As I mentioned recently, I’ve got a master plan for Project B-2 Bomber, which boils down to: keep doing what I’m doing until it reaches a certain point in traffic, then pitch the next phase of it to investors. There’s got to be someone out there who will see the same potential I’m seeing and feel like throwing at least a modest sum at it. If not… I’ll find the money myself.

Either way, I … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track 3 Comments »

In light of recent discussions about the various reasons why we’re all doing this “internet marketing” thing, I’m going to share precisely what my goals are with all this, which I’ve never exactly done before.

I’m a writer with a creative type personality. That means normal, routine jobs are such a poor fit for me, I was 25 before I realized they weren’t actually designed by a supernatural force bent on destroying me. I … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track 3 Comments »

ummmmm Internet Homesteading? Looking for an identity

What Mark talks about here is exactly what I’m doing. I don’t want to be rich, I just want to be independent from the rat race, from cities where the jobs are (but the cost of living is high). I don’t want to worry about whether my day job will lay me off when I turn 50 because there’s such ridiculous ageism in this country. … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track 5 Comments »

Some exciting new possibilities and ventures dropped into my lap over the weekend.

First, on the heels of that epiphany I had where I realized what the very marketable focus of the formerly unmarketable B-2 Bomber is, I woke up the next morning with a plan to turn it into an enormous hub that would totally attract investors and turn it into a smallish company unto itself.

I’m completely serious. I have a brilliant plan and … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track No Comments »

There’s a truism I’ve noticed throughout my observations of the business world, and it applies to every industry - movies, real estate, medicine, all of it: hype can take you to dizzying heights, but the air’s much richer where the quality is.

Transactions are both Vulcan and Human.

Business transactions have two components: the quality of the results, and the way the transaction makes you feel. These two don’t always have a lot to do with each … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track No Comments »

Most of us have experienced that moment at one time or another, in which we look around and it seems like everyone but you is making thousands a month online and you’re the only idiot making $300. (Hey, I’m still there.) But consider this from Yaro Starak’s Sometimes You Have To Reinvent The Wheel:

We can assume that every person who does nothing or … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track 4 Comments »

I’ve been observing different people’s work styles lately in the hopes of improving my own. One thing I’ve noticed is that when problems happen, some people tend to want to revamp the system in which they happened, and others just want to fix that item and go on. For example, your team has trouble finding a document in a file. After much searching and frustration, you find it in a file you wouldn’t have expected. … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track No Comments »

I worked out my dilemma about whether to build content or work on monetizing and other stuff.

Content will be priority, but I’m being more selective about it. For example, ChillyCool will be getting a minimum of 4 posts per week instead of 12, because I just don’t get that domain. I can’t see the longterm value in it, and yet the traffic keeps growing. I think 4 posts a week will keep it alive … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track No Comments »

I believe the longterm solution to my making a full time living online is to produce tons of great content that people want to link to. I believe from there I can launch sites that will sell them stuff.

But as I mentioned last night, in the meantime my earnings are dropping, which makes me want to work on building my affiliate sites and monetization strategies.

Here’s the problem: there are only 24 hours in the day. … READ MORE

Posted in Staying on Track No Comments »

A lot of successful blogs don’t offer anything of real value. They’ll take a problem everyone’s trying to solve, say they have a solution, and:

Write a post that just rehashes all the solutions we’ve already tried that didn’t work.
Write a post that sounds like it has the solution, if only you could figure out what the hell they’re blathering about, while a crowd of (probably paid, or working on a back-scratching arrangement?) commenters worship at … READ MORE

Posted in Blogging, Staying on Track 2 Comments »