Penny For Your Thoughts Mr Lincoln

Someone smarter than I pointed out that there are three types of people in business. There are the innovators who come up with great ideas and more importantly execute them. Then there come the imitators who imitate the original idea. Once there are so many imitators, the idiots show up. If you look back at 2009, the year the rebills blew up, you can see the cycle, the pattern, whatever you want to call it. Continue Reading

While the goal is to eat at the “big person’s table,” if you’re starting with no or very little money, eating the crumbs that come off that table can make you strong enough to stand up and take your seat at the table where the “real value meals” exist. It takes money to make money, but you must remember that time is money if you have skills.

Here’s a real simple skill that will have you gathering enough crumbs to fill a small bowl. It has to do with the long tail. While it would be nice if you had a one word .com domain with type-in traffic, it’s not likely if you’re here reading this. So, there may be more money at the top of all the niches, and some niches are more profitable than others, but if you start by going after the competitive stuff, you’re most likely going to be disappointed.

Monetize

There’s hope, though. This is where the long tail comes in. Basically, in any  niche there are a few keywords that get tons of traffic, but there are many more that get varying degrees of less traffic. This is the long tail – the keyword phrases are usually three to seven words long, but some of them get good traffic. And since they’re so laser focused (albeit in smaller amounts), it’s somewhat easier to monetize the traffic. Continue Reading

Sticky Content

In the beginning, it was easy to get eyeballs on the Internet. (Anyone remember Justin at Links.net?) Almost anything you threw up would get a good portion of the Internet traffic. Then the number of websites started to ramp up as the number of surfers started to increase. Then there was the bubble. Then web 2.0. And now, approaching 2k10? Content is still king, BUT you have to do something to differentiate yourself. Continue Reading

I’m a webmaster, so I occasionally find myself after a long night of (insert crazy list of tasks – God bless the invention of browser tabs) wanting something quick and unhealthy to eat. So, like many others, I head to the local McDonalds sometimes. Not a lot, but anyway. They have the recession deal hashbrowns two for a dollar. Every time I’m there it seems there’s a big confusion as to how many hash browns I actually want. Continue Reading

Okay, you’re still reading. Good. The second piece of the puzzle I drop to you is that you shouldn’t blindly listen to people. Especially on the Internet. It’s a big, bad place. It’s where the money is, though. And that draws a lot of people to the pool. It’s good to read (not chasing the magic bullet – but to learn), but don’t take everything at face value. Continue Reading

You may have heard hints of this tidbit here and there on the intrawebs, but I’m going to try to break it down for you. Online, there are two types of people trying to make money (well, more than that but for this post only two) – those that come up with new ideas (very few) and the hordes who copy them and their techniques into oblivion. When you add that to the fact that the Internet is still changing so rapidly, it can become rather difficult to make money online. It’s becoming harder and harder in fact as ‘the horde’ increases. Continue Reading