Daniel Felice

Happy Blog Day!

// August 31st, 2008 // No Comments » // Project Blogger

Happy Blog Day to everyone out there! This August 31st marks the 4th annual blog day – a day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest.

You can find more info about Blog Day at the official Blog Day website, and you can also take part by following the below instructions.

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
   http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2008 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

So here are my recommendations….

http://betch.edublogs.org: This site is a former high school teachers blog based around technology and education. “Mr B” was my computer teacher about 10 years ago and introduced me to website design and IT in general, so thanks to him you are reading this!

http://www.goofblogger.com: Very useful blog dedicated to making money online and domaining. There are some good tips and tricks here, and just general advice when it comes to buying/selling domain names. Ben also runs a contest each month, so you have the chance to win various cash prizes.

http://www.derek-ang.com: Derek’s blog is a webmaster based blog offering tips and tricks of the trade. It was actually this blog that got me started with blogging and using WordPress. I used Derek’s theme for a few months and check his blog regularly for updates.

http://www.dnxpert.com: A great resource for domainers. This blog will keep you up to date with the latest domain news. John also sends out a list of expired domain names if you are a subscriber. Check out his Domaining Manifesto ebook.

http://www.gridcrasher.com: Grid Crasher is a motorsport blog, mainly focusing on Formula 1. You can get some serious daily news here, but I like it for the more comedic articles taking the piss out of the drivers, teams and F1 WAGs.

Happy Blog Day!

August So Far…

// August 20th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Project Blogger

August has been a disappointing month for this blog so far, especially after a great July. Hits are down on last month; however they are still better than June. By the looks of things it’s shaping up to be my second best month in our short 5 month history.

Although second place isn’t so bad, it looks as though this is the first month the blog hasn’t grown. For the past few months the blog has grown at least 100% over the previous month – in terms of traffic and revenue.

Revenue is also down this month, with no affiliate sales to date and only a few dollars from Google Adsense. I have not promoted any products or affiliate networks this month which may be the cause of this, so I sort of expected revenue to be down.

Me being on holidays in the beginning of the month hasn’t help things, and me going away tomorrow for another week also means that danielfelice.com should finish off the month fairly poorly.

This is all part of the journey and the reason why this blogs exists – to blog about the ups and downs of trying to make money online. I have had many ups the past few months, so the downs are bound to catch up with me sooner or later!

Hopefully things will bounce back in September, however all may not be lost as there is still 11 days left of August!

I am off to Spain tomorrow to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Valencia so I’ll be offline for most of the week. I’ll try to log on why I am away to post a few updates but I don’t think anything is going to turn August around – however I could be wrong…

The Art of Juggling

// August 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Project Blogger, Projects

It has been a very busy month so far and the extra time I have spent on my other project, NameSeek, has meant that I have not spent as much time I would have liked on building this blog.

With me taking a few days off at the beginning of the month, and then the time spent developing the new NameSeek layout; it has meant I have not been able to dedicate as much time to danielfelice.com. Hits have suffered this month, and the same goes to the revenue earnt.

Hits are on track to be down on July, and the revenue the site is going to make looks to be our worst month yet, unless things dramatically pick up in the second half of the month.

Most of my time has been spent on NameSeek. Over the past week or so I have re-designed the site as well as added over 2300 new domain names. Work has been busy and I am about to go to Spain for another 6 day holiday which is going to mean I won’t be blogging for a few days unless I can find the time to write a few posts and schedule them to run while I am away.

As I have a full time 9am – 5pm job, the time I can spend on my online projects is limited. I have about 2-3 hours quality time of a night to split between two websites – and soon to be three. I also have a girlfriend who requires some attention each night, which is only fair. At the moment it is a bit of a juggling act.

If I can blog daily I would be happy. But that is not all that has to be done in order to create a steady online income. I have spent no time on researching new money making ideas, which has meant no new ways of making revenue this month and therefore less to blog about. I have also not even been able to search for new advertising campaigns.

So how do I juggle my time between my online projects? I have been spending more time on NameSeek as at the moment I see it having more potential, even though the blog has made me more money. The next few months will be exciting for NameSeek, and at the moment my time is required in order to keep it on track. Within the next few months it should be running it self.

However this does not mean that I am going to be giving up on this blog. I am still going to aim to post daily if I can, and when I am away this week I will have to make sure I have a few things prepared. I have spent a few hours this weekend doing my research for a few posts I have planned this week.

How do you juggle between your websites? Do you spent more time on the one that is more successful? Or do you work on the one struggling in order to improve it?

