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Nov 07 2011

Blogs: Are We There Yet?

Published by under Blogging,General Blog Info,Ramblings

Remember those long rides as a kid where you were in hurry to get somewhere? Maybe it was a special trip to Grandma’s house, an amusement park, a vacation. As kids we always asked, ” are we there yet”?  As a blogger and webmaster, I am always thinking about this question and I am sure many of you are too. We build, we design, we do SEO, and we promote. Why do we do it? Though almost of all of us wish to make money from our blogs, this is a more personal question that only you as a blog o0r website owner can answer.

I have known and worked with many webmasters who start one project after another and they put almost nothing in it with dreams of getting rich. Does this happen? More times than not, it does not. There are those few who have conquered the dream but it took hard work, endless hours, and a good investment to achieve. I have been part of many Online projects and made some money here and there. Did I get rich? Not yet. However, I have not invested my whole life to my Online projects.

As webmasters, we need to look at what motivates us and why we do what we do. Only have we do this, can we honestly answer the question “are we there yet?” I know the answer for me changes as my life changes.

When most of my money comes from offline work, I am where I want to be with my blogs. They have held through the test of time and they are always there waiting for me when I need them. They generate enough income to pay for their cost and they supply a value to the readers.  These are the best of times!

However, when my offline income is low, I go back to the love of the blogs and realize that the journey is far from over. It is in those moments that I know that the real answer is to enjoy the adventure on the way and not be an hurry to get there. Building a blog or website takes work and time and if you always try to improve, you are never truly there. However, if your love is to share your knowledge, maybe you have already completed the journey.

So with that I ask you, Are you there yet?

4 responses so far

Mar 04 2010

Buying Printer Ink

Published by under Web Reviews

If you are like me, you go through printer ink like water. I am always printing pages of stuff at work and I am always running out of ink. I hate shopping so I always wait till the last minute to purchase what I need. I prefer to shop Online and save the shopping trips for my wife.

I started looking at printer ink companies and ran across Ink Cartridges.com. They offer all of the top brands for very competitive prices. If you buy Ink Cartridges like I do, you can save money by their extra discounts and for anything over $50, you get free shipping.

I go through HP printer ink like crazy and I have found that the remanufactured sold at their website last longer than the ones you buy direct from HP. I am not sure if they add extra ink when they refill or they are bigger containers. However, that in itself is a savings over time.

Have you every driven to the store to find out you forgot what number you needed? One of the nice features I like at this website compared to the store is that they have an extensive catalog to check your printer model to make sure you are getting the exact cartridge that you need. Since this can be ordered right from your computer, the printer is right there to check everything and order just what you need. I also like the fact that they are always in stock for what I need and I can order anytime of the day and get what I want when I want.

If you are looking for good prices on printer ink, check this site out to save time and money.

3 responses so far

Apr 04 2009

The Economy and You

Published by under making money

We are all aware of how bad the economy has been hitting the average American. It is also affecting the global markets. However, for those who are fiscally responsible, the economy is not bringing them down.

My work related income has increased among all the downturns everywhere. I find myself earning more in my regular job yet my income from my online sources have decreased. In my curious nature, I wonder of this is due to the economy or due to my own lack of time and energy. I have not put in near as much effort due to the fact that I am busier in my regular job.

My question to readers, who are mostly fellow webmasters, is how has your online business been affected by the current economy? Are you up or down in income for the current year? Please leave a comment and share your stories with all of your fellow readers.

One response so far

Feb 10 2009

Blog Money

Published by under making money

Many webmaster go into blogging for the sheer reason of making money. They create a blog and think they can put crap up and make a small fortune and not have to work. Though some big name bloggers may have made quite of money from their blogs, it is rare to make enough to quit your day job.

Everyone would love to make money from their blogs. It is possible to supplement other income but rare to replace all other income. There are many ways to increase your income. Advertising is the number one way that bloggers make money. This can be in the form of selling links, selling ad space, writing reviews, or joining a PPC program like Google Adsense. It is hard to make a lot from one source. For example, I make very little from Adsense but it does help pay the hosting bills and supplements my blogging hobby.

