Archives for February 2009

I Just Hate Affiliate Marketing Sometimes

by Melvin · Feb 26, 2009

I was taking the exams pretty much this whole week and had almost never had any look at internet-marketing related stuffs. All I have been doing is researching for something and finding tutorials so I can understand Math more. Anyways I forgot a facebook campaign I was running and I am surprised when I saw the cost increasing to (click for larger):

Anyway I was promoting an offer about IQ quizzes (my obsession these days) and have sent about $850+ worth of leads. Not bad considering I just test-drove that offer while practicing in Facebook.

How bout you, wht do you doin’ these days?

Free Shirt Monday – YardBarker.com

by Melvin · Feb 24, 2009

Yardbarker is a sports-oriented community site that talks different kinds of sports. From basketball, to baseball to rugby, tennis, golf, soccer and many more. Yardbarker is also great community to hang out and spend some time with.

Thanks for the shirt guys/gals. 🙂

If you would like to see your website or company featured on Free Shirt Monday click here

Does Your Blog Really Add Value?

by Melvin · Feb 22, 2009

The exams are almost over and so is the contest. I am very thrilled to have this many contestants and I think it really boosted my blog’s traffic and search rankings. 🙂 To all sponsors and participants, I really wanted to thank you for supporting my first contest.

So, before I made a post about giving reason why people should follow and read your blog. While I never really considered this blog a “helpful blog”, I think I have still provided some value to my readers by giving out necessary tips. Let’s face it, when your blog doesn’t hand out something useful then more likely people will just leave you.

So today I will just list here some of the useful posts from this blog that can hopefully benefit you. I also do hope that some of the my new readers can read it in case they haven’t before. Here it is:

The Whole Make Money Online Concept

Blogging Tips

Blog Monetization

Affiliate Marketing

Some recommended reads

Q and A Round 3 – Fire Away…

by Melvin · Feb 18, 2009

Secret Entry: Sign Up for Pepperjam Network and Get a $10 Sign On Bonus. For a successful sign up with PepperJam you will get another 20 points in the contest.

It’s been a long time since I did the last question and answer here in this blog and I also noticed that bloggers (midcaps and A+) have already forgotten about doing this (or just lost interest). Anyway, since the next 3-4 days is our exams I believe this is the best time to do it. 🙂

So fire away your questions now and at the end I’ll pick two of the best questions. They will get a free 125X125 ($10) and text link ($5) for one month on this site. Deal?

How To Get Sponsors For Your Contest

by Melvin · Feb 15, 2009

“How do I get sponsors for my blog contest?”

There were about 4-5 people who ask those types of questions to me via the contact form. I believe getting contest sponsors is something that has been talked about a lot but I just felt I would add something so that more people can understand more about it.

Just last month I held a contest which is known as The Melvin Blog’s 2009 Contest. There were about 40 entries right now and some really great prizes up for grabs. Anyway back to getting contest sponsors, I think getting some sponsor is SO EASY but getting QUALITY sponsors is what you really have to work a lot. Normally when you hold a contest, the first and easiest way in getting sponsors is by heading into forums that is related to your niche. The downside though is that you’ll pretty much be slapped with tons of free advertising offers from blogspot blogs with over 5,000,000 in Alexa rankings. Since most contest nowadays are really all about like that, I highly suggest you to stay away on accepting those types of prizes.

How bout info products? Well you should and always should ask for a copy first before thinking whether it’s of a nce quality or not. For god’s sake most make money online ebooks are just rehashed PLR products that have ZERO value in real life. It pays to read after all! My favorite way of finding sponsor is by basically finding sites that link to you. Yes, in my experience these sites will more likely bite your offer because they know your brand. And because they have linked to you it means they (possibly) like you! 🙂

If you’re an affiliate marketer like me I believe you’re way ahead than most people. You can just basically contact affiliate networks and ask them to sponsor your contest. Because they know you’re one of their good affiliates, they have no other choice to make. 🙂 Just be sure you’re not just a dead affiliate like most people. If you signed with them and never produced any lead then forget about it!

You must also never be afraid to contact persons whom you feel can help you in your contest. If they declined to sponsor something, so be it! The thing is you’re putting out your blog in its extended reach. Of course, they’ll look at your blog and if they find out you have a nice blog, then they’ll be receptive to help.

Getting sponsors can really vary. Another thing that I would want to emphasize is for you to be as transparent and honest as you can. You can’t just say lies about your sites. Basically sponsors sponsor something because they want something in return. Exposure, brand awareness, traffic, Search engine boost and etc. If you’re blog is just getting less than 100 uniques a day and you tell them youre getting thousands, what would you think they would expect? The thing is don’t make them feel disappointed by not having their expectations met. Just tell them what your site can give. Like for example this blog, when I started the contest I have a PR0 (still pr0 up to now), then only about less than 200 uniques a day and so. It’s just a so-so figure I must say but look how I rake up some really good quality sponsors!

