Saturday, April 23, 2011
Naked Dialog
I know it's not fair to use words like "naked," but I wanted to get your attention. I'm afraid that I have lost some readers, and I need some ideas that will get people excited about my blog again. I have to admit, I am starting to lose interest as well. I was really excited about this whole process of blogging and trying to make money, but it is not working out the way I hoped. Especially, the making money part. So, I am soliciting your help. I would like to start an open dialog for ideas to get us interested again. This might include some ideas for making money, and these don't just have to include online ideas. Or, it might include ways to better present information to you. Please comment on this post any thoughts or ideas you have. Don't be afraid. You won't hurt my feelings.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Online Surveys
I have been working on the online surveys for a few weeks now. I decided to sign up with the top five survey sites on the list from the Moola Days blog I wrote about in my last post. All these sites offer points for surveys done online. The point systems are different for each site. The bottom line is that after you accumulate the appropriate amount of points, you can redeem them for cash. This, of course, is sent in the form of a check.
At this point I am a little frustrated. There have been multiple incidents where I was working on a survey for 20-30 minutes just to be told that they have received enough responses. Plus, I have been screened out of more surveys than I have been a part of. I usually receive invitations for at least 5 surveys a day from various sites. I maybe get through one of the five surveys. More often than not, I am screened out of all of them. This makes it really difficult to make any money doing online surveys. In any case, I am going to keep working at it. I think there is potential if I can stick with it.
Related Posts
At this point I am a little frustrated. There have been multiple incidents where I was working on a survey for 20-30 minutes just to be told that they have received enough responses. Plus, I have been screened out of more surveys than I have been a part of. I usually receive invitations for at least 5 surveys a day from various sites. I maybe get through one of the five surveys. More often than not, I am screened out of all of them. This makes it really difficult to make any money doing online surveys. In any case, I am going to keep working at it. I think there is potential if I can stick with it.
Related Posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Another Idea
When I was originally doing research to figure out how I could make a little extra money, I stumbled upon a blog called 101 Ways to Make Money. The first idea on the list of 101 is to make money doing paid online surveys. It then goes on to talk about and suggest using SurveyMastermind. I looked into SurveyMastermind, and I got a little concerned. Everything I found online seemed to mention it being a scam. So, I decided not to include it as a part of my original plan.
Then, recently, I stumbled upon another blog called Moola Days. It is yet another blog with lots of helpful information as it pertains to making extra money. Most importantly, there are multiple blog posts in regards to paid online surveys. The most notable being A List of ‘Get Paid to Take Surveys’ Sites. This post gives information on many sites that pay individuals for doing surveys online. In fact, the one's listed are only those that the writer (Albert Fang) has received money from. He goes on in other posts to review many of the sites as well as give his favorites.
So, after some thought, I have decided to give this a try. I'm going to start with some of the sites on Albert's list. I will let you know how it goes.
If any of you have any insight on this or other ideas I could try, let me know.
Related Posts
Then, recently, I stumbled upon another blog called Moola Days. It is yet another blog with lots of helpful information as it pertains to making extra money. Most importantly, there are multiple blog posts in regards to paid online surveys. The most notable being A List of ‘Get Paid to Take Surveys’ Sites. This post gives information on many sites that pay individuals for doing surveys online. In fact, the one's listed are only those that the writer (Albert Fang) has received money from. He goes on in other posts to review many of the sites as well as give his favorites.
So, after some thought, I have decided to give this a try. I'm going to start with some of the sites on Albert's list. I will let you know how it goes.
If any of you have any insight on this or other ideas I could try, let me know.
Related Posts
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Will Hope For Money
Some of you may have noticed a couple of additions to the side bar. The first is a donate button from Paypal. This is for anyone who might want to donate to my cause. The cause, of course, is my family. This button idea reminded me of my original thought, which was to just ask for money. As I stated in my introduction, if one million people would give me one dollar I could easily become a millionaire. The difficulty, of course, is getting one million plus readers to this blog. I'm not thinking this will ever happen. Although, that shouldn't deter any of my current readers from giving me a dollar or more if they felt like it. So, if you feel like it, click the donate button.
The addition of this donate button was a suggestion of the book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. It is by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. As you can see, this is the second add-on to the side bar. This book is a great resource for anyone trying to get started blogging. It gives you helpful tips for picking your blog topic/s, setting up your blog, writing your blog, and, obviously, making money blogging. If you would like more information on the book or more information on making money blogging, visit Darren Rowse's blog at ProBlogger.net. Or, you can just click on the link to the right and purchase this book at Barnes & Noble.
