A Delayed "Farewell"

Has it really been over a year since my last post? Wow, where does that time go?! Since my last post, in March of 2014, I've embarked on some wild money-making endeavors. And that isn't counting all the other endeavors I had embarked on since this blog's inception back in 2013. What were these endeavors? I've recounted some of them in the postings on this blog. I won't go into detail about the ventures that happened after my previous post in March of 2014. Let's just say that I've been on some wild and crazy rides. Rides I wasn't quite prepared to take. So, did I make my fortune? Did I win my millions? I'm sorry to report that I haven't won my millions. Kind of disheartening when you consider the nature of The Golden Byte. What kind of credibility can I have if I, the blog's author, haven't made millions of dollars? Or even thousands of dollars? What you are about to hear is likely the most honest report ever delivered by an Internet money-man.

Unlike most money-men on the Internet who are trying to hock off there million dollar ideas for $24.99, I can admit that all of my ideas have failed and failed miserably, at that. Why did they fail? Were they bad ideas? I'll get to this in a bit. First let me give a brief listing of all the ventures I had undertaken during these past couple years. I've been involved in PPD (Sharecash), PTC (Neobux and the now defunct Probux), PPC (adf.ly and adfoc.us) CPA, GPT, blogging, adsense, review mills (slicethepie), writing mills, selling services (Fiverr), affiliate marketing, surveys, cryptocurrency trading and mining, domain flipping, selling processing power, video-making, web design, forum administration, and more.

Quite a list, right? Just thinking about all of the stuff I have tried is exhausting.

Now, why did my ideas fail? Were they just bad ideas? No, most of my ideas were solid and they could have netted me a bit of profit. So, what happened? I lacked something critical to any venture, money-making or otherwise. I lacked persistence and commitment. All ideas, no matter the idea, require working-hard and working-smart. The key word in both of those is "work". I overestimated by skills, but, more importantly, I underestimated the amount of work I would have needed to put into my ideas. There is no "golden" idea that will net you thousands of dollars within a few minutes time and with minimal work (no matter what those Internet money-men claim). There are better ideas and there are lesser ideas. All ideas require hard-work and persistence. If there is a "golden trick", it is the Three P's: patience, persistence, and practice.* Employee these three P's and you'll likely fare far better than you could have ever imagined.

I do not regret the money I've lost on my ventures or the time I've spent on this blog. I probably didn't lose more than $500 total over these past couple years, which isn't bad. And I've learned a lot about money, people, marketing, money-making, products, services, website creation/design, motivation, and persistence. I've also learned something about myself too. I've learned that I have my ups and my downs and that I should be patient with myself. I do not regret writing on this blog. It has sharpened my writing ability and my wit. Both excellent qualities inside and outside the Internet. I hope my posts, thirty-five of them in total (not including this one), have given you folks some ideas or have guided you onto the right path.

I want this post to be a kind of farewell to The Golden Byte. I didn't want to leave my readers hanging. And this isn't really good-bye. From here on, I'll be posting on my other blog, Cybermantics (explanation below).

I've decided to stop chasing the all-mighty dollar for now, get a part-time job (the horror), return to my university courses, and continue blogging on my new blog Cybermantics. It's not a money-making blog. It's a blog that celebrates my other passion: technology. Check it out and donate. "But wait, didn't you just say you stopped chasing the all-mighty dollar?" Yes, but the pennies I receive from my donation fund go to support my coffee addiction. I don't expect to earn thousands of dollars from it. So, if you like the posts on my new blog, or if you just want to donate a couple pennies out of the goodness of your own heart, please donate to my coffee fund. May the caffeine Gods bless you with energy and relieve you of fatigue!

Well, I guess this is "farewell." Good-bye beautiful friends. I'll see you on the other side. The tech side with robots, computers, and questionable commentaries! Even though I am done chasing the all-mighty dollar, I assume you are not quite done. So, please, remember what I've written about, remember the advice, remember the good times, and remember the Three P's.

And for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT buy money-making ebooks. Everything you could possibly want to know about online money-making can be found, for free, with a simple Google search. Just because something costs money doesn't mean it can make you money.

*The Three P's are really "patience, persistence, and perseverance", but I like my version better because I can't tell the difference between persistence and perseverance, and practice is really important too.

A book I just had to share…

Not to long ago, I read a book that seemed to affirm an idea I already held, but haven’t consistently applied. As you may have guessed by now, that book is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The basic idea behind this book is that, too master a skill or to make a huge change in one’s life, one only needs to perform small steps every day. For example, if you want to become a great free-thrower in basketball, all you’ll need to do is devote five minutes a day to free-throw practice. Over time, your free-throwing skills will improve greatly.

I’ve also applied this idea to my life, though I invest more than a few minutes each day.

If you want to accomplish huge goals, just devote a little effort a day toward your goal.

