I Make NO Money » Don’t do this http://www.imakenomoney.com Learn from my mistakes Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:13:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Well, at least I didn’t lost this much! ($3,500) http://www.imakenomoney.com/53/well-at-least-i-didnt-lost-this-much-3500.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/53/well-at-least-i-didnt-lost-this-much-3500.html#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:36:33 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/53/well-at-least-i-didnt-lost-this-much-3500.html I’ve posted before about how I spend a lot of money on a Adwords campaign on irrelevant keywords.  I found a similar story recently from one of my favorite affiliate bloggers, Johnathon Volk, a “super” affiliate.  He posted recently about losing $3,500!  Why?  Because:

1) He was tired

2) He was tired

3) He was in a hurry.

Apparently, while in a hurry to get to bed (because he was tired) he accidentally sent a recent ad campaign to $45.00 per click instead of the $0.45 he was hoping to.

You can read more about his whopping $3,500 mistake here:

 http://www.jonathanvolk.com/affiliate-marketing/my-3500-mistake.html

Lesson: Please don’t rush through your setting up your campaigns (it could cost you) and try not to make big changes when you are boderline unconcsious.

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/53/well-at-least-i-didnt-lost-this-much-3500.html/feed 2 Pick a poor host and domain registration service http://www.imakenomoney.com/48/pick-a-poor-host-and-domain-registration-service.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/48/pick-a-poor-host-and-domain-registration-service.html#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:05:28 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/48/pick-a-poor-host-and-domain-registration-service.html I have been registering and developing websites for a while now.  I started my first site in 2000.   At the time I was a flight instructor and had asked one of my flight students where he registered his domain.  He told me, “Discount Domain Registry.com.”  I really didn’t look around, get reviews or ask any questions. I just went there and registered.  At the end of the registration the site prompted me to use their partner, Successful Hosting.com, which I did.  Now I have to say, before I go on,  that Successful Hosting tech support has been awesome!

In a lot of way registering and hosting sites becomes very habitual.  I mean that by, you tend to use the same service companies again and again because each site is a little different and there is a slight learning curve with some of the technicalities.  You tend to get used to one particular site, even if it isn’t very good.

I’ll make this short….I am now in the process of moving some 20+ sites to a new host and domain service.   I wish I had really reviewed good domain registration services and hosting providers before picking the ones that I did.  I am now moving to Host Gator after hearing some pretty good things about them and their prices / support.

Lesson:

Please choose your domain service and hosting providers carefully

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/48/pick-a-poor-host-and-domain-registration-service.html/feed 2 My first cease and desist letter http://www.imakenomoney.com/47/my-first-cease-and-desist-letter.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/47/my-first-cease-and-desist-letter.html#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:16:50 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/47/my-first-cease-and-desist-letter.html I was checking my email today when I saw I had a very short email that said, in short, “Please see the attached letter”, “Thank-you” and from the “Law Offices of….”

Oh, that can’t be good.  As I continued reading I found that I had just been sent my first cease and desist letter.

To quickly bring those who may be naive about what a C&D letter is. A “Cease and Desist” is a letter drafted usually by an attorney directed toward a recipient (that’s me) asking him (or her) to “stop” or “cease” certain specified action. In this case, it was asking me to stop an apparent trademark infringement and copyright violation. Apparently I have a website that sounds very similar to another popular website in my niche that provides a very similar service.

The letter that I received was long winded and verbose but I’ll summarize what they were asking me to do:

1) Stop my website

2) Turn over all my profits

3) Transfer my domain

This is the funny thing. I went to my Adsense account to find out how much I had to turn over, and noticed that ALL my profits from this domain were: $5.78. Did they want that in a check? Money order? Wire Transfer?

I’ll be completely honest here, I kind of knew, deep down this might have been coming. I mean the domains did sound VERY similar AND the websites did provide a very similar service.

