Blogging From the Kiwi Stand

Last week I wrote about How Blogging Should Be Like Selling Kiwi. Enough of the metaphors...

In the post I talked about the three types of bloggers. Bloggers who try to be all things to all people I call Wal-Mart Bloggers. Then there are the Homeless Bloggers who shout very loudly that they are the "experts" of blogging, but have nothing to support their claims. Then there are the Kiwi Stand Bloggers, the ones that specialize in one area and do that one area VERY well. Today, I'd like to introduce you to one of those Kiwi Stand Bloggers.

Victor Franqui a.k.a. Vic, runs BloggerUnleashed.com and finding his site has made a huge difference in my on-line life and that is beginning to translate into my off-line life.

See, Vic isn't like all the other "blogging gurus" extolling the virtues of writing great content, fishing for high subscriber counts, and selling them a eBook or some other crap to make money. This guy actually knows how to make money online and he's sharing it with anyone who will listen over at BloggerUnleashed.com

Now I guess I should qualify that preceding paragraph. Without a doubt you CAN write great content and have lots of subscribers, browsers and regular readers. You can have guest posters and run contests to reward your faithful...and, as Vic would say, "You'll starve while you're doing it!"

Instead, Vic is a proponent of creating highly targeted web sites that may only generate a trickle of traffic but that trickle is motivated to click or buy from that web site. Maybe to the tune of only a single dollar per day! How then are you supposed to make money from a trickle of traffic? By volume my friend! One dollar a day from 200 sites will generate $6,000 a month! What? You can't handle 200 sites? Check out BloggerUnleashed.com before you say that!

Vic is a former black-hatter who has turned from the dark side and is now looking to put together a portfolio of set-and-forget income streams not to be rich but to enable him to pursue his life's passion. I don't want to steal his thunder about that passion, he can tell you way better than me anyway. Check out his Challenge to get Mad vlog post and if that doesn't tell you something about this guy, you're missing the point!

I should also warn you about two things. First, Vic has, um..."salty" language and doesn't hold anything back. Consider yourself warned. Second, learning from Vic is kinda like trying to drink from a fire hose. There's just so much you have to go back and re-read / re-watch over and over.

So if you've come across this site looking to make money online or trying to figure out this blogging for bucks thing everybody is talking about, take a word of advice. Ignore the main stream and look to BloggerUnleashed.com. Then come back and tell me what you think, good or bad. I bet you'll thank me!

*** UPDATED ***

Vic over at BloggerUnleashed.com is running a contest beginning May 6th to see who can generate the most organic traffic. Now, it's too late to get into the contest but I was fortunate enough to make it. You can see my entry blog at A Jar of Skittles (http://jtrigsby.bloggerUnleashed.com).

How Blogging Should Be Like Selling Kiwi

With a little better understanding of retail and marketing philosophies, we may be better situated for making money online!

I was sitting around tonight thinking about this whole making money online niche and something occurred to me...we're working really hard to re-invent the wheel here! The very first rule of retail is this...if nobody is buying, I'm not making any money! The same rule applies online!

Look, if you owned a brick and mortar business you would do retail one of two ways. The first way is to be everything to everybody, always have what the customer is looking for. I'll call that the Wal-Mart way. Alternatively, you could focus on a very small segment of the business and be very specialized. I'll call that the Kiwi Stand way. These are not new principles, they are time tested over hundreds of years.

The real irony here is that because we've switched from brick and mortar to click based retail, we thing all those principles don't apply any more. We've even introduced a new "principle" that I haven't quite named yet. It mainly consists of standing there proclaiming yourself to be an expert at something and pointing people in "the way they should go." Its kinda like the homeless guy giving me home buying tips. Wait...THAT'S IT! The Homeless Way!

Wal-Mart didn't start out as the largest retailer on the face of the planet. They started small just like everyone else. They got to where they are by huge volume and taking advantage of suppliers. I mean come on. Don't most mom & pop store owners have to ask their suppliers what a widget costs? Wal-Mart gets to tell their suppliers what they will be paid for the widget...and the suppliers are so desperate for Wal-Mart's business (i.e. validation) that they agree...whatever the price.

Now the kiwi stand guy is willing to pay a little extra for his kiwi because he want the best. He is willing to invest in providing the best, most specific product his customer is looking for. In return he is rewarded with customers who are willing to pay a little more to get exactly what they are looking for. The kiwi stand owner is also the most likely to help out the store owner around the corner because he knows the value of a good relationship with fellow retailers.

And then there are the Homeless guys, who have neither the most, nor the best...hell, no product at all...but he knows where everything is and has no problem telling you where to get the best kiwi...for a dollar! Oh, and he know about all the fruits too so there's no reason to ask anyone else...he is the final authority.

