The Freedom Net

You may have noticed that I have not posted here on The Freedom Net in a while. Well, the primary reason is that I lost all of my page rank because of a Google smack down on all PayPerPost, TextLinkAds and related type sites. Any site that used those services was quickly and efficiently wiped down to a PR of 0.

So, today I have taken the time to remove my PPP disclosure, all of my banners, etc. … effectively removing this blog from the PPP program. Now I will wait and see if Google will be so kind as to restore my PR … we shall see.

Product Features:

The F80 is equipped with a host of user-friendly features, including six preset workout programs, two customizable programs, and two heart rate programs, along with a red display that tracks your speed, incline, time, distance traveled, calories, pulse, and pace. There’s even a 1/4-mile digital track that you can follow as you run and a peak-and-valley graph that corresponds to individual programs. Other details include a large stop switch for safety; a low-profile running hood; armrest cooling fans; speed and incline controls on the armrests; a wireless chest strap that measures your heart rate; and a 20-by-55-inch running deck. The F80 treadmill, which offers a user capacity of up to 335 pounds, carries the following warranties: lifetime on the motor, deck, and frame; five years on the electronics, belt, and rollers; and two years on the labor.

The Sole F80 treadmill has earned a reputation as one of the best-quality treadmills in its price range thanks to its unbeatable combination of high-quality components and user-friendliness. The treadmill boasts a strong 3.0-horsepower, continuous-duty motor, which delivers challenging speeds of up to 11 miles per hour and inclines of up to 15 percent. At the same time, the F80’s Cushion Flex Whisper Deck is built to protect your joints from excessive pounding, with the ability to reduce impact up to 40 percent compared to running on asphalt. And when you’re not using the treadmill, it folds into a compact footprint and locks securely in place, thereby saving a ton of storage space.

OK, I know I’m late … but things have been pretty hectic around here lately, and when you work from home, that’s a good thing! So, here’s what it looked like for the month of September from a production standpoint. Remember, since all of these programs “pay out” at different time schedules, I am actually counting money produced through actual work in September, rather than what came in during the month. In effect, some of this was realized in September, while some will be realized in October.

PayPerPost - $184
Text Link Ads - $50
Google Adsense - $15
AC & other writing - $57
Blogsvertise - $15
Guru.com work - $163
Mahalo - $141

TOTAL - $625

Well, that’s not too much of an improvement over last month, but we’re getting there. Mahalo has come into it’s own this month (October), and the wife and I are already over $1000 for the month. We scraped by last month on the skin of our teeth, and this month will be close as well. This is because a lot of these people have a 30 day wait for your pay (like PPP and Mahalo). However, that being said, we are definitely in the upswing and are looking to more than break even when the cash starts rolling in during November (just in time for Christmas!).

You have to take time for recreation, did you know that? Yep, it’s a proven, scientific, medical fact that your body needs recreation to deal with stress. If you’re all work and no play, then let’s consider a recreational sport that I’ve always wanted to get into.

Ever heard of paintball? Yes, that “game” where you and possibly a team take on another team … with paintball guns shooting paint pellets. Next to being in the military and playing real war games, I can’t think of anything quite as exciting as this sport. In fact, in some ways, it’s more exciting than in the military, because half the time the MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) didn’t work right. Okay, it actually sucked. With paintball, there’s no denying if you’ve been clobbered!

While doing research into this great pasttime, I found what could be the ultimate resource for paintball materials and supplies. The name of the site is Ultimate Paintball, and it looks like they carry everything you would ever need, and then some. From Smart Parts to Draxxus paintball gear and spyder paintball guns, this site is loaded. Let’s put it this way: when I get ready to gear up for paintball, I know where I’m going for my supplies!

Have you heard of ‘bum marketing’ yet? No, this is not where you hire a bunch of street people to hold up signs for advertising your site on the streetcorner … it’s a “new” twist on the article marketing method put out by Travis Slago. It’s a no-brainer really, and you should consider becoming a bum. So what’s the difference between article marketing and bum marketing? There are a few subtle nuances, so let’s take a quick look ..

In article marketing, the objective is to drive traffic and links to your specific website on a certain subject. By writing a dozen articles and distributing them to 50 or 100 article directories, they can provide excellent back-links to your site to boost your Google Page Rank, as well as provide traffic - especially if someone else picks up a copy for their newsletter or ezine. A few people considered using this to promote affiliate programs as well, but the basis was to generate the traffic from mass quantity, rather than the quality of the sites the articles were on.

