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New Member Intro and Seeking Advice

by rico777
23 replies
Hello,

An ex-coworker pointed me to this site.

I am a 44 year old single father and currently unemployed php/msql programmer. I have worked as a programmer both for companies and freelance for about the last 15 years. Not only am I completely burned out on coding but it has been a very unsatisfying way of making a living.

What I would like to do and have been searching for ways to do is to be able to build an income source that will grow rather than zero out at the end of each project that I do.

Recently I was moved to action on a subject that I was very passionate about (Obamacare). During the government shutdown I throw up a quick blog to share my thoughts on the issue and need to repeal Obamacare. In the first 2-3 weeks I made about $50-60 in ad revenue.

This got me to thinking that blogging may be just the type of thing I have been looking for. But I also realize that my repeal Obamacare blog was not going to be a good long term option. First of all, it is a temporary issue and second it is a negative and emotionally draining subject to focus on for several hours a day and not very healthy.

But then I realized that there is another niche but fairly broad subject that I could blog about that I have been very passionate about for as long as I can remember. So about 2-3 weeks ago I put up a blog called "The Akashic Library" and created a corresponding facebook page.

The types of articles that I am/will be putting on there will be on subjects like Meditation, Consciousness, Natural Health, Self Improvement...ect. My goal is to provide a place that presents solutions and examples rather than just identifies problems.

Now I have an idea about boosting traffic with a contest but before I kick off the contest I want to have at least a few more articles up than I currently have and I want to make sure that I have the design and layout down the way I want and need it to be that will be most effective so that people who come for the contest will come back for the articles.

I would really appreciate it if the people on here that have been doing this longer than me could take a look at my blog and tell me what you think about my design and layout and offer any suggestions you might have.

My Blog address is: The Akashic Library

And my Facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/theakashiclibrary

Thanks in Advance!
#advice #intro #member #seeking
  • Profile picture of the author Akogo
    I like your site, design, layout and the articles. The Facebook page is very good too. Sorry, I can't seem to find anything wrong with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by Akogo View Post

      I like your site, design, layout and the articles. The Facebook page is very good too. Sorry, I can't seem to find anything wrong with it.
      Thank You! No need to apologize for such a positive review
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  • Profile picture of the author Graham Maddison
    Looks great ..nice clean and uncluttered layout.

    One observation though, is that you are not collecting email addresses ..no opt in form!

    Give your readers a chance to subscribe to a newsletter .. you can email them when you make a new post etc and later begin to market to them as well.

    Everyone needs to build a list
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by Graham Maddison View Post

      Looks great ..nice clean and uncluttered layout.

      One observation though, is that you are not collecting email addresses ..no opt in form!

      Give your readers a chance to subscribe to a newsletter .. you can email them when you make a new post etc and later begin to market to them as well.

      Everyone needs to build a list
      Yeah, that's actually in the works. The contest I have in mind will be an "Enter your email to win" type of thing with a checkbox for subscribe/unsubscribe to newsletter.

      And once I have everything up and running the way I want it to be then I will also have a "subscribe to newsletter " box in the side bar.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sharvin Exubrio
    Originally Posted by rico777 View Post


    First of all, it is a temporary issue and second it is a negative and emotionally draining subject to focus on for several hours a day and not very healthy.
    Yes.

    Anyway, I checked out your blog and FB page.

    Your layout is pretty clean and nice.

    I'm not a huge fan of WP blogs so I can't specify
    the exact plugin but there are a couple that make
    better use of space.

    Perhaps when you have the contest and optin box
    going on in the near future you might want to experiment
    with a more "spacious" layout, to accentuate the optin portion.

    FB page: I ran it through my software.

    These are the points that can be improved.

    1)Try posting at around 10pm EST.That seems to be the
    timing of higher engagement from your fans.

    But sample size is rather small so maybe it might
    change with volume.

    2)Ask more questions.

    3)Tell them to like/comment/share a little more.

    Overall, you're doing great and I like the philosophy
    behind The Arkashic Library
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by Sharvin Exubrio View Post

      Yes.

      Anyway, I checked out your blog and FB page.

      Your layout is pretty clean and nice.

      I'm not a huge fan of WP blogs so I can't specify
      the exact plugin but there are a couple that make
      better use of space.

      Perhaps when you have the contest and optin box
      going on in the near future you might want to experiment
      with a more "spacious" layout, to accentuate the optin portion.

      FB page: I ran it through my software.

      These are the points that can be improved.

      1)Try posting at around 10pm EST.That seems to be the
      timing of higher engagement from your fans.

      But sample size is rather small so maybe it might
      change with volume.

      2)Ask more questions.

      3)Tell them to like/comment/share a little more.

