Bud Calabrese - An Aspiring Internet Entrepreneur's Diary http://www.budcalabrese.com The blog of a aspiring internet entrepreneur Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:33:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 en 1558557http://www.feedburner.com Who Should You Trust? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/253633787/who-should-you-trust.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/who-should-you-trust.html#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:00:49 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/who-should-you-trust.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Who Should You Trust?", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/who-should-you-trust.html" } ); ]]> I am always on the lookout for new ideas or products such as ebooks, plr packs, or ppc offers items in hope of finding something new and interesting to make money with or blog about (if I am really lucky both). The problem is most of the big offers are mentioned repeatedly across several different blogs writing the same thing. The overall message will be join pepperjam network, rocket profit, and others just like it and you will make money online. These sites might have awesome deals that really help a newcomer make money online but the catch is why should you read the same pitch and idea across 15 sites?

The answer is you shouldn’t. Depending on how trustworthy the sites are to you after the third or fourth blog you will probably eyeball the advertiser’s site to see the details and more than likely purchase the sign-up. If you are still unsure you might go to sites that have more authority in that area or a blog you like and see if they made mention of it. But why would you trust some site that has been around six months to a year that you have never heard of?

The reason why is they were in your shoes very recently or still are. They know how you feel and how to describe how they achieved some success and are still growing or maybe share how they failed. The catch with bigger sites is they made money and succeeded but are they still reproducing these things? If you look at Shoemoney he made his start in ringtones and made a name for himself. Now he lives off name and his previous success not what he is currently doing. Zac Johnson is another good example he made his money from a MySpace add on site and is doing the same thing as Shoemoney; he is making money from his name. Am I saying in these two examples they are morons and know nothing about today’s trends? NO, all I am saying is their claim to fame is from sites or offers that happened 3-4 years ago. They still could be pulling in good amounts from doing different offers but their claims to success have been from past dealings.

Now I have you thrown off on whom to trust the big sites with it 10,000 rss subscribers or the little guy with maybe 150 subscribers. What I am trying to convey is don’t always run to the big boys just because you have heard of their name or think they have all of the answers. Look around and do your research before using a advertiser or buy a ebook. Sadly though sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and try things out for yourself and see what works.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/who-should-you-trust.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/who-should-you-trust.html Any xbox 360 players? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/249508980/any-xbox360-players.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/any-xbox360-players.html#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:30:08 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/any-xbox360-players.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Any xbox 360 players?", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/any-xbox360-players.html" } ); ]]> Sometimes we cause our selves distractions and loose our focus because of our on faults. Sadly this past week I made that mistake and it has really effected my focus on my sites. I caved and bought a xbox360 pro and a 32″ hd tv. It is a awesome system and I find myself very distracted by it. Friday I stayed up until 5am playing gears of war on xbox live. It is a awesome addition to my gadget collection and the graphics are amazing.

I am a gamer but I normally play on the pc. I have owned most systems up until the ps2 and the original xbox. I got tired of spending so much money on games and the time invested to play. I have been wanting a 360 for a while but held off until the news of grand theft auto I. It is released next month so I knew I would cave because that series has to be one of my favorites of all time.

On xbox live my name is

Just in case you dont know who Mike Honcho is check out below. Oh and by the way if you don’t know who that is you should be ashamed and should turn in your keys to the internet.




Right now I am playing: burnout paradise & gears of war. I will be buying rainbow six vegas 2 when it is released and I already pre ordered grand theft auto 4.
Update: I just added Army of Two to the collection

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/any-xbox360-players.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/any-xbox360-players.html My Plans Have Been Spoiled http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/246828494/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:00:23 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "My Plans Have Been Spoiled", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html" } ); ]]> I was planning on running a decent sized contest for my site to grow rss readers and get more traffic but it looks like I have been beaten to the punch by a few other bloggers. It looks like I will have to work on content and wait for the dust to settle from all of the contest craziness and then make my move. Now that my plans have been spoiled lets see how has wrecked my plans for the month.

