Blog Income Life

Posts Tagged ‘blogging for money’

Welcome to Sunday Morn Musings.  This is my weekly free fall – writing about whatever it is that occupies the mind on a Sunday Morn.  The idea of a “no topic” posting is the stepchild to a blog I used to write:  Four O’Clock Thursdays which is still up there if you want to check it out – more likely, I will republish some of those posts here over time.  On Sunday Morn Musings the topic may be about blogging but just as likely it may not be.

As I was doing my blog rounds this morning, I came across a comment on Website In A Weekend The topic of the day’s post was on being “done” with something … you know, like a plumber goes and does his job and at the end its done.  No more planning, continuity, fine tuning etc.  The comment that got my attention was this one:

That’s why I like doing dishes. when they’re done they’re done…clean, dry, and warm.

Carlos is a wicked blogger. He’s brand new to the game – or at least his blog Conscious One is and he knows a thing or two about life… but Carlos, darling, sweetheart, have you never heard of that old and now hackneyed saying “a woman’s work is never done?”  … back in the oooolllldddd days, men would not be caught dead anywhere near a sink let alone doing the dishes!  I know, times have changed.

That comment brought up an image of residual.  You know how we all want to have a residual income where you get paid over and over and over for doing something once.  Authors and movie stars come to mind as the obvious candidates – they get money dropping down to their bottom line every time a book sells or a movie is viewed, at least while the royalty legal is in effect.  A residual or passive income is what blogging for money is about.

But residual dishwashing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!   I know you don’t get paid over and over and over for doing the dishes once, in fact unless you are the dishwasher at a restaurant you don’t get even a measly dinero for your effort no matter how often the dirty deed is done.   No, what I am thinking here is that doing dishes is like residual work – you get them done and put away nicely into the cupboard and like magic, there they are again, all dirty and smudged with sauces or residues of a meal, and they need to get washed again!

I have noticed in our household – all two of us, so I know who the culprit is and it is not I – that not only do the dishes need daily attention, but they even have this nasty habit of just collecting in the sink!  Huh?  I mean, how hard is it to put them in the dishwasher?  OK … ongoing domestic issue which I won’t get into here.  Ohhh, and while on the subject, once they do get into the dishwasher and get all suddsed up, scrubbed clean and dried who is it that eventually empties them and puts them into their nice little spaces in the cupboards?  Hmmm?  Hmmm?  It is not he I guarantee.  Oh, slightly off topic here, not meaning for this to become a rant (just don’t get my hackles up) or air my laundry in the blogosphere.

In fact this kind of residual work is the least rewarding – at least it is to me.  The results are fleeting at best.  Hardly the sort of motivational material that the feel good gurus go mining for.

Same thing with cleaning.  Vacuum.  Damp mop the floors.  Clean the bathroom!  Oh the list is endless.  Now I know, that there are actually women out there who claim to love to clean house.  There may even be such men, but I have never met one while I have heard with my very own ears, these most strangest and foreign of words “… I love cleaning my house….” drop from the lips of a woman.  More than once!  Yes.  Honest.  I have heard these very words even from friends.

There is something wrong with this statement.  Upon hearing that one of my own circle loves to clean, of course I immediately step up to the plate and offer her more happiness – my own house for her to clean.  You would think that anyone who LOVES to clean would jump at the opportunity to do more of what she loves so I really don’t understand the why of the painfully withered look that I am subjected to with nary a word of explanation for the contorted muscles on her face.

Now take doing the laundry … puhleeze, someone?  The laundry basket is a perpetual source of clothing, surely it can’t be just ours, I mean there is only the two of us and since my wardrobe takes me from morn to noon to night there isn’t a whole lot of changing going on (such are the blessings of a stay at home blogger) – obviously it is HE!  AGAIN!

And they say that women are clotheshorses!  Weeelll…. ok, in my previous corporate life I had a vereeee nice closet filled with clothes destined for certain “jobs” but that may be a post for another day. But with a Blog Income Life business, drop dead gorgeous suits, silky blouses and shirts, soft hand tooled leather shoes don’t draw traffic to your site (not to mention that the paycheck hasn’t reached the point of supporting  …  oh but the Armani suits!  Hmmm….. be still my beating heart, do not apply for that executive position that a certain well connected friend mentioned.  Remember the commute, the corporate politics, the quotas, the backstabbing, the deadlines, yes, take a deep breath, feet firmly planted on the ground,  aaahhh, I am over it.

