Author:
admin, March 6th, 2008
[I've been 'sitting' on this post for far too long, leaving it in draft for over a week now. I think it is time to release it out into the wild, as is. I've been stressing over the editing, fixing, and restructuring - and I've come to realize that it will be in draft forever if I don't just hit 'publish' already! So here ya go, here it is - rough and in the buff]
I realize the first post in this series was not called Make Money Blogging, but, as I’m feeling a bit ornery and cantankerous, I decided that different titles were just fine. It is my blog, after all – see that up there in the header – the part that says Lisa Marie Mary – yeah, that’s my name. So this is kinda like my pad. And my rules go. See what I mean – got that ornery thing down, don’t I?
Let’s get to the good stuff and quit all this yammerin’! A very good friend has asked me for some advice about how I do this ‘working online’ thing, and as I was mentally crafting my email back to her, I realized that my adoring public would be better served if I shared that information with everyone! (Ornery, ornery!) Seriously, though, I’m sure there are others out there with the exact same question, and it seemed such a shame to only share it with one person.
I suppose that I need to start this whole thing off with the whole Google business. Blog monetization has recently taken a very sharp turn, as Google does not want anyone buying any paid links – not in any way, shape, or form. What this means for us as bloggers is that many of us lost our Google Page Rank. (This blog is not yet monetized in any way, so that hasn’t happened yet. It is also very new, so the Page Rank is rather low.) There have been several ways to respond to this new development. Some bloggers have swept through their entire blogs removing each and every dofollow link. (If you’re not sure what that is, look it up, because, I don’t want to spend the whole post on this topic.) This means they are no longer hosting Text Link Ads and they are no longer accepting any advertising that requires dofollow. This means a lot of people are losing money, quite a lot of money, in some cases.
The other type of response is to just keep right on doing what you’ve been doing, not paying any attention to the loss in Page Rank. Some are successful with this response (still making plenty of money) and some are not.
The zone I fall in is the ‘sitting on the fence and waiting to see what happens with all of this’ department. I am not making much money at all, but, I have not taken my advertising off my sites, or added nofollow to them. I could do so, but, I’d still not be making much money. So Google would love me, advertisers would still not. The sites left with page rank, I could monetize, and then Google would slap them. So I don’t know. I think what I’m mostly waiting for is for Social Spark, by Izea, to come out, and see how well I do with that. I will talk about that a bit later, when I get into the companies that help monetize blogs.
Also, in the meantime, I’ve been focusing back on My Very Own Mail, and learning all about internet marketing again. I am studying affiliate marketing, infoproduct creation, membership sites. I’m also working for one of my two blogging heros and that is not only a great opportunity, but, also such an honor. So once you get into the fray online, you will see that there are jobs to be had, as well. I will admit, though, that when you are first getting involved online, they can be tricky to find. I think a lot of people find them on the WAHM.com forum, but, I’m not totally sure on that.
My two blogging heros? They would be Wendy Piersall of eMomsatHome.com and Galya McCord of MomGadget.com – these two ladies just rock and you can learn a lot from them. One of my WAHM heros, that I’ve been looking up to long before I got into blogging, is Lynn Terry of ClickNewz.com and SelfStartersWeeklyTips.com. There are all kinds of WAHM’s and marketers and WAHM marketers out there. You need to know who to trust – don’t let yourself be fooled by slick marketing, and waste money on silly programs that are just fluff and crap. (Not that I’ve ever done that, oh no, not me.) Anyway – the very best way to know if you can trust the person you are attempting to learn from online, is personal referrals. I completely stand by these three women, they are smart marketers, brilliant webmasters, and more importantly – they all have HUGE hearts! You absolutely can trust them. Be careful out there – the web is full of creeps, some of whom are very good at posing as upstanding web citizens.
While in the middle of sitting on working on this post, Wendy posted this awesome link to resources to help WAHM’s out in their businesses! It is on a very interesting blog called Bootstrapper – it’s a cool blog with lots of lists. And that list is great! Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed with information, though. That is one of the biggest downfalls of being an online entrepeneur – distraction, and learning too much. If you’re constantly learning, you don’t have any time for ‘doing’ – and ‘doing’ is where the money is! Action! Never forget to take action!
Then one last link, that got twittered this morning by Caroline Middlebrook (thanks, Caroline!). It is an AWESOME article by Courtney Tuttle that you must go read – right now! Starting a Blog That is Not a Time Sucking Money Pit
So now this trailing, wandering, meandering post on working at home online is through – for now. I do have more to share with you. I’m starting a new blog – I’ve moved one from a subdomain to its own domain, and I am taking notes as I get it set up and start marketing it, so that I can share those with you.
