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Getting Started with Smart Passive Income

Niche Site Private Advertisement Experiment – Part 2 – Displaying Ads and Accepting Payments

Last week I posted Part 1 of the Niche Site Private Advertising Experiment, a little case study I’m running to see if I can generate additional income from my security guard training niche site by having related companies pay for ad space.

Last month, the site pulled in $2,801.06 from Google Adsense alone, but as I always mention it’s dangerous to rely only on one income source from a website – so I’m giving private advertising a shot.

In Part 2 I’ll be explaining more about the mechanics of how you can actually run ads on your website or blog and accept payments too. Later posts in the series will cover pricing, marketing your ad space to potential advertisers and hopefully some real life examples along the way.

Side note: since I posted Part 1 of the series the niche site has already landed one paying advertiser and many more have already expressed interest!

I’m excited to talk about that, but let’s take it one step at a time and get into exactly how you can place advertisements and accept payments on your site first. Click Here to Read More of my 2nd Private Advertising Experiment Post

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My Monthly Report – January 2012

passive income Let’s start off the New Year with a bang…

Welcome to my January 2012 Monthly Income Report!

Each month I share an extremely detailed report about what I’ve been up to, the income I’ve earned online and the lessons I’ve learned during the past 31 Days.

Why?

For several reasons:

To keep me headed in the right direction. Sure, I could keep this all to myself but sharing this information publicly helps to hold me accountable and continue to try and outdo myself.
I want to be honest and transparent. If anyone talks about making money online, I think that’s really the only way it should be. Wins, losses, successes and failures – the whole deal.
I know it inspires a lot of people to take action.

Before I get into this month’s report I just wanted to mention one quick thing: if you’re just starting out online, please understand that making money via the Internet is definitely not an overnight thing.

Time, hard work, dedication, a lot of failures, constant learning and a passion to help other people are all things that I’ve found to be part of the recipe for success.

And lastly – it takes belief. If you don’t believe you can succeed, then there’s absolutely no chance that you will.

“My inner world creates my outer world.” - T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Let’s get to it… Click Here to Read the Rest of My January Income Report

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Is This the End of the Market Samurai Dynasty? Direct Answers from the CEO

Over the weekend the team behind Market Samurai, a keyword research and SEO analysis tool that I’ve recommended several times here on the blog (and that I’m an affiliate for), posted an announcement about some changes that are happening with the software that had a lot of people asking – is this the end of Market Samurai?

Because I use the product almost every day, and more importantly because I know many of you do as well as a result of my recommendation and training videos, I feel that it’s my duty to keep everyone informed of what’s going on.

If you’re not a Market Samurai user you may still find this post interesting, but I just wanted to let you know why I wrote this article up front so that if you’re not interested I don’t waste your time.

UPDATE (Wednesday, February 1st, 2012): Market Samurai just posted a NEW blog post here saying everything is back up to speed, and the article also debunks a lot of claims other SEO analysis tools have made about the situation and clarifies a lot of what’s going on.

What Happened…

One of the reasons I have used and recommended Market Samurai since mid-2009 is because of their very honest and transparent approach to doing business, which very much aligns with my own.

So, when over the past few days the software was having major issues and not working correctly, I knew a blog post explaining the situation was due.

And just yesterday (Sunday), the Noble Samurai team posted this:

Update: The State of the Market Samurai Nation

Basically – what happened is this: Click Here to Read More about Market Samurai’s Latest Changes…

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Niche Site Private Advertisement Experiment – Part 1 – Why?

Niche Site Private Ads My security guard training niche site currently earns between $1,800 and $2,200 per month – 99% of it coming from Google Adsense alone.

One of my goals in 2012 is to diversify the income streams coming from this site and increase its monthly income to at least $3000 per month by the end of the year.

Diversification is important because:

It’s safer. It’s not smart to rely on one single income source because the moment it runs dry, you’re done for.
It gives you more opportunity. The more income sources available, the more options you have to expand and grow. Instead of focusing on growing income source A, you can grow income source A, B & C at the same time.
It increases the value of the site. Buyers are more likely to be attracted to a site that has several income sources.

My quest to diversify SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com has been very unsuccessful so far, due in large part to a simple lack of taking action.

This is why I formally announced diversification as a goal for 2012 because I know you’ll hold me accountable to it and at the very least, motivate me to push forward – and you already have.

More on that later in the post… Click Here to Read More of my 1st Private Advertising Experiment Post

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A Project in a Weekend – My New Web App

At the end of 2010 I created a niche site from scratch for the security guard training industry in the U.S. In 73 days it got to the #1 spot in Google and it’s currently generating between $1,800 to $2,200 consistently each and every month. You can read more about how I publicly created this niche site (from niche selection to the domain name and monetization – for free) on the Niche Site Duel Hub.

