Archive for May, 2007
Frito Pie
When I first added a community to my website, the community was hosted elsewhere. The domain was hosted on a shared server along with many other sites. It was cheap. No money worries.
When I decided to host the forum on my own domain, I purchased UBB software first and within 2 weeks was having to purge the oldest threads in order to keep the size within my hosting limits. I was notified I would have to move off their server or purchase more space/bandwidth.
I found vbulletin software which had just released their first version. I took the plunge at the urging of my new hosting service, with the expectation that the mysql and php would be the best solution for the forum. It was the right solution for the community. But I still had to move the forum yet again. And again. And again until I was on a hosting plan that was considered “virtually dedicated”.
It wasn’t. Within another few months I was told yet again my website was using too many of server’s processes and would need to move. The word “dedicated” was used to describe my needs.
What did I know about servers? Not much. I had been relying on the goodwill of others to lead the way, telling me what I need while my non-techy brain tried to wrap around it. I knew only one thing. Money was not only a worry. It was a requirement.
I told my staff who urged me to tell the community. Along with some new advertisers and the generosity of our staff and members, the money rolled in. We moved onto our first dedicated server about the same time I went to the bank to request a merchant account.
I found products that matched the niche. i found a simple and free software shopping cart. I found a free-lance customizer who helped me get the store in place. I opened the store with products on shelves in the spare bedroom of my house.
Today, I lease offices to house the store’s products and shipping space needs. Today I keep financial worksheets daily to track the daily income along with the expenses. Today I pay bills for the telephone line, the office worker, the shipping clerk, the CPA, the store software freelancer, the web developer, the graphic artist, the system administrator, the two servers that house the site, the electricity, the taxes, the taxes, the taxes, and more.
It appeared to me then, as it appears to me now. The larger the site, the busier the traffic, the costlier the expenses. The more money that rolls in from advertising, store sales and upgraded memberships, the higher the expense list becomes.
And so began the great exchange. Money for services. Services for money.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
Frito Pie
I started my website as a hobby, based on a passion, a desire to help other people. I worked in a long term career in a field not even close to the topic of my website. I’d like to think that I still see my website as a hobby simply because it is something I love doing. After all, who could love “work” the way I love managing my website?
Hobby: (noun) An activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.
Based on this definition, my website is no longer my hobby, no matter how I feel about it, loving it the way I do. My website has become my regular occupation and somewhere along the way over the past decade I moved from hobbyist to business person.
I’ve had to become a business person.
I’ve had to learn about banking procedures and being a credit card merchant. I’ve had to learn to deal with vendors and negotiate billing cycles. I’ve become friends with my banker and learned to fill out financial worksheets daily to hand over to my CPA. I had to forage through the paperwork to sign a lease for my offices.
I’m not always comfortable with this notion of moving from hobby to business.
Posting at Earners Forum seems to underscore the idea that I’m in this for the money. I’m not. But I am. I have to be an earner in order to keep the website going. I do not want to offend the members or staff of my website as the business person, behind the scenes working on revenue opportunities to keep the website available for their needs. But, that is why I do what I do, balancing the management of the community and staff with the requirements of the business. I can’t lose track of either. Both hats are essential.
Yes, I could go back to my life’s career. But I’d rather not. I love what I do today and why I do it. And at the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the year and the end of my life, I’m proud of the work I do and the way I’ve managed to keep my eye on the ultimate mission of my website: helping others.
Its my business.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »
Lee Dodd
I know there is a big group of Earners Forum members heading out to Miami this July and I look forward to hooking up with them and hanging out while taking advantage of this outstanding conference put on by Shawn and Missy. I will be speaking on a panel with Jeremy Schoemaker about how to monetize communities using affiliate programs, and I expect that we will have a great time on that panel. If you have any desire to go, you should.
FREE TICKETS!!!
