Personal Development Blog

I am quite new to WordPress, and its graphical CMS is really annoying as it treats tags very liberally. I type text in HomeSite as I am used to it, and then copy and paste it to WordPress. Now I see that my tags are broken, and some symbols are transformed.

Well, I am pretty experienced at HTML. I have been a web programmer at international company years ago, and can do a complicated website from scratch. Still I see how my posts look lile a beginner’s awkward endeavors to produce a webpage. The lines are broken and paragraphs are not on their places.

So there is still work to do to get accustomed to this mess and get tips and tricks on how to avoid mistakes.

Name:Kumiko’s Cash Quest

Title: Make Money Online at Kumiko’s Cash Quest

URL: http://kumikosuzuki.blogspot.com/

My Rating: ****

Short Description:

Make Money Online at Kumiko’s Cash Quest is an
enthusiast’s endeavor to reach success via blogging. The site deals with various streams of income and reveals a creative and positive personality behind this blog.

Who Is Kumiko Suzuki

Kumiko does not reveal much of her biography but there are bits of information that she had some Internet programming experience since years ago, and her primary interest is
straightforward - to make money online!

Why Do I Like This Blog

Kumiko is very open and communicative and enthusiastic about what she is doing. She has her own style and her opinion about all the important themes that go around the blogosphere. She finds ways to get buzz and attention.

I do not agree with Kumiko on some points. I cannot get the gist of investing in futures instead of investing in herself and her site. I would divide the theme discussed into three investments:

1) investing in oneself - knowledge and skills

2) investing in site - advertising, etc., etc.

3) futures, etc.

Those things are hardly to be discussed in one post. IMHO they are to be pursued simultaneously, without harm to each other. I will post a lot about investments in my blog.

Her Best Posts

Who will guess her PR

Anybody who guesses what PR will be awarded to her site by Google will be taking part in a competition to be awarded 30 USD in cash. I have had 2 sites with 5 and 2 or three sites with 4. I would guess Kumiko will have the PR 3 (it usually happened to my sites - from 0 to 3), then gradually to 4 and 5. To my knowledge, it is very difficult to jump over 5. But considering number of backlinks, Kumiko can do 6 by the end of this year.

5 Signs Your ‘Make Money Online’ Blog Sucks

1. Advertising that is not relevant to your site.

2. You claim to be something that you are not.

3. Your advertizing does not match you.

4. You ask for link exchanges on your site.

5. You use dumb, non-personalized template.

The 5th point relates exactly to what my present blog is

Earning Reports

Great! That is truly impressive to observe. I keep track of my own records, and am glad to be able to see how others progress. It is a pity Kumiko is banned from AdSense as for me this was one of my major streams (well, I have hardly used any other, and got about 1,200 USD in last 6 months). My kudos for her never stopping enthusiasm on working with other streams.

4-Level Evaluation

Wisdom - 4 out of 10 - Kumiko does not discuss life’s principles and goals but her lifestyle and work are wise

Fun- 4 out of 10 - This is not an entertainment place.

Regularity - 6 out of 10 - Kumiko keeps posting on a daily basis producing several posts on some days

Usefulness - 7 out of 10 - I myself find a lot of practical information on this site

Today I enjoyed my first comments and first flow of traffic, thanks to Make Money Online by John Chow. That is a truly enlivening experience. Though virtual contacts are not equal to physical ones, it makes me enthusiastic about going on with my quest. Now let me explain what streams of income I have already established. First, this is my offline business Rent An Apartment In Kiev that is developing nicely thanks to my colleagues and partners.

Then I have a few other offline projects and ideas, like involving in one MLM company. I think about AGLOCO project as one of MLM that has some potential in it. I will elaborate on AGLOCO further in my posts.

For the last 7 or 8 months I have been endeavoring to delve into AdSense and its secrets and philisophy. What is my earnings to this day from my multiple sites? Well, let me check on my account… It is 1,268.10 USD. Hmm… John Chow makes more than that in one month, and the great thing about his blog is he uses multiple streams strategy.

http://www.johnchow.com/make-money-on-the-internet-march-2007/

My personal record is 554.59 USD in October, and 24,650 page views making $47.54 per day on October 2, 2006. My personal goal with AdSense is to make 100 USD per day which is far from being achieved as now my everyday earnings are about 3 USD. I had a lot of activity in October due to some temporary high rank site link for a month. Now I get about 1K pageviews per day.

The second stream is my ebook about starting private business offline (renting apartments as a private hotel). This is not truly a business, but makes some 5-10 USD per week.

Then I have stock shares in Shareholder Internet stocking exchange giving me about 2% per month on my stocks.

Then there are some other opportunities that I take advantage of, but that I will explain in further posts.

This is the village where my great-grandmother and great-grandfather lived. In 40s of the last century this was a place of war against fascists, and my grandfather was hiding in a small cellar in a shed at the courtyard of our house. My mother once found a lot of live cartridges in the soil. My parents build a cozy 2-storey building near the old house. Now we go there from time to time (being lazy I go there no more than 2-4 times a year).

Potato Digging

Formerly this was our family tradition (as was the tradition of many other families as well) to go to village to dig potatoes. Even though it was not financially sound as the gasoline and time spent by highly qualified relatives of mine were by far more expensive than the result of our work - a few dozens of kgs of potatoes, the tradition was kept year after year.

