Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm Addicted!

I can't quit! IM still consumes my mind! I've decided to start working on IM again! I've been using One Week Marketing and it is incredible! I'm learning so much and all of it is starting to come together now. I got so focused on PPC that I could'nt see any other possiblility. Well, this is definitly for me!

I wrote 3 Ezine Articles and linked them to my Learn How To Play The Guitar Online website. So far one of them is approved and is ranking #2 on Google organic search with my keyword! :oO This is huge for me! I now can see how this will work withoug having to pay for traffic! I'm so excited.

I also wrote 3 blog posts to 3 free ad blogs mentioned in One Week Marketing with my out going links to my Learn How To Play The Guitar Online website.

Tomorrow I will do a few more check's like stated in One Week Marketing. Come Monday I'm starting a new campaign! Yeay! :O)

Until Next post............ God Bless

My Wife is taking over!

Well, I've decided to take a break away from IM for now. My wife Arina is becoming very good and learning a lot. Plus, I have a full time job that could be getting neglected with how much my mind is on IM.

Anyway, Arina has been taking the One Week Marketing course by Pot Pie Girl and is thrilled! She never thought she would enjoy article marketing so much! She said that it has become very easy for her and would probably do this for fun even if she wasn't making any money. She's find the tools that Pot Pie Girl provides really helps to understand this whole IM thing!

I'll be updating my blog regularly to tell you how she's doing.....

Until next post..... God Bless!

Fed up with PPC & Google!

Well, I've had it! I'm sorry folks... But, GOOGLE just plain sucks! if it's not one thing? It's another. I was getting great CTR (7%) and was paying more than a $1/click. I was just trying to get my quality score up so that I wasn't paying so much or not on the first page in Google search. Well, it worked! My quality score went from 4/10 to 7/10. So, I decided to lower my bid. Yes! Google accepted me! Well, then my ad positioning went way down and my CTR began to fall to 2%! So, you guess what happens next? Yup, my quality score goes down and they want more $/click. To make matters worse..... I have not sold one thing on Google! All my sales came from Yahoo! But, Yahoo doesn't have the same payment plan. When Yahoo feels you don't have enough money in your account to sustain 3 days worth of clicks.... They take money right out of your account. At times it has even been a couple times a day. I would rather my ads stop showing than to have money automatically taken out of my account! That's why I tried Google.

Well, I'm done with PPC (pay/click) for now. I just find myself obsessing over it anyway just over analyzing and just being unproductive. I've decided to go back to free methods like y One Week Marketing by PotPieGirl. I don't know why I stopped in the first place. Her advice is incredible and the steps she takes you through is so easy to follow. You are never wondering where I go next. I guess I was just looking for an easy way out? Anyways, it's off to One Week Marketing!

Until Next Post..... God Bless

Still Not Making Sales!

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what went wrong with my first campaign. I've been checking my competition and using all of the tools on Wealthy Affiliate to see if I can improve. To make things worse my CTR on Google has been taking a big hit and now my quality score is quite low. So, I've paying approximately $1.00/click just to keep a 5% CTR (Recommended by Wealthy Affiliate). I hadn't been using Google before. I had been using Yahoo when I was making my sales. I didn't have much competition and I was paying a maximum of $0.37 per click. I stopped using Yahoo because they just kept taking money from my account when "they felt" it was too low of a balance. I like Google much better as far as that is concerned. They just stop running your ads when you run out of money in your account. Anyway, this has just been a big lesson and I'm finding a lot of competition on Google. I think I will go back to Yahoo when I have more money to invest. I'll try Google on another campaign that is not so saturated.

Until next post.... God Bless!

What Happened?

Well, I got my first sale on the 13th of October 2009. I also received about 5 more sales after that. About 1 a day until the 19th. Then, I don't know what happened? I got one more sale on the 22nd and then....... Nothing? I think I got a little too happy and started changing things on my website to see if I couldn't improve on the sales? Well, it hasn't worked. I mean, I didn't change much.... Well, I guess what I learned at this point.... Don't change anything when you're getting sales until you've received a lot of data. I made the mistake of changing things too quick and to make things worse I didn't save any of my previous work! So, I don't know what was working! Big Lesson!