So what? What does this have to do with blogging or making money online?

Well, I'll tell ya. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm going to draw some parallels between these retail principles and bloggers.

First, the Wal-Mart's of the blogging world, yep you guessed it. These are the John Chow's of the blogosphere and his ilk. Doing massive volume and taking advantage of everyone that crosses their path. And while you may find a few really good items in the inventory, they are the exception. Most of it is just crap, and for some reason, people keep going back to get refills of the same crap!

Next, we have the Homeless bloggers like Caroline Middlebrook. No real experience, no real product, just self-proclaimed experts who, for just $99.95, will tell you everything you need to know to get where they are! (which, by the way, you're probably already there!)

Finally, we have what I want to be, the Kiwi Stand Guy. If you've ever been to or lived in NYC for any amount of time, you'll get this. Vic from BloggerUnleashed would be a perfect Kiwi Stand Vendor in NYC! You're laughing but am I wrong? ("Hey, ya need a friggin kiwi?") Vic along with Griz (How to Make Money Online) and Court (Internet Marketing) round out the Three Wise Men of Internet Marketing in my book.

I've been trying to get started making money online for well over a year and in the past six weeks of listening to the Three Wise Men of Internet Marketing, now I'm actually making some progress. Not a millionaire (yet, maybe never) but lets just say the months of $0.90 AdSense are over!

Vic, the vlogs are the best and it's like I said in some comment the other day. Your stuff is golden but sometimes its like trying to get a drink from a fire hose! I'm glad I can go back and play them again. Thanks for all you've done for me and for the rest of the blogging community!

Court, you are the keyword master! Your latest on Keyword Sniping was actually a real encouragement to me, you know, finding out that even the master can get sandboxed! Thanks man!

Griz, wow, talk about pay it forward! Not only do you make it seem so simple, you've got no problem sharing and helping us noobs get started. You are one of the good guys.

If you don't read these three blogs and you want to make money online, you should quit now. You may make a little money, but you'll starve before you make any real income.

If you read these guys you will now understand my retail analogy and the Kiwi Stand.

You don't have to have 100,000 customers a day that come in, look around, and leave. You just need the 10 or 20 who come in and BUY a kiwi! (remember...if they don't buy, I don't make any money?) Oh, and you need a couple of thousand cheap fruit stands that sell what people want to buy (kiwi, oranges, limes...whatever) on the the streets where Wal-Mart won't bother to go.

Blog on Three Wise Men of Internet Marketing...and thanks!

An Alexa Milestone Day!

Back in December I was inspired by Daniel's 2008 Goals blog writing project over at Daily Blog Tips, and I published my blogging goals for 2008. Well, I've made at least one of them already!

Admittedly, back in December I was a bit unsure what my goals should be, after all I had only gotten serious about this blogging thing a couple of weeks earlier. But that didn't stop me from laying them out there for the world to see.

I has planned an update on the goals for the end of this month to mark the end of the first quarter but I got such a great surprise yesterday that I decided I couldn't put it off any longer!

Goal Number 7: Break into the top 5,000,000 on Alexa (currently 8,167,786). I blew past the 5,000,000 mark weeks ago but seemed to be stuck just over 1,000,000 for forever...till yesterday. When I opened my browser and looked at the Alexa Rank I was rewarded with 958,194.

Now it doesn't take much surfing (um, or mathematical acumen) to know that there are still almost 1,000,000 sites ranking higher than mine...but hey I thought it was worth celebrating!

Ok, so here's the update on all the rest!

Write at least one post every day. I've definitely not been making this goal on this blog alone, then again I have about a million times more blogs than when I wrote this goal too. Realistically, I'd like to post 2-3 times a week here so....there's my UPDATED goal for 2008.

Network with (not just link to) other bloggers. I've done ok with this one I guess. I've been working diligently in the local niche arena lately and I've been in touch with lots of folks there. I also had the pleasure of making a guest post at The Writers Manifesto entitled 3 Tips To Make Working At Home Easier. Thanks Monika for the opportunity!

Average at least 100 daily unique visitors. Wow, just went to calculate this and I'm embarrassed to post it... maybe next time! (As kind of a consolation I will say that my local niche site East of Huntsville is averaging 44.4 per day!) (Another side note, my series on LOST on ABC has helped a lot)

Average at least 300 daily page views. Again, too embarrassing to print. (East of Huntsville, 82/day)

Have at least 100 RSS subscribers. Today the number is 13. I don't watch this one every day because it is the least dependable and often most depressing number. I am satisfied with the progress overall in this category though because the trend is up! (BTW, if you'd like to subscribe to my feed...)

