Make Money Online

FeedBurner and SiteTracker

2008-01-09T08:25:00.000-05:00

Today, I added two new features to the blog today. FeederBurner, another company bought out by Google, is a site that lets you view all the posts a blog makes through RSS feeds. It also allows viewers to subscribe to an automated newsletter which lets your viewers know when you�??ve updated your blog. A neat little addition.

Also I�??ve added SiteTracker to track all of the blog�??s statistics. The details and amount of information the track for you is unbelievable �?? and best of all its 100% FREE. They also offer a paid version which allows you to track and see even more details about your visitors.

Finally a face...

2008-01-08T17:23:00.000-05:00

I believe the most important aspect of a site is the theme. It changes the way viewers see your posts, find archived posts, see ads, click links, and most importantly return to your site. You must be able to accomodate high-speed internet users as well as dial-up. If you want to maximize your money making potential you'll keep this in mind.

As I said in my Goals and Ambitions post I want something that has a white background, easily readable, versatility, and the ability add advertising.

It's taken me a few days, but I think I've found what I'm looking for. This template was customized by me from Bloggerized Adsense.

Please comment and let me know what you think of the new template.

Wordpress Failure back to Blogger

2008-01-04T14:51:00.000-05:00

After registering through AN Hosting, installing WordPress, and finding a decent theme I struggled to design the look and feel I was after. Posting and editing seemed confusing as well as editing any facet of the page. In retrospect, I should have learned a little about WordPress before registering a .com site. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

So I've decided to move the blog back to Blogger. There is essentially no learning curve and it has no monthly fees (unlike the .com site). At first I was under the impression that a .com site would receive substantially more traffic, advertising, and etc than a blogspot site but that's not the case. Just do a google search for "make money online" and at least 2 of the top 10 site are hosted on blogspot.

In the end this mistake cost me $21.50 as the rest was refunded. Not a good way to start, but our goal is to make money online, and it is impossible to do that while wrestling with new software you're unfamiliar with.

In rereading my original post, one thing I want to clarify is that I am not bashing WordPress. I know it is a great blogging platform; I was just not able to figure out how to use it on my host. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was me, the version my host installed, or WordPress itself that was giving me fits...more than likely a combination of all three.

Goals and Ambitions

2008-01-02T07:43:00.000-05:00

Anytime you set out to challenge yourself you must first set goals. Once you define your goals, you can then plan how to achieve them. Below I�??ve outlined what my short and long-term expectations are of this blog.

Short-Term
Develop a site that is user friendly
Get indexed by Goggle and other major search engines
Make $250/month from this blog
Get 500 people signed up for my newsletter
Ranked in the top 100 for keywords �??make money online�?? on Google

Long-Term
Make $1000/month from this blog
Have 5000 signed up for my newsletter
Rank in top 10 for keywords �??make money online�?? on Google

GamePlan
Now that we have our goals outlined it�??s time to make a gameplan. For starters, I don�??t feel the need to worry about being indexed by Google yet. First I need a site that�??s user-friendly and has good content that will peak the reader�??s interest.

I will start out registering my own .com site, installing WordPress to manage my blog, and finding a theme that will maximize readability as well as allow for maximum flexibility. Right now I�??m not concerned about advertising, affiliates, or any type of income stream.

The theme must be versatile. I am sure somewhere in the future I will change layouts for whatever reason. However, until then, my layout choice will be one with a white background and have space to add advertising later.

About Me

2008-01-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Blog!

I�??m Brian Stacey, a 23 year old, married, full-time employee, and college student. This will be my first blog, and I�??m here to prove you CAN make money in the oversaturated online market of �??make money online�?? sites.

So why should you care who I am and what my blog�??s about? Simple, thousands of people are making part-time to full-time salaries just by blogging. Even more are attempting to reach this level. If you�??re reading this blog, you�??re more than likely one of the many people �??attempting�??. I�??m a middle-class American, working a full-time job, attending college, and am in my first year of marriage. Time is scarce and precious. If I can make this work, you can too.

This is blog is dedicated to my quest to make money online. It will be fully transparent. I cannot overstress that. I will post exactly what I�??m doing to increase traffic, manage ads, increase revenue, and etc. I will also post why these changes/additions were made, what I hope to expect from them, and finally the results of the changes.

Each month I will post an overview for that month. Every overview will include a detailed breakdown of profits, traffic, and an analysis of what has been done, and what I�??m planning to do. It doesn�??t matter if I make $2000 in a month or struggle to make $1, you will know the facts. This is an experiment�?�to hopefully demonstrate that you and me, Average Joe�??s, can make money online.

I promise that I will never bore you with �??Make Money Online with Adsense�?? or �??Make Money Online with eBay�?? type of posts like so many sites do. Instead I hope to show you how I make my money online �?? which will transcribe to you making money on your site.

I invite you to follow along this blog by subscribing to our newsletter.