If you have ever attempted to monetize a blog or website, you probably started off with Google AdSense. After all, this is one of the easiest and most profitable ways to turn visitors into cash. But with that being said, if you rely 100 percent on AdSense you could be playing with fire. This may not be that big of a deal if you are only making a few bucks per month, but for bigger earnings, relying solely on AdSense is the biggest mistake that you could ever make.
Take a close look at this blog post over at Rich Twin Poor Twin; http://www.richtwinpoortwin.com/banned-from-google-adsense-lost-200000.html. These guys were making six figures a month from AdSense alone. This is probably something that you have dreamt about time and time again, right? Unfortunately, the gravy train has pulled away from the station, and these guys are left without any answers as to what happened. When Google banned them from AdSense, it cost them $200,000 from the previous month, as well as the money that they would have made from there on out.
The problem with relying solely on AdSense is that Google can pull the plug on you whenever they see fit. And to make things even worse, there is no way to find out what happened. It is hard to say if these guys were click bombed by a competitor, or if something else led to their dismissal. Even though they received a “ban email†stating invalid clicks, what exactly does that mean?
Although it is a shame that this had to happen, it is a lesson that we can all learn from. There is nothing wrong with using AdSense on your sites, but you better make sure that you diversify in case something like this happens. For instance, these guys have since moved onto other revenue streams such as AdBrite, Yahoo Publisher Network, ValueClick, BidVertiser, Kontera, and Text Link Ads. If they would have done this earlier on, the process of picking up the pieces would have been much easier to deal with.
Diversify your income streams so that you are not the next one to get taken down by Google. If you let AdSense run your life, it can potentially ruin it in the long run.
At Chrisblogging.com I have more or less decided that one blog post per day is the way to go. In the past I have owned blogs that I updated three or four times per day as well as some that I only touched once per week. When it comes down to it, I feel that one post per day on this blog is the way to go.
Generally speaking, there are a few reasons that I am going to stick to my one post per day trend for the time being. First off, people who are interested in reading this blog are also going to be interested in reading many others. Although I may be able to capture their attention long enough to read several posts, I would much rather offer one good one that makes readers think.
Also, I feel much more comfortable writing only one post per day. I know a lot of bloggers like to write several posts at once, and then timestamp them for the future. Although I have done this from time to time, I tend to make a post live the same day that I write it. For instance, once I am done with this post, I will proof it a few times and then get it out there for you all to read.
Finally, when I have blogs that require more than one post per day, I sometimes feel as if I am not giving my all to each piece. Knowing that I have to move onto another post can sometimes make me rush my thoughts, and in turn, jumble things together. When I write a blog post I want to make sure that it is clear, concise, and that I put my best work forward.
For now, I think one post per day is going to work for this blog. After all, I only have around 40 posts, and am still trying to build traffic and decide on revenue streams. Maybe when I double this post count, as well as my traffic, I may consider doing more than one post per day. But until then, this seems to be the magic formula!
There is no doubt that being self-employed has quite a few benefits. And of course, I would not have it any other way. When it comes down to it, I would never go back to working for somebody else; even if it meant more money. But with that being said, there are some drawbacks of being self-employed. One of the biggest ones that you will have to deal with is purchasing your own health insurance coverage.
Buying an individual health insurance policy can be a difficult process for even the most knowledgeable self-employed professionals. If you are making a decent income, you may not think twice about having to pay for your own health insurance. But on the other side of things, if you are new to being self-employed, and are yet to breakthrough, any money that you have to pay out can be damaging to your bottom line.
No matter what, you need to make sure that you purchase some type of coverage. Even if you buy a high deductible policy, you will at least be covered if something catastrophic were to happen.
Luckily, most people can find a reasonably priced policy that will give them coverage ranging from basic office visits to prescription drugs to hospitalization.
You may be wondering what type of health insurance policy I have, right? At this time, I purchase both by health and dental through Aetna; it is a PPO plan and offers a good level of benefits without too high of a price tag. I pay $155 per month for both; which I am pretty happy about. Some of the more important details of the policy include a $1,500 deductible, $3,000 out of pocket limit, and low co-pays. Although the deductible and out of pocket limit may sound high, I always make sure that I have at least $3,000 tucked away in case I need to max out for a particular year. This has yet to happen yet, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
Remember, if you are self-employed you will be able to deduct 100 percent of your health insurance premiums. This is something that you do not want to forget when it comes time to do your taxes. Make sure that you ask your tax professional about this so that you keep everything legal.
