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Loss of Jobs in America Paul Craig Roberts Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003 How Secure Is Your Job? Laura Barcella Friday, April 7, 2006 American Jobs: Going, Going... Jane Birnbaum 2005 Companies in India celebrate "loss of American jobs" Mike Crane December 2004 Costly Trade With China Millions of U.S. jobs displaced Robert E. Scott October 9, 2007 Immigration Is Hurting The U.S. Worker Steven A. Camarota Spring 2007 Outsourcing Not the Culprit in Manufacturing Job Loss Wes Iversen December 9th, 2003 |
Inetekk Policy We built Sohomatic Testimonials Veretekk Live up to the minute. Your job is secure if you are your boss Bill Repp October 14, 2007 Learn What The Wealthy Already Know! Tim Sales Back Office Demonstration What you buy on payday? Tim Sales Back Office Demonstration The New Economy Robert McGarvey Entrepreneur, May, 1996 Small Hi Tech Business Small Business Technology Council March, 2007 SOHO Small Office Home Office June, 2000 CEO's note I am a SOHO November, 2007 |
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Feeds for The SOHO Quest [ ] 1. Move on from "Making Money Online" Blogging Myth MoneyMashup Updates for Auto-pilot Income If you have been blogging for any length of time you will come to find it to be a lousy money making proposition. I continue to blog essentially for three or four reasons now. Ultimately you need several blogs to use for building links. You also need niche specific blogs to promote your niche websites. Other things that keep me blogging are the social aspects, the fact I can use blogs to voice my opinions unedited by others, and blogging allows me to practice my writing skills. Heck, I might even pass on some of the valuable lessons I have learned, and save some people on their learning curve time. This post started out as an update on my Affiliate Mashup Sites as part of a beta program being developed by Mark Wielgus at 45n5.com, so here goes. I now have 10 "mashupmony" websites in the hopper. The two newest being HDTV411.info and CellularMobility.info. Since we all have a fat chance of making any money blogging, you might as well avoid all of the Internet tripe, and learn how to market online. These beta sites are not too pretty, but I did build ten in less than a week. 2. Mashups for Money - Marketing on The Internets with The Google I have learned that blogging is critical to marketing online, but not a means to an end. Learning the ropes of Internet marketing is far more important. There are only a few ways to make money in the off line world, and so it is the same in the online world, according to the prophecy. It's always going to be trading time for money (labor), buy something that appreciates and then sell it for a gain (investments), or sell something (products and services). Most people can't get their heads wrapped around these simple concepts. BTW, the virtual world offers all three of the same opportunities. The other part of the equation is learning how to automate each step of the process. This is where the Internet gurus get you, and most of them are not even making money in a traditional monetizing scheme. They are just selling you a load of crap about how to write blogs, get traffic, and sell ads, paid posting, or sell stupid Get Rich Quick schemes, software, CDs, ebooks, and other materials. Well, what are you going to do with that traffic? Sell your readers and visitors another load of the same money making BS with rehashed information and How-to-Guides? Those that can "do", and those that can't "teach". This is why there are no big secrets. You have to learn how to "market something" online. It's going to be your time for cash, a gain on an investment, or selling a product or service, period. This is where mashup websites come into play. Fully automated...find a niche...load up some keywords...and presto you have a viable selling site using the power of the Internets, The Google, and tried and true affiliate marketing. Here are a few of my first mashup sites. Some of these may not yet be indexed, as I have just built these sites in the last two days. Best Laptop Cases Wind Power Products Best Water Filters Gas Motor Scooter Info Electric Power Scooters Best Rugged Laptops Online Solar Power Wi-Fi Tech and Gadgets Unlocked Cell Phones ETC Stay in touch, come back to this blog and leave comments, and let me know if you want to learn how to do this. My SOHO blogging has been way light...but then there is a reason. 3. SpiderWeb Will Rock the Web Whoa Baby! This blog is getting whiskers. Anyone that has followed my path will know that I now have been heavy into educating myself about Internet marketing. Thus, the reason for no posts. But I have been busy and on assignment. One of the keepers is a beta program known as The SpideWeb Marketing System. If you have seen it in passing, but did not consider it...time to time warp for a reconsider. I think this is going to be the next big monetizing scheme for the web.  