WOW ! We have really been moving ! And it is only a couple of days work so far !
But since we are shuffling right along we might as well talk about other affiliate links you can make money with. Google AdSense isn't the only horse in the race you know. As terrific as it might be, there are still others.
Let me give you an example. Right now, I am waiting on the pending approval to be an affiliate of a multi-player online sim called Second Life. I at least thought it would be easier to be one, but they actually go through and approve sites taken into consideration traffic and content, and other various variables. I am really hoping they approve ME. I love their site. It has an economy built in using their own currency. And you exchange their currency, which are called "Lindens" or "Linden Dollars" for REAL WORLD currency. Some people actually make a living in Second Life with actual businesses they have started with in the online Second Life community. We will go more in depth later on, but I just bring them up because I want you to know that I am wanting to be an affiliate with them and make money as well. And it is a real product that I personally endorse.
What I didn't know at the time was that you had to go through another company to set up the affiliate program. And THIS company ALSO has an affiliate program ! Confused yet ? Awww...you shouldn't be. The other company is called LinkShare. Just like with the email, and blog site, and PayPal, you have to sign up and get set up. And Second Life isn't the only company they set up affiliates for. They set up a bunch of
Friday, January 8, 2010
Using PayPal On Your Blog - Work At Home Experimen t- Continued
So let's finish the PayPal part up.
Go into your PayPal account and navigate to the area in the site that talks about making buttons. I am using the donate button on this blog. But you have a lot of other options, such as if you are going to sell items and get paid directly. They also have merchant services available for regular business. I'm not that far myself yet, so I will stick with the donate option for a while.
They will generate the html code needed to place on your website or blog. You just copy it with your mouse or high light it and press crtl+C on your keyboard. Once you have copied this code, you can go into your blog Dashboard again. Remember how earlier we talked about the Layout tab ? Click on it, and the Page Elements page should be right there in front of you. I have my PayPal button set up to be the first Gadget on the right hand side. You just click on "Add a Gadget" and the pop up window comes up. Click on HTML/JavaScript. You have a dialog box you can type into, just as if you were typing an article for your blog. You don't have to have a title, but I put the "Please Donate...yada yada" stuff in the box. In the other part is where you paste what you copied from the PayPal site which is, again, the html code for your PayPal
Go into your PayPal account and navigate to the area in the site that talks about making buttons. I am using the donate button on this blog. But you have a lot of other options, such as if you are going to sell items and get paid directly. They also have merchant services available for regular business. I'm not that far myself yet, so I will stick with the donate option for a while.
They will generate the html code needed to place on your website or blog. You just copy it with your mouse or high light it and press crtl+C on your keyboard. Once you have copied this code, you can go into your blog Dashboard again. Remember how earlier we talked about the Layout tab ? Click on it, and the Page Elements page should be right there in front of you. I have my PayPal button set up to be the first Gadget on the right hand side. You just click on "Add a Gadget" and the pop up window comes up. Click on HTML/JavaScript. You have a dialog box you can type into, just as if you were typing an article for your blog. You don't have to have a title, but I put the "Please Donate...yada yada" stuff in the box. In the other part is where you paste what you copied from the PayPal site which is, again, the html code for your PayPal
Setting Up Paypal For Your Blog Or Website
Ok. OK. So it isn't so much for your website that I'm talking about. This IS more for the blog. But the beginning portion WILL pertain to you in either case.
PayPal is a great way to send and receive money, especially if your not a big business with tons of resources. You just have to open a PayPal account. On the surface, it isn't really that hard. But you DO have to have some patience when opening one because of verification policies that they have. Which shouldn't be a problem because those policies help protect us all from fraudulent practices.
just like an email, or like signing for your blog or Google AdSense, you follow the directions and enter the appropriate info that they ask for. But one of the things you absolutely have to have in order to open one is a bank account, at least to be able to deal with certain vendors and affiliates. Trust me. You will want to verify your PayPal account. Otherwise, you will be stuck with only being able to send receive money to other PayPal account holders via email identification. Can't remember if it applies to receiving money via credit card or not. You will have to take a look at their policies on their website. But, in short, you WILL want to have a bank account to verify your PayPal account.
Is there anything else that can be done IF you don't have a bank account to accomplish the same thing ? Actually, YES ! That's the good news. And how is it done ?
Believe it or not, the Walmart Money Card ! Yep, you read it right ! The Walmart Money Card. REALLY handy for situations like this. I know first hand. Because I DON'T have a bank account myself. Not anymore any. So let me cover the Walmart Money Card first before going any further with PayPal. I think people, especially those like me, are really going to need it. And let's face it. We are trying to figure out how to go from rags to riches in reality. And if your in the rags department, you might have nothing but the local library with an internet connection to start off with. So here it goes.