Flipping domain names

Flipping domain names is quite a common way of making money on the Internet. It’s been around for a long, long time. “Flipping” in this case refers to the practice of buying and, later, selling a domain name. This is a basic “buy low, sell high” practice.

Typically, one of two strategies is employed in this industry.

1. Buy, hold, then sell.

This strategy involves buying a domain name, holding it for a while, and then selling it when a good price comes along. Of the two strategies, this requires the least amount of work.

2. Buy, improve, then sell.

This strategy involves buying a domain name, improving the website associated with the domain name, and then selling the domain name. This involves more work than the other strategy, but performing the work (assuming the improvement was performed wisely) will likely increase the value of the domain name.

Is flipping domain names lucrative?

Yes, it can be lucrative. But flipping domain names isn’t for the weak of heart. It’s a tough business. To make a profit, one needs to have great foresight, managerial skills, money, patience, and persistence. Being able to develop and market a website would also be invaluable.

Here are a few techniques that may aid you in you in successfully flipping domain names.

1. Watch the market

Observe the domain name market. Observe what domain names are bought and sold. What qualities and characteristics do those domain names have that make them valuable?

Typically, domain names like “God”, “Money”, “Music”, etc. will fetch a high price due to how well-known, descriptive, and desirable they are.

Needless to say, a random domain name like “75boxstreet” won’t be worth anything unless it is associated with something popular.

2. Try to buy short, and memorable, domain names

Domain names like “lime”, “pool”, “fox”, etc. may be good choices for beginning domain name flippers. These names are common, descriptive, and may be desirable provided one can find the right buyer.

3. Don’t spend what you can’t afford to lose

Realize that flipping domain names involves quite a bit of risk. You may not get any profit from selling a domain name because you. Most people barely realize any profit after putting a ton of work into improving and selling a domain name. Only spend a little money, at first. When you become more comfortable with buying and selling domain names, you can invest more money.

What factors influence a domain name’s value?

1. The length of a domain name

Shorter domain names tend to be more valuable.

2. Commonality

How common a domain name is increases its value. For example, a domain name like “God” is highly valuable.

3. Association

The associations attached to a domain name make it valuable, depending on the buyer. For example, the domain name “God” would be valuable because its associated with God or other deities.

4. Hits

Domain names that are composed of commonly searched for words are highly valuable. The word “Money” is often inputted into search engines. If a domain name was “Money”, it would be very valuable due to the fact that it is often searched for.

The key to online riches

If I were asked to provide the key to online riches, I would say two words: Internet traffic. What is Internet traffic? Internet traffic is, essentially, the amount of “hits” or “visits” a website or web page receives. Currently, this blog has had 1569 “hits” since its creation. That is this blog’s total traffic.

Most of the traffic isn’t even real traffic. This blog only has around 100 real visits by real people, which is very, very little comparatively. I’ve had this blog up for five months. For comparison, Youtube gets one billion unique visits per month. Quite the difference.

How does one make money from online visits?

There is much one can do to make money when one has a lot of traffic. Pay per download can be utilized, adsense and pay-per-click can be used, donations can requested, products can be sold via affiliate links, marketing space can be rented, etc.

Many, many things can be done once one has heavy Internet traffic.

Now, here’s the hard part. How does one get heavy Internet traffic?

How does one get heavy Internet traffic?

Here are a few ways. It’s important to note that knowing and using these methods won’t necessarily give one heavy traffic. However, using these methods will likely increase the amount of traffic one gets.

These methods vary since most Internet sites vary by design.

1. Post interesting stuff

2. Use back-links

3. Optimize keywords

4. Post frequently

5. Tag your articles/images

6. Give site distinctive features

7. Advertise site

8. Keep at it

Remember, there are innumerable sites on the Internet. Most of which are fighting over site visitors. It is very, very hard to get a lot of site visitors. It requires vision, intelligence, and, most of all, persistence.

Sharecash has failed me…

Somewhat recently, a Youtube video of mine was flagged and taken down. I asked why and I was told the reason. Sharecash wasn’t allowing my clients to access my file once they completed the necessary actions. This led to Youtube users flagging my video. Now, I don’t know if what happened at Sharecash was the result of a buggy web-script, negligence, or down-right mean spiritedness. I’m inclined to believe that the Sharecash site was simply bugged. I never received a reply as to why the site wouldn’t allow users to access my files.

I think my incident was an isolated occurrence since Sharecash is a well-known and well-respected PPD site. However, if you’re thinking about using Sharecash, you should consider my experience.

Some words of encouragement

The world of online money-making is tough. There is bound to be loads of failure and, subsequently, discouragement for anyone attempting to make money on the Internet. So, for those souls struggling to scrape a few pennies out of their Internet ventures, I have a few words of encouragement. It doesn’t take money or brains or muscle or much else to make money on the Internet. Of course all of the aforementioned help, having them isn’t essential to making money online. There is one essential, however. That essential is commitment. You don’t need to be clever or wise or even intelligent to make money online; you just need to be committed.

