About one year ago I was cruising the Digital Point forums for a cool, sweet, nice, attractive blog theme. Uncoded was the goal, because at one point I wanted to teach myself learn how to code wordpress themes, since it’s a decent way to make freelancer type money!  After looking for about a week, I stumbled across this one, thought it was nice, yet seemed like an easy conversion.  Snatched it up for $10, I think, not bad huh?

So, once I got the theme in my email and tried to find time to learn a thing or two about coding it.  That was about 6-7 months ago and finding time was actually harder than I thought it was going to be.  I found a tutorial at http://psd.tutsplus.com/, signed up and downloaded a very well planned video tutorial on “how to code a wordpress theme”.  I still did not find the time to get through the whole tutorial.

With all that set aside, I realized that I might just take a minute to search blogs and see if any of these fancy coders are giving away a conversion from PSD to WordPress.  Guess what?  I found one, what a one-in-a-million shot that I find one, when I am looking for one and have a PSD that needs to be coded.

The contest was simple, leave a comment showing the URL to the post you have about said contest.  BAM!  I love those contests.  My new buddy, Thomas, wanted to have at least 25 entries otherwise he might cancel.  So I was all over the place on Twitter, etc, just trying to get enough entries.

Long story short, there were only 2 people that left comments, thus entered into the contest.  I thought for sure it would be cancelled, but once I commented and asked Thomas, he agreed to let us two fight it out.  The best part is, the visitors were going to have to VOTE as to which entry should win.

It’s a WIN-WIN for Thomas, cause now he doesn’t have to pick the winner himself and he gets a couple extra visits from those voting in the poll.  Well, because I am such a ninja at marketing whatever I want on the web, I went ahead and found my favorite forum, with poeple that actually like me, and asked them all nicely to vote for me.  They did and I won the contest with 17 votes and the other guy had only 2!  Woot!

So, I killed in the contest, my first ever win online, so that was nice and now I am jamming all my affiliate marketing stuff with this cool new theme that Thomas converted for me, a $200 value, for FREE!

Twitter has revolutionized the way people communicate on the internet.  In just 140 characters or less, you can really pass along a lot of information.  People Tweeters are finding better ways to pack more information in those 140 characters than ever before.

In short order, companies can send new coupon codes, product specials and new products becoming available and hundreds, even thousands of potential customers flock to the company’s website for a look and to possible purchase something.

With affiliate marketing becoming a largely common thing online, Twitter just opened a new avenue for marketers to reach their audience faster and in a more popular way.  Like the same companies sending out coupon codes, affiliates get to use short url services to hide affiliate links in their tweets in hopes of making a quick buck, or two.

Sending a tweet is not only seen by your followers, Twitter search has made it possible to find tweets about specific things.  Maybe you want to see a review for a new digital camera or ebook, you can easily go to Twitter and search there.  Links, comments and tweets are all available in this way and make it easier to find information you might have not seen.

The other side of Twitter is simple.  You just want to keep up with friends, meet up somewhere for dinner or just send a quick note to your sister.  In the same ways that texting from your cell phone has “quickened” communication, Twitter has become a common form of communication via cell phones.  Being able to update Facebook and Myspace from your Twitter account has basically tied all the large social networks together.

If you use your Twitter account to keep tabs on your friends, that is one thing and you most likely do NOT have a website attached to said account.  On the other hand you could be using Twitter to post your latest thoughts from your blog in hopes that “followers” come to read it.

In my niche I post to my followers in hopes they will read my post, find something to comment on while hear or sign up for my newsletter.  I do run niche sites that have Twitter accounts that I hope to make money with selling products related to that niche.

So, what is the reason you use Twitter that is NOT about making money?

So, What’s the Problem?

Do you see the issue with this guys complaint?  For some reason, Mr. Chan thought that he could pay to get traffic TO his site AND click on ads.  By now, I am sure you see the issue here.  All of us want to make some extra money, especially online.  There are experts that have made it look so easy and there are rotten folks that lead people down the wrong paths.  The issue with Mr. Chans “dream” was that most of the time you are paying for traffic that isn’t targeted to ANYTHING.  Click through website users are all about one thing, their own websites.

Most likely these services are a traffic exchange program and the users on the site are given credits after viewing sites for a certain amount of time.  Then with those credits they can buy themselves crappy traffic that won’t do them any good.

What Site Did He Pay All This Money To?

The website that Mr. Chan used was www.engineseeker.com.  I have never heard of this site and naturally wanted to go check it out to see what type of website he was dealing with right from the “get-go”.  At first glance, I actually like the way the site is setup.  Straight to the point and all the information is right in front of you to see.

I don’t think that I would ever use a service to pay for traffic, ONLY because I have been learning my way through Adwords and other sites like Facebook and Myspace for advertising.  But with some of the features of EngineSeeker.com I would certainly keep them in mind for any large projects I might need traffic for.

What Do You Get for Your Money?