Of course you can go to Walmart and pick up one of these prepaid cards with the Visa logo. You can also pick a prepaid card up at some 7 Elevens's under the Greendot brand name. You can get a Greendot prepaid card online as well. There are other prepaid cards out there, such as the one you can get from Walgreens. And different ones you can get off of the internet. But the one I have used and know works is the one from Walmart. You are going to need $20. It might actually be $23, I can't quite remember. I have had mine for a while. But you purchase your card at Walmart for $20 and each time you load money on it it costs $3. You can go to a Walmart and pick up the info to get all the fees that it might have.
Your card is ready to go and just has to be activated, just like a regular credit card, and then it is ready for use. But the card you get at Walmart is just a starter card. You need to call and activate the starter card. You also need to call to give them your basic information, again, just like a regular credit card. They will send your replacement for the starter card to the address you tell them on the phone. But don't use a P.O. box, it won't work. Tried already. So you need to have a real address to send it to.
Set up your pin number and all the thinbgs they tell you to do. But this is kicker. Sign up online with your password/pin number and get into your account online. Go to the area that talks about direct deposit. They show how to get up for direct deposit, and a pop up window appears that shows you the routing number and account number for you to use. This is the magic information. They give it to you in a printable form for you to send to whoever you are doing direct deposit with. And when I went to get set up with mine and PayPal, I started to sweat a little. Wasn't sure it was going to go through. But, happy happy, joy joy ! It did ! I used the direct deposit information within PayPal like a regular bank account. Well, it IS a regular bank account, but with no branch to go to. And you shouldn't have to wait for thr replacement card in the mail to get started.
Now that you have your bank account info ready to go, you can now go to PayPal and sign up. They make fairly easy. You just login with your email address once your set up. Just follow their instructions to do so, just like all the tings we have done so far. You know, the email and the blog, and the AdSense.
When you go to verify your account in PayPal, they will ask you to verify your email address as well. Then, when you go to verify your PayPal account itself, you will enter your bank account info and they will send you some dollar amounts to check it out and make sure it is good. This process can take a couple days, and was what I was referring to when I said it takes patience. When I was getting mine verified, I was on pins and needles wondering if it was going to go through or not. I got pretty anxious ! Well, now you don't have to go through what I did. Mine went through, so I am sure yours will as well.
Assuming you are ready with your account verified with PayPal, let's move on to the next step. Which I am going to put in the next post. I really hate it when my articles get too long. And this one is getting close !
As always, please donaye to my site with the PayPal button in the top right corner of this page. ANYTHING you can donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
PayPal is a great way to send and receive money, especially if your not a big business with tons of resources. You just have to open a PayPal account. On the surface, it isn't really that hard. But you DO have to have some patience when opening one because of verification policies that they have. Which shouldn't be a problem because those policies help protect us all from fraudulent practices.
just like an email, or like signing for your blog or Google AdSense, you follow the directions and enter the appropriate info that they ask for. But one of the things you absolutely have to have in order to open one is a bank account, at least to be able to deal with certain vendors and affiliates. Trust me. You will want to verify your PayPal account. Otherwise, you will be stuck with only being able to send receive money to other PayPal account holders via email identification. Can't remember if it applies to receiving money via credit card or not. You will have to take a look at their policies on their website. But, in short, you WILL want to have a bank account to verify your PayPal account.
Is there anything else that can be done IF you don't have a bank account to accomplish the same thing ? Actually, YES ! That's the good news. And how is it done ?
Believe it or not, the Walmart Money Card ! Yep, you read it right ! The Walmart Money Card. REALLY handy for situations like this. I know first hand. Because I DON'T have a bank account myself. Not anymore any. So let me cover the Walmart Money Card first before going any further with PayPal. I think people, especially those like me, are really going to need it. And let's face it. We are trying to figure out how to go from rags to riches in reality. And if your in the rags department, you might have nothing but the local library with an internet connection to start off with. So here it goes.
Of course you can go to Walmart and pick up one of these prepaid cards with the Visa logo. You can also pick a prepaid card up at some 7 Elevens's under the Greendot brand name. You can get a Greendot prepaid card online as well. There are other prepaid cards out there, such as the one you can get from Walgreens. And different ones you can get off of the internet. But the one I have used and know works is the one from Walmart. You are going to need $20. It might actually be $23, I can't quite remember. I have had mine for a while. But you purchase your card at Walmart for $20 and each time you load money on it it costs $3. You can go to a Walmart and pick up the info to get all the fees that it might have.
Your card is ready to go and just has to be activated, just like a regular credit card, and then it is ready for use. But the card you get at Walmart is just a starter card. You need to call and activate the starter card. You also need to call to give them your basic information, again, just like a regular credit card. They will send your replacement for the starter card to the address you tell them on the phone. But don't use a P.O. box, it won't work. Tried already. So you need to have a real address to send it to.
Set up your pin number and all the thinbgs they tell you to do. But this is kicker. Sign up online with your password/pin number and get into your account online. Go to the area that talks about direct deposit. They show how to get up for direct deposit, and a pop up window appears that shows you the routing number and account number for you to use. This is the magic information. They give it to you in a printable form for you to send to whoever you are doing direct deposit with. And when I went to get set up with mine and PayPal, I started to sweat a little. Wasn't sure it was going to go through. But, happy happy, joy joy ! It did ! I used the direct deposit information within PayPal like a regular bank account. Well, it IS a regular bank account, but with no branch to go to. And you shouldn't have to wait for thr replacement card in the mail to get started.
