Archive for May, 2009

Using Craigslist Ride Share To Travel

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

I used Craigslist ride share for the first time to travel from New York City to Toledo Ohio to visit a friend.  All together I paid $30 for the journey from the big city to the small toledo which was pretty reasonable considering the bus ride costs $100 and lasts 17 hours and a flight would also cost a high $120.

Craigslist is great for finding a ride share or offering your own ride to almost anywhere.  It helps save on gas, money, and gets you where you need to go.  Unfortunately Ridesharing is not as common in the United States as it is in Europe. Perhaps too many people have their own cars, or perfer  not to share their ride.

Still as I don’t want to own a car, Craigslist is still a great option to get around.  Just make sure before you take the ride to give someone else the information of the driver in case something should happen, not that it will.

Writing a Blog vs Writing a Book

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

There are many advantages to writing a blog before writing a book (depending on the book).  Sure you wouldn’t want to write a horror novel as a blog, but if you were to say be writing a topic focused book such as a travel guide, or a guide to fashion in NYC, you might be better off writing a blog first.

Reason to Write a Blog Before a Book
A blog allows you ton continously update content as you write it and make it live for the public to see.  You can finish your piece about hostels in New York City, have it up and  ready to be read in no time at all.  This lets users comment on what you wrote, allow you to profit from your work by adding ads, and create a website full of content that you can later use for your book. One more benefit you’ll get is subscribers who will be more likely to buy your book.

I Wrote a Blog, What About the Book?
So consdering that you’ve written a long blog about whatever, traveling,, skiing in the alps, or even living frugal, you’ll wonder how you cannturn this into a book.  Well it’s quite simply.  Start organizing your content, in a logical form.  Start putting related topics together, figure out what comes first, what goes last.  Start rewriting material so that it’s more fit for a book.  You’ll need proper spelling, and a smooth transition from page to page.  No one likes to read something that is jerky and seems like a rough ride getting from page t page.

Blog and a Book, the Perfect Combo
A blog helps get you established and the book will add credibility.  Together these add the perfect combination for getting you established in your chosen niche.  A blog gains you an audience, while the book brodens your audience and establishes you as a real authority in your given niche/topic.

Using White Hat SEO Methods

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

I’ve avoided Black Hat SEO and actually used White Hat SEO to make significant gains to my income.  When it comes to SEO, it is important none the less, but I’ve generally tried to stay away from Blackhat Methods. and focused more on just content that yields a high ecpm (earning per thousand).  The best method seems to be finding tthat niche that is popular, yet doesn’t have a ton of competitors.  Whenever you can find the content people want to read. yet has barely been covered, you’re golden to get an easy high seo with having to deal with a lot less competition.  Once competition does fianlly catch on, you’ll already have established yourself as a trustworthy source of content on that specific niche market.

What Areas Yield a High ECPM With White hat SEO?
When it comes to ECPM, some of the highest that I’ve noticed are those categories that are more of a luxury than a necessity.  Take vacations for example.  Often hotels can spend a lot more on adwords because their profit margins per customer are higher than say for ads related to kellogs cheerios.  Hostels and vacation resorts often also do a lot more advertising on the intnernet compared to most companies.  Other categories like lawyers and doctors pay also a  high ecpm.

Think about ecpm and traffic in this sense.  If you get an ecpm (earning per one thousand impressions) of $30, or an ecpm of $10, it would take 3 times as much traffic on the   $10 ecpm website as the $30 ecpm site to earn the same amount. That means working 3 times as hard to do the same work.

What is the best city to live in?

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

I’ve been asking myself this question a lot.  There are so many citties to live in, that there must be a best city to live in right?  Is the best city the cheapest? Sunniest? Or largest? Of course everyone has a different opinion on the matter.  While some might find the best city to be in New Zealand for its great skiing, others might prefer San Diego for its sunny weather.  Whatever the case, personally preferences play a huge factor.

I’ve been to cities far and wide and can’t say I’ve ever found my own personal Shangrila.  You can live in New York and have it all, but pay for it too.  You can live in Mexico and pay barely anything to live, but deal with higher crime.  Whenever one aspect is high, another seems to be pushed down.  You can’t have everything and live cheap, or live cheap and expect to have everything.

There are exceptions to every rule.  Canada has managed to produce some of the world’s safest cities and cheapest at that.  Still, then you get to deal with colder winter weather.  Berlin has become a fashionable, cool city, but then you have ti

Perhaps I’m being greedy.  Many people don’t have the chance to choose where they want to live.  Where they live is based on where their job is.  Or maybe any place can be great or terrible depending on how you use your time? Some would say people make the place, get good friends and any place can be great.