Google checkout
July 31, 2006
I was going to give Google checkout a try to sell my new ebook. They have a couple of things which seemed pretty cool for people using adwords, but unfortunately it is only available to US based businesses for now.
Ebook submitted to clickbank
July 29, 2006
Following up on my goal of getting my next ebook finished this week, I finally made the final touches to the pdf and made the landing and purchase pages.
I am using clickbank again. I think the only reason why you would use clickbank is to take advantage of the affiliate program option. It costs $50 for each product you sell in clickbank, which you would need to sell a few ebooks to recover the costs.
I was under the wrong impression that the original $50 was for an unlimited number of products! It takes up to 3 business days to get approval, so I might just be able to get it live by next week.
Update: Actually you only have to pay $50 once for multiple products. I wish clickbank was a little clearer on this.
Why isn’t everyone doing this?
July 28, 2006
I am kind of continuing on from yesterday’s post and a comment that was left on my blog that got me thinking; if making money on the internet is so easy, why doesn’t everyone do it?
If everyone quits their job to write ebooks and blogs, who is going to do all of the necessary work to keep society functioning? The fact is, only a fraction of the people who learn about internet marketing will actually try it. Out of those only a fraction will be successful and only another small percentage will be able to make it their full time career.
I have told a few friends about what I am doing. Some are IT professionals and others are working in sales and marketing. They always say how fantastic it is and how they would love to do the same thing. Some friends have said they want to work on sites together with me. Most of the time the next time I meet them, I ask if they ever started a website yet, or if they have written any content like they said they would, and all of them have replied that they have been too busy.
I don’t want to judge their lives and how they spend their time in any way, so I usually just drop the subject. I totally understand that this is not for everyone.
To start an internet business, you only need a computer and an internet connection. It is the time you need to spend learning, reading, experimenting, writing and so on to become successful.
You need to love what you are doing. If updating your blog or your site is a chore, then you can probably come to the conclusion now that it won’t be long before you quit.
For me, I love what I am doing. I love the extra freedom it will give me in the future. To travel and spend the time as I please.
Forget about working in a job
July 28, 2006
Steve Pavlina has a great article on his site, “10 Reasons why should never get a job“.
It kind of relates to what I tried to write in my own post on working for yourself versus working for a company.
It convinces me more and more that this is the way to go.
Classic quote:
So if your boss is really your evil bovine master, then what does that make you? Nothing but a turd in the herd.
If I ever have any doubts about what I am doing, I think I will just go back and read this post.
Go Take a break
July 25, 2006
I am not kidding but sometimes the best way to make money is to go and take a break. Living in Japan I see people working ridiculously long hours. I have always had the opinion that it is generally impossible to concentrate from an extended period of time.
I know some Japanese feel they are working hard by working all night, but I really think that it is impossible to continuously work that much.
The average time that someone does “productive work” is so minimal. There are just too many distractions.
Forums and blogs are great, but I know that if I spent less time reading and looking up irrelevant searches I could produce a great deal more output. Relax, take long breaks and when you are online, make the most of your time and I believe you can use your time more efficiently.
First full ebook sale
July 25, 2006
I made my first non-affiliate sale today with Clickbank! I can now submit my product into the Clickbank marketplace. I am not sure if this will have any effect on future sales, but it is exciting to have made at least one full sale.
To stay in the marketplace, you need to sell at least one product a month. I am hoping at the minimum to be able to achieve this.
My next ebook is almost complete. I really want to submit it for approval by the end of this week. I have even more confidence with this next one.
There is a lot of discussion going on in the forums over the changes Google has made with landing page websites. You really need to be familiar with these changes if you are using Adwords to promote a single sales page.
allWebscape Webmaster Interview
July 25, 2006
The webmaster of allWebscape approached me recently to advertise on this site. The webmaster is a fellow Australian and what he was doing seemed interesting. I have a couple of directories myself, and rather a paid advertisement I thought doing a short interview would be interesting and beneficial to both myself and my readers. There are a couple of well-known Australian bloggers, but it is generally difficult to make contact with other Australian internet entrepreneurs. We both seem to have a similar background starting out with eBay and then moving into websites.
If anyone else would like to be interviewed, please drop me an email (not just Aussies).
