03
Jul
2008
Posted by Robert as Make Money Online
This latter method involves getting links to your website from high-trafficked and high PageRank websites.
When you’re starting off with a new website or blog, this can be pretty tough and tricky. But it can be done.
This blog is six months old, and I’ve been able to get quality links from a bunch of blogs and sites with high PageRanks. I’ve done it by commenting, participating in contests, and writing guest posts, among other things. It can involve some work, but it’s worth it in the end.
Sometimes, however, you get lucky. Here are two ways in which I’ve gotten links from high-PR websites–one that involved some work and one that was just pure luck.
45n5’s Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs
One way in which I got quality links was by submitting my blog to various directories. 45n5.com is one such directory. My blog is # 248 on 45n5’s list of the Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs.
I submitted my blog a few weeks ago. The first week I was on the list, I debuted at the bottom. Since then, however, I’ve jumped up quite a few spots.
This is just one way to get a link from a high-PR website. (45n5 has a PageRank of 5.) It involved a little research to find this list, and I had to e-mail the administrator requesting that my blog be included in the list. But the work generated a link from a PR 5 website.
Without A Doubt The Best SEO Blog In The World’s Slow Load Time List
Of course, what’s blogging without a little luck? It turns out that my submission to 45n5 helped me generate yet another link from a high-PR site. It turns out that a guy named Stuart from a blog called Without A Doubt The Best SEO Blog In The World takes 45n5’s list periodically and shuffles it around to show which blogs on the list have the slowest load times.
In a post entitled Does your page load time STILL suck?, Stuart listed my blog as the fourth slowest-loading blog!!
But you know what? I don’t care. I actually welcome the link because Stuart’s blog has a PageRank of 4. (I also don’t feel so bad because John Chow is #9 on the list.)
I also welcome the notoriety because it places me at near the top of the list! Thus, anyone who comes across that post sees my blog right at the top and doesn’t have to scroll down much at all.
Excelling at off-page optimization isn’t that hard. It will usually involve some level of work. But, sometimes, you just get lucky. Cast as wide a net as you can, and don’t let any opportunity for links pass you by. Every single effort–small and large–will help you improve your search engine ranking.
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02
Jul
2008
Posted by Robert as Business Ideas, Make Money Online
I got the site up in just under 30 minutes. As I explained last week in my preliminary review, the instructions are straightforward and easy to understand. Anyone who can read can get a BANS store up in under an hour.
The hardest part is finding the niche around which to build a store. But this is easier than it sounds. It involves two simple steps: finding a niche and testing it.
How To Find A Niche
The first thing you need to do to find a niche is figuring out which product you want to sell. In my post about how to create a product, I touched on the idea of focusing on things that interest you. If you want to come up with a product, you need to zone in on your interests and the areas with which you’re familiar.
Thus, if you’re into music, you can look at musical instruments, concert tickets, or how-to DVDs. If you’re into exercising, you can look at sneakers, exercise clothes, or . . . jump ropes??
It really isn’t that hard to come up with a product. I just thought of jump ropes off the top of my head. That’s a legitimate product that is probably sold by a few hundred people on Ebay. If so, I just gave you a product idea for a BANS store.
I actually sat down the other day and, in 5 minutes, came up with 10 different product ideas. And I did it by focusing on the things and areas I am familiar with and in which I am interested. It’s real easy once you put your mind to it.
So now that you thought of a product, what next?
The most important step in this process is testing your product.
Testing Your Product
I did some research before I settled on a product, and I came across two key guidelines, thanks to The Blog Entrepreneur:
1) Find a search term that attracts at least 300 searches per day. (This is otherwise known as demand.)
2) Make sure that search term generates no more than 1 million search results on Google. (This is otherwise known as competition.)
To figure out if there is enough demand for your product, you need to pinpoint how many people search for it on a daily basis. For that, I recommend Wordtracker’s free keyword suggestion tool. In general, you want a search term that people search for at least 300 times per day.
