Dabbling in affiliate marketing

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been busy learning more about affiliate marketing, which has turned out to be one of the best things I've done so far.

If you are also interested in giving affiliate marketing a try, here are some tips on how to do that in the best way:

How to choose a niche
Like with everything else that involves making money long term, I think the best thing is to choose a niche that is profitable and that you feel passionate about. A great way to check what people are looking for is to use the Google Keyword Tool, but don't just base your decision on the keywords you find, instead, make sure there are great affiliate deals out there for the products you find too.

Work with different projects
By this I mean you should have at least a few different websites, blogs or whatever you decide to put your affiliate ads on. This is important both because you should never put all your eggs in the same basket, in case the basket breaks, but also because it will make it easier to see what the most profitable way of working is. So I personally have tried many different products and niches lately, in order to see what works best. (So far it's travel!)

Learn SEO in order to help people find your projects
This is really a must, since it makes a huge difference. So if you only take one of my tips to heart, let is be this one: Learn at least the basics of SEO in order to get A LOT further with your earnings. It's actually kind of fun once you get started!

Make a plan
You need to work on your affiliate projects on a regular basis, since few of them take off immediately. So make a plan that enables you to do just that, because the most common reason people fail with affiliate marketing is that they simply do not keep it up for long enough and give up too soon when the earnings don't come immediately.

I'm still kind of new to affiliate marketing, so it is possible I will have more tips to share further on, but so far, these are the things that have helped me succeed the most.

Lesson I have learned while trying to make money online

As you know if you have been reading this blog for a while, my project of trying to figure out how to make money online worked out pretty well for me. Not at all like I expected (a lot of the earning sites others swear by were just too much work for me, and some sites even turned out to be scams!), but I did succeed in the end.

And since I did, I want to share an important lesson I learned in the process: Don’t listen to those who tell you it cannot be done!

You see, when I told people I wanted to start to earn money online, people told me it was impossible, that it would not be worth the time it would take, and many other negative things. I thought they might be right, to be honest, but still wanted to try it out for myself anyway. And now I am so glad I did that! Because it was possible, and I never would have known that if I had just listened to others.

So one of the most important lessons I personally learned was not to listen to what others have to say. If you believe you can do something, you can! Just be patient and smart about any project you take on, and you will get there in the end!

Worth knowing about Google Adsense/Google Adsense review

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I have Google Adsense on a few of my blogs, and I manage to make a bit of money with it. I've heard many people say that it is impossible to earn anything with Google Adsense, but I don't agree. This is why I thought I would share some of the things I have learned with my readers, in case you are thinking about adding Google Adsense to your blog or website as well.

How to succeed with Google Adsense:

First of all, make sure you understand how Google Adsense works. Not everyone who signs up for Google Adsense is familiar with the rules and what your obligations are. Knowing how Google Adsense works means you should be fully aware of the topics you should avoid, as well as of the fact that it is absolutely forbidden to click on your own ads.

I have always been a stickler for the rules, and I think this has explains why I never had any problems with Google Adsense of any kind. I never clicked on my own ads or tried anything else that was against the rules, for that matter, since I read about how good they are at figuring those things out, no matter how smart you think you are.

Second of all: it takes time to make money with Google Adsense. It probably took me like 6 months before I saw any significant earnings, so if I had given up before that, I would never have gotten anywhere. So even if you don't seem to make money with Google Adsense to begin with, don't give up! You will get there in the end!

These are really the two most important Google Adsense tips I have to share. I haven't tried anything more elaborate than that, I just worked on my blogs, making sure they were optimized (meaning I learned SEO - Search Engine Optimization) and had good content and regular posts. People continued reading them, and some of them did end up clicking on the ads, so it really can be as simple as that!

So despite the fact that there are some bad Google Adsense reviews out there, I highly recommend them. Just remember to be patient and not cheat!

