Hope and Change

I am currently in a holding pattern as I continue to research my newest project and hope for better results. Since I am convinced that little gets accomplished simply by hoping, I am using this time to find better ways in order to get better results. But in summary this is my plan.

I have found a company that I think is going to work for me. Upon signing up with that company I will get a cookie-cutter website. In anticipation of that I have bought 2 domains which I will redirect to the cookie-cutter website, keeping my domain visible throughout the session. In that way, it will be less obvious that my site is similare to everyone else who works with this product.

Then I will have to learn how to market it. Currently I am learning about how to hold teleseminars as a marketing strategy. Stay tuned while I figure all of this out.

A New Series of Posts

I am working on a series of posts telling the background story of what lead me to the point of trying to earn money on the Internet. From that foundation I will then tell you about some of the people I've met on this journey and the lessons learned. Hopefully you will find it enjoyable reading.

The New Thing

This new project I am on will result in another cookie-cutter website but this time things will be different. This cookie-cutter website is marketed completely differently. I don't expect people to find it by searching Google or Yahoo!. That was the expectation and selling point of the first website and that didn't happen.

This new cookie-cutter website is marketed in more traditional ways. I will refer people to it directly as they notice my weight loss. Nothing is more predictable than being asked how you lost all of that weight. And when they do I will simply give them my business card with the URL on it.

I'm On To Something

As previously mentioned, my websites are not generating the kind of income that I had hoped for. But this journey is not all in vain. As a result of trying to learn how to successfully promote a web-based income I have learned many things; some of which look like they will be very useful very soon.

I have discovered a company that I will be soon be doing business with as one of their associates. It leverages three of the biggest booms that are currently going on: wellness, the Internet, and home-based businesses. Next week I will be joining this group. (I have to wait for a stolen credit card to be replaced) Once I have started to be successful I will share the details with you. Until then, mums the word.

Decisions Update

I've decided not to go ahead with the cookie-cutter website. This particular e-commerce venture is not for me. It isn't that I'm opposing cookie-cutter websites, its that I have decided against this particular one. I'm already considering another.

This pausing in the development process while I consider my next website has caused me to reflect. My websites are still not generating any traffic. So far I've only made $27.21 and I've spent much more than that. If I were on the right track I should have done better. So what am I doing wrong? I don't know but I am certain of one thing - to quit is wrong. So I'm just going to have to work through this thing to figure out the key to making money on the Internet. My family needs me to figure this out.

Decisions, Decisions

As mentioned before I am considering a cookie-cutter website to add to my portfolio. The decision isn't easy because it involves a total investment of $200 plus it requires me to step out of my comfort zone. I'm not sure which makes me more uncomfortable - the money or having to step outside of my comfort.

The upside is that this site has the potential to achieve all of my goals that I have set for this web adventure. So it makes me face how serious I am about achieving my goals. Am I willing to risk money and comfort to achieve those goals? Or is the money and comfort more important than the other goals which I have set? Basically, there are two key decision points that I have reached in this regard: 1) can I stand behind these products (if I can't stand behind the products the decision is made); and 2) am I willing to risk the money and comfort?

I'll keep you posted but as for today's activities, I will be continuing my study of this web site's potential. I'll probably make a decision this weekend so I'll let you know what I decide.

Trying Something New

As you know I have been creating websites designed to be interesting, nontechnical (despite the technical nature of the content), with the hope that it will generate an income that I can use to get out of debt and start my new career. So far a little money has been made, less than $100, but it looks promising. Today I am trying something new.

My first website was a canned website that has done nothing for me at all. I can't even edit it yet, although I expect to be able to do that as soon as I put in the time to learn WordPress. Nevertheless it has been a net loss so far. My own websites and blogs are starting to generate some traffic and even a little income. So the quick fix has failed me so far, the slow, methodical way is showing some promise.

Just to mix it up I decided to take a shot at what appears to be a reputable business that is offering another canned approach that appears to show more promise. I'll keep you posted as to how it goes. So far its cost me $10 and eventually will cost $50. So even if I'm wrong, the investment should teach me something worthwhile.

Time Away

I will not be working on my websites today. Work calls and I'll be out of town all day. See you tomorrow.

Search Engine Optimization

Yesterday and today I am devoting my time to doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO). First I have to learn about it.

I start by making sure that each page has a unique title, meta description, and meta keywords. I then create a sitemap to submit to Google, a URL file to submit to Yahoo!, and a robots.txt file to guide the crawlers through my site. Lastly I submit the site to Google and Yahoo! and wait!

Although I am certain that what I am doing could be improved, it should at least start the process of turning these sites into income producing sites. My efforts so far have been on creating valuable content that is easy to understand. Now we present it to the world!

I still have over a dozen website in my plans to make. From here on out I will do a complete website, top to bottom. With the first half dozen or so, I decided to break development out into phases so that I could learn all of the different aspects. By the end of today I will know enough (I think) to put it all together.

Adding Ads

I have been going back and adding discrete, appropriate ads to the websites I've built so far. My hope is that as readership goes up, some of these ads will be clicked on and purchases made. I'm focusing on representing companies consistent with the content of the web site. With my technical background, most of the ads are for technical services of one kind or another.

