I know this blog is about making money online, but every single book, article, blog post or ezine I have read talks about donating as a way of making money.

I know it seems contradictory. Why would I donate money to make money? That’s ridiculous!

It might seem so on the surface until you realize a couple important, common principles among the truly wealthy.

Maybe you stumbled upon this blog thinking it was just rehashed garbage reprinted from other blogs. Or maybe you “googled” make money online and happened here. Perhaps you used “finder-Spyder” (ok a joke) and landed on one of my pages. Regardless, you are here and you want information.

I am here to say that if you are serious about making money online. If you are truly committed long term to being an entrepreneur and want to make money using the internet as a tool, you MUST. You MUST…nay it is IMPERATIVE that you donate some of your money to charity.

One of the most amazing books i have ready is Robert kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.

Though the book itself is mainly fictional, the goal is to illustrate how we think about money and how we spend our lives around it, even consumed by it.

When you understand that money is just another tool like a screwdriver or hammer…it loses power but you gain some clarity in how to use it. You can begin to see how this knowledge can be used as a tool to further education and understanding. How to build anew on the ashes of what once remained. I urge you to donate whatever you can spare to a worthy cause just as my friend is doing. Or, find your own cause to support. I am sure there is no shortage of individuals needing help these days.

I’ll be posting an end of the year wrap up soon detailing December’s income statement and my thoughts on how the year went.

Overall, the blog has been a great success and I intend to build on that success in 2009. I hope to run some great new contests and give away even more this year than i did last year.

If you haven’t done so already, sign up for my RSS feed and my Twitter feed so you can keep up with all the latest news.

And the winner is…well, nobody. One person signed up using my affiliate link but so far I haven’t seen any sales. So although I won’t be giving away a camcorder this month, I will be talking about my earnings for August.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

Traffic, as always is key to any successful blog or web site. Traffic means eyes looking at ads and that means revenue.

According to Google Analytics, there were 428 visits with 720 pageviews averaging 1.68 pages per visit. Bounce rate was 71.03% which means 71% of the visitors read only the first page of the blog before leaving to go elsewhere. I don’t completely rely on Google Analytics though because if I look at my webalizer stats they paint a different picture. What Google Anylitics don’t take into account are repeat visits. Webalizer shows 9109 total visits with 18656 page views from 698 unique URLs.

This is down slightly from July but that’s likely a result of July having an easy contest to win where I gave away a  Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black).

The Good Stuff

Why do I write about earnings? I think it’s important to be honest when running any kind of business be it online or off. This blog earns enough right now to pay all my hosting fees and a bit extra. Last month I earned enough of course to pay my hosting fees and give away a camcorder. Now without further Ado…

Text-Link-Ads: $49.43
Amazon.com Seller: $54.12
CafePress: $27.96
Adsense: $0.98(anyone still making money from google adsense?)
NeverBlueAds: $0.00
LinkShare: $0.00
Clickbank: $11.04
MarketLeverage: $1.10
Pepperjam Network: $37.00
Kontera ContentLink: $0.84

Total:  $182.47

Blogger Incentive Program from PepperJam Network

Some of these aren’t that impressive but the important thing here is consistency. First of all, if you aren’t signed up with PepperJam yet, sign up now. You get a $10 bonus just for signing up and if you blog about their Blogger Incentive Program you can earn another $10 each time you do for a total of $50 a month. So if you sign up right now, you get a $10 bonus then blog about this and you get another $10. That’s $20 in your account just for signing up and blogging about it!

PepperJam is the fastest growing affiliate network out there and the primary reason is because their interface is excellent. On the home page are all my stats right there and finding new products to promote is easy. I’ve had more responses (clicks) to affiliate products through PepperJam than any other affiliate I promote. I’ll continue to promote PepperJam because I think they are awesome.

Final Thoughts

As with any business, there is going to be some amount of money invested along with time to get things off the ground. I won’t tell you that making money online is easy because it isn’t. It takes time to understand the ins and outs of marketing not only affiliate products, but marketing yourself. The only person that can make you successful is YOU.

Here’s a great quote by Warren Buffett that I think says a lot about making money.

I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.

I haven’t written about all the ways I make money here because I also buy and sell stocks on the stock market which is something I am pretty good at and getting better all the time. You can read more about my ventures in the market on my blog The Proficient Investor. Affiliate marketing is starting to work out well for me as I learn more about it and learn techniques that sell. There are a lot of ways to make money whether online or not and you need to find the ways that work best for you.

To really make the big bucks you have to explore PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns and yes, it is going to cost you some money. You can however mitigate the amount of money you are spending by focusing on a niche product and finding the right keywords for that product.

