Simple rule #1 

All that a blog really is is CONTENT…and content has value because there are hundreds of millions of people a day searching for ANSWERS to their questions or solutions to their problems.  I produce content about once a month, and I try to deliver that content as answers to questions.  I consider myself the average joe, and when I google, I ask a questions.  For Example: “What is a good pizza recipe?”

Simple rule #2

It is OK to include advertisements and sponsors near your content!  Google is so good at delivery of relevant advertisments, including adsense ads on your site actually ENHANCES your readers experiences by making it even easier for them to find what they need. 

Simple Ruly #3

Blogging must be fun before it will be profitable.  From day one I was excited about the challenge of making money online!  With the skills that you can acquire online, come economic meltdowns or high water, it is truly possible to make a darn good living by providing content and selling “value” on the Internet…not that is fun to me.

Simple Rule #4

Keep evolving your online strategy.  I believe that the best blog is the one that gets your “feet wet” to the world of online revenue.  For me, this blog has led to full blown e-commerce, iPhone applications, distribution businesses, and my newest venture into the service world of Local Logic.  The world wide web is changing daily, and it is critical to stay on top of the wave!

Anyways…April was another decent month for TAM!  Earnings were good, but I also am enjoying some nice, steady traffic (I’m going to share traffic data too!)

Earnings breakdown for April 2009

Adsense: $141.88

CCM Income: $30.00

Hostgator Affiliate Sales: $0.00

Private Sales: $180.00

Kontera Income: $0.00

Total Online Earnings: $351.88

April 2009 Site/Traffic Stats

• 3930 Page Loads
• 1967 Unique Visitors
• 1451 First Time Visitors
• 516 Returning Visitors

Sorry about the bad screen shot, what do ya do! 

Well, traffic was up but income was down a little bit.  I’m still hopeful that blogs can make money, but I’m not convinced that I’m on the right path towards reaching my year end goals of $1000 per month in TAM blog income.  I need to offer some product, service, or information that will truly enhance someones life, in an immediate and measurable way.  That is going to be job #1 going forward.  Easier said than done though, I know!

I started blogging in Feb. 2008 on a Free Blogger Site with absolutly NO CLUE what I was doing.  As my friend at MoneyEnergy mentioned in one of her comments…it took like 6 months to get my first Adsense Check. 

While I still know very little about making money online, I am now making enough per month to cover a decent little car payment, and my site statistics are heading in the right direction every month.  That being said, I’ve got a couple of tips here that might save you some time if you are just starting out blogging.  If you post often enough, and follow a few good ideas, you should be able to get an adsense check or affiliate check within 2 months or so.

Tip #1 Forget Blogger, and go straight to a Hosted, Wordpress site with a theme that accents your content and is easy to use.  This was, BY FAR, the best thing that I did.  Hosting through HostGator.com is only $10 per month, and it is well worth the investment.  It gives your blog a much more porfessional feel than the basic blogger or wordpress.com package.

Tip #2  Invest in a good domain name!  Search GoDaddy.com for hours if you have to so you can buy a good online brandname to build your blog around.  I personally made a mistake on this one, as I probably could have done alot better than “The Almost Millionaire” as it is kind of long and most people don’t think or care about Almost Millionaires…but it has worked well, and made sense to me at the time.

Tip #3  Spend some time writing 4-7 of your BEST possible articles focused on what type of blog you are trying to develop, personal finance, SEO, marketing, private equity, investments…whatever.  Just focus your efforts on your best stuff within your chosen topic.

Tip #4  Spend about a two weeks finding blogs like yours.  Make meaningful comments to show your interest and support for those blogs.  Invest your time in developing friendships with those bloggers who are receptive to your comments and seem interested in interacting with you.  There are TONS of great bloggers who like to help newbies, but there are a lot of JERKS out there too, who will never support you or give you the time of day.  Focus on the friendly bloggers, and avoid those who show no interest in you…and don’t take it personally, there are just some guys who are so big they don’t have the time in the day to respond to comments and develop relationships.  FYI, a few guys who are great at developing online conversations are Sire from Wassupblog, Mitch from I’m Just Sharing, and Dave at Do You Dave Ramsey.  There are more, I wish I had time to name them all.

Tip #5  Invest your time and money in learning from others who have been successful at making money online and from blogging.  There is literally millions of pieces of good information out there that can help you learn how to do AdSense, or affiliate programs, or networking marketing.  I try to read something new every week as I try to figure out the endless possibilities that the Internet offers.

Tip #6  REPEAT STEPS #3, #4, AND #5 OVER AND OVER AGAIN.  Stick with it!  Worst case scenario, you will have all your thoughts online and organized, so you can easily write your autobiography when you are old, rich, and famous

I apologize to all of you who already know all this stuff, as I realize that most of you know WAY more than me about making money online.  I post this though, because this stuff would have seriously helped me when I started online, and I may not have wasted 6 months posting on blogger for my 3 visitors a day.  My hope is that all of you who read this blog will leave you #1 Tip for New Bloggers in the comments section.  That would be awesome!

EARNINGS BREAKDOWN FOR March 2009:

• Adsense Income: $151.40
• CCM Income: $100.00
• Host Gator Income: $50.00
• Link Revenue: $80.00

TOTAL INCOME: $381.40

I’m pretty darn excited about these results!  It was nice to finally get a hostgator.com affiliate sale.  Also, it makes you feel really good when you are being contacted by other companies about advertising opportunities.  CCM income is due to a referral who joined the company.  This is a one time fee, but I will receive trail commissions too (which may or may not be significant).

Adsense is pretty steady, but is not growing.  I have never really worked to understand how to drive adsense revenue, I’m just thankful that it is there.  Most surprising to me is the usage that I get on my google search bar.  That performs pretty well, all things considered.  It doesn’t get used every day, but when it does get used, about 15% of the time is generates revenue…pretty cool!

So anyways, I love this blog!  Sharing my thoughts on investing, entrepreneurship, personal finance, faith, etc.  It really is fun to do.  Income is a great by-product of a small passion.  That being said, I’m firmly committed to generating $1000 per month of passive income from TAM by year end.  Big goal for sure, but I’ve climbed higher mountains. 

This seems like a great time to thank you all again!  I truly appreciate those of you who support this blog with comments and links.   These digital conversations and friendships are daily blessings in my life!  SO THANKS!

I spent about 3 hours yesterday afternoon trying to answer the above question.  What is Clickbank?  My secondary question was…How do I use Clickbank to further monetize my Internet real estate.  AdSense has been a great start, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve spent the last year as a one trick pony.  That strategy is not going to work in 2009 if this is the year I figure out how to make $5000 a month via web investments.  And by the way, I’ve decided that I’m going to figure out this online income thing without buying anyones Carbon Copy System.  Maybe that is stupid, but I consider myself of average intelligence, so I darn well should be able to figure things out this year. 

ALL THAT BEING SAID, Clickbank seems to offer some interesting opportunities.  The deal is that you sign us as an affiliate and get paid a commission on any products that are sold from leads generated from your web properties.  This is great, but I see a bit of a problem.  I DON’T EVER want to suggest a product that I don’t believe in 100%.  I know that there are great opportunities there, but I need to sift through the thousands of Garbage Opportunities to find the jewels that I can promote and suggest. 

So that is where I am, and I would truly appreciate any comments regarding your experience with Clickbank and what products, if any, your have found that truly add value to peoples lives…because that is what it is all about for me.  I want to help, every day, even if it is only in a little way.