P.S. If you’re thinking, ‘Man, this post sure is rough, for all that ‘editing’ she talked about!’ …I didn’t actually get to any of the editing and fixing and reformatting, those activities all transpired between my two ears! I’m just darn sick of this post sitting here – I’ll make better, more coherent posts …someday ….soon ….I swear!
Categories: Blogging, Internet Marketing Tags: | 
1 comment
Author:
admin, January 19th, 2008
I was totally pumped up and excited on Wednesday. I had somewhat of an epiphany, from witnessing the growth of a friend. I got totally focused, and realized exactly what I needed to do to go forward into the new year, and really grow in my online endeavors. I was so motivated – it really felt good. I was nervous, but, full of happy anticipation.
I got started on my newly-decided actions, and then was interrupted in the afternoon when it was time to go to the post office and pick up one of my kids. And by the time we were on our way home, it was snowing like mad here. And it just does not snow in Alabama very often – at all! So the kids were thrilled! And there was lots of playing and snowball-making and snowball-fighting, and picture-taking going on!
Work -what’s that?
New goals, new objectives -what are those?
Then on Thursday, there was some family drama which slowed down my productivity. When the dust cleared, I sat down to get to work, and my computer just was not in the mood to work. I spent the rest of the day doctoring it.
On Friday, one of the children stayed home from school, not feeling well, and my stomach decided to not feel well, too.
And since school got out on Friday, up until about twenty minutes ago, we’ve been hosting and entertaining extra children.
It’s funny, because, I still feel that excitement from Wednesday. I still feel like I’m on the verge of something really good. I’m about to jump off of that cliff of blind faith and it feels great! Only, I’ve just taken one foot and lifted it over the edge, and ….
STILL PAUSE!
Someone put me on pause. I’m still here, still waiting…might get some of that ‘new’ stuff going tomorrow, but, it will more likely get going on Monday, when ….NO! Hold that thought! Monday is a school holiday….
STILL PAUSE!
Categories: WAHM Challenges Tags: | 2 comments
Author:
admin, January 5th, 2008
I’m a little late getting back to you with the second half of my Free Webinar from Lynn Terry posts. We’ve had a hectic week at our house with the kids out of school and all of their activities. Life will hopefully get back to normal next Tuesday, when my sweet monsters go back to school. There were just a few more things about the webinar that I wanted to talk to you about. I just really got a lot out of it this time and I wanted to share as much of it as possible with you!
The next thing I wanted to talk to you about was something that Roy Montero shared with us that I really liked! He was talking about how so many of us spend (waste) so much time …preparing …making sure we’re ready …fixing. And that so often it’s “Ready ….. Aim …. …..” and that “Fire” just keeps getting put off again and again and again. He really heard this from another marketer, but, I can’t remember who it was, but, he says that what we need to be saying, instead, is….
“Ready – Fire – Aim!”
I just love that! And I can relate so much to the preparing, learning, gathering more information, getting ready… Ugh! Just do it, already! As I go into this new year, I’m going to keep that one simple phrase in my head …”Ready – Aim – Fire!” And I think it was Roy that said,
The important thing is that we just go.
That’s good stuff. So often I need to be reminded to just do it. Action, action, action! There is a lot of positive talk like that at The Warrior Forum. There are some really awesome marketers there, from whom I’ve learned an awful lot!
Getting back to the webinar, though, one of the things we were doing was helping Deb Gallardo with her site, The Story Ideas Virtuoso. Deb has a great ebook coming up that will help aspiring fiction authors in the process of finding their story ideas. Everyone was chiming in and giving Deb advice on what she could do to her blog to make it better and it was really interesting hearing all of the different tips. I love listening to/reading blog critiques, because, I always garner ideas for my own sites that way.
The really cool thing was that while we were on her site, there was a headline in her Blogrush widget that just jumped out at me. The title was
When This Occurs, Pack Up Your Dinosaurs and Leave the Room
I have to say that before even clicking through and reading the article – I love that! And then when I clicked through, I was pleased as punch! It was the perfect note on which to end this great session of looking forward and taking action in the new year! The article was posted at a blog called Gnorb.net. You can find the actual article here: Dinosaurs. It’s a positive article, especially for those of us with entrepeneurial blood, in which the author quotes a fabulous piece out of “Zen in the Art of Writing”, by Ray Bradbury.