Many have tried to create a self-sustained or auto-pilot system. This puppy started out with 12 streams of income, but now has 22. I have a gut feeling it's going to be a winner. It still is in beta, so do get in now to position yourself. Leave a comment if you want to join my team. It's no cost, but I also don't need any slackers. Yes, I will drag you along, but you have to do exactly as I say and follow a plan of action. Check out my blog on the subject, too, at "The SpiderWeb System Information and Reviews". 4. EZ-20-NOW Reviews and Review Blogs Time to crank up the older blogs for some testing of marketing ideas and some Google juice. I have spent the first part of 2008 reviewing online marketing ideas. I continue to weed out the chaff and look for simple ideas. Solid and quick programs that can be developed and promoted with SSM and SMO. The vision is still to be a sovereign road warrior with a rugged laptop and a cell phone. The first program I am testing is Easy-20-Now, or EZ20NOW. I have actually started a review blog. Drop by at EZ20NOW Reviews and leave a comment and extend a linking hand. This program is cheap, simple, and does not have a scam feel with all the hype. I am doing my homework before I get too deep. You may want to watch all my blogs as I pull it all together. I spent the better part of 2007 just reading, researching, and learning how to market online. Yes Virginia, social media marketing does work, but it takes a long time, and the learning curve is steep. 5. How to Produce 365 Videos in One Year (Archived in: Online Income Reviews) If you have been involved in the blogosphere for long, you know that many bloggers are gravitating towards video aka Video blogs, Vlogs, Vidcasts, or a Video Podcast. This is a heads up on Mark Wielgus at 45n5.com. Mark is on top of online trends, and I am here to tell you that he researches, tests, and reports on things you will come to appreciate on a daily basis. All the information in this post was gleaned from 45n5. My belief is that Mark combines some marketing savvy with geekdom knowhow. He even writes simple, but useful utility programs and then gives them away for free on the blog. Here is a recent link to one he dubs "Keyword Scrubber". 45n5.com has turned into one of the few blogs I simply must check out on a daily basis. Now Mark is committed to deciphering Affiliate Marketing as a top priority. Another project he is combining with this effort is his personal mission to produce and post a video every day in 2008. I think with 365 videos in the planning, his little experiment is one to watch for trends, plus the techniques, tips and tricks he is bound to uncover along the way. So, if you want to make 365 videos in one year, watch this guy in 2008 and I think you will learn something. 6. Prioritize Your Blogging for 2008 (Archived in: Social Media Marketing Social Media Optimization) Welcome to the New Year! I have been spending the last week planning for 2008, which has included changes to my blogging style. If you follow my blogs, you know that I have decided to concentrate on Digital Nomads and The Rugged Notebooks Blog as my main focus for blogging, and with less frequent posting to this blog and The Sovereign Journey. This is not for a lack or loss of interest, but merely a necessity of time management. Regardless, my blog niche revolves around the central theme of mobility and using technology to be independent. So, you can always check back here and/or catch my more frequent updates at the Rugged Notebooks or Digital Nomads sites. My plan this year is to move to private domains. One thing I have been doing is writing more focused posts...themed, if you will, or a series of posts on a subject of interest. Recently, this has had a major slant towards telecom, and in particular new gadgets like MagicJack and VoIP telephoney solutions like Google GrandCentral. I am finding that being more focused on a particular subject area makes it easier and more interesting to research, test, review, and write. I think my readers appreciate it a well and it is helping in the SERPS. If you are still blogging, drop me a line and let me know how you are getting on. There seems to have been a drop in the number of friends I met online in 2007 that have continued to blog, or scaled back like I have. -Digital Nomad 7. Twelve Step Program for Email Addicts (Archived in: Online Usability Reviews) I saw this over at the BigString 2.0 website and thought it was good advice. BigString is an interesting concept in itself, which I will let you discover for yourself. These 12 items have been edited somewhat, so not to get dinged for duplicate content. There were some typos in the original text anyway. Enjoy. 