In my defense, there were some KEY differences between the two sites. One, was that the other site actually had business, traffic and made that owner money. My site, on the other hand, had no traffic and has made me, yep you guessed it, no money. The other defense I have is that I own a lot of domains and website similar to the one in question that stretch across MANY different niches.

I have decided to play nice (see my post about karma) and give in to the requested demands. I have moved the website now to a new domain. I’m sure it’ll take me a little while but I my traffic will return. It won’t take long for it to trickle in 2 or 3 a day, just like it was doing before. If they want the $5.78, I’ll guess I’ll give it to them but it seems awfully inefficient.

Lesson: Do a little research before starting any business, especially if it is online. Pick a domain carefully and it might not hurt to consult a lawyer if you have some questions about the legality of it.

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/47/my-first-cease-and-desist-letter.html/feed 2 Spend all your time on your blog(s) http://www.imakenomoney.com/44/spend-all-your-time-on-your-blogs.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/44/spend-all-your-time-on-your-blogs.html#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:30:57 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/44/spend-all-your-time-on-your-blogs.html Spending all your time on the computer

Lesson:

Some of my best posts, website ideas and inspiration come when I step AWAY from the computer and not just because I have to sleep. Take a BREAK. Can you remember the last time you went a WHOLE day not checking your blog, email or stats? Go for a run, take a vacation and understand the world will not end if you step back from the computer for a few minutes. You’ll probably be amazed at the fresh perspective you’ll have to your website, audience and subject matter. I don’t know about you, but my motivation for making money on the web is to enjoy “real” life more and not so that I can spend all my time on the computer.

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/44/spend-all-your-time-on-your-blogs.html/feed 0 Lose your incoming site links http://www.imakenomoney.com/42/lose-your-incoming-site-links.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/42/lose-your-incoming-site-links.html#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:05:53 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/42/lose-your-incoming-site-links.html I recently completely overhauled one of my sites. One of the last parts of the site to get back running was my link list that I had established very early on in the development of that site. This cost me dearly in traffic. The reason I lost so much traffic is because those link partners took me off their links which in turn lost me page rank with the search engines and more importantly partners who trusted me.

I found a commercial recently that pretty well summarized this point and when I saw it, I immediately thought of my link problem:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lesson:

Be very careful how you treat those who link to you. Especially when they have higher levels of traffic. You should treat them well and make sure the return link to their site stays in a prominent position. If they come check on your site and can’t find their link, good chance they will return the favor.

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/42/lose-your-incoming-site-links.html/feed 0 Don’t have a privacy policy. (Ha ha..oops) http://www.imakenomoney.com/36/dont-have-a-privacy-policy-ha-haoops.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/36/dont-have-a-privacy-policy-ha-haoops.html#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:17:34 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/36/dont-have-a-privacy-policy-ha-haoops.html I think a part of me was really hoping when starting this site (I make NO money.com) that I was going to focus on discussing my past grievances and blogging mistakes.   I was expecting to do everything right here.  This was going to be the site where things were going to go exactly how it was supposed to.    All my content for the blog was going to come from my PAST and not the present because, well…I’m done making major blogging mistakes.  Apparently, not so.

I was reading a blog paraody site this evening, “Blog Badly” written by Max Miroff.  A very funny blog that I would recommend you check out if you appreciate a great sense of humor.  I clicked on his privacy policy link and read his privacy policy introduction where he explains his need for a policy because he “wants (his) right to use Adsense upheld”.  Huh?  What is he talking about?

So I went over to Adsense.com and typed in “privacy policy” in the Google Adsense help and I learned something totally new tonight.  According to the new Adsense terms that I had agreed to at some point, I am supposed to have a privacy policy generated for this site beacuse, “publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process”   Yeah, I have not been doing that.  Not just for this site but ANY of my sites and I am pretty sure I have Adsense on ALL my sites.  Haha…opps.   I was wondering where my Adsense check has been.

