tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71924097947477607062024-03-12T21:14:15.539-07:00Building a Profitable Online BusinessWhat if... your work would be so fun you'd never want to retire? That's my goal.Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-62138026950149169542013-09-13T23:11:00.000-07:002013-09-13T23:29:27.205-07:00How much does learning to earn money online cost?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm going to stop reporting monthly, but I wanted to show you an overview first. </div>
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Below you can see the costs of learning to make affiliate sites and the revenue from them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSOooC12lij2kzxsCBe9EL855LELBvr7HT_eTiXhBlu6KRz3-XtpaJQo_niyoHl7WN8ACkRxxvBGJyPu24YpAnULLjC7YWnYkQRtie-9MDw0BaTsW4HXPET2embLqmSzz_6NCydAjOgc/s1600/streamcreatormoney.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSOooC12lij2kzxsCBe9EL855LELBvr7HT_eTiXhBlu6KRz3-XtpaJQo_niyoHl7WN8ACkRxxvBGJyPu24YpAnULLjC7YWnYkQRtie-9MDw0BaTsW4HXPET2embLqmSzz_6NCydAjOgc/s400/streamcreatormoney.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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It takes time to get money</h3>
At first I used money to <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">courses</a> that I needed to learn online business. After the courses were over, only thing that was left was the cost to run the business, $30 per month. And before my site had enough traffic to start earning, I had used over $500 to courses and keeping the site up.<br />
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It took until July 2013 to cover all the costs of learning. But as you can see, when I got to the point where the site started earning money, it paid back the costs in just a couple of months. And now the line is heading nicely upwards!<br />
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What many people who talk about doing online business don't tell you is that <b>it takes time to see the results of your efforts</b>. Even if you would start a perfect business, it will still take months for people to find it. You can't get high search engine rankings overnight.<br />
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So you shouldn't quit your job thinking that you are able to replace your income fast. It's much better to start learning things while you still have a stable job and wait until you see the money really coming in.<br />
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How to get started?</h3>
A good option is e.g. to learn SEO, keyword research and marketing from SiteBuildIt course and then write your own ebook that you sell through those same pages. After you have learned how to get traffic, market & sell your products and to charge people, you can start to think about building bigger, more expensive products. Things pile up, and if you get a good start, you can grow up your business.<br />
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What am I doing next? </h3>
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The affiliate sites that I've built are still chugging on. Thanks to SiteBuildIt's SEO approach, I haven't been affected by any algorithm changes or anything. </div>
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My main focus now is to continue to build my own products - which already earn me more than these affiliate sites. I feel that I made a good choice in learning different aspects needed to run online business slowly, one-by-one. If you want to follow up how I am doing, I'm reporting my SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business building efforts at <a href="http://www.happybootstrapper.com/">Happy Bootstrapper</a>. </div>Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-45459909898485717652013-08-01T01:08:00.000-07:002013-08-01T01:12:38.354-07:00July 2013 - Hustling, Hustling and Hustling<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;">Passive Income: $124 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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I updated the stats from last month too. I guess I took a minor Penguin 2 hit, looking at my traffic.<br />
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I've been hustling with my non-passive online income</h3>
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Last month went in a breeze while hustling to get my first product out. I did that and launched at 17th July. </div>
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I did get a nice pile of pennies, more than I'm getting here. Unfortunately there's not enough organic traffic yet to make any passive income though. </div>
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The income that I report here is pretty much passive. I didn't spend huge amount of work to create the SBI site and it's running on it's own. Of course it's not earning me much, but it frees my hands to do other things.</div>
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The 30x500 way of doing online business on the other hand needs continuous hustling for longer. I have my plate full of work and at the moment I see no end to that. </div>
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I love having my own product </h3>
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All that hustling doesn't bother me. I love finally having my own product online, especially when it's one that people really need and want. </div>
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Even if it does require more work, I think it has just as much potential and it makes me less dependent from Google or the affiliate program providers. I don't like the idea that a simple change in algorithm can ruin my business or someone can just stop offering a product and all my work is wasted. </div>
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Launching was a great thrill too. It was one of those moments that I'll remember the rest of my life. </div>
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Yup, things are going fine :)</div>
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Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-66781753764789160722013-06-01T00:45:00.000-07:002013-06-01T00:48:02.597-07:00May 2013 - Yet Another Record-Breaking Month<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Passive Income: $233 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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Yay - This is f**cking awesome! You guessed right, this money is coming from <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">SiteBuildIt</a> (SBI). If I shop in the right places, this $200 is going to go a long way. </div>
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Actually, I didn't rush to a thrift shop - I rushed to <a href="http://x.co/streams">GoDaddy</a> shop. I bought yet another domain and the cheapest hosting to go with it. And... I started another niche website. I used the SBI tools for the keyword research and I'm super happy with my baby site. It has a much greater potential than the old one.<br />
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Getting this sudden burst of income also motivated me to work on my SBI site again. I added a couple of articles and did some back-linking.<br />
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I'm monetizing with affiliate marketing. That means I forward my traffic to people who sell interesting things and when they buy something, I'll get a share. This month one of my affiliates made $700 on the traffic I sent, and another made $500. This motivates me to work on my own products so that I can be the one at the end of the virtual food-chain.Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-8493624812474057332013-05-25T03:14:00.000-07:002013-05-27T01:40:09.890-07:00WP Engine Review - Is It Worth It?There are plenty of WP Engine reviews from people who have large WordPress sites with massive following, but what about people who are just starting their blogs? Is WP Engine still worth the splurge?<br />
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<a href="http://bit.ly/14LDcWt">WP Engine</a> is hosting my first ever WordPress blog, <a href="http://happybootstrapper.com/">happybootstrapper.com</a>, and I thought to share my experiences.<br />
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I've been using Blogger for ages and I love it. It wasn't until <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">SiteBuildIt</a> that I understood why one shouldn't keep business blogs in Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress.org or any other freely hosted services. Free blogging services are great for hobby blogs and diaries, but when it's about your business, you'll want the full control over your site and possibilities for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).<br />
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I first thought I'd just get $2.99 hosting from GoDaddy and press that "Install WordPress" button, but I had read some horror stories.<br />
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<h2>
Horror stories of business blogging</h2>
Pat Flynn's sites were attacked in February and he lost $12,000 as a result.<br />
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In 30x500 community, sites have been down when people have had traffic spikes. If your blog is down during a traffic spike, it's a lost opportunity. So many people wanting to read what you have to say and none being able to see the page. And when people try to fix the problems, anything can happen. Just couple of days ago I heard how someone got all his images corrupted because he tried to improve his blog uptime and security.<br />
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On top of that, WordPress sites are hacked all the time. You'll wake up one morning and all your articles are gone.<br />
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That's how I found WP Engine too. I read a tweet by someone laughing at the hacker who was trying to break in to her business blog that was hosted by WP Engine. And after reading about their services, I was ready to give WP Engine a try.<br />
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What did WP Engine promise that got me interested?</h2>
<b>Top security and uptime</b>. They are experts in what they do and they have set up a multi-level protection system to make sure your data is safe and always available. They'll even promise to fix your blog, if someone really is able to do any damage to it! With them, your blog should stay up even when there's massive traffic.<br />
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<b>Automatic backups</b>. This was a biggie for me. After working so many years in IT industry I know how important backups are. There are services and plugins for doing this, like http://vaultpress.com/ and Backup Buddy. But they cost money too and making different services work together is always extra work that keeps me from doing my business.<br />
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<b>Service</b>. Whenever you have a problem, just make a ticket. At first I thought "Gee, running a blog is so easy that I probably won't be needing this much but it's nice to have". But… I was so wrong.<br />
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My first experience</h2>
Setting up the blog was super easy. I bought the domain from GoDaddy and just followed the instructions on linking the domain to my new WordPress blog and I was online. What a happy moment!<br />
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Then my problems started. I broke up my WordPress installation within the first hour. The whole thing just stopped working and my blog didn't load. I was just hacking along to customize my theme so I was pretty dumbfounded. At first I thought I'd just revert back to the default theme and load my custom theme again, but to my horror the WordPress remembered the changes I had done.<br />
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WP Engine backups saved me. On the very first day, just after couple of hours after getting my blog up, I used a backup to restore my blog back to normal. I hated WordPress from all my heart.<br />
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Next, I needed support</h2>
One of my readers contacted me to say that my comments form is broken. I soon found out that I wouldn't be able to find the fault on my own without reverting to the default theme. As I had spent so much time customizing my theme I didn't want to do that. So, I contacted the support.<br />
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Pretty soon, I got a happy mail from the support telling me that the support person had reverted my blog to the default theme and it was obvious that the theme was to blame. All my customizations were gone!<br />
