Make Money Blogging

Making Your Blogger Blog Non-Dynamic

2012-03-07T06:30:00.017-08:00

Difference Between a Dynamic and Non-Dynamic Blogger Blog and How to Edit Your Blogger Blog Template

Question:

I just got an email from one of my students asking me why his blog is non-dynamic, and how can he make it dynamic like most of the other blogs he sees.

His blog is hosted at blogspot, so he actually has the default template which is now the dynamic view.

This article explains the difference between a dynamic and non-dynamic blog, how to get a non-dynamic blog, and how to edit the template, colors, fonts, layout, & widths of your blogger blog.

Here is the answer I gave him:

You actually have a dynamic view blog. Most people's blogs are actually Non-dynamic (meaning the viewer cannot change the way they view the blog).

Your blog is currently dynamic which means the viewer can change the way they view the blog. In my mind that is almost useless, so I suggest getting a non-dynamic blog that you can customize the look of and put what you want in your menu bar.

Changing the Template of Your Blog

If you go to Design, then Template Designer, Then the first option is Templates, you have the option of changing the look of your blog with standard blogger templates.

The first choice is Dynamic View. I'm guessing you have not changed the template when you first created your blog because it looks like yours is still on the default template. I typically go with a Simple template (second option) and then choose the Simple Basic choice (on the far right) in the simple category.

Then you can change the fonts, colors and all that in the Advanced section, including background color. So by choosing Simple, and then Simple Basic, you will be able to make the blog look the way you want it. That's my tip, but you can choose whichever template you want.

Changing the Look and Style of Your Blog

Once you choose your template, on the left sidebar, go to Advanced. You will see Page text, Background, Links, Blog title, etc. You can change all of those things to fit the style you want.

Changing the Layout of Your Blog

Then, once that's done, you can also go to Layout and choose which layout you want (basically where you want your sidebar(s). It's good for advertising to have your sidebar on the left because people's eyes go there more. I started my blogs with the right sidebar, so I'm keeping it like that for now, but I may eventually change the sidebar to go on the left to possibly make a bit more money. For the most part, though, the left sidebar will generate more clicks than a right sidebar. But you can do whatever layout you want.

Adjusting the Widths of Your Blog Post Area and Sidebar

Next, you can go to Adjust widths, so you can say how wide your blog post area will be, and how wide your sidebar(s) will be.

I hope this helps any of you who don't have a clue how to edit the look of your Blogger blog.

What to Read Next: Top 10 Blogging Tips for Generating Lots of Traffic

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How Much to Charge For Ad Space On Your Blog

2012-03-06T06:30:00.012-08:00

Now that I've explained the most common ways to make money with a blog, I will explain a good standard for ad pricing on your blog.

Here is the price structure I use, which seems to be the most fair, and most central to all ad prices I've seen around the web:

Small Ad Space - 125 pixels by 125 pixels (or similar sized) ad space:

$5 per month for every 100 pageviews per day. So if you get an average of 200 pageviews a day, you can charge $10 per month, and so on.

Or

$1 per month for every 100 unique visitors per month. So, if you get about 500 unique visitors a month, you can charge $5 a month, and if you get 2000 unique visitors a month, you can charge $20 per month, and so on.

It is best to have about 3 options in ad sizes for advertisers to choose from (or you can have more options). As your ad sizes get bigger, you can charge more.

If you're charging $10 a month for small ads, charge $15 for the medium sized ad, and $20 for the large sized ad.

If you're charging $100 a month for small ads, charge $150 for the medium sized ad, and $200 for the large sized ad.

It is customary for your medium ad to be about two times the size as the small ad, and the large ad to be about 2 times the size of the medium ad. These type ads will typically show up in your sidebar.

You can also sell header and/or footer ad space. These can be around 700x100, or similar size. Obviously you can charge more for a header ad than a footer ad, so price accordingly. I would charge the same amount for the large square ad space, and the header ad space. I would charge about the same price for the footer ad space as for the small square ad space (because the footer ad will be at the bottom of the blog, so less people may notice it).

So, to break it down:

Blog Stats: 1,000 unique visitors per month (or about 200 pageviews per day)

125x125: $10/month
250x125: $15/month
250x250: $20/month
700x100 header: $20/month
700x100 footer: $10/month

Blog Stats: 5,000 unique visitors per month (or about 1,000 pageviews per day)

125x125: $50/month
250x125: $75/month
250x250: $100/month
700x100 header: $100/month
700x100 footer: $50/month

Blog Stats: 10,000 unique visitors per month (or about 2,000 pageviews per day)

125x125: $100/month
250x125: $150/month
250x250: $200/month
700x100 header: $200/month
700x100 footer: $100/month

From there, it can go up. However, there is a point where it may top off.

This is simply an example of what you could charge for ad space. There are many factors you need to think about. For instance, how influential you are to your readers, and whether people will in fact get traffic from your site by purchasing ad space on your site. As you start selling ad space, ask the people who purchase ad space on your site if traffic (and if so, how much) is coming to their site through your site.

Also, if your ad space sells very quickly, you may be pricing it too low. And vice versa, if no one is purchasing ad space on your blog, you may be pricing it too high. Different niches are willing to pay different prices, so the above ad pricing structure may not work for your site.

Just try stuff out and see what happens. If it's not working, tweak it.

Do you agree or disagree with my pricing structure? What do you charge for ad space on your blog?

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6 Ways to Make Money with a Blog

2012-03-05T06:30:00.005-08:00

I've been getting a lot of questions from people asking me how to go about monetizing their blog. They just don't know where to start. Well, here are 6 ways you can make money with a blog.

Google AdSense or Other Ad Networks

Personally, I haven't been a huge fan of Google AdSense lately. I question their integrity. For me personally, Google claims about 90% of the clicks I get as invalid. I don't think this can be possible. I don't tell anyone to click my ads, and I also have told my friends and family to please NOT click any ads on my blog to quote unquote "help me out". Because that really doesn't help me. So I've explained that to anyone who has mentioned doing such a thing. It is illegal, unethical, and immoral and I discourage such behavior. Even still, Google decides most clicks I get as invalid, so quite frankly, I'm not happy about that.

However, it is still possible to make some money with Google AdSense. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones that Google respects. I don't know what it is. But some people do manage to make some good money with Google AdSense. So even though I've personally had trouble with it, you may very well succeed with AdSense.

There are also other Ad Networks you can join like Text-Link-Ads, and Cranky Ads (for WordPress), Chitika, and AdBrite.

Some ad networks (AdBrite and Text-Link-Ads I know for sure) do not allow you to be a part of it unless you have your own domain. So you can't use them if you're blogging on a free blogging platform like blogspot.

You can try all of the different ad networks if you want. However, the only problem with switching around is that you may never reach your minimum withdraw amount to be able to actually get the money you earned. For instance, you have to reach $100 in order to get your money from Google, so if you quit Google before you reach $100 to try other ad networks, Google basically made 100% of the profits from all the hard work you did to write your blog and get people to come read it.

Be smart when changing things up. Is it worth it? Only you can decide what's right for you.

Sell Ad Space Yourself

There is the potential to make very good money when you sell ad space on your blog. Instead of getting paid only when someone clicks on an ad, you just get paid monthly for someone to put their ad up on your blog (in your sidebar for instance). You will only be paid according to your blog stats, like unique visitors and pageviews, but if you continue to build up your blog and get tons of people to your blog, you can fairly charge more for ad space.

Tomorrow's post will explain how much you could or should charge for ad space on your blog, so come back for that.

Sell Your Own Product

You have a blog, and people are coming to it everyday, so why not create a product, sell it on your blog to your readers, and keep 100% of the profits? When you're an affiliate, you tend to get between 20-75% commission for the products you are able to sell. If you create your own product you get to keep 100% of the profits. You can also get affiliates to sell your product for you as well, so you'll get more money without doing more work.

Ebooks and ecourses are the best thing to create because there is no cost involved in the creation and you don't have to make a new one for each customer. Digital products have the least work involved, so you can make the most residual income from those. You can also create videos to sell, like video tutorials. It really just depends on your niche.

Affiliate Products

Maybe you don't want to make your own products to sell. Maybe that's not the kind of work you want to do. Whatever your blog niche, there are products out there being sold that are related to your topic. You just need to find them. One place to look for affiliate products is ClickBank. Many people don't like ClickBank, but some people make a lot of money with them. It really depends on the products you choose, whether they are actually useful good products, and whether the sales page is good. When choosing an affiliate product to promote, the more legit the company looks, the better. You can add affiliate links in your blog posts (by law, you have to disclose that you are an affiliate somewhere on your blog, or in the blog post). You can also add affiliate image links in your sidebar.

There are other ways to become an affiliate, too. Almost every product sold online accepts affiliates. So when you buy something online, you might as well see if you can be an affiliate for that company/product. Then you know what you're selling and you can give a good review of it on your blog, and hopefully earn some money through your affiliate links.

Small Niche Blogs

One way to make money blogging is to create a bunch of small niche blogs and sell affiliate products with your affiliate links throughout your posts and in your sidebar. My plan of action for this type of work would be to create one new blog per week. Decide on a topic, and create a mini blog. Find affiliate products on websites such as ClickBank and write 5 articles (including affiliate links throughout) and post them up on your blog.

Next, create a Twitter account targeting that niche. Set up a TweetAdder campaign for that Twitter username (to have unlimited Twitter accounts on TweetAdder it's only a one time fee of $188 and will save you tons of time). Each week create another blog in a different niche, finding affiliate products for that niche, and setting up a new Twitter account for that niche.

Think about it. If you made $100 a month from each blog, then you would only need about 20 blogs to survive off your blog income (depending on the amount of money you need to survive). Obviously some of those blogs might make no money, and some might make up to $500. You never know.

The advantage to using this strategy is that if one blog flops, it's not that big of a deal because you only spent one week on it. The other blogs will make up for it.

