I found and read a website this morning that was kind of deflating. Enlightening for sure. But it made me think that the shit I’ve been doing on the web to make money is pretty much in vain. Hell, you could tell that just by peeking into my monthly checks. They’re enough to send a guy snowboarding and buy a few gadgets and gifts, but nothing to quit the cubicle life over.
Anyway, the site is Blogger Unleashed. The dude who runs the site seems like he knows WTH he is doing. He is brutal and honest. But he also spills a ton of tactics and techniques that he apparently uses to make money on the ‘net. And none of them are pretty. His promotion techniques include using automation tools like Bookmarking Demon. Seems he uses this tool a great deal to get links back to his websites. He’s big into buying domains and setting up BANS sites. He gives tips on setting up blog farms, link farms and all kinds of stuff that has been considered a no-no. Yes, some of his tips are grey hat, but many of his posts delve into solid business building techniques. Stuff like how and why you should be blogging a local niche, etc. He really has some great ideas to help you in this business.
His grammar is atrocious. He’s not a fan of the period. Lots of run on sentences and the like. But who cares? The message is what counts and the information he spills is stuff that most people would charge 97 bones for. If you do start to read his posts, don’t stop there. Read the comments. That is where you get a better explanation of what is being discussed.
So why was I bummed? Because webmasters like this guy are doing this stuff big. You have to start somewhere for sure. But all the little things that I do pales in comparison to what guy’s like him are doing daily. I mean, he builds blog after blog and promotes the hell out of it with 2 different automated tools on separate machines, running through proxies, building blog farms and linking everything top to bottom. I dunno, building a simple little XSP site for the week and submitting the link to 5 directories a day or so and submitting a couple of articles to the directories just seems so pointless I guess.
True, I make what I need to feed my trip and buy a toy or two. But I’m stuck. I cannot continue to rewrite and write anymore articles for my niche sites. I cannot continue to buy more domains and stick a blog on there to service. I cannot create more Squidoo lenses and free blogs on Blogger to try to coral more traffic. I cannot bookmark anymore manually or with that broken piece of shit OnlyWire. I cannot swap more links. I cannot join and service anymore social sites for backlinks. I cannot comment anymore on blogs and forums for backlinks.
I’m going to have to stop trying to build niche after niche I think and simply focus on one or two things. I try to build these niche sites and slap Adsense on there but they never do as good as building a blog and simply writing what’s on my mind. My fitness blog has gone from a few visitors a day to close to 300. In a month. How? Eff if I know. I just write. I submitted to a couple of blog directories. That is about it. Maybe if I tried I could get 1,000 visitors. It sounds so pathetic after reading Blogger Unleashed. I think maybe I’m going to put the brakes on building:building:building and take the next month or so and promote and link the two or three sites I care about. Heavily. I’m also very interested in what he had to say about local niche marketing. That actually sounds fun and something I could be interested in doing.
Anyway, have a read at Blogger Unleashed. I think the seven readers of this blog will enjoy it. Hell, maybe I’m late to the party and you’ve been holding out on me.
18 responses so far ↓
April // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Yeah, I just found out about him the other day. You may have seen a few comments I left. He’s saying a lot of things that I sort of thought but a bit scared to say.
Like for instance I’m really fed up about reading blog posts on how blogging is akin to a coffee shop. How does that help me get adsense clicks?
I’m really focusing my efforts onto just a few sites and my home improvement site has gone from about 30 visitors a day to 100 in less than a month.
I’ve also been using Article Marketer as per Courtney Tuttle’s advice along with commenting on the do follow list.
Anyway, I’ve got to get to bed. My head’s spinning a bit.
April
Emma // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I’ve been reading your blog since last spring, and I am a fan of blogger unleashed as well. Don’t sound so discouraged, Vic just does everything on a large scale. But I agree, with you your writing is interesting. Maybe an authority site instead of niche sites would suit you better. Either way, keep writing.
Chris // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:51 pm
You always seem to make me laugh, and I’m not even sure you mean to. I just discovered Blogger Unleashed about a week ago myself. I agree with you on his grammar. You have to overlook it, because he has great information without the $97 price tag (and, overlook his colorful language too).
Vic // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I know it might be a bit overwhelming especially when I tell you folks how it is with out the glitter and the watch the grass grow videos or the ZEN of blogging. The important thing is now you know and what will you do. Imagine yourself a boxer that just had a horrible round where you got your behind kicked but now you got 1 minute to shake it and go kick some behind in the next round. I invite you to choose success remember the only difference between you and me is time I have been doing this longer that is it.
