AdSense shenanigans
So, I have Google AdSense up on several of my sites. As I have added sites my AdSense earning momentum has been building. By my calculations, I was set to hit the $100 payout by the end of this month. Then the AdSense shenanigans started. My most profitable site started showing Public Service Ads. That means no money making on that site! That seriously puts a cramp in my peso makin’ machine. Here’s hoping that corrects itself sometime soon.
mmm, Ana de la Reguera
As you may recall, Ana de la Reguera is my current Mexican flavor of the moment. Ever since declaring it so, I cannot seem to escape her intoxicating beauty on my TV screen.
My first glimpse of Ana de la Reguera was on the telenovela “Gitanas” on Telemundo. I sure wish they would put that out on DVD cause it is chock full of Mexican hotties.
And while I knew that she was in Nacho Libre, I did not seek out this film when it was out. By accident I caught part of it on TV the other day. What a waste that they kept her covered up in that horrid outfit most of the time.
Then there is that new CoverGirl commercial for their new “Outlast” lipstick. You may have seen it. It has Queen Latifah as the main person doing all of the talking with a few other women in it but Ana de la Reguera is the main person. I just love when she bites into that fruit.
And just now I came across a trailer for a movie called “Ladies Night” on YouTube where her hair is a little shorter than I am used to seeing but she looks adorably sexy. There is also a music video for song from this movie in which Ana de la Reguera and the other actors/actresses from the film appear. As a bonus at around 2:47 in the clip it looks like she is about the kiss the other woman. Actually there are a few moments like that in the clip. Watch it here.
The problem with sites that pay you to review things on your blog
I make a decent amount of pesos using sites that pay you to do various reviews of varying lengths on your blog. The main one that I use to make all of this money recently changed their name. I don’t want to put the name on here and end up getting penalized by Google for saying their name before I even get a page rank. (It’s kind of like in Harry Potter when no one wants to say Voldemort’s name)
So, the company I am referring to has a new name, that rhymes with “cry-zea” (aka it that must not be named for fear of Google bitchslap).
I have a few problems with “cry-zea” and companies like them.
It can take them up to 30 days to review the opportunity that you took for the cash. If they reject your submission that means that the advertiser just got 30 days worth of free advertising to your audience. And that shit is wrong.
They also seem to have a bunch of assclowns working for them. I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten a rejection notice for not having the tracking image code in my post and then when I go to check it out it is actually there.
Just this past week I got a rejection notice that my blog did not meet the categorical requirements of the advertiser’s requirements in the opportunity. This is an interesting rejection considering only categories that you meet come up as eligible opps for you. I politely responded with this and asked for a better explanation. Their response? They did not feel that the posts of the blog over the past 30 days met the category. The category? Business/entrepreneurism. My blog? Dedicated soley to the pursuit of trying to sell the inventory of a business that I started. If that is not business or entrepreneurism then I don’t know what the hell is.
And since I can only take three opps a day, that 30 day later rejection costs me money that I can’t make up. If there was same-day reviews I would have had the opportunity to make up that money that is now lost.
Now you may be thinking that I am a whiny little gringo. That could be true but I think I have some valid points. At my day job they can’t tell me that they didn’t like my performance on one day 28 days ago and thus they are not paying me for that one day. That would be the same thing as the free advertising I was complaining about.
Sure, I have the option of not using these services, but it’s an easy way to make money online - when they pay you for it instead of screwing you. And it’s a hell of a lot better paying that Associated Content.
What the chupacabra am I doing?
Okay, so I have been sitting at work - yes this gringo has a “real job” - and trying to decide what I need to do to boost my income to meet my goal of becoming a peso millionaire by 12/31/08.
As I have mentioned before I have several other sites that I regularly make money from. But you know what? I do not make private ad money from a single one of them. What am I thinking? This is untapped potential here!
Now, it is no secret that those little 125 x 125 ad blocks are the way to go. All the cool kids are doing it, if you know what I mean. Well, this is my only site where I actually have the 125 x 125 ad blocks. That is a problem. So, I have decided that I need to change the themes on my other sites so that I can take advantage of the 125 x 125 private ad sales.
I am also going to give one of my sites a total overhaul. It has a great domain name and the potential to make a lot of cash.
I have been experimenting with the “my top spots” widget on some of my other sites with zero success so far. Sure, it has only been a week but that thing is taking up valuable real estate.
So, when I change to the new theme with 125 x 125 ad blocks on it I will discard the “my top spots” widget more than likely.
And after looking at some other sites, I’m going to fill all of my 125 x 125 ad blocks with affiliate links until I sell the space. oh yes, those million pesos will be mine.
Peso makin’ methods update
Well, in order to reach of my goal of becoming a peso millionaire by 12/31/08 I have been hard at work over the weekend.
I spent most of Sunday tweaking almost all of my sites. I have added in some affiliate links in prime places on most of the sites. I have also added Scratchback to several of the sites. And I have given my monetization efforts more prime placement on my sites.
