Many of these sites have often written again and again about how they’re not about the money and all about building a community and engaging with others….but watch the mad scramble and backlash when their advertising dollars are threatened!!

At least I’ve always been 100% open about my harsh greed and exploitations.

This is just one reason why I believe that thinking you’re part of a “community” that consists of “loyal and respected readers” is for suckers.

If you’re on the internet, you’re either a customer or a salesperson. Even when a “community building” blogger writes about their respect for their readers, they’re really doing nothing more then building their credibility up so it’s easier to sell you on their next product.

Therefore….

If you want to make money online, you better have a product that you can sell.

If you don’t - you’re the customer.

And then you’re nothing more than the salesperson’s toy.   

But here’s what you need to know before you sell it:

Now that your site is established, it’s primed to be a money maker and you may actually miss out on cash if you sell it right now!

To illustrate, consider a modest site that has grown to the point of earning $500 per month. Using the rule of thumb that a site is worth 10x it’s monthly earnings, the site would be valued at around $5000. Now factor into that equation that things move pretty fast on the internet and that it’s not unreasonable for a site’s profits to grow at 5% per month.

Therefore, if you wait a month before you sell it the earnings per month could rise to $525 and the site would be valued at $5250. You’ll also earn $500 in that month you waited which means that if you waited just one month to sell your site, you would find yourself $750 better off.

Keep at it for 6 months and you’ll be $4782.36 better off than if you sold your site now!

The opportunity cost

Of course, the other side of the equation is that you could take the $5000 now and invest it in something that gives you 191% annual return to earn that $4782 in 6 months. Let me know if you find that investment.

So what should you do?

Putting time into a website is like building a business and selling it for a “quick flip” isn’t always the best thing to do. The internet enjoys rapid growth and revenue for minimal capital outlay and you exploit this to your benefit.

If the site has reached it’s limit or you don’t have time for it anymore - sell it - but if it’s still growing and you’re still prepared to devote yourself to it then you should probably stick around and enjoy the cash flow.

What absolute crap.

Don’t you realize how lucky and valuable you are to be online these days?

Here’s what 99% of people online miss:

A visitor to an online business is a potential customer and much more loved than a mere community member.

Let’s break this down. If you visit a site that runs purely as a community or gathering of “like minded individuals” you are monetarily worthless and most webmasters would not hesitate to ban you if you did something that they didn’t like.

For example, imagine that Text Link Ads wasn’t a business and just run as a hobby and didn’t make any money - would it matter to the owner how many members it had? It wouldn’t matter anywhere near as much as he’d have a lot less motivation to keep members happy.

On the other hand, consider the actual state of affairs where Text Link Ads takes 50% of what you earn and is a money making business. Oh boy, do they love you now! E-mails are responded to quickly and they’ll do their best to help you out. Heck, they’ll even pay you $25 just for you to refer someone else to them!!

Being a customer means that you are automatically cared about!

We are so lucky

I love visiting sites that are big money makers because I know that when I go there that I am much more valuable to the owner than on any community site. Shoemoney values his RSS readers at around $2 each and that means he sees me as being more valuable than most “community” webmasters will.

The bottom line is that when your website is a business, your visitors are your customers and you should do whatever you can to make them happy and give them what they want. Conversely, when you visit an online business, expect to be treated well.

So if you want to sound like an A-lister and lose me as a reader in the process, be sure to use these A-list gems of advice on your site:

• “Target your niche” - If I’m already a niche blogger than by the very definition I’m targeting my niche. It’s exactly the same to say “keep doing what you’re doing“.

• “Set goals for your blog” - You only need one goal and that’s to the write the best darn content that you can. Everything else flows from that. Bloggers who set more than one goal are the same type of people who waste money on ’self-help’ books and attend lifestyle conferences. Go hug a tree.

• “Make a ‘To-Do’ list” - If you need to write a ‘to-do’ list for your blog, then your life must be an unorganized mess! Everyone has things they want to do with their blog, but instead of writing them down, just do them! I’ll make a guess and say that all these lists contain nothing more than:

Post.

Tell others about post.
Comment.
Reply to e-mails.
Surf for content to write about.
Go back to top.

