Answers To Questions Round 16

Asle Skarpengland asks:

If you should pick one affiliate network, which one would it be?

ShoeMoney: For me Azoogleads. Their reporting API is the best I have come across and they have the best offers for what we do.

BarackObamasBlog asks:

Do You Think Barack Obama Is A Terrorist? If So Why? If No Why Not?

ShoeMoney: I don't think he is a terrorist. He has done nothing I am aware of to suggest he is a terrorist.

ethan asks:

What is a good number of ad-networks to belong to? Is it possible to belong to too many? Better to belong to a select few?

ShoeMoney: I would join as many that have offers in your niche... then split test them and let the statistics tell you which ones to use and which ones are shaving leads.

Josh Smith asks:

Are you planning on doing more interview type pieces with affiliate networks and their owners?

ShoeMoney: If they have an interesting story I like.

AffiliateObsession.com asks:

I want to learn PHP, what book(s) do you recommend, or other reading materials, for that matter?

ShoeMoney: I recommend you start with free guides on the net and make a project and learn as you go.

andrew asks:

should we forget about users with 800Ã—600 monitors, and just design sites for 1024+ ?

ShoeMoney: Using Google Analytics will show you what resolution your visitors are using. That should answer your question. (I am guessing yes)

Schoonzie asks:

What do you think is the best way to go about getting direct advertisers for my blog so I can replace AdSense. I have a list of manufacturers and retailers that advertise on my competitors sites, but I'd like to know what you think is the best way to approach them. Thanks!

ShoeMoney: I wrote a post on this here

Nick asks:

If you lost everything, but were left with a stream of $300 / month what would you do with it, in an attempt to get back to your former glory?

ShoeMoney: I would probably just become a Mr. Mom and take care of our kids.

Sohail asks:

How long does one should take recieving search engine traffic on a blog about technology if one new post comes up daily. If it depends, what are the factors on which it depends?

ShoeMoney: You should start receiving once it depends. (do you guys really read these questions before submitting?)

Static asks:

Are we allowed to ask random questions like "How did you come up with your slogan?" ;)

ShoeMoney: Yes you are.

Chetan asks:

As for what i always ask something related to Mac.. Do you have some tools to post from Mac to your blog directly? And what apps do you use to create videos in mac?

ShoeMoney: I use snapz pro for capturing movies. I love it. I use Skitch a TON for blog use and other stuff. I write most of my posts in program called Textmate (using it for this)

Moneybites asks:

Who do you host with and why?

ShoeMoney: We have our own rack of servers and host everything ourself.

browie asks:

When you get in a funk with Internet Marketing (I'm in one) what things can help you get out of it? take a break?, shut it all down start over?

ShoeMoney: I usually will head to the gym and bust out all by agression running and lifting weights. Then I think back at when I was in the corporate world working for the man and how much I hated it. That usually does it.

vipey asks:

would you rather be a fish that cant fly or a bird that cant swim?

ShoeMoney: Fish that can't fly.

David@EntrepreneursBlog asks: Four20 asks:

How stable is your online revenue? I recently started making twice as much as I did at my 'normal job', but I have noticed the income can vary a few hundred dollars. Does the threshold for you vary only a few hundred dollars per month. . .or does that grow just like your total revenue does.

ShoeMoney: When I first started many years ago thats how it was for me to. I put it all in the bank and kept working my day job until eventually I was fired. Stability really comes with a surplus of cash. Once I had enough cash in the bank to cover my salary for 2 years I felt stable. Now I do that too but with my employees also.

Simon asks:

Hi, why do all your ads have google page syndication type links?

ShoeMoney: We use Google Ad Manager to sell direct ads. Its really an awesome system that I am extremely thankful for Google for making. We struggled with OpenX before that.

Cigar Inspector asks:

Are there any WordPress theme design firms that you can recommend except UBD?

ShoeMoney: We use UBD for 99% of our projects and not just for blog designs. We have used them for print magazine/newspaper flyers, banners, stickers, traditional web design, and lots of other stuff. We have tried many people but nobody provides the support and flexibility that they do. They just get it and they do not need to be hand held. I love working with them. So to answer your question... no ;)

JL asks:

regarding forum subscriptions in your experience (where members can pay/donate money for additional features) do you find that having a lower subscription price like $9.99 would attract more people or something higher like $19.99 would be better (as it wouldn't dilute the 'value' of being a VIP member). also, what special features have you found that your VIP members have enjoyed the most?