Sponsored Blog Posts

Another way to make money on your blog is to let the world know that you are willing to write sponsored blog posts. This means that you will write a review of a business/product/website on your blog and they will pay you to do it. The amount you charge is up to you, but keep in mind about how many pageviews you get per day on your blog. This will determine the price you can charge for sponsored blog posts.

What to Read Next: How to Get $20 of Free Money

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What The Heck Is An RSS Feed?

2012-03-02T09:00:00.002-08:00

Don't know what an RSS feed or feed URL is? I've been getting this question a lot lately from new bloggers. It is kind of a foreign thing if you're new to blogging, or haven't been much of a blog reader up until now. Because I'm the queen of blogging (lol) I decided to give a little explanation to help those of you who are lost on this subject, because by understanding what RSS is, it can really help you if you ever decide to make money with your blog. By understanding how a blog's RSS works, you will be able to utilize more tools to your advantage as far as getting more traffic to your blog (with less work).

When people say RSS means "really simple syndication," I don't think that helps people understand at all. This entire article is going to be in layman's terms to make it as easy as possible for people to understand.

What is an RSS Feed?

Let's start with what the heck an RSS feed is. The easiest way to explain it is to say that an RSS feed basically detects when a new blog post has been published. And anyone, or any website that has signed up to be notified of when a new post has been published on your blog, will be notified each time, either by email or through their RSS feed reader (to be explained more below).

Every blog has an RSS feed URL. I suggest that if you have a blog, you sign up to get a feed URL through feedburner, because it is the most widely used RSS system.

How to Sign Up For a Feedburner RSS Feed URL

To sign up for a feed URL with feedburner, go to http://feedburner.google.com. You need to sign up for a google account, or if you already have one, sign in. Then type in your blog's url. Example: http://blog.bloggiezzz.com. Then Click "burn my feed right this instant". Then you will name your feed which will just be the extenstion of the feedburner URL. I suggest you name it the title of your blog, or as similar as possible (with no spaces). Then your RSS feed URL will be http://feeds.feedburner.com/yourblogname.

From then on, you can direct people to that URL when suggesting they subscribe to your blog. By subscribing to your blog, they will be notified (by the way they choose) each time you publish a new blog post.

Also, you can use your feedburner URL to submit your blog to RSS feed directories.

What is an RSS Feed Directory?

An RSS Feed Directory, or RSS Submission site, is basically a website that has links to a bunch of blogs. By going to RSS feed directories, you can look up blogs you're interested, usually based on keywords or topic. So, by submitting your blog to an RSS feed directory, you will have more links around the web (good) and you will be able to be found on that site should anyone be looking for blogs in your niche.

Click here to get my list of 32 free and easy RSS submission sites you can submit your blog to.

Submit your blog to all of these RSS feed directories, but only one per day, because search engines detect when you submit your blog to an RSS feed directory and you will seem spammy if you submit to more than one or two in one day.

Tell People to Subscribe

The more ways that people can be notified of your blog posts, the better. So tell people to subscribe to your blog, and make sure you have the link to your feedburner RSS feed url somewhere visible on your blog, so people who like your blog will be reminded that they can get your blog updates.

Submit Your RSS Feed URL to Automatic Posting Services

Save yourself some time. There are tons of sites that allow you to automatically post to Twitter and/or Facebook when a new blog post is published. Currently, I set up Hootsuite, NetworkedBlogs, and TweetAdder to all update my Twitter (at different times throughout the day) when a new blog post is published. That way I never have to Tweet about it manually, saving me time. HootSuite and NetworkedBlogs is free to use. TweetAdder is a one-time paid software you install on your computer to do a ton of Twitter automated tasks for you (even while you sleep).

Click here to read my blog post about TweetAdder and learn more.

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Blog and Retire Case Study - Week 14

2012-03-01T13:35:00.001-08:00

Twitter Tools to Save You Time - HootSuite and TweetAdder

Click here if you need to know what the Blog and Retire Case Study is.

Click here to catch up on all the B&R Case Study Updates.

What's In Blog and Retire Week 14?

If you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of Twitter. Besides regular blogging and blog promotion tasks and tips, in Week 14, I introduce you to Hootsuite and TweetAdder. Both of these tools are meant to make your Twittering tasks more simple, easier, more automated, and less time consuming. Hootsuite even assists you with Facebook and LinkedIn tasks.

HootSuite

Hootsuite.com is a great place mainly for responding on Twitter. Instead of getting a ton of emails about everything that someone says to you on Twitter, you can see it all in one place on one screen on Hootsuite. You can respond right there on the very same page with direct messages or @replies. You an also see your Facebook news feed and respond to people on Facebook. You can also schedule Tweets, LinkedIn, and Facebook status updates on Hootsuite. Hootsuite is free up to 5 profiles. So you can have your Twitter account, your Facebook profile, your Facebook page, a Facebook group, and your LinkedIn account. Then it's all in one place and you can stop receiving all those email notifications (even just deleting those emails takes up time!)

Twitter can take up your life if you let it. Same with Facebook. However, it is much easier to automate Twitter because of its real-time updates. On Facebook, once you post something, it's up there for a long time for everyone to see. So you cannot be repetitive. On Twitter, people are on Twitter at different times, so it's actually okay to sometimes post the same things again. Let's face it. Most of your followers will miss most of your Tweets, so if you need to post the same Tweets again so other followers can see what you've posted, so be it. Just know that you cannot post the same exact Tweet within about 4 hours.

TweetAdder

TweetAdder automates your Tweeting. It is software you install on your computer that communicates with your Twitter account and does almost everything for you. The only thing you need to do yourself is respond to people's mentions, replies, and direct messages. Here are the things you can do with TweetAdder:

Auto Follow/Unfollow

You can automatically follow and unfollow using TweetAdder. You just set up what types of people you want to follow and say how many you want to follow max per day and how often you want a follow to be requested (every 10-15 seconds, for example). You also set up who to unfollow (people who have not followed you back within 3 days, for example) and how often to request an unfollow. You can choose to make TweetAdder follow the followers of another user, follow people by location, or by what's in their bio, or by what they're Tweeting about (keywords). You can also set up autofollow back, so when someone follows you, you automatically follow them back.

Tweets

You can setup a bunch of posts (links to your blog posts, for example) or nice friendly messages to go out periodically, or questions you want to ask your followers, quotes, anything. Anything that you would like to be Tweeted more than once, you can have as many Tweets as you want saved and you tell TweetAdder how often you want a Tweet to go out (every 20-30 minutes for example). Then you won't have to write out the same Tweets again when you want your followers to see something. There is even a Tweet generator so that you can create spun Tweets.

RSS Feed Tweets

If you want your followers to know when you post a new blog post, set up your RSS feed url on TweetAdder. Then when you publish a new blog post, a Tweet will go out about it. You can also set up other blogs' RSS feed urls that you think your followers will enjoy or benefit from.

ReTweets

If there are certain Twitter users you know submit awesome tweets every single time, you can set up automatic retweets of their tweets.

Replies

I don't suggest you do this, but if you are really going for complete automation, you can set up auto replies, so when someone says something to you, they will get a response. However, this is not very personal, that's why I don't recommend it. I believe that when someone talks to you, you should actually respond to them for real.

Direct Messages

You can set up a message to go out when someone follows you. Maybe you want to say thank you, or say something kind to them, or give them a link to your site. Whatever it is, be personal, unique, and don't seem spammy. And don't just say "Thanks for the follow". When I get that message it is annoying to me and not useful to me at all.

For the most part, that's what you can do with TweetAdder. It is an awesome tool and saves me at least 15 minutes a day and I get more traffic. If I were to actually have to write out 50 tweets every day, that could take up a lot of my time. With TweetAdder, all I have to do is respond to people.

Click here if you wish to learn more about TweetAdder. You can also find a download link to try it for free (You can use it for free for a limited time). Links to TweetAdder on this post are my referral link. If you do choose to purchase TweetAdder, do me a favor and do it through my link... after all, I was the one who told you about it ;)

TweetAdder.com

What I Did This Week:

This week I wrote blog posts, interacted on Facebook and Twitter. Scheduled Tweets. (I have a lot of RSS feed sites submitting my RSS Feed link out periodically each day, so I never have to announce that I have a new blog post). I did a lot of commenting on other blogs, and I organized a sponsor swap with 13 other bloggers. I had 11 last month. This month, 2 people dropped out, and 4 new people joined. It's very time consuming writing up a sponsor swap post, so I can see why some people might not want to do it. However, I think it's very much worth it because you can get traffic from all of the blogs you do a sponsor swap post with. Not to mention you get more links around the internet. Always good.

This week at the case study blog, someone asked me to do a guest post on their blog, and I got someone who wanted to write a guest post on our blog, and that's going up on Monday. I was also contacted by two other people. One was the Publisher Representative at IZEA (IZEA is the owner of Social Spark). Wanted to know if I wanted to do a sponsor post about a Lawn Care system. Also, I got contacted by Tidal Labs saying that they wanted to feature our blog on Bob Vila Nation (Bob Vila is one of the many faces of the Home Improvement industry). So this upcoming week, I'm going to have to work on getting those things going.

Case Study Blog Stats:

I just got the stats in for February, so I'm excited that I get to do a culmination of February stats post.

Unique Visitors in February: 2,306
Number of Visits in February: 7,082
Number of Pageviews in Feb. (not including my own): 15,498
Number of Hits in Feb. (not including my own): 131,521
Links around the web in February: 349
Search Keyphrases for February: 295
Search Keywords for February: 443
Twitter Tweets: 1,530, Following: 1070, Followers: 762
Fans on 1house1couple's Facebook page: 46

Here's my spreadsheet comparing each month so far, including the totals:

Remember, I am doing all of this, following the guide I created called Blog and Retire.

Click here to learn more about "Blog and Retire University"

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If no one referred you, just type in "blog and retire". Make sure you check the confirmation email and click the link inside to verify your email address, and the next email will contain the download link to Blog and Retire Week 1.

