Thursday, November 09, 2006

Stop watching and make money now

So you want to start a blog. Well if you’re like me then you want to do your due diligence first and educate yourself about the process and the resources that are available to you. Hopefully, I’ve done the necessary research for you and will try to keep an updated list of useful websites that help educate and provide all the necessary resources to put up and maintain your blog. Here you will learn everything from why you should have a blog to how you can start profiting from it. Keep in mind that, ideally, I will update and add to this blog several times a week, if time permits. So check back often.

Contrary to popular belief you will not get rich overnight through you blog. However you can start the ground work for investing in a project that if done right could pay off dividends on a regular basis.

What I’ve tried to do below is create an outline of links that compliment the learning process and the necessary steps to putting up and maintaining your blog. The method to the links below is as follows; first you see the topics highlighted, then you will see a link. Underneath the link I will give a brief description of what the link has to offer.

Why start a blog

  1. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384325/index.htm?postversion=2006090812

This is an interesting article that puts into perspective the power of blogging and the potential benefits one stands to inherit. This article is a good motivator.

  1. http://www.johnchow.com/index.php/the-internets-biggest-google-whores/

Proof is in the pudding. How does one profit from blogging, Google ADsense and other similar programs that are out there. Now don’t get me wrong, the guys in the article above clearly were ahead of the curve. But with a good sound idea and full execution you could be the next guy on this list.

What should I know before I start a blog

1. http://www.avivadirectory.com/successful-blog-launch/

This is a really informative essay that will give you some insight on how to get started. It’s very informative and the blogger gives you plenty of ideas on how to market and promote your blog. Some of the suggestions are linking your blog to RSS & Subscriptions feeds, using social book marking and link building.

2. http://www.squidoo.com/blogstarter

Here you have a great blog starter checklist. You are also given some direction on where to take your blog ideas and how to best get the word out.

3. http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10881_11-6120257.html#

This article really summarizes well the fundamentals of a good blog. Title of the article is “10 Ways to become a better blogger”.

4. http://www.copyblogger.com/

Copyblogger has some great advice on what to and what not to do on your blog. There are plenty of articles on the site that will help you better understand how to create a cohesive blog from top to bottom.

How you can make money with your blog

1. http://www.problogger.net/

This site is a great overall resource for blogging how to’s. There are some good points on why to blog as well as how to design your Adsense ads to start making money through your blog.

2. https://www.google.com/adsense/?sourceid=aso&subid=ww-en-et- asblog&medium=et

Take the tour to get a better understanding about how Google Adsense works.

3. http://www.johnchow.com/making-money-from-a-blog-week-4/

In this article you get to monitor the growth of a blog on a weekly basis as it is documented here on this site. I really enjoy this website. It always has practical advice and it’s a great motivator.

4. http://webadsblog.com/2006/10/16/how-to-promote-your-adsense-niche-site/

This blog teaches you a bit about Web advertising, hence the name Web advertising blog. There are some good detailed ideas on this site about overall advertising to fine tuning your niche blog.

5 htp://dumblittleman.blogspot.com/2006/10/40-ways-to-make-money-on internet.html

If you sort through the links you can find some useful tools for your blog

6. http://www.makemoneyathome-idea.com/block_low_paying_ads.php

Learn how you can block low paying ads and increase your income stream

Thursday, November 02, 2006

So you think I can't see you

For some time now I've been thinking of starting a blog. The idea at first seemed somewhat silly, however I soon came to realize I was wrong. The blog culture has evolved exponentially. The idea caught on so fast, people all around me starting putting up their own personal blogs. I mean everyone, people of all ages, grandma's and grandpa's, their 10 and 15 year old grandchildren, college students, hobbyists, collectors politicians, athletes, you get the jist, anyone with an opinion now has a platform to voice it on.

I remember when I first watched the video short, Epic 2014. It was an interesting take on the power and evolution of Google, the blog, the internet, and our privacy. If you haven't seen it, I definitely suggest finding it online somewhere, just do a Google search.

We get so caught up with technology that we don't get to appreciate how far we've come as a technological society. We seem to be advancing technologically faster than we can keep up as a society. I'm sure there have been many, many essays and books written about this subject. I have a feeling it's one topic that will soon be on more peoples minds.

Privacy will soon become an obsolete word. We're advancing so fast that there is limited time to ascertain what if any ramifications new technologies will have on our civil liberties and privacy rights. If you take a step back and take a broader look at whats going on I think you would be shocked, appalled or maybe even disgusted.

Let's look at Spyware programs. What's this all about? A third party that plants software on your computer to track your every move, everything from keystrokes, to personal and private account numbers to the web pages you visit. Ummm, what? Google is keeping a folder of every person that has ever done a search on google, ever. It's a nice little folder with your name on it. I bet they bank on making some money off that information sometime in the future. As soon as the right politicians get bought and pass legislation that allows private companies to keep diaries of our lives without us even having a choice in the matter. Boy am I excited.

You mean this is legal? Yep, so far it is. Lets get this straight, a third party without my permission or knowledge for that matter, has planted software on my computer. Which coincidentally, also happens to infringe on the performance of my computer. Isn't this breaking and entering but worse. Now a company has personal information about me stored somewhere that it plans on selling to some other company to market their products more efficiently to me, dandy. Oh, the government can also subpoena anything they want from any of these companies in the name of security. But who even needs a subpoena these days.

Even my computer is trying to spy on me and secretly record me and what goes on in the background when I use or view their product. Scandalous, how can one not be cynical or skeptical when this kind of technology is allowed to be used in this country.

Companies are already out there that have legally implanted their employees with a chip. That's right a chip. I haven't fully mastered blogging yet and there are people out there getting chips inserted into their bodies. Wow, things are developing fast, maybe to fast. But who am I to question the speed of technological advancement, I'm just another blogger with some thoughts on my mind that I would like to voice. And because of this amazing and wonderful technological phenomenon, I have a blog in which I can communicate to the whole world with and send them my message. Technological growth is great, it's wonderful to see what brilliant minds come up. I'm somewhat of a gadget connoisseur and am always on the lookout for some new toys. I think I'll pass on anything that wants to stick a chip in me.