Now that you have your bank account info ready to go, you can now go to PayPal and sign up. They make fairly easy. You just login with your email address once your set up. Just follow their instructions to do so, just like all the tings we have done so far. You know, the email and the blog, and the AdSense.
When you go to verify your account in PayPal, they will ask you to verify your email address as well. Then, when you go to verify your PayPal account itself, you will enter your bank account info and they will send you some dollar amounts to check it out and make sure it is good. This process can take a couple days, and was what I was referring to when I said it takes patience. When I was getting mine verified, I was on pins and needles wondering if it was going to go through or not. I got pretty anxious ! Well, now you don't have to go through what I did. Mine went through, so I am sure yours will as well.
Assuming you are ready with your account verified with PayPal, let's move on to the next step. Which I am going to put in the next post. I really hate it when my articles get too long. And this one is getting close !
As always, please donaye to my site with the PayPal button in the top right corner of this page. ANYTHING you can donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
The Work At Home Experiment - Monetize Your Blog !
Here we go ! The big tab is of the utmost importance ! The "Monetize" tab in your Blogspot.com or Blogger.com blog "Dashboard".
First you have your AdSense Overview. this shows your payment history, or at least what your estimated earnings should be for the current time or both. It will show you what kind of money making program you running with AdSense, like "AdSense for Content" and the "Affiliate Program". I think you can choose both, but right now, I'm just interested in the AdSense for Content program.
The reason I am just going with the Content program is because it allows you to make money with visitors to your blog or site to just click on the ads. Nobody has to by anything. The ads change all the time depending on what Google's algorithm has determined they should be by what you are writing in your blog or the content overall for your site. If I were talking a lot about boats, I'm pretty sure you would be seeing ads related to boats or boat accessories. Then you, the reader of the blog, would click on those links if you were interested, and I would get credit for it. The credit is a certain amount determined by the several factors, including what the advertiser is paying to Google, and even if Google GOT paid. Google analyzes all the clicks or hits to make sure they are legit. If they are, you get paid for them.
I also have my blog set for image ads and/or banners. If I have this right, and I think I do, you can also get paid for the number of impressions, or the number of times a banner ad happens to show up on your site. I think the banner ads don't even have to be clicked. You are getting paid for them because the content you were writing about lured the banner ads onto your site, and since they are taking up space and have the opportunity to be displayed on YOUR site that you control, your getting paid to advertise for those companies. I think that's pretty cool, considering you can have a very high traffic site that gets lots of impressions. And it is less intrusive to the customer and easier on you. To me, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Especially at this stage of the game. I don't want to wait for someone to buy something to get paid. It might be a bigger commission, but to me it is still a gamble. I'll do it later when I have even more traffic coming to this site.
The "Google Affiliate Program" is just that. You get paid for what people buy, but that is what they have to do...BUY ! Again, I'll do this later since a buck is a buck, but I am reserving my space for the easier buck at the moment.
Now, the "AdSense Overview" shows the stats for both those programs, like the number of page impressions, how many cliks you have, the page CTR, the page eCPM and the earnings, or rather your "estimated earnings".
So what is page CTR ? Google defines it as Page CTR (Clickthrough Rate): The number of ad clicks divided by the number of impressions for the page of ads that appears when a link unit is clicked.
And what is page eCPM ? Google defines it as Page eCPM (Effective Cost Per Thousand Impressions): Calculated by dividing earnings by number of page impressions and multiplying. This makes it easier to compare multiple sites to see which are performing better.
This is the only report I have seen so far, probably because I just got started. But you can get other reports in links below that go straight to your the login for your Google AdSense account. And maybe I failed to mention that as well. You have to sign up for the AdSense program. But no worries. You can do that right through the blog site dashboard when you get to it. It is one more thing you use your Gmail email account for.
The other sub-tabs for the Monetize section of the "Dashboard" are AdSense for Feeds and "Amazon Associates". The feeds, I believe, are for the RSS style of feeds and AdSense can add links to it. Haven't done this yet myself, but I will let you know when I do and tell you all about it. The other part is the "Amazon Associates" tab, and this is the one I am having trouble with. That pesky "associates ID". You would think that Amazon would have made it little better to understand, since you have a blog ID and a Google ID. I just can't seem to get things to connect yet. And I DO want things to connect because I want to get credit, and cash, for the things I am promoting on my blog. Otherwise, why bother, right ?
That is about it for now on this subject. In the next couple of posts, I want to talk about other affiliate links and adding PayPal to your site.