Well, I purchased this great program that tells me where I'm getting clicks and how many. It's called Crazy Egg. I couldn't be happier! I did discover that most of my clicks were on the top left of my page on some Ebooks that I just kinda threw over there. I haven't gotten any sales from them and they're just wasting space on my page so I deleted them. I wouldn't have gotten much money from them anyway and I think they kinda could ruin my credibility since they weren't that good. Anyway, off to testing, testing, testing!!!

Until Next Post............... God Bless!

First Sale!!!!!!

I'm so excited! I just got my first sale today ! It's been a while since I've posted. I guess I was just starting to get a little too frustrated. However, all my hard work has paid off! It's only $30. But, I'm going to perform a lot of testing over the next week to see if I can't improve on the sales.

I had basically been working on a pay-per-click campaign. I followed everything from the Wealthy Affiliate teaching and finally made my first sale. The information that is provided speaks for itself. I've tried a lot of programs. But, none like this that is so helpful. The people are great and genuinely want to help. I think we all pretty much realize that if we help each other it all will eventually come back to you.

Anyway! i just had to make this post for the record!!!

Frusterated!

Today I'm growing increasingly frustrated! I think this is the time that most IM's quit?! This is not a choice for me however. This has become an addiction. I'm completely obsessed with IM. I'm not sure what the people who have quit have felt? I just can't remember a time I wasn't thinking about IM and can't imagine quitting?

My wife is now becoming obsessed also. This is good for me. Otherwise, I think she'd be going crazy with how often I'm on the computer. We're going to have to purchase another laptop since we're both working so hard at it.

We did get our first sales. However, it was from family members needing plane tickets and computer hardware.

I'm going to continue to educate myself with Wealthy Affiliate and Shoemoney. I just can't get enough info! But, If I don't take ACTION then this is all for not. I mean, I have been taking action.... But, from what I've read.... Not enough! These guys stress working hard! This is a very hard business. So, unless you are a crazy computer/Internet junkie? I would not recommend it for you. If you are? There is nothing more fun... Even if you don't sell. That will just be the icing on the cake.

Well, back to work! Until next post.... God Bless!

Taking Some Time For Education

Well, besides the fact that I'm sick.... Yesterday was a pretty frusterating day. However, I did find in the Wealthy Affiliate teaching a ready to go packaged campaign aready for the ones who are dicouraged and not making any money (That's me!) So, I checked it out. Wow! It is starting to work. I't a PPC (Pay Per Click) Campaign though...I would tell you more. But, the Wealthy Affiliate teaching specifically tells you not to broadcast it. It's for Wealthy Affiliates only. Anyway, I've gotten many impressions and it is suppossed to convert like crazy! They say 1 out of every 20 with a $38 pay out! We'll see and I'll keep you posted. I'm thinking positive!

I also have dedicated myself to more training in the Wealthy Affiliate teaching. They really drive in the point that it's supposed to be 50% education and 50% action. However, I've made so many mistakes I'm kind of gun shy when it comes to taking action. So that's why I'm going to read some more today. I've also had some struggles keeping on task. I've always had that problem though.... Maybe it's my ADD? Ha!

I've decided to keep with my Article Writing campaign. But, it's getting hard to get my pages indexed in Google. I know, I know! I need to give it some time. I'm just a little impatient!

Till next post..... God Bless!

Wealthy Affiliate Internet Marketing Schedule

Wow! Today was an exhausting day of information overload! i logged into the Wealthy Affiliate teaching account and opened up the "Getting Started Guide". Most of the information I was already familiar with since I had already purchased "Simple Sites Big Profits" and the free Internet Marketing course by "Shoemoney".

