Several days ago while combing through a few of my favorite blogs for fresh ideas I might implement on my own, I noticed more of my favorite bloggers using OIO Publisher. I made a mental note to look back into OIO once I had a moment to actually think, research and make an informed decision before making my purchase. Lucky for me, I have friends who did their homework and helped me get right to the decision to purchase the service.

Lara Kulpa, a name I know and trust in real and virtual life mentioned OIO to me earlier this week. Given that I am watching my finances so carefully these days, I wanted to know what the return on investment is/was and how quickly that return takes place – in an average case of course.

After discussing the program briefly, I decided to make the investment and enrolled in OIO.

I’ve been getting the program up and running on my blogs today. What I can tell you right off the bat is it installs very easily, is super easy to customize and get up and running. I just happened to take my time so I could pick it apart bit-by-bit. I will be reporting back to my readers, the progress and profit I make with this minor change.

Based on what I’ve read from other bloggers who use OIO, the investment is well worth it as many have already begun to generate a revenue.

Selling Points That Caught My Eye:

• Works as a WordPress plugin. If you run WP, this is a effective and convenient way to run direct advertising on your blog.
• Works as a standalone application. If you don’t have WP, you can still install it on your own server and run it on other servers such as Blogger or any other system.
• It’s somewhat inexpensive. Just $47 for a license. However, with the coupon code TERRA-OCT09GB for an additional $10 off.
• You are free to use OIO Publisher on as many sites or blogs as you wish with a single license. No need to invest in several license fees.
• Offers a variety of ad solutions – banners, text links, and in-text ads. You can also choose to sell reviews and run your own affiliate programs.
• Has a central ad marketplace that’s easy to set-up.
• Offers automated features including auto payments via Paypal, Entrecard along with a few other less popular options.
• Available email templates to send.
• Statistics & tracking options. I particularly like that I can serve ads to a particular demographic if I like while being able to check , clickthrough rates, and more.

Click here to enroll in OIO Publisher

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

My Comment Commitment: If you leave an approved comment on any of my posts, I will visit your blog and “share it” in some way whether on StumbleUpon, Twitter or Facebook depending on if I can find a nice fit.

Originally posted 2009-09-30 17:46:06.

When I first began working from home, I spent hundreds of dollars on hard sell sites for those amazing packages that would teach me everything I needed to know to start making 10k in a month.

Boy was I stupid!

All I ever seemed to open was a package that told me how to sell the same exact product I was sucker enough to buy, in much the same way.

In case you don’t know what I mean by hard sell sites, I’m talking about sites that look like this:

Or this:

The thing that gets me is:

1. The look of the site — If they’re making so much money, why not pay for a quality site that isn’t cut from the same pattern as every other cookie cutter hard sell site out there?

Though I suppose it’s good that they look like they do, it does make them much easier to spot.

2. The automation — The automation that is set up to make it seem as if the special promotional price will end the minute the visitor clicks away from the site. I’ve taken a couple of screen shots below to show what I mean.

Notice the date on this hard sell site? Where it says “One-Time” Offer?

Now take a look at it from a web designers perspective (view source):

You can clearly see the “One-Time” Offer at the top. Go further down the code and you’ll see how it’s set up to show the date specific to the visitors arrival to their website.

I don’t condemn a person for trying to make money. I do, however, think there is a great deal to be said for the initial appearance of a website that lets a person know it most likely can be trusted.

For me? When I happen on one of these websites that is nothing more than an obvious hard sell internet infomercial, I keep on moving on!

When I happen on websites that are trying to teach me how to make more money online and the author has affiliate links to these sites, I find myself not wanting to trust the author so much, because I know they are trying to regain the money they lost on the hard sell investment.

Most times I experience a moment of pity for them and then move on!

In all fairness, I’m sure there are valid sites out there.  I just wish they’d take some of that 10k they’re earning each month and invest in a web design that’s a bit softer and more believable.

Have you fallen prey to the hard sell tactics? What was your experience? What would you tell others who are looking at the hard sell sites or looking for the best ways to make money online?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

My Comment Commitment: If you leave an approved comment on any of my posts, I will visit your blog and “share it” in some way whether on StumbleUpon, Twitter or Facebook depending on if I can find a nice fit.

Originally posted 2009-10-13 11:00:00.

Blogs can be for profit or non-profit but a large number of bloggers blog for the purpose of making money. There may be some content published to simply provide an outlet for voicing out an opinion and share thoughts. However, the general population of bloggers has the intention of profiting financially. Fortunately, there are several methods of profiting from a blog and applying these methods can help you gain money.

The Advertisements

Selling space for advertisers is one of the most common ways to profit from a blog. Since blogs that have a considerable amount of traffic can make income with ad sales, make sure that you have a target audience. The reason why bloggers choose to sell advertising is that it is a passive form of income once the traffic has progressed. Although it takes work to look for advertisers and maintain the ads on the blog, those who can achieve it can gain reasonable amount of money with the ads.

Compared to other forms of profiting from a blog, selling advertisement space can be one of the most consistent revenue streams. If you are able to maintain your ad slots filled, you should have a very good idea of just how much you can make every month.

On the negative side, selling ads requires you to have some kind of established traffic. Traffic is important because it draws interest from potential advertisers. You might find it hard to sell an ad space without traffic and it will most likely not produce much revenue. Additionally, the blog must have a target audience in order to achieve the maximum amount of cash for advertisement space. Remember that advertisers are more likely to pay if your target audience is a match to theirs.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are also a major resource of profits for several bloggers. Affiliate programs are excellent in a sense that they enable you to have the opportunity to make money even if your blog has a small audience. However, one bad side to affiliate programs is that there can be instances where you cannot make any money at all.

Newly created blogs feature affiliate ads most of the time compared to selling space directly to advertisers. Since selling ads is hard to do without much traffic, affiliate programs are perfect for new blogs. More so, they can be easily maintained and only take very little time.

Promoting and Premium Content

Bloggers who are service providers at the same time have an excellent opportunity to look for clients and increase their rates. Maintaining a blog that focuses on your area of expertise can help you easily become a recognized authority in your field. Additionally, it can aid potential clients to find you. You can also benefit from the increase in demand of your services and improved reputation that you build, which enable you to charge more for your services.

Aside from promoting your services, selling premium content are also excellent ways to profit from a blog. Blogs are a massive source of information and remember that not everything has to be free. There are bloggers and business that attained success by selling some of their work. There are blogs that sell memberships on their Web sites. Although selling premium content is possible in any field, you must have the capability to give something to the reader that is worth paying for.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

My Comment Commitment: If you leave an approved comment on any of my posts, I will visit your blog and “share it” in some way whether on StumbleUpon, Twitter or Facebook depending on if I can find a nice fit.

Originally posted 2009-11-05 23:12:42.