Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Blueprint
May 31, 2007
I have followed Yaro’s Entrepreneur’s Journey blog for the past couple of years. Even though he started his blog a little time after mine, it didn’t take long for him to become one of the most popular Australian blogs.
Yaro has finally put together a blog mentoring program. I know he has been working on the program for quite a while now and I expect it to be well put together and a must for anyone looking to get into blogging or making money from blogs.
To promote the program, Yaro has put together a free resource which you can download here.
The long term value of websites
May 31, 2007
Like or not, Google is only strengthening its position as the world’s leading search engine. Google’s engineers are constantly trying to improve its search engine results. One of the directions it is heading in I believe, is creating a trust value for all websites. Sites with a higher trust value will tend to achieve higher rankings.
SEO experts earn their living by helping their customers achieve higher rankings for certain keywords. They do this in a number of ways, such as buying links, improving the title tags on a site and writing or rewriting articles to focus on certain keywords.
Google has long placed a higher level of trust on older sites. Content needs to be added slowly over time; similarly with inbound links, they need to be built up gradually. I suspect that Google’s algorithms will place greater emphasis on these factors in the future. One of the initial factors which made Google successful was that it rated sites based on the number of incoming links. Webmasters caught onto this quickly and a whole industry has been built around the buying and selling of links.
Google is onto the selling of links and there could be a point where selling links is done totally for the purpose of getting traffic, than for SEO. Building a completely new website that follows all of the rules is going to get more and more difficult without spending a great deal of money on advertising to get an initial burst of traffic and even then there is no guarantee that the site will get the all important number of natural incoming links to achieve rankings in the search engines.
There are a number of ways to value an existing website. Often valuations are done on a factor of say 10 or 12 times monthly earnings. However, for an older site that: ranks well in the search engines, has a large number of non-paid incoming links and has most of the site indexed, I believe that people are going to put much higher values on these sites.
If you have a business that sells mortgages for example and want to build a website that has various information on loans and mortgages, it is going to be near impossible to get inbound links if search engines continue to try and discount links. Another option for the mortgage company, other than spending a huge amount of money on advertising and marketing, would be to purchase an existing property or finance information site, that possibly contains user-generated content. They could then use the site to promote their own business.
Recently there has been a great deal of discussion about Web 2.0 and several sites being sold for large amounts of money. Many of these sites have almost zero revenue. I don’t believe that this a trend that will go on for much longer. Larger companies are going to see the value in long established websites with well written and useful information that have been built up slowly over time.
For website owners who are prepared now to be patient, work hard in developing their sites they could be rewarded for their effort in the not too distant future, that is if they are prepared to sell.
Returning to work after a holiday
May 27, 2007
Holidays are great. I know that when I was working, I had a calendar on my desk and whenever I had a holiday coming up I used to mark off each day.
As I sat talking on the phone listening to problems and complaints (I used to do helpdesk support) I looked at that calendar to get me through the day.
The holiday was always great, but as it came to an end I always had a sickening feeling in my stomach as I knew work was just around the corner. After getting back to work, it often only took me a couple of hours before it felt like I had never been on a holiday. Putting my holiday pictures on my computer’s desktop was my only reminder.
Since I quit my job last December I have embarked on a long trip through South East Asia - Thailand, Cambodia and now Vietnam.
I had always dreamed of doing an overland journey through Asia, but never seemed to have the time or the money. Building a property and internet business has enabled me to do this, without having to finance it through my savings. In fact I have been able to save more money than I did when I was working, and I haven’t used my credit card once, since I started my trip in April.
I spend a little time each day pondering where I might want to go next and talking to fellow travelers about their favorite spots around the world. And the best feeling is that I don’t have to go to an office to make money.
Travel to develop your internet business
May 25, 2007
Travel is usually associated with leisure and anything but work, but if you are developing an internet business, it can be possible to combine the two and even improve your financial situation and build your business at the same time. This idea is not going to work for everyone, especially if you have children, but if you are single or have a partner who is willing to accompany you, it is entirely possible.
This idea is also only going to work if you have a business that can be mostly run on the internet. If you need to be taking calls during business hours, it could be difficult. However, if you think from the start as to how you can structure your business model so you don’t have to be working 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, not only will you be able to travel, but you will likely come up with a business system where you are not tied to it, like an employee is tied to their job.
Living costs
One of the hardest things with starting a business is building and maintaining a cash flow which can sustain your living costs. One way you can use travel to improve on this situation is to live in a country or region where living costs are low.
Consider for example where I was staying not so long ago in Nha Trang, Vietnam. It is a beach resort with plenty of places to stay starting at around $5 a night or $150 a month. I heard that could rent a house for around $100 a month. If you are in a hotel you basically have no household bills to pay - no bills for electricity, water or gas.