Long time, no see

Wow, I haven't blogged for ages. But the fact is, I have been earning money online, just not in any new ways, just those that I have already told you guys about. So nothing to tell really, more than that I am still earning online, making some progress and keeping rather busy.

But today I actually tried something new: writing a review for Sponsored Reviews. This is a site that connects bloggers to advertisers, and is basically a market place that helps bloggers find advertisers, who typically buy a blog post from them.

I wrote my first blog post for a client today (quite a while after I joined, so don't get depressed if you do end up joining Sponsored Reviews and do not hear anything for a while), and made a nice amount for just a few minutes work!

(And they pay through Paypal, my preferred payment method too!)

So if you have a blog and would like to make some money through it, join Sponsored Reviews now! I highly recommend it!

(I have to say I did not get the payment yet though, since they pay bi-weekly, but the site does seem legit, so I decided to recommend it already anyway)

Earn more money online by knowing SEO

Knowing SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization) can help anyone who has a blog, website or articles on sites such as Bukisa or Triond earn more simply by making small changes.


Learning SEO can seem like a really big project though, so in case you also want to learn the basics of SEO, and do not know where to start, I just want to recommend this article by Sunset SEO, it explains it all in a pretty good and basic way.

(pic from Motionsfloden)

My biggest problem with making money online

Is not a lack of opportunities, not scammers or anything like that. By now, I have learned to see through most "too good to be true" opportunities, so I don't waste any time at all on that kind of stuff.
Instead, it is time. I never ever seem to have enough time to do all the online earning related things I wanted to do each day. This is probably because I work full time, have several private clients who I work for, and so on. But it is still annoying that my own projects get much less attention than I would hope. So I have decided to make a schedule of the things that need to be done, every week.

This is the only way to make sure I make progress, and do not just continue in the same tracks I already know are working.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, by the way! For me, the weekend has been quite filled with online earning related tasks so far... But remember, that's a GOOD thing!

My best tips for succeeding when it comes to making money online

(according to my own experiences so far)

1. Always listen more to yourself than to others. The others, no matter who they are, be it your family or your friends or "experts" or anyone else, do not know what you know, they do not need to do what you do and so on.This is why you always know best, believe it or not! Go with your gut feeling, and if your gut feeling has betrayed you in the past, work on making it better. But never let yourself be talked into things you do not believe in!

2. Have big dreams.

3. Set big goals. Such big goals that they almost scare you. Because big goals are inspirational.

4. Dare to be different. Following the footsteps of others can only take you so far. Do your own thing and you will get further.

5. When everything seems to be going wrong, you feel exhausted and you want to quit: pull yourself together and try again! This might be your big break!

6. Start straight away. Not tomorrow. Not when you have more time. NOW!

(pic from Work from home coach)

Why thinking like a drug dealer will help you make money online

Drug dealers. Most people hate them. But the fact is, if you are into trying to earn money online, you actually have a thing or two to learn from drug dealers. Here is why:


- Drug dealers are very territorial. They keep track of their competition at all times, and fight for their territory if necessary. This is what you need to do as well. You need to know who else is doing what you do, and what you can do to get rid of them or to do things better than them.

- Drug dealers sell products that give users what they want. If you are selling anything, you need to do the same. Sell only what is wanted. It is the best and most lucrative way to do business, and the only way that lasts in the long run.

- Drug dealers make it easy for new customers to try their stuff. You need an influx of new customers all the time. And the best way to get them is to make your stuff look appealing and easy to to try. Do not charge money for every little thing in the beginning, give people free tries and make everything as easy as you can for them. New customers are hard to get, so get rid of anything that might scare them.

(pic from Cartoonstock)

Why I am not reviewing so many new online earning methods at the moment

You might have noticed that I am mostly focusing on things I have already been doing for a while now, instead of trying to find new online earning opportunities at the moment. I am not entirely happy with this, but to tell you the truth... it is all due to lack of time. My life is very hectic at the moment, and I find it hard to find enough time to earn online at all, let alone find new online earning methods.

