Cowpetition - The Price is Right Contest
written by Anthony Dinh
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard about JohnCow and Garry Conn competition that started yesterday, and will be ending on Wednesday, June 18th. Basically, the two blogging heavyweights will be going hoof to head, each building a non-IM niched blog from scratch using a virgin domain. After 1 month, whoever sells his blog for the most mooney on Sitepoint will be the champion!
To feed off the frenzy that will be generated around the competition, I will be holding my own contest and giving away $280 in prizes. Below are the official details of the “Cowpetition - The Price is Right Contest“. The rules are simple and the prizes are great, so don’t forget to enter!
Deadline Wednesday, June 18th, 12:00am EST
Rules
- subscribe to the RSS feed via email (1 pt)
- Stumble/Digg this post with a comment linking to this post (1 pt)
- predict the competition winner and the final selling price without going over (1 pt, closest bid gets 3 pts)
- write a blog post about this contest - in your own words, please do not copy&paste (5 pts)
Grand Prize Package
- Self-Portrait Caricature Package by Randy Ariestoteles of FreshMeatDesign.com ($150 valu
e) - detailed site review by me ($50 value)
- sponsored 125×125 ad banner for 1 month ($30 value)
- sponsored link in Featured Sites section of right sidebar for 1 month ($10 value)
- novelty AmazingPopper bottle opener ($10 value)
- guest post opportunity with backlink to showcase your work and gain exposure to new readers - can be brand new post or one of your best existing pieces (pricele$$ - traffic boost, RSS subscribers, backlink, exposure, etc.)
2nd Place Prize (multiple giveaways for
- sponsored link in Featured Sites section of right sidebar for 1 month ($10 value)
- novelty AmazingPopper bottle opener ($10 value)
3rd Place Prize
- sponsored link in Featured Sites section of right sidebar for 1 month ($10 value)
If you wish to enter the contest, simply perform the required actions under the rules section, and leave a comment below indicating which steps you’ve taken so I can tally up the points. Please include who you predict will win and your bid on the final selling price. Lastly, if you write a post, please provide a link to the post as well.
Read more about FreshMeatDesign.com here, or check out their impressive portfolio of logos, banners, caricatures and mascots.
GOOD LUCK ALL!
** Find this post useful or entertaining? Then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed or have new posts sent directly to your to email. **
$100 a Day in 7 Easy Steps
written by Anthony Dinh
You may not realize this, but it’s easier to make $100 a day online than you think. For most of you, the concensus seems to be that making an extra $500-1000 a month would make life a whole heck of a lot easier. With this “wash, rinse & repeat” method which is surprisingly easy to duplicate, you could make up to $3000 a month per site right from home. If the $100 a day goal is a bit high for you beginners, then you can certainly shoot for a more modest goal of $50 a day which will still net you a nice $1500/month. Whether you choose to start a blog, write a content website, pursue affiliate marketing, build lists, generate leads, provide an online service, create informational e-products or open an online BANS (build a niche store), you can apply the “wash, rinse & repeat” method to start multiple money generating sites and scale your business over time. For this excercise, we will be promoting ClickBank digital products.
Step 1 - Find Your Niche
I would start with something that interests you or that you’re knowledgeable about such as cars, sports, fitness, men’s/women’s health, lawn & gardening, wood-working, making money, arts & crafts, pets, baby products,debt consolidation, hiking/camping, traveling, etc. Picking a niche that interests you will make writing content for your page much easier. If you are unsure about what niche to get into, search forums, usergroups and sites like Yahoo! Answers to get some ideas of current hot topics that people are discussing and the kinds of questions that they’re asking.
Step 2 - Snipe Your Keyword
Keyword Sniping can be done using one of the many free keyword search tools that are readily available such as WordTracker or the one offered by DigitalPoint. Both tools will return a list of related keywords with their daily search volumes. A search frequency of at least 200 times a day is recommended. Google search “your keyword” with quotes around it to get an idea of how many competing pages there are for each keyword. The fewer competing pages the better, but the rule of thumb that I go by is anything with fewer than 1 million competing pages should work nicely.
Step 3 - Find a Webhost
Due to the competition with so many hosts out there, you can find hosting service for really cheap these days if you look around. I would recommend HostGator.com since they offer first month’s hosting for only 1 penny if you use the “wordpress” or “jury” coupon codes when prompted.
Currently, DiariesOfABlogger.com is hosted on IX Web Hosting, and I couldn’t be happier with the service. Both Linux and Windows platforms are supported, so you may pick the one you’re most comfortable with. Three levels of service are offered, so there’s one to suit everyone’s needs (Unlimited Pro, Business Plan, Elite Plan). I purchased the mid-level Business Plan package and prepaid for 2 years, so the monthly fee came to $6.45, but you can get a free domain and hosting for as little as $4.95/month. Check out the plan comparison chart here for more details.
Step 4 - Create or Find Your Product
You can either opt to write your own product material, or you can market one of the many digital products available at ClickBank and earn a commission for each sale. Just make sure that there’s a high demand for your product. I would chose one that pays at least $15 commission per sale, one with a high %rfd which indicates that many affiliates are making sales on the product, yet it still has a low gravity and not too many affiliates are currently marketing it (between 10-50 is good) to avoid market saturation and too much competition.
Step 5 - Build Your Site Around the Keyword
You will need to create and publish a minimum of 10 posts surrounding your keyword and product with some solid content that speaks with authority on the subject matter. Though you are using Wordpress blogging software and your site looks like a blog, the difference is that you won’t have to post regularly as you would with a typical blog. As a matter of fact, I would suggest removing all post dates as the information you provide should not appear to be dated in the readers’ eyes. Be sure to use a nice, clear headline that catches the reader’s attention and compels him or her to click on your product. Also, including social proof, testimonials and screenshots will help in convincing the visitor that your solution works and it’s what they’re looking for.
