Mike's Money Making Mission

The Easiest Place In The World To Set Up A Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Looking for the easiest place to blog from anywhere in the world?

I wasn't! But I did come across Posterous, which I hadn't heard of before.

It's somewhere you can blog by using emails from any email address that you have registered with them. You can use several if you wish.

It really is that simple - no HTML etc needed. You can send them text, photos, MP3's, documents and videos (both links and files) and that's it! Whatever you send will become a blog post.

Posterous will also, if you wish, automatically update your accounts at Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc. with your latest post.

You can make your blog public or keep it private for friends and family.

Okay, this all sounds okay but there is one snag: the layout is none too special, no fancy stuff. It's very basic in appearance.

I set up a Posterous blog out of curiousity. And sure enough it was live in minutes and the two posts I have sent by email were on the blog within seconds.

I can see that there are ways where it could be of use. I'm not sure if I'll bother with it myself at the moment but, if I can find a way for it to work for me, then I might just continue.

See what you think.

Good luck,
Mike.

YouGov: Make extra money by completing surveys and polls for payment - genuine company.

Squidoo Money Making Update

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:39:00 +0000

I thought I'd do an update on Squidoo.

If I'm honest it's not going as well as I hoped in respect of making me money. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with Squidoo, it's a good site and there are benefits other than monetary.

I enjoy using the website, time permitting, but my major point of joining was to make money and this has been disappointing so far.

To earn commission the lenses (pages) you have made need to have a good Squidoo ranking. One that is under 2000. Now, as there are millions of lenses, it can be seen that to have one of the best 2000 is no easy task. I've done this and had several in the category but, through lack of time, the rankings have gradually dropped.

So what decides your ranking? Well it's another mysterious algorithm. From what I can see this is based on various things relative to the lens.

These 'things' include:

(a) Traffic - same old chestnut!
(b) Ratings stars - how other members rate your lenses
(c) Clicks Out - how many clicks are made to Google ads, Amazon, etc. etc.
(d) Goods Bought - have readers bought anything from, say, Amazon and eBay modules.
(e) Latest Updates - length of time since the lens was updated.
(f) Angel Blessings - some established members are called angels and they can bless lenses they think are exceptional. Blessings improve a lens ranking.

So there are quite a lot of things to constantly think about if you want to make money by having decent lens rankings.

It's not an easy money making ride and I feel it will take several months of continued effort to make anything worthwhile. Though you could just do it for the enjoyment and possible contacts you might make.

As I said earlier there are also other benefits to making lenses. They could, for example, be for your own products or affiliate programs or maybe to help drive traffic to your blog or website.

A few Squidoo lensmasters do claim to be making decent money but these appear, in the main, to be long established members.

To sum up Squidoo is a well run program and quite easy to use but getting regular, direct payments from Squidoo will take time and effort.

Good luck,
Mike.

A few of my Squidoo Lenses as examples: A Year In My Cornish Garden / Sidney Sock Goes Missing / Funny and Humorous Letters / Awful Jokes / Golf Jokes and Golf One Liners

Wonder Wheel For Michael Jackson Keywords

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Have you been using the new Google Wonder Wheel to help find more keywords or other related searches?

I've only just come across this and have found it useful when writing articles and posts. All the more we can establish popular keywords and phrases and what is being searched the more successful our search engine optimisation.

Better seo brings better traffic, at least that's the theory.

To find the Wonder Wheel do a normal Google search (and remember the suggestions in the drop down box are also very useful as keywords) and on the results page at the top left you'll see 'Show options'. Click on this and the Wonder Wheel link is towards the bottom of the list shown.

The Wonder Wheel will show usually 6- 8 phrases associated with whatever you searched. The example below shows the current Wonder Wheel when searching for 'Michael Jackson'.

The 'Show options' list (to the left of the example above) also includes other helpful links to stuff you are searching for - which, again, may come in handy when writing your article or post.

Every little extra helps. The right keywords and phrases make the world of difference to attracting traffic from search engines - especially Google. And, of course, more traffic = more money.

Good luck,
Mike.

YouGov: Make extra money by completing surveys and polls for payment - genuine company.

