Halina’s story is both exciting and inspiring and I’m thrilled to hear of her success. Be sure to show her some love in the comments section.

Halina writes…

How Writing for “Content Mills” Allowed Me to Quit My Job and Become a Full-Time Freelance Writer

Two days ago, I resigned from my job at a biotech firm. It’s been a good ride for these past 5+ years, but it’s time to move on. I must say, my resignation left many questions in my coworkers minds!

I have no other “official” job lined up at the moment. I have told almost nobody in my family about my resignation; folks would think I’m crazy to give up a good-paying and benefits-laden job for what I’m about to embark upon. And yet, in the midst of my fears about how I’m going to handle private health insurance, mortgage bills, etc., I feel excitement…an excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time. This can only be the feeling that one gets when one is about to start a business of her own.

What is the business that I am starting? Why, it’s none other than my sole proprietorship, Haelix Communications (HC). The nature of HC’s business will be freelance and general writing on-demand.

Of course, I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide that I was going to quit my job and become a freelance writer. No, this decision is the result of 10+ years of writing privately and for work, conversing with other bloggers and writers, and attending many upon many networking events for entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, I also created my personal finance website, Your Money and Debt, took up affiliate marketing (check out Gelato-Maker sometime), and wrote extensively for so-called “content mills”. After all these years, I point to content mills as being the biggest reason why I can afford to quit my current job and go solo.

In early 2007, I started writing for a forum site called myLot. Although the pay was miniscule (~$0.01/post), I was thrilled that a website would actually pay me for posting to its forums. One day, while perusing site topics to comment on, I came across a post discussing the writing site Associated Content (AC). It sounded decent enough, so I applied to AC and started writing.

My first submitted article to AC netted me $14, an amount that would’ve taken several months to compile on myLot. I was hooked. I started writing on every topic imaginable and submitting my content as fast as possible. When AC introduced page view payments, things got even better; my monthly page view earnings went from $5 to $25 to even $40 per month. It wasn’t long before I was dreaming of retiring and becoming a full-time AC writer.

Then, about six months into my AC stint, my earnings per article were cut dramatically. I started receiving $5, $4 and sometimes under $3 for my content. It became apparent that writing for AC was no longer worth my time and I began looking elsewhere.

Through various review articles posted on AC, I became aware of Constant Content (CC) and Examiner. CC accepted content that was submitted on behalf of specific client requests; the site also accepted “free form” content for sale. The best thing about CC was the fact that I could set my own rates and author rights. The worst thing about CC was that the site took one-third of my earnings from the article sale price. Also, some clients would request time- or subject-specific content and then never buy the content I created. This led to my wasting a lot of time with CC writing requests, at least until I figured out that I should stop writing for specific client requests and just submit “evergreen” content that anyone would want to purchase.

Examiner was another bag entirely. The site paid only via page views. Since Examiner is well known in journalistic circles, my pay per article was initially quite high. Then, just like with AC, Examiner underwent some kind of Google reconfiguration. My 50+ articles, each of which earned me a buck per month, went to earning me maybe 10 cents per month. It became fruitless to continue writing for Examiner, unless I just wanted to broadcast some big news.

I kept looking for new writing sites with which to sign on. I tried Helium but didn’t like how member earnings were determined by votes. I also tried HubPages, InfoBarrel, Demand Studios, and Triond. Through I’ve Tried That’s Free Directory of Online Money Making Opportunities, I found out about and later posted a review of Textbroker, a freelance writing site that can fetch $0.05 per word or more. To this day, I write content for Textbroker; it is by far one of my best money-making writing sites.

An interesting phenomenon occurred every now and then: potential freelance writing clients would contact me directly using either my personal finance or Haelix Communications websites. The clients were finding me through my published content on sites such as AC, Examiner, InfoBarrel and HubPages. I began obtaining direct writing assignments from these clients, and often for a higher rate of pay too. This got me thinking about the amount of clients and money I needed per month in order to “retire” from my current job. Given that I already generated as much as $1K from certain clients and ”content mills”, my proposed retirement might be possible. The question I now had was, how could I empirically determine if freelance writing would support me financially?