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WP Engine offers manual backup points, but I hadn't taken one before contacting support. They also take automatic backups once every day. Unfortunately, I had just published a post and it wasn't in the previous backup. Now, I click the "manual restore point" always before contacting support.<br />
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After that grim first acquaintance, the support has never failed me since. And I've contacted them more than my share. It seems I'm getting into problems with WordPress all the time. It's embarrassing - I've been dealing with software all my life!<br />
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When I started with WP Engine, I thought the security and uptime would be the things I'd need the most. But now I know it's the support. I would have wasted countless of hours trying to solve my WordPress newbie problems myself. Now I've been able to concentrate on my business.<br />
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Then, I got some traffic spikes</h2>
The traffic that I get using 30x500 methods is not similar than I get to my other sites. I've never had this type of traffic profile before. Here's a snapshot from Google Analytics:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8kh-FTaR4MGeeXx6jfg70RR5JJRlq02ycQCs5n3mwA5hFdBIv2ppbD94i3da-78W3bhgPf5tUMToJZxxcCVlOgrhTfpnzwrAGtLRUgzgPxEJDzMt6hlsx1-gu5RvGTp0akhagzgqTDM/s1600/30x500_traffic_profile.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8kh-FTaR4MGeeXx6jfg70RR5JJRlq02ycQCs5n3mwA5hFdBIv2ppbD94i3da-78W3bhgPf5tUMToJZxxcCVlOgrhTfpnzwrAGtLRUgzgPxEJDzMt6hlsx1-gu5RvGTp0akhagzgqTDM/s400/30x500_traffic_profile.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Just look at that! Crazy. And… I'm happy to say that WP Engine had no problems with this spike, hundreds of people rushing to the site at the same time.<br />
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Are there any downsides?</h2>
WP Engine does not host your mailbox. So you'll need to set up the mail addresses and mail forwarding using some other service. I'm using free <a href="https://www.zoho.com/mail">ZohoMail</a> to forward mails to my Google mail.<br />
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The search engine indexing is off by default. It's just a single check box that you need to uncheck. But it's a kinda important checkpoint if you are doing business online. I only found out when I installed the SEO plugin and my site still doesn't show in Google like it should.<br />
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Well, do you recommend WP Engine?</h2>
Yes, I happily recommend WP Engine. I know there are cheaper options, but what kind of business you are running if you can't afford $30-$100 to the maintenance and security of your most important business assets! <br />
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In addition, it makes me happy to support small online companies instead of large giants. More power to us small guys!<br />
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WP Engine has a 60 days money-back-quarantee and they are currently running a campaign where you can get several free months if you pay the whole year's hosting at one go.<br />
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Isn't it time to stop reading review and get back to business? Visit <a href="http://bit.ly/14LDcWt">WP Engine</a> and get your blog posts out to the world!<br />
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<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-31275448145074960442013-05-19T00:19:00.001-07:002013-05-19T03:05:31.055-07:00April 2013 - Showcase of Affiliate Business Realities<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Passive Income: $65 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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April reminded me once again why I want to create my own products. The product I'm affiliating with decided to have a sale. They probably got more sales than normally, but I didn't.<br />
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I didn't know about the sale so I couldn't tell about it to my readers. Even if they had, I've not been actively updating the site. <br />
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PS. Sorry for neglecting you guys! I've been traveling in Italy for the last month.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwG2njoX-vybhO8OPBJM70EwVPjIcbO1KdQSJhQcyw9_rIqpM-Ijvd4mWnE93R_KW1btr8LdBtBmseY6nDorNPmaajmgwwlocjS2_86_QMBnxO-W-EotvoVWX5rbcX_rC2V0p0Ve7CVSt/s1600/IMG_1019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Polignano a Mare, La Puglia, Italy" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwG2njoX-vybhO8OPBJM70EwVPjIcbO1KdQSJhQcyw9_rIqpM-Ijvd4mWnE93R_KW1btr8LdBtBmseY6nDorNPmaajmgwwlocjS2_86_QMBnxO-W-EotvoVWX5rbcX_rC2V0p0Ve7CVSt/s400/IMG_1019.JPG" title="Polignano a Mare, La Puglia, Italy" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polignano a Mare in La Puglia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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We had a little round-trip in La Puglia, in southern Italy. In Italy it's pretty easy to buy prepaid mobile broadband, so I had a good internet connection. But... I concentrated on advancing the <a href="http://www.happybootstrapper.com/">Happy Bootstrapper</a>.<br />
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I don't have problems working "on the road". In fact, sometimes a little distance from your regular environment is just what you need. However, I can't work in the active travel days. Being in a new place, trying to find a place to stay and finding my way around uses so much battery!<br />
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We often stay in one place a little longer. Renting an apartment for a week is also a good way to bring down the costs. Our apartment in Lecce cost about 20€ per day ($25) and when you have a kitchen, you can cook at home.<br />
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I had really good time and we skipped the spring street dust in Finland. Now it's late spring here and the colors outside are lovely.<br />
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<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-89121240059406139622013-04-14T07:12:00.002-07:002013-04-14T07:12:58.309-07:00The Happy Bootstrapper Is Here!I'm proudly presenting my new blog, <a href="http://www.happybootstrapper.com/">The Happy Bootstrapper</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.saascustomerprofitability.com/">Grow Your SaaS Customer Profitability</a> will be my first 30x500-style product. I'm pretty excited about it, but there's a lot to do before it's out.<br />
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I'll be using Happy Bootstrapper to publish nice educational material that runs traffic to the Grow Your SaaS Customer Profitability pitch page. When the book is finally ready, I'll transform the pitch page into a full-fledged sales page.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">How will this affect Passive Income Stream Creator?</span><br />
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From now on The Happy Bootstrapper will take priority to this blog. The Happy Bootstrapper is all about finances and profitability of a SaaS & online product business. Stuff that you need when your business is up and running and you have customers.<br />
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However, I'm not closing down Passive Income Stream Creator. I'll keep on writing every now and then, just as I have previously. I'll keep my reviews and how-to articles here. They are more suitable for beginner passive income learners and would not fit in the Happy Bootstrapper theme.<br />
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I'm probably going to manage the new project separately so you won't be seeing it in the status reports. I'm not planning to stop being transparent, but there's nothing but costs at the moment. As I want this project to pay back both 30x500 and my new MacBook Air, the costs are running over $4,000 already. I'll publish my stats when there's something on the plus side too!<br />
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In the meantime, check out <a href="http://www.happybootstrapper.com/">The Happy Bootstrapper</a>!<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-16468529402764921422013-04-03T05:13:00.000-07:002013-04-03T05:13:35.990-07:00March 2013 - 99 Dollars<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Passive Income In March 2013: $99 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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Nothing much to tell this month. SBI is starting to bring money home. I'm happy with that, taking into account I abandoned working on that site about 5 months ago.<br />
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Now, I've been preparing my new site, ready to take action based on what I learned in 30x500. It will probably be out in April, depending on my travels. And it definitely needs its own blog post.Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-21075795153256484342013-03-02T03:53:00.000-08:002013-03-02T04:01:03.839-08:00Feb 2013 - I've Got Money And I've Got Business Ideas<span style="font-size: large;">Passive Income In February 2013: $45 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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Another great month is behind. My course investments are starting to pay off.<br />
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Both SBI! and 30x500 have been winner's choices for me. If you don't know these courses, there's more info in my <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">Resources Page</a>.<br />
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Site-Build-It!</h2>
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Most of the money in February came from my <span id="goog_531194119"></span>SBI!<span id="goog_531194120"></span> site. The one I've neglected since 30x500 started.<br />
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The SBI! does say that it takes about half a year to make any money with it. Even though I've completed only 8/10 of this course, it has still kept its promises.<br />
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My site has only 16 articles and I've done no link-building for a long time.<br />
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For some reason unknown to me, I jumped up in Google ranks 2 weeks ago. I now have 1500 unique visitors per month and several of my long tail keywords rank in the first page. <br />
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The best thing is that these new visitors don't bother mailing me before they buy. So I'm concentrating on 30x500 and just watching the money flow in.<br />
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Admittedly, this stream is small and it's potential is not very big. But I'm proud of every penny I make online and SBI! was a good learning experience that prepared me for 30x500.<br />
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30x500</h2>
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Business ideas are flowing in, thanks to 30x500 process. During the last couple of weeks, I've had several good business ideas. The best thing about these ideas is that there is a high probability people want these products and they are willing to pay for them.<br />
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I have not yet selected the final business idea, but I've selected my audience and my business "theme":<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm going to help bootstrapped micro-businesses with their financial and accounting problems.</span><br />
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I had "forgotten" that I have BBA and several years of experience in small biz accounting. Truth to be told, I didn't think those skills would be of much use - except for taking care of my own finances. Fortunately, 30x500 dig them up and pointed out that small businesses often need help in that area.<br />
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I have to refresh my old skills so I'll not be able to start by creating a SaaS as a hoped. But I'll be happy to start by creating info-products for this awesome audience. That will also show me what the demand for extra services really is.<br />