Received Money from YouGov

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:49:00 +0000

I've received another cheque / check from YouGov. They are the surveys and pollster company who are genuine - there are many dodgy ones about.

YouGov won't make you rich but I know that there are a section of readers who want to make a little extra cash or pin money. As you will see below my cheque is for £50 - which is about $100, to keep it in round figures.

So who are YouGov? This is how their Panel Manager Tom Burgess explained things:

You have probably seen reports of YouGov in the media: we are regular pollsters for the Daily telegraph, The Sunday Times, Sky News and others. We also do research for a wide range of other clients from businesses to charities to local government to utilities. In giving us your views, you are therefore providing your input in a wide variety of areas, from informing the debate on a public policy issue, to ensuring that a product meets the needs of consumers.

Though the above refers to the UK YouGov are active in USA, Austria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Middle East, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

From my own experience and enquiries they are a genuine, trustworthy organisation. To join click here. If you are outside of the UK, after clicking, you will see a Non-UK Resident section on the right of the page where you can click on your country.

As I've said it won't bring you in a heap of money but it will make you a little extra for completing surveys. Give it a try and see what you think.

Moving on: Further to my previous post, below is a genuine copy of my commission statement for one of my FriendFinder accounts!

My commission now runs into millions - and that's just for two weeks! They 'pay-out' every two weeks. I won't hold my breath!

Good luck,
Mike.

What A Lot Of Money!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:52:00 +0000

I thought I'd show you a genuine copy of what I saw when I logged into one of my affiliate accounts with the FriendFinderGroup.

It made me smile.

What do you reckon?!

Bing Referrals To Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:25:00 +0000

I've noticed that Microsoft's new search engine Bing is now making referrals to my blogs. On most of my blogs it has shot into second position after Google (of course) for search engine referrals.

I look at this as being something positive. Microsoft are keen to see Bing out-search Google, which would be quite something. It's still very early days of their five year plan but they seem to be already catching Yahoo (at least with my blog referrals!)

As can be seen above, on one of my blogs over 9% of the traffic is by way of Bing.

I must admit that I haven't used Bing all that much myself to do searches but it has a certain likeability about it. Perhaps it might just be the competition needed to rival Google - well, one day at least.

Microsoft says of Bing:

Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today's search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition or finding a local business.

So what does the word Bing mean? According to Microsoft it's the 'the sound of found' - not too sure about that. Some say it stands for Bing Is Not Google.

Whatever it means, a quality search engine to (eventually) rival Google must be a good thing.

Good luck,
Mike.

Golf Jokes and Golf One Liners

Make Money By Giving People What They Want

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:40:00 +0000

It seems a bit of a glib answer but, when asked how I managed to get quite high traffic on some of my blogs, I answered that it was because I tried to give people what they wanted.

If readers want, say, Katy Perry it's no use giving them the Rolling Stones, if they want Internet Riches it's no good telling them about The History of Money.

This means that you have to try and tailor your blog to your readers requirements.

There are two basic ways to do this.

The easy way is to get it right from the beginning. In other words you define your exact niche before you set up the blog.

Doing this should attract the right readers - they will find you. Providing, of course, that your niche is in demand and not some flight of fancy. It means a little groundwork, prior to setting up the blog, to make sure there is a decent possible readership, for whatever it is you wish to impart on the world.

The second way is to follow trends. Pick ones on the way up, new things, before the mass of bloggers cotton on.

It's better to write about a celebrity, for example, who is just getting known than to hone in on the likes of Paris Hilton or Angelina and Brad where there will be hundreds and thousands of other posts - most churning out the same stuff.

Blogging to make money is simple, at least in theory. Give people what they want and tie this in with compatible products and affiliate programs.

QED.

Good luck,
Mike.

YouGov. Make extra money by completing surveys and polls for payment - genuine company.

Clicking Traffic Makes Money

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:53:00 +0000

When I start looking at blog statistics it does make me wonder if I have made the most of the traffic I have received.

On one of my blogs, for example, I am coming up to 1 million unique visitors, which equates to getting on for 2.4 million page views.

When I look at figures like this I ask myself the obvious 'if only' things like ... if only all of these vistors had paid me $1 or even 50c each visit. Of course life and blogging isn't like that, or that easy.