Average at least 3 comments per post. Well, this number isn't very good yet either but here tis: .38 per post, yes, you read that correctly. The average is less than one...but it's not zero!

Break into the top 5,000,000 on Alexa (currently 8,167,786). Already addressed this one (yeah!) but since I've hit on East of Huntsville, I thought I'd mention that EOH's Alexa page rank is 986,715 today! Not bad for a site I hadn't even created when I wrote my goals!

Generate at least $500 monthly. Well, progress here is slow but it is still progress! January and February were still less than $10 each and the trend is increasing. I've added two new revenue generators this month, ProjectWonderful ads and Yahoo! Publisher Network ads. We'll see how they go.

Ok, there's my update. As always comments with praise, ideas, or just to say hi are always welcomed and encouraged. And remember, you can be sure to get future updates by subscribing to the feed.

If you follow BloggerUnleashed.com then you should already know about the Mission Possible contest that Vic is putting on. If you haven't, stay tuned here at jtrigsby.com and you can follow my progress at jtrigsby.bloggerunleashed.com, that will be my blog for the contest. thanks for your support and see you soon.

Yes...You're In the Right Place!

One of the simple truths of life is that people don't like change, another truth is they are fascinated by it! So don't be frightened, just read along!

It is funny how predictable people can be. Change one little thing in their otherwise stable routine and it completely derails them! Take for example, changing the template and layout for your blog. If you've been coming to the site to read the posts over the past week you will know that I've been working on changing up the blog to be a little more spacious and accommodating. (BTW, if you've only been reading via email or RSS, thanks for subscribing, and come to see the changes on Life In the Internet.)

And yet with the same amount of predictability we can enjoy seeing people drawn into the change...kinda like watching a train wreck (although I hope this change isn't as bad as a train wreck!) (Actual train wreck footage below).

Change can be exciting, an opportunity to see and experience something new, not just the same old everyday thing. Some of us shrugged off the aversion to change a long time ago and look for the next thing to turn upside down. Others need to let their hair down just a bit and let go of the hand rail!

Which ever group you belong to, thanks for keeping up with Life In the Internet and pardon the mess while the deck is being shuffled. And feel free to leave a comment (good or bad) about what you think, what you like, what you'd like to see more of, and that crap you never want to see again! Come on...I know you're out there, I look at the stats everyday!

And for those of you just dying to watch a train wreck...here ya go!

How Blogging Is Like Morse Code and Sudoku

Ok, I know it sounds like a strange topic so stick with me here for a few minutes.

I created my first blog before I learned Morse code or sudoku, but I never really did anything with it. I was like the hundreds of thousands of others that thought, "what am I going to have to write about." Don't believe me, this is the first blog I created, go back and read my first post First Things First, if you dare (but fair warning...it sucks!)

It wasn't until I had finished reading the Internet one day and just started chopping at the keyboard that I stumbled across the blogging as an income idea. I think the first one I really latched onto was Brian over at GeniusTypes.com, but that was just the beginning. Now I try to be a faithful disciple of the Three Wise Men of blogging.

Anyway, I digress.

When I first started blogging as an income, it all seemed pretty complicated to me, hence the morse code and sudoku reference. You'll know if you've read Adventures in Amateur Radio that I'm an amateur radio operator or ham. One of the requirements (at the time) to upgrade from an entry level operator was to learn Morse Code. I failed my first two tests because I was trying to hear every letter rather than listening for words...

Still Confused?

Ok, how about sudoku. My first attempts at sudoku were very granular, only one row or one column or one square. It wasn't until I started seeing and playing the puzzle as a whole that I really had a breakthrough.

And Now for Blogging...

Now don't get me wrong, I'm now where near an expert at this stuff...yet. But I am beginning to see whole puzzles rather than just the individual pieces. Having one blog is ok and you can have great fun with it...but that's about it. Don't expect to make any real money, at least not in the short term. It will take forever, and most people will lose interest. BUT, if you have several that support each other, well now we're getting somewhere.

As I continue down this new path there seems to be something new around every corner. The trick here is that while it is new to me, there are probably hundreds if not thousands of other bloggers that have already figured this out. If you can learn from other people's mistakes, you'll get there a lot faster.

Look at your blogging portfolio as a whole, not a list of individual blogs each competing for your time and attention. Whip those blogs into line and have them all working for you instead of you working for them!

Happy Blogging!