The University Kid he is throwing huge contest with tons of prizes. He has labeled it the Ultimate Blog Contest and I have to give him credit it very intimidating to run anything labeled better then his contest. I did have some advance notice about his contest and gave 500 entrecard credits as a prize but I did not realize the magnitude of his contest. So what is he offering as prizes? Here is a full list, but before you scroll down make sure to prepare yourself because there are some sweet prizes.

Wordpress Themes

- Two licenses for the Revolution Theme ($160)
- Two licenses for the Premium News Theme ($200)
- Two licenses for the Purple Fever Theme ($100)
- One hundred accounts to the Themes Club ($500)

Blog Tools

- Three licenses by FruitfulTime.com ($90)

Blog Analysis

- Full Video Review By Marcus Hochstadt ($700)

eBooks

- SEO Book Donated By The Net Fool

Blog Advertising

One Month

- Two 125 x 125 on Wayne Liew ($30)
- One 125 x 125 On Blogger Noob ($25)
- One 125 x 125 on EZ Money Online ($25)
- One 125 x 125 on Affiliate Gossip ($15)
- One 125 x 125 on Rhyan ($10)
- One 125 x 125 on Jim Karter ($30)
- One 125 x 125 on Neotrepreneur ($10)
- One 125 x 125 on Life is Colourful ($30)
- One 125 x 125 on BLJConsultant ($5)
- One 125 x 125 on Resell Rights World ($5)
- One 125 x 125 on Viking Blogger ($25)
- One 125 x 125 on Dot Com Mogul ($10)

- One 468 x 60 on Blogging 4 Cash ($10)
- Five 16 x 16 on Blogging 4 Cash ($10)
- One 150 x 150 on Blogging 4 Cash ($5)
- One Text Link On Mr Javo ($7)

Three Months

- One 125 x 125 on The WWW Observer ($75)

Blog Reviews

- One Review By The University Kid ($60)
- One Review By Yimto ($20)
- One Review By The WWW Observer ($35)
- One Review By Bloggeries ($25)
- One Review By Neotrepreneur ($10)
- One Review By Life Is Colourful ($40)
- One Review By DaBlogger

Consulting

One hour consulation with The University Kid
Thirty minutes consulation with Neotrepreneur

Design

- One Custom Done 125 x 125 Ad By Affiliate Gossip
- One Custom Done Sketch By The Pencil Sketch And Art Blog

Entrecard Credits

- 2000 Entrecard Credits By Xavier Media
- 1750 Entrecard Credits By Mixed Market Arts
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Toast & Egg & Me
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Affiliate Confession
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Yimto
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Site Hoppin’
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Neotrepreneur
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Affiliate Gossip
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By BLJ Consultant
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Resell Rights World
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Happier Life
- 1000 Entrecard Credits By Article Snatch
- 800 Entrecard Credits By Kirushanth
- 750 Entrecard Credits By Money Making Student
- 500 Entrecard Credits By Bud Calabrese
- 500 Entrecard Credits By Mr Javo
- 500 Entrecard Credits By ImpNerd
- 500 Entrecard Credits By Life Is Colourful
- 500 Entrecard Credits By Money Making Blogs

Total: 15,800

Cash

$100 Paypal by The Profit Hustler
$30 Paypal by Viking Blogger
$15 Paypal by Final Fantasy Fan
$10 Paypal by The WWW Observer
$5 Paypal by Affiliate Gossip

Miscellaneous

300 Stumbles + 300 Reviews from Niklas
$50.00 In Stumble Upon Advertising By Mixed Market Arts
Twenty Pages By One Buck Wiki
Domain Monetization Package By Domains Earn 4U
One featured, three regular links from The SEOTree Directory

Not only is there The University Kid contest there is also contest’s going on at VikingBlogger where Staale is giving away 20,000 entrecard credits, Mr Javo’s birthday contest where he is offering multiple prizes, and I have been told Gyutae at Winning The Web has a contest that will be launching very soon too.