The reality is that the pages have to have something of interest to visitors which makes them want to get clicking.

I've always said that traffic = money and I stick with this statement, as a percentage will always click on something - it's simply what happens. But it's clicking traffic that = big money.

So the more people click the more money we will make. It's one of the reasons why ads should be geared to whatever is being written. And this is why I like text ads following a post. The post then becomes a selling opportunity in it's own right, with the side columns and maybe header postion there as 'back up.'

I guess it's getting the balance right.

Best results, I find, are always from posts where they contain links within the body of the article. They have to be relevant and helpful to the subject matter and, if they are, readers will click.

If you can get traffic and thenentice them to click there's a lot of money to be made.

Good luck,
Mike.

Ads: Mirror CashBack - FREE £5! Earn CashBack on your everyday shopping. Over 2000 retailers. Join for free and get £5! Plus earn £5 for every friend you refer.

My Love For Cheesecake recipes. If you love cheesecakes take a look here.

Making Money With Diamonds

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Amazon USA have moved into the world of diamonds whereby customers can create their own style rings and at a price within their budget. Perhaps this could be a good money maker for bloggers.

A special Create Your Own Ring page has been set up on Amazon which has sets of sliding bars to help choose diamond shape, price, carat, cut, colour, clarity and so on. Customers can click the 'see results' button at any time.

It all sounds ideal for engagement rings and the like. Instead of plodding round the shops, hoping to see the right design, this can be all done from the comfort of home and customers will get exactly what they are looking for.

Plus, of course, there could be some decent commission to be made as diamond rings are generally good value items.

As far as the customer is concerned Amazon state: "We can sell the same ring as a conventional jeweler, for about a third less than their price." Now that must be a real incentive to buy from Amazon.

Other plus points quoted by Amazon, "... all of our diamonds are graded by highly trained gemologists and come with a certificate, you can be confident our diamonds measure up to their stated qualities. And because our diamonds are certified conflict-free in accordance with the Kimberly Process, your customers can buy with a clear conscience."

As with any product you need the right customers but, with a 'third off' normal prices, Amazon diamonds might be worth a test on various niche blogs.

Good luck,
Mike.

YouGov: Make money by completing surveys and polls for payment - genuine company. (I have recived payments from them - Mike)

Get Spidered More Often For More Traffic

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Updating a blog regularly does have advantages, providing you have the time and the inclination of course.

One of these advantages is that your blog will be spidered more often by Google. I have found this to be the case on a couple of blogs which I update at least once a day.

"So what," you may say.

As I see it the more often your blog is spidered the quicker you get seen in the search engine results. In the past, where I have followed hot trends, I've had a number one or two ranking on Google within one or two hours of posting.

If you can therefore get in on an early trend, something on the way up, it can pay dividends in the way of big traffic. I did this with a celebrity story, on a blog I update regularly, and got over 40,000 hits in a day which were mainly Google referrals.

So, yes, a regularly updated blog, with the right content, can help towards making a decent income from blogging.

Good luck,
Mike.

Your Business Name Could Spell Success Or Failure

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:57:00 +0000

I often take a look at Michael Fortin's website as he knows what he is talking about - or at least appears to!

An interesting article he has recently published is Brain-Burning Brand Names Boost Business. He talks about how important it is to choose the correct name for your business, product or domain name. He reckons that this is 'often the single, most important business decision you will ever make', and it's difficult to argue with this.

In his article he writes of his five basic guidelines for choosing a name. These are:

Suggestiveness
Spelling
Size
Singsong
Scalability

If we look at suggestiveness this means that it tells you what the product/website/blog is all about from it's name. With singsong he talks about how the name sounds, using perhaps alliteration, which is often known as 'head rhymes'. Examples of this are Coca-Cola, SiteSell, Krispy Kreme, No Brainer Blinds and so on. They stick in the mind.

Often we set up a blog, website or prodcut without giving it's name a lot of thought, when in essence it could be the tipping point of becoming successful.

Read the full article on Michael Forlin's website - link as above. Another article he has written on a similar theme is How To Make Your Name Memorable. It's food for thought.

Good luck,
Mike.

