The easiest way of generating income on the net is to not spend it in the first place! The internet is full of fantastic programs that make your job as a webmaster or site administrator easier and more profitable, here are a few tools that may be of interest to you.

Free Web Thumbnails

One of the features that our second phase of buzvia will have is site thumbnails and the system we chose was thumbshots.org. Alexa offers a similar service at a rate of 20 cents per thousand thumbnail returned but these guys offer it for nothing! Sure, the thumbnail is smaller but they offer a fantastic upgrade path their their parent company thumbshots.com at only 9$/month! If you have a popular site, thumbnails are a cool feature but eat-up precious bandwidth and server power, avoid these costs as long as you can or better yet, sub-contract this process entirely!

Free Site Statistics

I have been using Google Analytics for years now, it provides an easy, at a glance look at general traffic patterns and if you want, in-depth view of many other important things. It is actually the reason why I thought of buzvia, I like Analytics but I wanted a system that I could pick and choose exactly which links where going to and from with the same “at a glance” functionality. If you haven’t tried Google Analytics you are missing out on a critical piece of the web puzzle that your site is made of.

Free Spying Tool

Every website, no matter how original or remote, has a competitor fighting for (your) market share. What is a poor webmaster to do? Well, find out some of their traffic information! There are a number of tools to accomplish this but here is a short list that I use. The oldest out there is Alexa and DomainTools.com, they provide general traffic information that is valuable for establishing benchmarks. Another interesting system that I found out looking at my own stats (yes, this stuff can be used by your competitors as well to find out info about you) is KeywordSpy which basically tells you keywords competitor’s clients are using to find their site and if they participate in any “pay per click or action” advertising mechanisms. I can tell you that comparing my own stats to those generated by KeywordSpy that they are completely inacurate but this is interesting information regardless.

Free Site Promotion

As phase II of buzvia.com is nearing, I have to plug my own system! If you want to find out specifically which urls people click to get to your site or the ones that they leave to, you need to try this free system out! We have a number of fantastic goodies coming out with phase II and I guarantee you will find this site invaluable in helping you win the monetizing game that is the internet.

The Bottom Line

Cheap is good but free is better!

Buzvia: thumbshots.org, thumbshots.com, Google Analytics, Alexa, DomainTools.com, KeywordSpy, Buzvia.com

With no lack of competition out there to serve as a monetization system for bloggers and large portals… you have to wonder what the point of ReviewMe is?

ReviewMe.com: Background Information

ReviewMe.com is part of the larger MediaWhiz group of companies which includes mystical systems such as Filinet.com, Coregistrations.com and Monetizeit.net. What I find most telling, and this re-enforces why ReviewMe.com sucks so much, is that it isn’t listed as one of the systems on their corporate site; I can’t find it under either the advertiser or publisher sub-menus.

ReviewMe.com: How it’s suppose to work

ReviewMe.com is essentially a system where advertisers publish a campaign specific to a particular category and then publishers jump on to write something up in return for compensation. Publishers are also encouraged to stick an advertising saying that if somebody wants to have an article published about them, they need to give them some money through the ReviewMe.com network. I am not against publishers making money but ReviewMe.com just doesn’t make sense to me on many levels.

ReviewMe.com: The Problems

The ReviewMe.com interface is an absolute mess, for example, if you click on “my account” and instead of being shown your account information, you are sent back to the account home page; if I am a blogger, I should automatically go to the “Edit User Account”. There is also NOTHING in campaigns, you would think a system that prides itself in creating a marketplace for advertisers and publishers alike would have something. Nope, apparently even a history of past campaigns isn’t worth showing on this site. I have been a member for about a week now, I got one “request for a campaign” but when I got there, there was nothing. So, from my experience with ReviewMe.com, I can tell you that it has -0- advertisers and seems to rely on individual publishers to generate leads for the group.

ReviewMe.com: The Good

I guess the one saving grace of ReviewMe.com is that it doesn’t cost anything for publishers to join. If you are an advertiser, I don’t see the point of using this system, there are so many other, well established systems out there to get the word out.

ReviewMe.com: The Competition

The first and foremost company that comes to mind is PayPerPost.com. For all the negative feedback PayPerPost.com gets, they excel in user interface design, have a great publishers and advertisers network. PayPerPost.com is to a rich uncle what ReviewMe.com is to a backward hillbilly.