Remember that Wordtracker represents about 1% of all searches done on the Internet. It maintains logs containing 300 to 340 million keywords covering periods of 60 to 100 days. Thus, you have to multiply the number of searches you get from Wordtracker for a specific keyword (like “jump ropes” or “concert tickets”) by 100 to get an estimate of total searches per month. Then, to arrive at a per-day average, you divide that result by 30.
So, if the keyword ”exercise clothes” gives you 95 searches on Wordtracker, you multiply that number by 100 (95 x 100), and you get 9,500. Then, divide that result by 30 (9,500/30), and you get 316 searches. That’s a good number of searches, and a good amount of demand.
The next step is to check out the competition on Google. Search for your keyword in quotes (i.e., “exercise clothes,” “jump ropes,” etc.). If your keyword generates more than 1 million searches, ditch it. Find another keyword to build your niche around. You don’t want to have to deal with too much competition. The goal here is to make money, and to make it as soon as you can. Don’t be the small fish in the big pond. Be the big fish in the small pond.
If your keyword returns less than 1 million search results, you’re in good shape. If it returns around 500,000 results or less, you’re golden. Either way, you’re dealing with less competition, and that means that you have a good chance (provided you employ some good SEO tactics) of dominating the competition.
Building Your Build A Niche (BANS) Store
Once you have a product and have tested it, you are ready to build your BANS store. If you followed the steps above, you have laid a good foundation for your store. You have an adequate level of demand and a manageable amount of competition.
Building your store is the easy party. Follow the instructions, and you’ll have your store up in no time.
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01
Jul
2008
Posted by Robert as Ramblings/Miscellaneous
“Do you think this next generation is going to be lazy?”
I didn’t have the best answer at the time. But it prompted me to step back and think long and hard about what role my generation and my children’s generation will play in history.
After thinking about this question for a few minutes during my commute to work this morning, I concluded that my generation and my daughter’s generation not only are not lazy, but they are going to play a very large and significant role in the future of this country and the world.
We Are The Pioneers Of The Internet Age
I have been blogging for 6 short months, and the experience as opened me up to a world of ideas and opportunities.
The past, or my parents’ generation, made a living by going to a job between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. That was the conventional way of making money. The few individuals who were entrepreneurs started their own businesses by opening up a physical brick-and-mortar store and selling a product or service. Either way, making money “off-line” was the traditional way to make your living.
What I have discovered in 6 months of blogging is that the money-making way of the future is VERY different. In the future, the traditional way of making money will be through an online business of some sort.
My generation (I am 28 years old) is currently establishing a new, entrepreneurial, and passive method for making a living online. We’re laying the groundwork for a revolutionary change in day-to-day sustenance. My daughter’s generation will pick up that foundation and launch a full-fledged revolution that will change the world forever. Thus, in a way, I and anyone else who is involved in money-making ventures online–we’re pioneers of this Internet age that is flourishing before our eyes.
A New Industrial Revolution
In fact, what is happening right now (the growth of online businesses and online money-making opportunities) is very similar to what happened before the Industrial Revolution. Scott Phelps (of Make Money Facts introduced this idea in a guest post entitled Why Are You Obsessed With Moneymaking Ideas? on TylerCruz.com.
“Before the industrial revolution,” writes Phelps, ”most of the population had to find their own way to make money. That could have been farming or ranching. It might be owning an orchard or developing a trade like blacksmithing or watch making.”
“After the industrial revolution began,” he continues, “hard-pressed individuals took jobs when financial difficulty came, but it didn’t dim the desire most had to get back to a self-directed job.”
What Phelps is saying is that we all have this entrepreneurial burst inside us. And when the landscape is blank and limitless (as it was before industries began to flourish), people found ways to make a living on their own.
