REBLOGGED FROM SHEY.NET:
Tumblr launched one of its first revenue-generating programs today, allowing a select group of blogs (not sure how they’re selected, but the three options it gave me happened to be my three most popular blogs) to feature themselves in the Tumblr directory for a nominal fee — categories range from about $9 to $19 to feature your blog for a week. Here’s the link.
The process is ridiculously easy and fun — I tried it out and featured shey.net in about ten minutes (including Photoshop time) while visiting the Tumblr gang at their office today. The results were almost instant — as soon as the feature went up, I saw new followers start popping up in my timeline (thanks, guys!).
Screen shots of the process below.
1. Enter your info:
2. Get thanked:
3. In your face, Gary and Dens!
HERE’S WHERE I CHIME IN:
This is a great assist for a money-making basket (follow the basketball metaphor please); however, you still have to shoot a three-pointer not a lay-up.
The traffic comes your way, but to pay the rent from your blog you must:
- Maintain their attention.
- Manipulate tumblr to facilitate ads.
Neither can be done by a rookie.
Tim Shey, who blogged this entry, is actually a headof the one of the web’s largest video content distributors, NextNewNetworks (that co-produced TMI and LifeExperiment). That didn’t happen over night. On a MUCH smaller scale, I came into the blogosphere with a built-in audience and guidance from other leaders in the industry.
Your Tumblr blog can be monetized, it’s just not as easy as a click. That’s all I’m saying.
UPDATE from Twitter: @Moth (TimShey) The lovely + intelligent @MaryRambin points out why my last post was titled “Make Me Famous” and not “Make Me Rich.” 
On Saturday, Mase and I set up the Roku box* that arrived last week.
Even for me, the electronically challenged, I was able to connect the box and get it going within minutes.
I knew it streamed Netflix to my tv, but had no idea I could buy movies on Amazon Video, access the stations on my Pandora account, and get channels from a few other web networks. Unfortunately the box can’t play all of the movies Netflix has avaialbe; only 140 are at your fingertips on the “Instant Queue.” The selection is mediocre, but you’re sure to find something that isn’t in your DVD library.
Like Heros! The Netflix queue has the entire first season. Mase and I have never seen the show everyone raves about so it was the obvious choice. We planned on watching a couple of episodes, but if you’ve ever seen Heros, you know it can be addictive. So one episode led to another….and we passed out after 6…..
The next morning I was ready to take Mason out for a walk, press some coffee, turn on Meet The Press, but he gave me the eye that said, “I ain’t movin’ until we finish Episode 6.”
So he got his way, then I had mine.
A lovely, lazy weekend over here. Hope you enjoyed yours.
More to come on the Roku box after I explore other channels.
(*Full Disclosure: Roku sent over a test box that I will return after I’ve written a review.)
Not watching tv and rarely surfing the web for news, I always feel out of the loop with world events. So last week I downloaded the CNN iPhone application to catch up while on the go. I thought to myself, “I hope I check this regularly. It’s too easy not to.”
The great thing is, I don’t have to remember. The app sends me an alert via text message when important news breaks so I know it’s time to click the app or turn on the tv.
The texts are efficient and not intrusive at all – it just sends the major headlines. This morning I found out about the Chilean earthquake at 5am, and just now I see that Hawaii is being evacuated because of a threat of a tsunami. Last week, I watched Tiger address the nation on their livestream with only a 30 second delay.
I hate to say “I am enjoying” the app because usually the news is not positive, but I am definitely more informed.
Although the app is not free, it’s worth the 199 pennies.
-By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
Fruit for the entrepreneurial mind…check out one of my favorite sites Springwise.com. Springwise is made up of a weekly compilation of good (and bad) ideas that entrepreneurs all over the world are pursuing.
I can’t tell you how many brainstorming sessions and eureka moments I’ve had from reading this site.
Raise your hand if you back up your files.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Now raise your hand if you think it’s big ole pain in the ass.
Exactly.
That box takes up space, requires an extra cord, and costs too much for what it is. Then there’s the action of plugging it in…ugh.
It’s super simple to back up files, but for some reason it’s a huge burden.
So when I heard about DropBox, I was THRILLED.
It’s a virtual box/cloud that you can drag your files to, drop them in, and then delete them from your computer’s hard drive and have tons of free memory. As you can see it does so much more.
And unlike an external hard drive, you can access your Box from anywhere and the files will look the same.
Of course there’s a catch.You can get a free 2GB account, but that’s only enough to store pictures from your last vacation, so you’ll need to purchase more space. There is monthly (above) or yearly charge ($99/50MB) that you must maintain if you plan on keeping those files until your grandkids want to see your digital albums from 2010.
The other aspect that is less than pleasant is that it can take DAYS to transfer the files. Fortunately it won’t slow down your computer like most uploads, but we’re all looking for instant gratification online, right?
Bottom line: I’m very pleased with my purchase (50GB for $99/year), which I realize is more than an external hard drive, but I have many of those that I now have no idea where they are. So I look forward to dumping all of my old shiii, uhem stuff, into one box I can access anytime.
I’m telling you, the Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera ($199) kills the Flip!
Photo is from reader Phil:
“@maryrambin thank you for the advice! This should be an advertisement for Kodak! Video to follow…”
Honestly, YouTube doesn’t do the HD footage from this camera justice. The images are CRYSTAL clear even up close (it has a macro feature).