Go Back: Blog and Retire Case Study Update Week 13

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Funded Proposal

2012-02-29T17:21:00.004-08:00

Hey everyone, I wanted to introduce you to today's sponsor, Funded Proposal System. It takes time or money to come up with leads for your business. Leads are the people who may potentially buy from you. Without leads you won't get customers. You can use Funded Proposal to help finance and take all the time and effort out of your lead generation, and grow your home business faster.

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Get More Readers Through Yahoo! Answers

2012-02-29T09:00:00.002-08:00

There are many ways to give yourself, business, blog, or website more exposure online. So many websites, so little time.

One way to gain exposure is to create a Yahoo account and answer people's questions on Yahoo! Answers.

When people use search engines, they are often trying to find an answer to a question. Sometimes, Yahoo! Answers pops up in search results. That means, anyone who is looking for an answer to a question that you answered could see your answer, and that can lead them to your website or blog.

You can direct people to links to help answer their questions, and when it's relevant, you can even direct them to your own website or blog (if it is relevant to helping someone answer their question).

Just like anywhere else online, you need to build your reputation on Yahoo! Answers. So don't just go spamming and shooting your website off on every answer. At least be subtle about it. Answer questions truthfully.

The main thing is, as with anything, you need to actually try to help people. By helping people, you build a reputation that people like, respect, and admire. And I think there's evidence somewhere that states we are happier when we help people than when we do things for ourselves.

So helping people is a win-win.

Some Tips for Answering Questions on Yahoo! Answers:

1. Answer questions that you really know the answer to. Do not submit an answer that simply says "I don't know," or anything like that. This will help neither you nor the questioner. Don't waste your time.

2. Answer questions that are related to your niche. The more people see you answering questions on a particular topic, the more they will assume you are a so-called expert in that field or topic. Also, by answering questions that are related to your niche, you will more likely be able to actually help people, and you will be more likely able lead people to your website or blog to get more answers.

3. Be very thorough and give almost all the information you could give in detail... unless you have a blog post about it already... then I'd suggest answering it vaguely and then leading them to your blog post which explains it more in detail. You can also lead them to someone else's blog or website that will help them with their answer. Whatever you do, whether it be through your answer, or your answer and a link, make sure that you supply the full answer to the question whenever possible. This way your answer will be marked as the "Best Answer" which is the number one most important thing on Yahoo! Answers, because this will mean your answer is the most likely answer to be noticed.

4. Answer questions that haven't been answered. When you are the first person to answer a question, your answer will be seen by more people. The more answers there are, the less likely you will be noticed, unless you are one of the first to answer.

5. Answer questions that have recently been posted.

You never know what could come from answering questions on Yahoo! Answers. And you never know who you're going to help. You could answer 100 questions, and just one of those could get you a spike in traffic.

Scenario:

Someone else who has a blog (related to yours) with lots of daily traffic, is looking for an answer about something they want to talk about on their blog. They go to Google, or any other search engine, and type in their question. Your Yahoo! Answer pops up as number 3 on the first page. They see your answer (it was rated as the Best Answer by the questioner). They go to your blog because that's where you had more explanation of your answer. Then they write up their blog post, and they just happened to include the link to your blog post. Boom. More traffic.

Traffic increases can come from all over the place. I'd suggest answering some questions on Yahoo! Answers and see what happens. Try to answer one question a day that is relevant to your blog, business, or website. Only put a link to your website when it will help answer the question. You will be building your reputation on Yahoo! Answers, and in turn, that could build up your reputation all over the internet.

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How to Make a Perfect Government

2012-02-28T09:00:00.002-08:00

Lately, because of the presidential primary elections going on, my husband and I have been talking a lot about how he wants to be president because he would be better than any of the candidates (arguable). The only problem is that he's only 30.

Why is there an age minimum to being president? I mean, really... if more than 50% of the country really wanted someone who was under the age of 35, should that person be allowed to be president?

If anything, there maybe should be an age maximum... some of these guys are really old. And they may have a good head on their shoulders now, but what happens if they develop dementia during their 4 year term? It's possible... Then there would be this big fiasco of trying to figure out whether the president could really handle the responsibility under his condition, and then the Vice President would have to become president.

Now it can be argued that a 30 year old doesn't understand enough stuff to be president. However, I've known some 15 year olds who are smarter than some 65 year olds, so it really isn't a solid argument 100% of the time.

I'm not saying that I think my husband should be president. In fact, I don't want him to be. Ever. No thank you. For one thing, I wear the pants in our relationship, so I will not be called a First Lady. Just kidding.

No really though, way too much responsibility and you have absolutely no life.

I thought of ways to sabotage my husband's campaign, so he couldn't win (not even the primaries). For instance, I could run and present myself with the exact same ideals as him. Then half of all his fans would vote for me, so there's no way he could win because the most we could each get was about 25% of America's votes. Some other guy would most likely win.

I will go ahead and be upfront about it right now. I'm technically a Republican. It's not because that's how I associate myself at all, it is just that I relate to Republican ideals more than Democratic ideals. I think I'm more of an independent, but since it's highly unlikely for an independent to win, I go ahead and mark myself as Republican.

However, I think it's idiotic to put all Republicans and all Democrats in a box and stereotype everyone, and hate everyone of the opposite party as yourself. It's childish, foolish, immature, and immoral.

When everyone decides to do the right thing, all the way around, that is when this government will be "perfect". However, there's no possible way for a perfect government to exist.

I'm not very political. I didn't even vote in the last presidential election because I didn't like anyone. However, I do care about what happens to everyone. The only problem is everyone is different. So everyone has different needs in a government. Some people don't really need the government at all. They can afford to build their own private roads to all the places they'd like to go and they don't need to be taken care of. However, some people are born into poverty and it's statistically more difficult for those people to make it all on their own without any sort of assistance. Some people are taken advantage of and need someone to back them up and protect them. Most of us need some sort of police protection and there needs to be law and order. It would be super nice if there weren't any corrupt policemen and politicians. But there are. And it's a shame. Most of us need roads, but none of us really need the DMV. Not much anyway. (No offense if you work at the DMV, I highly respect you). My husband and I decided that all DMV fees should go toward repairing roads and paying for DMV employees and that's it. There shouldn't be sales tax because quite frankly, why is there? Income tax should go toward education, policemen, firefighters, and military. And everyone should be charged the same low percent, with no tax write offs.

Obviously I don't know everything. There is a ton of behind the scenes political stuff I know nothing about. However, I think we need to simplify things and some politicians can maybe get other jobs that contribute more to society.

For one thing, I can't believe we paid people to sit around and argue for months about the budget. And then they were just going to shut down the government if they couldn't come to a conclusion!!!

Simplify, people. Simplify.

If everyone lived a simple life, if everyone wasn't just out to gain for themselves, if everyone would at least keep from doing harm to others, this world could be a pretty darn good place.

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Micropayments - Smaller PayPal Fee

2012-02-27T09:00:00.004-08:00

PayPal's current fee for selling products is 2.9% + $0.30 on every transaction. If you are selling products for around $12 or less, you can set up a smaller transaction fee. For some reason, PayPal is not super open about saving you money (because that means they don't get as much money). However, there is a way to get a lower fee of 5% + $0.05 on transactions where you sell products for under $12. It's called Micropayments.

It's difficult to figure out the process for doing this but if you follow the directions below, you will have micropayments set up on your PayPal account.

First you need to set up a business account. You can do this by logging in to your PayPal account and going to https://www.paypalobjects.com/IntegrationCenter/ic_micropayments.html.
Then click "account registration page".
Create your business account, and once that's done, make sure you're logged in to your PayPal account.
In the search form at the top of the page, type in "sign up for micropayment pricing". Click "Search".
Once the results page pops up, look below where it says "More Results" and click on "Sign up for micropayment pricing - PayPal".
At the bottom of that page, click "Agree and Sign Up".

Thanks to Garrie at garriewilson.com, I learned that you can have two separate PayPal accounts if you have some products selling for more than $12, and other products selling for less than $12. This way you can set up a micro and macro account. You should set up a micro account for products you are selling for less than $12 and a macro account for more expensive products.

To set up two accounts (micro and macro), you have to have two separate PayPal accounts. Create one PayPal account and make it a business account and set up micropayments pricing on it. Then create a new PayPal account for macropayments. Macropayments in the default when creating a PayPal account, so you don't have to set up macropayments pricing. Then, when selling products for under $12, use your micropayments account. When selling products for over $12, use your macropayments account.

In order to verify both of your PayPal accounts, you need to add bank accounts. You can add two checking accounts (if you have two, or if you don't mind opening another checking account somewhere), or you can add your checking account to one of your PayPal accounts, and your savings account to your other PayPal account.

If you do all that, you will be getting the lowest selling fees possible on PayPal.

What to Read Next: How to Redirect Buyers Back to Your Website After a PayPal Purchase

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10 Ways to Stay Sane You May Not Have Thought Of

2012-02-24T09:00:00.004-08:00

Life getting crazy? Too much to do and so little time? Feeling a little (understatement) stressed? Sometimes life gets a little too hectic. There are tons of little ways to keep that head on your shoulders, to keep yourself from losing it during a stressful day. Here are 10 ways to stay sane that you may not have thought of.

1. Go to the bathroom and just sit on the toilet for 5 minutes (whether you're going or not). Hey, sometimes that's the only place where you can get a little peace and quiet with no distractions (especially if you're a parent). And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

2. Take a 10 minute walk (or run). Endorphines are good. And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

3. Look outside for 5 minutes. Just look out there. Stuff's going on. And if nothing's going on, think about stuff. Think about whatever YOU want. And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

4. Take a nap every once in awhile. I don't mean shirk your responsibilities, but every once in awhile, you have to find the time to take a nap. It's awesome. And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

5. Just lie down somewhere for 5 minutes. Anywhere. On the couch, on your bed, on the floor, on someone else's bed. And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

6. Spend 10-15 minutes talking to someone you like talking to. They don't have to like talking to you, you just have to like talking to them (after all, this is about how to keep YOU sane). And don't feel guilty that you're not being productive.