You should know that AdWords isn’t the only game in town. In fact, I have had some pretty bad experiences with AdWords and Miva as well. At times it feels like your campaigns are just sucking your funds away and not producing anything. You can avoid spending tons of money on wasted clicks by doing a few simple things with your ads which I will talk about in a moment.

If you really want to find a targeted niche, one of the best places you can look is Facebook. Facebook is the fastest growing social network on the web. It’s already surpassed MySpace and has been valued at several billion in US dollars. With their Ad platform you can create targeted niche campaigns and make some serious money.

First things first. In order to use Facebook for marketing a product, you need something to sell. The best way to do this is to sign up with an affiliate partner like PepperJam Network.

PepperJam Network Blogger Incentive Program

There are numerous affiliate programs out there and I belong to several because no one affiliate has all the products you might want to promote. Here’s a few reasons to sign up with PepperJam.

1. You get a $10 bonus just for signing up.
2. You can earn $50 a month writing about their Blogger Incentive Program ($10 per post, maximum of 5 per month)
3. Earn $7 on every referral to PepperJam
4. They have a great selection of advertisers to choose from

Those should all be reason enough to sign up with PepperJam. Sign up today and get your $10 new affiliate bonus. Oh yeah, there’s one other thing. I’m giving away a Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black) to the new affiliate that signs up using my PepperJam Network link and makes the most money. I’m even giving away a mint copy of Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas issue 2 to the first affiliate that earns just $20 in sales.

With the Blogger Incentive Program you can earn $60 in your first month just for signing up. These bonuses won’t help you win my contest, but you’ll be $60 wealthier than you were when you started reading this article.

Once you’ve signed up with PepperJam you are ready to begin your PPC campaign.

You’ll need a Facebook account to use their ad system, just like you would need an AdWords account with Google. Facebook is free and you can keep up with what your friends and family or business contacts are doing.

The real benefit here is the ability to reach over 60 million eyeballs. Your ad of course is only going to be targeted at a specific portion of that 60 million but it gives you limitless possibilities.  Once you have your account set up, click on Ads Manager to get started and follow these steps.

1. Click Create an Ad
2. Put in the URL of the product you are trying to sell. This is where you are going to have to do some research into what niche you want to promote. You also need to follow the guidelines set forth by the affiliate you are promoting as some don’t allow certain kinds of promotions.
3. Add a Title, ad copy (text) and most importantly a picture. The picture should represent accurately what you are selling. Your ad copy should also have a negative qualifier, for example showing the price of the product. This weeds out anyone not serious about buying it.
4. Now you want to target your audience. Choose the demographic your product is aimed at and put in your keywords of choice. Keywords are important because you want the ad to show to the right people, and only the people that would be interested in the product.
5. Now you have a choice. You can pay per click(PPC) or you can pay per thousand impressions(CPM).

Deciding on how you want to pay is really the hardest thing about advertising like this. PPC campaigns can quickly get out of hand if you don’t word your ad right and include a negative qualifier like I mentioned above. You are going to be paying for every single click someone makes on your ad so you want to be sure it is reaching not only the right people, but only people who are also likely to buy the product or service you are advertising.

In a CPM campaign you are simply paying per thousand impressions. So if your target audience is in the millions of viewers…you could end up paying a huge amount of money for that exposure. Generally I stick to PPC campaigns.

After that you have a chance to go over your ad and make sure it reads the way you want it to. Once submitted, it goes into a queue for approval. If disapproved, you will get a message about why and you can try again after making the needed changes.

Once approved you can track your stats in near real time. What you want to make sure is that your ad is performing as well as you expected. If you are getting a ton of clicks but no sales, adjust the wording or add more negative qualifiers. Make the ad evoke emotion and a cause to action on the viewer’s part. If you do it right, you should start seeing sales almost immediately.

For more information, check out squidoo. There’s a great lens there explaining facebook ads in detail.

If you are new to affiliate marketing and need some information on how to get started, Thor Schrock (who donated a prize for my last contest) has a great series on niche affiliate marketing. Check it out.

As of right now, I have had only one person register with PepperJam Network. I’ve seen a lot of clicks through but only one confirmed sign up. In order to participate in the challenge and win the grand prize: Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black) you have to sign up to be an affiliate with PepperJam Network and start making money. The person who earns the most through promoting affiliate offers will win this awesome camcorder.

As a bonus and to get you motivated, the first person to earn just $20 will win a pristine, brand new copy of Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas issue #2. This comic book is insanely popular and the first issue is already selling for $22 on ebay! Written by Jon Favreau (director of Iron Man, Zathura).