Looking at my monthly expenses, I knew that my mortgage bill of $930 took the biggest bite out of my income. There were also monthly utility bills totaling about $400 per month. I added up my income from AC, Google, my websites and Examiner and decided to track it for a period of four months. This would help me understand if I could survive without my current job. My reasoning was that if I earned enough money to at least pay off my mortgage every month, then working full time at my freelance writing “gig” would provide enough of an income for me to quit my job.

The breakdown of my earnings outside of my regular job for the next four months were as follows:

When I added up all of my earnings from the above noted freelance writing and freelance writing-related activities, the total amount was $3,771.69, which worked out to $942.92 per month. I had earned enough money to actually pay off my monthly mortgage.

What happened next? Well, I didn’t just quit my job the next day. Instead, I continued tracking my freelance writing earnings month-by-month, making sure that I could make it if a client “fired” me or otherwise terminated my contract. I also began looking for more long-term writing projects with magazines and periodicals. Interestingly enough, one of the “content mills” that I’d all but given up on, AC, was acquired by Yahoo! and started sending very lucrative writing assignments to its more seasoned writers. As a result, I was able to pick up an extra $200-$300 per month just from AC alone.

Inevitably, I felt confident enough in my skills as a freelance writer to announce my resignation at work. This was a scary, and yet an incredibly exhilarating moment in my life. I have no regrets, and I look forward to my new career.

-Halina Zakowicz
Haelix Communications

A ChrisFarrellMembership.com Review — Is it a scam?

Chris Farrell Membership is an introductory training program for beginners looking to learn Internet Marketing. It was created by none-other than Chris Farrell, a good looking English chap with an accompanying accent. The goal of his site is to provide you with the training, tools, and support to build an Internet Marketing business from home.

You can try the program for 7 days for only $4.95. After the first seven days, you will be billed $37.00 every month that you remain a member. This membership fee includes access to every training program he created, unlimited support from the support staff, and unlimited web hosting (usually costs $20 a month by itself!) You really do get your money’s worth here.

Almost all of his training is video-based. Personally, I much rather prefer text-based training. I like being able to learn at my own pace. With videos you have to constantly rewind, pause, and rewatch segments to make sure you understand it all. If you’re a visual learner, this is definitely a course for you.

Chris started his Internet Marketing career late 2007/early 2008 and within less than a year, he was making enough online to comfortably live in Beverly Hills. His training is a collection of tutorials he wrote after finding what works online. It’s very much a “follow in my footsteps” type program. Chris himself is seen around the site frequently answering questions and providing help.

Yeah, but does it work?

Chris teaches tried and true methods of Internet Marketing. These are methods that I personally use on a near daily basis so I know that they DO work. But, I have found a few of his methods outdated and there was little mention to recent developments in the Internet Marketing world. Take the recent Google “Panda” update for example. This was HUGE news to Internet Marketers worldwide, but I was only able to find one mention of it on his entire site. Someone created a forum post about it and received 3 replies. That was it.

His teaching is also very basic. He starts at an absolute beginners level. I’m talking “I-just-know-how-to-browse-the-Internet” level. His videos are VERY easy to follow and Chris does an exceptional job as a teacher.

Is it possible to make money following ONLY Chris’s teaching? Absolutely, 100% yes. But, I do believe you’ll be spending quite a few months trying to do so and will ultimately seek out help from another program. This is where it gets tricky though. Without Chris’s help, you wouldn’t have the basic knowledge required to seek out and learn more. So while you’re not going to get rich from his training, you will need this basic foundation of knowledge to get started. Does that make sense?

What I Liked

Tons of Training

The amount of information readily available to you is astounding, to say the least. There are over 1,000 different training videos and 20+ different training programs to follow. You are absolutely getting your money’s worth when it comes to the quantity of content you receive.

Consistent Updates

The site is updated often. Chris is constantly working on providing his subscribers with more. There are new additions made almost daily and every new feature is included with your membership.

Chris & His Likability

Damn is Chris likable. He has a sincerity about him that is unmatched. It’s hard to put into words. When he speaks, you can tell he’s genuinely interested in helping you build an online business. Above all, he is a great teacher.

It’s quite obvious Chris Farrell isn’t in the business of ripping people off. Immediately after creating your account, Chris provides you with cancellation instructions should you feel the need to leave the program. It’s honestly the first piece of instruction he offers. You don’t have to jump through any hoops, or fight your way out of a contract. Login, cancel your account, and be done with it.