And on that note, I’m packing up my dinosaurs! 
Categories: Internet Marketing Tags: | 2 comments
Author:
admin, January 1st, 2008
I’ve told you here before about Lynn Terry’s free weekly webinars. She is so helpful and provides so much support, help, and information – all for free! The webinars are held every Tuesday at 11am Central time. It’s a really great format, because, it’s very interactive. There is a screen where Lynn can show us different webpages, and there is audio, which is controlled by Lynn – so not everyone is talking at once. And there is also a text chat, where you can ask questions and discuss the topic at hand freely. I really enjoy them!
Today our focus was on the new year, of course! Everyone is thinking all about the new year – the internet is abuzz with articles and blog posts about ‘how can you do differently than 2007?’ and ‘what are your goals for 2008?’ And of course, ‘how do you plan to get there?’ And that is a lot of what we talked about today. The whole thing ran for two and a half hours today! That is a long one. Now, the actual webinar is only an hour, but, often – Roy Montero (who hosts the webinar) and Lynn will stay after for a less-formal chat and discussion.
I just wanted to share with you a couple of the highlights that were very useful to me today. I am sure that I am going to miss a lot of stuff – but, for me personally – this is the stuff that struck me between the eyes and I felt compelled enough to write down.
Lynn shared with us about a book that has made a big difference in her organization and clutter habits. And actually, the book was freeing for her, because, it helped her to realize that she really is organized. Things might look messy, but, she knows where everything is and can find it for you in two seconds flat! I can so relate to that! The book is called, “Organizing from the Inside Out” by Julie Morgenstern. Lynn has mentioned it before, and I just haven’t looked into it yet. Given that, number one, she’s mentioned it more than once, and number two, it freed her up to realize she already was organized – I should really check it out! The author has written another helpful book, too, and that one is called, “Time Management from the Inside Out”. I am definitely going to check into those books! I should have some Amazon credit due to me from MyPoints – I know just what I’ll use it for!
Lynn did also mention another book, too. She frequently talks about this book, as do many marketers I’ve come across online. That book is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. Lynn says that this book completely changed her mindset! Awesome! It is another one I have been meaning to read, and just haven’t gotten around to, but, I could really use a change in my mindset. So I’ll be checking that one out, too!
One topic we discussed was ‘information overload’ and this, of course, led us to email. Ugh…I know so many of us are so bogged down by our emails, especially if we are involved in marketing online. (It is definitely not a problem confined to internet marketing, though, as my mother is a controller for a private tennis club, and deals with way too many emails, too!) As online marketers, though, we are trying to stay on top of what’s hot and fresh on the internet. We think we need to catch every morsel of information, and save it some folder for ‘later’. Oh my gawd – what a horrible cycle! I am so bad about this. Lynn sent us to a blog post she’d made on the topic of information overload in the form of emails, and one thing right in the beginning of the email did that ‘striking me right between the eyes’ thing again (emphasis mine):
Your priority should be putting out content… not absorbing it.
That is good. I mean – good! I might just print that out and hang it on the wall over my desk! Focus, people, we need focus!
I think that is a good note to end on for today – I’ll share the rest with you tomorrow! Stay tuned…
Categories: Internet Marketing Tags: | 2 comments
Author:
admin, December 22nd, 2007
…I was traveling and wandering around the web this morning and I went to some interesting places, and I went to some wonderful places, and I even went to some places that made me start bawling! I’m serious, I’m not kidding you. I was flat-out bawling – the dog got nervous! Really.
Guess which site made me bawl? A page on ebay. Yep. For real. You’ll see, just come along….
Here’s where it all started…with the daily email from Squidoo highlighting the Lens of the Day. (Have I talked to ya’ll about Squidoo here? I need to do that. I’ll get on that ASAP, ok? For now, let’s get back to my meanderings…) The lens picked for showcasing today is called How to Prevent Lost Luggage. The URL of said lens is http://squidoo.com/lost-luggage – just seeing the URL made me giggle, feel warm fuzzies, and have all kinds of memories come flooding back to me! ‘Well, now – that’s silly!” …you say?
Let me tell you where I’m coming from, and then maybe you’ll be saying, “Aww…” instead! My mother and my late Uncle Pat used to be in business together. They started out with a business that was just, well…business. There were some fun parts to it for me as a child, but, it was still just ‘business’. We’ll talk a little more about that in a minute. Then they added on another whole business to their business! And this was the mega-fun part! This was during the Atari heyday when every kid on the block knew all there was to know about Atari and Atari games. We lived it, we breathed it, we dreamed about it when our mothers made us shut it off and go to bed! And guess what the new business was! Yep – video games!