Today, that same limitless, blank slate exists. The Internet is an open space ripe with opportunity, and it has provided the foundation for individuals to tap into their entrepreneurial, “self-directed” selves. Moreover, in today’s world where companies and businesses continue to outsource jobs and where the traditional 9-to-5 job is becoming a bit scarce, people have had to “find their own way to make money,” much like the individuals did in the pre-Industrial age.
The area that provides opportunities for those who want to find their own way and for those who need to find their own way is the Internet.
Predictions of the Future? Prosperity via the Internet
My generation of online businessmen, bloggers, webmasters, and affiliate marketers is laying the seeds for a new Industrial (or Internet) Revolution. For some of us, we want to find our own way–a different way–to make money. Others who lose their jobs in an increasingly automated world have to find a way to make money.
We’ve all come together as teenagers, 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings to form a generation that is laying the groundwork for a new revolution, but one that is more technologically advanced than its Industrial predecessor.
My daughter’s generation is going to seize that groundwork and that foundation and run with it in a full-fledged Internet takeover of this country and the globe. The real potential of the Internet won’t be reached until later in my life and beyond. A fast-paced, global economy build on online businesses and marketing will be a sight to behold.
So, coming full circle, I don’t think this generation and the next one are or will be “lazy.” I simply think it’s a different mindset. Instead of the 9-to-5 perspective, online entrepreneurs look at making money as a goal that not only should not, but does not, require much effort.
That’s not laziness. That’s just incredible progress.
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30
Jun
2008
Posted by Robert as Make Money Online
As you know, Google’s PageRank is a link analysis algorithm that assigns a numerical weight to a website and its internal pages. It uses a website’s link structure to determine how valuable a given page is. Each link for a website is like vote. Google also determines the importance of that vote. A linke (or “vote”) from a new website doesn’t mean as much as a link from a high-trafficked, established website. A site’s PageRank results from this ballot-like process, and that rank represents the popularity and importance of your website.
But how many links do you need? For example, how many links from high-PageRank sites will get you a PR 1 or a PR 2?
I stumbled upon the following interesting chart a couple of months ago that provides some answers to these questions:
This chart supposedly illustrates–approximately–how much the PageRank of your blog or website depends on the PageRank and quantity of pages that link to your site. It also shows the equivalence of a different number of pages with different PageRanks.
So, for example, if you want your site to have a PageRank of 4, you need at least 3 links from a site with a PageRank of 5 or, alternatively, 18 links from a site with a PageRank of 4. And if you want your site to have a PageRank of 6, you need at least 3 links from a site with a PageRank of 7 or, alternatively, 18 links from a site with a PageRank of 6.
This is obviously not THE dispositive way for you to increase your Google PageRank. There are other factors to which you need to pay attention, like the quality of your content, the age of your site, the anchor text of the links to your site, the number of external links on linked pages, etc. But this chart is a good start, and it’s informative. I’ve tried the strategy above (i.e., getting links from PR 4 and PR 5 sites) to a limited extent, and if I see any significant results the next time Google updates its PageRanks, I will report back.
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29
Jun
2008
Posted by Robert as Recaps
Below, I’ll be recapping (1) this week’s posts; (2) the most interesting blog posts from my top commentators; (3) my five favorite posts from other blogs; and (4) other blogs that link to this blog.
This Week’s Posts
On Monday, I gave you a preliminary review of BANS.
On Tuesday, I explained why work had made me feel like Donnie Brasco.
On Wednesday, I went Wilde with imagination about my favorite quote from Oscar Wilde.
On Thursday, I explained the 1031 tax exchange.
On Friday, I posted a YouTube video of one of my favorite scenes from Donnie Brasco.
On Saturday, I wrote about why I think the current economic recession is a myth.
Posts From Top Commentators
Here are the most interesting posts from the blogs of my top commentators:
Rob and Mo from Online Internet Business Opportunity talked about ICANN’s expansion.
Prem from Tech Suave advised us on why you should choose direct advertising.
