Blogging is too time intensive at the moment due to other ventures.

But I made $700 in ~ 2 months at the peak of the site and I want to help others learn how to do it.

Suggestions?

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Early on I assumed that enticing women to join would be more difficult than enticing men. So I developed methods of marketing that appealed primarily to them, and it worked…too well. The site now has a 2:1 female to male ration: for every guy on the site there are two women.

So I’m asking you, my amazing readers: How do you recommend I attract more men?

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All I need to do is multiply that by a thousand and I’ll call it a success.

I recently read an article on Yahoo! News about a programmer who quit his job to start a geek rock band. Now, I’m not the biggest music buff and I’ve never listened to geek rock before, but I highly recommend you read the article.

While you and I may not be dying to start a geek rock band, we, like the subject of the article, want to be free of our desk jobs. We have dreams we want to pursue, and we’re tired of putting them on hold. The advice the programmer’s friend gave him is crucial when pursuing any dream:

“Write one song per week”

We’re not in the songwriting business….we’re in the business business. But the rule applies equally here.

If your goal is to make money online, start one venture per week, or per month. Take one major step per week.

Don’t allow yourself to become stagnant or you’ll end up 36 and miserable behind a desk.

I’m taking this advice to heart, and by March I will launch yet another business. Unfortunately, it’s also a business I’ll be promoting under my name. But I will definetely keep you posted.

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If you still read this blog, leave a comment.

Also, mention the kind of articles you’d like to see more of.
I want to be here for my readers, and I want to give the people what they want

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Here are the rules

1. Say Good Things
2. Do whatever you say

These two rules encompass several important life lessons.

1. Actively Promote Change:  Unless everything around you is good, some of the things you say will inspire others.
2. Be the Change You Want to See in the World:Whatever good things you discuss, you should do. It’s that simple.
3. Keep Commitments You Make To Others: Such as my pledge not to abandon you, my wonderful readers.
4. Keep Commitments You Make To Yourself: No skill is as valuable as discipline. All it really boils down to is doing what you tell yourself you will do.

The keys to a happy, productive, and upstanding life are really that simple. Just Say Good Things,  and Do What You Say

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To further that end, I’ve created an awesome new, free dating site.

My marketing strategy is three-pronged:

1. Contact singles online and mention my site to them
2. Comments on blogs likely to be full of singles
3. Sign people up offline

When you have a product or service that involves geography, #3 can be your safest bet.

I’m asking all my friends to join. I’m going to local community colleges to collect email addresses for the “sneak peak” (the site doesn’t officially launch until February 10th - more on that in a later post.)

Why am I so attracted to the “collect emails” method? Geography. Online ads can reach anyone, everywhere. That’s going to be crucial as the site expands, but for now it could be detrimental. If only a few people from each city sign up, the site will be empty for them. There will be few local singles.

Moral of the Story? For cost effective, local advertising, sometimes it’s good to think outside the computer.

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It’s got 8 male members, 0 female: rough.

Anyone have any cheap marketing suggestions?

I’m going to try blog comments, and tabling at local colleges.

Other ideas?

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Between my current studies, business school applications, and BidXL, I’ve bitten off more work than any three people should ever tackle.

I noticed that sign-ups for BidXL were a bit slow, so when I thought of a great idea for a dating site I put development on hold. A few days later BidXL is up to ~ 10 registered publishers, and more are signing up every day.

But I still haven’t completed the site!

Moral of the story: Keep an eye on the plates you’ve got spinning.

If one looks stable, that’s great. You have more free time to work on the next one. But always pay attention.

About the dating site: I’m not sure yet I want to post its name here because I am promoting it as me in the “real world” to all my single friends and acquaintances.

Is my One Man persona ready to merge with [NAME CENSORED]?

For now I’ll just report it as Dating Site X

Until Next Time,

One Man

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Debt Can Be Good

When you’re sure a business will turn a profit, debt can be the difference between success and failure. For example, if you want to buy an apartment building, debt can prove invaluable. Real estate is pretty safe, and you can usually calculate whether the rents will cover your mortgage payment ahead of time.

The use of debt becomes more dangerous with speculative investments, or even investments you’re just a little bit less confident in. For example, you may have a great idea for a new clothing store, but that store may never get off the ground. If you finance your equipment and inventory, and you sign a lease you can’t afford, you’re going to get into serious trouble.

When to NOT Use Debt

It is almost never a good idea to use debt to finance an asset that won’t give you a profit. For example, using debt to finance a boat is almost always a terrible idea unless you’re a fisherman.

Even using debt to finance buying a car is a bad idea. Even if you need a car to get to work, you can always buy a cheaper car.

Avoiding Debt is a Safe Bet

There are exceptions to every rule, but generally avoiding debt is a safe bet. When you avoid debt, you minimize the damage failure can cause. This damage control takes a lot of pressure off you and allows you to try riskier businesses without losing your shirt.

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But perhaps Google’s biggest failure is in monetization. Adsense used to be cool. In a time where the little guy had trouble getting relevant ads, Google swept in and, for only an estimated 50% commission, offered everyone the same quality ads it displayed in its search engine. It’s 2008 now, and Adsense has become as ineffective as Google search.

A Sample Adsense Ad

Where do you think I saw this ad? Chances are you don’t even know who Buddy Guy is. I sure don’t. But his ad was displayed prominently at The Bachelor Guy, a popular blog for guys, thanks to Google Adsense.

They Bachelor Guy lost a lot of real estate, above the fold no less, so his readers could find out that “Buddy Guy” is on Tour. Thanks to Google’s ad-robots, Buddy gets free advertising, and The Bachelor Guy gets a smaller bank account.

Don’t Let “Buddy” Happen To You

BidXL fills the void created by the irrelevance, and ineffectiveness, of Adsense ads. BidXL allows your readers to support your site and offer relevant links to your other readers, without sucking up a ton of screen space. No robots here. In addition, BidXL blends in with the look of your site so no “color matching” is needed.

I highly recommend you check out BidXL and get a free widget for your blog. Explain to your readers what it is, or let them figure out how to use it by themselves. Try it for a month and see what kind of return it gives you. It’s paid off in spades for me.

Until next time,

One Man

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