7. Pet an animal. I don't just mean a little pat and then back to work or whatever. I mean really sit and pet them for a bit. And don't feel guilty about not being productive.

8. Feed the birds. Watch them eat. Watch them not be worried about whether their next meal will come. And don't feel guilty for not being productive.

9. Go out to lunch by yourself and eat slowly. The slower the better. And don't feel guilty that you're not being productive.

10. Close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly. Feel each breath enter and leave. Savor each breath. realize you're still alive and still have the ability to breathe and live. And stop feeling so guilty every time you're not being productive.

Have a nice relaxing weekend everyone! And remember to stay sane!

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Blog and Retire Case Study - Week 13

2012-02-23T09:00:00.004-08:00

Free Simple Website Templates and a Step-by-Step HTML Guide

Click here if you need to know what the Blog and Retire Case Study is.

Click here to catch up on all the B&R Case Study Updates.

What's In Blog and Retire Week 13?

In Week 13, we discuss how to get your own domain and website, if you want one. It is not required to have your own domain in order to make money blogging. You can have a blog, sell ad space, and even sell products, all on a free Blogspot blog. The only thing is, your blog is in danger of being terminated without notice.

So, I also discuss getting a free "self-hosted" WordPress blog at our Blog and Retire sister site: http://www.blogzam.com. You simply sign up (for free) and we install WordPress for you on your own BlogZam blog site. The best part is, you can do whatever you want with it, and you are not in danger of your blog being terminated without notice. There are some simple rules to follow, but other than that you can do what you wish on your blog. BlogZam is owned by me, so you can feel safe having your blog hosted at BlogZam. Once you have a blog set up on BlogZam, we will send you a confirmation email with instructions on how to get started on WordPress.

The other thing you get for free with a full subscription to the Blog and Retire ecourse is your choice of 23 simple website templates along with a free html guide to editing the template to fit your needs (all in step-by-step format of course, because that's how we roll). Not only that, but I'm also supplying you with an extra supplemental guide which basically outlines all the simple parts of html and CSS so you can easily build and edit any website you wish, and stop feeling intimidated by the process. I know html can seem daunting, but my guides will give it to you straight, in simple steps, so you never get lost or confused, and you finally learn to conquer html. That alone would be worth the price of the Blog and Retire ecourse.

Soon I will release the simple website templates, the guide on how to easily edit the template, and the simple html/css guide to the public. But for now, it is only available to Blog and Retire full subscribers.

Along with all of that, Week 13 also covers the regularly scheduled blogging tasks (1 hour of blogging tasks per day, 6 days of the week), so you can write awesome posts and build your readership!

What I Did This Week:

This week, I followed most of the regularly scheduled blogging tasks for my B&R case study blog (which I've dubbed the house blog).

Wrote blog posts, scheduled tweets, updated facebook about my blog, commented on other people's blogs, etc. Nothing fancy. It's all really quite straightforward. Once again, I didn't go above and beyond in any way. And I'm really kicking myself in the butt because my results are really quite outstanding considering how little work I've been doing. I keep imagining how much faster things would be growing at my house blog if I was really putting in more effort...

Case Study Blog Stats:

Here are my house blog stats for February so far:

Unique Visitors: 1,813
Number of Visits: 5,286
Number of Pageviews (not including my own): 11,892
Number of Hits (not including my own): 106,447
Links around the web: 271 so far this month
Search Keyphrases: 223 so far this month
Search Keywords: 352 so far this month
Twitter Tweets: 1,446, Following: 943, Followers: 663
Fans on 1house1couple's Facebook page: 44

It looks like I'm on par for receiving at least 2300 unique visitors by the end of February (which is good considering there are less days in February than all the other months). I'm also going to probably have over 15,000 pageviews by the end of February. My estimation at the beginning of this month was 2500 unique visitors and 16,000 pageviews, so I'm pretty close to that. Either way, I'm already doing much better than the entire month of January which ended with 1,322 unique visitors and 8,796 pageviews. Hooray! Keep watching because good things are going to happen with the house blog! :)

Click here to learn more about "Blog and Retire University"

Sign up to get Week 1 of the Blog and Retire eCourse immediately:

*By clicking Submit you are stating that you understand and agree to our Terms and Conditions.

If no one referred you, just type in "blog and retire". Make sure you check the confirmation email and click the link inside to verify your email address, and the next email will contain the download link to Blog and Retire Week 1.

Go Back: Blog and Retire Case Study Update Week 12

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How to Get $20 of Free Money

2012-02-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

I got an email from Joseph Ziskowski (Founder of 5dollarmoneybomb) the other day to further explain the benefits of getting a NetSpend card through 5dollarmoneybomb. Read this email verbatum, so that you can get your NetSpend reward of free money.

*Note, you do not get a $20 bonus unless you join 5dollarmoneybomb, and then sign up for your NetSpend card through 5dollarmoneybomb.

The Email I got from Joseph:

"Hi, Lisha.

I was talking with someone earlier today who said there were two reasons why they were reluctant to signup for a Netspend card:

1) Their "horrible reputation for customer service," and
2) All the fees Netspend charges.

Here's what I said ...

Customer Service
I'm able to call their toll free number and talk with a LIVE customer service rep within minutes. Why am I able to get through and you can't? Because I know the magic secret. You can't enter your debit card number into their phone system ... instead must press 1 to report your card lost, stolen or never received. You do this a second time, and someone will be on the phone with you pronto. You can then ask them any questions you want. Try contacting anyone live at YouTube, Google or Facebook and you'll discover what a run-around is really like!

Fees
Netspend is paying out $40 per referral. They are a business that is in business to make money, not lose it, and they do this by charging fees. Your bank charges fees, too, just not the same ones that Netspend charges. I pay next to NOTHING in fees with Netspend. Why? Because I know how to use my card wisely!

I don't use my Netspend card like I use other debit cards or credit cards. I don't make any purchases with it at stores, etc. Instead I use my Netspend card as an "eWallet."

Other subscribers in 5DMB can transfer $5 from their Netspend card onto mine and it costs nothing to send or receive it! That's better than any online payment processor typically used in network marketing. I also use my card to accumulate my $20 Netspend referral fees. I don't use my Netspend card to make any purchases. I also don't do cash withdrawls at ATM machines. So how do I access the money that is accumulating on my Netspend card? That's another one of my "secrets" that I'll share with you ... since you asked.

I go to my bank, hand the teller my Netspend card, and tell her I want to transfer X amount from my card into my checking account. She performs a cash advance and is able to move up to $4,999 at one time from my Netspend card into my bank account for just ... $1! Again, that's less expensive than ANY other payment processor I've ever come across.

So do I like my Netspend card? No. I LOVE my Netspend card! They gave me $20 of FREE money when I loaded $40 onto it (my balance was $60); the money was credited on my card within minutes of depositing it; I'm able to send and receive payments on it for FREE; and I'm able to earn $20 referral fees by referring others who also signup for the card!

Netspend is AWESOME, and if you don't have one of their cards ... you're losing money.

HOW TO GET $20 OF FREE MONEY FROM NETSPEND?

If you just go to Netspend.com and order a card online, you will NOT get $20 of free money. Instead, you MUST use someone's referral link.

Here are the basic guidelines (more "magic secrets") for you to follow to make sure you get your $20 of free money.

1. Make sure you qualify. You must be 18 years old or older and live in the United States. There is no credit check so don't worry about your credit. If you ever had a Netspend card in the past, you will already be in their system, and you will not qualify for $20 of free money. Netspend is paying for new customer acquisition, they are not paying for existing or former customers to order new cards. You can still participate in t heir $20 referral program, however, with the Netspend card you already have.

2. Use your coded enroller's Netspend link to order your card. The link you should use is:
https://mynetspendcard.com/prepaid-debit-card/applyNow.m?uref=2942686393

3. Complete Netspend's short application using your full name and street address. If your legal name is Loretta and you put Lori, that could cost you $20. Middle names and initials are not necessary. Do not use a PO Box or an address that is not your own. They will check to verify your address and if it's not where your utility bills are being sent, you'll be disqualified.

4. When you create your Netspend account, do not use your browser's back button for any reason and do not start over. Doing so will cre ate a duplicate account and disqualify you from receiving $20 of free money. If your desired username is already taken, choose one of the choices they give you. Write down your username and password and PIN number and keep it in a safe place so you can easily access your online account in the future.

5. When your card arrives in the mail, DO NOT activate it over the phone. If you do, you'll be asked for the referral code of the person who referred you and you probably won't have it (for your reference, it's the ten digit number at the end of your referral link above). If you instead activate your card online at Netspend.com/activate you will not be asked again for the referral code.

6. DO NOT load your card online. Instead, you must add $40 onto your card at a "reload center." You can find a store near you by logging into your Netspend back office, click Add / Manage Money, then click Reload Centers. You simply type in your zip code to get a list of reload centers near you. Go there with your Netspend card, $40 in cash, plus whatever amount it shows that they charge to load your card (typically $2 to $3.95).

Within minutes of loading your card, you'll have a balance of $60! The $40 you added plus $20 of free money from Netspend.

Is that too much of a "hassle" for $20? What if you could earn THOUSANDS with your Netspend card?

How to Explode your Income with Netspend

You can share your Netspend referral link with anyone you personally know and earn $20 referral fees from Netspend when they get $20 of free money, too, but this is considered "linear income." What I mean by that is that you are the only one marketing your link and if you s top, your income from Netspend will stop, too.

What if you could have an army of people marketing YOUR Netspend referral link for you?

When you upgrade from a 5DollarMoneyBomb Basic account to a Money Bomb PRO account, you're able to add your Netspend referral code into your profile so it'sAUTOMATICALLY promoted to people you DON'T already know ... those who are being passed up to you from your coded downline! If you're a MoneyBomb PRO, all your coded subscribers will automatically order their Netspend card using your referral link, so when they get $20 of bonus money, you'll receive a $20 referral fee. Because 50% of the subscribers personally enrolled by your coded subscribers are coded to you, this has the potential to become a very significant income stream.

