When Did You Get Your Big Break?
January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
One thing I find fascinating is finding out how people got their “big break” in their career — such as that big promotion, or career shift, or going independent. Everyone has a story. Kanye West tells his story in the outro of his song ‘Last Call’. It’s an inspiring listen — the guy went from being broke (evicted from his apartment) to the top of the charts.
So when did you get your big break?
Lyrics from the outro of “Last Call” from Kanye West’s debut album “College Dropout”:
[worth the $0.99 purchase the MP3 from Amazon.com — it’s about 8 minutes of him telling his story]
So this A&R over at Rocafella, named Hiphop
picked the Truth beat for Beanie. And I was in the session with him
I had my demo with me. You know, like I always do
I play the songs, he’s like “Who that spittin?”
I’m like “It’s me.” He’s like “Oh, well okay.”
Uhh, he started talkin to me on the phone
going back and forth, just askin me to send him beats
And I’m thinking he’s trying to get into managing producers
cause he had this other kid named Just Blaze he was messin with
And um, he was friends with my mentor, No ID
And No ID told him, “look man, you wanna mess with Kanye
you need to tell him that you like the way he rap”
[No ID:] “Yo, you wanna sign him, tell him you like how he rap”
I was all, I dunno if he was gassin’ me or not
but he’s like he wanna manage me as a rapper AND a producer
[Hiphop:] “I’ll sign you as a producer and a rapper”,
I’m like… Read more
Dear WTF Chuck - Still Using Cash & Checks to Pay Friends “Fee Free”
January 31, 2008 | 1 Comment
Dear WTF Chuck,
My friend just reserved our campsite for May — my share is $26, as he just told me via IM. In order to pay him, I’ll have to give him cash or a check. Why can’t I just send him $26 via PayPal, which would withdraw (exactly) $26 from my checking account, and deposit (exactly) $26 into his checking account? Why must PayPal charge fees for that?
I think any money exchanges via PayPal below $50 should be free — and heck, show me ads on the 4 screens I must go through when sending out a payment like this. In this digital age, I shouldn’t have to give my buddy cash or check — I should be able to click a button on my computer and transfer money into his account (without fees!).
-LIVING IN THE 18TH CENTURY AGAINST MY WILL IN BUFFALO, NY
This is a new type of post on my Site called ‘Dear WTF Chuck‘. This is a spoof on ‘Dear Abby’ and is for you to rant to the world (or at least readers of my blog) on topics relating to web tech, affiliate marketing, etc. Feel free to submit your own rant using my contact form (select ‘Dear WTF Chuck Post Submission’ as the subject of your email) and use the above post as an example of the proper format (title, question/rant, possible solution, signature that includes or does not include a link to your website).
Shoemoney to Uber: “S.eriously?!?”
January 31, 2008 | 2 Comments
Shoemoney doesn’t name names, but in his latest podcast w/Azoogle CEO Don Mathis, he basically calls out Uber’s new S.eriously.com website — as well as anyone else doing what Uber is doing on that site, which is showing photos of big money checks and screenshots of earnings reports, then linking these images to their 2nd-tier affiliate links (thus if a user signs-up for the affiliate network from that link, Uber starts collecting a percentage of what the new user earns).
Azoogle recently took a stand towards people trying to exploit 2nd tier referrals and reduced their commission structure on referrals so that 2nd tier referrals only last 6 months with a mere compensation of 2% (and your own account must earn at least $1,000 in revenues).
Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. If you’re showing off a big money check or big earnings statement, it’s inspiration to others, gets them fired up, and they want to know how/where they can go to do that. If a user signs up through your link, then you exposed them to that affiliate network and should get a little perk (you’ll also more actively link/mention the affiliate network most likely).
Regarding S.eriously.com — Uber just happens to be capitalizing on things by assembling all those images together on one website. The real question for Uber is — does he have the permission from respective copyright owners to host all those images? Because he is using his referral links on their images.