BloggingZoom Attacked...Again

Just like I said in BloggingZoom Hacked, Vic and Court must be getting something right because they are under attack again. This time its in the form of vitriol coming from the folks over at Blog Catalog in the content and comments to Trying to get my url banned on blogging zoom. Just like I said in my comments to One Sided Story, if they don't want to use BloggingZoom, then don't. If you don't want to hear from Vic, stop writing him and talking about him. If you find it impossible to read what he writes because he doesn't proof read or spell check, unsubscribe. That's pretty simple.

Here's the bottom line for me. I know why Vic's grammar sucks and his words are harsh, and so will anybody that takes the time to read-up on that over at BloggerUnleashed.com. See, it's kinda like voting... if you don't do your part (and vote) then you don't get to complain (or boast) after the election. If you're not willing to look at why things are the way they are, then I'd prefer to not hear you cry about it.

Now, that being said, here's a bone for the BC folks. From the reading I've done over there, they seem to be nice enough, and helpful from time to time ( although I can't find anything like this ). They are very happy blogging for blogging's sake and that is their choice. More power to 'em. I for one want to make a little scratch from my time in the Internet so I'm looking to the Three Wise Men to help me do that!

Back In the Salt Mine...

As a new week starts, so does the "labor"

I had the very special pleasure of having lunch with my wife and my mom today (BTW, the Salmon Cakes at Super Suppers are GREAT!) While we were eating we chatted about what I've been able to earn on-line the past few weeks and I, quite by accident, stumbled upon something I hadn't really realized before. Blogging is work!

I know I've said I'm trying to setup some passive income via the web as part of my grand experiment, but it is FAR from passive yet! My beautiful brides leaves the house by 9:30 most days (thus forcing me to get to work) and before I know it, its already 3:30 and the little one is home from school! Where did all that time go? Well, I don't know about the rest of you but for me, it went into work!

Yeah, I know a lot of people would look at what I do and say, "that ain't work, that's just surfin." Well brother, let me tell you. By the time I scan all my feeds in Reader, tag the ones I want to come back and read, look for interesting tid-bits for the blogs, research links for link posts, write some posts, check keyword counts, comment on others posts, answer emails, scan Craig's List, update Facebook, and process orders from the eComm site... its a Full Day!

But hey, I'm not gonna complain, I could be out diggin a ditch, right!? I just have to remember to get up and stretch my legs every once in a while!

Genius Types Is Not Just A Great Name...

In the never ending search for meaningful content on the web, Genius Types is a refreshing discovery that can actually restore your faith in blogging and the Internet

Over the past year I've been on a quest to find the way to make money from home/on the Internet... and I've seen plenty. Everything from bogus ads on Craigs List to mortgage brokering. During that time I've also done lots of reading on finances, debt, and getting things done. Through all of this I was beginning to piece together what I thought was a pretty original framework for how to work my way out of debt, build some residual income, and not have to work 26 hours a day. Then I found Brian Lee's blog, Genius Types.

If anyone else had been home they would have seen me sitting slack-jawed in front of my monitor reading all the things I had just moments ago been so proud of as original thought! But instead of being mad, upset, or disappointed... I was thrilled! Brian had just confirmed my ideas and gave me even more confidence in my own. The link that got it all started was to his number one article, Five Ways to Create Passive Income With Little Or No Money. For the better part of the remaining day I wandered around through Brian's posts gleaning nuggets of wisdom and encouragement. Wow!

Brian doesn't just tell you how, he proves that it works!

While there is no shortage of blogs that will tell you how to make money online, some even promising huge payback in a couple of weeks, Brian is a bit more practical and doesn't mind proving it.

First, Genius Types is all about passive income, what I call mailbox money. Little or no effort for a regular, recurring income stream. Without a doubt there are ways to make your Internet business pay off quickly, but from what I've seen they take lots of time and effort...and then they're gone. I'm willing to make the trade-off of slower start for longer return!

Second, and this has been the kicker for me, Brian posts a detailed breakdown of where his blog income comes from each month! Granted, I haven't read the whole Internet yet, but I have yet to find anyone else bold enough to do this. This also means Brian is complete transparent about how much he makes. While he hasn't broken the $1,000 a month plateau yet, he does grow his income each month and that is the name of the game.

All Part of the Plan

Finally, Brian is using the Internet as one source of income that is part of a larger plan, one that will free him from the mouse wheel of working for debt and allow him and his family the latitude to pursue their joys and passions. This is the reason I like Brian and his approach so much! He's not out looking for the quick buck, he's put together a plan and he's working the plan.

So many times people get into a temporary bind (like charging up credit cards for Christmas?) and go out looking for a quick payday to get out of that whole, only to dig a new one the very next day. That's crazy, but it was me and 98% of the rest of America. I hope that by drawing attention to Brian's blog that more of us Internet citizens will wake up and see what we've been doing to ourselves and maybe glean some great pearls from Genius Types to help jump off that treadmill!