Related Posts
The addition of this donate button was a suggestion of the book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. It is by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. As you can see, this is the second add-on to the side bar. This book is a great resource for anyone trying to get started blogging. It gives you helpful tips for picking your blog topic/s, setting up your blog, writing your blog, and, obviously, making money blogging. If you would like more information on the book or more information on making money blogging, visit Darren Rowse's blog at ProBlogger.net. Or, you can just click on the link to the right and purchase this book at Barnes & Noble.
Related Posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Words With Babies
Okay, I officially have a CafePress store. Now I can sell anything from t-shirts and sweatshirts to mugs and bags. All with various designs. I will make 10% commission on anything sold from my store. Please check it out at www.cafepress.com/wordswithbabies.
It took me a long time to figure what I wanted my store to be about. I went back and forth with different ideas, but I just wasn't happy with how it was coming together. CafePress gives you the option of using some of their generic designs for your own designs. All you have to do is personalize them with your own words or phrases. To start, I really wanted to use their designs instead of making my own, but I was having trouble thinking of words or phrases that would coincide to make a cohesive store. Now, I could have taken the time to make my own designs, but I was wanting to get my store up and running as soon as possible. So, I started thinking about words or phrases that I use in my daily life. Of course, since I have a baby, I use the words "poop," "playtime," and "goo goo ga ga" a lot. So, that's what I decided to go with. I then thought of the name "Words With Babies," and there you have it. I now have a store where you can buy a funny t-shirt, sweatshirt, or whatever with "poop" on it.
The process of making this store was fairly simple. If you go to CafePress.com, there is a link on the top right corner that states, "create and sell t-shirts." Or, you can just click here. This takes you to the page for creating your store. There is a box for your store name and one for your email. Don't worry too much about your store name, as you can change it later. Then pick your theme. Again, don't worry too much about this, you can change it later. Click create my store and you are taken to your store front. This is where you can add your designs. When you click "Add a design," you are given the option to browse their designs, upload a logo or photo, or build a design with clip art and text. I chose to browse their designs. When you click, a new window pops up showing their designs with the name of your store included in them. You can change the design by typing in the box at the top of the window. Then click update. Now you will see those same designs with the new word or words included. Click on the design you like and hit submit. Now, you have your first design that can be applied to any item in your store. You can have up to 12 designs unless you upgrade to the premium stores, but these cost money. When you are done, click "save store." That's it. Now you have a CafePress store.
If you want to get paid commissions though, there is still a little more to do. When looking at your store on the edit screen, there are 3 tabs. The first one states, "Settings." This is where you can change the name of your store if you want. The next tab is, "Appearance." I think you can figure that one out. The last one is, "Earn Money." When you click on this one, you are given the option to earn commission. Click "I want to earn commission." Then go to, "change payee details." Give them your information, and you're set to make some money.
So, how do you get your store noticed? To the best of my knowledge, you have to be your own marketer. Send your link to everyone you know and more. Furthermore, how do people find your designs on Cafepress? Unfortunately, I do not think it is possible for people to find my designs on CafePress. I would have to be able to tag my designs, and I don't think I can. If the designs have tags, then people can find them by doing a keyword search on CafePress. I think you can only tag custom designs you upload to CafePress. So, for me, and anyone else trying to keep it simple, it is all about word of mouth. So, start spreading the word about Words With Babies.
It took me a long time to figure what I wanted my store to be about. I went back and forth with different ideas, but I just wasn't happy with how it was coming together. CafePress gives you the option of using some of their generic designs for your own designs. All you have to do is personalize them with your own words or phrases. To start, I really wanted to use their designs instead of making my own, but I was having trouble thinking of words or phrases that would coincide to make a cohesive store. Now, I could have taken the time to make my own designs, but I was wanting to get my store up and running as soon as possible. So, I started thinking about words or phrases that I use in my daily life. Of course, since I have a baby, I use the words "poop," "playtime," and "goo goo ga ga" a lot. So, that's what I decided to go with. I then thought of the name "Words With Babies," and there you have it. I now have a store where you can buy a funny t-shirt, sweatshirt, or whatever with "poop" on it.