So watch out for the "Amazon Associates" tab. Go to Amazon first and explore their affiliates program info first to get acquainted with terms and what to look out for and see how the relationship between Amazon and Google and the blog site works. I didn't even know, when I was starting the blog in the first place, that I would have the opportunity to do anything with Amazon. Otherwise I would have done the same thing I just told you to do. Maybe I will get it straightened out, maybe not. Either way, I'll let you know what I did and how it turns out. That is about it for now on this subject. In the next couple of posts, I want to talk about other affiliate links and adding PayPal to your site. Just proceed with caution when you get this area, and if YOU get figured out and know what they are referring to, let us know here and comment on it. I could use the help on this one !
Once again, speaking of help, please help continue this blog by donating via the PayPal link in the upper right corner of this blog. Your donations are badly needed, and ANYTHING you donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
First you have your AdSense Overview. this shows your payment history, or at least what your estimated earnings should be for the current time or both. It will show you what kind of money making program you running with AdSense, like "AdSense for Content" and the "Affiliate Program". I think you can choose both, but right now, I'm just interested in the AdSense for Content program.
The reason I am just going with the Content program is because it allows you to make money with visitors to your blog or site to just click on the ads. Nobody has to by anything. The ads change all the time depending on what Google's algorithm has determined they should be by what you are writing in your blog or the content overall for your site. If I were talking a lot about boats, I'm pretty sure you would be seeing ads related to boats or boat accessories. Then you, the reader of the blog, would click on those links if you were interested, and I would get credit for it. The credit is a certain amount determined by the several factors, including what the advertiser is paying to Google, and even if Google GOT paid. Google analyzes all the clicks or hits to make sure they are legit. If they are, you get paid for them.
I also have my blog set for image ads and/or banners. If I have this right, and I think I do, you can also get paid for the number of impressions, or the number of times a banner ad happens to show up on your site. I think the banner ads don't even have to be clicked. You are getting paid for them because the content you were writing about lured the banner ads onto your site, and since they are taking up space and have the opportunity to be displayed on YOUR site that you control, your getting paid to advertise for those companies. I think that's pretty cool, considering you can have a very high traffic site that gets lots of impressions. And it is less intrusive to the customer and easier on you. To me, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Especially at this stage of the game. I don't want to wait for someone to buy something to get paid. It might be a bigger commission, but to me it is still a gamble. I'll do it later when I have even more traffic coming to this site.
The "Google Affiliate Program" is just that. You get paid for what people buy, but that is what they have to do...BUY ! Again, I'll do this later since a buck is a buck, but I am reserving my space for the easier buck at the moment.
Now, the "AdSense Overview" shows the stats for both those programs, like the number of page impressions, how many cliks you have, the page CTR, the page eCPM and the earnings, or rather your "estimated earnings".
So what is page CTR ? Google defines it as Page CTR (Clickthrough Rate): The number of ad clicks divided by the number of impressions for the page of ads that appears when a link unit is clicked.
And what is page eCPM ? Google defines it as Page eCPM (Effective Cost Per Thousand Impressions): Calculated by dividing earnings by number of page impressions and multiplying. This makes it easier to compare multiple sites to see which are performing better.
This is the only report I have seen so far, probably because I just got started. But you can get other reports in links below that go straight to your the login for your Google AdSense account. And maybe I failed to mention that as well. You have to sign up for the AdSense program. But no worries. You can do that right through the blog site dashboard when you get to it. It is one more thing you use your Gmail email account for.
The other sub-tabs for the Monetize section of the "Dashboard" are AdSense for Feeds and "Amazon Associates". The feeds, I believe, are for the RSS style of feeds and AdSense can add links to it. Haven't done this yet myself, but I will let you know when I do and tell you all about it. The other part is the "Amazon Associates" tab, and this is the one I am having trouble with. That pesky "associates ID". You would think that Amazon would have made it little better to understand, since you have a blog ID and a Google ID. I just can't seem to get things to connect yet. And I DO want things to connect because I want to get credit, and cash, for the things I am promoting on my blog. Otherwise, why bother, right ?
That is about it for now on this subject. In the next couple of posts, I want to talk about other affiliate links and adding PayPal to your site.
So watch out for the "Amazon Associates" tab. Go to Amazon first and explore their affiliates program info first to get acquainted with terms and what to look out for and see how the relationship between Amazon and Google and the blog site works. I didn't even know, when I was starting the blog in the first place, that I would have the opportunity to do anything with Amazon. Otherwise I would have done the same thing I just told you to do. Maybe I will get it straightened out, maybe not. Either way, I'll let you know what I did and how it turns out. That is about it for now on this subject. In the next couple of posts, I want to talk about other affiliate links and adding PayPal to your site. Just proceed with caution when you get this area, and if YOU get figured out and know what they are referring to, let us know here and comment on it. I could use the help on this one !
Once again, speaking of help, please help continue this blog by donating via the PayPal link in the upper right corner of this blog. Your donations are badly needed, and ANYTHING you donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
Still Continuing The First Stage - The Work At Home Experiment
Forth post and moving right along. I think I did better on the last post in keeping things relatively short. And as I write, it is amazing to me how the human brain works, thinking about what I am going to write next, the best way to lay it out, and ideas for future profits. Wow ! I am actually REALLY starting to enjoy this !
