Serial Monetizer

I debated with myself for quite a while about the theme or template that I should use for this blog.  I strongly favored finding a suitable free theme to use…especially since this venture is all about money making.  However, none of the freebies seemed to suit my needs…wanting something very clean, and very able to monetize with paid ads.

So….I made the decision to invest.  For a mere $39, I picked up this theme from www.johncow.com.  JC had a great post about those that thieved the “essense” of his template…with that being the catalyst getting the Cow’s to work with their designers and offer a paid version of their theme.

My theme isn’t original…but it is clean and functional for now.  Next step will be to create a custom header, then a custom theme altogether.  Of course, these steps will only come once I am turning a fair profit.

- Mark

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Here is my first statement of my goal for earning online.  Over the course of 40 days, beginning January 1st, I want to build my online earnings up to a steady $40 per day.

Breaking this down further, I would actually like to have 20 sites that average $2 per day.  This might mean that I have some not yet earning any $, and others that might bring in $3-$4 per day.  For some that might seem like a lofty goal…for others it might seem low.  For me–doing all that I will be doing in my spare time aside from my day job and family, I think it is appropriately aggressive.

Out of the gate, I will have a fairly diversified strategy to achieving these earnings.  Here are the types of vehicles I will use to make my income:

• Proxy Sites:  I will first start by launching a small network of proxy sites.  I already have my VPS, some good domains, and am about ready to roll with this.
• Proxy Promotion:  I’ve invested in a script to run a proxy promotion site.  I hope to get good synergy for my own proxies, as well as monetize some paid listings from this site as well.
• Niche MFA:  I already have 1…may add some more…solid MFA niche site.
• Forums:  I have 5 forums in the works.  And, before you all beat me silly reminding me how hard it is to monetize these, I fully understand that.  These will be 1/2 for monetization purposes and 1/2 because they are fun and topics that are close to me.
• CPA site:  I have 1 in the works.  When I am able to get it off the ground and promoted appropriately, I think I might have a serious money maker on my hands.
• E-book site:  I have a domain and idea for an e-book.  It is not the typical “make $ X way” that you might find on DP forums…but still might be a $ maker.

Hopefully amongst these types of sites, I can start to make progress toward my $ goals.  I have also signed up with Azoogle (not yet approved) to try to dip my toes into affiliate marketing.  I think I might be good at that, and Azoogle seems like a great place to try things out.

Just about 2 days until the race officially begins.  I will be posting on my progress, as well as other things that I learn and think others could find useful.

- Mark

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Hello Blogosphere, and thanks to whomever is out there reading this.

The key objective of this blog will be to chronicle the efforts of a corporate stiff looking to supplement (god forbid even replace) my traditional income with cash earned online.

There are many out there that have done this before me, a good group of which I enjoy reading. They have varied motives for their writing and blogs, but I’ll pimp a few of them here:

http://www.shoemoney.com (c’mon…you all know)
http://www.johncow.com (put the cow ahead of the chow b/c the humor @ cow is top notch)
http://www.johnchow.com (see comment after shoemoney)
http://www.theuniversitykid.com (an up-and-coming $ maker online…and hes only a teenager…gotta go read this guy)
http://www.jimkarter.com (somewhat of an unknown…however, making a good killing online)

This is not an exhaustive list…just a few that I enjoy reading.

My goal is threefold:
1.) Publish my own goals so I can be held publically accountable for them.

This is important, as with many busy corporate fools, balancing time is not easy…so I want a mechanism to keep me honest here.

2.) Publish the ways that I intend to (and hopefully accomplish) making money.

This will be the types of sites or endeavors that I partake in for profit. I hope to have a bit more transparency here with my money making adventures than some are.

3.) Publish my learnings about monetization strategies.

I am an extreme novice right now when it comes to all the possible monetization possibilities…but I hope to learn as much about them as I can, and post my findings for everyone to share.

All for now…my next post will share my initial goal for myself!

- Mark

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