I immediately went to Google and typed in: “Privacy Policy Creator” in Google and the first search result was what I clicked on.  It took me to “WebDevTips” which has an online privacy policy generator.  This generator allows you to type in your website URL, email and then automatically creates a privacy policy that you can cut and paste in your site.  It is nice because it also allow you to choose the option to include if you collect credit card information and will modify your code for that option.  So you’ll now notice a privacy policy for this website.  Thanks Max for the unintentional tip.

Lesson:  Actually there are two of them.

  1. When changes are made to the term and agreements between you and…well, anyone (Google, Credit Card…Wife) it would be advisable to actually READ those new terms and agreements before you click “I agree”.
  2. If you place Googe Adsense ads on your site, have a privacy policy to comply with those term and agreements that you agreed to when you signed up for the program.  It would be a shame to lose such a great sense of revenue (not that I make any money with it, but you might).
]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/36/dont-have-a-privacy-policy-ha-haoops.html/feed 6 Call “C.Q.” on your blog http://www.imakenomoney.com/29/call-cq-on-your-blog.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/29/call-cq-on-your-blog.html#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:02:38 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/29/call-cq-on-your-blog.html There is a great movie that was released in 1997 starring Jodie Foster called “Contact”. In the movie Jodie Foster plays the character of Dr. Eleanor Ann Arroway, a scientist who after years of studying finds proof for the existence of extraterrestrials after they send plans (the “contact”) to build a space travel machine. In the beginning of the movie there is this scene where a young Ellie, played by Jena Malone, is trying to contact her deceased father by using her amateur radio station to call him,

“CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come back?”

The letters CQ is an invitation for any operators listening on that frequency to respond. Like the movie portrayed, it is still widely used in amateur (or “ham”) radio. However, that doesn’t mean you can use it on your blog!

I can’t site a particular time when I have done this recently (I am sure I have) but I was reminded of this fatal blogging flaw while browsing through MyBlogLog recently. You can usually find this callout at the end of a blog post when a blogger is calling for comments, “If anybody is reading this post would please comment, Hello?”

I can’t think of anything that makes me reach for the back button faster than seeing someone desperately call out on their blog for comments or feedback from their readers. That is a good way of saying to everyone, “No one is reading this so it doesn’t matter what I say.”

Lesson: Please leave “C.Q.” for Amateur Radio and Shortwave Operators, not for blogging! If you create killer content then people will respond without any invitation. Right?

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/29/call-cq-on-your-blog.html/feed 3 Let a drunk guy publish as a guest blogger http://www.imakenomoney.com/25/let-a-drunk-guy-publish-guest-posts-on-your-blog.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/25/let-a-drunk-guy-publish-guest-posts-on-your-blog.html#comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:00:45 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/25/let-a-drunk-guy-publish-guest-posts-on-your-blog.html I enjoy the occasional microbrew or craft beer. It’s true. On the weekend it is nice to stop by a local place that carries beer like Shiner Bock, Abita TurboDog, Flying Dog Pale Ale and the like. I’m not saying it’s an obsession just an occasional indulgence. I thought it would be nice to have a little beer blog where I make a post about the beer of the weekend. Just a write up about what I thought about it and maybe a link to the microbrewery’s website.

Now my friend, let’s call him “Bob”. “Bob” likes beer and he knows a lot about microbrews from his personal sampling. So, when it came time to have someone guest post on my blog, the first person I thought of was “Bob”. Maybe I should have thought about it some more….

“Bob” was given full administrator rights to this blog. That means he could make posts at will without my reviewing, editing or approving. Whatever came to him at whatever time. Remember this is a beer blog. The idea was that he would contribute content and we would split the Adsense revenue….yeah.