• “Write unique, original content” - Everybody says that. You’re an instant hypocrite.

• “Ask your readers for their opinion to increase comments” - If a reader wants to give their opinion, give them enough respect that they can do it without being asked. Perhaps you should think about why you need lots of comments? Isn’t more than ‘0 Comments’ enough? If I see one more post that ends with “what do the readers think?” I’m going to snap! I don’t go to blogs to give my opinion, I go to read an opinion. Have one.

• “Give your audience what they want” - You’re a sell out. Your audience can find what they want in Google. Give them what you want to give them and then make them believe that they want it! Then you’ll really be a successful blogger!

• “Read other blogs in your niche” - Yeah, and then you’ll be writing about what everyone else is writing about and getting the news after it’s already happened. Try also reading blogs outside your niche and then writing about how events there affect your niche. Then you’ll be original and breaking all the news.

I’m sure if someone searches through my archives they’ll probably find that I’ve used all of these sentences at one point or another. Deleting them is on my “To-do” list and one of my goals for the blog this week.

MoreNiche looks to be changing the playing field a bit with their service. If you wish to read about their history, you can click here. They provide stats of conversion rates, along with commission received for affiliates.

My time spent with MoreNiche has provided pretty positive results, and you can tell their affiliate experience really shines. My favorite thing about MoreNiche is the amount information and resources they provide affiliates. Generally, you’ll go to an affiliate site and there’s little to no information. Then when you look for help, there’s barely anything you would call customer service. Which has a lot of people leaving their affiliate sites.

MoreNiche has provided adequate customer service up until this point. To be fair I haven’t needed a whole lot as of yet.

The only negative thing I have to say about the site is the lack of merchant options. There’s only 12 to choose from and there’s really only three categories. Lackluster variety.

Overall, I’d say MoreNiche is a well run site that just needs to grow some. I recommend it as a good starting point if you’re looking to get into the affiliate market. There’s plenty of information and resources for those just getting their feet wet.

First, like most survey sites Cash Crate isn’t recommended as a primary source of income. But if you’re looking for some extra spending money, and have the time to invest in the site you can get a pretty nice kick back.

The bulk of your money will come from surveys, but you can also make some money by referring your friends to the site. Depending on how many you know, you can make a decent amount of money.

The most impressive thing I’ve found with Cash Crate is the community that drives the site. They have a blog, forum, games, and it feels much more laid back than other survey sites. You generally feel disconnected from the companies that provide you surveys. With Cash Crate it feels more open, and transparent.

Twitter is a ‘micro-transaction’ of social networking, while Twitter is more of a broad encompassing site. Unlike Twitter, Facebook is more of a friend based, and community driven site. There’s groups, forums, people with shared interest. Also, Facebook is more cohesive and is more about profiles and contacting friends.

So, if you do use Facebook here are some things you should remember:

- Facebook is pretty much on top in the social networking ladder. If you’re going to go the social route for some advertising, Facebook is your best start.

- Much like Twitter, you have to be involved with what you do on Facebook. You should be continuously updating, and garnering new friends.

- Try and let users come to you. Unlike traditional marketing, you can’t be too upfront on Facebook. Most people can smell an ad from a mile away. So, be natural and let people find out what your product, or site is about.

- Another aspect of Facebook to keep an eye on is their advertising system. If you don’t want to go the social network route, then you can post traditional advertising on the site. With over 180 million users, that’s quite a market to utilize.

Facebook with just about any ad platform is all about how much you invest. The great thing is you don’t necessarily need to put a lot of money into it, but it will require some of your time. So, if you believe in the old adage, ‘time is money’, then I guess technically you are paying for it.

But can pay some dividends.

The greatest thing about Twitter is the time investment that comes along with it. Unlike other internet marketing strategies, Twitter won’t encompass much of your time. Which makes it a great supplement to your overall plan.

If you group Twitter into social networking, then it’s the sporadic, hopped up on caffeine member of the group. Unlike other social networking sites, Twitter doesn’t require upkeep or anything cohesive for that matter. You can go on Twitter and just add all kinds of random, and insane remarks and no one will say much of anything. Of course this doesn’t help your business, but it gives you an idea of the flexibility that Twitter brings.