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I'm looking forward to what happens in next month. I hope you had a good biz month too!Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-81996004390420071402013-02-01T06:04:00.000-08:002013-02-01T06:04:45.541-08:00Jan 2013 - My First Positive Month!<span style="font-size: large;">Passive Income In January 2013: $30.60</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Costs: $30</span><br />
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Time to celebrate again! SBI is finally paying for itself.<br />
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To tell the truth, <a href="http://adf.ly/?id=1499356">AdFly</a> and Adsense helped a little, but most of the money came from SBI. If you don't know what SBI (SiteBuildIt) is, take a look at my <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">Resources</a> page.<br />
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I'm laughing at the 60 cents I earned, but at the same time I'm pretty proud of it.<br />
<br />
The best thing about this SBI income is that it shows me a hint of the site's potential. I've got just a fraction of the possible traffic, but it is enough to see that my conversion rate is better than I hoped for.<br />
<br />
The only monetization option I'm using is affiliate marketing. I still haven't studied the days 8-10 of SBI so I don't have, for example, mailing lists in my use yet. I see potential in this site if I can get back my motivation to work on it again. The site would definitely benefit from getting more back-links, a mailing list and a couple of more articles.<br />
<br />
I also really enjoy the fact that I've just let it be for couple of months already and it's still doing just fine and getting more traffic every month.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
To Move Or Not To Move</h2>
<br />
I have been pondering if I want to move my SBI! site to external hosting. If I would move my site away from SBI!, I could save on the hosting costs. But I have finally decided against it.<br />
<br />
Last month I learned about the real expenses for making business online. That made me realise I'm still a cheapskate, trying to save in a wrong place. I understand the concept of needing to spend money to earn money, it's just hard to actually implement it.<br />
<br />
If I think only about the hosting, yes, I could pinch some pennies. But hosting (with unlimited traffic!) is not the only thing SBI offers. I get free mailing lists, pretty nice statistics, forum etc. The value I get is well over $30, even if the tools are a bit outdated and clumsy. Plus, I'd need to waste time to actually move the site.<br />
<br />
So, I got reasonable and decided to keep my SBI! site where it is. I rather try to inspire myself to work for it again to get couple of more sales in per month in order to make it continue to pay for itself.<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-89678885813857390452013-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:002013-01-27T07:34:12.321-08:00Why I Don't Fear That My Product Idea Gets Stolen<br />
After seeing how much leverage the 30x500 online community has given me, I though it would be fun to meet great people also offline. So I visited the local startup accelerator called <a href="http://www.protomo.fi/">Protomo</a> with hopes to meet like-minded people from other startups.<br />
<br />
Protomo is not only for applying to accelerator programs. You can connect with other startups, share resources and get free (government supported) help and instructions. The personnel is super-friendly too.<br />
<br />
But I soon found out I think differently than most of the people I met there. Thanks to Amy, my teacher in <a href="http://unicornfree.com/30x500">30x500</a>, I'm free of several common startup fears.<br />
<br />
Grateful for that, I thought I'd share how I learned not to fear that someone steals my product idea.<br />
<br />
Yeah.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Startups Fear That Someone Steals Their Idea</h2>
<br />
Being around 30x500 guys I'd forgotten how idea-driven the startup scene is.<br />
<br />
You'll put on your thinker hat and you come up with a novel product idea. Then it's just a matter of building that never-before-seen product and becoming a multimillionaire.<br />
<br />
But right after you come up with your product idea, new fears follow.<br />
<br />
You'll need feedback and you'd really like to talk about your business and your idea. At the same time you fear to talk about it. If you tell your idea to people they might steal if from you.<br />
<br />
You also fear that someone comes up with the same idea, and that puts extra pressure on you. You need to be stealthy and you need to be fast. You need to beat your competitors with a similar idea.<br />
<br />
So you work on your own and avoid talking about your business and your ideas.<br />
<br />
Sadly, that's how many people think product creation must be. Doing so they take extra risks and give away lots of their power. But there are other options, other product creation processes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
30x500 teaches a fear-free approach to product creation</h2>
<br />
I can honestly say 30x500 was the best thing I bought last year. It makes my little bootstrapper life so much easier. I can now concentrate on building my business without high risks, high stress and emotional roller coasters. Working towards my new business is still exciting, but there's no extra hassle.<br />
<br />
It's like my brain is re-wired now. I have a completely new approach to product ideas.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Ideas are not a rare commodity</h2>
<br />
With 30x500 process I can now generate new product ideas when I need them. Seeing the vast ocean of ideas, I'm not helpless if someone copies my idea. There's more where it came from.<br />
<br />
I love the serenity I get from knowing this. And yes, that sea is not bottomless, but there's room for little o' me and my humble product.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
My product will be superior to copycat's product</h2>
<br />
In the "normal" product creation process, ideas come at the beginning. They come when you are alone and vulnerable, weak against competition. At start, your idea is all you have.<br />
<br />
Now, that does not happen with 30x500. In the 30x500 process ideas are just one of the results. They appear later in the process. In addition to an idea, I'll have a ton of research behind me and a plan for carrying my idea into final product that customers will love. I'll have deep understanding about my customers - something a person just copying my idea does not have.<br />
<br />
To really steal from me and benefit, one would need to get all my material, my conclusions, my product plans plus my vision. Not so easily done. Equipped to build the best possible product for eagerly awaiting customers - and with a head start, I just don't need to worry.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
My product will have unique personality</h2>
<br />
Last month I have been data mining the same resources with 50 other people. We all wrote articles based on that data and they were all different. Some people did share the same topic, but the articles were all different. They had different viewpoints, appealing to different types of customers.<br />
<br />
People don't buy ideas. They buy products that bring them value. And they prefer to buy products that fit their personality.<br />
<br />
If you base your business on an idea, anyone can copy you. Just implement an idea and you have a product that is faceless, tasteless and odorless. But what makes a successful business is not the idea. The core of your business is what makes people come to you, the softly spoken promise that you'll give them exactly what they desire. You kill their pains and you make them feel special, like your product was tailored for them.<br />
<br />
From my current perspective only identical products compete from the same customers. As long as product differentiates somehow, there is room for it. There is a sea of customers, all slightly different, reacting to different triggers.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
My idea is not one-in-a-kind unique, so copycats are not interested</h2>
<br />
I do admire people coming up with unique ideas. But if I'd had such an idea now, I'd file a patent application and forget it for a while. Or maybe I'd try to sell the idea.<br />
<br />
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm green in business. Starting up with an unique idea with no business experience is a huge risk. What if the idea is not yet commercialized because there is some showstopper implementing it? What if dozens of people have already tried and failed? What if there just isn't audience for the idea?<br />
<br />
Picking up that kind of idea would take me back into situation where I'd have extra worries. I'd have no knowledge of my future customers, I would not know how to appeal to them. I'd lose my best advantage, my product would have no edge and anyone with more resources could take me out.<br />
<br />
With 30x500 process I can infiltrate into saturated-looking markets and do fine there. I don't have to come with something only masterminds of the human kinds can invent.<br />
<br />
Doing something extraordinary or brand new might be fun. But it's not something I'd pick as my first project now.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
I choose co-operation over competition any day</h2>
<br />
The fun thing about my change of attitude is that I don't feel the urge to compete with people now. We have a great community in 30x500 and we can openly share our ideas, thoughts and fears because we don't have to wall up. I can trust that my fellow students will not steal my ideas or otherwise harm my business. It's a refreshing change and I don't want to go back to the secretive "I don't trust you enough to tell you my ideas"-mode.<br />
<br />
In my visits to Protomo I saw a lot of people who had a great urge to network and discuss things, yet they were unable to do that. They were holding back. I had some great discussions, but they were not the type of discussions that would have brought value to my business or take me forward.<br />
<br />
It really leverages learning when we can openly speak about everything. I'm so sorry to see how lots of people throw away that advantage.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Disclaimer</h2>
<br />
As I'm writing this we are in the mid-point of 30x500. We have gone through the process once in test mode and we are gathering strength and momentum to run it all again - but now for real. It is exciting, but I have already seen what this powerful process is capable of. I can't wait to get started!<br />
<br />
After seeing how much leverage the 30x500 online community has given me, I feel that some kind of community or mentor is essential in speeding up lone entrepreneurs at the start. I'm so glad to be part of 30x500 community and have <a href="https://twitter.com/amyhoy">Amy</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/brennandunn">Brennan</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/alexknowshtml">Alex</a> as my teachers!<br />
<br />
There are no affiliate links in this post. Enjoy!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-69186967173449051392013-01-01T04:11:00.001-08:002013-01-01T04:11:19.162-08:00Year 2012 In ReviewDecember 2012 saw me earning $5.5 and paying $30. My best month this far was August, with $25 incoming.<br />
<br />
My total passive income this year was $85 - and I worked pretty hard to get it. Compared to my goals, <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/11/retrospective-autumn-2012.html">I already claimed failure in October</a>.<br />
<br />
Let's say it out loud - I don't have a business yet. In fact, I've spent $650 on this fine "hobby" of mine. And that's NOT counting $2.500 I spent on 30x500.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
But Oh Boy, Have I Learned!</h2>
I must admit I had no idea what I was about to do when I started in May. I saw only a fraction of the opportunities possible and I was not effective in processing information. Still, I learned a ton.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I learned web style article writing</li>
<li>I learned about different ways to make money online</li>
<li>I learned how to do keyword analysis</li>
<li>I learned different ways to get traffic</li>
<li>I learned the process of publishing eBooks for Kindle</li>
<li>I learned a new programming language</li>
<li>I learned how to install new habits (that get stuff done)</li>
<li>I learned how to mine data in the internet </li>
<li>I learned how to create mailing lists</li>
<li>I learned how reversing pains and creating value is what sells</li>
<li>I learned all business starts from exchange - from the audience </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