If you choice to sell advertising, make sure you do not oversell. Too much advertising is bad for a blog. It is ok to add ads but when it overwhelms the content, that is too much. Make sure you know your market. If the going rate for your type of blog is $10 a month, selling for $50 will leave your space empty and you will make no income. Be sure to know what others are charging and this can be checked by visiting webmaster forum like forums.digitalpoint.com.

If you choice to write reviews, there are many sites that will pay you part of the money to write reviews on your blog. You can also sell directly but it takes time and you need to build a reputation in order for this to succeed.

Another way besides the way I listed is to sign up for affiliate sites like eBay and Commission Junction. There are many making money from these affiliates but there are much more who are not. I have not had luck with affiliates but I blame part of that on the fact that I do not push it and advertise it as well as some. It does take work but you can make some good money.

No matter what you decide to do to monetize your blog, remember that your top concern should be that you provide something to your readers first. Just like a newspaper, if nobody reads it, no advertisers will want to place ads. Take care of your readers with quality content and they will be loyal to you.

If you have a way to make money on a blog that I have not mentioned, please feel free to share with me and the readers by leaving a comment.

5 responses so far

Sep 13 2008

Web Hosting Made Easy

Published by under Webmaster Advice

Building your first website is fun and exciting. You have tons of ideas of what you should do and how to go about it. You plan for the big launch by finding the right domain name, writing some good content, planning how to monetize it, and then you get to the point of where do you get web hosting.

There are thousands of web hosting companies that are willing to take your money. However, many fall short on performance. With the many choices out there, it is easy to find Cheap Web Hosting. To do so, you must do your research and read all the fine print. All prices should be clearly marked and there should be no hidden fees.

The first thing you want to look for is the company’s uptime. This should be at least 99.8%. This is the amount of time your site will be live and ready for your customers or visitors. Every hosting company out there has a time or two in their life that they go down for either maintenance or from no fault of their own. This should not be often because if it is, your site will not be viewable for those times and you will lose visitors.

The next step is to evaluate what features you need and if the plan you are looking at offers those features. Fir example, if you are hosting a lot of scripts like Word Press or a forum, you need My SQL databases for each. You need to know how many you need so you can make sure your package offers those.

The third step is to see if they allow additional domains hosted on the same account and also how many sub domains. This is very important if you plan to host many sites on one account. It would suck to buy a hosting account with the intention of hosting five blogs and find out you are limited to just one or two.

The fourth step is to look at the additional services offered. One important feature is Fantastico. It is system that allows you to easily add many of the most popular scripts and programs such as Word press, PHPBB and more. If you are like me, I hate to install scripts. That is the reason I always make sure my host offers this feature.

Also make sure the host is up to date on the latest PHP and others. If it is not listed, do not be afraid to ask questions. If they respond quickly, this is a good sign that they will have great support. The more research you do up front, the less hassle you will have later. If you do not know what to ask, check around and ask friends or fellow webmasters what you should ask. There are no stupid questions when it comes to buying web hosting. The only stupid thing is not asking first.

The final step and one of the most important I will mention is the price. Be sure to read carefully. Some host offer by the month but require a year worth of payments. Other hosting companies charge strictly by the month. If you are lucky to find a quality host that has a flat yearly rate, you can often find a great deal. Be extra careful to buy the package that is right for your needs. If you are starting a blog and have no intentions of doing more than that, you do not need the top package. However, if you plan to do several sites or buy or sell sites, it might be wise to look at the reseller packages; no these are not just if you are selling web hosting. I have a reseller package and never sell a single web hosting package.

There is much more that can be written on looking for web hosting. I have written many some post on this blog and will continue to in the future. It is not rocket science but you also have to be smart. Doing your homework and lots of research will prevent you from pulling out your hair later because something went wrong. Being a webmaster is rewarding and having a quality host along side you for the ride is even better.

If you find this article useful, please feel free to link to it and leave a comment or two. Webmasters helping other webmasters is what this blog is all about!

6 responses so far

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