And now, have a smile: Funny Humorous Letters / Awful Jokes / Sidney Sock Goes Missing / Tracy Tremble Virginity Shock

Lawrence of Arabia Will Hopefully Make Me A Few Dollars

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:16:00 +0000

One of the good things about going away for a few days is that it gives you something to write about on Squidoo!

As I was in Dorset for three days I have written about this on a new Squidoo lens called Dorset, Thomas Hardy and T.E. Lawrence.

I don't expect this to make me a heap of money but with Squidoo the more lenses you write the more, at least in theory, you should be able to make.

I say in theory because, as with normal blogging, the lens still has to be reasonably well written and will need promoting.

It takes longer to make a Squidoo lens (that's a page, if you haven't heard much about them before) than a straight forward blog post but, as I see it, even if each one only makes a few dollars a month this can add up if you have lots of lenses. So Squidoo isn't instant big money, it's something that develops over time.

With Squidoo you can write about virtually anything (legal) that you wish and each lens can be about something completely different. This can be, in some ways, easier than blogging about a particular niche as the world is your oyster.

I'm quite happy with the way things are going so far with Squidoo.

Good luck,
Mike.

Get Your Free Plugs And Free Adverts

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:43:00 +0000

I've been looking at Plug Boards and Plugs. I'm not sure if you have seen them but they are websites where you can place free adverts in the form of buttons or banners.

As an example I have started a Plug Board myself: Add Your Ad For Free where you can enter a free advert and this will go live straight away.

Now I can't tell you if these Plug Boards will bring you much in the way of referrals but I'm testing them out and have been leaving my ads all over the place.

It's really going back to my blogging philosophy from when I first started blogging. I reckoned that one of the ways to get traffic was to leave my URL absolutely anywhere possible. So I hit the Blog Directories, Forums, Free Ad Places, Profiles and so on and so on. If I could leave a link I did.

I didn't, back then, realise that links were also useful for things like PageRank but remarkably Mikes Money Making Mission soon got a PageRank5 because of me doing this. My PR has been thumped since them because Google doesn't like the selling of links which I was once, innocently, doing. But that's a whole different story.

Anyway, back to Plug Boards. The only problem with these might be the fact that you need banners and/or buttons. However this is easily overcome by going to a website such as Banner Fans where you can create free buttons and banners within minutes. They will even store your banners for you and provide links, again for free. (The buttons illustrated on this post were ones I knocked up in about 30 minutes.)

I'm sure that big established bloggers will sneer at the thought of Plug Boards. They will talk of writing articles and other ways to get traffic and links.

I'm sure these 'other ways' are probably more effective but a link in is a link in.

Don't forget to place your free plug on Add Your Ad For Free.

I'm away now for about five or six days on business so, until then, happy plugging!

Good luck,
Mike.

Lists Make Money And Attract Blog Traffic

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:16:00 +0000

I have been grumbling recently that I haven't been doing too good with Amazon, it hasn't brough me in much income. I thought, however, that I wouldn't just give in and have tried creating some Top 10 Amazon Lists as a trial on a couple of my blogs - and they seem to have been effective, well at least I have had some orders.

This is the sort of thing I mean. Prepare a Top 10 list of books, DVDs or absolutely any other Amazon product relative to the niche of the blog. For example with Mikes Money Making Mission I could start off with a list made up of the best selling books on blogging.

1. WordPress For Dummies
Bloggers love WordPress! If you're ready to start using this free blogging software, WordPress For Dummies, 2nd Edition is just what you and your blog need to make a splash.

2. ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
The Problogger website is where bloggers worldwide go for advice and information on enhancing their blog's presence. Whether you're just starting out or have been blogging for years, these two professional bloggers show you how to turn your passion for blogging into extra revenue.

3. Blogging For Dummies
Everybody’s doing it! And while that logic never got far with your mother, it’s a fine reason to start blogging, especially if you have a business to build or a cause to promote. Well-run blogs do more than offer an outlet for your thoughts. They’ve actually influenced everything from a company’s image to the outcome of a local election.

4. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging
The editors of The Huffington Post -the most linked-to blog on the web - offer an A-Z guide to all things blog, with information for everyone from the tech-challenged newbie, looking to get a handle on this new way of communicating, to the experienced blogger looking to break through the clutter of the Internet. With an introduction by Arianna Huffington, the site's cofounder and editor in chief, this book is everything you want to know about blogging, but didn't know who to ask.