Freelance writers and other self-employed professionals do not have the luxury of getting health insurance from their employer. If you are in this boat, make sure that you buy your own policy. Despite the cost, it is well worth it.
If you are a freelance writer, you have more than likely heard of Writer’s Market. Not only can you purchase the annual Writer’s Market book, but they also have a website that offers just as much information.
For serious freelance writers, an online subscription to Writer’s Market is a must have. For $29.99 you receive many benefits that will help to better your career. Just a few of them include:
1. Listings that are regularly updated. This helps to ensure that you are always getting in touch with the right editor, etc.
2. The online version of Writer’s Market offers a feature known as “Submission Tracker.†This allows you to easily keep track of queries and contacts.
3. A searchable database allows you to quickly and efficiently find what and who you are looking for. Although the Writer’s Market book is useful, you will spend a lot of time flipping through page after page. With an online subscription this is never the case.
Of course, these are only the most basic benefits of Writer’s Market online.
Although I do not use Writer’s Market everyday, it is safe to say that I sign into my account at least three or four times a week. Anytime I am interested in hunting down a new market, or locating an editorial contact, this is where I start.
You can learn more about Writer’s Market books and online subscription at writersmarket.com.
Over the past couple of months I have put a lot of time into submitting content to Associated Content. And for all the hard work, I have been rewarded with a high acceptance rate, decent pay per article, and much more. Check out my post at http://www.chrisblogging.com/associated-content-recent-results/ for a good idea of my past results. Although this post covers the time from May 15 to June 15, it still shows just how much Associated Content has to offer.
I have slowed down my submissions over the past month due in large part to the amount of other work that I have had. And coincidentally enough, it seems that Associated Content has slowed their roll quite a bit as well. What do I mean by this? Simply put, they are not approving articles as fast as they were a month or so ago.
For instance, some of my articles in late June took 10 days to garner a response. This is compared to no more than five days in early June. While this may not be anything much, it makes me wonder what the problem is. Does Associated Content need to hire more editors? Or are they simply receiving more content now than they have in the past?
Personally, it does not bother me if they take a bit longer to respond. After all, I do not rely on Associated Content to pay my bills; I simply use it to add a few hundred bucks to my monthly total. But for those people who only write for Associated Content, this could be a huge problem.
Right now, I have quite a few articles waiting for a response that I submitted four to five days ago. It will be interesting to see if a response comes soon, or if 10 days or more go by this time.
Let me know if anybody else is having this problem, or if it is just me!
As I mentioned a couple days back, I applied to be part of the PayPerPost community. I figured that this was a great way to get started with a bit of monetization, not to mention the fact that I also wanted to see what the service is all about. Before you move on here, you may want to check that post out at http://www.chrisblogging.com/getting-started-with-payperpost/.
Well, despite being confident that my blog would be accepted, I received an email rejection this morning. I was a bit surprised that it took so long to hear back, but I guess with the holiday it was not so bad.
Fortunately, my blog did not get rejected because of the content or anything along those lines. Instead, it appears that they turned me down because I do not have an “archives†link. This just goes to show you that reading the rules is a very important step before doing anything online. Although I thought that I knew what I was doing, I somehow missed out on this detail.
Here is the email that I received from PayPerPost:
I was unable to find a link to your archives. Please make sure that it is in plain site and that your archives list chronologically, not categorically. Also, the archives cannot be just ‘previous pages.’ For example, it should be set up to where I could find a post on Sept. 30th very quickly. Please re-submit when this requirement has been met. In the meantime, feel free to use PPP Direct and Affiliate tools while you work on meeting the requirements of our Marketplace!
My guess is that they require an archives page so that they can easily find PayPerPost content among the rest of the posts; which makes sense to me.
As you can imagine, this is not going to set me back too much. I will add the archives widget to my sidebar, and then resubmit my blog today. Initially, I was not sure if simply adding the archives widget would be acceptable, but after seeing several other PayPerPost blogs, this seems to be just fine.
