Keyword Crash Course Review

If you'd like to learm how to make money building niche blogs you might be interested to know that I started a Keyword Crash Course review blog. Since cancelling my membership at the Niche Blogger I wanted to setup a different website for the Keyword Academy because I didn't want to confuse people about which program I was currently working on.

I don't want to come across like the Niche Blogger is a complete waste of time and money--but it just wasn't the program for me. The two programs are made for different types of people. Deciding which program is right for you depends on where exactly you are in the learning process. The Niche Blogger is geared more for beginners while the Keyword Crash Course is targeting marketers who have a bit more experience.

The one problem I had with the Niche Blogger is that in the beginning I don't think Amy does a great job of teaching students how to choose profitable niches and keywords. An emphasis is placed on choosing a topic that you are semi-interested in and might not be too competitive. Her method for evaluating the strength of your competition also isn't something I would recommend teaching others as it doesn't work based on my experience with keywords.

However, if you're lucky enough to pick a good set of keywords in the beginning of the course there's no doubt her method will make you money as long as you stick with it. In fact, some of what she teaches about building links to your site is similar to what Mark and Court teach at the Keyword Academy. Unfortunately though, my first niche didn't hit a home run out of the park. So I quickly became frustrated and decided to move on.

Backlinks Are King--Not More Blogs

Wow, reading back through just a few posts on this blog it's apparent I've learned a lot in just a short amount of time.

The thing is, a lot of people (including me 2-3 months ago) think that in order to make money on the Internet you just have to keep building more blogs. While having multitudes of blogs does make a difference you really need to work on creating backlinks for the websites you've already invested your time and money into. Why bother putting the site together in the first place if you don't make the effort to get it ranked #1 in Google? Isn't that the purpose of registering the domain name in the first place? These things just don't happen on their own! What good are 25, 50, 100 blogs if none of them rank for their keywords?

Some people buy a domain name, write some posts, submit a couple of articles, do a little social bookmarking and expect a miracle. When their website doesn't appear on the first page of Google they say, "Well that didn't work. I need to try another keyword." And then they start the vicious cycle all over again with a different website. No wonder 95% of people who try to make money online give up!

Of course 25, 50, or 100 blogs would be worth a lot of money if they all ranked #1 for their respected keywords and the only way to do that is with backlinks. So, I guess backlinks are the key point in the equation aren't they? For some reason it took the grey matter in my brain a long time to fully grasp this concept. Hopefully your brain is not as stubborn as mine.

I just wanted to emphasize the importance of backlinks in case you didn't already know. :-)

Google Adsense Milestone

Well, today I had a really good day and thought I would write a quick post about it. That way, when I have a not-so-good-day I can come back here and read about it. :-) Who knows, that not-so-good-day could even be tomorrow--but I hope not!

Since I last posted I've been really busy building small niche blogs. Garry Conn originally got me moving in the right direction and now I'm getting a lot of great advice from Mark and Court over at the Keyword Academy. If you really want to learn how to make money online you should take the time to read every post and comment on their website. It might take a little time, but unlike the time you might waste lurking around in forums or on other websites it will be wisely spent. In fact, I recently took their challenge to break my information addiction and I must say it's been working out great. I'm finally getting things accomplished! If this post doesn't get you motivated, nothing will: 7 Brutally Straightforward Tips For Making Money On The Internet

I built 10 blogs following exactly the process they outline in their Keyword Crash Course ebook. It's been a little over 30 days since I registered the domain names. I filled them all up with content and now I'm working on building my backlinks. It's taking a lot of work but for once I finally feel like I'm making progress instead of spinning my wheels. I'm also keeping the editors over at EzineArticles pretty busy as I currently have 19 articles waiting to be reviewed. That doesn't even count the ones that have already been submitted and accepted. :-) Lordy--I never thought I was capable of writing so many articles! But recently something strange came over me and now writing 3-5 articles per day is pretty much routine.