Rockstar Sid from Blogote argues that the Alexa traffic curve and ranking system sucks.
One Year Millionaire’s blog is now three months old. Congrats!
Zaki from Blogjer highlighted the recent cartoon trend on blogs.
Tom from StandOut Blogger, in a very interesting post, explains how to create an Ebook cover with Photoshop.
Evan from The Low & Mighty pointed to the consequences of Shaq’s recent attempt at being a rapper.
Flimjo Five
Here are my five favorite posts from other blogs for this past week:
1) Measure Distribution to Project Content-Focused Link Building, by Gabriel Goldenberg from SEO ROI.
2) Membership Site Bootcamp Free Videos, by Yaro Starak from Entrepreneurs-Journey.com.
3) Fact Based Niche Site Building, Bill from The Blog Entrepreneur.
4) If You Do Anything In Your Business, You’re Doing Too Much, by Jim from The Lazy Owner.
5) The Character Building Qualities Of Launching Your Own Internet Business, from Affiliate Confession.
Flimjo Love
In his weekly overview, Alan Johnson from The Rating Blog linked (as he always does) to one of my posts. This time he linked to my preliminary review of Build A Niche Store.
I’m moving on up in 45n5’s list of the Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs. I jumped from # 258 to # 245!
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28
Jun
2008
Posted by Robert as Ramblings/Miscellaneous
Are these the signs of an economic recession? Obviously not.
There Is, Indeed, Growth
According to the definition of a recession, we’re not even close to being in one yet. The economy grew one percent last quarter. Not stellar. But it’s better than regressing. You need two straight quarters of negative growth to be in a recession. Thus, we’re not in one, and that’s a good enough reason to be optimistic.
The Real Story
Upon seeing that statistic, I remembered an article my father-in-law e-mailed me just a few days ago. “Fodder for Flimjo,” he called it. (He’s an avid reader of this blog.)
The article is an excerpt from a speech by Pat Toomey, and it’s called The Greatest Story Never Told.
Toomey makes two critical points in the article: (1) we are in the greatest period of prosperity in human history; (2) the reasons for and causes of this great period of prosperity are low taxes and minimal government regulation.
Toomey lists a wealth of statistics that illustrate how prosperous Americans have been. People have higher net worths today than they ever have. More families have multiple cars today than they ever have. More people are investing in stocks. People live in bigger houses and living spaces than ever before. Even the “poor” are doing well!
The decrease in taxes, beginning in the 1980s and culminating in 2003, and government regulation has allowed society to prosper to this level of success.
The Catalysts For Prosperity
Toomey doesn’t mention what I believe is the third reason for this period of prosperity. Low taxes are obviously vital because people have more money, and they invest it. Decreased regulation is also critical because the less the government gets in the way, the more efficient markets become.
But these two catalysts combine to stimulate a third force behind this prosperity: Entrepreneurship.
When taxes are low and regulation is minimal, the time is ripe for people with ideas and energy to seize the opportunities that surround us. That is what has happened over the last 25 years, and it continues to flourish today.
Entrepreneurs are the major driving force behind economic growth and prosperity. Governments do not innovate or come up with new products or services. Individuals do. When the government allows us to keep more of our money and then gets out of the way, we all have the ability to take our ideas and flourish.
This concept is becoming even more true today. Companies are outsourcing more jobs. Businesses are becoming automated. The notion of having a “job” will be far less mainstream 20 to 30 years from now. Entrepreneurs, instead, will be driving economic growth and development.
Today, more than ever, is the best time to jump on board.
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27
Jun
2008
Posted by Robert as Ramblings/Miscellaneous
In honor of that post, and in honor of how good the movie Donnie Brasco is, I decided to dedicate today’s YouTube post to one of my favorite scenes from the movie.
If you haven’t seen the movie, Johnny Depp plays an FBI agent who goes undercover and infiltrates the mafia. In the following scene, he explains to one of his FBI buddies what the phrase “forget about it” means.
