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.
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Saturday, February 26, 2011
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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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 |
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