Back on the Google AdSense stuff. You have your Gmail set up, you have opened your log so you can start writing. You can go ahead start doing that if you want to. You will probably want to set up your actual settings in the blog "Dashboard", the area that you control information and layouts of the blog with. It also controls how you make your money, or rather, the "things" you make your money with.
Let me just be brief, since this isn't an instruction manual for blogging. It's a diary for how to make money with it. But what you have in the simplest form are the Posting, Settings, Layout, and Monetize tabs.
The Posting tab is, of course, where you go to write your postings that people will read. Just look around while your in there, it's pretty simple. You'll get the hang of it.
The Settings tab is where you make changes like the name of your title of your complete blog, description of it (which I have yet to do, lol !), choosing to show your blog in the blog site listings and showing in the search engines. Again, pretty simple.
The Layout tab is bit more important. It is how you customize your blog look and arrangement. And it is where you choose, once your set up for the money making parts of things, where exactly on the site those money making gadgets will be placed. For instance, if you are already set up for Google AdSense, Amazon, or want to ad a PayPal link, you do all that here. The blog layout has what are called "Gadgets". They are like mini web programs that perform a specific function, or allow you the space to perform a custom function.
Clicking on Add a Gadget brings up a pop up window with lots of choices. Read through the choices a bit. there are a ton of them ! But one of the most popular choices is AdSense. You pick the color of the ads and the size and etc. You save it, and it displays the Google Ads in that location of where you clicked the Gadget in the first place. Play around with it. It's pretty cool and ULTRA easy.
Then are the third party applications that you can add through Gadgets. Like my PayPal link in the upper right corner of this blog. I want people to donate to my blog so I can continue this quest of making money online and working at home. I had to have a PayPal account, which I had already. I just had to get the code from PayPal's site in order to create the button. Copy it from PayPal's site, click on Add a Gadget in my blog...( and this the tricky part !)...choose HTML/JavaScript. I didn't know this at first and couldn't figure out where to add something like PayPal to my blog. But now that I know, I'm passing the info along. That is what this blog is for. To make things easier for you. Love me ? Yes you do, I know you do !
So looking through the layout section is essential to getting to know what is going on about where things go. The other sub-tabs are self explanatory as well. Same as the other tabs.
Now for the REALLY big one...the Monetize tab ! This is the miracle tab that can really make your blog site make money. And since this blog posting is getting a little long, I think I will go into it in the next post. It won't take long, because some the things that are there when you are starting up are gone once ARE set up. And I can't really give a play by play the way I would like to. But it IS important enough to talk about.
In the meantime, please donate to my site via the PayPal link in the upper right hand corner. ANYTHING you donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
Back on the Google AdSense stuff. You have your Gmail set up, you have opened your log so you can start writing. You can go ahead start doing that if you want to. You will probably want to set up your actual settings in the blog "Dashboard", the area that you control information and layouts of the blog with. It also controls how you make your money, or rather, the "things" you make your money with.
Let me just be brief, since this isn't an instruction manual for blogging. It's a diary for how to make money with it. But what you have in the simplest form are the Posting, Settings, Layout, and Monetize tabs.
The Posting tab is, of course, where you go to write your postings that people will read. Just look around while your in there, it's pretty simple. You'll get the hang of it.
The Settings tab is where you make changes like the name of your title of your complete blog, description of it (which I have yet to do, lol !), choosing to show your blog in the blog site listings and showing in the search engines. Again, pretty simple.
The Layout tab is bit more important. It is how you customize your blog look and arrangement. And it is where you choose, once your set up for the money making parts of things, where exactly on the site those money making gadgets will be placed. For instance, if you are already set up for Google AdSense, Amazon, or want to ad a PayPal link, you do all that here. The blog layout has what are called "Gadgets". They are like mini web programs that perform a specific function, or allow you the space to perform a custom function.
Clicking on Add a Gadget brings up a pop up window with lots of choices. Read through the choices a bit. there are a ton of them ! But one of the most popular choices is AdSense. You pick the color of the ads and the size and etc. You save it, and it displays the Google Ads in that location of where you clicked the Gadget in the first place. Play around with it. It's pretty cool and ULTRA easy.
Then are the third party applications that you can add through Gadgets. Like my PayPal link in the upper right corner of this blog. I want people to donate to my blog so I can continue this quest of making money online and working at home. I had to have a PayPal account, which I had already. I just had to get the code from PayPal's site in order to create the button. Copy it from PayPal's site, click on Add a Gadget in my blog...( and this the tricky part !)...choose HTML/JavaScript. I didn't know this at first and couldn't figure out where to add something like PayPal to my blog. But now that I know, I'm passing the info along. That is what this blog is for. To make things easier for you. Love me ? Yes you do, I know you do !
So looking through the layout section is essential to getting to know what is going on about where things go. The other sub-tabs are self explanatory as well. Same as the other tabs.