Timely, Quality Support

I was most impressed by the support staff. There is a dedicated support team and they offer round-the-clock help. I’ve been browsing through the forum and nearly every question was answered within a few minutes with a detailed, helpful explanation.

It’s really hard to find such quality support these days. Most programs will try and sell you some sort of “support” add-on package or offer additional coaching at thousands of dollars per month, but not Chris. It’s all included with your membership and well worth the price of the membership alone.

What I Didn’t Like

The Navigation

I really do not like the site’s navigation. It feels very clumsy. It’s like Chris set out to build this grand mansion, but built it one room at a time with little regard to previous rooms he built. There’s no real sense of direction either. There are five different introduction pages all explaining different ways of getting started. The site just doesn’t flow.

A face-lift would do the site wonders as well. Even though it’s updated daily, it feels very outdated. I don’t see this happening any time soon (if ever) since his videos frequently refer to areas around his site. This unfortunately means the site will only continue to fall behind in terms of design.

Chris really just needs to go through and browse the pages of his site. The entire site needs to be proofread. I found plenty of typos, randomly capitalized words, the text ‘click here’ with no links, and plenty of other mistakes. Take this for example. This is the text that shows up when you click to Chris’s blog…

Hello!

Please note that right now (August 2010) I have had to take my blog offline – as I have had interest by a publisher to turn it into a book.

This publisher is currently taking a look at this – but my blog WILL be back online here – by the first week of October.

Thank you – and please do feel free to check back here then.

My apologies for it being temporarily unavailable.

Kindest

Chris Farrell, August 2010

It’s not a big deal since this doesn’t impact your training, but these little things start to add up.

The Discussion Forum

Man, the forum desperately needs better organization and an updated design as well. It is very text heavy. There are literally hundreds of thousands of posts in the ‘Troubleshooting’ sub-forum alone. This could easily be broken up into different categories. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to find a topic you saw a few days ago and wished to read again.

I took a screenshot of the forum to show you what it looks like.

The Positive Reviews

I was drawn to Chris Farrell Membership mainly due to the overwhelming number of positive reviews about the program. This both intrigued and worried me. While Chris doesn’t ever say “Go here and give me a positive review,” he does ask that you leave a testimonial and review the program. Any one this far into the course will have been with Chris for a while and will likely have nothing but nice things to say about the guy and the sheer amount of positive reviews drowns out any legitimate qualms another user may have with the program.

Little Focus on WordPress/CMSs

This is the number one issue I have with training at Chris Farrell Membership. The main focus of his training is teaching beginners how to build static HTML pages pretty much from scratch. In this day and age, that’s entirely unnecessary. There are tools (mainly WordPress) out there that will build complex, easy to update & manage websites for you within seconds. Why bother spending all that time trying to design, build, and manage a website when you can have WordPress do all of that work for you?

There ARE a few training materials on WordPress, but the videos are from 2009. WordPress is entirely different today. The concept is very much the same, but it functions entirely different today. You won’t get any of the benefits of WordPress (plugins, proper SEO, the ability to connect with your readers, instant & easy changes to your site) without a ton of work on your part with a static website.

If you follow Chris Farrell’s program, you will be wasting a lot of time learning basic HTML and trying to build your own website. Hell, the first few days of his 21 Days to Success program are all about learning about different files on your computer and how to resize images. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff here.

The Bottom Line

So, do I recommend you join Chris Farrell Membership?

Well, yes and no. I suppose if I had some sort of rating system on this blog, I’d give Chris Farrell Membership 2.5 thumbsups out of five.

The training isn’t bad, but it’s not exactly great either. Chris Farrell is a fantastic teacher and he’s very knowledgeable on all topics Internet Marketing. With that said, his training is mainly geared toward complete beginners. He teaches older methods of building websites and I just think there are much easier ways of learning Internet Marketing. Experienced Internet Marketers will be bored to tears and likely won’t stay past the 7-day trial.

His training is good if you want to start venturing out into Internet Marketing, but don’t want to commit a whole lot of money up-front. You’ll learn the basics and get a real good grasp on the foundations of Internet Marketing; however, I firmly believe that you will need to move on from Chris’s training to make a substantial income online.