1. Do not send email when you are angry. Wait until you calm down before you send that email. Feelings and thoughts can be difficult to interpret and easily misconstrued. 2. Never send a sarcastic email that could be taken out of context. Sarcasm and email do not mix. You can easily offend someone in an email without intent to do so. 3. Do not send email gossip. You never know where the email will end up. Just make a commitment to yourself not to participate in any gossip. 4. Never end significant relationships via email. Email is the equivalent of an electronic paper trail. Not good for any sour ending, whether business or personal. 5. If you don't want your boss or coworkers to see it, better not send that email from work. 6. Never put anything in writing that may come back to haunt you. A good overall policy. Not just for email. 7. Never, ever, hit ‘Reply to All’ when you just want to send an email to one individual. 8. Don’t email pictures of yourself to others. Especially, online acquaintances and complete strangers. 9. Don’t make promises or commitments via email that you cannot or will not keep. 10. When you send attachments, be sure that you have selected the correct files and documents. 11. Good advice from New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, “Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an email.” 12. Try BigString recallable email. If you do happen to make errors...the recallable, erasable, and non-forwardable features will help to correct such mistakes. 8. How to Build 10-Minute Affiliate Website Mashups (Archived in: Online Income Reviews) If you are searching for ways to be innovative with your online marketing, then here is another plug for many of the ideas featured at 45n5.com authored by Mark Wielgus. No, this is not a paid post. This is the good stuff, it's an addendum to the post on "30 Websites in 30 Days", and Mark calls this his YouTube-Ebay-Amazon Affiliate Website Mashup Thingy. I have had a few email exchanges with Mark, and these are a few of his cautionary thoughts by way of how he has explained the ideas behind how it should work. Most people will not succeed with this mashup concept, or any other website scripting without the underlying concept and knowledge (or experience from learning) of how to build such a niche site. Cranking out "out of the box" and rubber stamp solutions is what everybody else is doing. Doing the same thing that everyone else is doing online will bring the same results...which happens to be not making any money online. This also happens to mirror Einstein's theory of insanity, and he was no dummy. It's also making many people wealthy for some pretty worthless online information products. So, if you use the script out of the box, most of your money will be made from luck or successful keyword research (aka) what words and topics you use to build these niche minisites in mass production. Now is the time to learn. Take the time to consider doing it right. - Digital Nomad 9. A SOHO Reprise of Honest Riches System (Archived in: Online Income Reviews) A 25 Year Old Entrepreneur Making a Living Online from Home You probably have read about or heard of The Rich Jerk and Chis X of Day Job Killer. If not you better stop and do a Google search right now. About 2 years ago, Holly Mann, a young mother started to successfully market directly against high profile Internet marketing gurus like these guys. Living in a foreign country with no job and few resources, Holly decided she could research, design, and deliver a kinder and gentler approach to online marketing. Evidently she found her niche selling "How-To" information, because she has become successful in a short period of time (well, a couple of years). "Honest Riches 2" is a 95 page proven guide. Holly shows all the techniques she has used to make money online through affiliate programs starting with no website and no start-up money, then on to free websites that can easily be setup with little or no experience, including free advertising that most people don't know or think about. Yes, it seems possible to make money online and work from home just about anywhere (Holly lives in Thailand), but don't quit your day job just yet. You need a system and you need the right tools and knowledge to be successful. Changing your career is a life altering decision. Before taking the leap, do plenty of due diligence and adequate research for information and resources about starting an online business and becoming an online entrepreneur. This e-book is geared for beginners, but is a valuable resource for all online marketers. No "get-rich-quick" schemes here....like any real business endeavor, it involves some effort and some work. But you will learn strategies and techniques to start making money right away. To read more about Holly Mann techniques and other online marketers, visit Thank You Holly Mann. 10. John Chow Calls It Quits on Agloco (Archive in: Weblogs and Business) After many attempts at beating a dead horse, everyone involved in the Agloco fiasco can now uncross their fingers. It ain't gonna happen. Even John Chow has finally admitted defeat along with almost 30,000 signed up in his Agloco network.  