The process of making this store was fairly simple. If you go to CafePress.com, there is a link on the top right corner that states, "create and sell t-shirts." Or, you can just click here. This takes you to the page for creating your store. There is a box for your store name and one for your email. Don't worry too much about your store name, as you can change it later. Then pick your theme. Again, don't worry too much about this, you can change it later. Click create my store and you are taken to your store front. This is where you can add your designs. When you click "Add a design," you are given the option to browse their designs, upload a logo or photo, or build a design with clip art and text. I chose to browse their designs. When you click, a new window pops up showing their designs with the name of your store included in them. You can change the design by typing in the box at the top of the window. Then click update. Now you will see those same designs with the new word or words included. Click on the design you like and hit submit. Now, you have your first design that can be applied to any item in your store. You can have up to 12 designs unless you upgrade to the premium stores, but these cost money. When you are done, click "save store." That's it. Now you have a CafePress store.
If you want to get paid commissions though, there is still a little more to do. When looking at your store on the edit screen, there are 3 tabs. The first one states, "Settings." This is where you can change the name of your store if you want. The next tab is, "Appearance." I think you can figure that one out. The last one is, "Earn Money." When you click on this one, you are given the option to earn commission. Click "I want to earn commission." Then go to, "change payee details." Give them your information, and you're set to make some money.
So, how do you get your store noticed? To the best of my knowledge, you have to be your own marketer. Send your link to everyone you know and more. Furthermore, how do people find your designs on Cafepress? Unfortunately, I do not think it is possible for people to find my designs on CafePress. I would have to be able to tag my designs, and I don't think I can. If the designs have tags, then people can find them by doing a keyword search on CafePress. I think you can only tag custom designs you upload to CafePress. So, for me, and anyone else trying to keep it simple, it is all about word of mouth. So, start spreading the word about Words With Babies.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Squidoo Lens
I found an interesting Squidoo lens for the book. Otherwise known as, The Million Dollar Idea in Everyone. It is very insightful and helpful in understanding a little more about the book. There is nice question and answer section with the author, as well as an audio interview for your listening pleasure. I thought it would be very helpful to anyone who is on the fence about purchasing, but wanted a little more information. Please visit it here.
As a friendly reminder, if you are interested in purchasing the book, please click on the link to the right. Also, you may notice a couple of additions on the side bar. Stay tuned for more information on those.
If you are wondering what a Squidoo lens is, it is a free one page website. Squidoo.com offers anyone the ability to produce as many one page websites as they want, for free. They call a website a lens. According to their website, "Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus. Like the lens of a camera, your perspective on something." If you are interested, please visit their website at squidoo.com.
Related Posts
As a friendly reminder, if you are interested in purchasing the book, please click on the link to the right. Also, you may notice a couple of additions on the side bar. Stay tuned for more information on those.
If you are wondering what a Squidoo lens is, it is a free one page website. Squidoo.com offers anyone the ability to produce as many one page websites as they want, for free. They call a website a lens. According to their website, "Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus. Like the lens of a camera, your perspective on something." If you are interested, please visit their website at squidoo.com.
Related Posts
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Denied!
For the first time in this process, I have been denied. I was not accepted as an affiliate for Target or Kohl's. I got two separate emails last week stating that I was not a good match for either. Well, I actually got an email for Kohl's stating that I was not a good match. The email for Target gave me 22 reasons why I was not approved. Some of them applied. Some of them did not. Both emails were obviously auto responses. I hoped I would have been approved, but I understand why I was not. As the Kohl's email stated, I am not a good match. Now, I would think differently if I was reviewing and attempting to sell things on this blog. Especially, if it were items that Target and Kohl's sell. Then, I should have been approved, but this is not what I am trying to do. So, I actually agree with being denied. I just thought it would be fun to try. I also thought it would have been nice for me to make some money sending people to their websites through my links/ads. Target and Kohl's are big names and they sell lots of stuff. Oh well, I will have to look further at the over 900 possibilities on the Google Affiliate Network.
Related Posts
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Sunday, February 13, 2011
Status Update
So, at this point I haven't made much money, and I didn't expect to. I understand that this is a process and I am enjoying every step. I have added a page entitled "The Results" to show you how much money I have made through my various steps. I still have two I need to work on. I will let you know how the process goes for these in the near future.
I just recently added another two slogans to Threadless. In order for me to make any money through Threadless I will need to continually try new slogans to see if mine gets picked. It seems that they have recently updated there submitting process. Now, you can only submit one slogan a day. It is then up for voting for one week. After that, the decision is made on whether it gets chosen to be on a t-shirts. If it is chosen you still get $500 as before. At this point, I have only submitted three slogans. I think it would be beneficial if I submitted on a daily basis. We will see if I can do that. In any case, here is a link to my slogan I submitted yesterday, and here is a link for the slogan I submitted today. If you click the links you can vote on them for me, which gives me a better chance of making $500. You do have to make an account though, but it is easy and doesn't require giving much information.