I Have Gained A Lot Too</h2>
<div>
Although I did not proceed with the speed I hoped for, I still created and published things. I'm grateful for everything I've achieved this year.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>I created my first web app (even though it never saw daylight)</li>
<li>I've met wonderful people through this blog</li>
<li>I belong to a community of like-minded people (in 30x500)</li>
<li>I have been given a donation</li>
<li>I have my SBI site with over 700 visitors per month</li>
<li>I still keep getting YouTube subscribers for the programming video I made</li>
<li>I have this blog, with 1.300 visits per month</li>
<li>I have grown my favorite hobby blog to 15.000 visitors per month</li>
<li>I feel great for creating stuff people like</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Best Of All, I'm Free!</h2>
Actually, my husband resigned last month so we are both free now. And we are enjoying it!<br />
<br />
I haven't regretted resigning for a second. Fortunately for us, we are minimalists. No car, no TV and small expenses. That means we don't struggle financially for a while yet.<br />
<br />
This year, we saw the Geiranger Fjord in Norway and Piemonte hills in the Italy, riding though the scenery with our motorcycle. I've again found out I love slow travel. We've met wonderful people on our travels. <br />
<br />
I was pretty amazed to realize how my mindset has started to change with the freedom. The truth is, nothing prevented me from pursuing my goals before. This year, I have not done anything I could not have done while I was working. But I did not. I had a slave mindset - a worker mindset. It will still take me some time to fully grow to the entrepreneur mindset, but I can see myself getting there.<br />
<br />
<b>I wish you all happy new year 2013! </b><br />
Let's make this year unforgettable!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-7645492410427833912012-12-03T03:03:00.000-08:002012-12-03T03:03:19.918-08:00November 2012 Status ReportYay! A new income stream finally opened up. <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">30x500</a> is proceeding in full speed too.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Passive income: $15</span></b><br />
<br />
I've got the first affiliate sale from my <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">SiteBuildIt!</a> site.<br />
<br />
I have been waiting this for several months already. I've had problems getting quality back-links to my site. There just doesn't seem to be quality sites about this subject and I could not come up with related sites either. I have managed to crank up at least one article that people really like and I've gotten some natural back-links to it. Now I have 3 articles that rank into first two pages in several search engines. It's a start, but I'd still need a lot more traffic.<br />
<br />
I can see from the statistics that people are going through my Call-To-Action as I intended, but most of them are coming through direct links. They come from sites where lots of people already own the product that I recommend.<br />
<br />
I also got some income from Adsense and <a href="http://adf.ly/?id=1499356">AdFly</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Costs: $30</span></b><br />
<br />
The costs include just the SiteBuildIt! monthly payment. So even though I've got a sale, I'm still negative what comes to SBI.<br />
<br />
I've been thinking whether I should move my site elsewhere to save in the costs. I'm almost done with the lessons and beyond that I'll just get hosting, statistics and tools.<br />
<br />
I'm not too happy with the tools and the templates, they seem pretty outdated and clumsy to me. But, they provide features I would otherwise need to use several tools for. Hosting is really trouble-free and does not have any limits. Also, I like the statistics they provide. The information is in much nicer format than I can get from Google Analytics.<br />
<br />
In any case, I feel SBI course is worth more than I've yet paid in so I'm not in a hurry with the possible move. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">30x500</span><br />
<br />
I can honestly say that getting into 30x500 is the best thing I've done since resigning. Not only is it teaching a process for creating predictable success, it does its best to ensure that people are really learning it.<br />
<br />
Plus, I think it has actually already saved its price. How? By telling me that the product idea I was going to implement was targeted to a niche that I cannot reach online. Or more accurately, when they are online they are not interested in hearing about products that would ease up their (offline) business.<br />
<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-37155822042653468672012-11-13T04:11:00.000-08:002012-11-13T04:11:17.148-08:00Retrospective Autumn 2012I claimed failure in my October status report. It is time for retrospective.<br />
<br />
I have 18 people in my Other Stream Creators blog list. 14 of them are past their deadlines. How are they doing?<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Successes (or nearly successes) </span><br />
<br />
Passive Incoming is almost at her $800 per month goal. She has no deadline date. Her <a href="http://passive-incoming.blogspot.fi/2012/11/october-earnings-68930.html">last reported month was nearly $700</a>. She writes small eBooks that she sells at Amazon. As she did not have any previous work to build on, this is an amazing result.<br />
<br />
Melissa Rachel Black <a href="http://melissarachelblack.com/passiveupdate">reached her $50 per month goal</a> by drawing vector illustrations. In addition, she has a new source of active income by drawing commission illustrations.<br />
<br />
Pierre Bastien did not reach his original $300 goal and <a href="http://www.pierrebastien.net/passive-income-fail/">reported that as a failure</a>. I still wanted to list him here, since he got over $150 in September. That is a reasonable bunch of cash - definitely worth mentioning.<br />
<br />
Also, Pierre was the only "failed"-reporter that I could find!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What About Everyone Else? </span><br />
<br />
The other 11 people have not written any reports that I could easily find. I assume those people just did not make it and did not bother to report it. Some of them have stopped blogging altogether. One of them has even removed the blog post where his goal was published.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, Why Did I Fail?</span><br />
<br />
At first, I went through a set of "make believe explanations" in my head. I would have probably continued to believe in them, but then came the time to write this report.<br />
<br />
I did not really fail because:<br />
<ul>
<li>I was out of alignment with my goal </li>
<li>My goal was not phrased in the most motivating way </li>
<li>I chose a slow way to make passive income </li>
<li>I did not work from my strengths </li>
<li>I had no concrete idea how to get to my goal</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
I failed because I did not provide enough value.<br />
<br />
I spent most of my time learning things. The people who succeeded in the challenge were busy publishing valuable stuff. Stuff someone was happy to pay for.<br />
<br />
I did publish things... but what is out there is not much. I have about 15 articles in my SBI! site. I have this blog. I planned on creating 2 new passive income streams before Christmas. I have one new stream, and it is *tiny*. The fact that I'm getting at least something tells that my creations are valuable to someone.<br />
<br />
Instead of publishing things, I learned things. What I have learned has a huge value to me - but against my goal that work is totally invisible. If I want to reach any monetary goals, I need to start publishing stuff. I need to quiet down my inner self-critic and just do it.<br />
<br />
The big question that rises from what I have learned from this passive income challenge is: How do I know (in advance) what people want to buy?<br />
<br />
The methods I have learned for finding out niches and evaluating their "profitability" seem to me like first steps to finding an audience to deal with. But my passive-income puzzle is still missing some pieces. I do hope 30x500 delivers them.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I continue to show up.Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-83634339552092955232012-11-01T03:21:00.002-07:002012-11-01T03:21:55.371-07:00October 2012 Status Report<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Passive Income In October 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$5</span><br />
<br />
I'm getting just a trickle of pennies from <a href="http://adf.ly/?id=1499356">AdFly</a>, Adsense and <a href="http://www.sitesell.com/streamcreator.html">SiteBuildIt</a>!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Costs In October 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$60</span><br />
<br />
I'm happy to see the costs coming down. I'm still paying SiteBuildIt! monthly and plan to continue with it. I spent the other $30 to books. I needed those as a study material for my own book. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I can't build a 1000€ passive income stream by Christmas 2012</span><br />
<br />
You may call me an early quitter if you want, but I've stopped believing my current goal is reachable to me. That is my subjective reality. I don't feel like I'd be quitting, I feel like I'm moving on.<br />
<br />
Due to the collaborative 30x500 prep work I'm beginning to see where I really stand. When I started this project I thought I knew a lot about passive income. Now I know I knew very little.<br />
<br />
My approach has been far from optimal. Actually, my approach was like shooting into the dark, hoping to hit something. Thanks to 30x500 I'm seeing that now and I believe it can be changed. But realizing all the strategic mistakes I've made has eaten up the motivation to work.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I don't want to publish new products with my faulty process. </b><br />
<br />
So, I've been procrastinating. I've tried to push myself to work on my project, but the motivation is gone. I'm going to quit procrastinating now and give myself a permission to NOT work on this project.<br />
<br />
I've written over 20 pages for my book, but publishing it does not seem like a smart thing to do. Not now.<br />
<br />
I have been mulling over this a lot. On the other hand I feel I should "just do it", but from my new viewpoint I'd be publishing a dead baby. Everything is an experience, but nothing happens without a motivation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What next?</span><br />
<br />
I still love SiteBuildIt! and my blogs - I'm not going to abandon them. I'm going to continue the pursuit for increasing my passive income - even though this project has made me realize that building passive income takes a lot of work.<br />
<br />
30x500 starts next week and I'm targeting to be the next star student. <br />
<br />
I'll be updating the stats until the old goal is due and then I'll put up a new goal. For now, just studying and doing 30x500 is enough. Of course I'd love to start increasing my income right away, but there is some learning to do first.<br />
<br />
I'll also continue with SiteBuildIt. I kinda see SBI! compatible with 30x500 base ideology. In it you just don't go to the "Customer Safari" to search for your audience. Instead, you'll express your own worldview and attract a compatible audience over the first year or two. No wonder it takes time to earn with that approach! Yet, the approach is solid and the course is really useful. My traffic is in solid increase and I enjoy having the site. I'm still at day 8. Two more to go!<br />
<br />
I'll continue posting on the topics of passive income and product building as I stumble to interesting things. Thanks for helping me with this project!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-9200447826419424442012-10-14T10:15:00.000-07:002012-10-14T10:31:43.580-07:00Lessons From Mr. Perfect Habits<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrC9_WjA0j1HemKFYIGqHKxBp6fuFq-GASsjsuO0lY9DzIppxubdHsecd-y6sxFG_szwxcktJTb6dZEsgSUbvOn6DjuIQUjgxidWCMVXdezJVrSxh3k768_kw82kI0M_1WL23hXmsTe4/s1600/books_austinevan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrC9_WjA0j1HemKFYIGqHKxBp6fuFq-GASsjsuO0lY9DzIppxubdHsecd-y6sxFG_szwxcktJTb6dZEsgSUbvOn6DjuIQUjgxidWCMVXdezJVrSxh3k768_kw82kI0M_1WL23hXmsTe4/s320/books_austinevan.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/1225274637/">austinevan</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
