30 Day Challenge & Contact Me

I am not going to participate in the 30 Day Challenge this year. It was fun to do the past 3 years and I did learn something each time.

But in the overall scheme of things I don't see any reason to waste so much time going through a process that in the end produces very little income. Yes a couple will hit a hot niche and a couple others will make a small profit month after month.

Heck the blog I created for last years 30 Day Challenge still brings in $5-$10 a month even though I only do 1 post a month. How much effort would it take to bring that up to $500 a month? A ton of effort and a good bit of luck.

I'm on the lazy train (humming Ozzy's Crazy Train) from here on out. Life is just too short to focus so much energy on something that has terrible odds of success and profit for the time spent.

As for contacting me. If you email me you will never get a reply back. Only the people who I have met in person know my personal email address. For everyone else, you must use my contact form until we meet.

Michael

Plan Ahead or Just Wing it

When writing for your BLOG, do you plan ahead or just wing it?

For me I do both. It depends on what blog I am working on at the moment.

Depending on the topic some content can't be written on the fly and requires a bit of research and testing first.

My favorite blogs are the ones where I can just type stuff as it comes into my head. Everything related to the topic I am writing about, but not planned. Just targeted based on my current thoughts.

Some bloggers do research on keywords and stuff like that. I don't see any reason to take the time to research keywords that pay the most. I would rather just write and accept whatever money I happen to make from that post.

Michael

My 2 Cents on The Economy & Tax Rebate

I got my Tax Rebate notice the other day. Most of it will be spent in a few weeks when we go on vacation.

I will spend the whole thing and watch to see if the Economy gets stimulated. That is said tongue in cheek as it could take years for the economy to improve.

What else can be done to stimulate the economy? Keep in mind credit card debt and gas prices continue to rise. Add in Health care and the cost of groceries and there is barely anything left to stimulate the economy with.

Fortunately in addition to my day job I make some money on the internet too. A little money for entertainment, nice dinners out and a car payments.

There are many benefits to making money online compared to my real job, but there are downsides as well.

Time to get back to work on my online business to see if I can make more money to spend.

A little disclaimer here. I am not saying that you should spend all your money. In my real job I have a great retirement plan, so that is where I save my money. That way I can spend all the money I make online (after taxes). Your results may vary and if you don't have some savings built up, please do that first.

Michael

Stand Out In A Crowd

Where I work we are raising money for "Make A Wish". The goal is to raise enough money to fulfill a wish for very sick children.

Each of the departments came up with a different idea.

So now when you get on the elevator you are inundated with small posters promoting a departments fund raising idea.

I love the ideas, they are great.

But the problem is that none of them stand out. When you walk in the elevator there are so many it is hard to focus on just one.

There is one poster that has some standout stuff, but no memory factor.

So, the idea isn't just to stand infront of your customers. But to stand where they can see you and clearly recognize you.

Michael

How to spend Entrecard Credits

As mentioned last week. I love Entrecard. More so now that I figured out the best way to use Entrecard.

Spend your credits by advertising on other blogs.

Very simple and very effective.

I always drop my card on the blogs I like to read. I also mark them as a favorite and often advertise on them as well.

Some days I drop more cards then others. My drops inbox always shows me new blogs to check out.

I'm more picky about placement then I am anything else. If it is an above the fold placement like I have here on my blog then I am willing to pay more to advertise on that blog.

Once a week I spend most of the credits in my account. I get advertising all week long.

Michael

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all. Even if you don't have kids you may have given motherly advice to a child in the past. So to all I wish a Happy Mothers Day.

Yesterday was jam packed with outside work. Hopefully today I will have time to work on the project I mentioned yesterday.

I also have to practice for my big poker tournament later this month.

Take Care,

Michael

Tax Rebate & Why I Love EntreCard

First an update on the Tax Rebate for those of us in the USA that qualify. Always be thankful, it isn't much but it is better then nothing. In the end all we have are memories anyway.

Now on to Entrecard. I am starting to like EntreCard more. At first I thought the work to results ratio was not worth my effort.

But then I made a slight change and now I don't have to work as hard. I was dropping over 100 cards a day. But now I drop about 20 and because I like to see who the new blog are that visit me and I drop another 10-20 on blogs that I like to read. So I am down to about 40 from over 100 (close to 150).

Want to know what the big change was that I am so happy about ... keep reading.

When I first started I was dropping and visiting blogs. But I wasn't spending my credits.

The true power of Entrecard didn't kick in until I started spending my credits.