Splork // Jan 23, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for dropping by Vic and for the words of encouragement. Cool stuff.
John Matenkosky // Jan 24, 2008 at 9:26 am
Well, Splork, there will always be somebody more dedicated, more insightful, more daring, maybe even smarter than me (or you)… we can learn from them today, even if we can’t be like them today… and someday… who knows?
If you want to read an even more irreverent IM blog, check this one out: http://www.aojon.com/ This guy appears to me a kind of SuperDuperMan who thumbs his nose at IM “truths” and hates guberus more than most of us do
http://www.aojon.com/
Jen // Jan 24, 2008 at 9:37 am
Since I’m new to finding your site, Splork, I think that makes me reader #8.
Love your blog, LIVE your blog and talk about the frustration of this business regularly with my IM friends. On one hand, I just wanna quit. But the fact is, I love this gig.
Will go check out Vic’s blog now.
Splork // Jan 24, 2008 at 10:06 am
Hey John. It’s not much of a stretch to say there are other people more dedicated than I am…at least in this racket. If I pursued this business with as much vigor as I do, say, bike riding or snowboarding then I’d be… wealthy, fat and drinking mai-tai’s on an island with hula girls.
Splork // Jan 24, 2008 at 10:07 am
Thanks for dropping by Jen…or #8, as I’ll fondly refer to you now.
Reader #6 // Jan 24, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Hi Splork,
I got all excited as I hadn’t heard fo the blog in question and from your description he does some of what I do…
Is bloggerunleased working for anyone else or is it down currently? It’s down for me.
I come (lbinhw) here because I enjoy your writing and I love the dry humour…
Reader #2.73 // Jan 24, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Reader #6, it’s also down for me, too. I checked it out in Google cache and it does look damn good.
Thanks for the tip off, Splork, as I’ve been looking to update my feed reader for a while now.
~ Teli
Splork // Jan 24, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I guess the rush of traffic from my 8 readers caused his server to burn. Tragic.
Chris // Jan 24, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Great post Splork, and thanks for pointing out Blogger Unleashed. I haven’t seen it but it sounds great.
I am refocusing this year as well and so far things are actually picking up a bit.
You are certainly ahead of me because my earnings from IM won’t pay for any trip, (maybe a couple tanks of gas).
I am 100% confident I just created my first $10+/day site though and will build links until it reaches at least that level.
Keep writing. We are reading.
Chris
Reader #6 // Jan 25, 2008 at 8:10 am
Hi Splork,
‘I guess the rush of traffic from my 8 readers caused his server to burn.’
Thanks for the laugh (again). Drier than a glass-blower’s stubble
Hey Teli (reader #2.73), fancy seeing you here. I don’t buy much stuff but I bought your WSO this morning - I haven’t used it yet so I can’t comment but I’m sure it’s great or I wouldn’t have bought it.
Splork - it’s things like this that are a bit scary. The above story is true. I bought reader 2.73’s product earlier and that’s the first purchase I’ve made in four or five days (apart from some domains.)
Do you think in fact that rather than it being a bad thing that you only have 8 readers, the truth is that there are only actually 8 people on the whole of the internet. So in truth everyone on the net reads your blog.
The reason the net looks so busy is because -
a) we all buy each others products that we sell under pen names
b) we all pretend to be 13 year old internet marketers in forums in order to start threads to create buzz for product launches (based on a recent true story)
Don’t laugh, it’s closer to the truth than you think….everything is exaggerateable and the internet provides a perfect venue for natural ‘inflation’.
It goes like this -
1st whisper) guru XYZ must make millions with that site/product surely?
2nd) guru XYZ pulled in a million in revenue
3rd) guru XYZ made a million profit
4th) guru XYZ makes millions
5th) guru XYZ’s product will show YOU how to make millions just like him
6th) that guy must make millions from the site he created using guru XYZ’s product
Yawn!
Micah // Jan 26, 2008 at 8:01 am
Blogger Unleashed?
Yeah, all eight of us were talking about it the other week. We were going to keep it to ourselves but I guess somebody sneaked and told you.
You’ve got nine readers by the way, my cat always sits on my shoulder and reads when I do.
Diane // Jan 27, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hey Splork, thanks for the info on Blogger unleashed. I’ve been following your blog for quite a while and do find it interesting. Please don’t get discouraged, and please keep on writing this blog.
Splork // Jan 27, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Hey Micah. Cool cat. I already like it.
Splork // Jan 27, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Thanks for the encouragement in thwarting the discouragement, Diane. Lost Ball continues with no end in sight.
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