InfoBarrel Again

After the debacle at eHow, the next site I started with was InfoBarrel. While I did well there with 111 articles (a few were outmoded and deleted along the way), I decided that my New Year's resolution would be to update and review all 111 articles. InfoBarrel has changed their rules since 2009, when I first started publishing there, so I also wanted to make sure I included at least one Amazon module in each article.

As of today, I have added Amazon modules to all but three of my articles (one I'm waiting for an ebook to be formatted; one I can't find anything for, and one I just haven't done yet).

Another thing that InfoBarrel introduced was article scoring. When they first introduced it, I had some article scores below 41, and many below 55. Articles scoring below 41 were going to be de-indexed, and I quickly fixed those just enough to get their scores up to 41. In January I decided to get all my article scores above 55 this year, and I have done it on all but three articles. Those three have scores of 50 or above, but I just can't figure out how to get them any higher.

The other InfoBarrel improvement I am working on is on adding long descriptions to my media pages. InfoBarrel is unique among sites in that opportunity, as you have the ability to earn from pictures uploaded to your article. Not only do ads show on those pages, but in addition, you can have a link going to one or more of your InfoBarrel articles in the description. I'm also adding one outgoing link to an Amazon search page, where appropriate. I've just started this process, so I imagine it will be the end of March before I have finished.

Dollar Question Mark Donatas1205

And will all this translate into improved earnings? It's too soon to tell, and likely I won't see the results for several months. On the other hand, I know that I've done something positive to attempt to improve my passive income from InfoBarrel, and that's what I knew how to do.

I have other goals for this year, too, and so far I'm keeping up with all my New Year resolutions. Unfortunately, in this passive income game, everything is delayed gratification, so one reason for this blog is to keep track of what I did, so that when I start to see results, I can go back and see what worked!

Go For It!

It's amazing to me how many people have an idea and never follow through on it. I've always been the type to try something and not be afraid of failure. After all, if you don't try, you won't succeed, right?

So it's with a great deal of excitement that I am proud to announce that my software company's first app, myGraph, is now live in the App Store. Six months ago, this was just an idea, and now I have a real company with a real product to sell.

Goals: Dolphins Craig Tuttle

And as a lesson to all dreamers everywhere, you never know if you don't try. So get out of your head, head down to your local SCORE office, and get going, because right now all your money-making ideas are locked in your head instead of funneling money into your bank account.

Remember, the total expenses for this company were less than $300. That includes web hosting, the developer access, the domain name registration, the assumed name certificate, etc. If this is too expensive for you to start out with, check out some of the ways you can earn money online for free!

How to Not Get Paid

I recently concluded business with an internet hosting company, and was trying to pay the last payment of my contract with them, when I ran into a huge problem. They took payments only by credit card, debit card, or Paypal--but the Paypal account had to have a credit card associated with it. I did not have any of these things, and I unsuccessfully spent the better part of an hour on the phone trying to find a way to pay them my last payment.

So, when you are setting up ways to accept payments, remember that not everyone has the same situation you do. Some people, trying to straighten out identity theft, temporarily disable credit and debit cards. Others may be in a situation where even a bank account may be a problem for them. Others, worried about identity theft, want to limit their exposure by paying cash.

Man Sweeping up Money

Always try to be as flexible as possible when allowing customers to pay you. Cash, checks, credit cards, PayPal (not necessarily linked to a credit or debit card), bank transfer, cashier's checks, money orders: these are all perfectly common forms of payment.

At best, you want to ask your customers how they would like to pay you. A listening ear, and understanding their concerns, will help you to be a better resource for them.

And the end of my story? The company decided that it was too much trouble to collect the $2.97 from me, because my situation didn't allow me to use any of their acceptable forms of payment. So they cancelled the invoice, and, in the process, used at least $30 of labor.

Learn a Graphics Program!

One of the skills I have found most useful in generating passive income is to learn at least a little graphics editing. Admittedly, you don't have to invest in Adobe Photoshop to learn to do at least something; you can even use a free program like the GIMP. But whatever program you choose, you should have at least some basic graphics editing skills.