Step 6 - Setup Autoresponder to Harvest Emails
Although not completely necessary, setting up an autoresponder will allow you to harvest your visitors’ emails when they sign-up for your product. Doing so will allow you to send out newslettters in the future to promote other products which would be of interest to your niche audience.
Step 7 - Market Your Product
There are many channels you can use to market your product. You can either promote it by posting in Yahoo! Answers or some of the forums that you came across in step1, by including a linked signature in your profile or newletters to your product landing page or by getting involved and answering questions posted by others within the forum to gain exposure. Yet another way to get word out is by submitting articles regarding your product to article such directories such as EzineArticles and ArticleMarketer. Cross promoting with other sites within your niche through link exchange programs can also be an effective way to market your product.
As with anything else, you will have to try it, make some mistakes, learn from your mistakes, then improve and grow. It will take some time, trial and error, testing and tuning before you come up with a formula that works for you, but persevere, push on and don’t give up! Once you discover that secret winning formula, it should be rather easy to duplicate your success by simply washing, rinsing and repeating.
** Find this post useful or entertaining? Then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed or have new posts sent directly to your to email. **
The New Face of Diaries Of A Blogger
written by Anthony Dinh
As promised in my previous post, today I will be unveiling the long-awaited new logo that will represent the Diaries Of A Blogger brand from this day forth.
Drum roll please…..dun,dun,dun,dun…..TADA!
OK, so what’s up with the baby theme you might ask? If you notice, my tagline is “A Newbie’s Journey to Making Money Online”, so the baby is representative of me, a “newbie” in this blogging game. My hopes are that hopefully, once you start seeing this logo around enough, it will be engrained in your minds and become synonymous with the Diaries Of A Blogger brand.
There were some comments saying that it’s not necessary to have a custom header logo to build branding, that there are plenty of bloggers who still make it big without one, and that it’s all about the content and how the author brands him or herself. I would have to say that I totally agree with these statements because branding strategy encompasses other aspects of a blog such as the domain name, the tagline, etc., and the logo is just one of them. However, having a logo that people can immediately associate with your brand is quite powerful as well. Think about all the logos you see around you on a daily basis (Nike’s swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches, NFL team logos, etc.). You can look at those logos and immediately associate them with their brand without any words needed, and this was my intention here, to achieve brand recognition through my logo.
If like the look and feel of my logo, and would like one of your own, I recommend enlisting the services of the talented Randy Ariestoteles of FreshMeatDesign.com. To get a better idea of what kind of work they do, check out their impressive portfolio of logos, banners, caricatures and mascots. Not only will you get quality work at a reasonable price, but the artists are very responsive and the turnarounds are quick as well.
** Find this post useful or entertaining? Then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed or have new posts sent directly to your to email. **
Customize Your Header Logo to Build Brand Recognition
written by Anthony Dinh
After hours upon hours of browsing the internet and googling for just the right Wordpress theme, I finally settled on one. I downloaded it and was pretty pleased with the 3-colum layout, its adsense and widget ready capabilities, its ease of navigation, as well as its pleasing color scheme which was easy on the eyes. Still, something seemed to be missing…aha! It was the header! The template was lacking a header logo which made it look very, well, for lack of better words, “amateur”! It had a very pre-canned, out of the box ready feel to it, and I had to do something about it. I wanted readers to eventually be able to associate my logo with the Diaries Of A Blogger brand just from the logo itself.
So, the search was on again, but this time, it was for a logo that would represent my brand. I burned through a couple more hours looking for something that spoke to me, and by now it was almost 2am, so I decided to retire for the night and continue searching in the morning.
It was Sunday morning and I usually sleep in late on weekends, but I got up at 8am, too excited with ideas running through my mind to sleep. I plopped down on the couch with my laptop and started to brainstorm, then it hit me. Since I can’t seem to find anything that I like to use for my logo, why not make my own? That thought was quickly denounced as I remembered how limited my art skills were, not to mention I didn’t have any quality graphics programs like Photoshop at my disposal. I drudged on using whatever crude resources I had at my fingertips (Word, Paint, etc.), and came up with this.
Ok, now we’re getting somewhere. Nothing too dramatic, just plain and simple, but it gets the job done. I uploaded the image and refreshed the page, and voila! I was quite happy with my work, so I decided that it was time to grab some breakfast. About a week later, while researching for SEO methodolies and reputable affiliate programs, I came across a few sites that had visually appealing headers which caught my attention. Johncow.com, TheUniversityKid.com and TylerCruz.com all had something in common which I liked - they were all cartoony in nature. Their headers made mine look plain and absolutely pitiful, and no longer was I pleased with my artwork.
Once again, I perused the web looking for reputable graphics designers and after debating between a few that I liked most, I decided on FreshMeatDesign.com.
They specialize in logos, banners, caricatures and mascots, and their portfolio is rather impressive. I immediately placed an order and received a rough sketch for proof of concept the very next day…these guys are fast! The package I purchased included 3 unique design concepts, unlimited changes and direct chat with the designer. I’ve been swapping ideas back and forth with my designer, Randy Ariestoteles, and now I’m waiting for my final revision. Next time you stop by, hopefully you will be looking at my new logo! I won’t spoil the surprise, but in case you don’t quite get the connection, it’s related to my tagline, “A Newbie’s Journey to Making Money Online”.
If you’re looking for a customized header logo, I suggest you head on over to FreshMeatDesign.com, they do quality work at a reasonable price. For more information on how to modify your header logo, check out this post at ShifterTheme.
** Find this post useful or entertaining? Then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed or have new posts sent directly to your to email. **
-
Subscribe
-
Sponsors