Armani?  Did I hear Armani?

Shush!

Oh. Off topic again!

Carlos my darling, you are delusional.  Dishes never get “done”

To Your Awesome Blog Income Life!

Valentina

Getting rid of clutter has nothing to do with blogging for money – or does it?   If you have no room, how are you going to expand?   To grow your business?  Indeed, to develop a blog income life?

I hadn’t defragged my computer for some time … I know, it is a task that should be performed regularly and frequently.  You can imagine how surprised I was then when a message popped up saying I had only 2% space left on my hard disk!  No wonder it was running so slowly, and I was putting it down to its aging status.

Panic gripped me.  Ice water ran through my veins.  The heart pumped faster.  Incredulously I looked at the message again.  How could this be?

Quickly I set about going through the files on my computer.  Surprise, surprise.  After what seemed like hours of tossing out old files I only managed to free it up to 6%.  Clearly there is plenty more tossing to do.

Why the panic?  The first image that played like a looping YouTube video was that my computer was on the brink of a crash and all for want of timely, scheduled maintenance.  The mere thought sent shivers up my spine.  Visions of rushing the machine to the local Geek Store and leaving it in the ICU care loomed large and clear, or worse yet, having to call out a paratechie to pay a house call!  Either/or images of winged dollars leaving my bank account floated overhead.

Blogging for money is a serious business;  it is important that your tools are kept in tip top shape and that means keeping your computer running on full steam.  I was just on the verge of downloading some more material, but something nagged at me and told me I should defrag.

Good thing, that nagging feeling. Not having use of my computer for a day at best – that would be in the case of the paratechie coming to my house – or, as it happened once before, up to a week being revived at the Geek Store is not a good business practice.  First, time is irrecoverable;  second, nasty dent to the bank balance, and third, the stress factor would have sent blood pressure through the roof.   There is also the not so subtle message that with so little space you are restricting your own potential.

As I was tossing out old files, some that went as far back as 2006, I was tempted to start reading some of them, or view the videos.  Quickly I purged the mere thought of it.  Were some good things sent to the circular bin?  No doubt. But if I have not made use of them in almost 4 years, chances are that I am not going to miss them.

If you are like me, downloading stuff and filing it for later attention your computer may be choking too.  The techies can skip this as of course this would never happen to you, but to the rest of the techno challenged world, the first thing you need to do is to check on the wellbeing of your computer.  To the uninitiated go to All Programs, click on Accessories, then Systems Tools and then Disk Cleanup.  After the cleanup has been performed repeat this path only this time instead of Disc Cleanup, click on Disk Defragmenter and let the system go to work.

After this experience I am going to scope out the various services available that allow you to store valuable information out there in cyber space.  There are both free and for fee options. Using such a service will not only free up valuable space on my computer, but have a side benefit of being able to access the needed info from any computer no matter where I am.  What that means is that the next time I travel, I will be able to leave the mother ship laptop at home and take a lightweight mini sized one instead.

The health of your computer does indeed have everything to do with your blog income – do the basic maintenance yourself and once a year, take it over to the local Geek Store for its annual checkup.

To Your Awesome Blog Income Life!

Valentina

Blogging for money is a business and goes beyond fresh daily content on your blog.  Latching on early to trends is a sure way to grow your blog income. Taking full advantage of those trends may actually require an investment – the hard dollar type.  Here are some of my random thoughts on the internet, blogging and trends.

We are fortunate that in the world of the internet you can actually start a business with the most affordable investment currency of all:  time.  But time is helped along immensely when it’s given tools to work with and good tools often come with a price tag.