Now for the REALLY big one...the Monetize tab ! This is the miracle tab that can really make your blog site make money. And since this blog posting is getting a little long, I think I will go into it in the next post. It won't take long, because some the things that are there when you are starting up are gone once ARE set up. And I can't really give a play by play the way I would like to. But it IS important enough to talk about.
In the meantime, please donate to my site via the PayPal link in the upper right hand corner. ANYTHING you donate is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
Continuing The First Stage - The Work At Home Experiment
I'm trying to play "catch up" at the moment to give you the run down on what I have done so far, and then be able to post day by each action I do so you can you can follow along. And trying to explain that right now is making my posts rather long. I would like to keep them short and sweet, but that is a little difficult at this time. So bare with me !
So...what have we talked about so far ?
1) How I came up with MY idea in the first place.
2) Creating a blog or website.
3) Google AdSense, and other links just briefly.
So let's talk again about the Google AdSense program. I set up my blog which you are reading now. The ease with which Google has made things is just SPECTACULAR, in my humble opinion. But first, to get the blog, I had to make a Gmail address, the email address through Google. Just as easy as setting up a Yahoo or Hotmail address. Just follow the instructions and input the info that they ask for. OK ! Done !
Now go to Blogspot.com or Blogger.com and go to where you can create a blog. Follow their instructions, just like with the email, input the info and BOOM ! You now have your initial set up done for your blog. Of course, this is assuming you have thought of what you wanted to write about and the name of your blog already decided on. If you haven't done so, do that first because they are going to ask you for it.
The other thing to think about is the URL, or the website address you are going to have. If you look at my blog website address, you can see that it says trytoworkathome.blogspot.com This is because you are setting up your blog with Blogspot, which is the actual domain, and YOUR name for your blog URL is a what is called a "subdomain". The name that you call your blog and the subdomain do not have to be the same, but it is nice to be consistent. I did not have that luxury though. The title of my blog had already been taken as the URL subdomain, so I had to search for something else. I wasn't as prepared for that as I am trying to prepare you to be, so......well, I did my best and got what I got. I'm pretty sure I can change it to something better later. And I think you can import other blogs into other blogs and such, so I'm not really worried about it at this time.
Another thing about the URL of your blog is that, if you actually buy a URL with your own www.whateveryouwanttonameyourwebsite.com, you can. Then you can redirect that URL to point to the blog you already have set up. Pretty cool, huh ?! I will be doing this later on as well, but of course, I want my blog that you are reading now to be more self sufficient.
You can help me do that by donating via the PayPal link at the top right of this page. ANY amount is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
(P.S. - we will continue the Google Adsense discussion in the next post)
So...what have we talked about so far ?
1) How I came up with MY idea in the first place.
2) Creating a blog or website.
3) Google AdSense, and other links just briefly.
So let's talk again about the Google AdSense program. I set up my blog which you are reading now. The ease with which Google has made things is just SPECTACULAR, in my humble opinion. But first, to get the blog, I had to make a Gmail address, the email address through Google. Just as easy as setting up a Yahoo or Hotmail address. Just follow the instructions and input the info that they ask for. OK ! Done !
Now go to Blogspot.com or Blogger.com and go to where you can create a blog. Follow their instructions, just like with the email, input the info and BOOM ! You now have your initial set up done for your blog. Of course, this is assuming you have thought of what you wanted to write about and the name of your blog already decided on. If you haven't done so, do that first because they are going to ask you for it.
The other thing to think about is the URL, or the website address you are going to have. If you look at my blog website address, you can see that it says trytoworkathome.blogspot.com This is because you are setting up your blog with Blogspot, which is the actual domain, and YOUR name for your blog URL is a what is called a "subdomain". The name that you call your blog and the subdomain do not have to be the same, but it is nice to be consistent. I did not have that luxury though. The title of my blog had already been taken as the URL subdomain, so I had to search for something else. I wasn't as prepared for that as I am trying to prepare you to be, so......well, I did my best and got what I got. I'm pretty sure I can change it to something better later. And I think you can import other blogs into other blogs and such, so I'm not really worried about it at this time.
Another thing about the URL of your blog is that, if you actually buy a URL with your own www.whateveryouwanttonameyourwebsite.com, you can. Then you can redirect that URL to point to the blog you already have set up. Pretty cool, huh ?! I will be doing this later on as well, but of course, I want my blog that you are reading now to be more self sufficient.
You can help me do that by donating via the PayPal link at the top right of this page. ANY amount is greatly appreciated ! Thank you !
(P.S. - we will continue the Google Adsense discussion in the next post)
The First Stage - The Money Making Experiment Is On It's Way !
Well here it is ! The first run down on what I have dome so far ! Hopefully YOU can take this information and run with it. If anything special happens for you when you DO use it, please comment back and share the that information with everyone.
I am going to do this several posts because, honestly, I have had to do ALOT of things so far to get up and running. The biggest thing is with Google AdSense.
But maybe I am getting ahead myself ! Everything really started out as a basic idea that has a back ground story. It kinda goes like this....