Here is a partial screenshot of his last post on the subject, and here is a link to the post about the Agloco demise at TechCruch. Like John says...it shows that all those MBAs don't always muster up success, even the second time around. For posterity, watch the video on the Agloco viewbar attributes, and think about all the gurus that were on board for this. 11. How to Build 30 Websites in 30 Days (Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Online Usability)  It may sound implausible, but it is not impossible. Follow this Digital Nomad and you know that just feeding the blogs is not going to cut it anymore. Blogging should be part of your online marketing network, but not a diversion.I have been searching heavy for the folks that are making it online and not the wannabes. One such source is 45n5.com authored by Mark Wielgus. This guy tells it straight. You have to hunt an peck to find the good stuff, and you will have to piece it together, but I think a good start is on this website. Mark will show you how to find a niche, create a website in 10 minutes, and then shove it in the pipeline with some SEO tricks. Theoretically, there is no reason why you could not do this everyday for a month and then have 30 minisites up and running for affiliate programs in thirty days. That's if you want to have a website between you and the merchant. I am finding that you maybe don't even need a website to market affiliate programs, but you do have to commit to spending some money for Google Adword campaigns. Better have a pad and pen ready. There is always something to learn. Take the time to learn something new each day. - Digital Nomad 12. Thinking Blog Celebrates First Year with A Free Laptop Giveaway (Archived in: Shoutouts Social Media Marketing)  Anything that goes viral online can be fun to watch, but sometimes it's even more exciting if you are part of the effort with some skin in the game. The Thinking Blog will make you think about many different things, and it will also make you think about viral marketing with the chance to start the new year right with a new laptop computer as part of an online promotion.You should know Ilker Yoldas as a website developer and graphic designer. Ilker is also a professional blogger. A great combination for promoting ideas and new products online. The Thinking Blog celebrates its first anniversary with an online giveaway to help get a new product line of rugged computers noticed online and hopefully taking it viral. Few things work as good as "FREE", except maybe these two words combined: "FREE COMPUTER". The giveaway rules from Ilker state, "To enter our giveaway, all you have to do is write about it in your blog. Ensure you have two links on your blog post, one link with rugged related keywords to RuffPC.com (e.g. "rugged computer", "water resistant laptop", "spill proof notebook", and the likes) and another link to this giveaway post." With a worldwide entourage of blog buddies and faithful readers, some bloggers become the experts of online marketing by disclosing this online information by showing you what to do. "TTB" is in this category with over 1600 subscribed RSS readers and several thousand new and returning visitors to the blog each day. To win the free laptop giveaway at The Thinking Blog you have to participate by writing a review in your own blog post. This promotion is being sponsored by Ruff PC, and the computer giveaway is worthy of your participation. The computer is a brand new, rugged, water resistant laptop called the RuffBook Tech. This road-worthy laptop has a magnesium alloy case, and is built to survive the harshest conditions. Stop reading about it in this post, and go read the complete entry rules at The Thinking Blog. Now go get your chance at owning a new rugged laptop before the end of 2007. Also, congratulate llker by leaving a comment or two on the blog. Happy Anniversary! -Digital Nomad Related Links: www.thethinkingblog.com or email: ilker@thethinkingblog.com Contact: Alan Shad, President: www.ruffpc.com Telephone or email: sales@ruffpc.com Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 13. Stop Feeding Your Blogs with Endless Content (Archived in: Social Media Marketing Social Media Optimization) I wanted to make a quick update in reference to writing and submitting Pillar Articles to article directories vs. the chore of "Feeding Blogs" with endless content. This test is progressing nicely. I have submitted 5 pillar articles since about the middle of last month. I know this is working, as I have been posting less to all the blogs I author in varying degrees as a test. This has not affected the blog traffic much at all. Traffic is actually improving, according to StatCounter and Alexa for two of the blogs that I author. One averaging over 10 page views per visitor at the time of this writing.  