30x500 officially starts in November, but we are already getting homework. Last week, we registered into free <a href="http://tinyhabits.com/">Tiny Habits</a> program by BJ Fogg. If you don't know what 30x500 is, please take a look at my brand new <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/p/resources.html">Resources</a> page!<br />
<br />
Tiny Habits is a method for installing new habits. New group start every week and you get to pick 3 new tiny habits you want to install - on any area of life you want to improve.<br />
<br />
I chose the following tiny habits last week:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>After I switch on PC, I'll draw one quick sketch</i></li>
<li><i>After I start email app, I'll stretch one part of my body briefly</i></li>
<li><i>After I put my head to the pillow, I will say one thing I'm grateful of</i></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Why Should You Be Interested?</span><br />
<br />
As Amy explained it, studies tell that 40% of the things we do daily are habits. We do what we have always done, like little rats. Do what you have always done and you'll get what you have always got. To create a new income stream or a product, you'll need to install a habit of working on it.<br />
<br />
Installing new habits is fun and benefits you on many levels. Better yet, changes can be applied to all areas of life.<br />
<br />
However, I was super excited about tiny habits for another reason. It seems that tiny habits formalizes one of the organizing methods my husband uses.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How I Learned To Be Organized</span><br />
<br />
I grew up in an entrepreneur family with chaotic habits. While it was an inspiring environment for a kid, it had downsides. Everything revolved around work and anything personal would come second, often a distant second. When I moved away to live on my own, my apartment was a mess - I had no habits to keep it organized. Bigger problem is that as long as your home is a mess, it takes away from your energy to learn other good habits. My disorganization stretched to almost all areas of life - except getting my work and studies done.<br />
<br />
Then I married Mr. Perfect Habits. Step by step he started to teach me little methods to organize my life better. Today we have relatively organized home and lifestyle, yet we use very little effort maintaining it.<br />
<br />
Today I'm going to share couple of organizing methods I have learned from him. These methods are stupidly simple, yet very effective! You'll read them and go: "Oh.. why didn't I think of that!"<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Lessons From Mr. Perfect Habits</span><br />
<br />
The main idea in all these methods is to make things easier in a way that is natural to yourself. Instead of learning someone else's process of organizing their lives, you'll be creating your own as you go.<br />
<br />
If you know these methods already, you may laugh at this post - this is all so trivial. Feel free to laugh. After seeing the Tiny Habits program I realized there are plenty of people like me. People whose parents never taught them these things.<br />
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<br />
<b>Trigger Habits (aka. Tiny Habits)</b><br />
<br />
Trigger habits help you to install shiny good habits.<br />
<br />
When you do something you already do by habit, you use it as a reminder to trigger your new habit.<br />
<br />
Examples of trigger habits:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>After I finish eating, I'll wipe the kitchen table </i></li>
<li><i>After I switch on my computer, I'll check my TO-DO list</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
I really recommend you try out the <a href="http://tinyhabits.com/">Tiny Habits</a> program. It explains the method well and it formulates a superb way to create triggers in a way that you'll really end up doing your new habits.<br />
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<br />
<b>Trigger Items/Places</b><br />
<br />
Trigger items remind you to perform tasks that are rarely needed.<br />
<br />
Trigger items work on the premise that all household items have their "home location". Whenever you use anything, you'll return it where it belongs. When you leave something to a place other than its home location, it works as your trigger.<br />
<br />
Example of trigger item:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>An empty toilet paper shell on the corridor chair means I need to buy more toilet paper</i></li>
<li><i>A bill on the keyboard means I should pay that bill</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
When the trigger item has done it's duty, I'll trash it or take it back to its place, depending on the case.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Trigger Containers</b><br />
<br />
Trigger Containers prevent things piling up.<br />
<br />
Trigger container is a basket, shelf or some other container of a space equal to the size of the task to be performed. When you have items that need further processing, you use the container to hold them until you have enough of them to perform a task.<br />
<br />
Example of trigger containers:<br />
<i>I have a small container for the unread magazines. When I get a new magazine, I'll put it in the unread magazines container. Whenever I read one, I'll move it to another container - the container for magazines to be trashed. Or when dealing with books, to the bookshelf. </i><br />
<br />
If the unread magazines container fills up, it is a sign you clearly don't have time to read them all! When the read magazines container fills up, it works as a trigger to take them away.<br />
<br />
This works wonderfully for tasks like dishes and laundry. With laundry we have several containers, one for each washing program that we use. At first it took me some time to learn to empty the pockets and close the zippers already when putting the clothes to the laundry baskets. I was used to doing that when putting the clothes to the machine. But now when I am used to trigger containers, I just love them - they make the house so much more cleaner and tasks easier.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How To Make Triggers Work</span><br />
<br />
In order for the triggers to work, you need to make things easy for yourself. Try to place items near to where they are used and make them easily available. Be smart. Organize triggers so that they make sense to you and support your existing habits.<br />
<br />
Not all of the habits are going to stick. But that just means you have picked poor triggers or try to place new habits where they don't come naturally.<br />
<br />
Couple of years ago I tried to install a new habit of doing chin-ups before going out the house. That didn't work, even though I placed the chin-up bar right next the front door. When I'm leaving the house, starting to exercise is the last thing I'm interested in. In a way, the trigger happened inside another action and I ended up not doing it.<br />
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I also have several habits I have installed successfully, but then dropped them after a vacation or some other break. That just means they were not a logical enough sequence of habits to continue.<br />
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When that happens, I often just change things a bit. Doing chin-ups is perfect match for switching on electric sauna, for example.<br />
<br />
Just try it out and see how it works for you!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-85208799380154487542012-10-01T04:41:00.000-07:002012-10-01T04:42:15.398-07:00September Status Report (Week 20)Time for the monthly report!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Passive Income In September 2012 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$5</span><br />
<br />
Oops. I did not get anything from SiteBuildIt! this month and it looks like my passive income went back to what it was before. Adsense and <a href="http://adf.ly/?id=1499356">AdFly</a> helped me to get at least something. <br />
<br />
I did get an Amazon affiliate sale from my SiteBuildIt! site, but it was an item that was delivered by external seller - so I guess I don't get any pennies from that. But that is a beginning... It is my first affiliate sale from that site. I wish I'll soon get sales for my main product that has higher commissions.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Costs In September 2012 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$127
</span><br />
<br />
Costs include my last payment to <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/midway-battle-sbi-vs-grweb-30.html">Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0</a>. I spent $400 dollars in it, but somehow my book is not out yet.<br />
<br />
Costs also include my monthly payment to <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/1000-passive-income-site-walkthrough.html">SiteBuildIt!</a>.<br />
<br />
I did not include $2.450 for <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/09/yay-im-in-30x500.html">30x500</a>. Why? Because it was not paid from the project budget and it starts at November, too late to bring in anything before Christmas. I'll keep it separately in the status page.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Time Is Getting Short</span><br />
<br />
After I got back from my vacation, I have been working on trying to get back-links to my SiteBuildIt! site. It has been more tricky than I expected. I'm also adding content to the site all the time. I have a nice trickle of traffic going on there, but I need more.<br />
<br />
I think that site has potential to earn me 1.000 € per month, but I'd need some kind of a traffic miracle to get it by Christmas.<br />
<br />
The travel book that I planned is going to get delayed. We decided to write it together with my husband later on.<br />
<br />
I have another book idea that is connected to my SiteBuildIt! site. I'm going to roll that out, hoping it will sell AND bring traffic to my SiteBuildIt! site. If the book breaks through, I have some chance of getting to my goal.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to stress about it. Money is important, but I'm building a business here. I am still confident that I'll reach my monetary goal - eventually.<br />
<br />
I have already broken the SiteBuildIt! rules on monetizing, with hopes that I'd get some pennies from my site earlier. I hope that was not a bad decision. But in general I'm trying to not let the upcoming deadline affect my decisions on what I should do. I want to create quality content.<br />
<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-82809329879471650012012-09-27T02:55:00.001-07:002012-10-10T23:22:25.135-07:00Yay! I'm In 30x500!<br />
Yes, I'm one of the 75 students in <a href="http://unicornfree.com/30x500-s2012/">the winter 2012 30x500</a> course.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What Is 30x500?</span><br />
<br />
30x500 is a four-month "product creation" course by Amy Hoy, the creator of <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/sharpen-your-focus-with-freckle.html">Freckle</a> and <a href="http://charmhq.com/">Charm</a>. "Product creation", because you don't exit the course with a ready made product.<br />
<br />
Instead, you're going to learn (in addition to other things):<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>how to have only profitable ideas</li>
<li>how to secure customers for your product before you ever commit a line of code, or write a single page</li>
<li>how to build a product by yourself, without making yourself miserable</li>
<li>how to find your customers</li>
<li>how to get your customers to come to you</li>
<li>how to write sales copy so your customers will listen — with no previous copywriting experience</li>
<li>how to launch your product to immediate sales</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
This course has propelled several success stories, including <a href="http://blog.studiofellow.com/2012/05/31/30k-ebook-sales-in-2-months/">Bootstrapping Design</a> and <a href="https://planscope.io/">Planscope</a>, actually, <a href="http://planscope.io/blog/selling-2000-worth-of-my-unfinished-book/">Planscope twice</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Why I Chose 30x500?</span><br />
<br />
For 13 years I was a designer and developer in a large multinational company. I worked in research and development. That means we made brand new products. Most of those projects failed in a way or another.<br />
<br />
At least two times in my career we worked for over two years to create a product that was discontinued almost immediately when it came out. I loved both of those products but they just didn't sell well enough.<br />
<br />
