A couple of days ago, I visited Flippa, an website marketplace, and I saw so many autoblogging sites for sale that it made my head spin. And, the really weird thing is that a lot of these autoblogs were actually being sold for various amounts (many higher than $100). Some of these blogs were aged and had a history of generating revenue and some were brand spanking new. But, one thing was certain, people were buying them left and right.

I then started thinking, why is autoblogging so hot, is this type of business model that I should consider and is autoblogging the wave of the future? I still don’t know why its hot (except that most people want easy money) or if autoblogs will maintain their stickiness. However, I do know that for right now, autoblogs seem to be working (especially for website flippers out there – hint hint) and since I plan on flipping sites very soon, I plan to jump on the autoblogging bandwagon soon.

Here’s a few facts I learned about Autoblogging

What is Autoblogging?

Autoblogging is a method of creating a completely automated blog, so that you don’t have to regularly update it. This process allows individuals to get fresh content, videos, etc. every day or even more than once a day, and make money through Google ads, contextual advertising, or affiliate links.

How to Create Autoblogs

You create an autoblog using a WordPress blog, a domain name. and a plugin. With this plugin, you are able to pull in content from all over the place. Depending upon your keywords and your niche, you can pull content from different kinds of sites that are relevant to your topic. The plug-ins include links back to those sites so that the owners get credit for their articles or posts.

Some people use WP Robot whereas others use plugins from sites like Unique Article Wizard. Both of these allow you to pull articles from their site to populate your blog. However, WP Robot also allows you to pull videos, twitter posts, amazon products, ebay auctions, yahoo answers, and much more.

How Much Can You Make?

You can make $100 or more selling well made autoblogs. If you keep them, the amount you make will vary depending on your niche. It seems as if the most common amount people make from one autoblog is about $2 per day. This is why marketers typically create hundreds of autoblogs. If they create 100 autoblogs, they’ll make $200 a day, which translates into about $6,000 per month. Not too shabby, right?

What are the Risks?

There are many variables to autoblogging, from the keywords you choose to the content you pull. It’s very possible that more than one blog will be highly successful. It’s also equally possible that several blogs will make no money. In addition, search engines tend to look down upon autoblogging sites and it may be harder to get them ranked or keep them ranks, especially for competitive keywords( or at least that is what I’ve heard).

My Verdict About Autoblogging
Autoblogging can be extremely profitable if its done correctly but it carries some risks. As for me, I am going to give autoblogging a try, especially for website flipping. I don’t think I will keep them for my own niche blogging efforts however for website flipping, they seem perfect.

What do you think? Are you going to give autoblogging a try?

Some days I am a producer that gets all of my internet marketing tasks done with ease and other days it seems as if I struggle and get absolutely nothing done at all. On those non productive days, I have every intentions of getting my work done but somehow my intentions and my actions don’t connect.  If you find yourself in a similar situation, you may be wondering how can you become more productive on a daily basis? Well,  here are some guidelines that seem to help me accomplish more and play less. Are you ready? Let’s begin.

Be realistic about what you can accomplish.  Although we would all love to complete every one of our to-dos on a daily basis, it isn’t always humanly possible to do so.  Therefore, it is much better to set smaller goals and then accomplish them instead of setting unrealistic goals that you can’t achieve. By doing this, you’ll not only feel better about yourself but you’ll be more motivated to accomplish additional tasks the next day.

Use a prioritized to-do list. Everyone needs to use a “to do list”.  By having one at your disposal, you can easily see what items need to get done and which ones do not. I typically find that it is best to limit your to-do list to 4-5 things per day. This way, I am more likely to get them all accomplished.

Give yourself rewards. Everybody loves rewards and accolades. So, make it a point to reward yourself when you accomplish a task.  For instance, you can give yourself a small prize or treat when you complete an article, 30 forum comments, backlinking, etc. This will definitely motivate you to keep going.

Focus on one task at a time. Although it can be extremely hard, you must focus on one thing at a time. The best technique for doing this is the Pomodoro technique that forces you to work on one task at a time. With the Pomodoro technique, you set your timer for 25 minutes and once you’re done with that specific task, you can either move on to the next task or continue working on that one. Then, when you’ve finished three Pomodoros, you can take a 10 minute break. Not only will this force you to be more productive, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you are a real producer.

Evaluate  your daily accomplishments and be honest with yourself. Every single day, figure out how much work you did and how much playing around you did and then make it a goal to better the next day. With practice you can improve and have more productive days and less fooling yourself ones.

Good luck!

Almost every single day, I hear frustrated spouses complaining on message boards and forums that their spouses don’t support their internet marketing efforts. But, can you honestly blame them? Internet marketing is like a jealous mistress that requires a lot of attention – attention away from your spouse and it is totally normal for them to “not understand your passion to succeed or for them to see the big picture of what you’re trying to accomplish”.

After all, you spend so much time on the computer and when you’re just starting off, you don’t make much (if anything) to show for the time you’ve spent.  In turn, they  feel like you’re wasting your time and neglecting the relationship.  As a result, your marriage suffers and your you experience stress.