Chris Farrell Membership is 100% NOT a scam.

I hate not having a more definitive answer for you, but take everything you read here, click here and take a look around Chris Farrell Membership, and try and decide if the program is right for you.

Feel free to leave questions in the comments below and I’ll try and answer them as well.

I have personally investigated hundreds of different companies looking to hire work at home employees and have compiled the best work at home opportunities into this new report.

What’s New in Version 1.2

The guide was fully updated on 6/8/11 and the following changes took place…

• New companies added
• Removal of companies no longer hiring
• Updated all the dead links & ensured all companies are active
• Grammatical and spelling fixes

What’s Included When You Order

• 121 different Work at Home opportunities all personally screened by me
• REAL telecommuting jobs, not “money making offers”
• Companies looking for employees to fill positions like writers, editors, data entry workers, virtual assistants, customer service representatives, and so much more!
• FREE Lifetime updates
• Enough leads to last you for months
• A free copy of my 45-page Complete Guide to Telecommuting

For full details, click here and read more about 121 Jobs.

Additional Information

• This opportunity is for US based employees only.
• If you bought the guide already, use the download link you originally received to get the updated version. You do not have to buy the guide again!
• Don’t have the link? Send me your name and email and I’ll send it again.

Order Today!

This full report will only cost you $7 one time. Yes, you read that right, only seven dollars. I couldn’t be pricing this report anymore fairly… at $7… the price of a bowl of 6 hot wings… I’m almost giving it away!

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Hidden Online Jobs page.

Enter for a Chance to Win $25!

To celebrate the update of my report, I will be giving away $25 to Amazon to one lucky customer. To be in the running to win simply order a copy of the 121 Jobs report by 11:59PM (EST) on Friday June 17th 2011 and you’ll automatically be entered into the drawing to win. Past customers are automatically included in this drawing as well!

Hurry! Time is limited!

Feel free to leave a comment on this post with any questions you may have!

Steve

For more information or to order a copy of your report, visit the 121 Hidden Online Jobs page.

Enter Louise. She was in your exact shoes just a few weeks ago when I first started talking to her. She had read a few of my posts regarding Wealthy Affiliate and was interested in getting started, but was apprehensive and had some questions.

Louise’s story is probably very similar to your own. She’s always been interested in making money online from home, but she was worried about spending money to get started. She wasn’t sure if Internet Marketing was something she could “do.” Here’s an actual excerpt from the very first email she sent me:

“Would I start a website? Do a blog? I don’t feel like I am a writer!! Sorry for all this – I just don’t know if I should do it, where to start, and what to do exactly!! I hope this makes sense and doesn’t just sound like a lot of babble!! Thanks for reading this! Maybe if I could feel like I had a place to “start” going in it wouldn’t feel so overwhelming.”

Sound familiar?

Louise eventually set her fears aside and signed up for a month of Wealthy Affiliate. That was three weeks ago. She has since setup her first website, written a number of articles for it, started getting people to visit it, and has actually made quite a few bucks already!

I’ve loved talking with Louise and hearing of her progress. I just had to share her story with you guys and she agreed to do an interview for I’ve Tried That outlining what she’s accomplished so far.

An Interview with an Internet Marketing Beginner

I asked Louise a few questions and here’s a copy of the transcript…

Steve: Tell us a little about yourself!

Louise: My name is Louise Uithoven and I am a stay-at-home Mom to two kids and am married to an awesome guy! I think I’ve been fascinated with the internet since it came into being! And I’ve always wanted to find a way to make a living using it.

S: When did you join Wealthy Affiliate?

L: I joined WA in March of 2011.

S: What was your Internet Marketing experience before joining Wealthy Affiliate?

L: I’ve sold on eBay for 7 years. So I was familiar with selling online or having a product online – but I never created my own website, had a blog, bought a domain name, etc. In fact I had always thought that was something I would never do – that it was way out of my league! It scared me to be honest! But when I saw the reviews by Steve about Wealthy Affiliate and read the reviews on the website – I thought they could even teach me to have my own biz! I’m not tech savvy at all and I was able to follow the steps and I actually have a website and blog now! This is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been involved in!

S: How many websites do you currently have? What are they?