Looking back, I can't name any telltale sign of a product that's going to fail. The failing products are not always bad products... And there are some awful products that just thrive.<br />
<br />
The only common nominator to all failing products is that they don't sell well enough. I think this course offers an unique viewpoint to that program - getting the customers first.<br />
<br />
I want to create my own SaaS-application. And I want to be successful. I don't want to bury another product.<br />
<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-89492739424677539052012-09-25T01:23:00.000-07:002012-09-25T08:58:54.417-07:00American Tourist, Are You Being Impolite? <br />
This is continuation from <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/09/traveling-beliefs-human-unity-and.html">Traveling Beliefs: Human Unity and Hospitality</a>. This is the third and the last part of the European Travel Series. After this one I'll get back to passive income topics.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The content of this article is based on my observations and if you represent some of the nationalities mentioned here and you feel that I misinterpreted your culture,<b> </b>let me know.</span><br />
<br />
As you travel, you may find yourself getting a cold welcome from the locals in some countries. It could it be that you do something wrong?<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Should You Learn New Languages?</span><br />
<br />
Some guides suggest that you learn a bit of local language. Whether or not that affects your travel experience depends on the country.<br />
<br />
I almost always try to do that if I spend more than 3 nights at some country. Being able to say at least "hello", "please" and "thank you" is nice.<br />
<br />
You don't do that to survive. It is a mean to make your host feel more appreciated and thus treat you better. In addition, it helps you to connect with the local people and learn more about their culture.<br />
<br />
For Scandinavian countries, you don't need to do that. Most people speak English just fine and they are not bothered that you don't know their language. You don't earn extra cookie points by learning to say "hello" and "thank you". You do get an extra smile, but that's about it.<br />
<br />
For East-European countries it is not necessary either. People there don't speak English as commonly as Scandinavians, but those who do are happy to practise their skills. They don't really expect you to know their language. So no cookie points here either. Besides, those languages are so damn hard that you'd have problems pronounce them anyway. Try "köszönöm" or "dziekuje" (Ukranian and Polish for thank you).<br />
<br />
On the other hand, in the real "old-world" countries just learning some language is not enough. You also need to learn some social customs.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Being You, You Are Being Impolite</span><br />
<br />
People in France, Italy and Spain are polite and formal. If you talk to them like you are used to, you are being rude from the start.<br />
<br />
Most people forgive this for tourists, the French being the exception. Spanish and Italian are easy-going enough not to mention it to you - but it affects how they treat you. In general, people are surprisingly nice for rude tourists.<br />
<br />
Anyway, learning to be polite when you speak does earn you cookie points in these countries.<br />
<br />
The problem is, you cannot use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction">polite language forms</a> as English does not have them! And even if you know the local language, it is sometimes more safe to speak English if you have problems with the polite forms. Especially in France, where you find people addressing even their lovers with the formal pronouns.<br />
<br />
But there is something you can do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Learn To Greet People Correctly</span><br />
<br />
Learn to greet people politely and they'll treat you decently - even in France.<br />
<br />
The magic words are the ones added after "Hello".<br />
Instead of saying just "Hello", you'd say "<i>Hello, madam</i>".<br />
If I would know you better, you'd go "<i>Hello, Jaana</i>" - except if I was older than you or we had a business relationship.<br />
In that case you'd say "<i>Hello, madam Kulmala</i>".<br />
<br />
I know it sounds stupid, but it pays off.<br />
<br />
Bonjour monsieur. Buongiorno signor. Buenos dias senor.<br />
<br />
You might get fooled by listening to the local people. You'll be most probably listening to situations where people already know each other, thus using mostly names and omitting titles. Also, in all of these countries younger people are more relaxed with the language.<br />
<br />
I should mention that Germans are super-polite and formal too, but the stuff is baked even deeper into the language. They have a lot of titles, but they are not often used in greetings, so you don't have a similar problem there unless you try to speak German.<br />
<br />
Another thing to mention is that all these countries love handshaking. So when you have a chance, offer your hand!<br />
<br />
If you got interested, here is a nice article of <a href="http://www.justlanded.com/english/France/Articles/Culture/Social-customs-in-France">polite social customs in France</a>. The greetings are just for survival.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You Are Weird Anyway</span><br />
<br />
Sorry to disappoint you, but even if you do the greetings right, you'll be still behaving weirdly by the local standards.<br />
<br />
You'll want food at strange times. You'll order wrong type of coffee and then complain that you don't like it. You don't take your shoes off when you come in. You don't look people in the eyes when you should - and you do that when you shouldn't. You don't follow the "Alles Verboten" signs or do something obscene.<br />
<br />
In short, local people expect something from you - and you just cannot deliver.<br />
<br />
And if you love personal growth, you'll enjoy every moment. I especially love the moments when I realize that something that I previously thought was part of my personality is just a learned social habit. I also enjoy encountering habits that would not be allowed in my culture but are perfectly fine somewhere else.<br />
<br />
I wish you happy travels!<br />
<br />
<i>Lots of problems and anxiety with traveling is caused by people have too little time. For most people, the lack of time is a direct consequence for being an employee to someone. The solution? Let's get some passive income!</i><br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-60436055612172777112012-09-13T08:44:00.000-07:002012-09-13T08:44:54.404-07:00Traveling Beliefs: Human Unity and Hospitality<br />
<i><b>We are all the same when you dig deep enough.</b></i><br />
<i><b>You depend on the local network of people and their resources when traveling.</b></i><br />
<i><b>Most people are honest, helpful, friendly and hospitable. </b></i><br />
<i><b>People care for each other. </b></i><br />
<i><b>The world will provide you what you need.</b></i>
<br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
So relax and enjoy the ride.<br />
<br />
How do the above beliefs show in your actions?<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You don't have to bring everything with you</span><br />
<br />
You know, we have shops selling clothes, shampoo and nailpolish here. We do laundry too. Do bring your presciption medicine.<br />
<br />
I do carry my pink mini-laptop on my every trip. Its nice for working, checking weather reports and doing hotel reservations for the rainy days.<br />
The best free site to see weather in European countries is Norway's weather service <a href="http://www.yr.no/">yr.no</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You don't have to read the travel guides beforehand</span><br />
<br />
Locals have the best knowledge of the best places anyway, just trust them. Lots of great places are not listed in guides. For example, most guides of Italy miss the holy mountains in the north. People go to Asia for mountain retreats while we have great places for meditation and working right here. In both cases you'll be budget bunking in spectacular places.<br />
<br />
I used to read Lonely Planet guides. But doing that was a chore! And then when I was traveling, I found myself in a queue with others carrying the same book. Often the best things have nothing to do with sights listed in guides - like learning new skills from local experts. Or seeing local plays or concerts. Meeting local people.<br />
<br />
Also, in many European countries tourist offices have excellent services. If you have not made a schedule too tight, you'll have time to read their condensed brochures in some place nice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You don't have to book everything beforehand</span><br />
<br />
It is quite easy to find a place to stay on the fly. Having pre-made reservations just forces you to follow some pre-made plan.<br />
<br />
Of course, if you want to go to some specific event and that is important to you, do make the reservations beforehand. But for general travel, it is not needed. Also, you may well find more interesting places to stay and they are often much cheaper than you'd find online.<br />
<br />
We have not made any reservations for a long time. Based on our experience, we have not been able to stay where we wanted only 1% of the time. In those few cases we have tried to get an accommodation on the fly during some major local event. What happened then? We just continued to another town.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There is something to see everywhere</span><br />
<br />
Where there are people, there is something to see and learn. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You don't have to carry everything all the time</span><br />
<br />
Just trust the locals - and smile (they may be afraid of you). Check out what locals do in general and then follow the example.<br />
<br />
In most European countries we feel quite safe leaving most of our stuff to the "hotel". Smaller the place, more you can trust them. Not needing to carry everything makes it so much easier to go around. Admittedly, we are minimalists and don't carry much luggage anyway. There isn't much to rob from us - and we always judge the situation case by case.<br />
<br />
To this day, we have not been robbed. If we get too trusty, the locals will warn us. Just a couple of days ago we were approached by an Italian gentleman who told us that we were fine leaving our motorcycle helmets laying on the bike in their town. But he warned us that the bigger cities are full of immigrants who will not hesitate to steal our stuff. Lovely. We took the advice. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You'll entertain the locals with your act</span><br />
<br />
Remember how we all are the same? You may not feel like that when you travel. But keep your mind open. You'll soon see how much of your beliefs of what is proper behaviour is just that - beliefs.<br />
<br />
As you often don't know how to behave "normally" in the target culture, the best thing is to laugh at it (unless you really hurt someone with your behaviour). Let the locals have their fun on your account. <br />
<br />
Above the friendly common core, people come in all flavors. Some cultures you'll connect immediately with, some not. For an American coming to Scandinavia, I'd assume the behaviour there feels cold to him. It always depends on what you expect.<br />
<br />
Like, coming from Finland, I don't expect parents to kiss their children to the mouth. It took me by a surprise when I saw that first time. But in general, Europe is lame on that account. You'll not find <a href="http://www.fearfuladventurer.com/archives/5910">old ladies munching on their grandson's genitals</a>. (The Fearful Adventurer is a lovely blog, check it out) <br />
<br />
When I go to Germany from Finland, germans feel overly friendly and polite. When I go to Germany after staying in Italy, germans feel tacky and remote. Always when I go to Poland, it feels like home - no extra superficial smiles wasted ;)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Does the above sound awkward?</span><br />
<br />
Do you feel that you could not enjoy traveling like that? No problem. There are no requirements here. Pick the stuff that you feel comfortable with.<br />
<br />
The above beliefs are just what I've found compatible with traveling. You are free to sport your own. <br />
<br />
<br />
This is Part II of the Travel Series, you might also want to read the <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.com/2012/09/travel-series-how-to-spend-your-passive.html">Part I</a>.