To that end, I’ve been watching to see if I can spot some trends that are happening in the blog world and which tools might best aid you and me in our blog income business.   I base my observations from the daily offers that flood my inbox, newsletters and other blogs on blogging. Here are five of the most obvious trends I have noted:

1.  Pre-built Niche Sites:
This is not a new trend but it seems to be the business model of the year and still picking up speed.  There are variables but essentially what you buy into is a researched niche that has income potential.  For a fee the supplier will set up a site, fill it with content, monetize it for you and run it on their platform which includes access to their proprietary software program loaded with SEO.  The initial cost is usually around the $250 – $450 mark and then there is an ongoing monthly fee of about $97.  It is important to remember that although this is a “done for you” system, it is not a done for you business.  Once it is all set up, you need to work at it on an ongoing basis.

2. Membership Programs:
Again not a new model but as with pre-built niche sites this one seems to be gathering steam.  Usually this is a continuity program after you have bought the main course/system.  The premise behind membership programs is that the author/expert of the main product will continue to give important business building secrets to those who opt in for the membership option.  This can be in the form of newsletters, password protected entry to new online material as well as the opportunity to interact with your colleagues on password protected forums.  The cost of belonging to membership programs swings wildly, from as low as $1.95 to typically $97 per month.  Financial membership programs are significantly higher.

3.  Software Programs:
Seems to me like this one is a biggie.  There are plenty of good “systems” courses  available on the market to help you get started in internet marketing.  The challenge we all face once we have our online business up and running is to implement efficiencies, to spend less time in the business and bank more money.  One solution is software programs.  I personally know of several high profiled internet marketing gurus who are in the throes of developing software that cuts time while increasing performance.

Unlike systems for success, software for success takes much longer to develop, often years.  I think that the new year will usher in many software program launches – newer versions of existing ones or something completely new.  Typically, access to software programs is either a one time purchase or via a membership monthly fee.  Again the fees vary.

Some software programs are released while still in beta.  The advantage is that these are offered at an introductory price.  If you like what the program does then you can purchase or subscribe at the initial price which is bound to increase as the product progresses.   Purchases typically include all upgrades, while subscription based programs are locked in at the introductory price.

4. Big Sites:
I am beginning to see hints that we’re going to see more and more big sites.  As niche sites are going to become increasingly competitive due to the daily thousands who flock to their computers and the internet with the purpose of making an online income, the big site will take on a newly prominent profile and importance.

Big companies already have these and those with the capital will be able to throw these up in little to no time.  What this means for people like you and me though, is that we will have to rely on that good old currency called time and put in a lot of sweat equity to boot.  Suggestion: continue with your small niche marketing, and start a long term project with a big site in mind.

Ewen Chia who does offer built-for-you niche sites also alludes to selecting more competitive topics and marketing the living daylights out of them.  John Reese too has some strong thoughts and ideas on this very topic.  Do I smell “launch?”  You bet I do.

5. Good Content:
The concept of purely publishing search engine directed content on your blog is passé.  Well written, informative content is going to win hands down every time over keyword stuffed content with little thought of its value to the reader.  Those bots are getting smarter all the time and may even penalize you for obvious keyword stuffing with no redeeming value to your readers.

I am sure there are other trends out there.  What have you spotted in your daily rounds on the internet world?  What trends are you planning to implement into your blog income business? Post your thoughts and comments below.

To Your Awesome Blog Income Life!

Valentina

Are trends cheesy?

What do stories have to do with blogging for money.  More than you think.

Sundays are catch up mornings for me.  Typically it’s the time I spend catching up on the little things in my e.box, you know non blog income items flagged but not urgent, jokes, Facebook and Twitter announcements of new followers or invites to become friends – ok, the last two could be Blog Income items, but you get the idea, it’s not a blogging for money day.

I give myself two hours – what doesn’t get attended to suffers the fate of the delete key. I give myself another hour to go over my Google Reader and read up on items of interest that I may have I missed on my daily scan of this service.  After that it’s a day off.  Today, maybe dim sum in Richmond and then a walk by the bay – yes, even in the rain.

The first item that caught my eye this morning was a post by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.  I don’t know how I missed this earlier.  I am a raving fan of his.  It is an article on story posts on his blog.  His observation is that over the years the posts that told stories were the most popular. That is not surprising as stories engage the reader.  It is that rule we learned in sales:  facts tell stories sell.  You can read the full article here

The post got me thinking.  I prefer writing stories over technical reports and have enormous admiration for those who can present good, clear facts without much froufrou and still keep the reader engaged.  I had such a challenge this week.