So, what are you to do? Should you give up your dreams or should you to persuade your spouse to be more supportive? I believe that you should never, ever, ever give up on your dreams. Instead, you should gently persuade your spouse to support you with these proven strategies.

Trust Yourself – It will take some time for you to make money and there is definitely money to be made in internet marketing however it may be hard persuading someone when you don’t have much to show for it. Therefore, you absolutely must trust yourself and believe that you can do it and don’t let anyone (including your spouse) stand in your way of your success.

Make Your Relationship A Priority – Most spouses don’t like internet marketing because it takes a lot of time away from them. So, keep reasonable hours and be respectful of your relationship. Spend time with your spouse and tell them how important they are to you and how you appreciate them supporting your work. By thanking them for even the smallest things, and letting them know how much it means to you, you strengthen the marital bond.

Show Them the Numbers – If your spouse doesn’t know the potential with internet marketing, educate them. Show them statistics or information regarding the amount of money you could be making. If you’ve done research for your own internet marketing business, show him the projected income if you continue on your path. Sometimes, letting them see what you will be making in the future is enough to make them more supportive and tolerant.

Remind Them That You’re Working – I think every person who works on the internet has had someone ask, “What do you do on the computer all day?” To people on the outside, it can look like you’re relaxing or spending your days playing flash games. Show your spouse the kinds of things you’re doing so he or she can see that you really are working. You can even ask them for their help.

Share Your Success with them – And, the most important thing is to share your success with them. Not only will this open up the walls of communication but it will also prove to them that you are indeed making progress toward your dreams – one step at a time.

For the longest time, I have been trying to get all of my niche sites to rank higher in the search engines so that they would make me more advertising money. So, in my effort to rank them higher and increase my advertising revenue, I soon discovered that advertisers are not only concerned with search engine rankings and traffic but many of them are also concerned with ones Alexa and PR rank as well. It took me awhile to figure out which one was better for my needs and I soon discovered that having higher Pageranks were more important than Alexa rankings and here’s why.

Google PageRank is basically a quality rating given by Google as to how authoritative they view your site. That is, if you have a PR of 0, Google views your site as less authoritative as a site that has a PR of 8.  Now, this authoritativeness evaluates the amount of information on your site and the quality and quantity of other sites that are linking to your site as well. In essence a PR is sort of like a report card for your site and Google tends to give higher search engine rankings to those higher graded sites.  In addition, many advertisers also love higher PR sites. Why? Because they want to advertise on those sites that Google regards as authoritative.

In contrast, Alexa is another ranking system that tracks the number of visitors to a website, and only if those visitors have an Alexa toolbar. Using the data gathered about your site, Alexa will give you a rating. Whereas Google PR rates you from 1 to 10, Alexa will literally rate you against the other sites in their databases. So, you may end up in the thousands or even millions. Although some advertisers use Alexa rankings to determine if your site is good for advertising, most advertisers could care less about Alexa’s rating because they are so caught up in PR.

So, which one should you focus on more?

Well, if you are concerned with advertising, you should probably focus on improving your PR as most higher PR sites are often viewed as more authoritative, will typically enjoy higher rankings in the search engines, and most importantly, advertisers are willing to pay more for ads on higher PR sites. On the same token, you shouldn’t totally ignore your Alexa either. After all, some advertisers do use it to evaluate site popularity and ad worth and it can be good tool for determining  traffic.

As for me, I am going to focus on improving my niche sites’ PR. By doing this, I will hopefully see an increase in the SERPs which will lead to an improvement in my overall traffic and more money for me. As an added bonus,  once my traffic improves – my Alexa rankings should naturally improve too.

What do you think?

Some days I don’t really feel like blogging, writing or doing any internet marketing at all. Although my mind always tries to persuade me that I  should be motivated and “take action”, my heart doesn’t always feel like doing ANY of it.

As an employee, I would be forced to listen to my mind and get busy working (or get fired). But, I am my own boss and I can choose whether I listen to my heart or to my heart. So this morning, I listened to my heart and said, “The heck with work” and went out to breakfast with a couple of friends (who happen to be bloggers too) and we had a really great time blast.

For two hours, we shared stories about our kids, husbands, pets, chatted about our college days, swapped recipes and had a blast.  We covered all types of personal stuff and then, we spent some time talking about business. During the conversation, I not only became closer with my buddies but I also learned about a few great WordPress plugins, how to maximize my Twittering marketing efforts and how to monetize my niche blogs with additional revenue-generating strategies.

When I left I felt connected, focused, and ready to get back to work.

So, when you’re frustrated with internet marketing, don’t stay frustrated – instead, take some much-needed time away. Do something fun like have lunch with a friend. Do something that will revitalize and energize you.

Not only will you feel less stressed and pressured but you’ll have a better outlook and your creative juices will start flowing again and you can then choose to continue playing hooky or getting busy. After all, you’re the boss!