Needs Work

A couple weeks ago I was very hyped up on what I saw/read from other people where they are generating very good income from blogs. I talked with several friends about it (most my friends would enjoy another stream of income) and gave them a very detailed email on the steps needed to get started. The two people I work with and actually hand-held through the process did create blogs:

• http://texashighschoolgirlsbasketball.blogspot.com/
• http://tvmusings.blogspot.com/
• http://mynewjobtransition.blogspot.com/

My father did nothing, although he continues to say he IS really interested. My mother DID get signed up for both Adsense and Blogger, but is delayed due to not knowing what to write about. My sister signed up for both and has fairly certainly decided to blog about losing weight... perhaps not a bad topic, but she is also really in to gaming (World of Warcraft, and EverQuest), which I think would probably be a much more popular blog topic. A couple other friends are also stuck at various stages of "starting".

I don't really want to slam my family and friends... that's not the purpose of this blog entry, but I DO want to use this information to help them, and others (you) to realize that putting up a blog is not a free ride to riches. It DOES take some work!

As I sit here right now, I'm glancing over to see two friends. Each of them are playing some form of solitaire/freecell type games. One has not written a blog entry in 18 days. The other has not written an entry in a bit over 3 weeks! I also know my father has been spending countless hours at some space strategy game. Of course, I respect their obvious priorities... not everyone is truly motivated to take the effort required to make extra money. I think for most of us... it's the point where we have no other income, and in danger of loosing our house that we REALLY get in gear to take action. It sure would be nice to see them making an extra $1,000/month, though!

I'm sure blogging is not for everyone (thank goodness).... but, it really does work for many people. I got inspired today -- due to their LACK of inspiration, and decided to go research some successful blogs. Here's what I found:

• StevePavlina.com - one of my favorites, is (has been) listed by technorati as being in the top 100 favorited blogs. His blog is now (as of 7/31/06) bringing in over $300/day, as he describes in a post "How To Make Money From Your Blog" which I mention in my first post "Starting Off - Blog for Cash".
• Darren Rowse manages 20 blogs and has a recent post in which he talks about his six figure blog income... giving people inspiration to work on their blogs too.
• Jacob has a couple blogs which are finally totalling $100/day with Adsense. He talk about it here.
• I'm finding MANY more blogs that easily make over $100/day, and will post more here as I find time. But, actually, I'd rather just get this post finished and move on to other posts for my other blogs. If you don't want to believe me that there are several thousands of people making decent money from there blogs, then wasting my time with more examples is not going to help you.
• Check out technorati.com which is a great site (search engine) for blogs.

SO, assuming you are still reading, and eager to get past the challenges of being lazy or procrastinating, here are some steps to take right now. YES! RIGHT NOW!

1. Pick a topic to write about. Right now you should not care so much WHAT that topic is. The point is to start getting in the habit of doing some writing about something. ANYTHING!
2. Yes, you need to actually take the time to sign up to these sites:
   Blogger.com - free, quick, easy blog setup
   Adsense - income from targeted ads
3. Write your first post. Write your second post tomorrow. Write every day for a week, even if it's just one or two short paragraphs.
4. Come back here and post your blog URL in a comment. I WILL check it out and give feedback!
   

I think the hardest thing about this, for most people, is just making the effort to get started. No one can MAKE you do that. You have to want to do it for yourself.

---

Your Second Life is Ready

There's a very interesting new story over at Popular Science which talks about how more and more real life companies are looking at, and coming in to virtual worlds as a place to do business.

I predict that in the next 5 years, there will be an enormous blur between what we might call the "real" world and virtual worlds. Current technology is able to place your 3-D avatar in a virtual world, and let you interact with other people using not only sight, but with the help of a mic and speakers you can TALK to and HEAR the other people also. But wait! There's already more! Engineers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan are building an odour recorder capable of recording and playing back smell. When these devices are hooked up to your virtual world environment, that will bring a WHOLE new level of interaction!

So, here in Second Life, we already see big institutions like Wells Fargo Bank, Walmart, American Express, Intel, and others either already getting actively involved in Second Life, starting to provide corporate training through the virtual world, or testing out ways to "set up shop".

Why NOT run a bank outlet in a virtual world? People could log in from anywhere, "teleport" to the place of business, speak with (and hear) a real person (bank teller) who might actually be employed from anywhere on the planet, and maybe even in their pajamas!

Bands are already starting to sell their music through virtual jukeboxes in-world, people are selling virtual hair, clothes, houses, cars for the enjoyment of other avatars, people are meeting and socializing in virtual space before meeting in person.... "this is what MySpace WANTS to be". There are even companies like Electric Sheep who are in the business of setting up other companies with what they need to get going in these virtual worlds.

With the move toward more outsourcing, and third world countries getting online, you should expect to see more and more of them "going to work" by hopping online and teleporting to their jobs. Perhaps with in the year, it may be you!

For the full story in Popular Science, click here.

If you want to check out SecondLife, use this link.

If you sign up, and give the name Ashling Babka (that's me) as your "reference", then I will be notified when you log in, and can help you get started with your Second Life, and get you making some real cash! :)

---

Starting Off - Blog For Cash

This is a new blog I've decided to set up because I seem to continuously come up with new and interesting ideas for more income streams!

For MANY years now I've always seemed to think up more new ways to generate income. Most the ideas COULD have become very big hitters and launched me in to retirement well before now, but I seem to lack the follow through to push them much past the "get in the front door" stage.

Hopefully this blog will help others to pick up on some very cool ideas, or things you hadn't thought of before. One of my biggest pleasures is to help friends start new businesses, and what better way to gather all my thoughts and ideas in one place.

To start things off....
One of the hottest new things to get you going right now is probably a blog!
Yes... Whatever you can write about... whatever you have an interest in or enjoy doing could be a good topic. If YOU enjoy it, then probably others do too! After a few posts, and a little effort in marketing, you could start to grow a loyal reader base, and then provide targeted advertising that would be a value-add for your blog. Google's own Adsense is providing an EXTREMELY easy way to get started in this, and since they now own this Blogger.com website, they've set things up so that monetizing your blog is just a few clicks away.

1. Sign up for a blog at Blogger.com. (or any place, really.)
2. Sign up with Google Adsense. (You need at least ONE webpage/blog that you are allowed to edit before you can get started.)
3. Use the Blogger tools (or manually) add your Adsense code to your blog and other web pages. Here is one very nice tip to Optimize Ads On Your Blog. And another to have Blogger automatically update remote blog polling sites when you have a new post.
4. While I'm giving out links... Steve Pavlina has a great blog, and a couple posts about making money from a blog.

It should be just THAT easy!
But, if you have any specific questions or get lost somewhere along the line, feel free to shoot me an email and I will help get you fixed right up!

---