Blogging is a “Massive Mistake”… HUH?
My jaw dropped as I saw the subject line of an email sent out by Ken Evoy last week which read:
Why Blogging Is A Massive Mistake!
HUH?
At one point Ken states “Blogging has reached lemming status. Without even thinking, many small businesses equate blogging with having a Web site“.
Sure, call me and the 112.8 million other bloggers out there ‘lemmings’, but at least we know that a blog IS a web site. Moreover, a blog is a web site that is built to find and deliver search engine traffic… immediately.
Ping - ping - PING!
For those who haven’t started blogging yet - a Wordpress blog is a site-building platform and content management system with an online publishing interface. And because Wordpress is distributed under an open source license called the GNU General Public License, it’s distributed free of charge.
Better yet, easy-to-install (or auto-install) widgets and plugins are regularly developed for Wordpress by legions of progammer/user/contributors who see ways to enhance the software’s already stellar functionality.
By the way, those widgets are also free of charge.
Ken also wrote that blogging is:
…obviously wrong for small businesses with something to sell” and is “also the wrong choice for infopreneurs (ex., those who earn affiliate and AdSense income, without selling anything directly to customers).
Say WHAT? Read more
Popularity: 55% [?]
No Ideas, Product, Website or Traffic?
How the heck could anyone build an Internet business if they have no business idea, no product, no website, and no traffic?
Here’s a better question still… how could they build that business in LESS than a week?
Well, based on a challenge from an angry blogger, you’ll be able to watch Derek Gehl (IMC) do exactly that.
He’s going to start a brand-new business 100% from scratch in less than ONE WEEK — and he’s going to film the entire process, turn it into a FREE video course and you’ll be able to watch him do it.
Starting April 21st, Derek will be releasing the complete “X-Treme Challenge” video course and over the following 4 days, you’ll have the opportunity to see EXACTLY how he builds a functioning, sales generating Internet business based on one his personal hobbies.
These videos will only be made available to those on Derek’s notification list, so if you want to learn how to build a money-making online business in one week or less, then register today to see all the episodes.
Even if you already have ideas, a product, know how to get traffic and build a website, you’re sure to pick up some great tips from these videos… ergo, I’ve already registered. 
Popularity: 21% [?]
Sell Products to Spanish Markets through Clickbank
On March 18th, ClickBank announced its Phase One launch of their Platform Globalization project which allows Clickbank merchants to capture sales from new markets.
The first phase of Platform Globalization includes a currency calculator and the ability to offer products to Spanish-speaking markets. Clickbank has also made it easy for affiliates to identify which merchants in the ClickBank Marketplace are offering Spanish products. See the graphic below.
My search for Spanish language products produced no results, but considering this initiative was launched slightly more than a week ago, I guess we have to give the merchants time to get up to speed.
The new currency converter provides customers with the ability to see the product price in currencies other than USD.
Clickbank also advises that enhancements to their Platform Globalization project will include French and German language capabilities, and the ability to accept orders in currencies other than USD.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Chitika Announces a New Way to Monetize Parked Domains
I don’t know about you, but my Cash Parking Monthly updates from GoDaddy are always pretty meagre. So meagre in fact, that they’re laughable. In January, I made a whopping 53 cents from 10 parked domains and in February, the earnings were zilch.
If your revenue from parked domains is anything like mine, you might want to check out Chitika’s new parked domain solution which looks like a shopping site with product images. The pages include a listing of well known merchants and an easy-to-navigate category listing.
Here is an image of what the display looks like:
For more information about using Chitika’s updated ShopLinc product as a CPC revenue source for your parked domains, see their “A CPC store for your parked domains” post.
Popularity: 9% [?]
John’s Success with Article Marketing
One of my clients, John Piteo, told me how he was getting traffic to one of his sites and making money from that site by distributing ghost written articles.
I found his story quite remarkable from the standpoint that although the article submissions were made years ago and he has done nothing else to the site, his income has actually increased over the years.
Here is John’s article marketing story in question and answer format.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Moonlighting on the Internet
As you might know, Yanik Silver’s first “real” published book, “Moonlighting on the Internet: 5 World-Class Experts Reveal Proven Ways to Make an Extra Paycheck Online Each Month” is now available in bookstores and online at places like amazon.com and bn.com
And I was honored to be chosen as one of Yanik’s expert co-authors on this project.
As Yanik tells it, “…the book has been selling well and has taken on a life of its own without any real promotion on my part” and he suspects that has happened because “I intentionally made the message behind it the opposite of hype. It’s all about an additional $500 to $5,000/mo in your spare time. (A distinct difference from a lot of the schemes you see in your inbox!)”
The central idea of the book is how to use the Internet in your spare time to get an extra paycheck to pay off your bills, make a car payment, save for kids college account or even just a special vacation.