5. Start Your Own Blogging Business
Blogs are one of the Internet's fastest-growing phenomena - and one of the best and easiest ways to make money online. Learn how to choose a topic, start a blog and attract thousands of avid readers. Then use your blog to generate income from advertisers, promotions, affiliate links and other techniques-all from your own home.

.... and so on.

I've always found that lists do okay: 50 secrets, 40 ways, top 10's and so on - about almost anything. They often get reasonable positions on search engines as well. Plus people seem to like them. One of my most visited posts this week is, again, 40 Ways To Get More Blog Traffic.

Lists work generally so why not with Amazon as well.

Good luck,
Mike.

50 Article Directories For More Traffic

Article Directories Can Help Bring Extra Blog Traffic

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Most 'experts' reckon that writing articles and publishing them in the various Article Directories is a way to get more traffic to your blog.

With that idea in my I have created a list of 50 Article Directories where bloggers can submit their articles on just about any subject. Your will find this list on Squidoo in my lens 50 Article Directories For More Traffic. The Directories are listed in PageRank order.

The value of using these Directories is threefold.

(1) They can help produce traffic to a blog.
(2) They can give you good links - from the Directory itself and also from other blogs and websites who reproduce your articles - in doing so they have to include links to your blog.
(3) These extra links can help with improving PageRank.

Article Directories are also a source of material should you ever be stuck for something to post on your blog, though you must follow the rules specified. There is a vast array of subjects.

Have a look at the Squidoo lens mentioned for more information.

Good luck,
Mike.

Further reading:
40 Free Ways To get More Blog Traffic
40 Blog Directories
Over 50 Social Networking Websites

Money Making With Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I have written before, here, about how I have never really been all that successful with Amazon from a money making perspective. I've done okay with their UK website and received some payments but nothing really, what I would consider to be, worthwhile amounts.

I was reading teatreebergamot's post Why Affiliates Should Avoid Amazon Associates and I agree with what she writes.

It's all about cookies and how Amazon sets these for just 24 hours. The problem with this is that many people take longer than 24 hours to make up a purchase. So if you send a prospective customer today to Amazon, and the next day they order something, after the 24 hours is up, you get nought - zero commission.

In the post I have mention the writer shows, through stats from another affiliate program, how the majority of people purchase after 24 hours. I've thought about this and, if I'm making a decent sized purchase, I often don't buy for a couple of days - after I've done price checks and thought things over etc. I did this recently with a television I bought online, it took me two days to decide.

So, is it partly the 24 hour cookies that is preventing a lot of us from earning any decent commission with Amazon?

I say 'partly' because there are also other things to consider as well, but it's something to think about.

Good luck,
Mike.

Sidney Sock Goes Missing. Suspense, sadness, sex (well sort of, but safe for all to read) and mystery. What has happened to Sidney Sock? Photos of sightings. Have you ever lost a sock?

A Suzi Perry Suggestion

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Following on from my Hippo posts I just wanted to touch briefly on keywords again.

I mentioned previously where to put chosen keywords within a post and here is an example of how to choose the right keywords.

You need the right words, which people are going to search for, and there are several free Keyword Suggestion Tools about to help with this. Some are also described as Keyword Popularity Tools - the one at Free Web Submission is such an example.

I entered the words 'make money' into their tool and they came up with the following keywords in order of popularity of what people are searching for:

make money online
make a craft money tree
how to make money
how much money do you have to make to file taxes
bail bonds make money
make money at home
ways for kids to make money
how much money does a zoologist make
how to make money online
how much money does an archaeologist make
make money from home
make money fast free
ways to make money

This, therefore, is a ready made list of keywords / phrases I can choose from plus some of them can also be used as ideas for subject matter for future posts.

This works for must niches. I use it with my celebrity blogs to find out what people are searching about a particular celeb.

For instance, I considerably boosted the traffic on one of my Squidoo lenses called Everything Perry which wasn't performing particularly well. The lens, as the title suggests, is about absolutely anything to do with Perry, i.e. my surname.