I'd have to say the "Setting Goals" section was the most informative to me. It really put into perspective how much harder I need to be working to start making profits. Kyle from the Wealthy Affiliate teaching outlines a typical week of what you could be working on. The outline was just an example of choosing article writing as a campaign. But, the example that he proposed I feel would really work! I have outlined it below since I will be starting on it right away:

Monday:
-Write 2 articles.
-Research 2 New Industries.
-Build 2 landing pages for articles.
-Submit articles to ezinearticles.com.
-Social bookmark articles.

Tuesday:
-Seek affiliate programs in 2 new industries.
-Write 2 more articles.
-Submit articles to HubPages.com.
-Social bookmark articles.

Wednesday:
-Write one article.
-Research 2 industry audiences.
-Build 1 landing page for article.
-Submit article to Squidoo.
-Get one-way links to article.

Thursday:
-Come up with 10 new keyword concepts.
-Write 2 articles.
-Build 2 landing pages.
-Submit articles to ezinearticles.com.
-Social bookmark articles.

Friday:
-Work on getting more one way links to all the articles from this week.
-Write one more article.
-Submit the article to Squidoo.
-Research competitors articles

Saturday:
-Research and come up with 10 keyword concepts.
-Write 2 articles.
-Submit articles to GoArticles.com.
-Social bookmark articles.

Sunday: DAY OFF (give the brain a rest)

Also, I reviewed articles by PotPieGirl.com from the Wealthy Affiliate teaching about making Squidoo Lens called "Fast Action Quick Start - You CAN Do This!". I have to say... She is absolutely awesome! I have never seen anyone be so helpful before in this field of Internet Marketing. You must check her out when you get a chance.

Until next post..... God Bless!

My Squidoo Lens Process

So, yesterday I created a new Squidoo Lens. I'll go through the entire process to see what I can improve on in the future. Also, I'm revealing my niche in hopes that not many people are viewing my blog right now (You don't ever want to reveal your niche or keywords) Besides, I'm learning and this lens is probably not going to be my big money maker anyway! Ha!

Here's how I began. My Son needs a new computer desperately. The dang thing is sooooo slow! It's ancient also. So, I figure I can sign up for an affiliate program with a discount online computer store and get my self a deal ordering through my own affiliate link. Here were my steps:

1. I performed research on online computer stores with the best deals. I found a great one called Geeks.com. They have everything. So, I checked if they had an affiliate program... Yup! They just happen to be affiliated with Commission Junction which I am already a member. I just needed to apply. Done!

2. I went to the Wealthy Affiliate teaching account to see if there were any PLR (Private Label Rights)articles I could bum and rework about computers. Yes! They had an article about "making your computer hardware go quicker"

3. I copied the article and pasted it into Rapid Writer (a great software program at the Wealthy Affiliate teaching for helping you write different articles on the same subject) I tweaked it around and gave it a different title. However, it's basically the same article.

4. I ran the tool in Rapid Writer to see the dominant keywords in the article. I then typed those keywords into the Google Keyword Tool to see if I could find some low competition. The best I could find was "Speeding up my Computer", which had the minimum of 2400 searches in Google per Month. You also want to have 10,000 websites or less when you type your keyword in Google's search engine with quotes. I also placed this keyword in my article about every 100 words. This is for SEO (Search Engine Optimiaztion) to be ranked high in the search engines.

4. I created about 7 new text modules in Squidoo. You want to break up your paragraphs with different titles since most people just scan. They don't read!

5. I pasted photos from Google Images in each module on the subject of that paragraph to give it some visual stimulus. Also, I was able to find photos on Google with the exact process of the articles. It was great!

6. I added an RSS feed to some blogs on the same subject to keep my content fresh. The Google Crawler loves fresh content.

7. Then, I published it.

I'm now just waiting for the approval from some affiliate links that I will strategically place and for Google to index my page before I drop my URL link in other blogs.

That's it!

Hope this helps! Until next post... God Bless!

Why Use Twitter for Internet Marketing?