Now I earn more EntreCard credits per day when I did over 100 drops with much less effort.

More bloggers see my ad on other blogs, visit my blog and purchase an ad worth their EntreCard credits. It is a win-win for all involved.

There you have it. To take full advantage of EntreCard you have to regularly spend your credits.

Michael

How To Schedule BLOG Posts

The blogging platform I use now has a feature to schedule posts.

So now I can write up posts for when I am away and they will show up daily as if I were able to write and post them that day. This is a great feature for vacations and travel. Other then that I prefer to write and post at the same time.

To do a future post in Blogger all you have to do is click on the Post Options link. Then under post date and post time just set it be when you want it to post.

Simple as pie.

Many things going on right now, so I better get back to it.

Michael

Make Money Advertising

I read an awesome report today about making money using AdWords. There are many out there, but this one was like no other.

The guy made over $1 million in 9 months.

I use the tools over at Wealthy Affiliate to help me tune my advertising and find new products to promote. So I was already doing a good job of keeping my cost down while still maintaining a high ad position.

The report talked about having an upsell on the backend. I haven't tried doing an upsell yet, so I will have to check the forums at Wealthy Affiliate for some tips and advice.

So many things going on right now. Big poker tournament tonight.

Michael

BLOG Design Changes

I made a couple changes to the blog design.

I removed some elements from the right column. Currently I have the new MyBlogLog widget showing, but I may remove that if it slows down page load time. It does look cool, so I will probably keep it there.

I have to modify the top text links and the bottom banner. That will be another day.

I noticed that traffic died down after Entrecard changed their advertising algorithm. My site was getting good traffic and my ad rate was over 70. With the new alg I am looking at 32 or 64 on most days, with a high of 128.

Michael

Back From Denver CO

I am back from Denver. This photo is of the stuff I got from the Event Booths.

This Year Collaborate 08 was in Denver, CO. I don't mind the cold, but it was odd to travel into colder snowy weather when spring is starting to warm up where I live.

I won't go into details about Collaborate from the educational and networking side, but I do want to mention the vendors. Like all previous years, the vendors work their magic to lure you to their booth.

Most have something to give you in exchange for a scan of your badge. That gives them full access to my contact info.

So what do they give away. I got at least a dozen pens. Not all of them made it into the photo. Some were giving away an iPod or more expensive gift as a prize drawing.

Does the SWAG matter if you are interested in a specific product or service? I don't think so.

As a matter of fact one vendor stood out way above the rest. Their SWAG was not as good as many of their competitors. But they knew that trinkets are not what convert prospects into customers.

While I have your attention, I donated $20 of my $200 prize money from WinningOnTheWeb to MDA. Someone I know was soliciting donations and I felt it was a good cause.

As for the remaining $180, stay tuned for some testing. I am anxious to find and test more products to sell online.

Michael

Thanks to AffSpy

I got my $200 prize today from AffSpy. If you remember a couple days back I mentioned how I won $200 from AffSpy in a contest on WinningTheWeb.com from March.

The AffSpy tool is awesome and for those like me that promote multiple merchant networks a real time saver. With my research at Wealthy Affiliate I can quickly go to AffSpy and search offers to promote.

I am off to Soccer practice. My daughter plays on a local U8 team. While I am there I will have to ponder how to spend my $200.

Many thanks to AffSpy for offering this prize on WinningTheWeb last month.

Stop back to see how I spend the $200. I would like to try and at least double it by the end of April.

Michael

The Week Before Denver

Next week at this time I will be heading to Denver for a conference. Collaborate 08 to be exact.

I am heading there as part of my job for a big project later this year.

The Internet Marketing portion of this is about advertising.

There will be about 15,000 people there all with interest in the same thing. So I took a peek at how much it would cost to advertise there.

A 10x10 booth in the expo costs $10,000. Floor Decals cost $3,500. Bottled Water cost $15,000 for 2 days.

At first I thought some of these vendors are paying $2 or more per "impression". But then I realized that these people are selling $20,000+ products. So 1 or 2 sales would be a profit for them.

Something to keep in mind when we advertise online.

This time next week I will be on my way to the airport. The conference starts early Sunday, so I will be heading out Saturday.

Michael

The Shopping List of Keywords

I got to thinking today about Keywords. It is absolutely amazing how 1 word can make the difference between a sale and just a visitor.

Imagine this.

You own a store in a shopping mall. Every customer that comes into your store is either holding a shopping list or they are there to look because they were told by someone else that you sell good products.