Hopefully I will be approved by sometime early next week. I will let you know when I hear something!Â
To be a successful blogger or freelance writer you need a wide variety of tools, skills, and attributes. This includes everything from top notch writing skills to the ability to market your work or blog. But with that being said, do you ever think about the other things that help you to succeed? I had an eye doctor appointment this morning, and it really got me thinking about just how important my eyes are.
Although there is nothing major wrong with my eyes, they are getting a bit worse due to using the computer for too many hours each day; which is sometimes 12 hours or more. This may not be a big deal right now, but over time things could get worse. I started thinking, what would I do if I were blind?
First off, I know that I would no longer be able to write for a living. Even though blind people can do extraordinary things, I don’t think that I would be able to continue with my current line of work. And as you can imagine, this would be just about the worst thing that could happen. Anybody who is passionate about their job will agree that taking it away would be a huge blow to their lifestyle.
I always thought that all I had to do was keep my contacts clean, and go to the eye doctor once a year. But today, I found out that this is not the case. Generally speaking, I need to use my glasses when working at the computer, and only wear my contacts when I am away from the office. If this is going to keep my eyes healthy, I have no problem with it at all. It is better to be safe than sorry; especially when my health and career are on the line.
Remember, your eyes are not something that you should take for granted. Even though you may never think about it, without your eyes, your days of using the computer for blogging and/or writing will probably be over.Â
It might be the 4th of July, but that does not mean that the blog world slows down. I just wanted to post a quick note wishing everybody a great day. Have fun eating tasty food and watching fireworks!
I’ll be back tomorrow (or after the fireworks) with another post!
If you have been following the blogosphere, you are probably well aware that contests have become hot as of late. For example, John Chow is famous for giving away everything from video games to monitors and much more. Although this may seem like a waste of money on his part, nothing could be further from the truth. And this holds true for anybody who has a contest running on his or her blog.
The main benefit of a blog contest is quite simple. You can attract traffic, and of course, have people coming back time and time again to see what else you are offering. After all, if you are running a contest for a hot item, such as an iPhone, you are sure to get people flocking to your site.
The most common way to run a blog contest is to have people make a comment on a particular post in order to enter. This will give you the information you need in order to pick a winner, and at the same time you will also attract traffic and quite possibly hundreds upon hundreds of comments. But remember, you can call for entries in whatever way you feel will benefit your blog the most.
I have been thinking about running a blog contest for about a month now. This is due in large part to the many leftover items, such as cell phones, etc., that I have lying around collecting dust. If possible, it would be nice to take these items and turn them into traffic. But of course, this is not the only idea that I have come up with.
Although it may not draw as much attention, I have also thought about giving away my writing services as part of a contest. For instance, the winner would receive 10 keyword articles or blog posts; something to that effect. It may not be as popular as a tangible giveaway, but anytime something is free, people are sure to get involved.Â
A blog contest is a great way to draw traffic, retain readers, and stir up a good buzz. Keep an eye out for my first blog contest in the weeks to come. I don’t know what I am going to do just yet, but it is coming!
Are you thinking about starting a blog? If so, you should know one very important thing. You need to start a blog that is going to be interesting to you. In other words, do not choose a topic that is not going to hold your attention for a long time. If you do, you will find out soon enough that your blog is going downhill in a hurry. With that being said, there are some topics that are sure to pick up a lot of steam as the months go by. If you can bring yourself to get involved with one of these topics, you will surely have a hand up when it comes to making money through blogging.
Here are the three topics that you may want to consider.
1. In today’s day and age, no topic is more common than health and fitness. Everybody wants to look good, feel good, and live a long time. For this reason, a quality health and fitness blog will go a long way. And since this industry is multi-faceted and continuing to grow, you can be rest assured that your blog will follow in that direction as well.
2. Believe it or not, blogs about making money online are not as played out as some people think. Sure, there are many of these around, but this is the case for a reason. When it comes down to it, there are millions of people who want to make money online. If you can give them useful information, your blog will surely gain traffic and earn money.
3. Through my experience, I have found that sports related blog have a lot to offer. After all, who doesn’t like sports? Even the most obscure sports have hundreds of thousands of fans. The key to success within this niche is to carve out a small piece of the pie. Instead of tackling a general sports topic, you should look into a smaller part such as a particular player or detail.
These are only three of the thousands of topics that you can choose to blog about. Although they may have the most potential, you need to choose a topic that you are interested in. This will allow you to have fun with your blog, and make regular posts without having to think twice.
