I set up a blog, with about 6 posts on it, about a year ago. It was an experiment in making a niche blog, putting Adsense on it and a few affiliate links and letting it sit. Suddenly a few days ago it starts to get a few hits a day. Then just 2 days ago it was getting 20+ hits a day. I then added another post and today it has gotten 40+ hits already.
I checked a few key phrases that I typed into Google search and there was my blog, almost at the top of those searches. The visitors are even clicking on the ads! So far each click is worth about .17 to .25 cents which is not bad, not bad at all.
Niche blogging does work but you must give it time and lots of it for it to work. For example, this blog gets about 20 to 50 visitors a day which is small but the visitors do click on the ads. Since I have set it up that Adsense only displays higher paying ads, every click is more than .50 cents with most of them a few dollars each.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
When money is tight, that is when everything seems to break
Have you ever noticed that when you have to watch every penny of your spending, that is when things break down and need major repairs.
The family car seems to be the first on the list with something major to go wrong. Next are major kitchen appliances followed closely by well pumps or electrical wiring. Of course then there are the items that are not considered essentials but they are expensive like the computer or spa.
Our own spa was a victim of a budget crisis. It came with the house when we bought it, 7 years ago. The spa needed a new cover at the time and we bought one locally for over $300. I should have shopped around and bought a spa cover at BeyondNice.com but that was 7 years ago and who knows what the prices were back then. Then about 2 years later, the spa needed new jets, as they were crumbling. We replaced them at a cost of about $35 each and we needed 7 of them. Six months later a crack appeared in the spa and it started to leak. At about the same time, the pump started to act up and keep switching off on its own. At that point, we drained the spa and now it sits empty with a nice cover on it. To us, it is not worth putting more money into it.
What broke at your home that you have no plans to fix?
The family car seems to be the first on the list with something major to go wrong. Next are major kitchen appliances followed closely by well pumps or electrical wiring. Of course then there are the items that are not considered essentials but they are expensive like the computer or spa.
Our own spa was a victim of a budget crisis. It came with the house when we bought it, 7 years ago. The spa needed a new cover at the time and we bought one locally for over $300. I should have shopped around and bought a spa cover at BeyondNice.com but that was 7 years ago and who knows what the prices were back then. Then about 2 years later, the spa needed new jets, as they were crumbling. We replaced them at a cost of about $35 each and we needed 7 of them. Six months later a crack appeared in the spa and it started to leak. At about the same time, the pump started to act up and keep switching off on its own. At that point, we drained the spa and now it sits empty with a nice cover on it. To us, it is not worth putting more money into it.
What broke at your home that you have no plans to fix?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
How technology shut down one cottage industry
Modern technology is a good thing but as it progresses it shuts down many small business because those small business are no longer needed.
One case in point is the nursing and medical industry. It was not long ago that nurse uniforms and scrubs were embroidered with the clinics' or hospital's name or even the doctor's name. That is no longer done. Nowadays the medical professional wears a badge to identify themselves to their patients and others. The badge is considered to be a form of positive ID with a photo on it as well as a name.
On one hand it is a good thing that medical personal wear a better form of positive ID on them but on the other hand it must be hard for a small business that relied on the income from embroidery to be pushed aside from technology advancements.
One case in point is the nursing and medical industry. It was not long ago that nurse uniforms and scrubs were embroidered with the clinics' or hospital's name or even the doctor's name. That is no longer done. Nowadays the medical professional wears a badge to identify themselves to their patients and others. The badge is considered to be a form of positive ID with a photo on it as well as a name.
On one hand it is a good thing that medical personal wear a better form of positive ID on them but on the other hand it must be hard for a small business that relied on the income from embroidery to be pushed aside from technology advancements.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wasting money the fun way
I am a sucker for electronic gadgets. Strange enough, I have not given in to the latest craze in the video game consoles. The way each video game machines are trying to out do the other is fun to watch. Right now I am rooting for the Xbox with the connect device to win the most players. The PS3 Move would be my next choice and the Wii would come in dead last. I remember when the Wii first came out and I always pronounced it as "why."
Of course I love my iPod touch and I was thinking about getting a tablet PC with the Google Android system. Heck, those tablets are now selling as low as $120. I am a sucker for a touch screen, my iPod spoiled me that way.
Of course I love my iPod touch and I was thinking about getting a tablet PC with the Google Android system. Heck, those tablets are now selling as low as $120. I am a sucker for a touch screen, my iPod spoiled me that way.
Who's hiring and who is laying off
In this troubled time it pays to keep an eye on the types of businesses that are shutting their doors and the ones who are hiring.
I take that pulse at dailyjobcuts.com, the website that lists what companies are laying off and which ones are closing for good. They also have a section who is hiring.