It may also be that I am now writing better, more focused content, since I do not feel pressured to try and post something every day for the sake of trying to post so frequently. The five recent pillar articles have been downloaded for publication over 100 times in less than 30 days, and this is just for GoArticles. I periodically will submit similar articles to several of the more popular article directories.  OK. You can "stop feeding your blogs" now, and you also can stop making endless comments on popular blogs, trying to get made a "Fav" on Technorati, and otherwise making the meter go up on metrics that have much ado about nothing when it comes to quality traffic. I think submitting to article directories will also create better traffic with better long-term and permanent links. Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 14. A Cheap Way to Secure Any Domain Dot Com (Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Online Usability)  Just a few comments and cautions from the TOS. You have to give out quite a bit of personal information, like a valid cell phone number in the US or Canada. Additionally, if you use the "Bring your Own Domain" option, you can use any hosting company you like while using free email service from AOL. However, if you choose the "Popular Custom Domain" option, you will be stuck with AOL as the administrator for the domain, so you will not be able to host a website at that domain. This could be a catch 22 for your future plans, so please read the "Terms of Service" carefully at AOL My eAddress. Source: www.nofullstop.com Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 15. Planting Seeds with Pillar Articles (Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business) Bouncing around the blogosphere, you may find that many of the well known bloggers are coming to the same conclusions that I already have. Get back to basics, don't worry about PR, Technorati, or Alexa ranking...and concentrate on traffic. For some people this still means spending horrific amounts of time networking and hitting the social network scene. I am more convinced that writing pillar articles for submission to article directories is a much better approach. This involves spending more time on research and organizing your thoughts far enough into the future to determine how you can approach a particular subject. You need to write for yourself, but you also need to write about things other people will have an interest in reading. In many ways this is much better than the prospect of having to write posts just for the sake of writing a post. I know at many times people get a writing block, or just get bored, or even fed up with the notion that they have to "feed the blog" (I think I just coined a useful phrase). Some of the additional rewards of pillar articles, is that your writing will be more involved and engaging, you will be building authority in one or more areas of personal interest or a niche, and you will be expanding your own knowledge base as you research and process information. Additionally, you will have a greater chance of having your articles republished elsewhere on blogs and mentioned in references in such a manner that they are permanently linked back to your blogs and websites. Go plant some seeds for future traffic building, and resist the urge to "Feed the Blog". Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 16. Google Page Rank Drops Like A Rock for SEO Stars and Network Gamers (Archive in Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business) The Death of Page Rank! Everyone is complaining about their PR, or Google Page Rank dropping. I say, "Get over it and move on". As I wrote in a recent post about traffic strategy, it is becoming more obvious all the time that all these ranking metrics really prove is nothing...unless you want to post and brag about how you make the meters move. Just like Technorati, or Alexa ranking, PR has little or nothing to do with traffic and successful marketing. Anything ill-gotten is just that, "ill-gotten". So, if you have spent months or years gaming the system, don't be surprised to see what your true worth might be in the Blogosphere and the Arpanet. Take a deep breath, get back to work...and try to learn how to add value to your online projects and for your readers and visitors. Like the book says "Do What You Love, and The Money Will Follow." I think that all this nonsense is amazing to the true online marketers that know how to push the buttons to make things really work. It once again boils down to Niche, Traffic, Monetization, with the actual "Product" bringing up the rear. Maybe backwards of how the analog world works, but after all it is a "Market of One" when it