You can get your laundry done for 50 cents a kilo. Food and beer is also extremely cheap. If you eat at one of the roadside food stalls you can get a rice dish with BBQ’ed pork and salad for 50 cents. A bottle of Saigon beer is just 50 cents at most places.
Internet access
As long as you have your own laptop, numerous places offer free WiFi for the price of a coffee, usually around 50 cents. Connections are not the fastest in the world, but usually fast enough to get your work done.
Benefits
Other than the obvious cost savings, you will also find yourself with more time on your hands to either work or to spend at your leisure. Think of it - no commutes, no housework (even at cheap hotels they have staff to clean your room), no cooking and no laundry. You can live wherever you want, whether it is on a hill station in India or on a tropical island in Thailand. Since you are free from the usual distractions in life, the time that you actually spend working is likely to be more productive. Travel often brings new experiences and the chance to meet new and interesting people from every corner of the globe.
Other considerations
Of course you still need to get to your ideal location, but if you fly out of season you can usually get a good deal. You will also need to purchase some travel insurance and you need to keep abreast of visa regulations of staying in a particular country. Working in an idyllic location may require a little more motivation for some people, but if you think of the possible alternative to being stuck in a cubicle it might help keep you motivated to do a little bit of work each day.
Tips for buying a domain that has already been registered
May 24, 2007
You have come up with the perfect name for your website, you go to register it only to find it is already taken.
You could go with the .net, .org or .us, but it is never going to be like having the .com.
You open a web browser, type in the domain and you get page not found or one of those generic PPC pages.
Someone is sitting on the domain, so what can you do?
To find out who owns the domain, you can view the whois record for the domain. Domain Tools is a good website which displays various information about a domain.
Find the registrant details of the person to contact. You have the option to either calling or emailing the contact, providing the details are correct.
If you choose to email the owner, use an email address that cannot identify your business or why you might be interested in buying the domain. As soon as you announce that you are working for IBM for example, the owner is already going to see dollar signs. It is for this reason that large companies use broker services. Domain companies like Sedo offer such a service.
Write a brief email asking the owner if they are prepared to sell the domain. Wait to see what response you get from them before you mention a figure. It is difficult to know what kind of response you will receive, but it is likely that if they mention a figure it is not going to be a low figure. Most website and domain owners usually believe their domains and sites are worth a lot more than what they are probably worth.
Domain appraisal companies are mostly scams. Unless the domain is a single dictionary word, it is almost impossible to reliably appraise a domain with no developed website.
You could use a keyword search tool, such as the Overture keyword tool to get a rough idea of the search volume of the phrase. A higher number of searches, usually relates to a higher value.
In the end a domain, like realestate, it is only worth what a buyer is prepared to pay. If you can get a telephone number for the domain owner, you could probably negotiate quicker by calling them rather than sending emails back and forth. If you aren’t a good negotiator, it could pay to get some help from someone who is.
If you aren’t convinced domains are a good investment, check out this article.
Someone is interested in one of my domain
May 23, 2007
I received an email from someone interested in purchasing a domain I bought last year. I had kind of forgotten about the domain, as own at least 100 domains and haven’t gotten around to building a site yet.
They have a business using the country extension of the domain and want to buy the .com.
They offered $50, which I think isn’t worth the trouble, so I counter-offered $450.
What we can learn from the facing foreclosure site
May 22, 2007
Last night while traveling on the overnight bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An in Vietnam, I listened to the latest podcast from the iamfacingforeclosure site. I must admit that I am fascinated by Casey’s story and judging by the people calling in to the podcast, I am not the only one. I don’t want to get into whether what Casey did is right or wrong, but from the perspective of creating a blog or website that can generate a huge amount of traffic in a short amount of time it is an interesting case study.
I have been blogging here for over two years and haven’t received a fraction of the amount of attention as Casey’s blog has. I am also a real estate investor and have purchased a number of properties in Australia and New Zealand that are cash flow positive.
I also have a number of websites which I have built up over the past two years which have enabled me to quit my job in December 2006. So if I compare my blog to Casey’s why does his get so much traffic? Here are some of my thoughts, which hopefully some people will be able to use to get more traffic and generate more interest to their sites.
Entertainment value
Many people seem to read the foreclosure blog purely for entertainment value, despite Casey’s intention to create a site to help people to stop foreclosure. Perhaps people who have personal or financial problems in their own lives gain a sense of satisfaction from seeing someone in a situation worse off than their own.