How long have you been working on the internet and how did you get started?
I got a start working online selling software and electronics on eBay Australia back in 2000, straight out of high school. I was looking for a way to supplement my full time job at the time, working in the electronics department of a Myers Grace Bros store.
Where are you from in Australia?
I have lived in Concord West all my life, which is an inner-west Sydney suburb located 20 minutes from the CBD.
Why did you create a general directory site?
Whilst there are already a lot of general directories already online, I felt there was a lack of quality free directories, which you can submit quality websites to. Most directories start out being free, but quickly turn into a paid only business model. Whilst I do charge for featured listings on http://www.allwebscape.com/ submitters do have the option to submit normal listings for free. As a directory owner, I think it’s important always giving the submitter the option to submit their sites for free. A directory is nothing without a large database of quality websites. If you’re refusing many good website submissions just because they didn’t pay, what kind of directory would I be building?
Do you run any other websites?
Yes I have quite a few. My biggest web project to date would have to be my pocket bike racing forums. I launched this site in late 2004 and it has really taken off since. The forum just passed a milestone, reaching 3000+ members which I am excited about.
Do you do this full-time or is it just a hobby?
I have been working online since 2000. I only started to get serious about things in late 2004.
Where do you see the future of directories going?
Unfortunately I don’t have great optimism for the free web directories. The spam situation is only getting worse, and as much as you want to provide a free resource too much time is consumed having to remove all the spam submissions. I think there will always be a market for quality paid directories.
Is it still beneficial to submit links to a directory?
Yes definitely. As I am sure your visitors are aware, link popularity is one of the main factors in getting good search engine rankings. Submitting to directories is one method to obtain one way back links to your website.
How do search engines treat links coming from a directory? Is it any different from a non-directory site?
It’s a good question, and probably really only something search engine engineers could answer accurately. From my experience I find links from directories to still be very beneficial.
Did you write the script yourself?
No I am using an off the shelf script which I have modified. The script is called PHP Link Directory.
Do you have any suggestions for people running a directory style site?
Try and stand out from the crowd. If you are going to adopt a paid directory business model, give submitters a reason for wanting to submit to your directory.
You have a pretty good alexa ranking, do you have any suggestions for improving your ranking?
Advertise on sites which will generate targeted traffic for you and implement good SEO practices. If you do both these two things well you should go a long way to increasing traffic levels.
Any final thoughts…
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed.
Getting started with PPC podcast
July 23, 2006
I downloaded Shoemoney’s latest podcast to my ipod and went for a long walk yesterday.
It is over an hour long. I have tried to listen to podcasts while I work at my computer, but I have found that it is impossible to listen to it properly and take it all in.
If anyone is interested in PPC or affiliate marketing, this is a must listen. Just hearing to two guys bantering about different ways to make money is priceless information.
With so much crap out there on making money on the internet, it is great to listen to an intelligent conversation between two people who really know what they are doing.
The podcast is suitable for both beginners and experienced people alike. Also with podcasts, over regular articles and blog posts, I think people tend to talk more freely than if they wrote about a particular subject.
One point that Kris from Paperjamsearch made a couple of times, was to find one way of successfully making money and keep repeating the same idea. I think we all need to be reminded of this sometimes. Diversification can be beneficial and it is a great learning experience trying other forms of making money, but for your core income, stick at what you are good at.
Finally on other thing I like about this kind of information, is that these guys are not selling any of their own products. Sure they might use the program to promote their business and raise their profile, but they are not saying “go buy my product - it’s the only way to learn about how to make money on the internet”.
I am sure there are some good information products available, but for some people their whole business is selling products telling you how to make money. I find people that have blogs or podcasts who talk about what kinds of programs and methods they have found useful in making money for free much more credible.
Latest mini site
July 22, 2006
I am working on my latest mini-site - an introduction to day trading. I have dabbled it in a bit, before I go into internet marketing. I forget now what even inspired me to register the domain. I am fairly sure the keywords are high paying.
Podcast with one of the founders of blip.tv
July 18, 2006
Just listend to a podcast with Mike Hudack one of the podcasts of blip.tv.
It is very interesting to hear their thoughts on where video is going.