There are other bene fits to being a Money Bomb PRO, in addition to leveraged Netspend income. Please review all the Money Bomb PRO benefits by logging into your 5DMB back office and clicking the button that says Upgrade.

We look forward to helping you EXPLODE your income with 5DollarMoneyBomb.com. in 2012 ... and beyond.

:) Joe
Joseph A. Zyskowski
Founder, 5DollarMoneyBomb.com

PS. Please join us for our conference call tomorrow (and invite your guests).
When: Thusday, 2/16/2012 at 5pm PST, 6pm MTN, 7pm CEN, 8pm EST
Where: (712) 432-0075 ext. 543713#"

-----------------------------end of email--------------------------------------

So, what are you waiting for? Join through the link below:

5dollarmoneybomb.com/lisha5684

Yes, that's my referral link, and if you need any help you can contact me any time. Make sure you signup for your NetSpend card through 5dollarmoneybomb (this is the only way you'll get the bonus $20). Just login and watch the getting started video!

Don't Tell ME What a Blog Should Be

2012-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

I read an article the other day in which the author states that if you're a blogger, you better have some important things to say. You better be contributing something.

I disagree.

While it's probably a good idea to be contributing, it's also a good idea to do what you want with your time. I'm not saying be selfish and never think about your readers, but if you want to just jabber on and use your blog as a public diary, then do it. If people don't like it, they can go somewhere else.

Some of the blogs that I most enjoy to read are the people who are completely 100% open about who they are and they just say what comes to their mind. They talk about what's happening in their lives. They're not afraid to show their true colors, tell it like it is, and say what's really on their minds.

That makes them Real.

It's super awesome if you're really contributing to society, but why can't being yourself be a way to contribute to society? Sometimes just stating your own opinions can change a piece of history. You never know how what you say can affect things.

People say it just takes one person to change the world. Whether that's true or not doesn't really matter. It does take one person to make a difference in one other person's life. And if you make a difference in one person's life, I think you should feel pretty fulfilled by that.

Let's say you're a mom of someone with autism, and you just want to vent about what that's like for you. Well, you're not alone. Many mom's have children with autism and will gain inspiration from your blog. It may just be a daily dose of your blog that will get them through their day. Austism is tough. I know it because I used to take care of someone with Autism. And there are many other things that people have to learn to figure out, cope with, deal with, or simply learn to live with and accept. Chances are, if you're venting about something, someone else will relate to it. And you might just make a difference in someone else's life.

Or let's just say you want to talk about really superficial things on your blog, like celebrities. For some reason, people are enamored by celebrities. Everyone makes such a big deal out of them. The truth is, they are just like everyone else, they just happened to be recognized by way more people. That doesn't make them any more special than the joe shmoe walking down the street. However, people find entertainment value out of learning more about celebrities, and knowing what they wear, what they do, and where they shop. If that makes someone's day to read your blog about celebrities, then so be it. I'm all for it.

My opinion is that you should blog about whatever you want. Whatever you're passionate about. Because chances are, if you're passionate about it, someone else will be too.

So don't be afraid to just be yourself.

Do what you want with your life.

Write about whatever you want.

After all, it is YOUR blog, isn't it?

If you're interested in making money with a blog, think about topics that could bring in the dough. Click here to read Top 3 Things to Blog About.

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People Are Asking "Is 5dollarmoneybomb a Scam?"

2012-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

5dollarmoneybomb has a Facebook group and when you join 5dollarmoneybomb, you can gain a ton of support at the Facebook group on how to maximize your potential with 5dollarmoneybomb.

A new member recently joined and posted this on the 5dollarmoneybomb group wall:

"Many people are asking me is this program a scam. I just started and im getting everything set up for me so i can see the results in this venture. How many people know for a fact this actually work? I dont want too build a bad name for myself. Some let me know whats real asap. Thanks!!!"

Here was my response:

"It's not a scam. If you do the work, if you show people the value of 5dollarmoneybomb, they will join, and you will make an income from people joining through you. You get value for joining 5dollarmoneybomb, so even if no one joins through you, you still get the awesome marketing training for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. It is worth way more than $15 a year. Joseph made this affordable so everyone can join. Also, if you are int he US, you get the $20 netspend bonus, so the first year membership pays for itself. It is a genius program whether you get people to join through you or not. In a scam, you lose money and you gain nothing. You gain loads of value by being a part of 5dollarmoneybomb, so it is definitely not a scam."

Join 5dollarmoneybomb now and get $20 back from NetSpend by joining NetSpend through 5dollarmoneybomb. Then you'll receive the awesome marketing training you need to succeed online.

You can join through the following referral links I have to offer you:

affordablemlmtraining.com/lisha5684

5dollarmoneybomb.com/lisha5684

Both of those signup pages will give you the same program/results, so it doesn't matter which you sign up to. Both will give you your own back office, you own referral website to get your own referrals to 5dollarmoneybomb, and your ultimate marketing training, including video tutorials.

If you'd like to learn more, you can check out my other posts that explain how 5dollarmoneybomb works:

5 Dollar Money Bomb Review - Everything you need to know.

Top 5 Reasons 5dollarmoneybomb Rocks! - Why you should join.

Opportunity Calls - Twice a Week 5dollarmoneybomb conference calls you can join in on.

Get the Marketing Training You Need to Succeed Online (all about the marketing training you'll get).

Join through either of the links below:

affordablemlmtraining.com/lisha5684

5dollarmoneybomb.com/lisha5684

To Your Success,

Update on Survey-Faq - SCAM

2012-02-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have been doing searches online to find out more about Survey-Faq. Many people have been coming to my blog by searching some of the following keyphrases:

survey faq
surveys-faq
survey-faq
the application was created. please, wait...
has anyone gotten paid from surcey faq?
mixreqs.com the application was created. please, wait...
survey-fag can i do more surveys than 3 per day
the application was created. please, wait...
earned from survey-faq
survey faqs applucation was created please wait
has anyone gotten paid from survey-faq
survey-faq app has been created, please wait
survey-faq scam
has anyone gotten paid from survey-faq
is survey faq a scam
the application was created. please, wait...

Survey-Faq Is In Fact A Scam

I want to clear the air right now and let everyone know that yes, survey-faq is a scam. I have proven it. I joined survey-faq.com in December to see if it was legit or not. I did a little experiment and I documented my progress here at OMT.

First I was just going to do the 3 surveys per day until I got to the $1000 minimum payout balance. However, I soon realized that you had to make $1000 within a one week period. Because of the 3 survey per day minumum, you cannot earn the $1000 in one week unless you refer people. I mentioned that on my blog, and I am grateful that many of you joined through my referral link so we could in fact prove whether survey-faq is a scam or not. In about 5 days, I had reached just over the $1000 minimum payout amount thanks to my referrals. I clicked the payment button and it said "The application was created. Please, wait..." I didn't know how long I would have to wait, but I figured it could possibly be up to 45 days because on another survey site which looked eerily similar to survey-faq (mix-req.com) said that it would take 45 days to receive payment from that survey site.

Well, it has now been a bit over 45 days and I have not been paid by survey-faq. Since January 1st, I have periodically checked my PayPal account and have never received the money that survey-faq "promised" I'd receive per their terms.

Survey-faq is a scam and there is no point for anyone else to try it out. I have gone through the entire process and have not received what was expected considering I followed their rules. There are no results displayed anywhere on the internet stating that someone has in fact been paid by survey-faq. Many people have given up on survey-faq before completely following through (which is fine, there has been no proof of payment to anyone). Don't waste your time. I took the time to follow through to completion and did not get paid.

Not only that, but they changed their domain name from survey-faq.com to surveys-faq.com (probably to deceive more people).

Please share this blog post so everyone knows, and tell everyone you know that survey-faq is a scam. And if anything resembles survey-faq, it is probably a scam too, like mix-req.com for example.

Thanks for reading!

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Blog and Retire Case Study - Week 12

2012-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

How to Make Money Blogging Doing the Bare Minimum

Click here if you need to know what the Blog and Retire Case Study is.

Click here to catch up on all the B&R Case Study Updates.

What's In Blog and Retire Week 12?

In week 12, we cover the process of making your free product/website/service/ebook and paid "product" available to your readers. You can do this by putting up an email signup form on your blog.

We also cover PayPal stuff, like how to signup for Micropayments Pro (so you get smaller fees for when you sell items for under $10), and also how to Redirect Your Customers Back to Your Website After a PayPal Purchase.

The other things covered in Blog and Retire Week 12 are how to create a PDF out of a word document for free, and also how to download your PDF to a free site that you can create private if you wish to sell your ebook and direct your buyers to the ebook link.

One of the best things about the Blog and Retire eCourse is that I teach you how to do the most possible things for free to optimize your online income without spending much (if anything at all). I've done all the research, all you have to do is follow the steps.

What I Did This Week:

I'm a bit of a slacker and I will admit (once again) that I did not do everything in this week of the ecourse, not for my case study house blog anyway. The steps in the ecourse are ALL the things you can do to create an income, starting with a simple blog. However, nothing is mandatory, and it is flexible so that you develop your own plan and follow the steps according to what you want to do.

Like I've said in the past, the way I wanted to make money with my house blog was simply by selling ad space. I am not quite at that point yet, as it takes time to come to the point where you build trust in potential advertisers. Trust that you blog will stick around, for one thing. My case study blog has not even been around for 3 months yet, so advertisers couldn't possibly 100% trust the fact that this blog is going to be around for the long haul. With ads, you are both building a reputation. The advertiser wants to put their ad on a reputable website, and you as the publisher want to have ads that contribute some sort of value to your readers.

So, for now, what I've been doing is building traffic to my blog, mainly through writing awesome blog posts, interacting with other bloggers in the niche, doing tons of Twitter stuff, and commenting on other blogs.

This past week, the house blog won 3 awards from 3 different bloggers in the DIY blog niche. We were given two Liebster awards, and one 7x7 award. Before being awarded these awards, I was not even aware that they existed, and quite frankly, it means nothing more than the fact that my blog and I are respected by other bloggers. It gives my house blog recognition, and a backlink as well. It also gives me the ability to brag about it on my blog, which gives readers the sense that "this blog is awesome and you should read it, subscribe to it, and become obsessed with it". lol!