It is really not necessary to invest a ton of money in graphics programs, at least until you develop some skills with the free programs. Most graphics programs have a lot of similarity in their interfaces.

Why? For one reason, it makes designing products for POD sites like Zazzle a lot easier. Take a look at this graphic I created:

Word Choice: Peak or Peek Mug by cheatsheet
Make a unique personalized coffee mug online at Zazzle.

This goes with my Zujava article on homophones and how to distinguish between words that are commonly confused. When you get an idea like this, it's difficult to describe to a graphics designer the exact idea you want, and you have to pay them something to do it. Admittedly, if you're using someone on fiverr, then that amount may be only five dollars, but you have the time you are investing to find the person, negotiate the job, and then approve or decline the job they do, as well as the time involved in leaving feedback, bookmarking the person (and remembering to go back to them next time). I created this (after a significant learning curve doing other graphic designs) in about five minutes, and had it posted for sale quite soon afterwards. Admittedly, it's not great art--but it doesn't have to be. This graphic gets the point across, and for what it is, it works just fine.

So get over your fear of complex graphics, watch some cool YouTube videos on how to create different looks, and play around with graphics programs. Your POD stores will thank you!

Why You Should be Using Listmania!

Many people I talk to don't realize all the great features in Amazon. One feature I almost never see used is Listmania, but if you are an Amazon affiliate, you should be using this feature regularly.

Listmania is simple enough; you simply group together a bunch of Amazon products and put them into a list. For any article, this feature is a real find. If you are writing a how-to article, make a list of supplies the reader will need to accomplish the task, and link to it (using the "link to this page" link on the Site Stripe). (You can get to these lists by editing your profile.) If you are writing about attracting toads to your garden, compare toad houses in your list. It really doesn't matter what you are writing about; just create a list, drop a link in the article with your affiliate tag, and you've gotten another reader to Amazon.

Your lists can be informative, amusing, satirical, or whatever suits your writing style and personality. With 2,000 characters of comment for each item on your list, and numerous items per list, this is your chance to really show your readers how committed you are to your subject.

Just to see some examples, take a look at these lists I created for various purposes:
Henna hair dyes
Wow! Buttons

As you can see, as long as you can find Amazon products, you can put them into a list and generate more affiliate sales.

Business Update

One of the reasons I quit posting so much here was that I was working on building my new business, Upstart Technology. The company consists of two people: myself and a software developer. Since I'm the business person, I end up doing everything except writing the code: building and maintaining web sites, dealing with intellectual property, designing business cards, shooting videos, writing content, and, in general, my role is to be the chief cook and bottle washer, so he is free to do only what he does best--write incredibly good software.

Beta
Pop Ink - CSA...
Buy This at Allposters.com

And after four short months, our first product is ready for beta test! If you have an iDevice (something that has Apple's logo on it) with a touchscreen, and a printer, you can have free access to the beta testing products, and you'll the be first to know about our new products, too! Simply join our mailing list and you will be up to date on everything happening in the company.

Zujava

If there's one thing I have learned about writing sites, it's that you are judged on the following factors:

• the quality of your topics
• the quality of your writing
• your ability to follow the rules

So I heard about this writing site with the strange name, called Zujava (pronounced Zoo (like the place where they keep animals) and Java, like the programming language or the slang word for coffee, or the location). Mostly what I heard is that they are slow to approve new writers.

Zujava wants you to write three posts (here they're called "leaves") before you can publish. Those three posts have to be approved before they will be visible, and before you can publish any more. Okay, fair enough. With all the wait times I heard everyone complaining about, I figured it would be months before I got approved, but I did work very hard on putting together some substantial posts on issues I care about. I read the rules quite carefully, and finally was ready to submit my leaves for review.

Well, imagine my shock when I got up from the computer, got a cup of tea, and headed back after a few moments to check my email. I was already approved! For a moment I couldn't believe it, but indeed I had been approved in less than half an hour!

"Surprise! High-fibre ice cream!" - ... Tom Cheney

So, it just goes to show. Follow the rules. Write good-quality content with original ideas on interesting topics. If you're not getting approved, review your work before you blame the site. And then you just might surprise yourself, too!