24/7 access to tools that include:

• Traffic Stats
• SEO
• Inbound link report
• Metatag optimization
• Competition analyzer
• Related link directories
• Crawler optimization
• Doorway pages

What The Hell Do I Think?

Well, I have two things going through my head right now.  Either Mr. Chan is BRAND new at the traffic game (most likely) OR (and it’s a big OR) Mr. Chan owns the site and used the magazine to promote it.  The second idea is pretty damn smart on his part.  Of course, he didn’t use a positive testimonial, BUT those that know you aren’t going to make crap from traffic like that understand the testimonial isn’t actually a bad one.

What the heck is this great package that I speak of? 

Our friend Jim over at thenetfool.com has decided that he is gonna help you with your new blog, start you off on the right foot this year.

He wants to give you a premium WordPress theme, that can be worth up to $100 right there!  Second, he is going to whip up a logo designed for your niche and will fit your blog style, FREE.  Third, he would like to give you a couple of The Net Fools Blogging eBook so you can be on your way to understanding what lies ahead for your blogging journey.  And last, but not least, the Net Fool is going to consult you so that you know the process of blog ownership and get you on the right track to making some extra money!  You want all of this, but aren’t sure how to get it?  To find out, keep reading!

Why do I think this is such a great deal?

I think this is the perfect setup for anyone that wants to get into blogging, but may not be sure of exactly what path to take.  The premium theme?  I wish I would have had this chance when I first started out.  You will soon find that a premium, unique theme will help you set yourself apart from the rest.  The LOGO, eBOOK and CONSULTING are just excellent bonuses that a good guy like Jim is throwing in to make this one hell of a sweet deal.

Fine, I read all your mumbo-jumbo, how do I get all of this FREE?

That is actually the easy part.  All you have to do is sign up for HOSTING through an affiliate link he has posted on he blog.  The hosting is through HOSTGATOR, which by the way, is second to none when it comes to blog hosting!

So, what are you waiting for?  GET THERE NOW, find the link (half way down the post) and get yourself entered in this thing, you’ve already wasted enough time reading my post!

I started to think about how long I have seen this commercial in December and I can remember it on TV for a long time.  Of course, before my internet marketing days, I wouldn’t have thought about what Lexus was trying to pull with the commercial, but now, that’s all I thought about.

The Lexus car commercials make it seem like it is very possible to purchase a $30,000 to $100,000 car as a gift for a loved one, but it is hardly a decision an average joe can make.  How many Lexus vehicles are sold in December?  Do you think that Lexus makes big profits from people buying these cars as gifts?

I think that the Lexus commercials are a good ploy and that the dealerships probably do sell more Lexus than other months.  Why do I think this?  Well, those that have the money to do so, would love to spend before the year is up.  Also, those that have the money love to buy expensive things, especially for loved ones.

I read about a dealership in Wisconsin that actually says that he sells 1/2 a dozen  of these vehicles just as gifts every December.  That is quite a bit in my opinion even for those that live in Wisconsin.  There aren’t many celebs or rich folks just walking around the state as they have in California, or New York.

Why I think the commercial is STILL on?  Lexus knows the commercial works.  They hear from dealers that see sales go up during that time and they will continue to show it for Decembers to come.

What does this have to do with internet/affiliate marketing?  It’s simple.  We all that when we find a promotional method or offer that makes us the most money (like the Pepsi or Subway offers) we stick with that method until the money stops coming in.  If it doesn’t, like in the case of Lexus, then we do NOT stop the method.

Always keep your eye out for ways that big businesses are promoting their products and see if you can implement these methods in your every day affiliate marketing strategies.

The forum is small and concise, for now.  I like that there is a membership fee because it keeps the reality of the community in the back of your head.  There isn’t going to be spammers and link junkies all over the place, I hope.

The community is under 2000 members right now and it’s still only $1.95 to join.  Darren posted an announcement the other day that the intro pricing was going away when the forum reached 2000 members.  Take this chance to get locked in at $1.95 and join.

www.problogger.com is the link

I see a bunch of familiar faces and as many new ones, so that is nice.  I hoped to be able to connect with other like minded bloggers and I don’t see that as being a problem right now.

There is a screenshot of the forums that have been added so far.  There is much discussion in just about all of them and it’s nice to see Darren get involved as well.  I have been following problogger.net for sometime now and really have taken a lot from the blog.  That is part of the reason I decided to join the forum.  I figured the interaction would be more instant and I would be able to take my blogging to the next level.

Have you joined the community yet?

Basically, “5 things to remember when watching TV“, or “10 things to do when on vacation in Maui” type of post will give something for the reader to read, comment on and pass along to the web.  If you get it just right, you are looking at a possible social media explosion and will win out with a popular post read by many.

For my list post I am going to write about the “5 Things NOT to Do if You Want To Make Money Online”.  These items are from my own experiences over the last couple of years and of the 5 on the list, I wish I hadn’t done any of them.  Enjoy.