I recently seen that movie about a relatively young lady that wanted to be a writer, but stuck in a dead end insurance company job and just plain unhappy. She also loved to cook, and found great comfort in knowing that when she mixed something together a certain way to create a dish, and followed instructions, she knew what she would come up with.
HER idea was to create a blog, which made her a writer, of course. And then she came up with the topic she wanted to write about...FOOD ! But not not just any ordinary food review. She came up with the idea to document her quest to cook however many recipes of Julia Child, in like, a year. I'm sure you have heard of the movie "July and Julia".
After seeing that movie, I was kind of inspired to do the same thing. But with the effect of helping other out who are trying to make money at home, just like me, and do it in a real, legit, not screwing around, don't wanna sell ice water to an eskimo sort of way. Maybe I will make money...maybe I won't. But you will know what I am doing, when I am doing it, and if what I am doing is working or not. And I will post how much I am making. And who knows, maybe we can do some things to make money together. Yeah, YOU, reading this blog, and ME the writer of it. There are programs out there for just that sort of thing !
Ok...I better not get off track. You and I can talk about all that kinda stuff later on. Right now, I just wanted you to know what it was that lead me in this direction, because I think the beginning is important. The "AH HA ! I have an idea !", part of things.
OK, so to sum everything up, I would say the first thing for anyone to do is to set up a blog, like here on Blogspot.com or Blogger.com. You will need to get a Gmail.com email address for it. Think of what you want to write about, come up with as catchy of a title as you can, follow Google's and the blog site's instructions on getting set up, and VIOLA ! You will be on your way just like I was.
If you do go the Blogspot.com or Blogger.com route, don't fool around with the "MONETIZE" button though...not just yet. I learned the hard way, because Amason.com is one of the ways you can make money on your site as well. But they have this thing about an "associates ID" number ? I can't figure out what that number is and for some reason I am having trouble linking things together. I thought it was my email address through Google's Gmail.com, as it is on a lot of sites.
At the very beginning with playing with my blog and trying to figure things out, I got a message that said something to the effect that if I didn't do something now with Amazon I would be subject to some other rules and yada yada. So I continued thinking I would mess something up if I didn't. And I DID want a strong relationship between my blog and Amazon.com as a money maker. Well, I don't know exactly what I did, but I don't have things up and running on the Amazon.com side yet. And I will keep you posted as I try to figure things out with that. If YOU run into the same thing as I did and get it figured out, let me know.
I don;t want this part of things to get too long, but I did want to add that blogging is not the only way. I have set up websites before, know just a little HTML. About enough to make me dangerous, but I can get by. So you can start out with the free websites to get started, just check how much they might be if you go to get ads removed, because later you WILL want to do that. And any affiliates that you eventually will want to sign up with don't want you have the free sites either, they will want you to have your own website address, or URL.
I will get into that later on as well. Of course, you KNOW that any website that has affiliate links on it makes money by having those links clicked. This blog is just that kinda of site. That is what we are trying to do here, whether it be a blog or any other type of website.
A very wise person once told me, "You NEVER get what you DON'T ask for !". I think he was right. So at this time I will ask you to donate via the PayPal link at the top of this blog. It is much needed, and along with links, is another vital way to make money. Please donate whatever amount you can.
Till the next post...
I am going to do this several posts because, honestly, I have had to do ALOT of things so far to get up and running. The biggest thing is with Google AdSense.
But maybe I am getting ahead myself ! Everything really started out as a basic idea that has a back ground story. It kinda goes like this....
I recently seen that movie about a relatively young lady that wanted to be a writer, but stuck in a dead end insurance company job and just plain unhappy. She also loved to cook, and found great comfort in knowing that when she mixed something together a certain way to create a dish, and followed instructions, she knew what she would come up with.
HER idea was to create a blog, which made her a writer, of course. And then she came up with the topic she wanted to write about...FOOD ! But not not just any ordinary food review. She came up with the idea to document her quest to cook however many recipes of Julia Child, in like, a year. I'm sure you have heard of the movie "July and Julia".
After seeing that movie, I was kind of inspired to do the same thing. But with the effect of helping other out who are trying to make money at home, just like me, and do it in a real, legit, not screwing around, don't wanna sell ice water to an eskimo sort of way. Maybe I will make money...maybe I won't. But you will know what I am doing, when I am doing it, and if what I am doing is working or not. And I will post how much I am making. And who knows, maybe we can do some things to make money together. Yeah, YOU, reading this blog, and ME the writer of it. There are programs out there for just that sort of thing !
Ok...I better not get off track. You and I can talk about all that kinda stuff later on. Right now, I just wanted you to know what it was that lead me in this direction, because I think the beginning is important. The "AH HA ! I have an idea !", part of things.
OK, so to sum everything up, I would say the first thing for anyone to do is to set up a blog, like here on Blogspot.com or Blogger.com. You will need to get a Gmail.com email address for it. Think of what you want to write about, come up with as catchy of a title as you can, follow Google's and the blog site's instructions on getting set up, and VIOLA ! You will be on your way just like I was.