      Overall, you're doing great and I like the philosophy
      behind The Arkashic Library
      Thank you for your positive review and your suggestions. I will be keeping them in mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author ElijahM
    I like the look and layout of the blog. The "feel" of it matches the subject matter. You may want to consider becoming an Amazon affiliate and posting ads for books applicable to each post's subject matter. Or, better yet, create your own Kindle books on subjects in the niche and drive traffic to them through your blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by ElijahM View Post

      I like the look and layout of the blog. The "feel" of it matches the subject matter. You may want to consider becoming an Amazon affiliate and posting ads for books applicable to each post's subject matter. Or, better yet, create your own Kindle books on subjects in the niche and drive traffic to them through your blog.
      I was going to do the Amazon affiliate link but recent changes at Amazon put my state "Arkansas" on the list of states where you can not be an affiliate. I used to be one before the changes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Iulia Lacriceanu
    I would add some personal information on your blog. People love to know other people. And if a visitor lands on your website and likes what he reads, the second step would be to get to know the blog owner or the person who writes the articles.

    In addition, try adding Google authorship for your content. This is the rich snippet in SERP, adding to the articles a photo and an author byline. Here you can read about the steps to take to add authorship on Blogger domains: Claim Google Authorship on Blogger or Wordpress
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  • Profile picture of the author Katherine Henders
    I like both the layout and the contents, the blog is very nice.
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  • Profile picture of the author PathofLeastResistance
    If this is really your site:

    1) buy your own domain (so you have control of your site)
    2) add an email submit box so you can start building your list learn how to use auto responders (look I know this sucks, but just do it and get it over with - you will thank me down the road); learn where to put email submit forms and how to word them (look at other top blogs to figure this out)

    Shoot to get 1000 people on your email list. Only add value to your list don't sell them anything (i.e., new posts is a find way to start).

    Then once you have a lot of people on your list you will probably have a good idea of what you are doing in terms of monetization, what your visitors are interested (via what your top posts are etc). For example I only promote tools that I use to make me money. If I can get affiliate tip so be it. The goal should be to add value - the money is a by-product.

    The good thing is it sounds like you are in this for the long-term so building out your infrastructure (i.e., list) for long term income should be hard for you.

    The above is for your blog.

    Now it sounds like you are a developer so you would probably be good at scaling out lots of sites and each make $5-10 a pop. Right? 2K sites each making $5 to $10 is good. You can check out my site or nohatseo.

    I'd leverage your PHP and mySQL.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author BLindquist
    Great blog and FB page. Just a little help with your FB page Banner though. You can get a graphic designer on FIverr to do a nice, clean, professional one for .. you guessed it, $5.

    You have good content, you just need to capitalize on that good content by capturing emails. As you described, you can have a contest. You can also create a small ebook that you can give away when they give you their email address.

    Keep up the momentum.
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    Affiliate links and templates are not allowed.

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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by BLindquist View Post

      Great blog and FB page. Just a little help with your FB page Banner though. You can get a graphic designer on FIverr to do a nice, clean, professional one for .. you guessed it, $5.

      You have good content, you just need to capitalize on that good content by capturing emails. As you described, you can have a contest. You can also create a small ebook that you can give away when they give you their email address.

      Keep up the momentum.
      Thanks! I like the ebook suggestion.
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  • Profile picture of the author salegurus
    I'll say this:
    If you like your site, you can keep your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by salegurus View Post

      I'll say this:
      Oh No! I'm DOOMED!! LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author misshang
    Well, now that your content is good and engaging, have you tried to use some textual link to promote cpa offers in the niche?
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by misshang View Post

      Well, now that your content is good and engaging, have you tried to use some textual link to promote cpa offers in the niche?
      Sorry I'm new at this and not familiar with all of the abbreviated terms. What is cpa?
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  • Profile picture of the author rico777
    Ok, I went ahead an launched the contest. The prize is not a huge big ticket item of coarse but it does go along with the theme of the site.
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  • Profile picture of the author buysellbrowse
    If you're serious about working on this for a long time, then you may want to consider setting up and promoting your own domain. The following name is available:

    No match for "AKASHIC-LIBRARY.COM".
    >>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 07:50:35 UTC <<<
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by buysellbrowse View Post

      If you're serious about working on this for a long time, then you may want to consider setting up and promoting your own domain. The following name is available:

      No match for "AKASHIC-LIBRARY.COM".
      >>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 07:50:35 UTC <<<
      I did consider this but unfortunately I learned too late that pointing a custom domain name to my blogger blog will cause me to lose all images over 400px and not allow me to upload new ones. I didn't know this when I chose to use blogger. And given my limited funds and limited time to get this up and running, I have little choice but to push on as is with this one.

      I will just have to remember this on any future blogs I set up.
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  • Profile picture of the author misshang
    Ricco, CPA is cost per action. You get paid for bringing prospectus customer to advertisers. There are many CPA networks offering affiliate programs and there is a section on WF on that too.
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by misshang View Post

      Ricco, CPA is cost per action. You get paid for bringing prospectus customer to advertisers. There are many CPA networks offering affiliate programs and there is a section on WF on that too.
      Thanks, I'll look into it.
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  • Profile picture of the author seogeek98
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    • Profile picture of the author rico777
      Originally Posted by seogeek98 View Post

      your website looks pretty good and clean. better to arrange the ads so as to increase the click ratio.
      Thanks, yeah I was thinking that having all of the adsense in the right column might not be the best idea. On my other blog I had two in the right column and one horizontal above the posts and I seemed to get more clicks on that one.
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