In bum marketing, however, the objective is to drive affiliate sales, plain and simple. Most article directories won’t allow affiliate links, so you’ll have to drive the traffic to your own landing page and then take them on in to the sales page. Another BIG difference is that we’re not looking for a hudred article directories to submit to. We’re looking for the top 3 - 5 that will get your article indexed by Google and the other major search engines quickly. By targeting long-tail keywords with decent monthly traffic and little specific competition, your site can end up in the top positions of these search engines pretty easily. Then, the traffic comes from actual people doing very specific searches for your product or service, rather than dozens of article sites and ezines. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to get traffic from anywhere you want to. However, using this method, you can get your articles indexed anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks, depending on the site(s) you submit it to. Then, it’s just a matter of sitting back and waiting for the traffic and sales conversions.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not going to be a “get rich quick” program. However, Travis says he averages (after it’s all said and done) about $20 per month per article. So, using 1/2 his average (since my “luck” is never as good as those online ‘guru’ folks), we can develop a simple formula that says if I want $1000 a month, I need 100 articles out there working for me. If I want $3000 a month, then I need 300 articles out there working for me. Will it take time? Yes, it will. However, consider this: by targeting the long-tail keywords within any niche, you will actually have less competition for those terms. Your article could potentially stay at the top of the search engine listings for a long time. So, once you get this system in place at the level you want, it’s only a matter of maintenance.

Just think of it like a sales organization. The regional leader can only be successful if he has hundreds of salesmen out there working for him. In fact, typically he’ll get an override on their sales of a certain percentage. Each salesman working under him may only generate $10 a month income for the regional director. However, by leveraging the power of duplication (sound like an MLM pitch, don’t I … LOL) he can develop a long-term residual income that is semi-stable. You’re always going to have turn-over, but once you get a base of performers established, it’s all maintenance from there on out.

Article marketing is exactly the same way. Bum marketing just takes it to the next level, and makes it even easier, if that’s possible. The biggest deterrent to success with this method will be the same thing it always is: procrastination and paralysis of analysis. Think long, think wrong. Put up or go home.

Ever running short on cash and can’t make it ’till Payday? Do you need a little extra cash to pay off unforeseen bills or emergency expenses? Have you ever thought about using payday loansh to bridge the gap? Many people use this type of service to avoid falling behind on debts and avoiding the consequences of bad credit.

The only caution that I would give when considering a short-term loan of any kind: be sure you have the resources to pay it off. Remember, these folks are only offering a temporary solution, a band-aid, if you will. It is nice, but they are charging interest, as they are in business to make money. That being said, if used properly, payday loans can help you when you’re in a bind.

Publishing was the first form of mass communication, but required a lot of time to “spread the word”.
Radio, while it didn’t replace books, provided a way to communicate with a wider audience instantly over the airwaves.
Television became one of the fastest growing mediums next, followed by the Internet.

However, the Internet has developed a few trends in and of itself.
At first, everything online was free, and people were happy just to find something interesting.
Then, people started to look for specific things, and other people started to sell them.
E-books came on the scene, and instant downloads beat waiting on something in the mail.
Web 2.0 arrived, and everyone wanted to know what everyone else was doing online … and social networking Internet-style was born. This phenomenon, of course, has happened in real life. But, as with anything else, the Internet seems to have a way of taking it to the next level … reaching a potential audience larger than any other.

Take YouTube for example.It’s the #4 visited website in all of cyberspace. What’s it about? Videos … that’s it. User submitted, user rated. It’s all about you, and what you are watching.

Now, as with any other Internet trend (banners, ebooks, mp3s, etc.) people have decided that maybe it would be nice to get paid for their videos. Not surprisingly, a number of sites have sprung up that are willing to do just that.

Revver.com shares a 50/50 split with their video producers, minimum $20 payout. Seems okay, but they don’t get as much traffic as the next program … so it “pays” to promote your video. Oh yeah, it also “pays” to promote other people’s videos too … 20% revenue share to people who simply share the video on their blog or site. Revenue is based on view and click-throughs, depending on the ad type. So, there’s no real “average” or way to be certain what you will get. Top producer stats aren’t revealed, but the top video took in around $50,000 (it was the infamous mentos in a coke bottle video) … and the site paid out $1 million in total revenue sharing in the last 12 months. They did say around 25,000 users had earned $1000 or so.