If you do go the Blogspot.com or Blogger.com route, don't fool around with the "MONETIZE" button though...not just yet. I learned the hard way, because Amason.com is one of the ways you can make money on your site as well. But they have this thing about an "associates ID" number ? I can't figure out what that number is and for some reason I am having trouble linking things together. I thought it was my email address through Google's Gmail.com, as it is on a lot of sites.
At the very beginning with playing with my blog and trying to figure things out, I got a message that said something to the effect that if I didn't do something now with Amazon I would be subject to some other rules and yada yada. So I continued thinking I would mess something up if I didn't. And I DID want a strong relationship between my blog and Amazon.com as a money maker. Well, I don't know exactly what I did, but I don't have things up and running on the Amazon.com side yet. And I will keep you posted as I try to figure things out with that. If YOU run into the same thing as I did and get it figured out, let me know.
I don;t want this part of things to get too long, but I did want to add that blogging is not the only way. I have set up websites before, know just a little HTML. About enough to make me dangerous, but I can get by. So you can start out with the free websites to get started, just check how much they might be if you go to get ads removed, because later you WILL want to do that. And any affiliates that you eventually will want to sign up with don't want you have the free sites either, they will want you to have your own website address, or URL.
I will get into that later on as well. Of course, you KNOW that any website that has affiliate links on it makes money by having those links clicked. This blog is just that kinda of site. That is what we are trying to do here, whether it be a blog or any other type of website.
A very wise person once told me, "You NEVER get what you DON'T ask for !". I think he was right. So at this time I will ask you to donate via the PayPal link at the top of this blog. It is much needed, and along with links, is another vital way to make money. Please donate whatever amount you can.
Till the next post...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Beginning Of A Work At Home Experiment !
OK ! So here it goes !
This is the very beginning of an experiment to try to make some money, building up to a real viable income, on the internet.
If you're here, reading this blog, then most likely you are trying to do the same thing. Especially in these trying, economically screwed-up times, we are all looking for something to at least make things a little bit easier on ourselves in the "paying the bills" department. Maybe even looking for that magic bullet, that ONE THING that completely changes our lives forever and keeps us from want of anything.
Well, at this point, I have definitely come to the conclusion that there is NO magic bullet ! On the internet, off the internet, where ever...it just doesn't matter.
But I DO believe decent profits can be had by just about anyone that sets their mind to it. Even though I've tried a number of things to try to make money, I haven't had much success in most of them. But I also haven't given up.
Enter THIS blog, The Work At Home Experiment !
An actual experiment to set out and do all the things the internet gurus tell you to do. ( Or maybe not, since most of them are making money selling the info on how to make money, instead of making the money in reality. I don't have a problem selling anything, even information. But GEEZ ! Some of these guys are real schmucks ! )
I am going to take a journey trying to figure out if some these programs, or at least certain instructions, actually work. AND include a little bit of my own ideas in the mix. Day by day, step by step, I am going to take you with me, telling you exactly what I am doing all along the way.
No fancy blog writing or super clever, witty comedy (unless I get lucky in a moment of inspiration). Just real life experimentation and actual information you can use to take and try to do the same thing. Not only is this blog an experiment and diary to log the things that I am going to be doing, but the site ITSELF is a source of profit at the same time.
As you follow along with me on this experiment, please take the time to donate. ANY amount is greatly appreciated. Thank You !
This is the very beginning of an experiment to try to make some money, building up to a real viable income, on the internet.
If you're here, reading this blog, then most likely you are trying to do the same thing. Especially in these trying, economically screwed-up times, we are all looking for something to at least make things a little bit easier on ourselves in the "paying the bills" department. Maybe even looking for that magic bullet, that ONE THING that completely changes our lives forever and keeps us from want of anything.
Well, at this point, I have definitely come to the conclusion that there is NO magic bullet ! On the internet, off the internet, where ever...it just doesn't matter.
But I DO believe decent profits can be had by just about anyone that sets their mind to it. Even though I've tried a number of things to try to make money, I haven't had much success in most of them. But I also haven't given up.
Enter THIS blog, The Work At Home Experiment !
An actual experiment to set out and do all the things the internet gurus tell you to do. ( Or maybe not, since most of them are making money selling the info on how to make money, instead of making the money in reality. I don't have a problem selling anything, even information. But GEEZ ! Some of these guys are real schmucks ! )
I am going to take a journey trying to figure out if some these programs, or at least certain instructions, actually work. AND include a little bit of my own ideas in the mix. Day by day, step by step, I am going to take you with me, telling you exactly what I am doing all along the way.
No fancy blog writing or super clever, witty comedy (unless I get lucky in a moment of inspiration). Just real life experimentation and actual information you can use to take and try to do the same thing. Not only is this blog an experiment and diary to log the things that I am going to be doing, but the site ITSELF is a source of profit at the same time.
As you follow along with me on this experiment, please take the time to donate. ANY amount is greatly appreciated. Thank You !
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