I plan on evaluating the affiliate link performance about once a month.
As of Sunday (Jan 13), I have made almost $1,300 USD from online activities (not including AdSense). So, that puts me at around $100 USD per day. If I can keep that up them I am looking at $100 USD * 365 days = $36,500 USD. And at the current exchange rate that is around 399,000 MXN pesos. That is not even half way there!
Note to self: must bust ass to make million pesos pronto!
A goals update - eatin’ my weight in Mexican food
You may remember from my Goals for 2008 post that one of my goals is to eat my weight in Mexican food each month.
I freaking love Mexican food. And I have been trying my damnedest to meet this particular goal. So far I have eaten a vat of some spicy chicken soup that I think qualifies for “Mexican food” due to the extreme spiciness of it. I have also been working on eating my weight in chips and salsa and chips and queso. Mmmm.
Peso Makin’ Methods Currently In Use
As I have mentioned before, I do have some other sites that are currently making quite a few pesos each month. However, with the start of this site I have vowed to try out some new peso makin’ avenues.
So, as of now, here are the ways I am trying to make more money online this month.
First across several of my sites I am utilizing the services that send you cash for writing up short little reviews. I think we all know the names of these places and I am not going to write about them as I do not want spanked by the almight Google gods.
I also have several freebie Cafe Press stores that make sales semi-regularly. Whenever I think of something funny or offensive I throw it up on Cafe Press and wait for other sadistic minds to make me some pesos.
AdSense is currently on almost all of the pages, but that is about to change as it just does not perform well on some of them.
I have a CJ account but have yet to make any affiliate money. This is something that I plan on beginning to experiment with more.
There are also some things that I am thinking about doing. I was looking at the BidXL widget from One Year Goal, which is kind of similar to that topspots widget. Something like that might be of interest to me in the future. And private ads is also something of interest.
One million pesos - here I come, but it just my take me a while cause this burro I’m a’riding is a little slow!
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A gringo after my own heart
I came across a site today where some gringo has a goal of making $100,000 USD in one year. Apparently this goal was put out into the universe in July 2007.
I’m not sure where this gringo is with his goal, but a post on Jan. 2nd says:
I’m a graduate school student who is tired of spending my life meeting someone else’s deadline and doing someone else’s work. I started working for other people when I was 16 and I have to be honest: it’s not that exciting. Maybe I just haven’t met the right boss, but I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve had some pretty friendly bosses. There’s just something about working for yourself that makes the time fly by, and makes every ounce of “work” exciting.
This blog is dedicated to independence, financial independence, which is the highest form of freedom that exists in this day and age. With enough income you can live anywhere, do just about anything, and set your own hours. No salaried job in the world can offer you that no matter how much it pays you.
This blog will chronicle my short term goal method of achieving my dreams. Every month I will pick one business idea to plan and execute. I’ll keep you posted on the results on this blog.
This blog is an experiment in entrepreneurship, motivation, and most importantly, financial independence. As the months progress, I will show you step-by-step how to achieve it.
So, has he abandoned the dream? I mean, $100,000 USD would make him a peso millionaire for sure! Nah, he didn’t abandon it, he just kind of extended his timeline…
So I’m rebooting the goal. By January 6, 2009 I will make $100,000 (net) online.
So, there you have it. There just might be two peso millionaires on the web by the end of the year! Track the other gringo’s progress at One Year Goal.
How I plan to make more money online
As previously mentioned I am already an online money making fool. I make around $2,000 from my other sites. Since this site is a newbie site for me it has not really been contributing to that online money making kitty.
So, the question is, for my pursuit of becoming a peso millionaire, should I count only income from this site or income across the board. If I do it across the board I can estimate that I will already be projected to make almost 250,000 pesos (or $24,000 USD). That would put me a fourth of the way there.
Seems kind of like a cop-out, huh?
Well, I am totally thinking that I should count it. Why? Because it will be hard to figure in things like AdSense which are on several sites. Sure, I can break the AdSense down by channel but that just seems like too much math.
With my dislike of accounting in mind, I declare it. I will count all online income from all sites as part of my quest to be a peso millionaire.
The next order of business is what to do with accounts that already have some money in them (like CafePress) but do not yet have a high enough balance to cash them out. Do I count the entire balance when I can cash it out, or not?
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Progress
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Goal: 1,000,000 MXN
Current: 64,288.69 MXN
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The Donation Piñata
Help this gringo out with a little donation!
I'm trying to get to one million pesos by 12/31/08.
As of March 31, I am at 64,288.69 MXN.
For more on my progress, click here. -
The exchange rate
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The goal? 1,000,000 Mexican Pesos.
Current exchange rate as of 4/15/08 is 1.00 MXN = 0.10 USD.
So, 1,000,000 MXN = 95,350.23 USD.
Check out the Currency Converter at XE.com.
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Mexican Flavor of the Moment
Laura Elena Harring