As for Can Stock Photo, I have submitted another picture. It was approved for sale. I am continuing to look through my pictures for more to submit.
At this point, I am still waiting to hear from Target and Kohl's. It has now been over two days. Hopefully you will be seeing their links/ads soon.
Thanks for reading my blog. Don't forget to click on an ad. It makes me money, and you don't even have to lift a finger...
Related Posts
I just recently added another two slogans to Threadless. In order for me to make any money through Threadless I will need to continually try new slogans to see if mine gets picked. It seems that they have recently updated there submitting process. Now, you can only submit one slogan a day. It is then up for voting for one week. After that, the decision is made on whether it gets chosen to be on a t-shirts. If it is chosen you still get $500 as before. At this point, I have only submitted three slogans. I think it would be beneficial if I submitted on a daily basis. We will see if I can do that. In any case, here is a link to my slogan I submitted yesterday, and here is a link for the slogan I submitted today. If you click the links you can vote on them for me, which gives me a better chance of making $500. You do have to make an account though, but it is easy and doesn't require giving much information.
As for Can Stock Photo, I have submitted another picture. It was approved for sale. I am continuing to look through my pictures for more to submit.
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| Approved |
At this point, I am still waiting to hear from Target and Kohl's. It has now been over two days. Hopefully you will be seeing their links/ads soon.
Thanks for reading my blog. Don't forget to click on an ad. It makes me money, and you don't even have to lift a finger...
Related Posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Google Affiliate Network
After I figured out that I could not do affiliate marketing with Amazon, I went back to the drawing board. There are a lot of opportunities for affiliate marketing, but I needed to find what would work best for me. I was leaning toward trying to become an affiliate marketer for eBay. Then I started looking a little more at my Google stuff. To my surprise Google has an affiliate network. I'm not quite sure how I missed this. The Google Affiliate Network offers the ability to be an affiliate with multiple companies such as Barnes & Noble, Target, Sears and Kohl's. That is only 4 of the almost 900 companies you can be an affiliate for. To become a member of the Google Affiliate Network you must, of course, apply. After you are a member, you then have to apply to each and every "store" you want to be an affiliate for. Then you are given links/ads to post to your blog or website. You can also make your own links/ads for specific products. If someone then clicks on your link/ad and makes a purchase, it's money in your pocket. Not to mention, the little bit of money made by someone just clicking on the link/ad. The amount of money you make off purchases is a percentage of the cost of the item. Usually anywhere from 4-10%. It depends on the item purchased and the "store." At this point, I have only become an affiliate for Barnes & Noble. I will make a 6% commission on purchases through my links/ads.
The application process is fairly simple. It starts by asking if you have a Google Adsense account. All of your earnings will be sent to your Google Adsense account, so you definitely want one of these. Plus, they make you. You must have a Google Adsense account in order to become a member of the Google Affiliate Network. Please refer to my Google Adsense post here to learn how to get an account. After you have a Google Adsense account you need to give the Google Affiliate Network your publisher ID number. You then have to give them your website or blog information. This includes the URL and a short description of your site. That's it. Submit this information, and you will hear back shortly. I think it took about an hour for me to be approved.
The next step is to pick what "stores" you want to be an affiliate for. I picked Barnes & Noble to start as I wanted to make a link for the book I spoke of in my last post. To pick your "stores," you will click on the advertisers tab. Then on the left there is a "Join" button. Click there and take your pick of almost 900 "stores." Click the box to the left of the "store" and hit apply. You then have to wait for their approval. This could take hours or days. When I applied to Barnes & Noble it took about a day to hear back. I have since applied to Target and Kohl's. I have not heard anything from them yet, and it has been over a day now.
After being approved, you are given multiple choices of links/ads that you can post to your website or blog. These are found under the links tab. I was given over 700 link/ads choices for Barnes & Noble. They range in size, color, and type of ad. You can also design your own links/ads as I did with the book to the right. I have since added another link/ad under the book to give you an idea of the type of links/ads you might find. Although, please click on it if you are interested in the sale they are offering. Anyway, it should be very easy to find what would work best for your website or blog. After you sort through and pick which one you want to use, just cut and paste the HTML code into your site. For me, this took some trial and error, but I got it figured out.
Now, to answer the question someone asked a while back ago. "Can you tailor your google ads?" With Google Adsense, the answer is no. With the Google Affiliate Network, the answer is yes.
