Category Archives: Site News

Why I am Different

There are thousands of “make money online” bloggers. There are even more bloggers that talk about blogging, but I feel like I am different than most, and if you are looking for someone to add to your daily reads, I ask that you chose me.

No Make Money Online E-Books

One of the things you have probably noticed on around a third of the blogs out there like this one are the downloadable guides that will teach you everything you need to know about making money online.

While some of them are well written, the blogosphere changes so fast that by the time these people have compiled their thoughts into a document, the information is fairly useless. There have been a few exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, you can’t follow the steps that someone else took and expect to become rich, it just doesn’t work.

No Heavy Affiliate Promotion

Some bloggers will spend all day formulating posts, only to stuff them to the brim with affiliate links. The more people they get signed up, the more money they make, and the wider the divide between you, seeking knowledge, and them, “providing” the knowledge gets.

Do you want to fill their pockets with money, or your own? While I do promote affiliate products from time to time, I am careful in doing it. I support products I enjoy, and I usually note what links are affiliate links so that you can avoid them if you so choose.

While I am here to make money as well, it isn’t my primary objective.

Less Than Ten Ads Per Page

With cost per click rates dropping, CPM deals drying up, more bloggers are stuffing their blogs to the brim with advertisements. Do they really need eight 125×125 pixel advertisements on every page, along with two or three AdSense banners and one or two other advertisements?

What do you gain as a user from more than ten advertisements on every single post, page, and area of their blog?

I Have Experience

A large percentage of “make money online” bloggers don’t have any experience in their field. While it can be interesting to discover things with them, it can also be frustrating and misleading.

I have been a full time blogger for going on three years. I have written articles for a variety of niches for a variety of people. I have worked with Darren Rowse, Paul Scrivens, David Krug, and many other interesting and brilliant Internet personalities. These bloggers know who I am, and have, over time, shared some of their skill, knowledge and abilities with me.

While I don’t consider myself an expert, I am not just starting out in the industry. I have knowledge of the way things used to be, and how many of the important people got to where they are now.

Also, the experiences I have had as a network backed blogger is very different than many of the freelancers out there. I have had consistent full time employment, and understand what networks are looking for in a potential writer, server administrator, marketer, advertiser, and more.

I’m a Geek

While I have spent a fair bit of time writing, I also understand WordPress, PHP, web development, basic server administration, proper backup procedures and a variety of other technical aspects that sets me apart from many of the bloggers currently covering this subject.

Do you think most of them have ever really developed their own WordPress theme? Heck, most of them weren’t even blogging back when WordPress began. I’ve been using it since version 0.72.

Conclusion

There are many great bloggers out there, and they have advice that might help you, but I will tell it to you how it actually is. I am knee deep in the trenches, and I can see where things are heading. While I dislike “tooting” my own horn, I just wanted to set the record straight. I am different than your typical “make money online” blogger, and definitely worth subscribing to.

Originally posted on March 25, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

Grand Effect Grows Again

Sarah has added two new members to Grand Effect and so the network now has ParisLemon and The Last Podcast within its ranks.

With the addition of these two great sites, the focus now turns on building the network site, as well as getting ourselves organized where monetization and support is concerned, and so I hope to see some great movements on the Grand Effect website soon.

I hope you will check out all the Grand Effect blogs, and welcome our new members as well.

As always, if you’re interested in becoming a Grand Effect advertising partner, you can reach us at our main address: [email protected].

Originally posted on April 4, 2008 @ 5:42 pm

Mashable Mentions Grand Effect

There are a handful of blogs out there where being mentioned is one of those gold stars you put on your mental calendar and just yesterday, I was able to give myself a gold star with Mashable mentioning the Grand Effect blog network that I am part of.

I almost feel embarrassed though as we have such great members, but the network site is in disarray. I am working on a redesign which should be up sooner rather than later with tons of new content which highlights our great members and the advantage of advertising with us as a collective.

I am no Mike Rundle though, so please be patient as I put it all together, and I hope you will like it. It will be a marked improvement over the current site, and it will have many more features and rate cards for advertising on each member’s site as well as the network as a whole.

I want to give a huge thanks to Mark at Mashable for mentioning us. I am very humbled that we got a nod from such a great site, and I hope the hordes of people stay away until I can get the new site unveiled.

For those that are interested, here is a little snippet from my attempt at a new design:

Grand Effect's New Design

Originally posted on April 5, 2008 @ 10:54 pm

Grand Effect New Member: SheGeeks

You haven’t heard much coming from that banner in the header, but I assure you Grand Effect is still working hard on building a strong network of amazing blogs related to the online and technology world.

Our latest addition is SheGeeks, a great blog on social media and social networking.

From her welcome to the network post:

I’ll still be blogging here and the site will remain the same, with the exception of the bar that you now see at the top, which sports links to all the other great members of the Grand Effect network! I recommend you all check out their sites. I subscribed to Sarah in Tampa and gHacks months ago!

That brings our network to six great blogs that I hope everyone is checking out and subscribing to. There are going to be many improvements to the Grand Effect website over the coming months as I gear up and complete it.

I hope you will all join me in welcoming SheGeeks to the network.

If you are interested in joining Grand Effect, please contact us at [email protected] and Sarah will get back to you as soon as possible.

Originally posted on March 19, 2008 @ 10:06 pm

Looking for Weekly Columnists

Looking at all the blogs out there, and the continued growth of this site and the other sites I run, I am looking to add more content to this site, but I am going to get very busy over the next little while. I was hoping that you, my readers, might be or might know of some people that could work as weekly columnists on this blog.

What I am Looking For

I am looking for someone who is passionate about blogging, and has either come from a network paid or freelance paid blogging background. You must have worked or be working for a major blog (over 1k page views a day minimum) or a known blog network. If you’ve never written for a blog with more than one hundred RSS subscribers, then you probably aren’t what I am looking for.

The candidate should understand writing for the web, social media promotion, and be intimately familiar with WordPress. I am looking for someone that can write one five hundred word or more post every week that is the best work they’ve ever done. The posts will center on the writers expert experience, so if you know everything about WordPress theming and plugins, that’s fine too, but the posts have to fit the audience I maintain. I will be expecting the highest quality and will retain full editorial control over any posts submitted.

What Do You Receive?

Other than gaining access to my connections, and my advice, you will also be able to promote your own blog or outside work at the end of each post, as well as being paid a flat rate, to be decided, based on the experience and type of column written.

Get in Touch!

Jump on over to my contact page and send me a message. Please include a link to an article which you think shows your talent, as well as a paragraph selling yourself and lastly your expected rate.

Originally posted on March 29, 2008 @ 11:06 am