In that particular industry there are different training requirements for each state – so it made sense to create a separate post for each one individually.

As a way to organize this content and provide a better user experience on the homepage, I thought it would be cool to have a clickable map of the United States – so I had one made for me.

I found a flash map that I liked on iStockPhoto.com. It cost about $8.

From there, I hired a flash-developer on Odesk.com for $10.00/hour to include the correct links for me and add some color. It took him 5 hours and 20 minutes to complete the job, for a total of $53.30

Finally, I gave the file to Mike, my VA, to embed on my niche site. You can see the final result on http://www.securityguardtraininghq.com right now if you wish.

That’s $61.30, which I consider a worthwhile investment.

I’m very happy with the final result and it’s something a lot of people have complimented me on – not just people from this blog who are familiar with the niche site, but actual users of the site as well, which is really nice.

Interestingly enough, one of the most common questions I get is “How can I make a map just like that one for my own site?”

At least 3 times a week, somebody asks me this question – and I even have a response setup in TextExpander (one of the several productivity tools I discuss in Productivity Hacks – How to Make Time by Shaving Time) to quickly reply with an answer, which basically outlines the process I just described above.

I must have shared this with at least 50 people by now, and although I have no way of telling whether or not all of them followed through, even if 25% of them did, that’s a lot of money that could have been saved if there was an easier way.

And if there was an easier way, maybe all of them would follow through and have a helpful map on their website.

So – I decided to develop a tool myself. Click Here to Read More about Pat’s New Web Application

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Beyond Free Traffic – A Paid Advertising Strategy That Works

This is a guest post from Rick Mulready of iRockPaidTraffic.com.

I met Rick last year when he came down to San Diego for a lunch and it was super easy to get along with him because he’s such a down to Earth and friendly kind of guy. But, what intrigued me most about him was his 10+ years of experience in the online space, which all had to do with paid traffic.

I’ve dabbled before, and personally my previous experience with paid traffic is pretty much synonymous with that of an ex-girlfriend:

“We gave it a shot, but it just didn’t work out…”

“It started off nicely, but then she turned on me…”

and the classic: “I gave her everything, and got nothing in return…”

[insert your own here]

My only small success with paid ads came when I did a tiny $50 experiment to get more Facebook Fans, but overall, my experience wasn’t good – so when I met Rick I became extremely interested in his line of work and as we started talking more and more about it, I became fascinated.

I realized that:

I had no idea what I was doing before.
There’s a TON of potential with paid traffic, especially when it comes to extremely targeted leads and customers.
It’s nothing to be scared of, as long as you’re educated going into it.

I learned a lot from Rick and thought it would be cool to have him write a guest post for SPI specifically about paid traffic. Why and when it should be considered an option, what platform is the best, and how to get started.

So – without further delay, here’s Rick!

Enjoy!

Paying for traffic to your website gets a bad rap.

I mean, who wants to pay money to get people to their site when there are so many other effective no-cost ways to build an audience (writing epic content, SEO, social media, guest posting, etc…), right?

Look, I get it. I really do.

But… Click Here to Read More about Paid Traffic Strategies

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SPI 031 : Seeds of Opportunity & Pat Goes Hollywood

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, to kick of the new year I share something special that happened to me that happened as a result of producing the SPI podcast.

This is session is a little different than the rest in that it’s more inspirational and motivational (as opposed to stuff that you can totally take action with right now), but the message and lessons behind it are still extremely important.

I’ve hinted about this a couple of times in the past, but last year I was hired by a Hollywood Producer to help him with an upcoming film. As a result I was able to fulfill a life long dream of mine, which I talk more about in the show.

Even though I tell a story in this session, I do my best to try to include some tips for your online business or blog, including my overall web and social media strategy to help promote this film.

I’m extremely proud to be a part of this project and share it here with you today !

If you’re at work and cannot listen to the audio or you just aren’t into podcasts, I recommend you open up the transcript at the bottom of this post so you can read through the session instead. The transcript is already available for you.

Right click here to download the MP3

Items mentioned in this podcast include:

Please let me know what you think of session #31, and if you enjoyed this episode, please share it!

Thank you all for your support, and once again, Happy New Year!

Cheers! :)

Please subscribe below to the podcast to get automatic updates:

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript for Session 31 (PDF)

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A Detailed Look at My (Non-Aggressive) Email List Strategy

A lot of the strategies that I implement here on SPI are a direct result of seeing what other people are doing – and then doing the exact opposite.

For example, most people don’t share their income publicly online, while I have my Monthly Income Reports.

