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Domain Names

The main purpose of a domain name is to provide symbolic representations, i.e., recognizable names, to mostly numerically addressed Internet resources. This abstraction allows any resource (e.g., website) to be moved to a different physical location in the address topology of the network, globally or locally in an intranet, in effect changing the IP address. This translation from domain names to IP addresses (and vice versa) is accomplished with the global facilities of Domain Name System (DNS).

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Since I last created a post to this site, I’ve been busy developing strategies on how to make more money from the ‘net.  I’ve tried a few different approaches with varying degrees of success and have come to the realization that only 2 things really matter when it comes to making money.  One of the variables is easier to manipulate (and should be!) and the other has more to do with how much money you want to spend to see things through.  Sure, it is possible for the 2nd variable to occur naturally but it will take time.  If you’re like me, you like to see results quickly.  So, here are the two variables:

1- A captive audience - This is your target audience.  You design your website and fill it with content so that these people find your site and make a decision to spend money through it.  I say “through” it because you’re most likely building an affiliate site so you’re not selling anything.  Your website visitors see your content, and decide you are trustworthy enough to click on a link and go spend money at the target site.

The ‘captive’ part of having an audience is the bit that’s really interesting.  You are able to almost completely manipulate your audience so that they are captive.  If you are anything like me, this part stinks.  I have no artistic ability and really struggle to make a website design look good.  I spent a lot of time going through design iterations and end up settling for something that I know is less than optimal…but then I spend a lot of other time creating good content on my website so I think that things balance out.

2- Traffic.  This has been my mantra: “Traffic is the new gold”.  I believe that if you have enough visitors to ANY site, you’ll end up making money.  If you’re selling something desirable (like a Nintendo Wii) and get average traffic, you’ll make money.  If you’re selling crap and get a bazillion visitors, you’ll make money.  It all comes down to traffic.  If you have a budget of $100-$500, you can create a lot of traffic rather quickly (Google adwords, paid ads on relative websites, etc…) and hopefully build from there.  However, if you are a cheapskate and don’t want to spend any money, you have to earn your stripes and do hard-core work that will take months to give you any results.

Right now I’m still working on factor #1.  I am getting organic traffic to my websites and need to create a more captivating environment for these folks to decide to spend money.  In the future, I plan to grow the number of websites that I have and will also have a budget for marketing.  This is all still trial and error for me but I believe that I’m on the right track.

I’ve often wondered what Drupal was all about as a CMS so I started playing with it the other day.  It’s actually a very flexible tool that could help people create wonderful affiliate sites but me, I’m used to Wordpress.

However, if you have a Drupal site and want to add some money making auctions from eBay to your site, this is a quick guide on how to do so.

How to use PhpBay and Drupal

Set up Drupal and make sure there are no error warnings.  I strongly
recommend that you use Hostgator for Drupal hosting as they offer many configurable options that ensure Drupal will work without a hitch.

When setting up Drupal, you want to turn on the “PHP filter” module so that you can execute PHP code.

Purchase PhpBay if you haven’t done so already and download the API.

Edit the config.php file to contain your ebay partner network (EPN) ID:
# CAMPAIGN ID (ALSO KNOWN AS PID OR AFFILIATE ID)
$config['ebay_pid'] = “123456789″;

Upload the following to your drupal root directory:
Folders:
images
phpbay
and the file auctions.php

Now, go to create a new Drupal page or post and enter your auction code like this example:

<?php
require_once(”phpbay/ebay.php”);
phpBayAPI(”macbook pro”, 15, “111422″, “”);
?>

and make sure to check “php code” in the input box.

Troubleshoting:
If after creating the page/post you only see the original code:
Make sure that you:
1- turned on the PHP filter
2- In the composition window, make sure you clicked on “php code”

If after creating a post the images don’t show up:
1- make sure that you copied the contents of the .htaccess file provided by phpbay to the TOP of the .htaccess file made by drupal

Another month has gone by and I have learned more about internet marketing.
While I am still formulating methods, best practices, and ideas, I have picked up on the fact that internet marketing is really an everyday task.  You shouldn’t do it once and forget about it, not even for a few weeks.
For starters, I decided to spend about $40 in SEM this month and it gave me some interesting data to analyze.  Firstly, I need to congratulate myself on my advertisement writing ability.  I feel that I got pretty good CTR’s for an amateur.  These $40 brought in roughly 200 new visitors meaning I paid about 20 cents per visitors.  In all, this particular site had approximately 850 visitors for the month of October and it brought in a paltry $35 this month.  In comparison, this same site brought in $105 last month without any SEM efforts which leads me to my conclusion: SEM is not the “end-all, be-all” of advertising.  I do think that the additional visitors will turn in to a few long term customers, but my money could have been better spent doing link and website development.

For November, I am going to work on placing better in the search engines and try my best to learn how things work around these Internets.  Hopefully I can write in a month stating that my $35 has grown and multiplied!

To all of you that have kept coming back to check my site once in a while: a great and many thanks!

To those of you who may be here for the first time - welcome!

Since my last post in April, I’ve been on the move both litteraly and figuratively.  I’ve finished school, moved to another state, got a house, a new job, and a lot of other things. One thing has not changed though, and that is that I am still trying to find the best ways to make money online.

While I’m still not rich and probably won’t be for a long time, I have created a new realistic goal for myself: to make $1,000 per month in passive online income.  I think that if I can set up shop and make $1,000 a month while doing nothing, I can use that money to grow and set my sights higher.

Where am I now?

I am still far from my goal.  I am currently averagining about $125 per month in completely passive income.  I’ve built a few websites and haven’t really touched them since building them and I’m earning $125 per month from them with very minimal upkeep.

What can you learn here?

No, I am not going to promise you great wealth.  I am not even necessarily going to share with you any of my websites.  However, I will talk to you about strategies that you can use to make money online.  The web is a big place.  There is a LOT of money out there.  All you have to do is reach up and grab your share.  I’m still learning to reach out and I hope you keep coming back to learn how to reach with me.