How To Make Money | The Definitive Don’ts

And The Beat Goes On…

I really wish I had an excuse for my recent 25-day vacation. Unfortunately, I don’t - I’m guilty on all counts. With that being said, I’m really impressed at the number of RSS subscribers which have stuck around despite my recent vacation. This goes to show that I must be doing something right.

Starting today, the blog will return to its regular posting schedule. While I understand that many of you enjoyed returning to Malignition to find it in dire need of updates, it’s time for a little change.

On a little side note, I wouldn’t suggest that you perfrom this type of vanishing act on your own blog. As many of you know, blog inactivity can do major damage in terms of traffic generation. So the next time you get lazy, either publish a post which you have saved in Wordpress or hire a writer to develop a few posts for you. Negligence is not the answer!

Some cool things are in store for Malignition this month. Since I’m on the subject, I might as well give away a little spoiler - we have some quality “How to make money” tutorials in the making. Now that most of you have an idea about the things you should avoid in making money online, it’s time you learn WHAT you should do. Stay tuned, this month’s going to be very exciting!

Repeatedly Rehashing Posts From Other Blogs

We’ve all at one time or another stared blankly at our computer monitors hoping to have an idea for a post just come to us. Sometimes, this simply doesn’t happen. So what do we do? We head over to another blog for some “inspiration”. This inspiration usually resurfaces in the form of a basically identical blog post. While there’s nothing wrong with this, too many bloggers have made a habit out of rehashing posts from other blogs. This is simply not ok.

A Blog Is NOT Meant To Stimulate Deja Vu

Most of us know what Deja Vu is - the sensation that we’ve seen or experienced something before. What many of us don’t want to comprehend is that this type of sensation shouldn’t be aroused in an internet surfer - especially a blog reader. Visitors come to your blog hungry for unique content - not the same re-worded garbage they read on that other blog. Is that asking for so much? I wouldn’t think so.

“But I Can’t (Don’t) Want to Write My OWN Content!”

I hear bloggers complaining that they can’t write their own content on an almost daily basis. News flash - nobody cares. When you started your “How to Make Money Online” blog, you signed yourself up for that task. If you planned on rehashing posts from the get-go, I won’t be the first to tell you that you’re wasting your time.

The truth of the matter is that most people CAN write their own posts, but they just don’t want to. When their blog doesn’t take off, they shift focus and make it their mission to discourage others. Don’t be one of these stupid people. Stop being lazy and get up and write a few posts.

Some of us can only dedicate a day or two out of the whole week to write content for our blogs. This is no excuse for rehasing posts. Suck it up and spend a few hours writing several quality posts. Set them to post automatically and you’re done. No need to worry about writing a new post every single day.

If for some reason you really can’t develop your own content - hire somebody to do it. You can find some very capable writers in forums and on some freelance websites. While they do charge for their services, you’ll find that the charges are anything but excessive. Make sure to conduct enough research before hiring a specific writer.

If You Don’t Get With The Schedule

Nobody’s going to stop you from completely ignoring me. However, let me warn you - if you give no real value to your visitors, your blog will most likely get nowhere. Sure you might get some organic traffic here and there, but you will find that it won’t do much for you. Invest time, creativity and effort in your blog and success will come knocking at your door.

posts rehashed content visitors inspiration

Google Delivers A Blow To Adsense Publishers

As if Google hasn’t wreaked enough havoc these past few months, today the Adsense team announced their intentions to modify the Adsense referral rules. You might be thinking they’ve decided to increase payouts for those who’ve been sending motivated Adsense publishers their way - think again. Now I warn you, what’s to follow may be a little shocking to those who’ve been successfully dabbling with Adsense referrals. Take a seat before reading on.

Last year, Google adopted a payment system for Adsense referrals which alloted all Adsense publishers the opportunity to earn a nice sum of money for referrals they sent Google’s way. The system worked a little something like this:

• You refer Bob to Adsense, Bob makes $5 within 180 days, he also scores you $5
• Let’s say Bob makes $100 within 180 days, Google awards you $250
• You refer Bob along with 24 other people to Adsense - they all make $100 within 180 days - you get a $2,000 bonus

Now that we’re all caught up, let’s see how Google’s decided to spin this around.

• You refer Bob to Adsense, Bob makes $100 within 180 days, you make $100

Most of you are probably thinking WTF. Don’t worry, you’re among thousands of Adsense publishers thinking the same thing. I’m sorry to inform you that the cruelty doesn’t stop there. Foreign publishers - brace yourselves.