ReviewMe.com: The Final Verdict

I have one question for ReviewMe.com. What is the value of an ad network to publishers when you have no advertisers?

The Bottom Line

The lack of attention to details is what causes many companies to loose market share.

Buzvia: ReviewMe.com, Filinet.com, Coregistrations.com, Monetizeit.net, PayPerPost.com

It’s no secret out there that when ever you participate in an online publishing system, whether Revver.com for video sharing, Google Adsense for banner ads or Kontera.com for contextual advertising, you are splitting revenue. Some systems are straight about this, even telling you the exact percentage while others would make the keepers of the Holy Grail jealous!

Monetizing depends on traffic

There are different levels of monetizing systems out there, as you work your way up through the internet ranks, profit margins and general customer service really rev upwards. If you are just starting out, Google Adsense and Kontera along with an Amazon affiliation (possibly commission junction) are a good stepping stone. Sadly, these systems all require you to have a pulse, so if you are a vampire, you are out of luck.

Direct sales is about benchmarks

Every site is different, niche markets don’t require as much traffic as “general” ones or those trying to enter a large industry such as health care. As a general rule of thumb, unless you are a marketing wiz or dealing with customers who don’t know the first thing about the internet… I wouldn’t even bother going the direct sales route unless you generate at least 10 000 unique visitors a month. Depending on your pages viewed per visit, this is probably between 15 000 to 30 000 page views per month. If you generate over a million unique visitors a month, people will come to you so you will have an easy job but otherwise, just keep plowing away in your basement until you reach these numbers. So far, I have not gone the direct sales route myself though I have reached the above benchmark already. Reason being I have other passions I want to pursuit first… direct sales are coming to my network of sites, I just have more important fish to fry first.

Direct Sales Secrets

Alright, you are generating a tidy profit from Kontera, Google Adsense and a few other affiliates and generate at least 10 000 unique visitors to your site a month. Great! Here are three helpful tips that will get the ball rolling for you.

Have your statistics public

Nobody is going to buy a darn thing from you unless you can prove site visitors, a link to Alexa (if you are under 100K ranking) is nice but nothing yells out TRAFFIC like screen shots of Google Analytics or publicaly accessible systems such as SiteMeter.com.

Use Paypal SUBSCRIPTION

Alright, you have a few bites… great! The biggest mistake people do is try to handle the invoicing themselves, get a merchant account and contact the customer monthly for a new chunk of cash. WRONG! If your sales really start to generate some critical mass, you will have different deadlines for text, banner and many other sponsorship opportunities. Save yourself some time, some grief and increase your profits by setting up each and every direct sales customer on a Paypal monthly subscription. Automated billing will make your life a heck of a lot easier, giving you plenty of time to do more important things like eating and sleeping.

Take a look at OIOpublisher Direct

This is a nifty little program that will help automate the sales process across your network of sites… sure you got to pay for it but guess what, who cares if you are generating more then enough money from using it in saved time and headaches. (link below)

Mix and match sales

You will notice that, up until now, I have not told you to drop the systems that you started up with, there is a good reason for that. THEY ARE STILL GENERATING REVENUE! Direct sales are a nice way to boost your sites income but they are not in competition with the other systems you have on your site so keep them! One month, you may find Google Adsense kicks ass while the next, Kontera is your best friend and so on. Diversification is the key to a profitable web site but you need to develop a room worthy of entry first (ei: content).

The Bottom Line

As long as you continue to focus on improving the brand you are developing online, revenues will grow at roughly the same curve as site traffic.

Buzvia: SiteMeter.com, Kontera.com, Google Adsense, Commission Junction, Google Analytics, Amazon Affiliate Program, Revver.com, OIOpublisher Direct, Paypal.com

It seems like a very good time to be a creative genius, if you are into animation, production, editing, storyboarding or any other artistic endeavor… a site will give you cash for helping other companies come-up with their creative.

GeniusRocket.com Background

There are a TONNE of sites which act as middlemen between the creative individual and the client in relatively safe environment. The creative individual benefits as they are able to generate some (usually) much needed revenue to continue pursuing their creative passions and the client (usually) gets great work done on the *cheap*, a fraction of what an advertising agency would have charged. The problem with these types of sites is that sooner or later, the profit margins disappear as the community grows… it ends up like a EBay bidding war. The good news is that GeniusRocket.com isn’t about bidding for projects but creative social popularity.