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-77365355634053717152012-09-08T10:24:00.000-07:002012-09-08T10:24:12.976-07:00How To Get Banned By Google And AmazonYes. I've got my lily white newbie butt kicked by the big boys. I've got both my Blogger site banned from AdSense and my Amazon AskVille account suspended.<br />
<br />
After making a ton of changes and appealing twice, I've finally got the AdSense ban lifted by Google. But as far as I know, there is no way I can appeal in AskVille, so I guess I can say goodbye to my account there.<br />
<br />
Here are my tips on how to get yourself into trouble:<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Violate Google's Strict Content Limits</span><br />
<br />
It is obvious that you are not allowed to show ads in pages that contain adult content. But it depends on culture what is considered appropriate and what not.<br />
<br />
Google's generic guideline is that you may put ads to every page that you could easily show to your colleagues or your kids.<br />
<br />
As an ex-dancer it never occurred to me that dance and clubbing costumes could be considered bad... If I had kids, I'd be happy to show them samba-wear and leather clothing. Sure, those clothes are sexy and sometimes revealing, but I don't think they are obscene unless presented that way.<br />
<br />
Well, Google disagrees. I do understand that. They are probably selling ads to countries where women still have to cover their hair.<br />
<br />
So you have to be very careful about your site content if you want to have ads there. Don't think what you could show to your colleagues and kids. Think of the most conservative person you know. Now think what he could easily show to his grandmother!<br />
<br />
I think this is quite obvious. It just never occurred to me that I should judge my content by world-wide standards. Sure, I can do that, but I do have to pay attention. In the future I will. <br />
<br />
An interesting detail here is that the page that got me banned has been online almost a year now. But last month I noticed from my stats that a lot of people came to that page looking to buy some clubbing wear. As the pics were a digital remake of real-world clothing, I added an affiliate link to the page. The affiliate shop sells fetish clothing - including pieces that you really cannot show to your kids. And right after that I got banned. I cannot but assume the affiliate link had something to do with this ban...<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Advertize Your Site In Amazon AskVille</span><br />
<br />
I was pointed to AskVille by SBI search tool. It shows that my competitor site has plenty of backlinks there. I looked at those entries and thought: "Gee! That is an easy way to get people to notice me. I can do just what they have done!" But I soon found out I could not.<br />
<br />
I gave a clear and valuable answer to a recent question and pointed people to my new site for more information. I got my account banned after my very first answer. The reason was advertising and my account is totally banned for undeterminate time.<br />
<br />
I should have read their rules instead of assuming that I can do what others have done.<br />
<br />
Did I report my competitor to Amazon? No, I didn't. If they got links in, good for them. The links were part of real answers, just like mine. I don't want those answers get removed. <br />
<br />
I did get a bit mad when I found out that I cannot appeal. The mail I got gives a link to a page where I am supposed to do that, but I cannot access it without a valid account. Creating a duplicate account to appeal would violate their rules too.<br />
<br />
That's too bad and I'm angry for that. It was my very first answer/mistake and they did not give me any warnings or anything. Hardly fair, I'd say.<br />
<br />
The good thing is that my regular Amazon account does not seem to be directly connected to this AskVille thingy. So I hope I'm not blacklisted anywhere else now...<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Stupid Mistakes, Valuable Lessons</span><br />
<br />
I got the bans for not reading the small print carefully enough. Just plain stupid mistakes!<br />
<br />
You are allowed to laugh now. Well, I am laughing. I'm also glad I've got the lessons now when I don't have much to lose yet.<br />
<br />
In any case, I felt miserable getting banned. Ah, that feeling of not being approved. It hurts.<br />
<br />
I've never been banned before. But then, I have not had any affiliate business before. It just seems to me that I now need to work with a stricter set of rules. What has never got me any problems before, is suddenly forbidden behaviour. That's just how it goes.<br />
<br />
That's just fine to me. I'll learn.<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-82236984183147471262012-09-03T09:35:00.000-07:002012-09-13T09:41:03.622-07:00Travel Series - How To Spend Your Passive IncomeI just noticed Steve's tweet about a meetup in Oslo, Norway. I was in Norway this June and we passed Oslo by less than a hundred kilometers, so that hit me. Then I found out that Steve has an interest in traveling. How fun!<br />
<br />
I got an instant inspiration to share my travel experience and some things I've learned on the way.<br />
<br />
And... I ended up writing a lot, so I just had to split it into several blog posts. I also found myself writing about attitudes and beliefs needed in traveling - a subject I assume Steve don't have much problems with.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not Your Regular Travel Guide</span><br />
<br />
I'm definitely not going to deliver regular travel tips. You'll find plenty of bible-sized travel guides telling their truth on what to see and where to go.<br />
<br />
What everybody likes is so personal!<br />
<br />
I feel that sometimes guides and pre-planning distract you from what is important. It makes you concentrate on places instead of people and life.<br />
<br />
Yes, you'll be sporting off nice travel photos of places your friends know, but... did you get the experience you came for - or did you just stand in different queues waiting to check out the places?<br />
<br />
I don't think this applies for Steve, but lots of people start by doing just that and for a while they'll be happy with that. That's fine. Everything goes.<br />
<br />
Even though the first tips article is quite general, I wrote them both from the viewpoint of traveling in Europe.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My Greetings From Piemonte, Italy</span><br />
<br />
I love traveling. I started in my mid-twenties and during the last 10 years I've visited over 30 countries with my husband Kari. In fact, my first eBook is going to be a specialty travel guide. Thanks to <a href="http://passive-incoming.blogspot.com/">Cindy</a> and her tips on eBooks, its going to be out quite soon.<br />
<br />
We started with ready-made tours and handicapped by our beliefs. Traveling forces you to grow. That, or you grow to hate traveling.<br />
<br />
With time, we found our own traveling style. And we changed. In the last 4-5 years we have been extensively traveling in Europe. No reservations, we just go.<br />
<br />
Lately, we have been returning to Italy over and over again. Actually, we are in Piemonte right now. We rode here on our motorcycle, starting from Finland (we stay there most of the year) and going through Sweden, Germany and Switzerland on the way. Below is a picture I snapped yesterday.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rN61RMfrxM0QGe_6K6LeuRV_aj6GPp4BM0SHm7g9wgN7_O0kb4xyIR5wumtAXgMwtDb2QPoms6cdJPeQDhHojVNvfOmxPadq1YJXrizm2AMR-c6uB8yb8iaYl-5JQZs4c2HvzLU2BOYG/s400/IMG_5319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rN61RMfrxM0QGe_6K6LeuRV_aj6GPp4BM0SHm7g9wgN7_O0kb4xyIR5wumtAXgMwtDb2QPoms6cdJPeQDhHojVNvfOmxPadq1YJXrizm2AMR-c6uB8yb8iaYl-5JQZs4c2HvzLU2BOYG/s400/IMG_5319.jpg" width="530" /></a></div>
<br />
Why Italy? Well, we love the food. Also, the people here have a wonderful attitude and they are naturally in line with the beliefs that we want to establish at the moment.<br />
<br />
What have beliefs to do with traveling? Well, everything.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned for the Part II - <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.com/2012/09/traveling-beliefs-human-unity-and.html">Traveling Beliefs: Human Unity and Hospitality</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-17884625226001211642012-09-01T08:09:00.000-07:002012-09-01T08:09:00.918-07:00August 2012 Status Report (Week 16)Hi there! I'm still on vacation, but I wanted to give you the August status anyway.<br />
<br />
Freckle says I've spent 63 hours on my passive income project in August. That is almost as much as in previous month, even though I've worked only couple of hours during the last 2 weeks.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Passive Income In August 2012:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$25</span>
<br />
<br />
Income is mostly coming from affiliate sales and <a href="http://adf.ly/?id=1499356">AdFly</a>.<br />
<br />
This was a happy surprise to me, since my last month's income included a $10 donation. I was also expecting my vacation to show a bit, but it looks like this income really is passive. <br />
<br />
Granted, I messed up and accidentally had my own affiliate cookie on when I bought new products for trying them out. I did report that, but they said I can just keep those pennies.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Costs In August 2012:
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-$227</span><br />
<br />
Costs include the monthly payment to <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/midway-battle-sbi-vs-grweb-30.html">Getting Rich With eBooks 3.0</a> and <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/1000-passive-income-site-walkthrough.html">SiteBuildIt!</a>
<br />
<br />
It also includes $100 worth of products that I wanted to test. As said, I messed up with the purchase. I had my own affiliate cookie on. Even though I got to keep the money, I saw that the payment for those products was much lower than the main product. I also did not check the tax limit and ended up paying some taxes, which made the products even more expensive.<br />
<br />
I could have easily avoided this cost, but I wanted to try out those products.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Downsides</span><br />
<br />
Even though my passive income grew again, I also saw the dark side of the project this month.<br />
<br />
My SBI site have been up for over a month already and I've not yet earned a penny from it. That was expected as the monetization is not plugged in yet. I've written a handful of nice articles that I'm proud of, but I'm impatient right now. I'd like to monetize, but the next thing to do will be to start getting some backlinks to my site. I hate the tortoise speed of SBI!<br />
<br />
I bought $100 worth of products, but I did not like them enough to recommend them. That was really sad, since the main product is excellent. Another downside is that the experience on these products varies from person to person. They were not suitable for me, but someone might still like them a lot. However, as things are, I cannot recommend them myself. So I practically just lost the money to try them out. I could get some of it back though.<br />
<br />
I've also got some negative feedback on my project. I've got it from my friends and relatives offline and online, by getting banned. I'll be telling you more about that later. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
<br />
Even though I've seen some drawbacks this months, they have all been mental. I'm glad to see that my passive income is still going up.<br />
<br />
I've have great fun with my project and I'm not going to stop just because there have been some obstacles in the road.<br />
<br />
I'll continue enjoying my vacation about two weeks or so. But after that I'll be back in business!Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-79541578377266180292012-08-26T08:08:00.000-07:002012-08-26T08:29:46.948-07:00Is Affiliate Marketing Illegal?<br />
No, affiliate marketing is not illegal. But to my surprise lots of people don't know that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Showing Off My New Site</span><br />
<br />
I'm pretty proud of my new SiteBuildIt! site. Although I've been blogging for several years, it is my first "real site". The articles are thoroughly thought out, unique and well written. So I have been showing it to my friends and relatives. I was amazed to find out they don't share my feelings.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Is It Legal?</span><br />
<br />
First thing everyone asks is how I'll earn money with my site. When I tell them about affiliate marketing, they all get suspicious and ask if it is legal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pyramid Schemes Are Illegal</span><br />
<br />
My friend asked me "is this some kind of pyramid scheme thing?". Those are illegal in plenty of countries.<br />
<br />
But SBI and affiliate marketing are not pyramid schemes.<br />
<br />
In pyramid scheme you'll have to pay to join in, but you don't receive anything concrete. You'll main job will be to get new recruits and you'll get paid when people join in. That is the whole business, even though some schemes have some "bonus" that is supposed to be paid when a certain amount of people have joined in. Other disguise as multi-level marketing by having some product tangled in.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbTvmOaEsQYHyv3tVyMJ3yvSw3ESswB5DiEtKbAnarkdENZqFfm5GZVYv-l-PlWzRFG0-6-lsnD6zjadYf1qSLxlolDn9yyS-zfAoi9QlmJeJwi8zWEMacregyVm16nAYG573OGA1E5I/s1600/classic-pyramid-scheme.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbTvmOaEsQYHyv3tVyMJ3yvSw3ESswB5DiEtKbAnarkdENZqFfm5GZVYv-l-PlWzRFG0-6-lsnD6zjadYf1qSLxlolDn9yyS-zfAoi9QlmJeJwi8zWEMacregyVm16nAYG573OGA1E5I/s400/classic-pyramid-scheme.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As the pyramid scheme would require exponential amount of participants, it is destined to crash. The few people in the bottom of the pyramid get rich and the mass of the people joining later will just get cheated. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Multi-level Marketing (MLM) Is Legal</span><br />