Related Posts
The application process is fairly simple. It starts by asking if you have a Google Adsense account. All of your earnings will be sent to your Google Adsense account, so you definitely want one of these. Plus, they make you. You must have a Google Adsense account in order to become a member of the Google Affiliate Network. Please refer to my Google Adsense post here to learn how to get an account. After you have a Google Adsense account you need to give the Google Affiliate Network your publisher ID number. You then have to give them your website or blog information. This includes the URL and a short description of your site. That's it. Submit this information, and you will hear back shortly. I think it took about an hour for me to be approved.
The next step is to pick what "stores" you want to be an affiliate for. I picked Barnes & Noble to start as I wanted to make a link for the book I spoke of in my last post. To pick your "stores," you will click on the advertisers tab. Then on the left there is a "Join" button. Click there and take your pick of almost 900 "stores." Click the box to the left of the "store" and hit apply. You then have to wait for their approval. This could take hours or days. When I applied to Barnes & Noble it took about a day to hear back. I have since applied to Target and Kohl's. I have not heard anything from them yet, and it has been over a day now.
After being approved, you are given multiple choices of links/ads that you can post to your website or blog. These are found under the links tab. I was given over 700 link/ads choices for Barnes & Noble. They range in size, color, and type of ad. You can also design your own links/ads as I did with the book to the right. I have since added another link/ad under the book to give you an idea of the type of links/ads you might find. Although, please click on it if you are interested in the sale they are offering. Anyway, it should be very easy to find what would work best for your website or blog. After you sort through and pick which one you want to use, just cut and paste the HTML code into your site. For me, this took some trial and error, but I got it figured out.
Now, to answer the question someone asked a while back ago. "Can you tailor your google ads?" With Google Adsense, the answer is no. With the Google Affiliate Network, the answer is yes.
Related Posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Book
In my introduction I mentioned a book that gave me some of my initial ideas. The book is called The Million Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money From Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions. It is written by Mike Collins. Now, all I read the introduction and the first chapter of this book. I would love to read the rest, but I don't have any extra money to be spending on books. In that short bit though, I learned a little about blogging and got the names for Threadless, Can Stock Photo, and Greeting Card Universe. This then pushed me in the right direction for some continued research and ultimately the forming of my plan. If I wouldn't have found this book, I may not be at the point I am now. I know that I have not made much money yet, but I am still excited about the process and hopeful.
If you are interested in purchasing this book, please click on the book to the right. This will take you to Barnes & Noble to purchase it. Yes, that's right, I am now a Barnes & Noble affiliate. This means I will make some money if you purchase this book through my link. I will let you know how I became a Barnes & Noble affiliate in my next blog post. Until then, happy purchasing.
If you are interested in purchasing this book, please click on the book to the right. This will take you to Barnes & Noble to purchase it. Yes, that's right, I am now a Barnes & Noble affiliate. This means I will make some money if you purchase this book through my link. I will let you know how I became a Barnes & Noble affiliate in my next blog post. Until then, happy purchasing.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Can Stock Photo
Can Stock Photo is a website that allows you to upload pictures, which can then be sold to be downloaded. That is of course if you are accepted as a contributor and your pictures are accepted. The website goes on to say that they service clients from individuals to small businesses to major television networks. If your pictures are sold/downloaded then you get a 50% commission. This could equate to anywhere from $1.00 to $2.50 depending on the size of the download. Unless of course the individual downloading your picture has purchased a subscription to Can Stock Photo. Then you only get $.25. When and if you make $50.00, you can ask for payment through Paypal. Otherwise, you have to wait until you make $100.00. Then you can ask for a check.
The process of becoming a contributor was a little more involved then I thought it would be. First, you have to become a member of Can Stock Photo. Then there is an actual contributor application that needs to be filled out online. I also had to submit three pictures for their evaluation.
To become a member I had to submit my name, address, phone number, email address, and a password. They then sent me an email to confirm my email address. I went to my email and clicked on the link to confirm my email. I was then directed to my new member account. This is where I found the contributor application. The application starts with wanting to know your experience. Luckily, novice was a choice from the drop down menu. Then I had to tell them what equipment I use and how many mega pixels it has. They also wanted to know whether I work with other agencies and whether I have a portfolio. Of course, I answered no. Finally, I had to submit three pictures for their review. After the pictures were chosen I clicked the submit button. I received an immediate message that my application was being reviewed and I would hear from them within 24 hours. After about an hour I received an email from them stating that I was approved to contribute. I must say I was a little surprised as the more I worked on this, the more I thought I wasn't qualified.
Now that I was a contributor, I needed to give them a little more information on the three pictures I originally sent as a part of my application. This was to get them approved for sale. I would have thought this was a part of the application process, but it was not. So, I named each picture, described each picture, and tagged each picture with keywords. I then submitted these pictures for approval. I again was told this would take some time. I checked the next day and only one of my pictures was approved for sale.