To give you a bit of extra incentive, I am going to offer up free expo only passes (valued at $299) to anyone that PMs letting me know you want to make the trip. This is a special discount code that Shawn has hooked Earners Forum up with, so come get it while the getting is good!
If you aren’t registered on the forums, go ahead and register today. I hope to see you there!
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Frito Pie
I’ve been a website owner and manager for over eight years. It used to seem so simple. I started a website knowing a tiny bit of html and learned how to write cgi scripts to add functionality. I wasn’t concerned about making money. I was educating visitors.
Every few days I’d add more content, writing the articles myself. Adding them manually. It was messy and time consuming.
When I discovered that my hobby website was attracting visitors who used the website, read the articles and sent me email of thanks and was selected for yahoo’s directory, I knew I was onto something. I found forum software and started the great adventure as a community administrator.
Money was still not an issue. It was not a concern. I had an awesome team of volunteer moderators who helped me on the forums while I continued to add content as the needs changed and expanded.
Fast forward eight years. Today I have offices I rent in a business office building. I have a few employees. I left my “real” career a few years ago and I continue to manage my website. It pays the bills. And more.
I love what I do and wouldn’t change a thing. But I do have a confession to make as I begin the process of blogging about the business of running a forum website.
I’m in over my head.
It’s exciting and doubly thrilling. At the exact same time its terrifying.
There is much I do not know. I do not make money from affiliate marketing so this is uncharted waters to me. I don’t understand much about SEO and page-ranking although I’m well positioned because of the timing I entered the internet with my niche. I have not been able to keep up with html or css or php or cgi. Its all beyond me.
There is much I do know. I know how to find a niche and fill the need. I know how to put the visitors needs as the most important thing and reason for the website to exist. I know how to demonstrate good ethics and high morals which attracts wonderful staff. I know how to articulate an idea and find the right person to manage the task. I know how to manage a large staff, demonstrate good-will to huge “offline” corporations, manage the day to day tasks and plan the long-term goals of my website. And make it all happen.
And thus this blog is a chance to write about the struggles I have with understanding the ever-evolving business environment of the internet. This is my opportunity to learn about those things I know very little about while attempting to implement them within my own online business. And perhaps this blog may be an opportunity to share some things I’ve learned along the way that have been successful.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | 7 Comments »
Guaner
The Google test is not something that should scare you. If anything, it should challenge you. Remember that you have to spend at least $1,000 with them in a period of 90 days before you are eligible to receive your certification. You can take the test at any time once you sign up for the course, but I suggest you wait until the last few days. It helps to learn the information and apply it as you move through the days. Even if you pass the test on day 3, you will not be given your certification logo until you spend the $1,000. The point being that you want to make money while you learn and not just give Google $1,050 for the requirements including your test.
The Test
In the real test you will have more than 100 questions. In total, I had around 107 or so. They are multiple choice questions which make it, in my opinion, a lot easier than you might think. You are given 1.5 hours and when you start, the clock starts. You cannot pause the clock so please take this test when you have the full available time. You cannot afford the luxury of taking phone calls while you test.
On a few occasions (very frustrating occasions) the browser would not reload after I answered the questions. It just froze on me. Google warns you that the timer will not stop for anything and I knew that my time was still running. I sat there waiting for the browser and nothing happened. I was afraid to hit the “Back” button for fear of losing all my work. After about 2 minutes, I hit it anyway thinking that I could file a complaint if I lost my previous answers (at this point, I was on number 72). Nothing happened for a few seconds and finally, I was taken to the previous question where my answer was still recorded. Thankfully, I was able to move on from there. This little freezing incident happened three times. And yes, the timer was still counting. Be careful and don’t be afraid to use the back button.
The test questions are scenarios mostly. You will have to do some basic calculations to figure out the ROI and Ad rankings. Other than that, the test is straight forward. By doing the math, you will have about 1 minute 18 seconds per question. This is plenty of time. Don’t rush and don’t panic. Remember to review your materials and get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast. Yeah, that’s what was always told to me during my school years before an important test. I figured I’d throw that in too!