Best Domain Companies

My latest website Best Domain Companies is now up for you review. In it I have examined the best of the web sites that of domain names for sale and have come up with a list of the top five. The number one choice on my list is the world's largest domain registrar GoDaddy.com. How do you not recommend them?

Incidentally, I've decided that the next step I will take in this journey to a successful online business is to protect my domain name by purchasing the .com version of as many of them as I can. Initially I didn't want to invest in the .com domains until there was something more concrete, instead I bought mostly .info domains. But I'm now ready to make the greater financial commitment by buying .com domains.

Maintenance

I've been working on maintenance issue on the 7 sites I have put up so far. I realized early this morning (Ireland time) that I had published content on the Internet with an expectation that people would magically know my credentials. Once I realized how silly that is, I modified the About Us page in each web site to provide a brief summary of my qualifications so that I might be believed.

The hard part about doing such a thing is to brag about yourself, without bragging. How does one find that balance? Anyhow, that is what I tried to do - establish credibility without sounding braggadocio. Let me know if I succeeded.

Best Hosting Companies

I just uploaded my latest website Best Hosting Companies. I searched many hosting companies and concluded that these are among the best hosting companies available on the Internet. I hope my readers will recommend this site to individuals thinking of putting up a website.

I found something

I learned how to make hyperlinks open another window, leaving my site still open in a window. I went through all of my sites yesterday and modified the necessary links. Its surprising how easy it is once you know how. Why can't someone post simple instructions on the Internet. Every place I looked made it look inordinately complicated. What is wrong with IT people, especially programmers that they don't know how to make it simple? Hasn't anyone learned that the true sign of genius is the ability to simplify?

Started Work

Since my flight to Ireland I have been suffering from jet lag and haven't done very much. Today is my 4th day in the country and I am starting to almost feel human again so I've started working on the Best Hosting Companies website. With any luck I will finish it today.

Problems

I have again encounted a problem. I don't know how to set up a website so that people can give me their email address in exchange for a free download. Help!!

I am currently working on the Best Hosting Companies, The Best DNS Providers, and Best Domain Companies. Register.com rejected my application to be an affiliate because the web site wasn't up yet. Duhh. I received the same kind of rejection from Carbonite.com which I intended to feature on my Best Backup Sites. There seems to be an elitist attitude present in some of the leading providers of web services. It seems kind of ridiculous to me. Why wouldn't you want more people pointing to your web service?

Best Backup Sites Again

The Best Backup Sites website is now up. It provides information and options on how individuals and small to medium companies can safely and securely backup up their valuable data.

Best Backup Sites

The site I am currently working on is entitled Best Backup Sites. In this site I am explaining the importance of backing up data, what data should be backed up, and what the various types of backup are. I then recommend a couple of local and internet-based backup solutions. I am waiting for affiliate relationships to be formed before I can upload the site to the Internet. Lesson learned from this is some affiliate relationships take time so do not wait until you are developing the web site before forming these relationsips.

Update

To date my web sites have been very basic. The one that I purchased from Niche Power Group is the hardest one to edit and I haven't quite figured out how to do it yet. The rest of the web sites are relatively simple to do. Netscape is my editor of choice and I simply edit templates found at my hosting company.

Although I have a technical background (I work in network security) I have no love of programming. For readers who work in IT you know that it isn't uncommon for the network team, or the security team, to be in conflict with the programmers/developers. We come from different worlds, with different mentalities, and different levels of discipline. Developers tend to be liberal, creative, and undisiciplined. Network and security professionals (I work in both) tend to be the opposite - conservative, disciplined, and structured. Creativity is essential for programming. Our creativity is limited to problem-solving. Naturally such generalizations do not always apply, but they are nonetheless accurate in a general sense.

Finding a method that minimized the programming was essential for the reasons cited above. I just don't fit into the programmer's model.

Secure My Office PC

My latest website Secure My Office PC is now up. It is designed for the small to medium sized business that has little or no technical support staff.

Google AdSense

My Google Adsense account was approved. It was quite simple to reapply. All I had to do was click on a hyperlink in the email that informed me why I was turned down in the first place. It actually was relatively simple to do. Kudos to Google on a creating a simple process.

Slow

Work on the web sites has slowed down for personal reasons. I have a funeral to speak at this morning although I may finish the Secure My Office PC website by the end of the day. I will keep you posted.

Web Site Title

Last night I noticed that since I had started out Secure My Home PC using the pages from Starting Up Online, that Starting Up Online was appearing as the page's title in my browser. I had to go change the title value in each of the web pages and resubmit them. Its the little details like that and the favicons that make for more professional appearing content. I'm going to have to learn them all.

Little Icons

I am having trouble creating the necessary links so that my web sites have those little icons next to the title in the Favorites menu, browser window, and Google Chrome tab. I've found several web sites who claim to tell you how to incorporate these "favicons" but no luck so far. HELP!

Secure My Office PC

The next site I will put up is Secure My Office PC which will contain a lot of the same content as Secure My Home PC. Some changes will be made but it will be among the easiest of web sites to do.