Well, I guess I can start making money on Can Stock Photo now. I think it would be best if I submit more photos for approval. I'm just not sure if I have more pictures that are up to their standards. I will let you know how it goes.
The process of becoming a contributor was a little more involved then I thought it would be. First, you have to become a member of Can Stock Photo. Then there is an actual contributor application that needs to be filled out online. I also had to submit three pictures for their evaluation.
To become a member I had to submit my name, address, phone number, email address, and a password. They then sent me an email to confirm my email address. I went to my email and clicked on the link to confirm my email. I was then directed to my new member account. This is where I found the contributor application. The application starts with wanting to know your experience. Luckily, novice was a choice from the drop down menu. Then I had to tell them what equipment I use and how many mega pixels it has. They also wanted to know whether I work with other agencies and whether I have a portfolio. Of course, I answered no. Finally, I had to submit three pictures for their review. After the pictures were chosen I clicked the submit button. I received an immediate message that my application was being reviewed and I would hear from them within 24 hours. After about an hour I received an email from them stating that I was approved to contribute. I must say I was a little surprised as the more I worked on this, the more I thought I wasn't qualified.
Now that I was a contributor, I needed to give them a little more information on the three pictures I originally sent as a part of my application. This was to get them approved for sale. I would have thought this was a part of the application process, but it was not. So, I named each picture, described each picture, and tagged each picture with keywords. I then submitted these pictures for approval. I again was told this would take some time. I checked the next day and only one of my pictures was approved for sale.
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| Not approved. "Uneven light" |
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| Not approved. "Image does not meet our current content submission standards." I'm thinking it's a little too sexual for them. |
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| Approved |
Monday, January 31, 2011
Threadless
My next money making idea is through threadless.com. This is a site that sells t-shirts. That's it. They offer individuals the ability to help them out with designs or slogans. All you have to do is create an account. Then you can submit designs and slogans. If your design is chosen to be printed on a shirt then you get paid $2000. If your slogan is chosen then you get $500. They choose by looking every couple of weeks at the highest voted designs and slogans. Then they pick their favorites. The votes are cast by other account holders trying to get their own stuff chosen. So, this idea is probably not the best, but I thought it would be fun.
Setting up an account is easy. All you have to do is give them your email and a pick a password. Then they send you an email to confirm your email address. After your email is confirmed, the account is set up. At this point you can submit designs or slogans as well as vote on them.
I did this in a matter of minutes and was able to submit my first slogan. I'm not sure if I would agree with the term "slogan." It seems more like people are submitting random quotes. Anyway, I had been thinking about what I wanted to submit for a while. I had remembered something someone told me when I asked him how he was doing. He said, "I'd be awesome if I could get over being fantastic." I thought that would be a great first slogan until I was done submitting it. Then I realized the quote seemed a little vain. Oh well, it was done. Now, I could have removed it, but I decided to let it ride. The votes came back as I thought. Out of 28 votes so far, 3 liked it, and one of the votes was mine. Well, I guess I should start thinking of some more slogans. Wish me luck.
If you are interested in checking out the website, here is a link. Now, if you use this link and happen to purchase a t-shirt, I will get a little credit. This credit is in the form of money to be used on threadless.com. Then maybe I can buy myself a t-shirt.
Setting up an account is easy. All you have to do is give them your email and a pick a password. Then they send you an email to confirm your email address. After your email is confirmed, the account is set up. At this point you can submit designs or slogans as well as vote on them.
I did this in a matter of minutes and was able to submit my first slogan. I'm not sure if I would agree with the term "slogan." It seems more like people are submitting random quotes. Anyway, I had been thinking about what I wanted to submit for a while. I had remembered something someone told me when I asked him how he was doing. He said, "I'd be awesome if I could get over being fantastic." I thought that would be a great first slogan until I was done submitting it. Then I realized the quote seemed a little vain. Oh well, it was done. Now, I could have removed it, but I decided to let it ride. The votes came back as I thought. Out of 28 votes so far, 3 liked it, and one of the votes was mine. Well, I guess I should start thinking of some more slogans. Wish me luck.