So don't think I have given up on making money online, because I haven't. I am just struggling with having enough time!

The real reason most people fail when they try to make money online

It's obviously that they give up too easily. They are not willing to work, work, work for as long as it is required to earn decent amounts of money online. And for most people it actually takes a long time before the big earnings take off.

So never forget that! Do not even think of quitting, that is the only way to know for sure you will NEVER make money online!

My goals that will help me make (more) money online for December 2010

Sorry for not blogging much, but I have had so much work for my private clients (content writing, translations) that I simply have not had the time to look into other ways to make money online. (But hey, I still manage to make money online by having these clients, so that's actually a good thing!)

But in order not to forget to learn new things as well, I have decided that I need to start making "to do"-lists regarding my online earning projects every month.

So I present to you... my first "to do" list, this is what I want to achieve during December 2010:
- Write at least 20 articles for Bukisa.
- Make some more friends on Bukisa (it helps you earn more since those friends will hopefully read your articles)
- Join Clickbank
- Make one minisite (Google the term if you do not know what it is)
- Finish 2 lenses I have reserved at Squidoo, and make 1 new one
- Submit all my blogs to several directories
- Come up with 2 new ideas regarding how I can make money in ways I have not tried yet

We will see how it goes! I will share my success or my failure with you guys of course!
(And if I really do not well, at least I will be motivated to get 2011 off to a great start!)

I wish all my readers the best of luck with their online earning projects!

I joined Bidvertiser

I love Google Adsense, but I have to say my earnings there are still pretty modest. So I have decided to join Bidvertiser (but still keep Adsense on some blogs, in order to be able to compare the two). They only require you to make $10 (instead of Google Adsense's $100) in order to get paid, which is great for smaller sites and blogs who want to get started.

They also have a referral program. (see the right side bar to join through me)

Bidvertiser really seems great so far!

Another great quote

... that really illustrates how important it is to be patient, and give your online earning ventures some time:


“If you’re willing to do for a year what others WON’T,

you can spend a life time doing what others CAN’T”?

(from: PotPieGirl, which is a blog well worth reading by the way!)

I just got two new customers who need their websites translated by the the way. They're both paying 5 British pounds per page, and need 200 pages or more translated, so this should take quite a lot of my time in the upcoming weeks. But oh well, it means a steadier income too!

Taking a short break

Ok, so I am going to take a short break from my attempts to make money online for a while. But no, I am not giving up or anything, I am simply going on vacation and I have made the decision not to work on any online stuff during that time.
I will however, read something that will make me better prepared though:
Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.

It seems very promising so far!

New site I am trying: Linkstoxx

Ok, so sorry for not posting for a while. But I have actually been trying out several different things. First of all, I've added more articles to Triond, and second of all, I have been trying to find new sites to join.

I have actually found a few, but let me tell you about them one at a time. I want to give as much information as I can, so that people out there who read this can figure out if to go for a money making method or not for themselves.

The site that I joined a couple of days ago, after having heard good things about them is Linkstoxx.
Linkstoxx is fairly similar to Facebook, even though I guess you are not going to invite your real friends to Linkstoxx (if you have friends like mine anyway, they are not even remotely interested in making money online. They think it is not even possible to make money online and make fun of me for trying), so you might want to find some new money making friends once you are there instead.

You basically get points, that then turn into cash, when you add a friend, join a group or do any of those other Facebooky things.

So far I like Linkstoxx, but it has a big disadvantage, and that is that it is in French. So if you really know no French and don't know how to use Google translate, this might not be for you. But otherwise you should be fine, a lot of the people on Linkstoxx do not seem to know French at all.
It doesn't seem like you can make huge amounts though, but I guess it depends on how active you are as well.

More about the other methods I am trying later, I want to try each thing for a while so I don't recommend something fishy.

A tip for article writers

As you know, I have been writing for Triond a while, and while I am pretty happy with the results, you can always improve them, right?
Triond pays you per page view, so the more people read your articles, the more you get paid. So I had the idea of submitting my articles to some social networks, and that really worked like a charm for me!

