My adventure - a newbie's journey

[mattcash]

Hey everyone. I have been trying to make a go of this for some time, and I really want it to happen for me, desparately. I graduated college with a ton of debt, and I've been slowly digging myself out. But even if I stick exactly to budget, I am looking at years until I can break out. I am blessed with an awesome girlfriend, and we own a home together (all paperwork is in her name, I pay rent/mortgage to her so when we get married it will be ours).


What do I want to get out of this - dreaming big?
-I want to get out of debt - ~100k
-I want enough to pay for an engagement ring - ~5k
-I want to raise enough money that investments alone pay for my living expenses ~300k

Assets:
4 URLS
-1 is a personal blog
-1 is for the company I used to own before I took the engineering job. I haven't done anything with it for ages.
-2 were bought expressly for IM, though i am trying to get rid of one because I don't think I can use the URL without getting sued (i have it parked on google adsense for domains atm). The other has a wordpress blog set up on it, along with adsense, 3 articles, a contact page, a privacy page. It is an exact match for a 3 word keyword which gets relatively high searches with low competition.
As of now I have raised about 200$ with mworkers, which I think is a good starting point. I have about 10000 credits with vagex, about 2000 credits with viewet.
-Verified Adsense account
-Verified Contextweb CPM account
-Verified Commissionjunction account
-Verified clickbank account
-Verified adbrite account

Plan
I think I am going to explore autoblogging for a few reasons.

1. It doesn't require nonstop attention like some of the other methods. Using a robot I can set it to pull down articles related to my keyword, and I can enrich this with unique seo-optimized content. My biggest concern with this is DMCA notices.
2. My internet connection is slow on the train and at home, so massive video uploads and downloads aren't a good option for me. In fact, nothing media intensive really is. Editing text in wordpress is something that I have no issue with.
3. There's no issue with trying to upload "questionable content" in public. There are a ton of times I've ended up sitting next to a cop on the train - I'd hate to sit down next to someone undercover and start trying to upload illegal downloads or something.
4. It's easy to replicate the method once I nail it down.

Purchase the following software:

• Wprobot or some auto-blogging software.
• Tweetattacks so I can start building a social following for the site (not needed to get started)
• Scrapebox (not needed to get started)

I will configure the wp-robot to pull down articles (sorry that can't be more detailed atm, I need to learn the software) and generate content for the exact keyword match blog. Once I have at least 100 pages of content, I will re-apply to contextweb for validation and start placing adsense on the page.
After that, I will begin my social campaign to get twitter followers. I will also create simple videos with windows movie maker and upload to youtube, and utilize the vagex/viewet credits to get them views, or possibly have them generated with fiverr. When I have the whole thing making at least 3 dollars a day, I will repeat with a new blog.

Getting started
Since wp-robot is the only tool I really need to get started, I can get this off the ground relatively cheaply. I will begin working on this tonight. Is there a special BHW link for WP-Robot? Can anyone recommend any other tools? Can anyone offer advice on my plan? I really appreciate any help.

 

[WizIMS]

I will need to purchase the following tools:
-Verified Adsense account
-Verified Contextweb CPM account
-Verified Commissionjunction account
-Verified clickbank account
-Verified adbrite account

First of all you don't need to buy those, you can get for free

And damn, YOU ARE A MAN

Seriously, I like your story and I think, actually KNOW that you will make it, just keep this spirit bro.

If you want, add my skype (wiz.ims) and I'll be glad to help you with any question you have!

Good luck buddy

 

[mattcash]

First of all you don't need to buy those, you can get for free

And damn, YOU ARE A MAN

Seriously, I like your story and I think, actually KNOW that you will make it, just keep this spirit bro.

If you want, add my skype (wiz.ims) and I'll be glad to help you with any question you have!

Good luck buddy

Crap, I edited the post a bunch before I posted and it got screwed up. Those were supposed to be listed under my assets lol. Hopefully this isn't me getting off to a bad start

 

[mattcash]

Alrighty, I got my hands on wprobot last night. My goal for this evening is to get it installed my my copy of easyphp, and learn to use the thing. I've also made an additional 20$ on microworkers, so that's good. I will keep updating as more details come out.

 

[mattcash]

Ok, sorry for the brief hiatus folks, I will be picking this back up tomorrow evening. I apparently got infected with chicken pox, and as of the day of my last post I haven't spent more than 2-3 hours conscious at any given time. I am starting to get better, so with that, I'll be starting to get more work done. Never stop, right!?

 

[smokestakks]

Your determination is inspiring man, I'm sure you're gonna make it!
This might be a cultural difference but buying a ring for 5K seems crazy expensive, treat yourselves by going on an awesome honeymoon for that money instead

Regarding autoblogs, wp-robot is a good tool, I have a set-and-forget setup that I've left untouched for a few months due to lack of time and it's getting around 50-70 visitors daily. With some proper SEO-ing, i'm sure it could be tenfold that number and then it's easy to monetize.

Final word of advice, BHW has everything you need, all for free if you just read and invest your time. Keep posting to let us know your progess!

 

[mattcash]

Just an update - I downloaded and installed easy PHP so I can start playing with WPRobot. So, I fired up a test campaign, threw in a couple recipe names (vegetarian chili, vegetarian tacos, vegitarian enchiladas), added all of the templates, and let her rip.