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5 Ways to Stay Motivated

// August 13th, 2008 // No Comments » // Project Blogger

The list I have created below is what I use to motivate myself to blog and keep this journey going. If you are a new blogger you are going to have days when you just feel like you are wasting your time, money and effort.

It can be very disheartening when you see your hits have dropped, your revenue is sitting at $0 and you are struggling to think of a topic to blog about.

This is what I do to try and get my creative juices flowing and encourage myself that all of the hard work will pay off in the end.

So in no particular order, my 5 ways of keeping motivated are:

1. Read other successful blogs – particularly their monthly income reports
2. Check your statistics
3. Check how much money you HAVE made
4. Read through your positive comments
5. Remind yourself of the goals you set when you started

These steps work for me, but may not work for everyone. I just thought I might share them with you.

How do you stay motivated? Maybe I can learn a tip or two….

Do You Blog Everyday?

// August 9th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Project Blogger

I was very consistent last month, managing to blog 28 times out of 31 days. This month was a slow start for me as I was away on holidays until August 5.

I created some scheduled posts for the first two days of the month but then I did not blog again until the 5th of August.

Looking at my stats so far for this months, I think not blogging for a few days has affected my traffic. The first two days of the month started strong, but as soon as I did not blog for a day my traffic headed south and has not recovered since.

Making a quick estimate – I think my traffic has dropped off by about 50%, however my subscribers remained loyal as they have remained at the same number for a few weeks now, which is great to see.

Blogging everyday means that there is new content for my audience and it keeps them coming back on a regular basis. I know if I see a blog that has updates every day, I will check back every day to see what is new. If they don’t update everyday and have posts a few days old, I am more than likely not to check back so regularly.

I like to keep my content fresh and constantly changing. However, sometimes I cannot find the time to sit down in front of the laptop for an hour and blog. Though this puts me under pressure as I don’t want to miss out on new viewers and I don’t want my loyal readers to forget about me.

Do you blog every day? If you don’t does it result in less traffic?

The actual exam of VCP-310 or even 350-001 is not tough for a 640-802 student who has already done his 70-290.

Post To The Future

// August 1st, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Project Blogger

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be away for the first week in August, meaning that I would not be able to post as often as I would normally have liked.

The current post you are reading was created on Wednesday July 28 at about 2pm GMT. Right now, on August 1st, I am in Malta probably on a boat enjoying the nice sunshine while sipping Coca Cola in a glass bottle.

I have not got my laptop with me, nor do I even have an internet connection. Just me on this tiny island without any pressures of work!

WordPress has a great feature that allows you to post into the future. As I knew that I would be away for a week in August, I created a few posts before I left so it would appear I was still sitting in front of my laptop each day.

WordPress users have the ability to write a post and then select the day they wish it to be published. Users can set it for a few hours later, a few days or even a few years!

When on the “Write Post” page within WordPress, on the right menu just above “Save” and “Publish” you will see “Publish immediately. Edit” If you click “edit”, a little drop down window will open that will enable you to select the time and date that you wish your post to be published.

Once you have completed these steps and you finishing writing your new post, enter your tags and category and then publish the post as you normally would.

If you visit your blog on the date and time specified as the future post, you will now see your article published as if you did it then and there!

I have created a few posts to be published while I am on my holiday to keep the blog new and updated. I hate when I don’t make a post for more than two days!

Record Month for danielfelice.com

// July 31st, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Project Blogger

It has been a record month for danielfelice.com! My hits improved by over 100% and revenue grew by about 361% on last month. Hits have been constantly on the rise over the past month, rising day by day.

Revenue is improving, and although a 361% increase sounds like a lot, it still really doesn’t equate to much in terms of dollars. But that’s not the point – the point is that the blog is growing at a fantastic rate and our users are continuing to return.

Traffic

Looking at the statistics for the month of July, traffic is increasing on a weekly basis. Each week this month was an improvement on the previous one and although there are some dips in the daily traffic, on average each day was an improvement.

Traffic seems to be coming from a number of sources, including a few domainer based websites that are also associated with NameSeek. DNtrade.com.au and AUDomaining.com were the two best performing referrers and Google, StumbleUpon and Entrecard were the best of the rest. Referrers made up about 60% of the months traffic with the remaining 40% from search engines and direct hits through type-ins.

Top Posts

Top performing posts this month were “Patience Is The Key” and “Blog Mastermind” with the all time top performing being “How I made $2.99 in 3 Months“.

This seems to tell me that people want to know more about “Project Blogger” and my success and failures as I attempt to make revenue on the internet. I will listen and focus more of my efforts into this next month.

Revenue

A great month in terms of revenue. A massive increase on last month and it is good to see finally. Although dollars were not huge, it was still an increase and very encouraging.