“Techmeme” Monthly Printed Magazine [opportunity]
January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Allen Stern asks if people would pay $1 per month for full RSS feeds with no ads. He poses this question to spur some conversation on how as a professional blogger he could be making some more money. While it seems like people would be inclined to pay $1 for some reading material, I don’t see it happening with RSS feeds anytime soon. People are happy with their RSS readers, and the ads at the bottom aren’t intrusive.
But I’ve got another idea that might work — basically repackaging the writings from his blog (and other blogs that participate) into a hard copy magazine form. People still like hard copies of things– magazines, books, etc — good material for the bathroom, airplane, waiting room, etc.
What I’d really like to see is a weekly (or monthly) magazine that is selective in the writings that it publishes (the best blog posts and tech news of the week/month) and also selectively publishes some comments from the post (and/or comments from other blog posts related to that post).
This would give people a hard copy, but also would ensure they didn’t miss something for the week/month.
If you were selling these monthly for $5/mo, I bet you could sell 10k/month. At even a 40% margin, that’s $20k/mo profit. Allen, start the coalition of bloggers that will give you republish print rights, and hop to it! 
My Guest Post on Shoemoney: Gaming Google AdWords
January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I did a guest post over on Shoemoney’s blog yesterday — “Gaming Google AdWords with Google redirects“.
You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours [opportunity]
January 30, 2008 | 7 Comments
You may already be familiar with Jim Kukral’s Scratchback service. It’s a widget you place on your blog that lets people give you a monetary “tip” and then their text/link appears in the widget to everyone for a period of time (as designated by you, such as a week or a month). You specify how many links are available and how much they are — so you could have 5 links that are $25 each, and the donor’s link would then appear for 1-week.
I think there’s another interesting opportunity here — either as another function of this widget, or for someone else to create their own similar service. I’d like to see a “roll” of contributor links that are basically auctioned off to the top bidders. For example, I’d be able to specify that 5 spots exist and the price starts at $0.01. Someone bids $0.01 with their text/link and it appears in the top slot. Someone else bids $1.00 and their text/link appears in the top slot, while the prior link drops a spot. Someone else bids $2.50 and their text/link appears in the top slot, while the prior link drops a spot. And so on…
You’ll have to work out all the details, but I think you could receive a full PayPal payment of whatever the user bids, but only require them to bid a dollar (or $5, etc) above the virtual high bid. Thus in the example above, the top spot would really be $2.00 [if you have to bid $1 more than the prior bid], but since the other person bid $2.50, that person would remain in the top spot if this user bid $2.00 [and the $1.00 bid would drop a notch].
You could have it reset at the beginning of the month if you wanted. Also, the benefit to the early bidders is that they could potentially stay up in your linkboard for a lower cost than those after them.
Thus it creates a bit of competition and the market (your readers/advertisers) will determine the true value of those link spots on your Site.
Sidenote: BTW Jim, where’s the affiliate program for your service? 
I’m Rich, Bitch! [inspiration]
January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Fellow Buffalo-NY affiliate rockstar Paul Bourque (aka Uber Affiliate) launched a new Site called S.eriously.com that is quite simple and shows a handful of “big money” checks/earnings that some Super Affiliates have earned from various offers they have promoted through affiliate networks. [that is the longest sentence I think I have ever written in my life; and I think it might not be a run-on, so I’m going to leave it]
Paul monetizes the Site by providing referral links to the affiliate networks that those big money checks were earned from (i.e. Copeac, NeverBlueAds, Millnic Media, CPA Empire, Rextopia, Rocket Profit, CoProsper, OfferForge, etc). If anyone signs up for those networks via his links, then he receives a % of that user’s earnings for a period of time (anywhere from 2-10%, typically 5%). This is called “2nd tier referrals”. It is then in his best interests that those people earn a lot of money, so then he earns some extra cash.
It’s a good source for some inspiration.
