a project that I am going to start today. I'm planning on investing $100 into this new project.

Michael