Anyway, on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 8 pm, ET there will be special group call with Yanik and all of the co-authors of “Moonlighting on the Internet: 5 World-Class Experts Reveal Proven Ways to Make an Extra Paycheck Online Each Month“. Access is limited, so if you want in, you should sign up for the free teleseminar right away.
Of course, if you want to make a lot MORE than an extra paycheck by moonlighting, you should sign up for the nearly sold-out Underground Seminar instead! (I’ll be there!)
Popularity: 12% [?]
Spinning Your Wheels?
I often hear Internet marketers who are not making money online use the term ‘spinning my wheels‘ to describe how frustrated they are with what they’re doing… or NOT doing.
They report working on sites for 40 hours per week for over a year; or that they’ve started 5, 10 and sometimes 20 different sites - and still haven’t earned a pittance.
The term ‘spinning my wheels‘ is a very telling metaphor. Being from Canada, when I see someone really spinning their wheels, it tells me that the person doesn’t know how to drive for conditions… and I’ve seen it a thousand times.
The guy who guns the gas at the intersection and ends up standing still. Someone who takes a corner too fast and ends up wrecked in the ditch. The ill-informed who use ‘all-season’ radials (believing that they’re an acceptable substitute for winter tires) and wonder why they have no traction or control. Of course, there are the grannies who top out at 5k an hour… and blessed are they that stay home.
Sure… we all have to learn, but the uneducated get themselves needlessly into situations that risk their lives and the lives of others.
Granted, starting an online business without a proper education might not mean risking life and limb — but doing so could risk your life savings or ruin your marriage - and I do know a few to whom that has happened.
Here’s a clue to the trap that they fall into… Read more
Popularity: 8% [?]
Interview: Converting Visitors to Revenue
Wendy Piersall, of Emoms at Home, posted an interview to her blog this morning that she and I did for her “Converting Visitors to Revenue” series. Other participants in the series (so far) include Jim Kukral of The Daily Flip and Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.
The 3 questions Wendy asked me were:
- Rosalind, you have been affiliate marketing for a long time, and the internet has changed pretty drastically in that time. How have your conversions changed over the years, and what is the most important lesson you have learned in that time about getting things to convert and keeping them converting for longer periods of time?
- When you launch a promotion, new product or service now, what are some of the things you do every single time to ensure that your chances of getting the sales are the highest possible?
- If you were a blogger with an excellently written article/review with affiliate links in the post, how would you go about promoting that post?
You may read my answers at “The Converting Visitors to Revenue Interview Series :: Rosalind Gardner, Net Profits Today“. And while you’re there, be sure to note Wendy’s comments about the Super Affiliate Handbook.
Popularity: 8% [?]
S.eriously BIG Affiliate Checks
Do you want to see some seriously big Google Adsense and affiliate commission checks?
S.eriously.com has posted screenshots of checks, bank deposits and Commission Junction accounts from a number of Internet and affiliate marketers including Markus Frind, Jeremy Shoemaker and a few who wish to remain anonymous.
The checks range in amount from $15,853.00 and $132,994.97 a staggering $901,733.84.
But while you’re drooling over them, consider this … how much did their marketing COST? Were these affiliates earning 2, 3 or 10 bucks for every dollar they spent on Google Adwords and other pay per click advertising or were they making pennies on the dollar?
Then again, even 5 cents on a dollar in a month is a darned site better than what the bank is offering — or, how your stocks are probably doing at the moment.
BTW, above left is my $49,476.92 check for your viewing pleasure.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Domain Tasters May Go Hungry
Google announced yesterday that Google Adsense will start looking for domain names that are repeatedly registered and refunded - a practice known as “domain tasting” or “domain kiting” - and as of February 11, 2008, will begin blocking Adsense ads from appearing on those domains.
Domain tasting is the practice of registering a domain and testing its marketability during the five-day grade period during which the registration is eligible for a refund. Income is generated by placing Google Adsense for Domains on the newly registered sites. On January 24th, 2008, Jay Westerdal of Domain Tools reported that “It was disclosed in court that one partner that Google had was generating as much as $3 million dollars a month from the practice and that was after Google’s revenue share“.
And the practice is extensive. According to Wikipedia, “By February 2007, the CEO of GoDaddy reported that of 55.1 million domain names registered, 51.5 million were canceled and refunded just before the 5 day grace period expired and only 3.6 million domain names were actually kept“.
Although I’m always thrilled to see a reduction in web crap, I can’t help but wonder if Google’s recent lowering of Adsense referal bounties (from $250 to $100) and eradication of the $2000 bonus was implemented to somewhat offset what they’ll lose by by killing off the domain tasters. Goodness forbid that honest marketers should make a few pennies when the big revenue generators (profiteers) are removed from the mix.
What do you think?
Popularity: 8% [?]
