Making Money: The Multiple Website Approach

I've run across a few programs that are based on the idea of creating multiple websites.

Here's the basic concept: you do keyword research, build a small website around that one keyword (or key phrase), and you monetize it.  This seems to be what programs like Google Sniper and The Mini Site Formula are advocating.

Has anyone out there tried this strategy?  I'm assuming it could work if done correctly, but I'm not sure I'd personally enjoy it.

Black Friday Deals at Amazon.com

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Affiliate Marketing: A Beginner's Guide

I'm about to start up a new series here on Beginner Blogger Tips: Affiliate Marketing--A Beginner's Guide.  This is a pretty exciting way to make money online. 

Like everything else in the blogging world, this is something I'm late in discovering.  I'm by no means and expert, but I'd like to share what I'm learning.  Here are a few questions I'll be dealing with:

*What is affiliate marketing?
*What are the pros and cons of affiliate marketing?
*Which affiliate programs would you recommend?

I'm super-busy this week, so it may be next week before I'm able to write more articles.  More coming soon . . .

Blog Stats Can Drive You Crazy

I'm still having a great time with my Strength and Fitness blog.  It still isn't a significant source of income, but that's OK--it's just a hobby.

But I don't know exactly what to make of my blog stats at strongandfit.net (from statcounter and google analytics).  They are contradictory:

*I'm getting pretty decent traffic, averaging 600-700 unique visitors a day.  I'm quickly approaching the 200,000 hit/impression mark.  Not bad for a year-old blog. 

*Almost 90% of my visits are new visits.   

*65% of my traffic comes from search engines, but I've just learned that google dropped my pagerank from 3 to 2.  I'm not sure exactly why--I pretty much stick to google-approved pagerank strategies.  I've sent a reconsideration request to them.  My traffic from search engines is pretty good, so I'm not sure this drop really matters (I read conflicting information about this).

*The average length of time per visit is one minute, 42 seconds.   I don't know if this is good or bad, but it seems visitors at least take the time to read the post they come across.

*My bounce rate is 72%.  This is supposed to be terrible, but I'm guessing it just comes with the large % of my visits that come from search engines.

Here's the bottom line:
I try to watch stats to get a general idea of how my blogs are doing.  But I'm not going to spend much time analyzing this stuff.  I'd rather spend my time developing high quality content.   I would advise you to do the same.

Blogspot: Problem Posting Pictures in Blogger

Looks like blogspot has updated their add images menu (picture loader).  It looks great--there's an option to attach a link to pictures.

Just one problem--I can't post any pictures.  I'm getting some kind of error message, even though I know I'm trying to upload a valid image file.

No need to panic.  I'm sure they'll fix it soon enough.

Nigerian Scam

Here's a classic example of the Nigerian scam.  I found this email in my spam folder:

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA,(CBN)
MR. SANUSI LAMIDO




Our Ref: CBN/ICBPLC/WB/IMF/BFSA/#31/09                                                                 16TH/11/2009 


ATTN: BENEFICIARY/CONTRACTOR/AWARD WINNER

REFERENCE TO OUR RECENT CORRESPONDING APPOINTMENT TO PAY BENEFICIARIES AS INSTRUCTED BY THE NEW GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA , YOUR PARTICULARS WAS MENTIONED IN OUR JUST CONCLUDED LAST-QUARTER DEBT SETTLEMENT GENERAL MEETING. A PART PAYMENT OF $1,800,000 (ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) WAS APPROVED ON YOUR NAME. THIS PAYMENT WILL BE PROGRAMMED INTO AN AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE (ATM CARD) POWERED BY MASTERCARD AND WILL BE MAILED TO YOUR ADDRESS BY COURIER SERVICE.


YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY REQUIRED TO RE-CONFIRM AND FORWARD TO MY DESK THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION'S:


1. YOUR REQUIRED NAME TO BE PRINTED ON YOUR ATM CARD:


2. YOUR PRESENT HOME ADDRESS (NOT P.O BOX):


3. YOUR PERSONAL AND REACHABLE MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:


WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCES THE DELAY OF YOUR PAYMENT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOU. 

YOU WILL HAVE TO CONTACT REV. PETER MOSES WITH HIS TELEPHONE NUMBER BELOW FOR YOUR PAYMENT


Foreign Operations Supervisor,
INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC.

These con games are designed to get direct access to your checking information or get enough personal information to commit identity theft.

Trying Entrecard Again?

I'm signing up for Entrecard again.  I will not use it for all my blogs, but I'll start with this one and see where it goes from there.

I know a lot of the hard-core droppers like to hit EC and Adgitize, killing two birds with one stone.  I'd put all the banners in the same place and make it easy for them.

I will not be investing nearly as much time on EC as I did before, but I'm willing to see how it's working under the new management.

Problogger.net: Blogging is Rocket Science

Another guest post of mine was accepted over at the Problogger.net.  Here's the link: Blogging is Rocket Science. 

Adgitize Prices Go Up

OK, I just noticed Adgitize has raised prices to 24 dollars a month. 

I'm OK with this.  Their service is growing, so I expect prices to go up as demand goes up--simple economics.  The increased prices will also result in more earnings for Adgitize members (since profits are shared among the bloggers based on points earned). 

And let's be real--under a dollar a day is dirt-cheap advertising for the number of impressions you get.  

Twitblock.org: Get Rid of Twitter Spam

I've previously mentioned the dilemma of twitter spam. 

Today I found a really useful website from a friend's blog: Twitblock.org

Here's how it works: 
You simply allow it to log into your Twitter account, then it scans your account for potential spammers.  It gives them a score (higher score=more likely to be a spammer).  Once the suspicious profiles are found, you can either delete them leave them as your followers.

It works pretty well.  I ran it and got rid of some pretty nasty profiles.  It did pick up a few "false positives" (legitimate profiles), but I just left those alone.