<br />
Multi-level marketing is a marketing strategy where you benefit from both your own sales and the sales that your recruits make. You all will be selling a real product and MLM is legal.<br />
<br />
The problem is, many pyramid schemes disguise themselves as multi-level marketing. Fraud.org has this excellent <a href="http://fraud.org/pyramids/pyramid_mlm.htm">table that compares pyramid schemes and MLM</a>. As you can see, it may be sometimes hard to separate a real MLM program from an illegal pyramid scheme.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">SiteBuildIt! Is Legal</span><br />
<br />
As said, SBI sites and affiliate marketing are not pyramid schemes. Most of them are not MLM either, as you will only get paid for the products that people buy through your links. You don't earn more if others end up being affiliates themselves.<br />
<br />
I do recall that in SBI affiliate program there is a small "second level" payment too, but real MLM programs are several levels deep. Also, getting new affiliates is not the SBI main business. SBI is a course that teaches people to build profitable web businesses. You can buy SBI and never become an affiliate. <br />
<br />
Of course, SBI site owners are individuals and nothing prevents them from being fooled joining into a pyramid scheme! So when selecting your affiliate programs, be careful.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Undercover Marketing Is Illegal</span><br />
<br />
My sister asked if my site contains undercover marketing, also called stealth marketing. Undercover marketing is illegal, at least in European Union countries, such as UK and Finland.<br />
<br />
But my site does not contain undercover marketing either.<br />
<br />
There has been a big buzz on undercover marketing in blogs lately. It seems that bloggers may become guilty of undercover marketing when they write reviews of products that they got for free. If you write a positive review, but do not mention that you did not pay for the product - well, that's undercover marketing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What, Huh! Are You Serious?</span><br />
<br />
Yes, that's what I thought too. I think that is ridiculous. If you receive a gift, you can opt to write a negative review or decide to skip reviewing the product altogether. Isn't that enough to ensure that the reader does not get cheated? Apparently not.<br />
<br />
Most actors and other famous people get most of their clothes from fashion houses yet they are not required to sport "I got my clothes for free"-tag on their forehead. And you are not either - except online.<br />
<br />
I do agree that some companies use really nasty stealth marketing techniques. For example, one phone company hired people to flirt in public places. They tried to trick people to try out a certain phone model. The employee flirted with the customer and if they were successful, they asked the customers to enter their phone numbers into their phone. And as they were hired to do that, people never got called.<br />
<br />
Anyway, affiliates pay for the products they promote/recommend. So affiliates are not quilty of undercover marketing.<br />
<br />
But that did not satisfy my sister. Next she asked if affiliate marketing itself is illegal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Affiliate Marketing Is Legal</span><br />
<br />
Affiliate marketing is completely legal. You are allowed to promote and recommend products that you like.<br />
<br />
Some programs and countries do require that you clearly mention your affiliate status.<br />
<br />
I don't see that as a problem, even though that might scare some people who don't know a thing about affiliate programs. They will get suspicious and dismiss your opinions. But doing that they will lose, not you. <br />
<br />
There are some rumors going on that some US states have forbidden affiliate programs. But that is not quite true. Those states got greedy and announced Amazon that they want to collect taxes of the affiliate earnings coming to their states. Amazon's answer was to discontinue affiliate programs in those states. Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Connecticut are the ones I know of.<br />
<br />
While that was Amazon's answer I think the affiliate programs will eventually get taxed. We'll see.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">People Are Still Going To Be Suspicious</span><br />
<br />
Even though affiliate marketing is not illegal, people will continue to be suspicious. I think my sister still is!<br />
<br />
I told her that if she wants to "fight" affialiate programs, she can start by boycotting the biggest companies offering affiliate programs - Amazon and Ebay.<br />
<br />
I don't think my other relatives and friends are going to make it easy either. Whatever I do online, I think my mother-in-law is still going to ask me "do you have any real work yet?" every time I meet her.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS. I'm officially still on vacation, so no week reports!</span><br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-4786293964573362842012-08-12T04:36:00.001-07:002012-08-12T04:36:56.794-07:00Week 13 - Creating Site Content<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here is my <a href="http://streamcreator.blogspot.fi/2012/07/sharpen-your-focus-with-freckle.html">Freckle</a> pulse from last week:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGWly5oL8kY0s-HflOBySMd-1-eJYVa64BGNd93IezFInHM0ZmEO3W6KDz0wbjCcflJsW2fV2sp3ePn2_DWCqcGMDdjmt_HrdjfZ36MDWMGvXJEbdBHhQqLULranjIvvWwZsv5anvaIM/s1600/week-13-freckle-pulse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGWly5oL8kY0s-HflOBySMd-1-eJYVa64BGNd93IezFInHM0ZmEO3W6KDz0wbjCcflJsW2fV2sp3ePn2_DWCqcGMDdjmt_HrdjfZ36MDWMGvXJEbdBHhQqLULranjIvvWwZsv5anvaIM/s1600/week-13-freckle-pulse.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
That is 25 hours. Most of it was content creation for my new SiteBuildIt! site. The site is up, it looks fine and I'm proud of it.<br />
<br />
It does not have much traffic yet, but I am already scoring a tiny stream of visitors from some Google searches.<br />
<br />
Creating the articles is great fun, although I think I'm maybe using a bit too much time for them. But I try to create unique articles that give great value to the readers. With SiteBuildIt! it is easy to pick subjects for articles and the tools make sure that the articles really get into the lists when people search for them.<br />
<br />
This week I'll start my second vacation for this summer. I'll probably cannot keep my hands off my SiteBuildIt! site content, but you won't be getting updates in this blog.<br />
<br />
See you in 4 weeks or so!<br />
<br />Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192409794747760706.post-53559446087882299752012-08-08T23:36:00.000-07:002012-08-09T11:26:21.639-07:00Market Samurai Tries To Kill Free Google Keywords Tool<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Several people have recommended Market Samurai to me. Of course I was excited to see if I could get all the data I need for keyword research from a single tool. So I checked it out. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I was sorely disappointed - enough that I have to boycott it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">What Is Wrong With Market Samurai?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">When I started up the Market Samurai it asked my Google Adwords account login name and password. </span><span style="background-color: white;">I have a major problem with that. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I don't just give out my credentials to anyone. This software is installed on my PC where it can access web any way it likes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Worse, letting someone use</span><span style="background-color: white;"> my credentials to access Google Adwords API emulating user input violates the usage agreement of Google Adwords. That is a real problem. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I Don't Want To Mess Up With Google</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Traffic from search engines if the lifeblood of passive income business. Messing up with Google is a bad idea. A very bad idea. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I'd love to say that the internet frees little bootstrapping companies, small businesses and individuals to take power to their own hands... but most of us get the lifeblood from Google and Microsoft, through their search engines. I guess there are some people working through social media who are not dependent on organic traffic. But most are. I surely am.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">But... you say... The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is free, how can I violate anything?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Google Adwords Keyword Tool JSON API Is Not Free</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Yes the Keyword Tool is free for human use, but the interface that external applications should use is not free. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">In practice Market Samurai is not using the pay interface, so the creator of the program may assure you that everything is fine. But that is like saying, </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>"No I'm not trespassing. Yes, I did notice the sign at the gate. But Sir, I did NOT come here through that gate - I came over the fence."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">T</span><span style="background-color: white;">he deal is, programmatic usage should be paid for. I'll bet that is how Google sees it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">What Google Could Do?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Nowadays it is a common practise that applications and interfaces are opened up for non-commercial use and commercial users must pay. I like that business model as it helps common people to have free tools. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">If I had written and published API as free for non-commercial use and then someone would make a tool like this, I would be pissed off. I would be REALLY pissed off. I probably might consider closing up the free version. Google is a big company so maybe it can find other ways to plug the leak, but the risk is there. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">If offering the free tool makes it possible to bypass the pay-part, and lots of people do that, eventually it is worth closing up the free tool.
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">So there is a real risk that eventually Google will consider closing up the Adwords Tool. Or t</span><span style="background-color: white;">hey might opt that you need to have a company to access it, like Microsoft has done with their tool already.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Or, Google could just detect the traffic pattern that Market Samurai creates and ban those accounts. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">It all depends on how big a problem they think this is. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">How SBI Deals With The Same Problem?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">SiteBuildIt! uses data from Keywords Tool too. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">To get the data into SBI tool, I first have to export my keyword list from the SBI tool and then log in to the Google Keywords Tool manually. I use the options in Keywords Tool to import my keyword list. When I get the results I'll export them into a file. Then I go back to the SBI tool and import the data there.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">It is a bit complicated, but it is legal. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Of course the same approach would not work for Market Samurai.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">What Market Samurai Should Do?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">The first thing that came into my mind was:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"> <i>"Why don't they just pay for the usage? Why take this risk?"</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;">It just don't make any sense. They take a huge risk - and their customers take a huge risk. Worse, I'll bet most of the customers won't even realize that something is wrong.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Then I realized that the Market Samurai software is sold for a fixed price. It would not be a wise idea to let people pay once and then cause you costs forever. Also, it takes time to reprogram the software to use the gate instead of jumping over the fence.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I think that Market Samurai would need a major face-lift. It should be redone as web service.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">It could utilize the "pay per use" subscription model. </span><span style="background-color: white;">They could have, for example, a basic subscription with certain amount of searches per month. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Then there could be a more pricey pro subscription option with higher amount of searches per month.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Overall, I do like the idea of Market Samurai and I'd love to have a tool like it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">But the fact is - </span><b>until the Market Samurai plays fair, I will not be using it</b><span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">No, I don't like to write negative posts. This has been laying in the drafts like a month already. But then I realized that not all people know that Adwords API is a pay interface. So if I can help people by providing this information, maybe it is worth it.</span>
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Jaanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09071115694773187816noreply@blogger.com3