Recently I was invited to author a chapter for an upcoming book.  It was on a subject I know well but the publisher asked for a slightly different twist on it.  For weeks I had the devil of a time trying to manipulate the information in such a way that it would mesh with the new angle.  Writer’s block loomed large as deadline date drew closer.  What to do.  What I had in my computer was dull and boring even to me.  How could I expect others to read it. How could I let the publisher down?

Then I had an idea.  What if I approached the angle from a storyline?  I phoned the publisher and told him what I had in mind.  I can tell you his response wasn’t exactly extatic.  “Sure” he said tentatively “send me a few paragraphs and the rest of the content in point format.  I did.

Suddenly my creative juices began to flow.  I finished the chapter in two days.  Had it reviewed by a friend who said she was galvanized every step of the way. Submitted it just under the wire.

Haven’t heard back from the publisher yet.  I think he’ll like it.  If not it’s not a bad piece of work and I can certainly put it to use in some other way.

Stories are easier to write, at least for me and for most people.  When you think about it blogs started with stories, that’s what a journal is, it is the daily story of something, often that of a personal experience.  The next time you are faced with writer’s block dig deep into your own experiences and fish out those that have a connection with the topic on which you write, guaranteed, your fingers will start flying over your keypad and you’ll be one step closer to an awesome blog income life!

Happy Blogging!

Valentina
Blogging for some good cheese.

If you are blogging for money, then you have opened your own blog income bank, or, as I prefer to call it, The Bank of Blog Income.  I rather like the thought and the image it brings to mind, but I tell you, I am absolutely, positively in love with the notion that blogging and banking are the same thing and I don’t just mean the money.

What with all the hullabaloo on money and banks these days, I decided to attend a seminar on wealth creation. To get us thinking in the right direction, the speaker started off by telling us about the rule of 72.  You’ve probably heard about this but just as a refresher, the rule of 72 estimates the length of time it will take you to double your money at a given compound interest rate by dividing that rate into 72, so, if your interest is 12%, you divide that into 72 and the answer is that it will take about 6 years to double your money.

The interesting thing with this rule is that once you begin to double your money it begins to take on a snowball effect as each year thereafter is a rolling 6 years.  That’s when your money begins to grow at increasing rates of speed.

It struck me then that a blog is much the same.

Never mind the paltry interest rates banks pay us today.  Just stay with me.  The more frequently you make deposits into your bank, the better the balance.  The better the bank balance, the more interest accrued each year which means more money.  The early deposits are the most powerful even though they may be smaller than later ones.  The early deposits are the ones that gather most steam.

That’s what got me thinking that a blog is just like a bank – your bank!  The most basic fundamental of a blog is posts, consider them as deposits or investments of time and talent.

The more frequent your posts, the more notice your blog will get from the search engines which in turn means more traffic which then turns into conversions or sales.  Its hard work at the beginning and at times may seem that you are standing still maybe even going backwards.  Eventually consistent effort begins to pay off: traffic increases, visitors begin to post comments, your blog begins to gain credibility which means more traffic.  It’s a numbers game from there on – more traffic, more conversions be they Adsense, affiliate or sponsored ads.

Just like the example that our seminar presenter gave us on money doubling every so many years, your blog results will be more significant if the hard work is put in at the beginning and by beginning I mean it could be a year, two or three.  From there on as your results multiply, the amount of time and attention given to the blog can be reduced somewhat and still bring you growing results.

Here is what I really like about this, the investment/deposit is your time.  Everyone has  the same amount of time.  How you use it determines how you live.   Carve out some time, take it away from watching TV and put it towards growing your blog income. It’s the best kind of return on investment that I can think of.

Life gets good.

Happy Blogging!

Valentina
Blogging is the big cheese!

Well hold on to your horses and smack those bots that visit your blog.  If you have a blog that is meant to make an income, listen up, this is important.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has laid down the law as to what can and cannot be claimed on the internet and if “claims” are made, a disclosure statement needs to accompany it. Furthermore, if we stand to make a financial gain from any content on our blog including advertising, affiliate promotions, links and anchor text that may take the reader to a “sales page” where they then purchase a product, a disclosure needs to be made.   This takes effect December 01, 2009.