Anyway, my whole reason for writing this post was because I just logged into my Google Adsense account and saw I'd made more today than what I did during the whole month of February. Pretty cool. Granted, most of the traffic came from one article I published on Ezinearticles and that will probably die off pretty quickly. But at least I know I'm headed in the right direction. As long as I slowly keep building backlinks my sites will move up higher in the SERPs and continue to make money even when the newness of Ezinearticles fades away. Sooooo, I only have a few more articles to write and then I'll be moving onto the second stage of linkbuilding.

Stay tuned!

Niche Blogging Plans for 2009

I've been getting a lot of emails and messages asking if I'm still doing "the Niche Blogger." And the answer is: kinda sorta! After five months I decided to cancel my membership. I think Amy offers A LOT of valuable info. However, most of that value I found to be in the first 2-3 months. I certainly don't think I wasted my money and I learned a lot from Amy.

That being said, I'm still continuing to build niche blogs. And I still use a lot of what I learned in Amy's course. This weekend I completed my first blog based on some advice I gathered reading Grizzly and Garry Conn's blogs. I'm not exactly sure what Griz and Garry think of each other but I'm certainly learning a lot from both of these guys. And yes this blog is FINSIHED-COMPLETE-DONE. I didn't just register the domain name and say, "I'll get to that later." The posts are written, scheduled, and waiting to be indexed in Google. And while that's happening I'll be working on blog number two . . .

Something I've learned the past couple months is that the Internet is filled with many different types of blogs. There's so-called "flagship" blogs and "Adsense" blogs. Each one requires a different approach in terms of acquiring readership and generating revenue. You definitely want to take these different characteristics into account when you build your blogs!

Are you building your blog to attract readers? Or clicks? When it comes to blogging you sometimes can't have your cake and eat it too.

So the big question: How much am I up to? From the blog I put together during my stint at the Niche Blogger I made a few dollars in Adsense and $11.09 in Clickbank sales. However, that blog now has about 25 posts and a pagerank of 1. I've since taken off the Adsense and am tweaking the theme a little. I used to get about 35-40 unique visitors per day, but now 20 seems to be the norm.

This "virgin" blog has been my little guinea pig for sure! Originally this was supposed to be a "set it and forget it" type of thing but thanks to my perfectionist nature I'm not ready to let it go yet. But like I said, I did complete my first blog "Garry Conn" style this weekend and I'm going to be tracking it closely. It got indexed in around 48 hours and I can't wait to see when it starts ranking for some keywords. So I think this "officially" will be my first blog.

Let's keep track shall we? Here's my progress report for today:

1. Blog #1 indexed in Google
2. Writing content for Blog #2--goal is to finish writing all blog posts by January 24th

Total Adsense earnings today: $0.00

I know this is probably a bit confusing but I guess you can say that I'm starting 2009 with a total clean slate. Lots of lessons were learned in 2008 to make the blogs of 2009 even better than the ones we built before!

Niche Blogger Review Continues--I'm Ranking in Google!

Image via CrunchBaseWell today I'm on Day 57 of the Niche Blogger membership course. With a lot of hard work and a little sweat, I'm finally beginning to rank on Google for keywords related to my first blog. I'm also ranking for some "accidental" keywords I hadn't even planned for!

No, I'm not ranking on the first page yet (but I'm pretty close for a couple of keywords). Keep in mind that Amy's course is not about getting on the first page of Google in less than 24 hours (and then getting sandboxed the next day). It's about building a high-quality blog that eventually will rank high on Google and stay there for months to come (while you work on another blog to build long-term passive income).

If you read some of my earlier posts, you know that I said that the pace was a little slow for those with IM experience. Well--things are really starting to pick up now near the end of Month Two! Since I work full-time I haven't been able to implement Amy's marketing and link building plan 100%. But with the progress I've made so far--I have little doubt that I'll be making some income soon.

The great thing about the Niche Blogger is that you can build your blog at your own pace. It's taken me a while to get this first one started, but each blog I build will get easier and easier.