After completing the exam, you will be sent your exam results and they will be posted in the Pro Center page of your My Client Center. Access that and see how you did. If you passed, congratulations! If not, you pay another $50 to take the test. Keep in mind that you will not be told what questions you missed or what answers you got wrong. They are very serious about confidentiality and will not disclose details of the test to anyone. If you don’t pass, you’ll have no idea what you need to improve or what you need to review. That’s why I suggest you knock it out the first time around.
If you get stuck while taking the test and don’t know what to answer, go with your first instinct…your gut reaction. Don’t second guess yourself. Answer what you believe to be true and move on. Don’t get caught up in “thinking too much” about it. Answer and move on. Remember that you only have about 1 minute and some odd seconds per question. Also, passing the test means passing with a 70% or higher.
After You Pass
When it’s all said and done, you will have passed your test and will have received your logo. I congratulate you now for your hard work and efforts. Feel free to post any feedback you may have or any other pointers you come across.
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | 2 Comments »
Guaner
Let’s continue where we left off last time. We discussed the basics of the test and now let’s talk a little bit about the text and video lessons.
The Lessons
I must stress the importance of reading through the materials completely. If you are serious about passing the test the first time around, then take the lessons seriously. Don’t think that you can open another browser window and “Find” the answers you need while taking the test. It is not structured that way. If this is your strategy, then prepare to pay the $50.00 test fee more than once. You’ve got a minimum of 90 days to go through the materials so take your time and take it seriously.
After every lesson there is a mini quiz that is included for you to practice on a few sample questions. They are actually quite good and I found at least 5-10 of these in the actual test with some variations. I assume that the test is randomized and that no two people are taking the exact version of the test. So in your case, there might be more or there might be less. The quiz questions are very basic and test the fundamentals of what you just learned. In the real test however, scenarios are given and you must apply your knowledge to the case given.
There are a few lessons where I skipped the text version of the lesson and went through the video instead. Upon taking the mini quiz, I found that I was not given the information I needed to answer the questions. That is where I began to see some inconsistencies in the lesson formats. I went to the text version and there was the answer. The video had completely skipped over it! I prefer the videos over the text, but the text is more informative. Plus, it helps to see how Google words things and that is a big plus! Their wording and language structure is key in anticipating the real test questions.
The Notebook
When I began to study for the test, I went and bought a 70 page spiral notebook to record my notes in. I spent a few hours a day going through the material and writing down detailed information about each lesson. Yes, it got old. Yes, it was burdensome. Yes, it was annoying, but I wanted to pass the test the first time so I sucked it up. I went through each lesson virtually writing every point they made. I cannot tell you how handy this was when I took the test. My mind was already primed to know where to find the answers I needed. It really helped in the end.
The notebook idea is a great one because even now, I have all of my notes in it as a reference. Also, before taking the test, I took three days to review the materials. On the first day I quickly read through the first third of the notebook. I already had the information in my head, I just needed a refresher. On the second day I did the second third of the notebook and the last third on the last day. I didn’t study the notes, I didn’t try to memorize the information, I just read it quickly. That really helped out. Basically, I broke the notebook into “chunks” and feasted on them quickly just to remind me of what I had already studied.
Writing the notes served as my study time and reading the notebook was my review. When I took the test, I had over 30 minutes left that I didn’t use. I finished early and didn’t need to panic to search for the answers. I just knew them!
There are those of you that will pass this test without a problem and without having to do all of this mess. That’s fine. But, let me try to help you by telling you what I did. Take what you want and leave what you don’t care for. There are more difficult things in life than the Google Adwords Certification test. However, having some prior knowledge about the test can’t hurt!
Part 3 of this article is coming soon…
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »
Guaner
My name is Guaner and I am an Administrator here on EarnersForum.com. I also work with Lee on his many ventures and have had the priviledge of seeing this site (among others) started from scratch. I want to share with you some knowledge about the Google Adwords test that many of you have talked about taking.