If you are interested in checking out the website, here is a link. Now, if you use this link and happen to purchase a t-shirt, I will get a little credit. This credit is in the form of money to be used on threadless.com. Then maybe I can buy myself a t-shirt.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
32 Cents
Well, another person clicked on one of my google ads. Thank you to whoever you are. This time, the result was not as profitable. Instead of the $1.84ish that I made with the first 2 clicks, I made $.32. I am a little disappointed, but I am still optimistic.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
My First Few Dollars
Let the good times roll. I'm making money. Someone finally clicked on my google ads, and I made $3.69. According to my Google Adsense account, there were two clicks made to ads on this blog. That's right, just two clicks. I must say that I am a little surprised. I thought that I would maybe make $.25 a click. I had no idea I would make over a dollar and a half a click. Now, just so everyone understands, I can make over a dollar and a half if you just click on an ad on this blog...
On a side note, someone asked me if there was a way to tailor your google ads. After some research, I don't think this is possible. The ads are tailored to the blog or website topic. You may be able to trick the system a bit by using keywords in your blog or website over and over again, but there is no way to pick your ads. About the only customization that you can do is design how the ads look. You can pick colors, sizes, and where you would like them on your blog or website. That's about it.
On a side note, someone asked me if there was a way to tailor your google ads. After some research, I don't think this is possible. The ads are tailored to the blog or website topic. You may be able to trick the system a bit by using keywords in your blog or website over and over again, but there is no way to pick your ads. About the only customization that you can do is design how the ads look. You can pick colors, sizes, and where you would like them on your blog or website. That's about it.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Step Three
Okay, so I don't think anyone has clicked on any of my google ads. At this point I have made $0. Or, some people have clicked on my ads and it just hasn't registered yet. I will continue to watch and let you know when I make a few pennies.
Step three has been a tough pill to swallow so far. My original plan was to do some affiliate marketing with the Amazon affiliate program. Amazon sells a lot of different products, and I thought it would be easy to incorporate Amazon into this blog. It should have been as simple as getting Google Adsense started, as Blogger also has an easy template tab for Amazon affiliates. But, I have come to find out that Amazon does not allow Colorado residents to be affiliates. According to the research I did, Amazon wants the state of Colorado to pay some sort of sales tax. Of course, Colorado does not want to pay this tax. In turn, Amazon fired all their affiliates in Colorado and will not allow new affiliates to sign up. This is also the case in North Carolina and Rhode Island. Now I am left wondering what to do next. There is plenty of opportunities for affiliate marketing, but I need to do a little more research to figure out what would work best for me. So, at this point, I am skipping step three. I will re-visit it some time in the near future.
Step three has been a tough pill to swallow so far. My original plan was to do some affiliate marketing with the Amazon affiliate program. Amazon sells a lot of different products, and I thought it would be easy to incorporate Amazon into this blog. It should have been as simple as getting Google Adsense started, as Blogger also has an easy template tab for Amazon affiliates. But, I have come to find out that Amazon does not allow Colorado residents to be affiliates. According to the research I did, Amazon wants the state of Colorado to pay some sort of sales tax. Of course, Colorado does not want to pay this tax. In turn, Amazon fired all their affiliates in Colorado and will not allow new affiliates to sign up. This is also the case in North Carolina and Rhode Island. Now I am left wondering what to do next. There is plenty of opportunities for affiliate marketing, but I need to do a little more research to figure out what would work best for me. So, at this point, I am skipping step three. I will re-visit it some time in the near future.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Google Adsense
So, step two of my plan is complete. As you can now see, I have ads by google on my blog. Please feel free to click on anything. As soon as you do, I get a very small amount of money. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it is not very much. All I really know is that I have to make $100 before the powers that be will send me a check. In any case, please click on some stuff. I will let you know how much I get per click as soon as someone is nice enough to click something for me.
The process of getting this set up was fairly simple. You have to, of course, have a blog or a website. Then you have to get an account with Google Adsense. There is a very short page to fill out including the URL of your blog or website, your contact information for mailing your checks (the most important part), and your email. When I was done filling out this form, I was told that they would look over the information and get back to me in 1-2 days. It took 3 hours and I was set to go. I was sent an email that I had to respond to in order to verify my email. I was then taken to my Google Adsense account homepage. This is where I could see my publisher ID number, my current earnings, and I could learn how to best utilize Google Adsense.
The next task was getting ads to show up on my blog. Since I am using Blogger, this was incredibly simple. In Blogger, if you go to the monetize tab on your dashboard, there is another Adsense tab. When you click on this tab it gives you the options of where you would like your ads on your page. After choosing your template, it asks for your Adsense account. Put your information in, and you are done. It is that simple. Now, if you are using another blogging site such as Wordpress, this would be done a little differently. I am not sure how, but I know it has to do with using the publisher ID number. The Google Adsense site has lots of helpful tips and walk through videos for doing just this.