At the end its just like putting yourself in the situation of the prospective sponsors you’re contacting and asking yourself “what will i get if i give three shirts in melvinblog.com’s contest?” “Will I get something good in return?” Wht do you think?

Valentines Is For Everyone

by Melvin · Feb 13, 2009

Hey everyone I just want to greet you a happy and nice valentine. Most people take this day off, turn their computers off, to spend this time of day with their own love ones. Some would like to spend it with their girlfriends/boyfriends, some with their friends and some with the relatives and family members.

Really Valentines day is for everyone. Before I used to think Valentines is just for lovers but its not the case. What is in my plan this Valentine? Well how I wish I can spend the night of that day with my “girl” in a nice restaurant with some retards playing romantic violin music. It’s not possible. 🙁 I will be in duty for the whole Valentines day itself so what I planned is just to give a present to her in the 13th. and tell her I love her! LOLZ… Then on the 15th (the day after the Valentine) I am going to spend some time with my family and hopefully go into dinner or something. 🙂

Anyway what is the best flower for Valentines? They say its Tulips, other Rose. A friend told me Carnation is cheap but it can last for a week. Also, what’s the sidedish for a flower? I had in mind, chocolate cake, chocolate, figurine, heart-shaped pillow..err… stuff toy and so. Any suggestions?

How to Make Money Outside Internet Marketing

by Melvin · Feb 8, 2009

Although the title looks like that one you have been seeing in email spams and “get-rich quick sales pages, it’s actually not. A lot of people jumping into internet marketing always have this question “How do I start? I dont know anything about internet marketing?” The answer is always read, try to learn, test, then learn again.

But as always there are a ton of ways on how you can make money online if you’re dumb and poor about internet marketing. We all know it takes time before you can completely grasp the whole concept of it, but whats the need on learning it if you can make some cash without it? 🙂 Today I have compiled ways on how you can actually make money online without any knowledge about IM. The only thing you need is the basic read and write knowledge as well as some persistence on your part. I believe all of them costs nothing (although if you have the money, the better) Here they are:

Forum Posting – Forum Posting is basically posting in a forum and getting paid. It’s not really that big but if you can work quick, then you can definitely have your earnings up. ForumsFirst.com is one that pays for it. They are probably the most reliable and better forum posting company. You can also look at some forums like dp and v7n, as normally there are people that look for forum fillers.

SECRET TIP: With this type people often whine “I don’t type fast” While typing fast is a huge factor in this one, it’s not totally the only thing that can give you success with it. Why not use a dicatation software? In my previous stints with doing it, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking. If you’re a Mac user you can use Mac Dictate. What is a dictation software? Basically its a software that converts your voice to text. COol? Definitely! You can make $50 a day easily with forum posting with this type of software. $50 a day? Yeah, something most affiliate marketers cant even reach!

Get Paid To Sites – GPT sites are sites that pay people to complete an offer. Maybe a short survey, or signup to a free site, or maybe something that requires a credit card. Believe me there’s no shortage of this sites. Why? Because some affiliate marketers are incentivizing some offers, thats why they come to these sites, pay them and earn. Win-Win situation for all! Jim of TNF has a list which he personally recommends
Freelancing – Contrary to what most people are saying, freelancing is really a lucrative thing. A lot of people are looking to outsource (including me). They look for designers, article writers, coders, data entry personnels, and many more. I mean Im sure at least you know how to do one of it right? Freelancers are the one whom I often called as “partners in business”. Elance.com is one company which probably is the biggest.
Starting A Contest Blog – I hate doing stuffs like this but basically lets face it, you can actually make some cash/gadgets with contests nowadays. 85% of contests require blogging and doing it costs you nothing. What are you waiting for? Create a free blogger blog, fill it with some content, then start hunting for contests. I know a lot of people making good use of contest blogs and taking advantage of contests.

SECRET TIP: How do you know a contest is live? Easy, just look at other contest blogs and you will know it. Contest bloggers try to find contest as much as they can so they are actually doing the work for you. Search Google for terms “contest blogs” “blog contests” or so and you’ll find a ton.

Selling Photos – Selling photos is something that I have never done and will never do in my entire life. But after countless hours of doing research about it I found out it can really be a good business. If you have a camera, then go into a peaceful place (cemetery?) and take shots. Then sell it to sites like iStockPhoto and StockExpert.

Now with this list, I dont really see any reason why people cannot make any money online. Although it doesn’t make you that big, I believe seeing your first dollars would make you more inspired. And inspirations do a lot. Anyway if you can add anything valuable to this list then don’t be shy to put it in the comments. Or if you have some questions, then ask them. My goal is to get more to add in this list and hopefully share it in some of the local forums here in my country. 🙂 What say you?