To put this into perspective lets take this new law outside of the internet; it would be the same as if magazines and newspapers would have to put a disclosure clause somewhere on each of their publications that they get reimbursement for all the ads that appear on their pages. Golly, gee, whiz!  You mean that these publications are in the publishing game to make money?

I suspect that this new law came into being because of the bleating of the “I want to get rich quick” crowd, those who want to get rich quick without lifting a finger and when it doesn’t happen, they cry foul!   Bull dung!

This new law is just another example of the creeping molly coddling of our society.  It is there to “protect” the unwary from falling prey to promises of riches and presumes that the average human is unable to make a logical decision – ok, they may have a point there as time and time again, someone is left holding an empty bank account after replying to that infamous Nigerian letter and it’s morphed offspring of lottery wins and the hapless soldier who found a stash of moolah while serving in Iraq/Afghanistan/pick a country and needs help to get it out of there –   and we the sheeples genuflect on bended knee and say it is good!

OK … this blog is not meant to be a commentary on human behavior … !!!  Lets get back on track.

What we have to do.

If your are blogging for money, if  there is the remotest possibility that your blog will make you some money, you need to post a disclosure.  You can get one done for you for free at  Disclosure Policy.  Just log on, answer the questions, and voila! your disclosure statement is done for you.  Post it on your blog.  I just published mine on the Contact Page of this blog.

Happy Blogging!

Valentina
Blogger for money …
… it’s all about the cheese.

What should your next step be in developing your blog income life? If you have been following along with me then you have the basics of your blog set up and running well.  As a refresher here is what we have covered so far:

1. Topic/Niche Selection
2. Domain Name
3. Selecting the right platform for your blog
4. Posting on your blog
5. Monetizing your blog
6. Repurposing your posts into articles & submitting to article directories
7. Link Building

It is time to decide on your next step.  As you have been learning how to blog for money you have also been learning about internet marketing … sneaky huh!  That is why I believe that blogging is the best introduction to internet marketing.  Its user friendly so that anyone can do it yet presents enough of a challenge so that you are learning new skill sets.  I like that part.  I find that my brain is quite happy to be exercised and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I overcome a challenge in my quest to master the art of blogging for money.

But now you have arrived at the fork in the road.

Here are your two choices right now:

1.  Continue applying what you have learned so far.  Keep polishing your skills.  You will find that with continued practice your skill level improves and your confidence level goes up.  You will find that it will take less  time to create a new post,  to re-purpose the post into articles, and to submit to article directories.  You will develop a system.

2. Add a new dimension.  This means learning a new application, or “task” which will take you further along the road to becoming an internet marketing master.  It means leaving your comfort zone and taking on a new challenge.   This is the option I recommend – but only if you are relatively comfortable with option one, and have set up a “system”  no matter how rudimentary, that you can follow.  This is the way to develop an awesome blog income life.

Tomorrow more on new dimensions

Happy Blogging!

Valentina
Living a Blog Income Life
… going for the big cheese

Can you believe it?  We’re in to the last quarter of the year!  The next two months are traditionally the most productive make it or break it months of the year and statistically bring in more new business than at any other time of the year.  Back in the days when I was with Corporate America these were the big bonus months for those of us who were in sales.  How it generally works is that your quota is based on a calendar year and the big bonus paychecks don’t kick in unless your quota has been reached and then watchit baby!  The more over quota, the bigger and fatter the bonus check at Christmas!

Staying on that theme, I would have fired me from this blog by now.  The showing has been abysmal.  My target was to reach a four figure income by year end from this blog alone.  It just ainta gonna happen!

Before the stats get published … stay with me:

As detailed in Monday’s posting, I uncovered many areas that needed adjusting – this is something that typically one does on a quarterly basis, but I was still testing the waters at the end of QI.  By the end of QII I knew I had to do something.  I took the 30 Day Challenge and uncovered some whopper type errors!