Enjoy!
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26
Jun
2008
Posted by Robert as Real Estate
I have written about how to pay zero taxes on your rental income and other tax deductions you can claim on that rental income. However, the 1031 exchange is the major tax benefit that will save you a bunch of money over time and, thus, help you build your real estate wealth quickly.
[Disclaimer: The following is not intended as legal advice. Consult your own attorney to confirm that you can benefit from a 1031 exchange.]
What Is The 1031 Tax Exchange?
The 1031 tax-deferred exchange is a way for a real estate investor to defer taxes on capital gains (which can range from 20% to 30% depending on the laws that apply) by “exchanging” one property for another property.
Where Can I Find This Rule?
The 1031 Exchange is stated in section 1031 of the IRS Code of 1986.
What Do You Mean “Defer” Taxes?
By “defer,” a 1031 Exchange allows you to–literally–defer or put off paying taxes on the gains in value of your investment property. In other words, if you own your property for 3 years, and it gains $50,000 in value during that time, you can defer paying taxes on that $50,000 capital gain.
You Mean I Won’t Have To Pay Taxes On That $50,000 Gain??
No. You get to defer paying taxes. It’s not an outright exemption from paying. You simply can put off paying them.
Until When Can I Defer Or Put Off Paying Those Taxes?
Until . . . forever.
What?? Forever??
Well, theoretically. Yes. Forever. You can put off paying taxes on the value your properties gain during your lifetime.
What About After My Lifetime?
Well, that’s the subject of another post. But this post is about you and your money. The 1031 Exchange allows you NOT to have to pay taxes on capital gains on rental properties that you own and, instead, to defer paying those taxes until some future date.
How Does The 1031 Exchange Work?
Very simple. You sell one property, and then you acquire another property within a specific period of time. It’s basically the same as selling one property and buying another, except that, for purposes of the tax code, this transaction is treated as an exchange and not a sale.
If you sell your personal residence, you have to pay taxes on any capital gains on the property (unless certain exceptions apply). But, as an investor, you can “exchange” one property for another and defer taxes.
5 Requirements Of The 1031 Exchange
To benefit from a 1031 exchange, you MUST follow the following 5 basic requirements when you sell and buy–or “exchange”–your properties:
1) The purchase price of the property you buy (the replacement property) must be equal to, or greater than, the sales price of the property you sell. The replacement property must be, in tax law terms, a “like kind” property.
Thus, you can’t buy two lesser properties or one lesser-valued property. The property you buy must be worth equal to or more than the one you sell. You’re effectively trading up.
2) All the equity you receive from the sale of the first property must be used to buy the replacement property.
So, if you have $100,000 in equity (the total of the down payment, principal payments, and appreciation) in the property you want to sell, you must apply the entire $100,000 to the purchase price of the property you buy.
3) The proceeds from the sale of the first property must go through the hands of a “qualified intermediary.” In other words, you can’t touch the money from the sale, and neither can your agent or broker. There are individuals and companies who perform this “qualified intermediary” service for you.
4) Within 45 days of selling the first property, you must identify other replacement properties that you wish to buy.
5) You must buy the replacement property within 180 days of selling the first property.
The real estate investor has to follow each of these requirements exactly as stated or risk Uncle Sam taking a bite out of your capital gains.
Why the 1031 Exchange?
It encourages investors to provide rental housing to people who can’t afford to buy or don’t want to buy. It’s a brilliant incentive system for helping renters save money and encouraging investors to make money.
The investor can continue “exchanging” for and trading up to acquire larger properties and increasing his or her rental income. You go through this process much quicker by retaining the taxes you’d normally have to pay on capital gains. Instead, you can apply that money to your subsequent purchases to increase your investment and, in turn, your income.
It’s amazing how much money you can make when you don’t have to pay taxes.
And that is the 1031 tax exchange explained. I hope this helps!
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25
Jun
2008