Remember, sign-up through my affiliate link and you'll receive some great bonuses to help you get a jumpstart on creating your first money-making niche blog.

Niche Blogger Review--Month Two

I know I haven't posted to this blog in a while, but the truth is, I've been busy learning Amy's Niche Blogging system. This girl has me working really hard but I know eventually all this hard work is going to pay off!

What I really love about this membership is that everything is completely hands on. A lot of ebooks I've read are full of ideas and theories but no action plans. This course is 100% full of "do this and do that."

Amy has explained that her "Top 20" blogs make her a passive income of $5000/month. All together she has put 40 blogs on the Internet. She says that not all her blogs are successful. Luckily Amy explains all her successes and failures throughout the course so even though it took her more than a year to build her empire, someone following her system exactly could do it in less time.

Yes, this takes work. But the beauty of The Niche Blogger, is that once the work is done, you can move onto another blog. This is passive income. It may all sound strange to you, but it will all make sense once you take a peek inside the Niche Blogger. This is not complicated at all. In fact, I was surprised to learn how simple it really is.

In Month Two, we get down to the nitty-gritty of monetizing and marketing our blogs. No, I haven't made any money yet. I knew it would take a while to learn the blueprint (I signed up for the monthly membership). That's why when I wrote my goals I aimed to be making $10/month by the end of November, not October. ;-)

I work full time--so I'm not moving forward as quickly as others in the course (there are already success stories being posted in the forum). But you can follow the blueprint at your own pace. Some people are working on several blogs at one time, but I prefer to do one blog at a time.

I know October is going to be a busy month for me, but I haven't gotten tired of this yet. Which is really saying a lot for what Amy is teaching. Any other report, ebook, or membership and by now I'd already be scanning the WSO of the Warrior Forum looking for something new.

In fact, since I signed up for Amy's Niche Blogging membership, I haven't visited the WSO forum once. I think that's saying a lot. :-)

If you have any questions about the Niche Blogger I'd be happy to answer them. Just post them in the comments section below.

The Niche Blogger Review--What to Expect

If you consider yourself an "experienced" internet marketer you might consider the pace of The Niche Blogger to be a little slow. Of course, depending on when you sign-up, you'll probably be able to go through the content faster than if you signed up at the beginning.

Today is Day 15--and we're now learning how to update and change our Wordpress theme based on Amy's recommendations. I personally like the slow pace, because it allows me to get back to basics and to look at blogging from a fresh prespective. I also now know how to set things up properly in the Wordpress admin panel.

Everyday Amy updates the blog with two "assignments" for you to complete. You can take as much time as you want and move onto the next day only when you're ready.

To keep things fair for both old and new members, Amy is going to build a new blog for each month of membership. After you're a member for 30 days, you'll receive a link to the "Month 2 Blog". That way--people who sign-up three or four months from now will only have access to the first month's of content--making it fair for those of us who have been paying from the beginning.

Amy explains it this way:

I know what you are probably thinking. I signed up at the beginning and if she keeps adding to the blog someone who signs up 6 months from now will have access to all the back content their first month. That is not fair.Well, you are totally right. I am going to set it up so the main blog only has the first month's content. I will be making a different blog on this domain in a special location for each month. As you hit month 2 you will get an email with the location of the month 2 blog and so on. So when someone joins they will have month 1 while you have the month you are on. Does that make sense? I want to make it fair.

I think this should work out just fine. As you can see, Amy is a top-notch professional. If you're even slightly on the fence about trying this out, post your questions below. I know Amy is planning on raising the price soon (really!) so now is the time to join.

Remember--use my affiliate link to join and I'll create a custom header for your first blog for *FREE*!

My Goal as a Niche Blogger

My goal as a Niche Blogger is to make $5000/month. According to Amy, each blog you create using her system will generate a passive income of $5/day. So--that means each blog will earn you $150 every month.