After seeing his contest I decided I will wait until his contest is over to run my own contest so make sure to keep coming back to see what the contest will offer. Right now I am still ironing out the prizes and did get some prizes sponsored from other blogs, if you are interested in sponsoring any prizes for my contest make sure to contact me to get some exposure to you blog.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/my-plans-have-been-spoiled.html How Are My Sites Doing? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/246235986/how-are-my-sites-doing.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/how-are-my-sites-doing.html#comments Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:00:59 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/how-are-my-sites-doing.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "How Are My Sites Doing?", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/how-are-my-sites-doing.html" } ); ]]> I have mentioned in previous posts that I have a few eBay affiliate sites setup and wanted to give an update on how they are doing. I have been slacking on them because I have been so focused on this site and promoting it. This site has kept me so busy that that my other projects are lacking (I will admit I try to do a lot of projects at once). I have some done some link building on my supplement store and gained some traffic from it but it is still low. The one thing that is hardest for me is getting traffic. It’s not like a normal site or blog so marketing is different. Affiliate marketing is a lot of work but I think it will pay off with time.
For the month of February I made a little under $8. It is a low amount but has been the best month income wise from my sites.  I need to work on generating traffic and writing content. Right now they are setup with the main landing page just showing the items for sale with no content. I have read that adding a few posts can make a difference in generating traffic.

The main income was from eBay commission but I had a little from adsense too. The breakdown is:

eBay:
The Iphone Shoppe: $0.66
Supplement Shop Online: $6.32

adsense:
Porsche Car Sale: $1.00
Supplement Shop Online: $0.49
The Iphone Shoppe: $0.03

For next month my goal is hit $10 from my sites and keep focusing on growing them. My plans are to convert them to more of mini blogs than just eBay landing pages.

I also am working on a launching another blog about weight loss and weight loss help. I also plan to launch a blog with it as well. I already have the domains and have had this plan for a while I am just still working on getting it ready. I hope to launch the new site in the beginning of April.  My goals for this month are set high so we shall see if I can accomplish everything.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/how-are-my-sites-doing.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/how-are-my-sites-doing.html Goals for March http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/245524534/goals-for-march.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/goals-for-march.html#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:00:01 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/goals-for-march.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Goals for March", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/goals-for-march.html" } ); ]]> Yesterday I took a look at my goals for last month but did not set any new goals for this month. Because I did not break my all of my goals for the month I did not change them. I decided to focus on quality content and link building. My goals for the month are:

  • 2500 Visitors
  • Write 15 quality posts
  • Get 25 subscribers
  • Comment on 3 new blogs a week

I am thinking of running another contest for the month as well to try and boost my traffic and rss subscribers. I am working on the details and trying to figure out some prizes. If you are interested in sponsoring any prizes for my contest contact me through my contact page.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/goals-for-march.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/goals-for-march.html Google Page Rank Update Fun http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/245496202/google-page-rank-update-fun.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/google-page-rank-update-fun.html#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:00:40 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/google-page-rank-update-fun.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Google Page Rank Update Fun", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/google-page-rank-update-fun.html" } ); ]]> PR PumpIt looks like Google decided to do another round of page rank updates. It looks like it started around February 27th. I was excited to hear the new because the last update was done the first week of January and my blog was too new to get an update.

I am very please to say that my page rank went from a PR0 to PR2. I went to multiple sites checking it because I was in shock, I did not think I would get a raise in page rank so quickly. I know page rank is not as important as it used to be but I will take it anyways. It does make me feel better after looking at my traffic yesterday. It made me feel like hard work does pay off.

Make sure to check you sites and see if you got any increase in page rank.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/google-page-rank-update-fun.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/google-page-rank-update-fun.html Did I Hit My Goals for the Month? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/244913805/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:30:56 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Did I Hit My Goals for the Month?", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html" } ); ]]> Planning

I can’t believe we are in March already. It seems like yesterday we where just coming out of January. Since the month is over lets recap and see how I did on my goals for the month. My goals for Febraury where:

  • Finish my blog design
  • Get a better logo designed
  • 2500 Visitors
  • Write 15 posts
  • Get 25 subscribers
  • Comment on 3 new blogs a week

So how did I do on my goals?