No Cell Phone Commissions on Amazon.com, Bleh
January 29, 2008 | 3 Comments
Looking through my Amazon Associates stats today, I noticed I sold a Sony Ericsson W580i with AT&T Nation 450 Rollover Minutes. The phone itself is only $0.01 with a 2-year contract (new or extension). The service is as follows:
AT&T Nation 450 Rollover Minutes
(Monthly service charge of $39.99 billed by Cingular)
AT&T 2-year Contract (One-time activation fees apply: first new line of service, $36; each new additional line, $26; contract extension, $18.)
(No Charge: Included with Cingular’s Monthly Rate Plan)
Regulatory Fee
(Monthly service charge of $1.25 billed by Cingular)
So while I earned commission on $0.01, the user will end up paying:
$0.01
+ $479.88 ($39.99 * 24)
+ $36 (assuming new contract)
+ $30 ($1.25 * 24)
—————
$545.89
At 4%, that should be a $21.84 commission. Instead, I earned $0.00. No wonder I don’t like working with Amazon.
Editor’s Note: This post guest written by Eric Nagel. Disclaimer: his Amazon affiliate link is used on that cell phone link above — not that he’ll make any money off it, but it should be fully disclosed
Behind Every Successful Man is a Woman
January 29, 2008 | 7 Comments
Shoemoney and Chow in recent posts on their respective blogs have said that they didn’t find success until they had met their wives.
Shoemoney because he was able to become better disciplined (and thus focus):
My success can be traced back to the day I met my wife. You take a brilliant marketing mind and apply some discipline and work ethic and magic things happen.
Chow because of the support the significant other gives:
I was doing OK before I met Sarah. However, I didn’t hit big time until she came into my life. No, she wasn’t some Internet guru or superstar blogger. She knew nothing about that stuff. What she did offer was a positive family environment and unwavering support for whatever it was that I wanted to do. She was my number one cheerleader and inspired me to levels I never dreamed possible. You will be amazed at the things you can do when you have a truly supportive wife or girlfriend backing you.
Both obviously had the ingredients/talent to become successful (as they have), but that didn’t happen until they lined up the support and discipline from a significant other.
Having the support of a significant other is huge — someone that believes in you and will be there to lift your spirits even if you fall flat on your face as an entrepreneur. They are also a time savings — in my case, when I have a significant other, I spend less time at bars til all hours of the night (and then wasting the following morning), and instead can focus to accomplish more.
What’s your situation? Do you find having, or not having, a significant other to be beneficial to your success (support and focus)?
iTunes Search Engine [opportunity]
January 28, 2008 | 3 Comments
Fred Wilson twittered that he was looking for these “I’m Free” remixes by The Rolling Stones. Can’t say I’m a huge fan of the Stones, but the remixes are by some hot artists — Postal Service, Hot Chip, Fat Boy Slim, and Moby.
I did some research and found out they were released exclusively on iTunes. I happen to not have iTunes installed at this time, so I did a search to try and find an iTunes song search engine. No luck — I couldn’t find one.
So here’s an idea for the taking — create an iTunes search engine. Sign up as an affiliate of Apple through LinkShare. Then I think to get access to Apple’s 6.5mm song data feed (download data feed spec doc), you have to pay $250 to LinkShare (which gives you access to product feeds from many of their merchants). You’ll then earn 5% of any sales that result from your iTunes search engine.
Note: Don’t use ‘itunes’ in the domain you choose for this (you could use something more generic related to mp3’s or music — because then you could work to get a data feed from Amazon.com’s MP3 library, eMusic, and others like IMEEM, these new ad-supported free download sites, and in the near future we’re going to see other big players opening up DRM-free MP3s for sale — like Yahoo!).
Further Note: 5% of a $0.99 track is only $0.05. You’d have to sell a lot of songs to make any real money from Apple’s affiliate program — however, you could complement your Site with display ads (much like Last.fm and Hype Machine do), as well as sponsored search results (from Google, or Validclick, or Searchfeed, etc).
Good luck!