Now of all the prospects that have a list only some of the prospects actually buy and become a customer.

As it turns out all the customers who bought have matching lists. If even 1 word does not match, they didn't buy.

Believe it or not, this is real in the online world. It just happened to me.

As you know I am constantly testing new products to sell. I use Wealthy Affiliate to find products and research keywords to promote those products with PPC. I use the techniques they teach at Wealthy Affiliate.

I added 1 keyword phrase that is much like the others in my keyword list, but only different by one word. Guess what happened. Prospects started turning into customers.

Or should I say prospects were able to find my store because what I was selling matched what they have on their shopping list. Now to go in a weed out all the keywords that don't convert, then I will head back to Wealthy Affiliate to look for more products to promote.

What an awesome feeling that was to discover the power of ONE WORD in the right keyword phrase order!

Michael

Hang With Me Online

Are you my friend?

The best way to find me is on MyBlogLog, just click the My BLOG Community link above and join my community. You will need a Yahoo id, free if you don't already have one.

Another option is FaceBook, again just click on the My BLOG Community and then on my FaceBook icon. You can also see my YouTube and Twitter links there as well.

I tend to hang out online for a couple hours a day, so there is a good chance we will meet sooner or later.

I am getting close to having over 10,000 contacts on MyBlogLog. That is my current goal for MyBlogLog.

Michael

Track Your Advertising - AdWords and Paid Links

Sorry for the delay in updates. I was working on a big project and had to focus my energy on that product.

Once a month I review my traffic and advertising for each of my sites and blogs. This helps me avoid throwing advertising money away.

First I check AdWords and adjust my spending based on how many sales I got. For products I am testing I adjust prices and keywords. Some of my product tests may be dropped if not enough sales convert.

Then I check my paid links to see how many visitors I got from those links. If my cost comes below 3 cents a click I may choose to buy another months of advertising from them. In most cases I find that text links don't bring in that much traffic.

Weekly I check and adjust advertising on some of my testing products and on new tests I always check daily. I use the tools at Wealthy Affiliate to help me find new products to promote and also with keyword selection.

Michael

What Does It Take To Make Money Online

A popular question with new bloggers is can I make money with my blog.

The simple answer is yes and no.

Yes, you can make money with your blog, but it takes a good deal of work. An no there is no guarantee that you will make money blogging.

That said, learning from others is a great way to get started. I just joined 2 new affiliate networks the other day and will be reporting on them soon.

Google AdSense is a popular form of income for bloggers because it is easy to install and Google is well trusted. I do run AdSense but if you read my past posts you will see that most of my money comes from other sources.

Traffic is the lifeblood of your blog. Do you know where your traffic comes from? Do you know how to get more people to see your blog?

More on that in a future post.

Michael

Tools To Make Life Easier

Do you know what products to promote on your BLOG?

I use the tools over at Wealthy Affiliate to find products to promote.

I also use their tools to spy on the competition and find new niches to market.

Did you know that you can be a member of Wealthy Affiliate for less then $2 a month? Heck they will even pay you to be a member. They pay you $14 per month for every person you refer that joins.

So just refer 2 people and your membership costs only $2 a month.

This is a win - win situation. You get your membership for almost free or make a profit and the people you refer get full access to the best website online for those who want to make money online.

If you join Wealthy Affiliate post a comment here and we can chat on the site.

Michael

Know Your Advertising ROI

Do you track your advertising spend vs. income?

If not you could be throwing money away.

I track a good bit of advertising online, including the competition. It is important to know what advertising is bringing in a profit and what advertising is throwing money away.

Some bloggers may advertise to build their brand, but I have a small budget so I need to see a profit.

There are multiple ways to track advertising, traffic and income source. Many of the networks allow tracking ids and this makes life even easier.

Michael

Bright Sunny Day - Great Day For Outdoors

Today is a bright sunny day. Still a little on the chilly side, but overall a bright sunny day.

Instead of spending too much time behind the computer I am going to take a break and spend some time outside.

My bike needs some adjusting so that it is ready to ride in a couple weeks. The car needs washed and the list goes on.

One quick topic I want to hit today.

Live life as if you are going to die in 30 days. Don't go out and max all your credit cards. I'm not talking about that. Hopefully you don't plan on leaving your kids with a ton of credit card debt.

What I am talking about is not putting off for tomorrow what you know you should do today.

Tomorrow I will have an update on some of the changes and projects I am working on.

Michael