Archive for June, 2008

How many things do you really need?

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

In today’s industralized country, the things we need for survival are almost a guarantee.  For survival, what do we need beyond food, shelter, and water?  Of course we need health and cleanliness, but all these things are pretty a guarantee.

The role of things

Of course things have the ability to bring us more comfort, make our lives easier.  We don’t need that television set, or that car, or even a computer.  But have said things makes life easier, comfortable, and makes us in many cases more productive in our daily lives.

What’s Your Poverty Threshold?

Your poverty threshold is the minimum amount of discomfort you are willing to deal with.   Often one’s poverty threshold keeps them from pursuing new interests or careers that are more fulfilling. Would you take a large cut in pay to switch career and do something that was perhaps more fulfilling and meaningful to you? Of course it would mean losing some comforts in your life, but does the more meaningful job make up for it?

Questions I Ask Myself Before Buying New Stuff

Most would also call this pre-purchase dissonance.  (More marketing classes at work)

1. Do I really need this?

2. What functional role will this item serve me.

3. Is this an impulse purchase or have I had proper time to think about this?

Tax Write off for Your Blog

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

I received a comment earlier on my blog asking about tax write offs.  Legally I can’t give any advice about write offs, all I can give is an account of what I write off on my blogs.

1. Anything that’s related to my blog.  This year I’m writing off a projector, a digital camera, and the cost of buying domains.  Also I should add that hosting is a definate writeoff.

2. You can’t write off money you don’t earn with your blog.  If you only earn $30 with your blog you can write off $40 worth of stuff.

3. One of the best reasons to go into business for yourself? Write offs.  What’s better than getting stuff “30%” off.  I mean 30% off because you aren’t paying tax on the income used to buy whatever it was for your business.  The key is making it business related.

According to Spark Plugging.com:

“Here are the IRS qualifications of blogging as a business vs. a hobby:

  1. You carry on the activity in a business-like manner,
  2. The time and effort you put into the activity indicate you intend to make it profitable,
  3. You depend on income from the activity for your livelihood,
  4. Your losses are due to circumstances beyond your control (or are normal in the start-up phase of your type of business),
  5. You change your methods of operation in an attempt to improve profitability,
  6. You, or your advisors, have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business,
  7. You were successful in making a profit in similar activities in the past,
  8. The activity makes a profit in some years, and the amount of profit it makes, and
  9. You can expect to make a future profit from the appreciation of the assets used in the activity.”

As Spark Plugging writes, your blogging activity needs to be profitable.

Fake Earning Report Pictures

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

So I wrote yesterday about some legitimate earnings reports, but what about when the company goes right out and creates a fake ad? Though the amount might be real on this check, it certainly is one of the most obvious photoshop fakes I’ve seen. I mean look at the “Hundert” written on it. Oops!

azoogle.jpg

Of course many companies to decide to go cheap and rather than printing out the big check it’s easier to just photoshop it on later.  It might be better if the check wasn’t magically floating.  Maybe try making his hands actually grasp the check next time?

How Much Do You Earn With Adsense?

Friday, June 20th, 2008

This one question, how much you earn with adsense, is one of the biggest indicators of your success on the internet.  When you earn a five figure monthly income with adsense, you’ve reached the “elite” status of internet entrepreuners making top dollar with their websites, blogs, and even facebook plugins.

I did Not Earn this with Adsense:

Adsense Income

This comes from a German SEO site entitled SEONauten, and if you don’t understand German the site wouldn’t make much sense.  What’s important is the bottom figure, “Gesamt” “einnahmen” or in english, “entire income” which was $32,753.

Now when a blogger posts their adsense income and it’s this high, we’ve all read about problogger and shoemoney pulling this sort of income each month.

We often wonder, is this a photoshop hoax?  Or is this real?  Since we can’t prove this is fake, we go on believing and using this as an inspiration to create our own Adsense empire,

Are these posted Earnings with Adsense an Inspiration?

Reading about monthly incomes this high is one of the reasons I actually started in the first place.  I deducted that if they could make 32 grand with adsense, why couldn’t I make a $1000 a month maybe $3000?  After about 5 months I did reach my first $1000 a month and soon after $3000.  Keep in mind that not everyone can reach these income levels or has the time or expertise to dedicate their time toward website development.

Where to get started?

If you haven’t created a blog and want to start blogging and make some cents on the side, I’d recommend BustaBlog, keep in mind I am the recent founder so the more the merrier.