GeniusRocket.com: How it Works

GeniusRocket.com is relatively straight forward, you set-up an account that, to me at leasts, asks WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION. Who cares who you are or where you come from, this is a site about talent, as such, a portfolio is ALL that is required to make an informed decision. I have met some fantastic creative geniuses who work out of their basement and others who come from “high-up” the creative food chain who get stumped with coloring books. After you get an account set-up, it’s time to get an assignment, complete the work then spread the word as to it’s brilliance.

GeniusRocket.com: The Problems

I use to be part of quite a few of these “online creative communities” to do some extra work on the side but stopped once the profits left and worse, clients began expecting FREE creative on your proposal before even taking a look at you. Sure, some people are eager to do this, thus the entire creative marketplace collapses and it simply becomes a huge waste of time. How many hours would you spend on a project in the HOPES of a client liking it and saying “yes” to your proposal? Also, asking for votes to make your work more “popular” in the eyes of the final judges is simply lame, I understand why they are taking this approach but creativity is such a subjective subject matter that sometimes creative brilliance takes a few spins before it is seen.

GeniusRocket.com: The Good

I have see many of these types of sites, they have their place, but I haven’t seen this general business model perfected. I have to admit though, the model that GeniusRocket.com presents is by far the most “creator” friendly with large cash prizes, extensive networking opportunities and a system to automatically share your creative content with a number of other video sites. You are judged on your creativity, not on how CHEAP you can work for. Here are a few videos showcasing some of their work.

GeniusRocket.com

FracturedAtlas Winner: The Egg

Drink Responsibly

GeniusRocket.com: What Alexa Says

The site is gaining in popularity with a ranking of half a million.

GeniusRocket.com: Competition

As mentioned earlier, there is no lack of competition in this market segment. Here is a quick list of some that I know of off-hand. I realize these are a stretch as they are more of a “creative marketplace” vs “creative community” approach but humor me. Generally, you join to make some money, see what others are producing and try to get some recognition.

• contractedwork.com
• elance.com (the largest marketplace I am aware of)
• freeagent.com
• getafreelancer.com
• gofreelance.com
• guru.com

GeniusRocket.com: The Final Verdict

Overall, the more sites out there for creative individuals to get their work and possibly being discovered, the better. This site does offer a host of unique features I haven’t see elsewhere but I wonder how it will look like in about a years time.

The Bottom Line

Everybody (thinks) they are creative, hence why so much advertising is lacking in it.

Buzvia: GeniusRocket.com - Launch Your Creativity

Every once in a blue moon, the stars align just right and I find a truly wonderful resources for entrepreneurs such as myself who can’t see living any other type of lifestyle. MysteryCEO.com shares that passion for living outside of ones comfort zone!

MysteryCEO.com Background

Sure, this site can also be managed by a business genius working midnight shifts at the local burger joint flipping burger in-between reading business books. By the same degree, this could be written by the founder of a company most of us are familiar with but that’s besides the point. This is a really inspirational and informative blog written by… you guessed it… a (maybe) mystery CEO! I think keeping their identity is a great marketing coup of it’s own but the content keeps (at least me), always hungry for MORE! Another fact is that this guy knows how to cover his tracks with a private registration

What Alexa says about MysteryCEO.com

Well, this blog ranks in under a million, which is very respectable for a blog and I am sure with the growth of content, the site will only go up in the rankings. (See Alexa Rank) Considering this blog is but a few months old… this is even more impressive!

Site Improvement Ideas for MysteryCEO.com

The content is top-notch but it would be nice to have some visuals on a site, I realize this can be expensive is you are licensing images but there are plenty of free resources for some great photography and it would add tremendously to the sites overall appeal. A great resource for free photography is MorgueFile.com, which I used extensively until I built-up enough of a photographic portfolio of my own developing Dreamclue.com.

MysteryCEO.com Final Verdict

From one passionate entrepreneur to (possibly) another… this is a fantastic site! If you want to get a glimpse into the life of an entrepreneur… even if this blog is written by a savant associate cleaning toilets at your local Walmart.

The Bottom Line

Mysteries are all around us… sometimes it’s best kept them that way.

Buzvia: MysteryCEO.com - Inside Their Minds…