Why join PepperJam Network? First of all, the interface is great. When you log in immediately you get a detailed report of how well you are doing in your campaigns. They also have hundreds of affiliates to choose from so you can promote exactly the kinds of things that are appropriate to your site. If that isn’t enough, right now there is a sign up bonus. If you sign up as a new affiliate, you earn $10 automatically. Furthermore, you can make $50 extra a month by blogging about this sign up bonus as part of their Blogger Incentive Program. Each time you post about the PepperJam Network Blogger Incentive Program you earn $10.

I’m really excited about this contest because I love to see people succeed. Sign up with PepperJam Network today and start making money!

This month I want to give away as good a prize or even better but I don’t know what it’s going to be yet. I’d love to give away another camcorder or something even better but it depends on how the monetary situation presents itself this month. Of course if I can secure a big sponsor for this, I can give away something really cool.

That being said, it won’t be as simple as the last contest.

What I want to do is throw down an affiliate challenge. One of the best ways of making money on the internet is through affiliate programs. I know a stock trader who made more money from affiliate sales on his blog than he made trading last month! His success isn’t unusual either. Most of the blogs I read use one affiliate program or another. A few days ago I wrote how PepperJam Network is giving away $10 just for signing up as a new affiliate. I also wrote how you can make $50 extra a month just blogging about their Blogger Incentive Program. Read all about it.

How It Works

This affiliate challenge is going to put your skills to the test. It’s up to you to use every trick you know to make this successful.

Here’s the rules.

1. First, you have to sign up with PepperJam Network using my link. This step is mandatory. If you are already signed up with PepperJam Network and you didn’t use my link you won’t be able to participate in this challenge but there will be more challenges to come in the future.
2. Second, using PepperJam Network, start promoting products from affiliates you think you can make work. Ideally these would be suited to your blog or website but if you are doing PPC/Google Adwords campaigns it really doesn’t matter. Your creativity is what is going to help you win this challenge.
3. (optional, not required for the contest) blog about this contest on your own site. If you followed step one, you should be having people use your affiliate link.

Seems simple enough right?

The winner of this challenge is going to be the one who generates the most income! As a fast start bonus, the first person to generate just $20 in affiliate sales will get a brand new copy of Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #2 (written by the director of the movie, John Favreau). The first issue of this comic is already selling on Amazon.com for $8.79 (original price is $3.75). This isn’t the big prize but this comic is flying off shelves and I have a mint copy to give away to the first person who can generate just $20 in affiliate sales. To clarify, signing up someone and then blogging about the PepperJam Network Blogger Incentive Program (earning you $20 by doing so) does not count toward the fast start bonus. Only affiliate sales count toward this contest.

I’ll know when people sign up by checking my PepperJam account so there is going to be no way for anyone to cheat. All claims will require proof as well. I will require that you send me a screenshot of your earnings page to claim any prizes. As long as you follow all the rules of the affiliates you are promoting, the only thing stopping you from making money is doing nothing.

Here’s what your reports look like when you’ve signed up, gotten some bonus money(sign up bonus and a blog post) and have an affiliate signed up:

Why An Affiliate Challenge?

My goal here is to have a fun contest but also to teach the power of affiliate marketing and how you can be successful doing it. At the very least, sign up for PepperJam Network and place some appropriate 125×125 banners on your site including the PepperJam Network banner. You’ll probably make a little money doing so.

PepperJam Network is probably my favorite affiliate program. The interface is simple, straight forward and finding partners to promote is easy. They have a great graphical representation of your sales which immediately tells you how you are doing when you log in and you don’t have to dig through menus to build reports, its all right there on the front page.

What’s The Grand Prize?

I’m not at liberty to reveal this at this time, suffice to say it will be at least a Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black) but maybe something better. I’ll post an update when I know for sure. This shouldn’t stop you as you have a head start right now! Sign up today and get cracking! Remember, the winner is the one with the most sales at the end of this month (August 2008).

Let the challenge begin! Have fun out there and if you really don’t know where to start, use the contact form and email me. I can get you some literature to put you on the right path.

Prize Donors!

There are more prizes that what I am giving away.

• Indo Contest has donated 3000 Entrecard Credits! – Enough credits for you to advertise on major sites like JohnChow.com or ProBlogger! Thanks Indo!

I understand the need/want for EC (entrecard credits) because you want to advertise on john chow or darren rowse’s Problogger.net but to stoop so low as to only have a widget and then surf to 300 of these daily to rack up credits? Does anyone really have that much time?

I know I don’t. Some of my time has to be spent playing games like Assassin’s Creed. I’m almost finished with that one…it’s pretty good but has problems. Read my review at GAX Online.

Summer has a tendency to slow down ad revenue and other online money making strategies simply because most people get out and do stuff. Because of this, if you don’t have your ducks in a row so to speak you are going to suffer for the next 3 months. Summer is officially underway and if you don’t have plans to make some extra cash offline, you might be eating beans and rice for a few months.