come to the Internet and online marketing. Build a better mouse trap and you will be found. Besides, you really can't toss rocks at Google for trying to plug holes in the dam by making the PR rank more honest. More fun for gamers, too, who just have a burning desire for shortcuts and beating the system. Now we can all look forward to posts on new theories, new techniques, new ebooks, new widgets, new podcasts, new videos, new ezines, new seminars, new gurus, and new yearly conventions. Page Rank is alive and well, it just no longer is what it had become. Apologies in advance for all the cliches. - Digital Nomad Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 17. What Do Your Phone Numbers Spell? (Archived in: Social Media Marketing Related Miscellany)  It's the middle of the weekend, so no heavy thought riddled posts today. Just some fun and games to let your mind roam a little. Maybe this should become a habitual weekend exercise to post about. Find something that is lighthearted, but still interesting and write a quick post about it.I have had this bookmarked for some time, and today finally tried out PhoneSpell.org. Oddly enough, my telephone number does not spell anything. What are the chances of that. I tried both 7-Digit and 10-Digit combinations. This is no joke. Mouseover and click to see larger in a new window. Oh well, give PhoneSpell a link up and see what you come up with for your numbers. It may give you an idea for a new blog or domain name, jog your memory for a new marketing approach, or just make you laugh. Maybe we can resurrect the notion of the "enum" network. Sometimes we just need some levity. While you are there, check out the Voice Nation link at the bottom, and help PhoneSpell pay some bills. Ideas on How Not to Make Money for The Online Entrepreneur 18. Article Directory Submissions vs. Frequent Blog Posting to Drive Traffic (Archived in: Ecommerce SOHO Weblogs and Business) Are you lost in the blogosphere? Tired of posting and timestamps? I have been doing some experimenting with the different blogs that I write, including analysis and research about blogs versus websites. This has involved researching the current methods to create traffic, which everyone and their brother has rehashed in posts and how-to SEO ebooks and seminars. You know, like leaving comments on blogs, posting frequently, writing interesting posts, viral contests, linkbating, joining social networks, etc. These all do work. The caveat is that if you are using some of the monetization schemes that everyone writes about, you first have to have a presence with regard to a Techorati rank, and Alexa rank, or both to get in the game. The long and the short is that both of these ranking systems have little to do with making money in my mind. I personally have no interest in PPP, PPC, PPA, or any of the advertising schemes that require tons of time and effort. It is a double edge razor blade in my opinion, because you have to spend an unbelievable amount of time socializing and creating backlinks. It also is why bloggers burn out fast. Technorati is notoriously bad for not sending traffic. And get this...everyone that measures traffic knows that bloggers don't click on ads or text links. So what is the point of pandering to other bloggers in the blogosphere to get their traffic. Even Darren Rowse has recently admitted that Adsense income was no longer worth cluttering his Problogger blog up with ads. I can almost guarantee that if you spend much of your time in forums and social networks to gain popularity, you will have little to show for it except some nice ranks and bragging rights. All this indicates that it's time to get back to the idea of selling a niche product or service (a real product that fills a need) using a static website and driving traffic to that website. That is what online marketing is about. By best accounts, only a few dozen bloggers make a full time living out of 100 million blogs. Not a very good business model if you ask me. A good Technorati and Alexa rank may be giving you the illusion that you are successful. The same is true for frequent posting. I have deliberately cut back on posting to see what would happen. You guessed it...Technorati and Alexa ranks drop like a rock, and very quickly. The effort to maintain your rankings is an endless nightmare of posts to blogs, and posting comments to social networks and forums. It is like being a shark, stop swimming and you die. I am beginning to think a better approach is to use your blogging as part of a network traffic strategy to create desirable traffic. I also am going back to writing "pillar articles" for article directory submission. These end up as permanent links and keep on giving for years to come. There are only four things that matter in online marketing, and they are in this order of importance: 1. Niche 2. Traffic 3. Monetization 4. Product Not | |||||||