Well, sputter is more like it. Basically there were lots of errors getting spit out, because I hadn't configured any of the modules. After a few manual runs, I got about 6 posts out of it. Out of those 6, 1 was a video of a recipe which would have been usable (I was doing this as a test). Given that performance, I doubt I would trust these to "just" run on their own (not a fair test honestly, since I'm a newbie who was just playing around but still, first impression and all). After all - tex mex is one of the easiest cooking genres to vegetarian-ize!

Either way, it is still pulling in some youtube videos and other items which I can add original content to, which is a fantastic place to start. Does anyone know approximately how much of your content has to be "original" and not spun or anything before you get the banhammer?

Between UCG and The Best Spinner, which is a better option?

Ok, in all seriousness though, today I put together a spreadsheet for tracking income. As I'm feeling healthier I'm starting to get my queue of payments back up and running on microworkers - I made about 10 dollars today (from 11 completed tasks up to 42, average payout is ~33 cents).

Money raised is going to be spent on a new host (want to start a tandem project using CLP2, but my host doesn't support php 5.3), buying CLP2 as well.

 

[mattcash]

Your determination is inspiring man, I'm sure you're gonna make it!
This might be a cultural difference but buying a ring for 5K seems crazy expensive, treat yourselves by going on an awesome honeymoon for that money instead

Regarding autoblogs, wp-robot is a good tool, I have a set-and-forget setup that I've left untouched for a few months due to lack of time and it's getting around 50-70 visitors daily. With some proper SEO-ing, i'm sure it could be tenfold that number and then it's easy to monetize.

Final word of advice, BHW has everything you need, all for free if you just read and invest your time. Keep posting to let us know your progess!

Thanks for the advice!! I have been futzing around with wp-robot a bit just to get used to it. I've got it set up in easy php just to junk around with and learn. Once I'm more confident I'll throw it up on my IM blog.

As for the engagement ring, a half carat in my area runs around 3000 dollars for the stone and the setting. I am inheriting a ring from my great aunt(?) whom I never met. I have no attachment to it, so I am going to see if I can find a jeweler who will buy the metal as scrap (its yellow gold which my girlfriend and I both dislike), and give me the stones. That'd be the most expensive part out of the way

 

[cyberlover]

Good luck on your journey!

 

[mattcash]

First auto blog is up - its not fancy, but its something. I'll focus on getting content up in parallel with making it look nicer. PM me if you'd like to take a look and offer advice.

I added the modules I have keys/affiliate ID's for atm. Then I generated my first campaign - included all modules (may have to change this, lots of failed messages). I generated my keyword list using the method BassTrackerBoats detailed on his thread. I wasn't quite as thorough - I trimmed off all key words which make less than 1 dollar, all that have competition above .5, and everything that had less than 500 searches a day. It still gave me a list of about 50 keywords for wprobot.

I also noticed that I am waaaaay too finicky about what gets produced by WP robot to let it behave on its own. So, I'm having it run and produce bursts of 30-40 posts at a time, all saved as drafts. Then I go through some of the posts, tidy them up, add some unique content and images, and take it from there.

I tried re-entering the site at contextweb for CPM, but since it got turned down once for poor content they won't let me add it automatically. I'll contact them tomorrow and see if I can appeal when I have more content up.

I also was going through the WP-Robot blog and I found this article about finding good autoblogging niches. May be worth a read.

http://wprobot.net/blog/how-to-find-good-autoblogging-niches/

Money earned today
Microworkers:2.65

 

[LakeForest]

Money earned today
Microworkers:2.65

The fact you're sticking with it and earning puts you ahead of 90% of marketers.

You seem to be walking forward very nicely, so I'm not going to put any additional ideas in your head cause they might contradict what's been working for you. So, instead, a bit of advice.

The bit of advice:
If you like to write; if you're fast at writing, write on your freetime when you're bored. I have a blackberry with a physical keyboard to cram ideas or posts wherever I am. I can get 500 words done in under 30 minutes, I'm positive you can do similarly. I write articles for my keywords not only as something to do when I'm bored, but also as a positive alternative to wasting my time or making bad decisions.

You really did figure out the key: You really just have to start moving, break that inertia, and you get rolling.

Best of fortune to you and your endeavors!

 

[destiny0awaits]

What i liked about this post was your willingness to work hard and also that you are realistic. Most newbs set their goal to $100+ a day with their very first blogs.

Your determination is inspiring man, I'm sure you're gonna make it!

This might be a cultural difference but buying a ring for 5K seems crazy expensive, treat yourselves by going on an awesome honeymoon for that money instead

I think the 5K ring is expensive but a good idea, its something that will stay for like and remind him how hard he worked to get it while they could always have a bunch of seconds honeymoons


Either way i wish you goodluck on this

 

[mattcash]

What i liked about this post was your willingness to work hard and also that you are realistic. Most newbs set their goal to $100+ a day with their very first blogs.



I think the 5K ring is expensive but a good idea, its something that will stay for like and remind him how hard he worked to get it while they could always have a bunch of seconds honeymoons


Either way i wish you goodluck on this

I try! Honestly, I don't plan to do IM for the rest of my life. My life dream is to own a pub. I have a number of contacts who can help make it happen, but my finances are hamstringing me. So my goal is to get to a point where my investment income pays my living expenses, so anything I raise can be put into my business venture. It'll take years I am sure, but it'll be worth it in the end

 

[mr_vampire]

Keep up your spirit brother ... Try pay per install programs ..
You will make huge money.

 

[3Infidels]

Good luck!