Oh my Gosh! I spent way too much time playing around on Twitter. For some reason everyone in IM Tweets. I don't get it! Yes, I understand that it is a good advertising medium. But, I really don't see how.... It's definitely not targeted traffic. I mean you're sending your tweets mostly to people who don't care. Also, I don't read half the tweets I get, even if it's something I'm interested in.. Like IM. Anyway, it just seems to me that people are concerned more about how many people are following them or how many people they follow? So, I guess only time will tell? Can someone out there tell me why Twitter is so important?

P.S. Oh, Follow me on Twitter! Lol!

Infolinks and Some Inspiration!

Yesterday I took in a lot of information and worked on a few things.

I decided to apply for Infolinks. It's a program that finds text on your website or blog which provides links to information or ads about that specific word called "In-text Advertising". All you have to do is apply and Infolinks gives you a code to place in your HTML. Then, they scan it too see if your site fits the criteria. that's it! Anyway, apparently you get paid if someone either actually buys or clicks on it? I'm not sure. I thought I'd give it a try.

So, I get on PotPieGirl and view a couple of her new posts. There was a great one about "getting focused" It has an incredible video with Tony Robbins interviewing John Reese and Frank Kern (A couple of the most successful Internet Marketers) Whether you are an Internet marketer or trying to do well at anything in life..... It's a must see!

Also, I watched this incredible video called "Did you Know?" on Lynn Terry's site that shows how far we've come so fast! Another must see! Tends to make me believe that internet marketing is going to be the biggest advertising media in the world very soon!

Squidoo Len's

This is one of the most amazing sites on the Internet. If you haven't at least checked out Squidoo you are missing out on one of the biggest and easiest ways of making money online. I have been reading mostly PotPieGirl's posts. She seems to have the most knowledge I've seen on Squidoo Len's and how to get them ranked in Google. Also, she has a course on One Week Marketing that blows through all the junk that's out there about "Getting Rich Quick!" She's also ranked #4 with the Wealthy Affiliate teaching! Not an easy task considering she's working with schooled Internet Marketers.

Basically, Squidoo Len's are free already packaged and ready to go websites. They are professional looking and all you have to do is add your content,RSS feeds and affiliate links and you have yourself a free website. If you don't have affiliate links.... That's okay! Squidoo already supplies you with Ebay,Amazon and others that you can monetise and make money. Also, these sites rank really well in Google. That I would say is the most important thing I've learned. If you want to get your own site ranked in Google.... Good luck! It will take months or even years to get what Squidoo has already accomplished.

So, check it out! Until next post..... God Bless!

Google Analytics and Alerts

One of the things that I have seen in every IM (Internet Marketing) campaign that the "Guru's" teach is the absolute stress they put on Analytics. If you don't know where you are succeeding or failing you can't make changes to increase your ROI (Rate of Income). So, today I'm going through and placing the code given to me by my Google Analytics account and placing the HTML code in the header of every one of my pages. This will give me data on where my traffic is coming from and tell me which pages are getting the most visits and time. I'm not sure if this will also give me what's converting? I'll be looking a little deeper into that today and post if so or not....

Update: Yes, you can use Google Alerts to track your conversions (Sales) under goals in Google Analytics.

One of the things that I learned from the Wealthy Affiliate teaching the other day was "Google Alerts" and how you can set up these alerts to email you whenever Google has indexed a website with those keywords. Very Cool! I originally did this to see exactly when some of my web pages were getting indexed by Google. But, now I've been using this as a way of contributing to these blogs that are new and coming in. This also gives me a chance to put my link in my signature which I believe will give me a back link on other sites. Back links are important due to the fact Google views your site as interesting to others. This can give you better search engine rankings when someone types in your specific keywords into the search engine.

Ezine Articles and Google Indexing

Today, I signed up with Ezine Articles. However, after reading several posts from the Wealthy Affiliate teaching...... I made some mistakes. I copied an article that I had written on one of my Squidoo Len's. Apparently, this is something you don't want to do. The Google crawler is always looking for original content. So, if you copy articles you have already written and submit those to Ezine Articles.... Yup, you guessed it. You won't have original content and Google might overlook your site instead of indexing it.... Whoops! Don't make this mistake. You can write articles about the same exact subject. Just don't copy your previous article word for word.