For those of you that don’t know, Google offers a certification test of sorts that allows you to earn the famed Google Adwords Professional Logo. It looks like this:
My goal is to chronicle the steps you need to take to pass the test. Personally, I passed the test back in March of this year. I sweated the whole time I was studying for it, mainly because I didn’t know what to expect. I hope the information here helps you all.
Starting Out
Be sure to visit this page and see all of the requirements needed to get started. You will need at least 90 days and $1,000 to spend with Google Adwords. Sign up using the form and get started. You will need to make ads and spend a total of $1,000 in a minimum of 90 days plus pass the Adwords test to get the certification. I will not focus on the advertising side of this process but rather on the test taking portion.
What You Need To Know
If you don’t have prior knowledge about Google Adwords and how it works, don’t worry about it. You will soon know more than you thought you would. Google provides some tutorials for you here on this page. They call it the Learning Center.
It is here that you will have the option of studying either the text or the video lessons. There are a total of 8 topics with many subtopics in each. Some are timed at 2 minutes to complete while others are timed at over 15! You will benefit greatly from going through each of these. It is important that you read and watch the videos even if you already know the information. I found that there is information found in the text lessons that are not included in the videos and vice versa. Go through the lessons and pay attention.
If you want to pass, all of the information will be found there.
Stay tuned for Pt. 2.
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | 1 Comment »
Charl Norman
MyBlogLog, the “Whos been reading my blog” widget provider, was acquired by Yahoo late last year. As with many startups acquired by big corporations it seemed MyBlogLog was set for the ‘dead pool’ with many months passing without any upgrades from their new owner. Although finally, Yahoo has stepped up and announced a sweep of upgrades and changes for the blog community.
The new features include a filter for offensive photos and the ability to sign off so you don’t show up on blogs you don’t want to. The improvements are an obvious since MyBlogLog was suffering from serious spamming. After it’s initial buzz, MyBlogLog’s growth failed to catch on because of spam and scaling issues. What this new announcement means is that an effort by Yahoo to escape the same fate that Google suffered in its acquisition of the Dodgeball.
Posted in Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Charl Norman
With the recent release of the new Digg API, developers all over the web have started playing with it, creating nifty new apps around Digg’s gigantic database or integrating it with their own applications. The DIGG API gives access to a whole range of data from the DIGG database for example - if a story has been dugg or not. One developer decided to use this data neatly formatted into a nifty Firefox extention which sits in the bottom right of your browser.
If the site you are viewing has been submitted to Digg, the button will display the number of Diggs it has, and clicking the button will bring you to the site’s Digg page.
If the story has not been submitted, the button will read “Digg This” and will link you a Digg submit page for the article.
Install extension over at NeoThoughts. Downloaded, Installed, and Digging it. (;
Another post you might want to check out is Mashable’s 7 awesome things built on the Digg API.
Posted in Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Glen Allsopp
I believe in having a Niche, I have a Niche, my friend has a Niche, I know a lot of rich people who have a Niche. The best reason to be in a niche is because its so much easier to dominate. Whether it is a niche which is just knew and growing or a popular niche where there is no real online leader, seize the opportunity and become that leader.
Finding a Niche is a lot easier when you just look at your personal hobbies, certain industries might be totally dominated by some online giant such as BodyBuilding.com if thats your thing, but there are niche’ that you can work on to bring you some success online. I personally tend to look into the Search Results when im looking to build my niche. Look for Search Terms that are getting high searches but have poor competition and you will see that optimising for long tail keywords in a highly demanded market is an absolute godsend. Trust me.
Ive made $200 this month from a site around 1 Week old, simply because there was demand for it and nobody to fill that gap, I look at my hobbies then I look at the Search Engines. Maybe its time you did aswell?
Glen Allsopp
ViperChill
Posted in Search Engine Marketing | No Comments »
Loading ...