The Reality of Online Business

Someone asked me the other day why making money online seems to come so easy for me. I had to tell them that in my opinion it is NOT easy and nor is it for me. Well, the technical aspects and the actual work are easy for me…I love blogging, web design, graphic design, coding, etc. The leg work though is not all that easy. It can be tedious and time consuming, especially if I am in “production mode” as opposed to what Lynn Terry refers to as “maintenance mode”.

Maintenance entails all the stuff that keeps your business humming along as is…customer support, answering emails, paying affiliates, etc. It probably only takes me 5 hours a week to keep things running on maintenance, if that. But in production mode I am BUSY…sometimes like 30-40 hours a week busy. Production mode is what allows me to grow my business. Some of my production mode activities include writing and posting content for blogs (I have over a dozen), static web sites, article directories, info products, special reports, autoresponders (I have over a dozen),  and for sale. I also scour my web sites and blogs for new ways to monetize the content. I spend a lot of time testing and tracking to see what works and what doesn’t and I tweak. I also look for ways to automate processes so my maintenance time is low. I brainstorm new ideas and flesh them out to gauge profitability.

I spend time engaging in various PR or publicity activities but admittedly I am very picky about my opportunities. I have turned down prime time TVs shows, on air broadcast news interviews, and photo shoots because I prefer not to do that. I didn’t start an online biz to be some sort of rock star, I started an online business to make enough money so that eventually my whole family could have financial freedom. My ultimate goal is to make enough money passively to support us spending 6 months a year out of the country…like a beachside rental in Costa Rica.

So for right now that means I spend some hefty hours in production mode. But it is worth it. Last week I bought my husband a motorcycle with cash. He gave up his motorcycle when we moved out of state and has missed it ever since. Tomorrow he goes to pick up his new one. It feels good to be able to do that.

Most days I am in production mode because I do want to see my business continue to grow for some time. I think it will be worth it in the long run even if it is hard right now.

 

 

Squidoo Tip for Poll Modules

One of the more fun features or modules on Squidoo is the poll module. It allows you to create a poll with a question or a statement and then multiple choices for your visitors to choose from. But did you know you you can hyperlink the poll choices to Amazon products…increasing your chances for affiliate sales?

It is actually very easy to do. Just login to your Amazon affiliate control panel, choose the appropriate tracking ID, and then start creating product links. Copy a text only version of the link and where Squidoo directs you to “Enter your poll response options” you enter your Amazon link instead of plain text.

Here is a picture of the process:

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And here is a picture of the poll after the page is published and you get some voters. The best part about this trick is that the full affiliate commission goes to me. I don’t share it 50/50 with Squidoo as I would with many other modules.

poll-module.jpg

 In case you were wondering these two images are from different Squidoo Lenses. Hope this helps you boost your Squidoo profit!

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Can You Make Money With a Blog?

womanonlaptop2.jpgTowards the beginning of the year I remember a conversation at Mom Masterminds about how much money could be made with a blog. Now of course we know some people are making a fortune with blogging…like Darren Rowse or John Chow…but those are the big dogs. So I think the question was more about whether or not a mom marketer with a comparatively small sphere of influence could make any money blogging.

Several moms shared their experiences and most felt that the profits from blogging were pretty dismal….myself included. At that point…let’s say January 2007, I was making about $50.00 a month from my green living blog. I was making about $10.00 a month from Google Adsense ads and the rest from affiliate sales. Despite the lack of money it was drawing I decided to really bust my behind blogging on that particular domain. I concentrated on adding 4-5 pieces of new content every week, monetized with affiliate links. For the most part I did green product reviews and book reviews mixed in with personal stories and newsworthy items. In addition, many of the products I reviewed were sent to me gratis by the companies who sell them. I got yoga mats, organic teas, board games, sippy cups, books, jewelry, DVDs, lotions, soaps, clothing, bedding, towels…you name it! My nearly two year old’s bedroom is decked out with organic everything.

But back to blogging….halfway through the year I added Text Link Ads and sponsored posts from ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews.  Toward the last part of the year I added more Adsense ads, and I started displaying BlogHer ads. I got smarter about ad placement too. Simply displaying an affiliate banner in my RSS feed brought an immediate profit. I  was having a lot of fun writing for the blog but I was starting to make money too. 

I am being conservative when I say that I made $500.00 for last month (Dec. 07) and that is just the cash part. The holidays brought many free products too, as businesses were hoping for a review or a mention before Christmas. That portion could easily be another couple hundred dollars. So all in all…not bad. From $50 to more than $500 per month in a year from one blog on a sub-domain of one of my larger sites. I no longer think blog profits are dismal. ;) On a related side note my RSS feed subscribers jumped from 46 to 365 during that same time.

I also look forward to seeing how things look next year as my readership and my profits increase. :) I don’t think I will ever be making the kind of money John Chow’s blog is (think $180,000 annually) but hey I am not complaining.

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