I’ll be updating my income statement for June in about 4 days, so look forward to that. Locally, each Friday night during the summer there is a free concert and two big names are playing this summer. These concerts are right on the beach. Check out the schedule. I’m looking forward to Blue Oyster Cult and  Gin Blossoms!

The weekend’s almost here which means a couple films for me Saturday and then I’m recording the 9th episode of my podcast “The East Wing Podcast“. Listen in won’t you?

1. I wanted it to be small enough that carrying it around wasn’t going to be cumbersome and cheap enough it wouldn’t break my wallet.
2. I also wanted it to be HD so I wouldn’t be looking to upgrade to a new camera in a couple years, and it will work with my current whopping, huge, enormous 27″ HDTV.
3. Lastly, I wanted to have massive storage so I wouldn’t be having to dump the files every time I turn it off.

So…2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

I ended up buying an Aiptek A-HD+ 1080p camcorder. I said 2 out of 3 because it was a) cheap & small and b) it was HD.

What I failed to realize, however is it only came with 128MB of built in memory. I ended up tracking down a 32 GB SDHC card from Amazon.com for $150. That’s half of what I saw elsewhere. Panasonic makes a 32 GB card for over $300. The PNY was not only cheap but it can store a ton of video at 1080p 60fps. We’re talking 17 hours! That’s plenty and I can’t wait to use it.

Expect to be seeing some video posts soon. The card pictured here isn’t what I bought, but Amazon is currently out of stock. I got one of the last two left. You can search for it by putting in this: P-SDHC32G4-FS.

The infamous John Chow is giving away a whole bag of goodies courtesy of Market Leverage. The prizes include:

• Flip Video Camera
• $200 Market Leverage American Express Gift Card
• USB Pen Drive
• iPod Nano

You can win all these fabulous prizes by going to JohnChow.com and posting a comment.

Well, sadly that isn’t the case. Blogging, and making money doing it takes a lot of hard work and constant testing until you get the right formula that works for you. What may work for one blogger may not work for you. This is one reason I mentioned in a previous post how important it is to set goals.

By setting goals for your personal and professional life you can gauge month by month how well you are on your way to succeeding.

And now without further ado…

Total Blog Income For February 2008: $31.61

• Google Adsense: $1.03
• Text Link Ads: $29.98
• Kontera: $0
• NeverBlueAds: $0
• Ad-Toll: $0
• Project Wonderful: $.60

Traffic stats according to Google Analytics: 449 visits and 594 pageviews, 1.21 pages per visit, with an 86% bounce rate (that means people don’t stick around too long before leaving). I’d really like to see this traffic increase. The bounce rate can probably be attributed mainly to Entrecard as many people simply want the credits and don’t bother to actually read anything on the site.

Here’s some more interesting stats about traffic:

If you aren’t already using Google Analytics to track site data you should. This kind of information is invaluable when you are trying to get things rolling.

As you can see, this doesn’t add up to much but I am on my way to achieving $100.00 a month. That’s my first goal. My largest earner is Text-Link-Ads and it’s the easiest way to pull in advertisers for me. If you aren’t using it already, sign up today. The thinking behind that is if I can make the first $100, then making another $100 should be just as easy if not easier. Then I can start looking at new goals such as doubling or tripling my income. Subscriber growth continues as I have now reached 20 RSS subscribers. I use RSS subscriptions as a bellweather for my growth because it shows continued interest in the blog. I would however like to see more participation from my readers in terms of comments and entering contests.

Speaking of contests, There have been no correct guesses for my last contest so I have no winner to announce yet. As soon as someone correctly solves it and sends me the answer via email, I will announce the winner and give away the $25 Visa Gift card.

So why do I even bother to mention how much (or how little, depending on your perspective) I make? You see, for big sites like John Chow, you see figures in the thousands of dollars per month but even he started somewhere. Also, if you consider what I have made, it at least pays for my web hosting which is great.

What is painfully obvious to me is the usual suspects in terms of banners and graphic ads just aren’t working, with the exception being Project Wonderful and Entrecard. I get a lot of traffic from both and I am slowly building up my PW funds which will allow me to advertise on other sites using the same system.

So my goal for March is to double February’s income. It’s a tall order but I think I can do it. I just need to get my brand out there more and find some quality advertisers. Speaking of which, right now you can get an ad through that nifty peel away ad for pennies…literally. For $.40 you can get a huge peel away ad.

You can get this peel away ad on your site, just go to Ad Toll and sign up for an account. Once your account is created you can begin promoting AdToll as well as advertise on my site or others like mine.

I hope this gives you a little insight on the beginnings of a dot-com mogul, If I may borrow the phrase from John Chow. I’m excited about March and the coming warm weather even though it means traditionally that advertisements tend to slow down.