I have one section on the lens for celebs called Perry. I fed in one of the names - Suzi Perry (a UK television presenter) - and two of the top five keyword phrases were 'Suzi Perry ill' and 'Suzy Perry Illness'.

I had no idea she was, or had been, ill but I did some quick research, found out the details and added these to the lens. I wish her well soon.

The result has been hundreds of referrals a day from Google. So a lens that wasn't doing too well improved greatly.

Okay I know some will immediately say something negative about this, but that's okay because I'm happy with the result and that's what matters.

I stick by the mantra that all traffic is good traffic.

Good luck,
Mike.

Have a laugh: Awful Jokes and Funny Humorous Letters

Make Money Using befunky and zazzle

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Sorry for the gruesome photos but I have been messing around with the befunky website and have used a photo of myself - as on the right.

befunky's claim to fame is that it can, 'Turn your photos into incredible artwork with one click.' Maybe a bit over the top but the website does allow you to manipulate the appearance of photos and images. It's all very easy to use.

There is obviously much better software to do this but if you want something easy befunky could be useful.

I've also been looking at zazzle and in a way befunky could tie in with this.

With zazzle you can set up your own gallery of products with your own designs. They have over 250 products, such things as t-shirts, cards, mugs, skateboards, mousepads, posters, calendars and so on. On each of these you can put your very own designs.

The design could be something to do with the niche of your blog or any design that you think appropriate and is marketable. You fix your own profit margin on your design products.

Of course, as with any affiliate style program, to make money you need traffic - there is never an easy ride.

I'll probably have a go with zazzle, subject to time permitting, and use some photos I have taken over the years and perhaps add some sort of slogan. I'll give it some thought.

So befunky and zazzle could very well go hand in hand. If you put on your thinking cap there are lots of uses and potential for them both.

One bit of advice: use a better photo than I have!

Good luck,
Mike.

PLEASE NOTE: Ignore the post before this one. It's a bit of an experiment I'm doing at the moment - if I get anywhere with it I'll give you details later - Thanks, Mike.

Tracy Tremble Virgin Shock

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:38:00 +0000

There has been some talk going round about Tracy Tremble, the alter ego of a certain celebrity.

First the 26 year old let it slip that she was still a virgin, much to the surprise of many celeb watchers. After all Tracy is no shrinking violet when it comes to her appearance. There is a skit on this fact on Tracy Tremble Virginity Shock.

Now it appears that there are photos of Tracy, which have come to light, showing her in, shall we say, a state of undress - if it is actually her, of course. But, if it is proven to be her, this probably won't do her any harm judging by experiences of other celebs who have been caught on camera off guard.

Tracy Tremble could be a name to watch out for on the London celeb beat.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Flipping heck, your blog might be worth thousands!

Flipping (selling) blogs is a way to make money. At least that's what I'm told but, as I haven't ever sold a blog myself, I can only go on what other people say.

So what's your blog worth?
The general rule seems to be to multiply your current monthly income by 12. In other words if you earn say $500 per month the blog should be 'worth' around $6000 in theory.

There are other variables to be considered though. To get this sort of amount you would probably have to have a proper domain name with blog hosted by someone other than one of the free hosting services.

Other than income another way to roughly value a blog is to use one of the free website valuation sites such as YourValueWebsite. I tried this out and this was the results.

They valued my 'adult style' celeb blog CelebTease.com at $5236.

I also checked out two blogspot blogs: Celebrity Insider was valued at only $550 and Mike's Money Making Mission $1587.

Oh and I also checked the Squidoo website valuation. It clcoked in at $3,118,454.

YourValueWebsite estimation isn't based on any income figures so can't really give a 100% accurate valuation.

Flipping blogs is worth thinking about. Either take on a flagging blog and build it up or search for a profitable niche and create a blog to sell at a later date.

There are always ways to make money.

Good luck,
Mike.

World War 2 Photos. Lost photos published of London WW2 damage and destruction plus other WW2 lost documents.

Ten People Can Lead To Money Making Millions

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:54:00 +0000

I was reading something on Seth Godin's blog that I thought might be food for thought. Seth is the guy who launched Squidoo back in 2006 and turned it into one of the top 500 most visited websites. Whoops, it was actually 523rd today!