ShoeMoney: Sure subscriptions were/are our bread and butter. We found that people would much rather pay 19.95 every 6 months then 25$ for 1 year. Kind of strange huh? You really need to play around with price points a lot to see what works for you. As far as what to give them? You can see our terms for nextpimp premium service here http://www.nextpimp.com/become_premium.php and we had over 70,000 paying subscribers in 2006 (its gone down significantly as my interest in the site has faded)

Bob asks:

Jeremy, I have this great website that converts like crazy so I thought I'd create another website on a different domain name reviewing the same services but with unique content. Will the second website rank in Google even though the keywords are the same as the first and the ip address of the domains are the same?

ShoeMoney: Well I am not a SEO but I would not put it on the same ip address. I would not even use the same dns servers.

Adamxcl asks:

Things are a lot different on the net than the last downturn. How does the current economic outlook affect how you look at businesses and new projects? Is success going to be at a slower pace with a new project? Obviously things are different now and a new idea may not execute the same way it did two years ago.

ShoeMoney: The current economic outlook has had zero effect on what we look at in projects. Anyone who reads this blog knows we go after service oriented websites. We build services that are needed and wanted. People are still spending money but it is just for things they need. We have always provided those value add services.

Sly from SlyVisions dot Com asks:

I assume you do some PPC marketing yourself to promote affiliate products and leads. My question is, is PPC your #1 tool for affiliate marketing?

ShoeMoney: No. I would say less then 10% of our affiliate income is from PPC driven traffic.

B. Durant asks:

I feel like I don't put out enough content and would like more. I was considering hiring someone to write content for my site. Problem is that everyone who I've found has no idea about the niche. I'm told that it doesn't matter as content writers will research whatever subject you give them and then write the content. I'm leery of this approach. I guess I'm asking if it's actually reasonable to expect good, accurate content from someone who isn't familiar with what the site is about?

ShoeMoney: No

Tushar Dhoot asks:

At what point do you draw the line between ethics and affiliate marketing? Basically stuff that you know is a scam but still get paid big $$ to do it. So where do you say, I'm not going to promote this. ex: "Weight Loss" "Payday Loans" "Ringtones" "Spam Newsletters" "FREE Stuff"

ShoeMoney: Great question. For me the end all be all is legalities. We always go by the letter of the law and have an amazing record of compliance with every affiliate network we have ever worked with. As far as ethics go its hard to have ethics in marketing. I mean in general a lot of marketing is psychology of getting people to do what they would not do naturally. To some people marketing in general is not ethical. Having a great story... or whatever. You should read Seth Godin's All Marketers are Liars book if you haven't. Its a great book on telling stories.

Christine asks:

How bad will this economy get before it recovers, and when will it recover?

ShoeMoney: I think the left wing media will talk about the doom and gloom of the economy until Obama is in office then everything will magically turn around as every story on digg and the evening news is how the messiah has saved the economy. Perception is everything.

Sandra G asks:

Hi Jeremy, I am starting a new site where people can review products in my niche, how do I go about seeding the site before I start to publicize it, should I hire people from Craigslist to pay for reviews or do I throw it up there and see if people get excited about it? Thanks a lot!

ShoeMoney: Just start writing reviews now and give people the option to send you their products. Thats how free shirt friday started. I just started writing about shirts I got at conferences then companies started sending them.

Dan asks:

When is the ShoeMoney Playbook going to be released? or an update on its status?

ShoeMoney: I dunno. Its not that far from being completed but yet so far =(

Larry Weaver asks:

Jeremy, I'm having trouble attracting quality affiliates for my site FunnyEmployeeAwards.com. I've got a fun site, a quality product, and great client reviews. And with holiday office parties just around the corner, the timing couldn't be better. But I just can't get affiliates excited about the prospect. I don't think people see the potential. What advice can you give about reaching good affiliates and getting them fired up about my product? Thanks!

ShoeMoney: For affiliates its pretty simple... they either make money or they don't. If I were you I would blow it out of the water by offering a MUCH higher payout. I think its as important for you to get brand recognition as it is to get sales $$$ at this time. Here is the scoop when it comes to affiliates. They are SO adverse to change but once they try it they will probably keep going. So your goal is just getting them to try it. Maybe offer a 100% payout for their first month? Sure you break even for their first month but the brand recognition and buzz might be worth it.

Esteban Panzera asks:

What do you think will replace affiliate marketing in some years from now?

ShoeMoney: I don't think affiliate marketing will ever be replaced. It was around way before the internet... I think it will just evolve.

Josh asks:

What plugin did you use for your newsletter pop-up and what kind of boost have you seen to your subscription?