To reach my goal of $5000/month, I'll need to create at least 35 blogs. That doesn't seem too bad. From what I've seen from Amy's course so far--it shouldn't be hard to create these blogs once you get the system down.

If I can create at least two blogs every month, I'll achieve my goal of $5000/month by March 2010. Of course, if I put in a little extra work every month it could happen sooner than that!

Here's how I figured it out:

November 2008 - $10 a day = $300 month / $3,600 year
December 2008 - $20 a day = $600 month / $7,200 year
January 2009- $30 a day = $900 month / $10,800 year
February 2009 - $40 a day = $1,200 month / $14,400 year
March 2009 - $50 a day = $1,500 month / $18,000 year
April 2009 - $60 a day = $1,800 month / $21,600 year
May 2009 - $70 a day = $2,100 month / $25,200 year
June 2009 - $80 a day = $2,400 month / $28,800 year
July 2009 - $90 a day = $2,700 month / $32,400 year
August 2009 - $100 a day = $3,000 month / $36,000 year
September 2009 - $110 a day = $3,300 month / $39,600 year
October 2009 - $120 a day = $3,600 month / $43,200 year
November 2009 - $130 a day = $3,900 month / $46,800 year
December 2009 - $140 a day = $4,200 month / $50,400 year
January 2010 - $150 a day = $4,500 month / $54,000 year
February 2010 - $160 a day = $4,800 month / $57,600 year
March 2010 - $170 a day = $5,100 month / $61,200 year
April 2010 - $180 a day = $5,400 month / $64,800 year
May 2010 - $190 a day = $5,700 month / $68,400 year
June 2010 - $200 a day = $6,000 month / $72,000 year

According to Amy, it takes about two months for your blog to get fully indexed in the major 3 search engines--so I've decided to be a little conservative when I say I'll be making my first dollars by the end November, but it could be sooner than that. We'll just have to wait and see. :)

This system isn't a secret--but you'll have to join Amy's membership site to learn how to do it. Join through my affiliate link, and I'll make you a custom header graphic for your very first blog! I normally charge between $17 and $27 for my graphics--so this is a pretty sweet deal!

Learn more about The Niche Blogger and how you can earn $5000/month on auto-pilot.

Niche Blogger Review--Who is Amy Bass and What Does She Know About Blogging?

Who is Amy Bass?

Amy Bass is a young stay-at-home with four kids. Her husband used to be employed by the United States Army but lost his job because of severe epilepsy.

In May 2007, Amy made a goal to pay off their $72,900 debt by April 2009 using only her skills as an internet marketer. Amy first began using programs like CashCrate, Associated Content, and ReadersPaid. Eventually she discovered blogging.

She currently has paid off $45,900. She has $27,000 left to pay off before April, and the way things are going for her--it looks she'll achieve her goal ahead of schedule!

You can read more about Amy's journey on her blog:
http://www.mydebtfreegoal.com/2007/05/my-debt-free-goal.html


Amy's Blogging Blueprint

Through trial and error--Amy has put together a blogging blueprint that she claims generates $5/day for each blog she creates. Amy claims that once the blog is created, everything runs on autopilot.

She says, "I have blogs I haven't touched in almost a year that still make me $10 - $12 a day!"

Another thing I find amazing is that Amy claims to only write and submit 2 articles for each blog she creates!

Amy created her membership site, The Niche Blogger, to teach people just like you and me how to make money online using simple niche blogs. In fact, this program is exactly what she gave her computer illiterate mom to follow--so you can be sure she hasn't left anything out.

The one thing I like about this program is that you create useful blogs that people actually want to read and visit! I hate the thought of filling cyperspace with more junk. I also don't like the thought of creating blogs, articles, and Squidoo pages just to promote my affiliate links. Of course, we all want to make money--but would you be willing to share these techniques with your friends and family? What about your mother?

For the first time in a long time, I'm excited and proud to be an internet marketer. I can't wait to get started!