Also, I learned that you want to have your exact keywords placed several times within your articles (About every 100 words or so) for that keyword to trigger in Google Search (Apparently this is basic Search Engine Optimization). This will give you a higher ranking in the search engine. It also helps to have your sites link on other sites AFTER Google has indexed it. If you put your link on other sites before Google has indexed your site? You run the risk of the crawler overlooking you again! Wheeew.. So much to learn.

Until next post.... God Bless

Wordpress Site Planning

Today I've been researching "WordPress"(Website Blog Designs) Themes. I haven't been able to find a professional looking site that is original quite yet. However, I did come across some interesting Marketers. I signed up for a free newsletter called.... "Clicknewz with Lynn Terry". Lynn has been into Marketing for over 12 years.. I'm not sure how long she's been doing IM (Internet Marketing) However, she seems very knowledgeable and provides Internet Marketing Ideas, Tips and Reviews to help your business succeed. I just received my first letter. However, I haven't read it yet. Looking forward to it. But, I'm researching Word Press Themes right now.

Back to Business! I came across a WordPress Theme Generator off of Lynn's Site called "Affiliate Theme" . This is one of the best WordPress Theme Generators I've seen so far. They have a video that takes you through how easy it is to use. I'll be performing a little more research on other WordPress Theme Generators.... However, this one looks awesome!

Until then... God Bless!

Journal Introduction

I started my adventure in Internet Marketing in June of 2009. Since, I have read and studied many different strategies and have not monetised on any of them as of today. In fact I have lost quite a bit of $ on PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising. Do not try this without experience. Or you'll be sorry). However, I will not give up no matter what! This is what I feel I was born to do! I love everything there is about the Internet and if I'm going to be spending as much time on it as I have.....I might as well make some $ at it! Right! My strongest recommendation would be to follow this blog and subscribe. I will be a success at this. It is not a "might". It is a will! I'd like for you to join me in success!

I've decided to keep an Internet marketing journal and the money I earn in this great adventure to be able to look back and see my successes and failures as I go. I also thought it might be helpful for others starting out in this business to either capitalize on my success or learn what not to do from my failures. Besides, history is there for us not to make the same mistakes twice. Right!? :o)

I will briefly go over what things I have exactly tried from June to Today and keep a daily Internet marketing journal of what I'm working on in future posts.

first. I started searching the Internet to find something online that I could make money at. I signed up to take surveys, I bought an online pharmacy website, I bought "Simple Sites Big Profits" by Marcus Campbell, I downloaded "Shoemoney's 12 week Internet marketing course" and have now just recently signed up to get the "Wealthy Affiliate" teaching.

I can tell you that all have been great insight on learning the business except for the surveys and pharmacy site. With the surveys you just have to take too many and most of them want your credit card number! Ugh. The pharmacy site was a learning experience. Basically, they have a site pre-made for you and you just need to advertise it and you get a percentage of the money for the items sold. The problem is..... The items are marked up and you are really not giving the customer a deal. With a little research they can find the items at almost half the cost. I would not recommend going with online pharmacies.

"Simple Sites Big Profits" However, was very informative. Marcus Campbell takes you by the hand and teaches you how to make small web sites that can potentially earn a lot of money. The price of $237 I thought was a little steep though. But, after I dove into what he provides compared to other programs..... It's cheap! I'm still working on this one and have learned most of what I know about IM from Marcus. "Shoemoney" has been incredibly informative. His 12 week course is excellent and I am still reading and implementing a lot of his strategies. I definitely recommend it. Plus, it's free! This leads me to the "Wealthy Affiliate" teaching. This is by far the best I have seen. There is actually an online community of Interment Marketers helping each other on a daily basis. I will for the most part be sharing with you my experience with this community since they have all levels of Internet Marketers and I just haven't seen anything out there that compares with the research I've performed.

Until next post in my Internet Marketing Journal.....God Bless! :)