A lot of people say to stick to one platform or medium and own it. Master it. I have adopted a Be Everywhere business model instead.

Many hide the parts of their businesses that might make them look bad, while I do my best to show the entire story.

A lot of these strategies, big and small, help me stand out of the crowd, and the way I utilize my email list is no exception.

Before I can show you what makes my approach with email different than most, let’s first examine what a lot of other internet marketers have done in the past. Click Here to Read More about my Email List Strategy

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3 Brand New Podcasts You Should Be Listening to in 2012

Starting The Smart Passive Income Podcast was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

With nearly a million downloads (including over 100,000 in December of 2011), I definitely don’t plan on stopping.

In the year and a half since going live, the podcast has already done so much for me and the SPI brand:

Based on a survey, the podcast is the #1 way people have found out about SPI.
It rounds out my Be Everywhere business strategy and allows me to connect with people no matter how they prefer to consume content – text through my blog, audio through my podcast, and video through my YouTube Channel. (aka. The Content Trifecta)
Hosting the podcast has tremendously improved my comfort behind a microphone and overall presentation skills.
The podcast was nominated in two categories for the annual Podcast Awards, and although I didn’t win I still get a ton of recognition from being nominated.
It connected me with a client (a Hollywood Producer) who I am now working with for an upcoming movie this Spring. More on this coming soon!
It has provided me several more opportunities that I’ve had to turn down for different reasons: JV partnerships, job opportunities, speaking gigs, etc.

I’ve always encouraged others to start their own podcasts, which is why I’m extremely excited to see three people who I highly respect recently publish their very first episodes too:

Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt, Derek Halpern from Social Triggers, and Glen Allsop from Viperchill – all bloggers who I’ve mentioned several times here on SPI before who each produce amazing content on their blogs, and now we have the pleasure of listening to them on their own podcasts too.

Even after just listening to each of their first episodes, I’m really excited for what’s to come.

What a wonderful gift to start off the new year!

Below are links to each of their first podcast episodes, in the order that they were published:

Man Vs. Debt Podcast – Episode #1 – Your Big Why and Defining Your Freedom : Adam’s blog and podcast are primarily for those looking to get out of debt, but he often touches on a lot of important lessons that can be applied to all of our lives outside of the debt we incur. At the same time, he’s growing like crazy in the online business and marketing space too, so I won’t be surprised if we’ll see some aspects of that in his podcast eventually as well.

Social Triggers Insider: How to Get Major Press with No Connections : Derek’s Social Triggers Insider is not on iTunes yet, but that’s okay. It will be soon and he tells me that he already has 8 more episodes recorded. The first one, which features special guest Jonah Berger, professor at the Wharton School of Business, is incredibly informative. Visit the post because it’s not just a podcast – it’s sort of in a master class format.

Viperchill Episode 1 – How I Would Make Money Online if I Was Starting from Scratch : A perfect title for a first podcast episode from Glen, because we all want to know how Glen does what he does, right? This is a quick listen (20 minutes), but it provides a ton of insight on what he does and what he would do right now. One thing is for sure, this intro will make you wish it was longer.

Congrats to Adam, Derek and Glen for taking the next step with their brands this year – it’s incredibly motivating and I’m excited to see what’s next for them.

Enjoy!

p.s. If you’re interested in starting your own podcast too, check out Learn How to Podcast - a completely free resource (no emails required either) created by Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com.

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My Monthly Report – December 2011

passive income Welcome to my December 2011 Monthly Income Report!

Each month I write a detailed report about the money I’ve earned online. It’s not all about the numbers though – it’s more about what I’ve done to earn that money and the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

I’ve been keeping this up for over 3 years now, and every month brings along something different as I’m constantly building my passive income portfolio with new projects and new forms of (virtually) automated businesses each and every month.

So why share this with you?

There are a couple of reasons:

First and foremost, it keeps me headed in the right direction. Seeing the numbers and writing down both my wins and my failures help me stay the course and always try to outdo myself, and publicly displaying these things holds me accountable.

Secondly, and more importantly, I do this to be transparent.

If you’re just starting out online, please understand that making money via the Internet is definitely not an overnight thing, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to pull it off.

A lot of people attempt it and a lot of people fail – but I absolutely know that it’s possible. I struggle through trial and error every single day – but as long as you have a goal and constantly work towards it (and fall down towards it too), you’ll give yourself a chance.

Thanks again for your support, and let’s get right to it.

Important Going-Ons in December

December is always an interesting month in terms of my income. With the holidays and much of the population in vacation-mode and away from the office, it does reflect in my earnings report, both in good and bad ways. Click Here to Read the Rest of My December Income Report

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