Anyway this is what he wrote:

First, ten
This, in two words, is the secret of the new marketing.

Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you...

Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it, you win. If they love it, they'll each find you ten more people (or a hundred or a thousand or, perhaps, just three). Repeat.

If they don't love it, you need a new product. Start over.

Your idea spreads. Your business grows. Not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine.

This approach changes the posture and timing of everything you do.

You can no longer market to the anonymous masses. They're not anonymous and they're not masses. You can only market to people who are willing participants. Like this group of ten.

This immediately got me thinking back to my network marketing days and multi-level marketing in general. But, if you think about what he has written, it's really a legitimate marketing idea for any blog, product or whatever.

Instead of massive budgets and outlays it could be the small Internet blogger's answer to promoting whatever it is, that he or she wants to promote.

Build a reputation and then cash in on it. If your friendly contacts like whatever it is, as sure as eggs is eggs, they will tell others who will do the same ad nauseam.

It may sound like a pyramid, and in a way it is, but it's how word of mouth and virals work. It's how, say, a good restaurant gets known.

As I say food for thought.

Good luck,
Mike.

P.S. As I've mentioned Squidoo these are a few of my latest Squidoo lenses: A year In My Cornish Garden / Monumental Hotel Funchal And Madeira Reviews / Awful Jokes and my top rated lens is Making Money With Free Blogs. As you can see you can write about virtually anything on Squidoo and can make money doing so - can't be bad!

AdEngage Money Making Test Review

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I started a money making test on AdEngage on the 3rd of April - see my post Money Making Test: AdEngage.

This is how I have got on and, as you will see, it hasn't gone too well. All I have managed to earn in 16 days is a derisory $1.82!

The Stats:

Period: April 3 to April 18 (inclusive) - 16 days

Page Impressions: 86440

Number of clicks: 63

Earnings: $1.82

To sum this up, on the blog I tested AdEngage on I only had one click per 1372 page impressions and each click was worth only 0.0289 cents.

As a comparison I get about 35 cents per click overall with AdSense so 63 clicks would have given me $22.05 but ...

... with AdSense and 86550 page impressions I would have expected to have at least 216 clicks and this would have earned me $75.30 in the same period.

I'm actually underestimating AdSense figures and per click revenue.

Perhaps it's not completely fair to compare AdEngage and AdSense as there are variations as to how they work. With AdEngage, for example, it's possible - at least in theory - to sell ads on your blog or website through them. This would supplement earnings, but I haven't managed to do this.

On this short money making test I feel, no I know, that I could get a much, much superior return for the space utilised than I have with AdEngage.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Good luck,
Mike.

See also:
Making Money With AdSense

The Beginners Guide To Keywords and SEO

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:59:00 +0000

The previous post was really a beginners guide to using keywords and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Okay it was very basic but I remember when I started blogging I hadn't even heard of keywords and certainly wasn't aware of any form of SEO. I had no idea what was required to get a reasonable position in the search engine results.

So for those who might be as naive as I was let's look at the basics of keywords and SEO.

Firstly keywords.

As I have said I didn't know what they were when I started. I later found out that they are words which you think / hope other people may use to enter into the likes of Google as a search.

You also hope that, if anyone does search for these, your own blog or website will be towards the top of the search results and this will therefore get referrals to your blog.

If we look at the previous post the keywords I picked out were Pointless Hippo.

Yes, silly words but they are for demonstration purposes only and, sure enough, if you do a search on Google for these, that post is in number one position. Nothing clever in this, it's simply following a few basics.

Firstly the keywords should be in certain positions within a post.

(1) In the Post Title
(2) Towards the beginning of the main text.
(3) Further on in the text and
(4) At the end of the post

I also find it helps to include the words singly within the post as well. So I used hippo, hippos and pointless within the main body of the text.

To reinforce the words I also used them in the 'alt' option for the photo of the hippo. In other words if you hold the cursor over the photo the words 'pointless hippo' are shown.

And that is really the basics of keywords but ...

... because you do this it doesn't mean you are guaranteed a top spot. What if hundreds of people have done the same thing? And with some popular keywords or phrases it could be thousands and thousands of webmasters who have used them.