ShoeMoney: I am actually using a hybrid but will probably completely rewrite my own like most plugins ;).

Brad Ney - The Blog Manual asks:

When advertising: Should you start out small and target cheaper (advertising prices) blogs for advertising.. Or go big from the start and then branch out to smaller blogs. Thanks Shoe.

ShoeMoney: I think i depends on what you are going for. Lots of companies advertise on shoemoney.com for brand recognition as well as ROI. So I guess you have to ask yourself what are you going for more?

Sid Savara asks:

I want social media traffic. I have quality content that never gets voted up. It looks like building a social media profile takes a long, concerted effort - and I am more interested in content generation than profile generation, but still want some help getting publicity for my content. Part 1: Where can I hire good, cheap help on social media sites? Part 2: Do you have any experience/success with kicking off viral campaigns via ad networks, sponsored stumbles, etc?

ShoeMoney: I once did an experiment and got on the front page of digg 4 days in a row. The traffic was pretty worthless though. I just ask friends to digg my article. Thats really the only experience I have with it.

Dave asks:

How can I promote http://lookgreatonline.net/ ? adwords doesn't really work. ppc are to high

ShoeMoney: I will be honest I am not real big on the idea but if you really believe in it then I would try to advertise on social networks like myspace and facebook. Its the goldrush right now for PPC. I would also buy some super cheap 3-4th tier search engine traffic and probably even some exit/popunder/interstitials

Collin - Feed Flare asks:

Jeremy I started into PPC a few days ago and am looking to build my very first landing page for the campaign I am running. Would recommend using Wordpress to build a landing page from and if so, what would be your best tip to help in conversations.

ShoeMoney: I would use anything that will allow you to easily do tons of split testing for conversion. That is the secret sauce.

Reid asks:

When people see you in Lincoln do they realize that your kind of a big deal, or how often do people ask what the heck is shoemoney?

ShoeMoney: Nobody knows me in Lincoln I try to keep a low profile locally.

Lupe asks:

Will you be giving out candy on halloween?

ShoeMoney: My wife will be. I will be trick-or-treating with my daughter.

Zurpit asks:

Its great to see that you will start reviewing sites.... My question is: When you first started out, what did you do to promote your site?

ShoeMoney: I made good services people want to use and made it easy for them to share with their friends.

Ã–nder asks:

i want to create a blog network. now i find 3 niche idea and with them at the beginning the network will start with 3 blogs. i want to ask you will wordpress is suitable for this or can you give an advice. if i do well i will add some new blogs to it. and i want to learn how can you concentrate yourself to write several post everyday? thanks a lot.

ShoeMoney: Wordpress would be suitable but to learn how to be a expert in several different niches... dunno.

teamray asks:

what was your major in college?

ShoeMoney: I never really went that much to pick a major.

Mike Huang asks:

Why are you using that pop-up method that John Chow is using to gain a subscriber for a free eBook?

ShoeMoney: Problogger made a post about how it increased his subscribers by an astonishing amount. I can't speak for John but I am seeing pretty amazing results so far.

Juegos de Dragon Ball Z asks:

Do non-tech people believe that you make that amount of money from the internet? Have you ever lied about your work just becouse you didn't want to explain it?

ShoeMoney: Well the weird thing is when I goto parties for my wifes work and meet some of their husbands who "make money online".

copyright asks:

Can you please recommend a copyright/trademark place to c/t website. Also how much is it going to cost and is it worth it to do it? thanks!

ShoeMoney: yea search this site wrote about it before.

lurksteraz asks:

Do you still talk to Shawn Hogan? if so, did he ever finish his house?

ShoeMoney: I have not talked to him that much in the last couple years he has fallen in love and goes awol =P

joe asks:

Do you have any advice on how to recruit the best people to work with you?

ShoeMoney: Sure search for how we hire

Greg asks:

What do you think about the lightbox so far?

ShoeMoney: the javascript library? I think its cool. Been using it for a couple years now on various sites.

mrkbsm asks:

As you've been getting bigger in the field of making money online, do you find yourself starting many new affiliate marketing related sites or have you been focusing much of your time lately on your current large projects (such as fighters.com)?

ShoeMoney: I think one of the bigger mistakes I have done since the sale of Auction Ads was think I was a good CEO and should start all kinds of companies. More on this in a future post.

Zak Show asks:

Hmm, let's say: Did you still making big cash from adsense? By the way I submitted my blog for a review, will see how it goes. Thanks J.

ShoeMoney: After a couple months of 6 figure checks we started figuring out on how much money we were losing out on and have not used AdSense since for most bigger sites.