Human Drama
Just as reality programs have become so popular on television, Casey’s blog is full of drama. His stories detailing his problems with creditors, agents, business partners and family have all of the elements of a reality television program. People just can’t wait to hear the next installment.
Baiting his audience
Casey has a number of so called “haters” which he occasionally baits, resulting in posts with over 300 comments. If people were so put off with what he is doing, you would think they stop reading the blog, but it tends to have the opposite affect, with people creating their own sites and blogs around Casey.
Personal details
Casey has revealed quite a few details about his finances and personal life, which many people would not be prepared to made public. Anything created on the internet, is likely to stay with you for the rest of your life. Even if Casey deleted his blog, sites like archive.org retain caches of the content. Employers and possibly lenders are increasingly heading to Google to undertake research on candidates/customers.
Admitting mistakes
I believe Casey has been pretty honest with his blog, except for a couple of baiting posts. Most people are unprepared to admit their mistakes, let alone making them public on the internet.
Real estate advice
By Casey revealing the mistakes he made with real estate, people can learn what not to do when buying property, such as buying properties without actually seeing them, dealing with building contractors and providing misleading information to lenders. Most so called gurus, usually only reveal their successes. Many people seem to think that the site offers no value to property investors, but I believe people can learn a great deal of how not to invest in property.
Newsworthiness
Casey’s story has been featured in a number of publications and television programs. Each mention in the media has brought in huge amounts of traffic to the site.
Setting challenges
Casey has currently set a challenge where he has to make $1000 a week otherwise he will have to close down his popular blog. Setting a challenge which you need to complete a difficult task within a fixed period keeps people coming back to your site to check your progress.
In summary
If you are prepared to put your life into the limelight and want to have a very popular website like the iamfacing foreclosure site, you would need to:
- Have a story that provides shock value and is newsworthy
- Reveal personal details about your story and how it is affecting your personal life
- Occasionally bait your audience
- Freely admit your mistakes
- Have a dramatic story that slowly unfolds, where people are just itching to find out what happens next
- Create personal challenges with fixed deadlines
What’s with all of these review posts?
May 21, 2007
I have been doing a few Linkworth and ReviewMe paid posts the last couple of weeks. I haven’t received any reactions from readers which leaves me to think that people don’t mind one way or the other. Perhaps if I had thousands of readers I would get a bigger reaction.
I feel a little guilty accepting the reviews as sometimes they are unrelated to this blog. Some people would probably consider themselves as “selling out”. I justify it by announcing that it is a paid review from the start. It reminds me of advertisements in newspapers that look like a regular article but has some kind of text displayed which identifies it as a paid advertisement.
John Chow does quite a few reviews on his blog and even has another guy writing some of them. He is pretty honest with his reviews though. I must admit when I see a post that is a review, I tend to just skip over it. Although, if you are looking for a model to write a review I think John’s reviews are something to work from.
Of course I do it for the money, but is the only thing I currently do that I sit down write an article and receive a fee for. All the other content I produce on my sites, after writing the content, I have to sit back and wait to hopefully receive money from affiliate sales and advertising. So it gives me the feeling like I am doing something productive.
I think these paid reviews are just a fad that will probably eventually be replaced by some other form of internet advertising.
Cancun website review
May 20, 2007
Disclosure: The following is a paid review for linkworth.com
Once a deserted strip of land, Cancun, Mexico has been built into a beach lover’s paradise. Mile after mile of modern luxury hotels offer everything the dedicated beach goer could want. Add the ritual of sunset drinks, follow up with dinner on an outdoor terrace, and finish the evening with a little bar hopping.
The Cancun section of the website www.letsgomexico.com has two exceptionally good sections, tightly written and concise. The Cancun Fast Fact section is just that, a comprehensive list of information, including an honest assessment of the climate (sometimes windy and rainy). It also provides an explanation of how addresses work, a useful thing when giving directions to taxi drivers.
The Cancun Activities section contains everything from theme parks to coverage of the club scene both at the beach and in the city. The Fun, Watersports, Beaches, Shopping, Restaurants, and Nightlife pages let you know what there is to do if you tire of working on your tan. Indulge in some shopping in one of the many shopping plazas or the flea market in Ciudad Cancun, the small city on the mainland. Visit the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza or Tulum, or spend a day on nearby Isla Mujeres. Try parasailing, or rent jet skis, kayaks, and snorkeling equipment at the hotels.
The website also contains an interactive map facility, and background information about the area.
Melbourne blogger meet up
May 18, 2007
Darren Rowse of problogger.net is hosting a blog meet up in Melbourne.
Since I am currently in Vietnam I won’t be able to attend this meeting, but I signed up to the group.
Click here to check out
The Melbourne Weblogger Meetup Group!