L: I just have one. Selling Items Online and you can check it out at http://www.sellingitemsonline.org/ . But once I get this one established I think I will branch out. My son and I are actually thinking of starting one for him so he can blog about what he likes – and he is 16!! The possibilities are very exciting!!

S: Very impressive website for a beginner! What was the biggest thing holding you back from joining? Have those fears subsided?

L: Probably the cost! But I’m feeling more comfortable and actually thinking I can make this work and make some money with my website!

S: Have you made any money yet?

L: I actually have! And to be honest I was shocked! I’ve already made enough to cover all of my initial expenses and the next two months of training and more money is coming in every day! I guess that is what cements this for me. The guys that started WA know what they are doing & how to help you!

S: What advice would you offer to someone who’s currently on the fence about joining?

L: WA lays out step-by-step how to get your own website up and running! I am very impressed by the help and support offered. And they really do get how intimidating it can be to do all this when you have no prior experience! Give it a try – you will never know how far you could go until you do!

S: Anything else you’d like to add?

L: Have a mentor that is willing to help you out, encourage you and be honest with you. I actually found that in Steve! I don’t think I would have gotten this far without him! Thanks Steve!

S: Aww, thanks! And thank you for doing the interview!

L: Thanks so much for this opportunity!!

-end of interview-

As you can see, Louise went from knowing nothing about Internet Marketing to setting up a website to actually making money in less than one month’s time! I highly suggest you check out her site Selling Items Online and take a look around. Again, this was made by someone who had never created a website before, but was assisted with the tools available at Wealthy Affiliate. Very impressive!

Don’t forget that when you sign up for Wealthy Affiliate through I’ve Tried That, you get exclusive access to my Top 10 Secrets to Making Money Online at Wealthy Affiliate! You’ll see the bonus added on the sign up page.

I highly suggest you set your own fears aside and click here and come join Louise, myself, and thousands of others at Wealthy Affiliate all working towards building a successful online business. To quote Louise once more, “Give it a try – you will never know how far you could go until you do!”

Tons of I’ve Tried That members have already joined. I’ve been in contact with quite a few readers and most people already have their first websites up and running. These are people who knew absolutely nothing about making money online, but are well on their way to building an online business.

Spend the $1.00 and come join us!

Click here and come join me at Wealthy Affiliate.

This opportunity does not come around often. The last trial Kyle & Carson did was a year and a half ago and this may be the last trial they ever do.

Get full access to Wealthy Affiliate (no restrictions)…with no obligations to join after. It is completely up to you.

JOIN WA FOR $1 TODAY!
LESS THAN 24 HOURS LEFT!

Click here and come join me at Wealthy Affiliate.

Hope you take advantage of this one. Look me up after you have your account created. My username is IveTriedThat.

Steve

This report will help you launch your work at home job search into overdrive as you’ll be given over 100 different legitimate work at home opportunities. You’ll be getting an extensive list of companies looking to hire employees to fill part-time, full-time, and freelance positions from home. This isn’t a collection of make money online scams like pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing opportunities, or envelope stuffing scams. Nothing in this report will cost you money to join.

In the report, you’ll find 121 different opportunities to work at home. You’ll get a list of companies, a description of the job they are offering, salary and schedule information, requirements needed to fill the position and a link to the jobs application. I’ve personally screened every single job offer in this report and can vouch for their legitimacy.

Who is the 121 Jobs Report for?

121 Jobs You Can Do From Home is for people looking to find a legitimate work at home job. Specifically…

• those who want to work as an employee for a company
• those who want to telecommute out of their home office
• anyone looking for a list of legitimate companies looking to hire full or part time home based employees

Every company in this guide is looking for US based employees. I have to send out a quick apology to my international fans, but this report is not for you.

What kind of jobs are in the report?

The companies I have profiled are looking for employees to fill postions like these:

• Writers
• Editors
• Proofreaders
• Audio-to-text transcriptionists
• Data entry workers
• Virtual assistants
• Sales and marketing representatives
• Customer service agents
• Usability testers
• and many, many more!

Click the following images to see small preview of the reports…

Those are just three companies. The full guide has 121 total profiles!

You also get lifetime updates to the guide. I’ll be continually screening the report and adding and removing jobs. You will have instant access to all changes made in the guide.