1.  From the name Blog Along with Me, the keyword was blog in the domain name yet for me to get Google’s or any other engines attention would prove to be extremely difficult.  With over 2 million searches daily, and almost 2.5 billion blogs or sites with that word in them, it would be a very long time before my position would deliver much traffic to my blog.  That is why my search engine results were anemic – heck, lets be honest, they were on a lifeline!

2.  OK … the bulb went on early.  I decided to start fighting for blogging for money keyword phrase which is once again crowded but at least it seemed that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel — one day.  But then the keyword phrase was not part of the domain name. Its not mandatory but it helps and when you are still green behind the ears like I am, its best to stay within the rules.  Yes.  You can break the rules AFTER you understand them, know them and know how to break them in your favor.  I am a long way away from that yet.

3. Blogger gadgets just simply do not compare with all the bells and whistles of Wordpress Direct plugins.

4.  With my new domain name, Blog Income Life, my keyword phrase is blog income, which is still a very competitive field, but looking at the top 10 in Google, there is room for some  muscle flexing.  Not saying that this blog will up there terribly soon.  As I have only just moved it over, there are still no new stats.  But I’ll be watching them daily.

Now the Stats:

I stopped posting on this blog on September 09.  Typically fresh content brings in visitors.   So, anemic and pathetic as it was, search engines were still directing some traffic to the blog.

Those that visited and stayed spent an average of 4.38  minutes each.  that warms the soul.  I hope its because that those who choose to stay and read find the information valuable.    I have to tell you that none of my other blogs have the visitors spending that much time on the site.

Earnings:

Adsense           $ 4.78
Clickbank           14.00
Hostgator          50.00

Total                   $68.78

I am also happy that my e.book ABC’s of Blogging for Money is being downloaded at an average rate of 15 – 20 per month.

There is a lot of work to do with this blog before it is up to scratch.  For one thing I need to figure out how to keep the two sidebars from duplicating each other, for another – I have to monetize it quick or there will be no sales at all to report for October!  And put up that ABC’s of Blogging Banner!  I had “followers” on Blogger – that part did not transfer.  Don’t know how it will affect those who had me on their Google Reader, maybe it has to be re-subscribed.  So some of what I have to do is starting from ground zero.  From that point of view, I’ll be happy if I can at least stay even for the month of October.  Many questions I have, the answers will soon appear.

Thank you to everyone who visits and reads.  I hope that you find this helpful.  If you find value here, send it over to a friend or colleague and please do comment, what you like, don’t like, improvements you think I could implement, suggestions … hey, tell me what you want to know, all will be welcome.

Now stay for the ride.

Happy Blogging!

Valentina
Blogger for Money – living the good life!

PS: Living the good life IS the big cheese!

Quick Links:

Free PDF download of ABC’s of Blogging for Money

WooHoo!  Finally did it!  Moved this blog from Blogger to Wordpress Direct!

First things first – I have changed the title of the blog from Blog Along With Me to Blog Income Life. This is the third reincarnation of this blog, and here are the reasons for the change of title, and for that matter, the domain name.

Now that I have Market Samurai software and increasing familiarity with its use and application, it is so easy to do research.  Ideally the research is done BEFORE setting up the blog but it can also be of benefit after the fact as you can then fine tune or, for that matter, drop your site/niche if it is neither profitable nor likely to be.

Its all about keywords.  Having gone through the Thirty Day Challenge this summer I have developed a whole new level of respect for these little tidbits.  Keywords is what the internet spiders or “bots” dine out on and they are eventually what drives traffic to your site.  I have learned that these little critters like it when the main keyword shows up in your domain name – and be sure to sprinkle the word(s) liberally in the introduction section of your blog. You get points for these little details and the reward is a higher position in the search engine’s rankings.

The keywords we choose to fight for should have a combination of daily searches, traffic to sites, competition and an estimated dollar value according to Google adwords/adsense.  If the daily searches are high and there is a lot of competition, then it will be a long time before your site earns a top spot in the search engines’ rankings.  This is cause for frustration at the least and no earnings at the worst.

So lets take a look at my previous title:

Blog Along With Me.

What attracted me to the title in the first place was the invitation for visitors to, well, blog along with me, do what I do, build a blog and make a dollar or two and hopefully more.  It was an experiment in putting to use that which I had learned up to then.  I had a secondary agenda and that was to organize what I had learned and to fill in the holes along the way.  It did that.  It also prompted me to publish my first e.book, ABC’s of Blogging for Money.