5 Things NOT to Do if You Want To Make Money Online

1. When you have a blog that is set up with inlinks and getting paid monthly, do NOT let the domain expire because you are not paying attention to the emails.  (cost:  $100/month)
2. While spamming your blog link all over comment sections, make sure you do NOT misspell it.  (cost:  unknown, but traffic for sure)
3. If you are going to buy an old domain name because it has some awesome keywords in it, do NOT buy one that has been banned from everywhere on the internet.  (cost: $10, to date)
4. When signing up to hundreds of affiliate networks, do NOTforget your login information, especially to the one that has $$ sitting aside for you!  (cost:  ~$100)
5. Whether you are in affiliate marketing on Facebook, using EPN, Google or Clickbank, make sure you do NOT violate the terms of service.  (cost:  can be more than you think!)

So, there you have it.  I have been able to whip up a “list” post in a matter of 20 minutes, by just thinking about some of the things that I have messed up on in the last 2 years.  What do you think?

When I am writing up a short post or a long article, I try to keep certain keywords in mind, but I also try to keep the reader in mind.  You may have to keep the reader insterested longer than you think.  That “12 seconds” you have to impress the reader is important.  If you are going to fill a post with a ton of keyword content and forget about the “real meat”, you aren’t going to have to worry about readers, that’s for sure.

I found a website that will check over your website and then rank how easy it is for your readers to read. 

Check out the readability of your blog:  http://www.addedbytes.com/tools/readability-score/

The website is extremely easy to use and you can check any number of variables as well.  For the most part you are just taking your text and pasting it into a box on the page.

Once completed, you will see the readability score of the text, from different scoring systems.  The higher the grade, the more readable the text is.  There are links to the Wikipedia pages of each test as well, so that you can read about how and what they grade the text on.

This post has a 81.70 (out of 100) for a score, so at least I know it is quite easy to read.  It’s useful tool if you are writing long articles for your  blog or website.  Check out how each system grades your text and see how you score.

How Does it Work?

Basically the idea behind their offers is that someone will have to complete one in order to get access to privileged information on your site.  That is why this works great for TV/movie sites.  You can have access to a full episode blocked by your gateway and when the user completes the offer, they get access.  They are happy to watch an episode and you are happy to collect money for the completed offer.

If you are not sure how CPALead.com works, let me give you the rundown.  The first thing you do is setup a “gateway” on the site.  That is like creating an Adsense channel for a separate website.  This is the gateway that will show the offers your readers can choose from (if they want to view the content that is currently blocked by the gateway) and if they complete the offer, they will get access to whatever you have blocked.

Can I See Some Samples?

Websites like SimpsonsEpisodes.com, WatchScrubsNow.com and DeadliestCatchEpisodes.com are just some examples that use the CPALead.com Gateway feature.  When a user goes to watch an episode they are presented with a lightbox (that blocks out website content) that offers them offers to complete.  In return for valuable information that advertisers want, the user will get access to all the episodes on the site, for life.

But How Do I Make Money?

Each of the said offers (which CPALead tries to match with your site) has a payout associated with it.  If the user completes the task, you will see that amount in your account.  Now, picture this happening a hundred times per week, or even, per day!  You could see anywhere from $.40 to $14.40 per offer credited to your account!

As you can see, the potential to make the money is astonishing.  All you need is a well developed TV/Movie site you can update quickly and traffic.  As you can see by the image below, this month I have made $6.11 with VERY LITTLE traffic.  Basically the more your site is in demand, the more money you can make.  I NEVER market this site and Google just keeps sending traffic.

Now, the question is, can you get the same return with your own site?  The process is simple, which I will outline in another post, so stay tuned if you don’t know how to start your own TV/Movie site.

If you haven’t joined CPALead.com already, you can do so here.  I would be happy to point new users in the right direction, so if you have any questions, go ahead and post them in the comments section or send me a message.  It’s very easy to earn extra money without very much work.

In my opinion, this was bad for the $75 that I spent to gain traffic to my site.  I really am not sure how to track what clicks came from Myspace through my site to ebay, but on the days the campaign ran, I got a total of 49 clicks to ebay.

At this time, my monthly balance is nothing stellar, but I see almost no return on my investment in Myspace advertising.  I really didn’t know what to expect, but I really thought I was targeting users very well and those that clicked through would have bid for sure.  I really can’t expect that every single click will WIN a bid, it’s not like just clicking through and BUYING.  The user still have to WIN the auction.

With this bad news I wasn’t even going to post screenshots, but I think that before I advertise my own site on Myspace again, I am going to have to find a better way to track the clicks.  This would be just so that I feel comfortable reporting the results.

Myspace advertising is still plenty worth it and the one thing that I would announce to those that follow this blog for advise, make sure you realize what audience you are trying to reach and how LARGE that audience is.  If you are going to get views up the ass, make sure it’s worth what you are paying for clicks.

I am not giving up, I have a couple of other sites AND affiliate offers that I know will still work on Myspace, so stay tuned.  If you have had success with Myspace, why not leave a comment here and let us all know how it went!