Uncle Pat went into my mother’s office one morning and said, “Judi, we’re going to make video games!” And with that, his HERO status went up about a thousand notches to us kids! Ha! They named the company, APOLLO VIDEO GAMES, after the Greek God, Apollo. And well, here’s where our story comes full circle – my very favorite Apollo video game was…..dun dun dun….LOST LUGGAGE! Yep, it was called Lost Luggage! And I still have a cassette tape of the promo song for it! I just went and listened to it, while lying on my bed and sobbing. And you can hear a children’s television show on in the background before the song starts. Bittersweet.
So as I read that email this morning, and clicked over to Victoria’s Squidoo lens about lost luggage, I was thinking, “wouldn’t it be cool if I could play that song for her?” I went over and read through her lens, and then I got to thinking, “I wonder if there are any Apollo footprints online?” I wondered if there were any type of remnants of my mom’s and uncle’s two businesses online somewhere, somehow, even though that was long before the World Wide Web….
Let me tell you about the first business…the ‘business-y’ one….it was called National Career Consultants. They produced filmstrips about careers and those were then distributed/sold to high schools across the country. (I may have that a bit wrong – I was just a rotten little punk back then, you know. Momma – feel free to correct me in the comments.) The cool part of that business was that we often got to be in the films! I was a child movie star! Yes, it’s true! Ha!
So my curiosity this morning led me to first search for National Career Consultants. And this is what I found: National Career Consultants, Inc. – a company in Fort Wayne, Indiana with the same name. I am not entirely certain how similar, if at all, their business model is, though. That was a little interesting and fun to find.
The next step in my journey led me here: Apollo Video Games – a company that markets the stand-up version of video games. And it looks like their actual company name is Apollo Amusement, and they just use Apollo Video Games for their URL and website name. That was a little interesting and fun to find.
And then – a stroke of pure genius hit me – from where, I do not know. Lisa and genius don’t usually go together in a sentence. Anyhoo – I got the thought to search for ‘vintage’ games. And me, oh my, did I ever strike a goldmine! And guess which goldmine I struck first! You guessed it – Lost Luggage! That was the first of the games to come up! I found an ebay listing for our little game, Lost Luggage.
And that is when the bawling commenced! Now are you seeing it all – clear as mud? The dog left the room, I’m not kidding. Haha! Just seeing the game itself, and our sweet, precious logo – set me OFF! Go look: Apollo Lost Luggage vintage video game. Our family is from the Dallas area, and the seller just happens to be in Dallas. And the game looks to be in pretty good condition and is selling for only $10 Buy It Now. Cool! Someone buy it – Micky, David, John – somebody snap that sucker up! Why do I want it? I don’t know – because, it’s easier to hold onto than that big, obnoxious sign? Because maybe I can buy an Atari and play it? Because I can keep it in a dresser drawer and pull it out to look at it fondly once in a while? Who knows! But, I don’t have any cash! Wah! Someone!!! At least buy it for yourselves, so I’ll be happy, ok? Ok.
And then, of course, I kept looking. 
And I found more! More! Somebody in Georgia is selling Infiltrate for $5. And this guy, Swap Meet Dave, in New Jersey – has quite a few games, among them some Apollo games. I emailed him and asked him to hold all Apollo games for me and that I, or my sentimental brothers or cousins, would come up with the cash within a month. Ha! I got an automatic email reply that he is out of town until the 29th, anyway – so that buys us a little time right there!
I was thinking that the girl who started this all, Victoria, with her Squidoo lens, would just love to have the song on her lens. But then, I thought, no – I’ll make a tribute page on my site. And who knows – I might make a Squidoo lens, too!
I ache so much every year at Thanksgiving and especially Christmas, for Uncle Pat! Uncle Pat was Christmas, you know? And it just hasn’t been the same since he left us. Crap – now I’m crying again! Would you quit crying on your blog, dammit?! Anyway, this was a fun journey to take at this time of year, when the COOLEST GEEK EVER is so on my mind, in my heart, and all around me!
And you know what – if I know Uncle Pat, he is just ABSOLUTELY tickled pink and pleased as punch to know that ‘he’ is on the internet! I’m sure if he were on this plane, he would be just as big a web junkie as I am! Heck – maybe worse!
Categories: Business, Family Tags: | 7 comments