Metacafe.com on the other hand, has a much more interesting service. You only get paid for views on their site, but they get over 1 million hits a day. It’s set up much like YouTube, with users rating videos. You qualify for payout once you hit 20,000 views. It’s not based on click-throughs, just views of the video. The payout is $5 for every 1,000 page views, so once you hit 20,000, you’ve earned $100. At 40,000 you’ve earned $200. You don’t get paid for sharing, but the potential is there to earn big bucks because of the traffic. Top producer has earned over $60,000 in the last year with around 80 videos. Read that again … that’s impressive, isn’t it? And no, their not sex videos either. This guy is actually a tech geek. He has quite a few “how to” videos in the collection. One of the others in the top ten had a video earn him $6,000 in the last month. I saw it … unbelievably simple.

Anyway, I’m sharing this because I really believe that video is the next BIG thing online. I mean, I know it’s big now … but I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. Nada, zero, zilch. I have started noticing that Pay Per Post offers a substantial payment for videos. The blog doesn’t have to have a high PR, just be willing to post the video to YouTube and on the blog. Payment for videos on PayPerPost ranges from $35 to as high as $100. It’s unbelievable what they will pay for a 1 minute video clip. Stay tuned, because the next year or so is going to be something else …

Have you ever experienced the loss of a filling? I have, and let me tell you from experience, it can be a real pain in the … mouth. I had a filling come out of one of my lower right molars that had been in there for 15+ years. Once I realized it was out, I was immediately concerned. There was pain when food would get into the now gaping hole in my tooth, and touch the nerves down in there… ouch! Keeping food and water out was pretty much impossible.

I wish I had known then what I know now. There is product out there on the market called Dentemp OS that helps to repair loose caps and lost fillings. This stuff looks great. It isn’t something you have to mix up (I tried that - it didn’t work). This product hardens in about 60 minutes to the point that you can eat on it. Now that’s something to talk about there! Now keep in mind that this is not a permanent solution, it is only a temporary dental repair process. You will need to go see a dentist. However, this re-sealable container has enough of this stuff in it to do up to six treatments.

So if you are in pain with a loose cap or lost filling, you need to check out Dentemp OS. It could literally put you out of your misery!

I’ve been watching the reaction to Mahalo ever since I discovered the search engine a few weeks ago. While Live Search alters it’s algorithm to compete with Google, Mahalo is not using one at all. Instead Mahalo uses human guides to build search engine results pages. The objective is the same: weed through all the crap and serve up the most relevant links. However, using human power to generate search results is extremely time consuming. So, Mahalo’s strategy is to inject themselves into the top 30% of the search market, compiling the top 10,000 or so keywords first.

At least, that was the goal. They’ve actually reached 10,000 results pages and are now shooting for 20,000. Using stay-at-home workers as “part-time guides”, they are leveraging the power of the Internet to exponentially grow their resources and their results. So, how do they compare against Google? Well, let’s just take a quick look at the top 10 searched pages on Mahalo vs. the Google’s top 10 trends from yesterday (10/3/07) and you be the judge. Read the rest of this entry »

OK, I don’t usually jump on the bandwagon of new start-up programs. In fact, I’m not so hot on programs, even if they’ve been around a while. However, I recently came across this in the forums of another site where I do some freelance writing, and thought it looked fairly interesting.

After reviewing the site and the way it is setup, I think it has a lot of potential. Basically it’s a product review site, done in Web 2.0 style. Take ePinions, and then add it some vendor advertising and revenue sharing with the peer-rated and screened reviews. That’s the basics behind Shared Reviews.

Now they haven’t announced what their payout structure will be yet as far as when the site actually goes live. However, they are in the middle of ramping up during beta and aquiring a few thousand reviews so they will have some content when they go live. They are paying premium dollar for this content … $10 for every 5 reviews approved. This is a good price, and I’m sure this won’t be the same scale as the payout after launch, but we shall see. So, my point is, you should sign up now, while in beta, to get the up-front big money for these reviews! In addition, by getting your reviews in now, you will have a good base of reviews to earn revenue sharing off of when the site does it’s official launch!

;-)