Unfortunately, Google has decided to bar all publishers living outside North America, Japan, and Latin America from participating in the Adsense referral program. How Google came to this decision is beyond my understanding. I mean, there are undoubtedly numerous publishers who have made Google good money from these barred areas. Why Google’s decided to sever their financial contributions is beyond me.

The onslaught of this news has really got me questioning whether some of the people at Google are actually qualified to hold their respective positions. How in the world can you bar people from making YOU money based on their geographical locations? It would seem loads more sense to me to bar those without the appropriate sites from participating in the Adsense referrals program. If you have a How To Make Money Online blog that’s sending Google tons of referrals, where’s the sense in keeping Adsense referrals off it just because its owner lives in Germany? NONE!!

To wrap up this post, I would like to directly address Google. Google, you’re making very dumb and rash decisions. You’re annoying many people to the point where they’re considering entirely abandoning they’re Adsense publisher accounts. Stop playing these stupid games before you drive away all of your publishers.

adsense referrals payout google publishers

Seeking Revenge

Remember when you got your lunch box stolen in first grade? Probably not – but you probably remember what you did to the jerk who stole it. That’s right, you gave him a nice blow to the chest. What did that solve? Absolutely nothing – just as it would online.

The Stakes Are Now Greater

As humans, we are inclined to seek revenge when someone inflicts some sort of harm upon us. However, this inclination typically lands us into further trouble. Let’s go back to the example with the stolen lunchbox. After you socked the prick who stole your lunchbox, you probably landed yourself in the principal’s office – alongside your parents. This is a nightmare in the eyes of any elementary schooler.

Now let’s return to present-day. Somebody clickbombs your site, and you find it fit to fight fire with fire. You discover who the perpetrator is, find his site, and proceed to clickbomb it. Google bans both of you from the Adsense program. Adsense accounts for 60% of your income. I bet going to the principal’s office doesn’t sound that bad anymore.

You Don’t Know Who You’re Dealing With

What’s so ideal about stirring up trouble online? The anonymity on the internet. If you know what you’re doing, you can make it incredibly difficult for somebody to find you. This is a great reason to refrain from seeking revenge in an online environment – you don’t know who the hell you’re dealing with.

The person you’re trying to seek vengeance on could have far more resources than you could ever dream of. If the person managed to sling-shot one of your income streams, they may be capable of severing all of them. So why bother trying to counter-attack? You don’t want to end up homeless, do you?

Report It And Move On

Like it or not, when somebody screws with you online, you’re going to have to eventually move on. Nobody’s going to take your place while you play bounty-hunter. You need to report the incident to the appropriate party and move on. Sure you could try to hunt the person down, but we all know that time means money online.

In Conclusion

To conclude this post, I want to urge you to keep your desires for revenge from getting the best of you. A few minutes of emotional gratification are not worth losing your online income over.

Image: Uncleboatshoes

revenge income report stakes vengeance

My Goals In 2008

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy new year!

With 2008 finally here, I wanted to put a list together of some of my goals for this blog. Now, I could have kept this list to myself, but what good would that do? When you set goals you need to tell others about them. Otherwise, failure will only mean disappointing yourself, which isn’t anywhere near as bad as disappointing others.

Establishing More Income Streams

Since its launch, this blog’s monetization potential has been limited to only contextual ads provided by Google Adsense. Now that the blog has a nice amount of quality posts, I feel more comfortable diversifying its income streams. Among other things, I hope to incorporate some ad space to allow for private ad sales and to start accepting paid reviews.

Increasing My RSS Subscriber Base

A hefty RSS subscriber base is a must for every blog. As such, I hope to increase the number of subscribers I currently have in the coming months. How do I plan to achieve such a feat? By improving the quality of my posts and hopefully hosting some contests. Is anybody interested in winning in Ferarri? (Just kidding)

Increasing The Blog’s Reach

As you would expect, I hope to significantly increase my traffic for 2008. You all know what that means – more quality posts, keyword research, and link building; While I’m not too excited about the latter two, it’s something that needs to get done.

Changing The Look And Feel Of Things

The final item on my list of to-dos is a blog redesign. Even though I do enjoy its current look, I find rather basic and in need of change. Whether I will buy a template or design a custom one I’m unsure. Knowing my design abilities, It will most likely be the former.

2008 new+year goals monetization traffic