What is very valuable to one person may be utterly useless to another.

03 December 2007

In Blog the First I dribbled on about the cosmic way of things. As in, the Universe gives you a sign, you pay attention and respond accordingly to reap great benefits.

So when our apartment was broken into, two months ago, and some mongrel stole our camera and laptop, and this right after Daniel met Palhaco and decided to use this medium to create his dream, the message was clear: there isn't going to be a website. Right?

Hmm. Currently it is an achievement just to put food on the table each night... last night, tonight, tomorrow night... If you haven't been down this exhausting and humiliating path, don't seek it out as an experience. Poverty is vastly overrated. It does nothing for you and gets you nowhere.

In reference to the title, the computer for us meant the chance to radically improve the lives of a whole community of suffering children. For the thief, just a handful of dollars that would disappear in a blink.

So now I see the disaster as a cosmic jolt in itself: I have always believed that you can, and do, attract into your life what you think about. So now the Universe has challenged me to demonstrate this belief by helping Daniel's little project explode into something cosmic!

Daniel wrote a little Thank You that I was never going to put up, it's kinda extremely personal... but why not. How can I NOT help this kid save the world??

Currently we are pathetically poor, and want to save the world. All my friends are rich, and don't give a shit. They're happy. I'm not.

I must be doing something wrong.

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  • 10 ways to make money from your site

    There are many. Think of each one as a separate income stream. Generally, once one is set up, it looks after itself, giving you time to move on and set up the next. Aim for from 6 to 10 income streams. These are manageable, and added together can produce a good income. Some, of course, will generate many times the income of the others, but all income is welcome, so if you have the time available to lock one in, go for it.

    1. Pay Per Click

    Google Adsense is the most popular. It is very easy to set up. Simply register with Google, then paste some script in your site. You receive money [the mount varies a lot] each time someone clicks on the ad. Thus two things are important: the number of hits you get, and the design of your site, to encourage these hits to click on an ad.

    The source of the traffic is very important. The ads are all contextual, therefore traffic driven to your site by search engines is very likely to click on them, as that is what they are looking for. Hits generated from social media sites are looking at YOUR content, and rarely click the ads.

    2. CPM [Cost per thousand]

    Works very much as the above, except that now you are paid a rate [again highly variable] according to the number of visits you get. For example, you may have a banner which pays $1 for every 1,000 hits you get. Thus 100,000 hits will generate $100.

    3. Direct Advertising

    Sell ad space directly to advertisers. For this you need a LOT of hits, but once you get to this level, this is a very good income generator.

    4. Search Engine Optimization

    If you are going the Pay Per Click pathway, then you simply must drive directed traffic to your site. Sure, this option is a bit technical, time consuming and confusing, but go at it a step at a time and the results make it worthwhile.

    5. Build an authority website

    Specialise in helping people setting up something on the web. This site is a good example. You can use these step-by-step pointers to set up an account at MySpace Digg del.icio.us StumbleUpon YouTube and so on. The ads on these pages generate a better income than on a more general page.

    6. Blogs

    Create a blog that offers solid advice on some important, or much searched topic. Or do a news blog, or expound some controversy. The boundaries here are defined by your knowledge, and imagination.

    7. Affiliate Marketing

    Link from your site directly to a site such as Amazon, by joining its affiliate program. You receive a commission for every sale generated from your referral. A small income stream, but works quietly in the background with little maintenance required.

    8. Niche

    Some topics make money. Some don't. Pick your niche very carefully. Be careful it's not too small. Be even more careful to pick something that you are passionate about, or will become so. To choose a niche just because a lot of people are making money at it, is the first step to disaster.

    9. Subscriptions

    Create a weekly/monthly content rich newsletter. You are targeting a niche, but people will love your weekly hints/helps/anecdotes and will be very loyal. This site has such a one: Join the Clown Club . Something different, cute, easy to read, non-time consuming and fun. And it helps keep the Project alive.

    10. Donations

    Works well with niche sites, particularly where your site helps the visitor, or is built around helping others, such as this one. Go on, click on the button below and make a small donation to help Daniel with his projects.

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