  • Finish my blog design - Almost done need one or two minor things but I don’t think I ever will be finished with it
  • Get a better logo designed - Completed, I got that setup the last week of the month but I finally got that completed
  • 2500 Visitors - I really missed this goal.I only had 873 Visitors for the month.
  • Write 15 posts - I had 18 posts not including announcements so I managed to hit this goal
  • Get 25 subscribers - Another goal that I missed I had around 11 subscribers according to feedburner
  • Comment on 3 new blogs a week - I have been averaging 4 new blogs and commenting more

I started the month strong and was lacking towards the end and I know that had some impact. I am a little sad though on how low my visitors where. I realize I need to digg in and keep working hard to improve these numbers. So how am I going to work on improving the stats on my blog?

  • I am going to write longer posts with more frequency
  • I purchased 125×125 ads on winning the web and internet babel, and thomas sinfield
  • I have started a campaign with Project Wonderful to get my ad on more sites
  • Comment on more blogs
  • I am also debating purchasing a review from a blog (just not sure which one)

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/did-i-hit-my-goals-for-the-month.html Top Commenter Winner http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/244878060/top-commenter-winner.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/top-commenter-winner.html#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:30:52 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/top-commenter-winner.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Top Commenter Winner", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/top-commenter-winner.html" } ); ]]> Stack of chips

Another month has passed and it’s time to announce the Top Commenter winner for February. This month I was offering 500 Entrecard credits to the top commenter for the month. Thank you to everyone who commented and left some good comments. I feel this month was better comment wise even though I did not have as many comments. Without further delay the winner is Willhaynes.

Congratulations Willhaynes I know you just barely missed it last month so it was good to see you win it this month. Will please send me a email and I will send you the credits. Thanks again to everyone who entered. Don’t forget the top commenter contest goes every month so if you did not win this month it could be next month.

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/top-commenter-winner.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/top-commenter-winner.html A Few Site Changes http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/242760457/a-few-site-changes.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/a-few-site-changes.html#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:00:53 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/a-few-site-changes.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "A Few Site Changes", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/a-few-site-changes.html" } ); ]]> I finally got a new header designed with a logo for my site. I also added project wonderful to the sidebar of my side. I added two 125×125 boxes under the entrecard widget.

I did a design like tylercruz and vikingblogger for the header and had myself animated. I also had a 125×125 designed with my logo integrated. Let me know what you think of the design and changes.

If you have wanted to advertise on my site now is the time. Through project wonderful you can advertise on either ad box for .02 cents. How can you beat a deal like that?

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]]> http://www.budcalabrese.com/a-few-site-changes.html/feed http://www.budcalabrese.com/a-few-site-changes.html Sorry For the Lack of Posting http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/budcalabrese/JMeO/~3/242237151/sorry-for-the-lack-of-posting.html http://www.budcalabrese.com/sorry-for-the-lack-of-posting.html#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:55:44 +0000 bud http://www.budcalabrese.com/sorry-for-the-lack-of-posting.html SHARETHIS.addEntry( { title: "Sorry For the Lack of Posting", url: "http://www.budcalabrese.com/sorry-for-the-lack-of-posting.html" } ); ]]> Slacking
I am sorry about my lack of posting the last few days. It has been very busy at work. At work our payroll server has been acting up and has kept me busy. I am installing a new server today so work should not be so hectic and make it easier to focus more on my blog.

I have been toying with some ppc campaigns with offers from Rocket Profit with some success but need to work on them as well. I will give some updates about that too in the next few days. Also as another side project I am trying to launch a new blog. It will be about my weight loss and how I am doing it. So keep coming back and checking for updates.

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