Okay, on to step three.
The process of getting this set up was fairly simple. You have to, of course, have a blog or a website. Then you have to get an account with Google Adsense. There is a very short page to fill out including the URL of your blog or website, your contact information for mailing your checks (the most important part), and your email. When I was done filling out this form, I was told that they would look over the information and get back to me in 1-2 days. It took 3 hours and I was set to go. I was sent an email that I had to respond to in order to verify my email. I was then taken to my Google Adsense account homepage. This is where I could see my publisher ID number, my current earnings, and I could learn how to best utilize Google Adsense.
The next task was getting ads to show up on my blog. Since I am using Blogger, this was incredibly simple. In Blogger, if you go to the monetize tab on your dashboard, there is another Adsense tab. When you click on this tab it gives you the options of where you would like your ads on your page. After choosing your template, it asks for your Adsense account. Put your information in, and you are done. It is that simple. Now, if you are using another blogging site such as Wordpress, this would be done a little differently. I am not sure how, but I know it has to do with using the publisher ID number. The Google Adsense site has lots of helpful tips and walk through videos for doing just this.
Okay, on to step three.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Introduction
My name is Matt and I recently had a daughter. As a new father I, of course, am freaking out about the added cost of having this wonderful little girl. My wife and I recently spent some time going through our finances, and the two biggest additions at this point have been adding her to our insurance and daycare. Both will equate to a large amount of money monthly that we do not really have. Not to mention all the other little purchases that seem to be made on a daily basis. So, I started thinking about ways to make some extra money.
My first thought was, how do I make one million dollars. Then maybe I can quit my job and spend all my time with my wife and daughter, which is really what I want to do anyway. So, I did some research on the internet. Most of what I found was the get rich quick stuff, and I am not stupid enough to try one of those. Okay, maybe I am. I tried one years ago, but it didn't work out. Anyway, I tried thinking of ways to make a million dollars on my own. The only thing I could come up with was to just ask for it. What if I started a blog or a website asking for one dollar from everyone. There are over 300 million people just in the United States. Do you think one million people would give me a dollar? Probably not in this economy. Okay, probably not ever.
In the process of researching I came across a book that caught my interest (more on the book later). I noticed that a sample of the book was available for the Kindle. I then downloaded the Kindle app for the iPhone and then downloaded the sample. The sample gave me the introduction and the first chapter of the book. In just that little bit, I learned a little about blogging and found other websites I then looked at. From there I came up with my plan. Now, I am not planning to make one million dollars with this plan, but I hope to make a little money to offset the cost of having my beautiful daughter.
My first thought was, how do I make one million dollars. Then maybe I can quit my job and spend all my time with my wife and daughter, which is really what I want to do anyway. So, I did some research on the internet. Most of what I found was the get rich quick stuff, and I am not stupid enough to try one of those. Okay, maybe I am. I tried one years ago, but it didn't work out. Anyway, I tried thinking of ways to make a million dollars on my own. The only thing I could come up with was to just ask for it. What if I started a blog or a website asking for one dollar from everyone. There are over 300 million people just in the United States. Do you think one million people would give me a dollar? Probably not in this economy. Okay, probably not ever.
In the process of researching I came across a book that caught my interest (more on the book later). I noticed that a sample of the book was available for the Kindle. I then downloaded the Kindle app for the iPhone and then downloaded the sample. The sample gave me the introduction and the first chapter of the book. In just that little bit, I learned a little about blogging and found other websites I then looked at. From there I came up with my plan. Now, I am not planning to make one million dollars with this plan, but I hope to make a little money to offset the cost of having my beautiful daughter.
The Plan
The plan starts with adding in some things to this blog that may provide some income such as ads. The second part of the plan is to try making a little money on open source websites. Okay, maybe not a little, but as much as I possibly can. This blog will keep you updated on the process as well as the earnings (hopefully). Here is a more step by step approach to the plan.
- Start a blog - Done.
- Google Adsense - This is something I can get started on this blog. It probably won't amount to much money, but every little bit counts.
- Affiliate Marketing - This is also something I can also start on this blog. I'm thinking I will start with Amazon Affiliates. Although, that means I have to come up with things to sell.
- Threadless.com - This website will allow me to submit designs or slogans. If my design or slogan gets printed on a shirt I will get some money.
- Canstockphoto.com - This website allows me to upload photos. If they sell, I get money.
- Cafepress.com - This website allows me to create and sell t-shirts and more. If they sell, I get money.
- Greetingcarduniverse.com - This website will allow me to create greeting cards. If they sell, I get money.
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