The biggest money maker this month was my affiliate marketing with a massive (!) $13.50 which made up the majority of the total for the month.

Overall it was a good month for danielfelice.com. I still have a lot of work to do if I want start making the big bucks, but after a few months at it the results and encouraging and are giving me the drive to continue.

Hopefully August continues to show signs of improvement and growth. I am not making any predictions, but I would like revenue to improve by at least 100% and hits to keep on doubling.

I am on holidays for the first 5 days in August for my big 25th birthday which is ont he 2nd, so I will try to post as much as I can, but probably won’t be able to every day.

Thanks for your support!

Maybe It’s Time

// July 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Project Blogger

I have received some positive feedback to my “Time For A Competition?” post a few days ago. It was great to see that a few of you posted some comments to the question I asked and I have taken your feedback on board.

So I guess it is time for a competition. I am currently speaking to a fellow blogger and hopefully plan to launch a competition between the two blogs in the near future.

I won’t give away too many details just yet, but be sure to watch this space!

Time For A Competition?

// July 28th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Project Blogger

I have been reading a lot lately on creating blog competitions and how they can be good for your blog. Most of the major bloggers run competitions, offering prizes and what not. I have been thinking of running a competition on this blog for the past week or so, but it is too early?

The blog is nearly four months old and while it does have regular traffic, I am worried that only a handful of people will sign up for it, making it a complete failure. The last thing I want to do is to run a competition with 3 prizes, and only three people enter. That would be an embarrassing failure.

But on the flip side, it might be a good way for the blog to increase its traffic. New readers may flock to the site to join the competition, and then realise they like what they see and become a loyal member. It also has the potential to appeal to existing readers and help create more of a community around the blog.

Prizes on offer will also have a big impact as to whether the competition will succeed or not. If I am offering LCD screens, iPhones and Digital Cameras then it will definitely take off. Word would spread and I think it will bring a lot of people to the site making it a success

I don’t have the budget to support such a competition. I am not sure what I would be able to offer my audience without spending ridiculous amounts of money. At the moment the blog is not sponsored by anyone so I cannot even approach them to provide prizes. Whatever the prizes may be it would have to come out of my own pocket.

I could offer some web design services such as a custom WordPress theme. I could buy either Domaining Manifesto or The Blog Adrenaline ebook and offer them as a prize. Maybe even add domain names to the NameSeek showcase.

There are a few things I could do, but I want to make sure it is properly planned and thought out before I jump into it. I will have to sit down and work out the pros and cons, and make sure it isn’t going to be a complete failure.

As well as the prizes, I also have to decide what the competition will be. I have seen a few lately that just require the users to comment on a post and that will enter them into a random draw. Others require users to blog about the competition on their own blog and then provide a link to the competition. Along with the prizes, the method of the competition would also have a big influence as to whether it becomes a success. Users don’t want to have to work too hard to enter, especially if the prizes aren’t too spectacular.

What do you think? Is it time to run a competition? Or do you think it is too early? At this point in time, I am thinking that it is too early. But let me know what you think!

Entrecard Creates Misleading Hits

// July 24th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Project Blogger

I originally signed up to Entrecard when I first went live with this blog as I had heard alot about it and it seemed like a good idea to promote my new site. For those of you who don’t know what Entrecard is, check out my earlier post here.

The concept it very good, and it does create some good hits to the blog and every now and then I come across a good blog that I add to my favourites and will revisit every now and then. Every day I would say about 30% of my hits arrive from an Entrecard drop.

While it is good to see the site getting hits, I have noticed that most of the users who drop their Entrecard only visit the blog to do just that. The more drops you make, the more credits you accumulate and therefore can advertise on other blogs.

Going through my statistics, those hits received from Entrecard are only on the blog for a few seconds, they drop their card, and then leave to keep on making quick drops without reading any of the content on the site. I have heard this complaint from many Entrecard users.

I find that my statistics improve dramatically when I have my Entrecard advertised on a popular blog, but barely any of these users remain on the blog for more than 30 seconds.

While this does provide 30% of my hits, I cannot seem to think that I should not be counting these hits as genuine. I rather receive 30% less hits and have my audience read my content, rather than just visit the page in order to drop their card and then leave again – just so they can have enough points to advertise their own blog.

Entrecard creates misleading statistics as you think you are getting solid results, but the hits are only coming from users who want one thing and one thing only – points.

I am not sure whether I will keep Entrecard or not at the moment. From those 30% of users, if only 1 or 2 return then I guess it is worth it. But that doesn’t seem to be happening very often. When the blog was new I relied on those hits and dropping my own Entrecard, but now I have a following I am less reliant on it.

Do you use Entrecard? Are Entrecard users being used?