I have a few tips that will help you strengthen your resolve and commitment in any situation.

Set goals for yourself

And don’t just set goals for yourself. Set specific goals. And don’t just set specific goals. Set specific goals and state the method you will use to reach those goals. You don’t need to know the nuts and bolts of a method; you can learn about the technicalities later. Just have an idea about the method you’ll use to achieve your goals .

Write out your goals

Is there anything more official than ink on a piece of paper? Writing out your goals not only helps you remember them, it gives you a sense of commitment.

Read your written goals twice daily

Keep your eyes on the prize. Read your written goals twice daily. Once in the morning (preferably, immediately after you get out of bed) and once at night (preferably, immediately before bed). Reading your written goals bolsters your commitment to them. It also keeps your goals in your head. The more you mull over your goals, the more likely you’ll find a way (or a better way) to achieve them.

 

One more thought…

Feeling discouraged?

It’s natural to feel discouraged when you fail to achieve a goal. When you fail, you can (broadly speaking) do one of two things. You can keep chasing your goal or you can take a break. Both of these options have their uses in achieving goals over the long-term. You must decide when one is to be used over the other.

If you’re really discouraged, I suggest taking a break. If you’re adverse to the idea of taking a break, think of the break as a time to refuel and replenish your strength. You’ll need that strength to achieve your long-term goals.

Relaxation doesn’t necessarily run counter to achieving a goal. In fact, relaxation is often a part of the process of achieving a goal.

Going bust with Neobux

If you’ve read this, then you’ll likely know how disappointed I am. Well, I am disappointed. I had such high hopes for Neobux. I even made bit of a profit, but I lost most of it, and then some. I lost all the money I invested and I lost most of the profit I had gained from Neobux. I invested and re-invested and it all went bust and I walked away with a severe net loss. I officially quit Neobux a few weeks back after withdrawing what little money I had left in my account. Before quitting, I ran the math on how much money I was “making” with Neobux. As it turns out, my rented referrals weren’t generating enough profit to cover their own costs! So, I was slowly losing money over a long period of time. This is when I realized my Neobux venture was doomed.

Admittedly, I should have “done the math” far sooner than I had. If I had done the math sooner, I wouldn’t have lost as much money. But, yes, my Neobux experience was a painful one. Quite honestly, I can’t figure out how people earn money from Neobux. It just doesn’t make sense. The most clicks you can get from a rented referral is four per day. Needless to say, all of my rented referrals didn’t come close to averaging four clicks per day.

I ran the math. It would have taken 42 clicks for a rented referral to pay for itself, for a month. Most of my rented referrals didn’t hit, or even come close to hitting, that number of clicks. They couldn’t carry themselves let alone carry the bad rented referrals.

Is it possible to generate a good profit from Neobux. Maybe, but you’ll need a lot of direct referrals. I don’t think it’s possible to generate much of anything from just rented referrals. If it is possible to generate a profit from rented referrals, that profit would be very slim and one wrong move (say, paying to keep a referral for more days) could destroy the entirety of any possible profit. The margin of error is far, far too small. Far too much is left to chance when dealing with rented referrals.

This makes me think that Neobux, which is among the most popular PTC sites, is something of a scam. Perhaps it is possible to make money from the site, but like I said, a user would need near perfect management of rented referrals and a good number of direct referrals.

I don’t see how it is possible for some people to earn thousands of dollars on the site. It just doesn’t seem possible. Considering the math, I’d say it’s more likely that the people who “earn thousands” are a select few gifted geniuses, or just people paid to promote Neobux.

Well, Neobux, goodbye and good riddance. I realize there are a good number of screen captures, floating around, which showcase user  accounts filled with thousands of dollars. I think a different perspective is due. Here’s a screen capture of my account summary as it currently is:

As you can see, my direct purchases far exceed the amount of money I received. Keep in mind, most of the money I received (around $20), was re-invested in Neobux. In the end, I walked away with $7 after having spent around $50 of my own money and a few months of my time.

What a waste…or, was it a waste? Well, it wasn’t a complete waste. I learned a few valuable lessons from my time at Neobux. Hopefully, I’ll be wise enough to take these lessons into consideration in the future.

To all you entrepreneurs of the Internet, please, for your own sake, thoroughly consider your own actions, and their consequences, before taking them.

Wow, I didn’t expect to type this much…

One Final Note

Funny enough, while I had an account at Neobux, I also had an account at Probux. I worked on both accounts, diligently clicking ads on most days. However, with my Probux account, I walked away with $5, pure profit. Though, I wouldn’t say this is much of an accomplishment considering it took me just over four months to get those $5. Hehe…

I’m exhausted…