Thanks Brian for all your work on Genius Types! Keep up the good work and good luck.

-Thom



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Reaching My Blogging Goals for 2008

Inspired by Daniel's 2008 Goals blog writing project over at Daily Blog Tips, I recently published my blogging goals for 2008. Now what?

So here are the goals again, with a few more details (I hope!). As always, if you have any ideas for me by all means please share!

Write at least one post every day I'm already behind on this one (although I guess technically 2008 hasn't started yet so I'm still ok, right?) I think the key here will be to write ahead so I'm not pressed everyday to write something. Writing is a chore for me but when I get on a roll, I can just let the stuff fly! Maybe by taking advantage of that the blog can stay fresh and filled every day. I've also thought it might be a good idea to come up with a content schedule / outline. Does anyone else do this? How does it work for you?

Network with (not just link to) other bloggers I've really become a big believer in networking, both on-line and off. If you are not intentional in building relationships you can simply wander through life and miss out on some great support and experience that is just wait on you to ask. I've tried re-inventing the wheel and its hard.

Average at least 100 daily unique visitors Networking will help this but I think it will just take a little time. I'll continue my linking quest(s) and commenting sprees and the like to get the name out there. I'm not in a huge hurry to build traffic and I really want organic growth so I'm really trying to avoid building traffic through ads like AdWords. I am trying to be diligent about putting links out there in my email, on Facebook and LinkedIn, etc.

Average at least 300 daily page views This is simple math. If Life In the Internet gets 100 daily visitors and they look at three pages each (on average of course) then there are my 300 page views. Key here is interesting content (see number one above).

Have at least 100 RSS subscribers I was talking to a good friend of mine once who used to sell cars. He told me one of the first things they were taught to do was ask potential customers to buy the car. Seems simple but... So key number one to making this one happen is asking my readers to subscribe to my RSS feed! (There, that wasn't so bad was it?) Beyond that however, more interesting content (wow, that seems to be coming up a lot!)

Average at least 3 comments per post I was reading Mark Cuban's blog (www.BlogMaverick.com) the other day and he said the best way to make sure you get lots of comments on a topic is to say something you know will push peoples buttons (paraphrased). Not so sure that will work for me but maybe. Any ideas?

Break into the top 5,000,000 on Alexa (currently 8,167,786) As I look back at the other goals here (100 visitors, 300 page views) I'm realizing this may be a bit unrealistic, but it's a start. Again, it will just take a little time and giving readers a reason to visit.

And finally, Generate at least $500 monthly I'm working on two concepts here. One, under promise and over deliver. If I only aim for $500 a month it should be easier to hit and I'll feel much better about making $600. Second, I don't think I want this blog to be the sole source of income. Sure, it needs to support it's own habits but I think it could work much better as a gateway into other ventures, similar to the way Brian Lee over at GeniusTypes uses his blog. At any rate, here are some of the things I've got going. Suggestions are, of course, welcome and encouraged:

• Of course there is AdSense (as you can see). So far it has made a grand total of $4.11 for me. I know that will improve some with more targeted content and with more visits / page views. Any other ideas?
  
  
• The Tip Jar is always there (top right, just under my LinkedIn profile button). I don't really expect it to be a primary source of income but a few buck here and there would be nice (hint, hint)
  
  
• There are a couple of ads from Commission Junction (Boca Java, Calendars, etc). I probably need to revisit those ads in light of the content focus to make sure relevant ads are rolling.
  
  
• There are a few ClickBank links scattered around the site. Nothing really going on with them either.
  
  
• And then of course there are the ads to my other income producers. They are all the way at the bottom on the right. Should I move them up higher?
  

Ok, there you have it. A slightly more detailed look at my goals. Please, feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions for me. I'm all in for trying to learn from other folks experience.

Thanks for stopping by, reading and commenting. Oh, and Happy New Year and best of luck in 2008!

-Thom

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Blogging Goals for 2008

With a fresh bit of inspiration from Daniel and his Group Writing Project: 2008 Blogging Goals, I've decided on some goals for my blog in 2008. Granted they may be meager since I'm just getting started (a little over a month as of this writing) but hey, its a start, right? Anyway, here goes....

Write at least one post every day
Network with (not just link to) other bloggers
Average at least 100 daily unique visitors
Average at least 300 daily page views
Have at least 100 RSS subscribers
Average at least 3 comments per post
Break into the top 5,000,000 on Alexa (currently 8,167,786)
Generate at least $500 monthly ($4.11 last month, I know, long way to go, right?)

Wish me luck!

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