His first post….second post….and third post was entitled “Beer Talking”. I am not kidding but I wish he was when he made this following post:

welcome, this is Beer Talking

hey, i’ve been enjoying “rogue dead guy ale” recently, they sell it in

a little booze store down the street from me. its strange , they sell

about 3 different microbrews and this is one of them. is rogue big time

or something? its from oregon (i’m in ohio),and the other two microbrews

they sell are kinda local. anyway , this beer kicks my ass, and i blast

music and sing along when i drink this, so try this beer , if you have’nt already.tell us

what you think.

i plan on talking about beers i’ll try, places i’ve been and had some

local brews,etc, nothing in depth obviously, ……

until next time….beer it up

There were two more posts like this. I’ll save you the time and not quote them. Now I like “Bob” a lot and he is a super great guy but this isn’t exactly what I had envisioned for the site. Which is why I should have….

Lesson:

Even if it is your best friend, spouse, boss, “Bob”…whatever. Please review and edit posts before they are allowed to be published. You can do this in Wordpress by registering your guest blogger as either an “Author” or “Contributer”. This means that they can still write posts for your blog but it won’t be published until either an Editor or Administrator (yourself) has looked and approved the post. Also, it would be even better if they already have a blog and you can sample their writing style and make sure it flows and works with your site and style. Because when it comes down to it, it is your blog and it is your name and reputation that is at stake.

]]> http://www.imakenomoney.com/25/let-a-drunk-guy-publish-guest-posts-on-your-blog.html/feed 6 Create a online video with very little sleep http://www.imakenomoney.com/24/create-a-online-video-with-very-little-sleep.html http://www.imakenomoney.com/24/create-a-online-video-with-very-little-sleep.html#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:47:17 +0000 Papa Bear http://www.imakenomoney.com/24/create-a-online-video-with-very-little-sleep.html Just from the title you know this is going to be good. But first, a quiz:

Please name the appropriate state for for these 2 letter state identifiers:

  1. “FL” is the 2 letter identifier for which state? “Florida?” Correct!
  2. “NY” is the 2 letter identifier for which state? If you said “New York” great!
  3. “MO” is….

If you said, “Missouri”, yeah yeah, your right BUT if you said “Montana” you would not be the first one to think so. In fact, you would help me feel not quite as bad for a recent, “Really? Oops”.

Now, it isn’t a BIG deal probably for most people if they don’t know all the 2 letter state identifiers. I mean the absolute worst thing that could happen is that your mail is delivered to the wrong state. But if you run a website that has a large professional GIS (Geographical Information Systems) user base, I mean, people who KNOW geography…then it could be a big deal.

On one of my sites I create software video tutorials on how to use a professional GIS / GPS software application. I demonstrate how to do certain things like loading, modifying and creating data in this program. I recently created a video showing people how to load and export some sample data I have available on the free download section at that site. Sounds like a great way to build some loyal users and repeat customers right? Well…

My second child had just been born, so sleep was a luxury and creating video tutorials for this site had to be done at whatever time I could get them to fit them in. After fiddling with the software for a couple of hours and getting everything “just right” I created a tutorial (at 3 A.M.) that beautifully and visually explained how to load the sample data into the program and export it into another popular free program. The sample data was “Blue Springs, MO 24k DLGS”. You don’t have to know what the rest of that title means to understand this story.  Just understand the fact that MO is Missouri NOT Montana. Which is how I pronounced that state identifier no less than 4 times in a 5 minute video.

When the DEVELOPER of the software sent me an email, thanking me for the tutorial he wrote:

Thanks for the new tutorial, it looks great (although FYI, ‘MO’ is Missouri, not Montana :-) !

I am sure sitting at my desk when I read that email I turned beat red. I thought, “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I did that.” I went back and either dubbed my voice over or I deleted the part where I said “Montana” which sounds a bit funny too. It is funny…now that I listen to it I can actually hear the voice over like a cheesy movie. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get it to sound the same as the rest of the audio on that video clip. “Blah blah blah…MISSOURI…blah blah”.

Lesson:

Don’t create video blogs, video tutorials or audio podcasts when you are struggling to stay awake. When you are sleep deprived, the first thing that starts to go is your brain. You are going to say something silly or even downright stupid and most likely your readers, viewers or even sponsors will catch your embarrassing mistake before you do. They may laugh about it and shrug it off or they may find another site with a developer who is awake.

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