So with smaller blogs, beginners blogs you have to pick the right words, perhaps secondary to the obvious ones - but still words that people will actually use to do a search. (Obviously not many people are going to enter 'Pointless Hippo' for instance!)

This is where, what are called, long tail keywords can be useful - see The Long Tail Way To Make Money.

To help you choose your keywords use a Keyword Suggestion Tool such as the one at WordTracker Keywords - it's free to use. Enter your main word and see what combinations come up.

Now, as I'm keeping this very simple, let's move on.

You've chosen your keywords, put them in the positions suggested and have published your post - what next?

The secret Google algorithm has lots of aspects which it considers when deciding what blog or website to place where in it's search engine results.

An important one is links into your post and better still if these links are the same as your keywords. In my example the link Pointless Hippo would be the one to use.

Also use your keywords as 'tags' or 'labels' for your post

I'm going to leave it there, even though there are other points to consider.

To recap choose your keywords carefully, enter them in appropriate places within a post and try to get links containing your keywords.

Regular practise of these principles will help to get search engine referrals and there is heaps of info on the Internet to enlarge on this and to fine tune them.

Seek and you shall find - you might even come across a pointless hippo.

Good luck,
Mike.

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Pointless Hippo Not So Good For Making Money

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:21:00 +0000

A few random thoughts, some of which may make sense!

I've often quoted that, with blogging, traffic equals money and I haven't changed my mind about this. There are, however, different grades of traffic. Targeted traffic is obviously superior for making money whereas Pointless Hippo traffic is, well, probably pointless.

This is why it makes me smile when pitched with the idea that such and such company will guarantee me a number one placing on the Google search engine. Of course the catch is that most of us can get high in the search engine rankings with words such as Pointless Hippo. In fact that's exactly what I'm trying to do now! But will this do us, or in this instance me, much good?

Now if someone could guarantee me a top ranking with something like 'make money' I might just be interested. But if they can only get me there with some obscure keyword or keywords then it's all a wasted exercise - or is it?

If, for example, I can get a good position with words associated with, say, hippos any referrals - should there actually be any - won't really be interested in this money making blog and are therefore unlikely to earn me much money.

But I still stick by the premise that all traffic is good traffic because there will be a small percentage, of even hippo loving people, who will also be interested in making money. The percentage won't be as high as with proper targeted traffic but, the more people who see something, the greater the number of clicks on the ads - regardless of how they arrived at the blog. At least that's my theory.

I've previously written about having certain keywords, such as Mikes Money Making, in good positions on Google (the phrase is number one at the moment) and immediately people say, "Yes, but how many people will search for Mikes Money Making?" Maybe not many but the fact is that some do, and also for Money Making Mission (which is also number one on Google at the moment).

My real point is that anyone, who knows a little about SEO, can get a good position on Google, even a Pointless Hippo. But you'll no doubt say, "Who on earth will search for something like that?"

My pointless random thoughts now over. Get the drift?

Good luck,
Mike.

Hippo Images and Photos For More Traffic

Money Making Test - AdEngage

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Perry) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:46:00 +0000

I thought I would try out an alternative to AdSense for text ads on various blogs. There are a lot of choices about so I picked out one at random and came up with AdEngage.

Now I must admit that I hadn't heard of them previously but they are based in California and claim, "AdEngage operates a major online advertising network that displays over 12 billion ads on over 4,500 websites each month."

The text ads are easy to put on websites or blogs (enter some simple HTML) and ads can be on sites within minutes - no pre-approval required.

There is a choice of ad categories: Everyone, Teen and Adult. 'Everyone' is 'safe' and suitable for all websites. In each category it's also possible to opt out of ads for certain products or services you may not like.

Publishers may also set a rate for ads should an advertiser specifically want to advertise on their website/blog.

What do you get paid?
There official answer is: "On the 15th of each month, AdEngage pays the webmaster or publisher 75% of all the income generated from ad sales on the website. This is believed to be one of the highest revenue shares in the industry."

This is a little vague, as far as I'm concerned, but time will no doubt bring a more detailed answer via stats produced.

I've only been using the ads on a couple of blogs for about 48 hours so obviously no conclusions as yet. I'll keep you updated as to how this compares with AdSense in due course.

Good luck,
Mike.

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