The page views increased a lot, so now I will make it a habit to submit all my articles and all my sites to sites such as Stumbleupon (the one that gave me the best results by far) and Delicious. It really makes it so much easier to earn!

So if anyone else is writing articles, I really recommend checking social networks out. I will try to find some more as well, as soon as I have the time. And of course I will report on the ones worth submitting to.

Have a wonderful and profitable weekend, all earners!

Making progress!

Just wanted to tell you guys that I checked my AdSense account recently, and while I have been kinda anti-AdSense for a while, I was pretty surprised to see how much my blogs alone had made in just a few months. And I was even more surprised to see that people who read my articles on Triond actually click on ads there too!

So Triond is really looking good for me at the moment.

I have been considering dropping MyLot, because it is not passive income in the same way the money you make on Triond is, you really need to work for every cent, but to be honest... I enjoy posting there so much that I will stick to it for a while anyway. As long as you are having fun, why not?

And a message for those who believe making money online is impossible: I have managed to make a lot of progress during the short time I have been trying to earn a bit online, and I think it is definitely doable, as long as you are patient and are willing to work a bit for it. Many of the things online turn into passive incomes after a while. You just need a bit of inital work, and then some things run smoothly by themselves.

So I can definitely recommend a project like this to anyway. I have managed to buy several things online (mostly on Ebay) and withdraw a nice bundle of cash from my Paypal account to my regular account thanks to my little ideas, and I work full time and don't spend too much time on this, which means that anyone can do it.

Just don't expect miracles and for thousands of dollars to fall on you overnight. That doesn't happen!
But smaller amounts do...

Something that didn't work out

Ok, so to be fair, I can't just share things that worked for me with you. I also want to be as honest as possible, and share stuff that did not work.

I joined a site called PickyDomains a while ago, and while the idea seems like fun (you are supposed to suggest domain names for companies who have trouble with coming up with some of their own), nothing happens there. I spent quite some time on this site, but it does not seem like I will get paid for it.

Maybe my suggestions just weren't good enough, but it kind of bothers me that I am not getting any updates on what happens with my suggestions.
I am not saying PickyDomains is a scam in any way (I have heard good things about them after all), but this is not a way to make money online that suits me at least.

So this weekend I will try to look into some other new ideas I have instead.

Have a nice and profitable weekend, everyone!

I'm busy... making money online!

No news during the past days, even though I do have some new ideas, that I might share with you as soon as I try them out. I have been working for my private clients during the past days, and I also published some more Triond articles, which was fun. (I haven't really made any money from Triond yet though, but people tell me it takes time, so I will be patient!)

So I'm doing pretty well, but these things keep me busy, so I don't really have much time to blog.

What have I been up to lately?

Even though I have not been writing much lately, I have been working hard at making money online, and it is going quite well, even though many more experienced online workers claim that the month of July is usually pretty uneventful.

My biggest income has been from two private clients, one who I write content for, and one who I do SEO work for. I've earned over $200 in just a week working for these guys, and while the tasks were pretty big, I am hoping to get some loyal, returning customers because of my competitive rates and great results. So I see the low prices I take in the beginning as a form of investment.

The Amazon ads still haven't made me any money, which is a bit dissapointing, but I suppose I need to do some more research on placements of the ads and so on before I give up on them entirely.

I've also managed to beef up my account balance on MyLot this month as well, so I am hoping I will get a pay out from there for this month as well.

Other than that, I am still trying to learn as much as possible about the online money making business, so I've purchased these three new books:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
(the title says it all, don't you think?)

Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur

Online Marketing Heroes: Interviews with 25 Successful Online Marketing Gurus
(learning from the best is always a good idea!)

I still haven't recieved the books though, since I got them online, but as soon as I've read them, I will let you know if they are worth investing your time and money into!

I hope everyone is having fun and succeeding to make money online!