Case Study Blog Stats:

Here are my house blog stats for February so far:

Unique Visitors: 1280
Number of Visits: 3,543
Number of Pageviews (not including my own): 8,183
Number of Hits (not including my own): 78,425
Links around the web: 196 so far this month
Search Keyphrases: 140 so far this month
Search Keywords: 262 so far this month
Twitter Tweets: 1,276, Following: 885, Followers: 561, Listed: Twitter changed and I'm still trying to figure out if I can see which lists my Twitter account is on.
Fans on 1house1couple's Facebook page: 41

A lot of the important stats are close to doubling, so hopefully by the end of February I'll have about 2400 unique visitors for the month and about 16,000 pageviews. I'm pretty excited about how things have been going on the house blog so far (especially since I've really only been doing the bare minimum) and I'm definitely excited for where this is going and where it's leading me (to blogging success). There is a lot of competition in this niche, but there are also plenty of people interested in this topic, so there are more than enough readers to go around. That's how it is with every niche. It's all relative. So start your blog now and be on your way to creating a blogging income :)

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Wazzub FAQ - Understand the Phenomenon

2012-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Click Here to Join Wazzub Now

The following is the Wazzub FAQ taken straight from the Wazzub FAQ Page.

"Q. What is WAZZUB?

WAZZUB is the world’s one and only Profit Sharing Phenomenon.
It is the first online community that shares its profits with its free pre-launch members
simply for choosing WAZZUB as their home page after launch.
WAZZUB is always free for everyone.

Q. What is the Power of “We”?

It’s a fact: companies like Google or Facebook earn BILLIONS OF $$$ every quarter
just because we, the Internet users use their services.
It is time to understand, that we “the users” decide who is earning the big money.
If we together decide to use the services of a company that shares profits with us,
there is nothing that the other companies could do about it.

It’s so easy: the more users that join the WAZZUB Family for free,
the more money we “the users” will earn!

That is what we call the Power of “We”!

Q. Who owns and operates WAZZUB?

WAZZUB is an international project that has been created by a handful of entrepreneurs and investors.
In September 2011 they founded GIT Global Investments, Inc. (GIT)
for the purpose of running WAZZUB and related businesses.
GIT is registered under the laws of Oregon. The Registration # is 802159-90.

A team of more than 20 specialists is working hard to turn WAZZUB into a huge success;
most of them are behind the scenes and some of them are visible for all members -
for example, our Master Distributor and our Support Staff.

Q. Where is WAZZUB’s office?

GIT’s registered office is at 391 NW 179th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97006
and our WAZZUB headquarters is located at 7251 Lake Mead Blvd, Suite 364, Las Vegas, NV 89128.

Q. WAZZUB sounds too good to be true. Is WAZZUB a scam or is it a real business?

For sure WAZZUB is doing real business but it is no traditional business.
The Internet is changing the world and there is enough space for innovative business models
that have never been done before. WAZZUB is one of those business models.

For the first time ever a global online community is sharing its profits
with its pre-launch members. That is why we named it the first Profit Sharing Phenomenon.

Actually, WAZZUB is too good to pass up.

Q. How does WAZZUB make money?

WAZZUB makes money in many different ways.
On April 9 we will launch a state-of-the-art website with patent-pending technology.
On this page we’ll display ads and special deals.

In fact, we do exactly the same as companies like Facebook, Google, AOL and Yahoo.
They offer free services and earn billions of $$$ just by displaying ads and special offers.
The only difference is that we share our profits with our pre-launch members.

Q. How and when do the members get paid?

WAZZUB pays its members on a monthly basis.
Our first pay day will be May 15, 2012 for the month of April.
Small amounts will be paid by an online payment processor
and large amounts will be paid by check or bank wire.

However, WAZZUB is working on a simple global payment solution to best serve our world-wide community.

Q. Is it true that the members get paid US$1 per person in their 5 generations family?

There is no fixed amount that will be paid to all members.
During pre-launch, every member is building his personal $FACTOR
by inviting other members to join WAZZUB for free.
Each new member, 5 generations deep let your personal $FACTOR grow by 1.

After launch, the members’ $FACTORs are fixed and by adding them up
we receive the total amount of $FACTORs (= the global $FACTOR).
Each month we calculate WAZZUB’s profit and divide it by the global $FACTOR
to determine the actual multiplicator.

Example: Let’s say that the profit to be shared for the month of April is $4 million
and the global $FACTOR is 5 million.
Each member would earn $0.80 per personal $FACTOR
($0.80 x your personal $FACTOR = your income for that particular month)

If there would be $5 million to share, the multiplicator would be $1.00 and at $6 million it would be $1.20.

The more free members that set up WAZZUB as their home page after launch,
the more money the pre-launch members will earn."

I hope you learned a lot more about what Wazzub is, and how it can benefit all of us as the internet user.

Join Now. Activate, Unleash, Unlock the POWER of WE!

Yes, that's my referral link above :)

Thanks for joining! I wish you success!

Sincerely,

Verify Your Email Address - Wazzub

2012-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

How to Verify Your Email Address With Wazzub

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

If you haven't already, you need to click here to join Wazzub now so you can build your piece of the pie.

If you have already joined Wazzub and you're having troubles receiving their confirmation email and verifying your email address, read below. It is very important that you verify your email address so you can get in on this action!

Don't forget to confirm by opening the confirmation email that wazzub sent you (you may have to check your junk mail folder).

If you did not receive the confirmation message in your inbox, or in your junk mail folder, you may have to go to your contacts and add Verification Wazzub to your contacts.

Then go to http://signup.wazzub.info/login.php and click "Please resend my verification email" then input your email and click Send to have them resend the verification email to you.

Then go to your email (this email may also go to the junk mail folder, it did for me) and click the verification link in the email they sent you and then you'll be all set :)

You can login by going to http://signup.wazzub.info/login.php and logging in with your email and password you signed up with. Then you can use your referral id url to get people to join through you so that you can make more money with wazzub. Once you get people to join, there is no work. You will get monthly income based on how many people joined through your referral link by 3 weeks after April 9th (you have to join by April 9th, but if you join on April 9th, you will still have 3 weeks to gain referral $factors).

The way wazzub is going to make their money is the same way Google and Facebook make their money. But instead of hoarding all their profits to themselves, they are going to give 50% of their profits to people who joined as a member before April 9th. Yay!

Make sure you confirm your email so you can get a part of the pie :)

Click here to return to OMT's Wazzub page.

A Message From Wazzub

2012-02-13T09:00:00.001-08:00

About Members, Cheaters, Winners, Numbers, Scam Screamers, Competitors and Opportunities

Hey everyone, this is a message from Wazzub if you want to learn more information about them.

Then you can Join Wazzub Here. All you need is an email address. Don't forget to verify your email address or it won't count! Click here to learn how to verify your email address in case you didn't get the confirmation email from Wazzub.

Wazzub is going to be the biggest internet sensation in 2012! It's growing faster than Facebook!

Here is the message from Wazzub:

"Dear WAZZUB Family,

Time is flying and more than 30% of our pre-launch time is already gone. For us, this is the perfect time to review the last weeks and share with you some facts about our project that might be interesting for you:

About our members:

Within just 7 weeks 1.4 million members from more than 180 different countries joined our family. We believe that in spite of all cultural, political, religious and lingual distinctions WAZZUB will be a truly global family of open-minded brothers and sisters.

We are proud that so many people believe in our idea and we are aware of our responsibility to fulfill all the expectations that we raised with our unique business model. We will do everything in our power to even exceed these expectations.

About cheaters:

There are some people that try to cheat by entering fake members into our system to gain more profit share. Some of them are really dumb like the guy who created more than 1,500 email accounts at Yahoo and entered them into our system. Well, he numbered the email addresses consecutively from 1 to 1500, so we found them easily.

Some other guys were REALLY sure to beat our system. They organized more than 100 people that entered over 10,000 fake accounts from 12 different IPs (our guess is Internet cafes) and verified them crossover. Nice try, but not clever enough...

The worst thing about the cheaters is that they do not understand the following:

They do not cheat just on us, the initiators, but they cheat on all our members. We share 50% of the profits and this amount does not change by the cheaters’ activities. In fact, the cheaters try to steal money from the honest members who work hard to build their WAZZUB Families.

IF YOU CHEAT ON WAZZUB, YOU CHEAT ON MILLIONS OF MEMBERS!

That is why we consequently search for cheaters and suspend their accounts. Here is our final warning to all cheaters:

For now, it might be just the input of fake data, like opening fake accounts on Facebook or Google, and nobody will sue you for doing this, but after pre-launch this would turn automatically into cheating to get money that is not yours. For sure, wherever you live, it is against the law and we will not hesitate to sue you for that. We are a family and we protect our members. Period.

About winners:

We are proud to present the winners of our $1,500 January Competition!
Each of the Top 3 invited more than 1,000 new members and you would have needed more than 400 to make it into the Top 20.

We will send out emails to the winners later today and post their names here on Facebook after they agreed.

The same competition is on for February: The Top 20 who invite the most direct members between Feb 1 and Feb 29 will receive the following prize money:

$25 each for #11 - #20
$50 each for #6 - #10
$100 each for #4 and #5
$150 for #3
$250 for #2
$400 for #1

GOOD LUCK!!!

About numbers:

We are still breaking records and our numbers are moving fast:

On Twitter we have more than 17,600 followers now.

On Facebook we received more than 123,000 “Likes”.

More than 1,400,000 members joined our WAZZUB Family so far and we welcome up to 90,000 new members per day.

Alexa.com listed us at #593 of the world’s most visited websites for Feb 5.

About “scam screamers”:

Our business idea is simple: instead of investing millions of $$$ into marketing and advertising after launch we decided to share our profits with all pre-launch members to create an army of partners even before our main project starts. There is a great chance that we will have more than 5 million members right on our launch day. No startup before ever reached a number like this.