With Twitter you can actually do direct advertising when compared to other sites. If you are trying to garner direct links to your site then you can put as many as you please. There’s no rules with Twitter, which greatly helps but could eventually be its undoing. That’s a post for another time.

So, there’s hardly any rules or regulations with Twitter, so how can you be successful? First, make your submissions seem natural. No one likes advertising. Which is a concept that most businesses seem to lose a grasp of particularly when advertising online. If people don’t want to see banners, or video ads online what makes anyone think they want to see them pop up on Twitter?

That’s why it’s important that you establish a community based around your account. Go out there and follow others, you’ll be surprised how many will follow back. If you keep at it, you can get a following that will want to see what you’re business is offering. Just make sure your content is up to par, or better.

Twitter is like any other kind of advertising platform. It’s an ease to use but takes a savvy mind to make it effective. Just keep at it, and after some practice of seeing what people want to view you’ll be where you need to in no time.

The term “manipulate”, might be a tad misleading. You’re not cheating the system, you’re just using better than some of the larger competition out there. If you’re looking for a good place to start, then do some research on ‘landing pages’. Which is where, most smaller businesses are performing better than the larger corporations.

When I type something into a search engine, let’s say ‘Street Fighter IV’. A game that came out last week, that I love, I get general results back. Which is great, but most people aren’t typing just general terms into a search engine. Mostly, they’re looking for something specific. Which is where landing pages come in.

Typing in ‘Street Fighter IV tip’s generates much different results than just the title. The top site for that keyword term is a site called EventHubs. They aren’t a miniscule site mind you, but they’re hardly anything to ignore either. You can bet that they’re success is from having a great landing page. If you’re wanting Street Fighter tips, then you really can’t do much better that EventHubs.

This same type of strategy works for ads as well. When you see ads for bigger businesses, they’re either promoting a deal or product. However, when you click on them you’re lead to a wrong page or their home page. Making the user deal with navigation, or trying discern where to go. With your business, you can provide a wonderful experience by actually providing what users want from clicking on your ads.

Today’s topic might seem simple but there’s a subtlety to it that should be mastered. You have to do your keyword research. Couple that with knowing what to provide on your site, and where to provide it. With ads it’s a little easier because you can customize a link on an ad to go where you want. Relying on search results can be a bit trickier, but with practice and patience you’ll have it down.

Jack Herrick, was quoted in WebProNews, and had this to say about his opt-out ad program, “The surprising thing is that letting people turn off ads has not hurt our revenues. If anything, treating users with respect was a contributing factor to why we saw more than 100% readership growth from 2007 to 2008. I often wonder why more Web sites don’t offer this ability.”

This remark makes sense in a way. There’s just a few problems I have with the overly cheerful view towards opt-out ads. First, how is he certain that having the opt-out program is what contributed to his site’s traffic increase? It seems to me that offering a quality place for people to view ‘how-to’ wiki pages should be what’s driving your traffic up.

wikiHow uses Google Adsense for its advertising, but explains how opt-out could entice some direct advertising as well, “By wikiHow not showing ads to people who don’t want to see them, we raise the ROI for advertisers. Advertisers don’t pay to show ads to people who don’t want to see the ads in the first place. And the people who keep the ads do so because they believe the ads have offers or information that might be useful to them. Opt-in ad viewers are better potential customers for the advertisers than those who opt-out.”

On this statement, I agree with him a bit more. What I think it ultimately comes down to, is if you have the right site to handle an opt-out program. wikiHow is a site that is extremely community based, and has quite a bit of interaction from its users. Therefore the traffic there is either a repeat visitor, or is staying for awhile to check out the site. Having an opt-out system makes sense, because of this time spent there. But how about sites with a short time span for visiting? How does giving the option for someone to turn off ads for a site only used for 2-3 minutes benefit?

I do think that wikiHow does benefit from the advertising model that Herrick has implemented. That doesn’t mean that it’s something that you should necessarily look into though. I think you should conduct some heavy research into how people are spending their time on your site. If you receive repeat visits, or long viewing sessions then opt-out might be something you want to look into.