Parsing the phrase, “Blog” is the main keyword.  According to the statistics that Market Samurai dug up for me there are more than two million daily searches for the word, and over two billion web pages globally that mention the word.  Top spots are held by Blogger, Wordpress and other entrenched sites.  No hope of ever getting top billing for that word.

The phrase itself referred to in IM language as the “long tail” was at polar opposites, in other words abysmal.  Most searches had to do with sing along with me.

Now lets compare some of the options I was looking at:

I could have gone with ABC’s of Blogging for Money, or just plain ABC’s of Blogging as I own both domains but I already have these for my e.book for which I have a second career in mind.

Here are some numbers for Blog Income:

Blog Income is already a crowded playing field as I expected it to be.  Needless to say Blog Income was not available as a domain so I added the word “life”.  The profitability from an Adsense point of view is nothing to write home about.  I think I will experiment and see if the results will be any better than they have been in the past – if not, Adsense will be removed from this blog.

The numbers go against the grain of what I have been taught:  start as a big fish in a small pond and you stand a better chance of a healthy krill diet – read that as dollars or income.  I knew from the outset that I was up against some giants in the game, but that is the game I want to play, so be that as it may.  I visit with the giants and pick up from them.  They are my role models.

After crunching numbers, keywords and using some of the other features of Market Samurai I realize why it has been such an uphill battle to grow the traffic to my blog.  Look at the former site as if it was straddling two bodies of water – one was the Atlantic Ocean and I but a minnow, the other was a mere puddle in the road searched for by no one!

Armed with research the following steps have been taken or are in progress:

1. Decided to fight for top billing with search engines for the keywords Blog Income
2.  Found a domain name that has the keywords at the front end
3.  I will continue to inject other important keywords, such as blogging for money in my postings with the thought that eventually I will receive a ranking for both.

Will I lose the traffic that is currently going to Blog Along with Me? NO.  I will redirect that domain to point to the new one so that anyone looking for my old site will be redirected here.  Stats will continue.  Everything will go along as before.

It is a good life!

Happy Blogging!

Valentina

PS… yes, the cheese rolls on!

At the crossroads of Crisis and Desperation entrepreneurs are born. It’s true. Tough times bring out the latent entrepreneurial spirit in all of us. Whether that spirit moves us to successful entrepreneurship is up to you. It’s akin to leading a horse to water.

I believe there are two types of entrepreneurs. There is the A type of entrepreneur, the individual who may have tried the nine to five but couldn’t stomach the stifling atmosphere. Typically this type of person has an innate restlessness, an impatience for something bigger and better and quite honestly, does not make for a good employee. Such a person has a different agenda. You see such a person in the faces of Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and Phillip Knight.

Lesser known and flying under the radar of visibility is the entrepreneur who becomes one out of necessity, or, for want of a better term, the B type of entrepreneur. These are legion and account for a significant portion of multi-millionaires – not a bad place to be financially. Faced with economic uncertainty they actively cast about for opportunities and finding them take action. Today that opportunity is writ large on the internet and the entrepreneur born is often a blogger.

Blogging for money is the easiest introduction to making money online. Everyone can write, the cost is negligible and it is a user friendly introduction to cutting your teeth in the field of Internet Marketing. In fact knowing what I now know, after having taken several internet marketing courses, were I starting in Internet Marketing today, I would definitely start with blogging.

A word of caution though, you need to do more than just publish posts on your blog. If you want to make money blogging you need to treat it as a business. There are some basics that need considering:

1. Select a niche
2. Select the blogging platform
3. Monetize your site
4. Market, market, market.

Each of these basic to the bones steps form the foundation upon which you will build your business. That is why I wrote the e.book ABC’s of Blogging for Money which you can download in PDF format for free.

Once you get the basics down pat you can expand, bit by bit and eventually become a super blogger pulling in at the very least a mid-six figure annual income.

Happy Blogging!

Valentina Bellicova
Blogger for Money

Blogging is all about getting your own cheese.

Quick Lins:
ABC’s of Blogging for Money