Maybe, our strategy is just “too simple” for some people out there, but to be honest, we believe that the main reason for the “scam screamers” to do so is as follows:

There are 3 main sources for the content of all critical pages. 2 of the sources have been created by persons that run or at least promote another social community or “home page” program. The 3rd source was created by a guy who at least makes a part of his living from the ads and banners that are displayed on his blog. For sure, in these days “WAZZUB is a Scam” is a nice headline to gain page views but that does not mean that they are right. Our company is founded under US laws, we do real business and, by the way, we pay taxes.

Right now there are many more important things to do, but we take screenshots of every single “scam screamer” page/message. For sure the day will come when those people realize that it is against the law to state their unproven opinion as facts.

For all the people who are really interested in our project, we answered to all the arguments. You can find our answers here on Facebook and on our blog.

About competitors:

Yes, there are other companies that want you to set up their page as your home page or that offer you to share their profits with you. Our advice: Compare the facts and decide!

Fact #1

Even if programs allow you to join for free, most of them offer you a paid membership after you joined to receive more profit share. Other programs offer paid memberships only if you want to earn money.

WAZZUB IS FREE AND STAYS FREE FOREVER! We will NEVER offer you a paid membership to have more advantages than unpaid members.

Fact #2

Other programs might share profits or pay all members instead of only paying the pre-launch members. This leads automatically to lower payouts because the money is shared by more members.

At WAZZUB we share our profits only with our pre-launch members. No matter if we attract 10 million, 100 million or even 1 billion members, only our pre-launch members will receive PAYMENTS WITHOUT ANY LIMITS!

Fact #3

In many programs you need to stay “active” to be qualified for payments. That activity might be to click on ads, to surf the Internet for a specific time or to invite a minimum number of new members per month.

At WAZZUB there is NO JOB TO DO after launch. Our pre-launch members will receive payments for life as long as they set up our page as their home page after launch. That is what we call a PASSIVE income.

Fact #4

Many programs will force you to download a toolbar or to install some special software on your computer. They will tell you that it is safe to do, that there is no spyware and that it won’t harm your computer. Fact is that these toolbars or software programs often collect info about you and your Internet usage habits, for example which websites you are visiting, to display personalized ads on your screen.

At WAZZUB there is NOTHING TO DOWNLOAD. We will NEVER collect any details about your habits. After launch you will personalize your WAZZUB home page on your own and you will be able to change your settings whenever you want it.

Fact #5

If it is about to join a company that is sharing profits with you, you should think how realistic it is that there will be profits to share. Many companies do not tell you how many members they have and they do not tell you their traffic rank.

At WAZZUB we are displaying the actual number of registered members on our signup page. To keep the server workload low, the counter is automatically adding new members based on the number of signups during the last 24 hours.

If you want to compare the traffic ranks of different web sites, www.alexa.com is the world leader in Internet statistics. Just put in the domain name, for example wazzub.info, and click on “Get Details” to see the traffic rank and other details. The more users who are visiting a web site, the higher the chance that a web site gains profit.

Fact #6

Many programs limit memberships to specific countries. They are only interested in members from countries where advertisers pay high fees.
At WAZZUB people from all around the world are welcome. For us it makes no difference where you live and who you are.

About opportunities:

For sure our program is a huge opportunity for many people to earn an attractive passive income after launch. But there is more...

Like any other fast growing company we need more and more staff to handle the entire work load. Right now our team hired more than 20 employees and contractors, most of them in the U.S., India and China. But we need more manpower to prepare and run our main project. That is why we decided to set up a page with job offers. Check back here on Facebook tomorrow and it might be that WAZZUB is your next employer.

We are working hard on all the features that we promised to add and we are working hard on the main project. Please have in mind that we are still a startup and that we are still in pre-launch. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated, especially when glitches, bugs or downtimes show up.

With Your Success in Mind,

Your WAZZUB Team"

Click here to join Wazzub Now.

Click here to return to OMT's Wazzub page and learn more!

Who, What, and How of Wazzub

2012-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

How Wazzub Works, And Who The Heck Are They?

Below is a message taken straight from Wazzub's blog about who is behind this genius idea. Included are explanations of how Wazzub works to provide a monthly income to it's founding members (those who join by April 9th).

Click here to join Wazzub now and get started building your piece of the pie.

A Message from Wazzub:

"Dear WAZZUB Family,

There are some articles out there on the Internet that state some “Facts” about our project and/or our company and then draw conclusions, most of them wrong. We do not have the time to answer on every single statement but we would like to give some general answers as follows:

1. Is WAZZUB a real company or a fake?

WAZZUB is a real company registered under the laws of Oregon, USA and running its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. We are an early-stage startup company that is still before launch of their main website. That means, we are still in development and many things will change during pre-launch.

2. Is your “Headquarters” a real office or just virtual?

Our Las Vegas office is a real office. Right now (Mon, Jan 16, 12:30pm) there are 5 WAZZUB Team members present and working. We are using the services from Regus, that means, we have our own office space but we share receptionist area, conference rooms, kitchen and other services with other companies.

Again, we are an early-stage startup and until we earn “real” money after launch we are on a budget. There is no need to invest into a fully owned office right now.

3. What about your registered office – there are a lot of companies registered at the same address - why?

For tax reasons most U.S. based companies have their companies registered in a different state than their HQ is located. There are special companies offering services as a registered agent but they are not involved in the actual business of the company. The name of our registered Agent is Cathy Halverson and she is the registered agent for several hundred companies. That does not mean that our company is related to any other company that is registered at this address and for sure it is no sign that we try to hide something or that we are a scam.

By the way, the most famous “registered office” address is used by more than 200,000 businesses. This address has its own page at Wikipedia. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1209_Orange_Street.
For example, Coca Cola is registered there, as well as General Motors, Google and Verizon. Nobody would conclude that they are hiding something or that they try to scam people. It is our goal to make WAZZUB one of the big brands on the Internet and, following the advice of our CPA and attorneys, we set up our company structure as it should be – right from the beginning.

4. Why did the data on the Whois database for wazzub.com and wazzub.info change twice within a few months?

When we found the perfect name for our project – WAZZUB – back in June 2011, the company was not yet founded; therefore one of our main investors registered the domains under his company name. After our company, GIT Global Investments Inc., was registered, we changed the Whois data including the address of our registered office. Now we opened our HQ and so we changed the Whois data to our operational address.

5. Who is the owner of your company?

WAZZUB is owned by several investors. Right now they are building the team of directors and managers that will run our project after launch. There will be a page with all the important members of our team after the team is completed. Our Marketing Director Gee DaCosta is not one of the initiators; he is the team member that is most important now - during pre-launch.

6. You can find some info about Gee and his history in the MLM and Network Marketing industry. Is he just hopping from business to business?

WAZZUB is not a network marketing company and it is not MLM. But we needed the skills of an experienced online marketer and Gee is the perfect match - and WAZZUB is the perfect business for Gee. He is very happy that he has found his “final” business and we know that WAZZUB will change the life of many, many others who are still on the search for the perfect internet opportunity.

7. You claim to have already invested more than $2 million into WAZZUB. Why is your pre-launch website and members’ area so “simple”?

The money has been invested into the main project, not into the pre-launch pages. We are totally overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of members signing up. Unfortunately, this huge traffic caused some “challenges” like a lack of server capacity and more than 350,000 verification and password emails to be sent out. Most of our bugs and glitches are caused by the huge number of members that like our project.

If we would have a pre-launch website with a lot of flash and video content it would slow down our servers dramatically. That is why we just kept it simple.

Our state-of-the-art home page that will be launched on April 9 is a totally different story. Secured by several pending patents, it will be a totally new way to surf the Internet.

8. But there are so many search engines and home pages on the Internet. Is WAZZUB just another useless search engine?

Oh, WAZZUB is so much more than a search engine. Imagine this: you start your Internet browser and find yourself on the perfect home page. There is a powerful search engine, the latest news exactly on those topics you are interested in, messages from your friends and family, the best deals on the Internet and useful links to your favorite websites. Imagine receiving valuable gifts and bonuses, just for using this powerful tool as your personal home page.

9. You promise to pay a lot of money to your pre-launch members. Where is that money coming from?

We will monetize our website exactly the same way as companies like Google, Facebook, AOL and Yahoo monetize their websites - by displaying ads and special offers. The big difference is that we share profits with our pre-launch members. 50% of all profits will be paid to our pre-launch members just by joining for free and setting up our page as their home page.

10. Is there a risk when I join WAZZUB?

We keep your data safe and never share it with third parties. You never have to pay us a single $ to get your share of our profits. Your only risk is investing time to invite other members. If nobody likes our final page we would earn no money and there would be no profits to share…BUT…

GUESS WHAT? - We know for sure that won’t happen!"

Click here to join Wazzub now and get started building your piece of the pie.

Click here to return to OMT's Wazzub page to learn more.

Is Wazzub a Scam?

2012-02-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

You Can Join Wazzub Here.

Below is a message from Wazzub to explain to the public who they are. Many people think Wazzub's website concept can't be for real. It has to be a scam. Well, here are some answers for you:

A Message From Wazzub:

First, we have to say that we take every comment serious and even critical posts are welcome. This is a free world and WAZZUB is an open-minded community. We do not expect that everybody loves what we do, because we understand that it’s impossible to please everyone. But we do expect the same respect that we show for every person we meet.

Unfortunately your comment is not just critical but extremely insulting. Nonetheless we invested time to read and understand your arguments and it seems that you draw some wrong conclusions from the info that you found on the Internet.

1. Whois search for wazzub.com/wazzub.info

Your statement:

“We should note that the domain expires around the same time as this site supposedly launches”

Well, the Expiration date of a domain shows for how long the registrant paid in advance for this service. For example, one of your registered domains, kooiii.com expires Oct 18, 2012. We would never conclude from this that you will run out of business on that day.