Say Hello to Everybody

That custom I enjoyed today as I rambled on the village streets. All the people, old and young, say “Hello!” to everybody, they greet me. I am not accustomed to this in the city, and it brings a sense of joy and unity with other people.

Having No Cash

I know that some old people who do not have well-to-do relatives in the city hardly see any cash at all. They live a natural life, and exchange goods produced by their household like milk, chicken or grains and vegetables. A few dollars can be a lot of money to them.

Village Millionaires

Those are land moguls. As land prices are booming across-the-board, some village people got really rich. To buy a piece of land near Kiev in 10 km from the border costs up to 10K USD for 1 “sotka” (100 sq m).

My Day in the Village

We came here at 11 am, after about 45 km ride from Kiev. I spent almost all my day reading books on personal growth (FIRST THINGS FIRST by Stephen Covey), studying English and writing. I went on a stroll for an hour in the evening. Though it was very windy from the morning, now the weather calmed and the birds are singing. I made a few shots in the forest that I would like to share with you, along with some village shots. I expected to make pictures of a cow or a horse which are popular here but was not lucky to spot one.

This cartoon was one of my favorites back in Soviet times when I was a child.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189160/

The three series center around the advertures a boy, Fyod’r, has after running
away from his home in Moscow to this small Russian town with his new-found cat.
On the way, he finds a dog who offers them a dacha he found, and postman Peshkin
soon comes along to look after the trio.

I would like to share a few funny dialogs from this cartoon that relate to the
theme of this blog. The cartoon is full of philosophical and logical puzzles and
controversies.

Dialog 1
Dog: What newspapers and magazines are you going to subscribe to?
Cat: None. I will spare my money.

Dialog 2
Cat: We will take a loan from the bank to buy a cow.
Dog: And how are we going to pay interest on credit?
Cat: We will give them milk.
Dog: If we give them milk then why do we need a cow?

Dialog 3
- Where do we get some money?
- We have to sell something useless.
- To sell something useless we have to buy something useless first, and at the moment
we lack money for that.

Dialog 4
Mother: Why do we need a cat. There is no use in it.
Father: Then what is the use from this painting on the wall?
Mother: There is a great use of this painting. It blocks a hole in wallpaper!

Gmail  Paper is a new Google project aimed at those who are bored sitting in front of a monitor staring at blicking screen. If you prefer reading paper mail only, just register at Google Paper, and they will send you your email properly printed on fine paper.

 Do they do it for free? Yes, because the opposite side of a sheet is used for contextual ads printed in 36 pt san-serif. If you have picture attachments, they will print them on photo paper, do not worry! No MP3 printouts, though, sorry.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html

This news is no more than a witty Fool Day’s joke by Google. I had fun, and you?

Name: John Chow dot Com - The Miscellaneous Ramblings of a Dot Com Mogul
Title: Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com
URL: http://www.johnchow.com/
My Rating: *****

Short Description:
Make Money Online is an entertaining diary of a prolific enthusiast who is into making money online (calling himself a Dot Com Mogul), fine dining, travel and cars.

Why Is His Blog So Popular
I would say all that is about quality and passion. John is experienced in Internet marketing making a buzz of his projects. His posts are regular, providing intellectual food for his readers (and there are plentiful images of real food, too : ).

Who Is John Chow

We can learn about John from his blog a lot. He likes Chinese food, travels a lot, is fond of cars and works with his very successful tech site The TechZone .

Why Do I Like This Blog
First, I find a lot of useful information on this website. There are a lot of tips and tricks of a practitioner of Internet marketing who supports himself (and does it pretty well!) from his hobby/job. Then, his lifestyle and attitude to other people and their work (as can be seen from his reviews and posts) are appealing. To read his blog is like taking private lessons from an experienced Internet guru (or a Mogul : ) for free.

5 Best Posts

Beginner Blogging Tip http://www.johnchow.com/beginner-blogging-tip/

There are 5 tips that John gives for a beginner:
- pick a topic that you are passionate about
- your content need to be good and to be unique
- do not worry about the money
- build relations with fellow bloggers
- have fun at this

Review Me

If you want to make your site known to a large audience at once, order a review from John. He provides it now for 300 USD via a third party service http://www.reviewme.com .

Buzz about linking back

The idea of exchanging links with other sites, and setting a rule of an anchor text “Make Money Online” is simple and brilliant. It made John Chow dot Com a #1 on Google for Make Money Online! He is offering to link to your blog if you review his blog.

Agloco campaign

Each time John reaches a checkpoint of next 1000 subscribers, he tells about it. Last time he published 11000 mark. The idea of Agloco (earning money by browsing) that John approves of and advertises a lot, will be reviewed separately.

Dining post (pics and costs)

That is a true passion of John. His blog is a nice ground for a cookbook whenever you decide to write about Chinese food. You do not need to fetch any pictures aside from his blog. Then any city guide for Canada will find all the necessary information about restaurants and prices.

4-Level Evaluation

Wisdom - 6 out of 10 - pretty wise this man is, but mostly the site is not about life innermost values
Fun- 6 out of 10 - the videos like topless car washers are not the gist of this blog
Regularity - 9 out of 10 - the updates never stop, even when John travels, there are 3-4 new posts daily
Usefulness - 9 out of 10 - success stories along with practical tips and tricks supported by experience distinguish this site

Minigallery

To be passionate about the money that I may be earning by this blog does not bring enthusiasm to write. It should be coming from somewhere whithin, knowledge that I would like to share with others.