Just wanted to continue to spread the good word.
-By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
People start blogs for a variety reasons. Some start out of personal passion; many businesses create blogs to engage their existing customers; some seek to generate revenue. Blogging is an integral part of any social media marketing strategy for a brick and mortar or virtual business.
However, you can’t simply start a blog and expect a translation to sales overnight. You have to first assess your goals and then compose a plan that entails more than a stream of thought post about the features of your company.
Personal bloggers will love the features of Tumblr or Posterous (a great mobile blogging platform). Simply sign up for an account and you will be blogging in less than two minutes. Seriously! Unfortunatley, if you’re looking to generate revenue, these sites won’t serve you well for several reasons. Due to their lack of flexibility they are difficult to monetize because they fail to:
- Optimize well with search engines
- Allow for design customization
- Feature add-on applications/plug-ins
If you’re serious about blogging as a business, I would suggest checking out Wordpress. Wordpress is a blogging platform that requires more work and effort, but offers a lot more flexibility and potential. Here’s a simple breakdown of what you need to do to create your own self hosted blog:
- Choose a hosting service. I use Godaddy, but there are a lot of these types of services out there. Mary uses BlueHost, for example. Both are reliable one-stop shops.
- Choose a domain name. I think people over emphasize choosing a name for their website sometimes. Create good content and people will find it no matter what. Food for thought: Myspace was actually a furniture website before becoming a social network and Google was supposed to be spelled “Googol.” They messed up the spelling when registering the domain. Oops!
- Install Wordpress. If you don’t use Godaddy, you’ll have to install Wordpress. Go here for simple installation instructions.
- Choose a theme. This is the fun part. Wordpress is incredibly flexible. Check out Themeforest, Rockettheme or Wordpress Themes. You can choose any theme you want for your blog and it requires no programming and little design work on your part.
- Get some plug-ins. Wordpress has thousands of free, easy-to-install add-ons that range from creating a chatroom on your blog to adding a shopping cart to automatically optimizing your site’s SEO.
- Start writing! - And that’s it. Check out Mary’s post, Blogging 101, for great tips on how to successfully engage your readers.
For a great comparison of different blogging platforms, check out this article as well. It’s clear and concise.
Now get out there and start sharing. And if you need any help, don’t forget I’m always just a click away.
-By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
Here are some cool apps I’ve used which will help any entrepreneur. Enjoy!
I just started using this app a few weeks ago and I love it! I use it to organize my thoughts, ideas, notes and even my blog posts. I especially like it because it’s based on their servers, meaning you can access your notes from any device connected to the web.
This is one of my favorite online apps for small business owners and independent contractors. It allows for invoice creation, tracking and collection. It’s done completely online and its simple to use. Because of its professional look and streamlined operation, this tool will help improve the perception your clients have of you.
If you’re not already using Gmail or Google Calendar…start. It’s simple in that Google way and very powerful. Cool features include: Users can share their calendars with others and post events on other’s calendars, and it runs on Google’s servers which means it can be accessed from any device or desktop.
Campfire is like instant messaging, but designed exclusively for groups. There’s a few sites out there like this. Google Wave is another that just came out, but Campfire has been around a while. There’s nothing to install and it’s very secure. You can share text, files, and code in real time. You can also conduct business negotiations with a group.
An very simple app that has saved my butt many times. It basically an online calendar on steroids. Setup it up to remind you about tasks or events via sms, email, instant messenger, skype etc.
I love this app! I’m all about sticky notes, so this is a dream for me. It allows you to place sticky notes on actual webpages. Then you can go back any time and look at the notes you left. If you do a lot of online research (bloggers, etc.), this may prove to be an invaluable app.
This is a fascinating concept that seems to be working very well. You essentially upload all of your bank-account and credit-card information, and the site maintains a running list of every transaction. Other Wesabe users can observe your spending habits and offer advice on what you should do or change. Scary but effective!
Another great tool for the independent contractor or someone who does a little work on the side. This site will hand your tracking, invoicing and reporting. It takes a very tedious task and makes it simple.
A great app for anyone that doesn’t have their TI-82 anymore. It is a highly intuitive online calculator that can actually be quite fun to use.
The Skype iPhone App is the best thing that could ever happen to a gypsy blogger traveler. (Also available on some Nokias and Windows Mobile)
Or if you refuse to get a land line in your house even though you don’t get cell service – gotta love AT&T.
(I qualify for both.)
It has been such a lifesaver while in Mexico because friends and family can text me for free and I can either call, SMS, or skype them back via Skype for pennies. If they call your cell , there is a minimal charge so you might as well pick up the phone and tell them you’re going to call them back from a number that looks like it’s a transmission from the moon.
The only catch is that you need access to decent wifi, which isn’t always readily available, but gypsies enjoying a the landscapes of the world can’t be choosers.
It’s funny, most of my tech savvy friends don’t use skype, but you know who does…mid-western families. Want to know why they are in the know? One word: Oprah.
The App is free so I suggest you just download it and buy the minimum $10 credit. I guarantee it will come in handy.
And btw, if you don’t have Skype on your computer, you’re a way behind. That’s ok, just jump on the freight train now so you can sit with the connected kids (and mommies).