2. Scam search

Your statement:

“and we find there are indeed reports against this company spanning several years”

You can easily see that the company names are different and that this thread is dated back in 2006. None of the data provided there correlate with our data. The only post that tries to create a connection to our company is the newest one, posted a few days ago by a user named “Kooiii“ (just a wild guess that this is you).

3. Company registration

Your statement:

“this returns further confirmation that this is indeed a scam as the registration data does not match the company profile being promoted”

There is one official source for info about companies registered in Oregon and that is the website of the Secretary of State of Oregon. In our officially filed Articles of Incorporation (Section II) is written:

“The purpose for which this corporation is organized is to engage in any business or activity not forbidden by law…”

Where ever you found the babysitting and laundry stuff, if you reveal the source to us, we will contact them to ask for correction.

In the end you named our project a “definite scam” and give us a bad name. For sure, this is going too far and it is unlawful in many jurisdictions. However, we believe that you’ve just misinterpreted some things and that your post is not a try to promote your own project http://www.kooiii.com.

The “Kooiii Business Resources and Social Community” seems to be a nice concept and we wish you a lot of success with it. If you strictly follow your own rules we assume that you are a fair businessman and you will post our answer in addition to your post about WAZZUB, where ever you have posted it.

If you could stop your polemic style we would be happy to discuss any further question you might have about our project.

And, believe it or not, you are still welcome to become a member of the WAZZUB Family; together we could activate the Power of “We”.

Our best wishes and a happy New Year!

The WAZZUB Team

Lisha's Message:

If you still think they're a scam, you can go ahead and ignore this phenomenon that's going on...

However, if you're not afraid of giving your email address in order to make a free monthly income, then go ahead and CLICK HERE TO JOIN WAZZUB NOW! Start building your piece of the pie :)

Click here to return to OMT's Wazzub page and learn more.

Favorite Sponsors Friday

2012-02-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Here at OMT, we have 2 lovely sponsors I'd like to feature today. They are both very unique and offer something valuable to the world. First is JoAnn Donahue. She's been at OMT for over two months. Second is Matt Hawkin's Design. We have the pleasure of featuring his excellent web design for the first time.

JoAnn Donahue
newjerseybabyboomereconomy.com

Motivational speaker, and a business leader, JoAnn Donahue has plenty to offer you. I've had the pleasure of getting to know JoAnn over the last few months and I am proud to feature her here.

Check out her YouTube Channel.

Check out her site New Jersey Baby Boomer Economy - Marketing Truths Uncovered. Sign up to receive free updates and motivation emails that teach you how to really market in today's world. It's all about caring. It's not about advertising, it's about relationships, and thinking about what's really important in life.

Here are some headlines for the free coaching emails you'll receive from JoAnn Donahue:

The Marketing That Sticks!
My Resolve for the Troubling Home Based Business Industry
Become a Marketing Magnet
Your Vision Dictates Your Action Steps
How to Get the Skeptical to Listen

I learned a lot from personally signing up for JoAnn's email updates. You should too!

You will also learn how you can live healthy and get paid to eat organic food!

Mark Hawkins Design
mark-hawkins.com

Wow! What can I say besides "Awesome"? Mark Hawkins has an extremely good eye for design and web style. When I saw that he wanted to sponsor OMT, I took a look at his portfolio and I was pleasantly surprised. Mark is a highly experienced freelance graphic designer and he can make you anything from "a stylish business card to a large exhibition display, or a simple 3 page website to a full blown e-commerce site selling hundreds of products." Click here to learn more about Mark. Something I really liked reading was that if you inquire about a specific project you'd like him to do, and he can't do it, he will proudly recommend someone who can!

Click here to check out Mark's WordPress designs. <-- They're amazing... really.

He has a stunning way of presenting any information in a visually pleasing way.

So please, take a moment to visit OMT's sponsors above (after all, they are what keep this blog alive so you can continue to receive awesome free information on how to make money blogging and extremely valuable online business tips).

Also, please do me and my sponsors a favor by clicking the share buttons below! Thanks!

Facebook This:

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Blog and Retire Case Study - Week 11

2012-02-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hello loyal readers,

Today I'm going to talk about Week 11 of my house blog journey through the Blog and Retire eCourse.

Click here if you need to know what the Blog and Retire Case Study is.

Click here to catch up on all the B&R Case Study Updates.

What's In Blog and Retire Week 11?

Here are some quotes taken from B&R Week 11:

"Making money blogging has two main steps:

1. Offering value and telling as many people as you can about that value you offer.

2. Making it possible for money to come to you. AdSense, products for sale (yours or affiliate products), and selling ad space."

“Put people first and the money will follow.”

"The number one thing failures have in common is that they give up. And the number one thing that successful people have is that they keep going, they’re consistent, they learn from their mistakes, and they constantly improve. AND they offer value to people interested in their niche."

Here are the tasks involved with B&R Week 11:

Write good blog posts
Make a video
Submit blog posts to StumbleUpon
Schedule Good Valuable Tweets and Tweets about your blog posts
Update Facebook groups, fan page, profile with blog posts
Follow more people on Facebook and Twitter
Interact with people on Facebook and Twitter
Comment on other blogs
Work on your own products (if you're creating any).
And the new thing this week is to find a forum related to your niche and contribute to forum discussions (remember to have your blog url in your signature if possible).

What I Did This Week:

Wrote good blog posts
Scheduled Good Valuable Tweets and Tweets about my blog posts
Updated Facebook groups, fan page, profile with blog posts
Followed more people on Twitter
Interacted with people on Facebook and Twitter
Commented on other blogs
Did a sponsor swap with 9 other people

It seems as though the sponsor swap got me a lot of extra traffic, and some new people are sticking around and commenting regularly. So it seems the sponsor swap was a success. I still have to do another sponsor swap with 2 more people who sent me their info a little late, so I may get some more traffic from those 2 blogs as well. That will be a total of 11 sponsor swaps this month. I don't have any paid sponsors as of yet, but I'm not too concerned about that right now since my blog is still so new. Right now, my focus is to build traffic and by the stats below, I must say I am happy with my results so far.

Case Study Blog Stats:

Here are my house blog stats for February so far:

Unique Visitors: 786
Number of Visits: 2,004
Number of Pageviews (not including my own): 4,554
Number of Hits (not including my own): 49,385
Links around the web: 128 so far this month
Search Keyphrases: 72 so far this month
Search Keywords: 165 so far this month
Twitter Tweets: 1,188, Following: 720, Followers: 480, Listed: 7
Fans on 1house1couple's Facebook page: 39

Last month around this time I thought we'd end up with about 1475 unique visitors and we reached 1322 (not too far off).

At the rate things are going this month so far, it seems that we have the potential to reach over 2500 unique visitors and over 15,000 pageviews by the end of February. So that will be our goal. Let's see if it happens! Stick with me!

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Go Back: Blog and Retire Case Study Update Week 10

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A Little Message For You

2012-02-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Just a little note to let you know I was thinking of you. I hope you have a great day today. Believe in yourself and you can achieve!

Since you're here, you can check out our best most recent posts here at OMT. I'm certain one or more of these may spark an interest in you:

4 Steps to Getting What You Want in Life

3 Creative Online Business Ideas That Flourished

Blog and Retire Case Study Update Week 10

8 Ways to Make Time for Yourself

Get the Marketing Training You Need to Succeed Online

Top 10 Blogging Tips for Traffic

Tomorrow I'll have the Blog and Retire Case Study Update Week 11 for you! Come back and learn more!

Redirect Buyers to Your Site After PayPal Purchase

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

PayPal is the most used merchant system online. If you choose to use PayPal as your payment processor (which makes everything way easier) you may want to learn a few secrets that will optimize your PayPal experience as a seller.

It seems like PayPal wants to keep a few things a secret. I don't know if that's the case, but it's possible that the two secrets I'm going to unveil could make PayPal more money if these secrets were kept.

The first secret is how to redirect buyers back to your website after they have purchases an item from you through PayPal. (The second secret will be in a later post, so come back to find out!)

By default, PayPal redirects your customers back to PayPal after they have completed payment on your product. However, there is a way to redirect your customers back to the url of your choice and it is a two-step process.

1. Turn Auto Return On

Here are the steps to turn Auto Return on:

Login to your PayPal account.

In the search box at the top of the page, type the words "Website Payment Preferences"

Click on "Website Payment Preferences PayPal"

Under "Auto Return for Website Payments," click the option for Auto Return to "On"

Next, type in the default url you wish to lead your customers to, if you don't specify a url in your paypal button code. (However, no matter what, PayPal will redirect your customers back to PayPal if you don't add the below html code to your finished button code. You have to have auto return On and you also have to add the code below to your paypal button code.)

Go down to the bottom of the page and click "Save".

2. Add the Proper Redirect Code to Your PayPal Button Code

First of all, when creating your buy button (or whatever button you choose), "Step 3" will give you the option to "Take your customers to this URL when they finish checkout". Check that box and input the url you wish to send your customers to once they have finished payment.

Second, you need to add the following code somewhere in your PayPal button html code they give you:
<input name="return" type="hidden" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/yoursuccesspage" />

Change the type in red to whatever your url actually is.

Then input that line of code into your PayPal button code anywhere on it's own line. For example, here is an entire code, and I included the extra code you need to add in purple:

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" />
<input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="1AAAA111AAA1A" />
<input name="return" type="hidden" value="http://www.yourwebsite.com/yoursuccesspage" />
<input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="http://www.yourwebsite.com/image.gif" type="image" />
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></form>

That's it! Now your customers will be redirected to the url of your choice when they have finished payment.

Just remember PayPal's rules when redirecting to your own url after payment:

Per the user agreement, you must provide verbiage on the page displayed by the Return URL that will help the buyer understand that the payment has been made and that the transaction has been completed.
You must provide verbiage on the page displayed by the Return URL that explains that payment transaction details will be emailed to the buyer.
Example: Thank you for your payment. Your transaction has been completed, and a receipt for your purchase has been emailed to you. You may log into your account at www.paypal.com/us to view details of this transaction.

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