The current trend in lay offs is school districts and service industries. The stores that are closing are mostly restaurants, book stores and banks.
The businesses that are hiring is surprisingly manufacturing. I don't know if industries that cater to special occasions are thriving or not. Weddings come to mind and the small businesses that design and make wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses did not appear on the lists of types of businesses closing. The types of businesses that are hiring are alternate energies and technology.
I take that pulse at dailyjobcuts.com, the website that lists what companies are laying off and which ones are closing for good. They also have a section who is hiring.
The current trend in lay offs is school districts and service industries. The stores that are closing are mostly restaurants, book stores and banks.
The businesses that are hiring is surprisingly manufacturing. I don't know if industries that cater to special occasions are thriving or not. Weddings come to mind and the small businesses that design and make wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses did not appear on the lists of types of businesses closing. The types of businesses that are hiring are alternate energies and technology.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The ideal job
My idea of the great job is to set up a website or blog and make money just by having people read it. Of course it would take much more than just a few hundred visitors a day, more in the area of ten thousand or more each day.
That seems like a lot but if you are a talented writer and have something to say in an entertaining way, then it is not impossible. In fact you might have better luck in getting a successful blog going than paying back a high interest, so called "easy personal loan."
You can monetize your blog or website by placing ads on it but only if you actually sell the ad space rather than go the affiliate route. Think of your website or blog as an online magazine and do what magazines do....sell ad space, don't give it away. This blog has ads on it in the form of Google ads and the clicks that come from this blog are high paying ones (more than $1 a click).
Just like a magazine, you need to keep your content fresh but if you can update your blog or website just once a week then you will keep on adding content and more content means more visitors.
You can do it....I already do. Give it a try.
That seems like a lot but if you are a talented writer and have something to say in an entertaining way, then it is not impossible. In fact you might have better luck in getting a successful blog going than paying back a high interest, so called "easy personal loan."
You can monetize your blog or website by placing ads on it but only if you actually sell the ad space rather than go the affiliate route. Think of your website or blog as an online magazine and do what magazines do....sell ad space, don't give it away. This blog has ads on it in the form of Google ads and the clicks that come from this blog are high paying ones (more than $1 a click).
Just like a magazine, you need to keep your content fresh but if you can update your blog or website just once a week then you will keep on adding content and more content means more visitors.
You can do it....I already do. Give it a try.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Coupon crazy people
Have you seen that new TV show about the extreme coupon shoppers? I watched a few episodes and here is my opinion about the women who shop like that:
THEY ARE NUTS!!
Yes they do save money but they are buying a lot of stuff they will never use. For example one family bought 25, 5 pound blocks of cheese. Unless they have the room for it in their refrigerator and can use it before it expires, they have wasted their money. Another family bought about 20 boxes of cereal. Do they realize that cereal has an expiration date too? One family's home looked like a grocery store inside, they had gone to the extreme of food hording.
If I was to shop like those women and buy $500 or $600 worth of groceries for less than $20, you can bet that most of it would be donated to the local food banks. I simply don't have the room for that kind of extreme shopping, nor could I use that much food before it expired.
What I would really like to see is coupon shopping for non-food items. If the stores would issue coupons for money off of gasoline, furniture, electronics and pet supplies I could see some real savings. Even the fast food restaurants have coupons so why not other stores? With Mother's Day coming up in the next few weeks maybe there will be some store coupons for money off of mothers day photo frames, flowers and even dinners.I am not talking about online coupons for online stores but coupons for brick and mortar stores.
Now I just wish that there was an easier way to coupon shop in the stores without clipping coupons.
THEY ARE NUTS!!
Yes they do save money but they are buying a lot of stuff they will never use. For example one family bought 25, 5 pound blocks of cheese. Unless they have the room for it in their refrigerator and can use it before it expires, they have wasted their money. Another family bought about 20 boxes of cereal. Do they realize that cereal has an expiration date too? One family's home looked like a grocery store inside, they had gone to the extreme of food hording.
If I was to shop like those women and buy $500 or $600 worth of groceries for less than $20, you can bet that most of it would be donated to the local food banks. I simply don't have the room for that kind of extreme shopping, nor could I use that much food before it expired.
What I would really like to see is coupon shopping for non-food items. If the stores would issue coupons for money off of gasoline, furniture, electronics and pet supplies I could see some real savings. Even the fast food restaurants have coupons so why not other stores? With Mother's Day coming up in the next few weeks maybe there will be some store coupons for money off of mothers day photo frames, flowers and even dinners.I am not talking about online coupons for online stores but coupons for brick and mortar stores.
Now I just wish that there was an easier way to coupon shop in the stores without clipping coupons.
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