Free Bonus Material

I’ve bundled the 121 Jobs Report with my Complete Guide to Telecommuting. It’s an awesome 45-page guide that will teach you the ins and outs of working at home. It covers everything from updating your resume, to writing cover letters, to following through and landing a real work at home job. You’ll get a link to download this guide within the 121 Jobs Report.

Secure your copy today for only $7!

I’ve priced the report at a mere $7. Yes, that’s correct. It’s only seven dollars. That’s about a nickel per job profile and the total cost is less than the cost of spending one day out at lunch. Make lunch at home one extra day this week to recoup the cost of this report and you’ll have enough work at home job leads to last you for quite some time.

Order the report now! You can pay with either Paypal or use a credit card and get immediate access to download your report.

Questions before you order? Click here to send me an email or leave a comment below!

Seriously.

That’s a lot. And they all work. Trust me, I checked each and every link myself. Take a look through them all and enjoy.

Did you know that we offer a completely free guide to show you how to get started with working at home? The guide will show you where and how to find real work at home jobs. Click this link to get a copy of our guide. Your guide comes with a subscription to updates at I’ve Tried That. You’ll be sent emails warning you of new scams, but more importantly, new ways to make money online. You definitely want to sign up and stay up to date on these kinds of things.

At least two or three times a day, I receive requests for more information on ways you can make money online. True information of this sort is hard to come by as this niche is riddled with scams. I’ve compiled a few lists of ways to make money online, but this is going to be the biggest, most comprehensive list I’ve created yet. I’ll continually update and add to this directory as I come across more legitimate opportunities of making money online.

If you have any opportunities you think I should add to the list, please send me an email!

Now tracking 114 legitimate positions.

Blogging Positions
Blogging is by far the best and easiest way to make money online. If you’re looking to make extra money using the internet, blogging is the answer. Look here first.
View 9 available blogging positions.

Customer Service Jobs
As a customer service representative from home, you may find yourself answering support calls, doing market research, or even some (gasp) telemarketing. You should expect to find yourself on the phone nearly the entire time while you are working. Great communication skills are a must.
View 17 available customer service positions.

Data Entry/Transcription Work
Data entry positions are incredibly rare. Even if you do happen to land a data entry job, the pay will be so little it will be worthless. Combine that with the incalculable number of data entry scams out there, and you have quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to working at home. Still interested? You can’t say I didn’t warn you.
View 18 available data entry and transcription positions.

Freelance Writing
Freelance writing allows you to write articles or reviews on pretty much anything and get paid for it. You may not think of yourself as much of a writer, but like everything in life, practice makes perfect. Try freelance writing and you’ll be surprised with the results.
View 20 available freelance writing positions.

“Get Paid To…” Opportunities
This category is for all those “Get Paid To…” ways of making money. Use one or use them all. Either way, I’ve tested them, I’ve tried them, and I’m currently using them to supplement my income.
View 8 “Get Paid To…” ways to make money.

Miscellaneous Opportunities
These job sites didn’t really fit into any other category and there weren’t enough of them to be categorized into their own posts. So, sift through them and see if there’s anything that might interest you.
View 8 miscellaneous ways to make money online.

Paid Surveys
Paid surveys are a great way of giving your opinion and getting paid. A lot of survey companies have taken to the Internet in the past few years and are now willing to pay you to complete surveys online.
View 25 available paid survey positions.

Sell Stock Photography
Get paid to take pictures. Is it really that easy? Of course not, but the following list of sites will help you get started with selling your photography and turn your hobby into an extra bit of side cash.
View 8 available ways to sell stock photography online.

Start a Website
One of the best ways to make money online is through running your own website. Overhead costs are low, profits can quickly start to roll in, and the entire process is a lot of fun. Interested? Well, you should be. I created a video that walks you through the absolute basics. I highly suggest you watch it in full.
Click here for more information.

I’ll be upfront and honest with you.

If you want to learn how to make serious money online, you first need to learn how to run your own website. Now before you close this page thinking to yourself “there’s no way I can run a website” let me tell you that you’re wrong. You CAN run a website. It’s surprisingly easy. What’s even more surprising is that running a website could actually become your full-time job.

More on this in a second. For now, a little background information about me.

I never intended to make money online when I started my first few websites. There were a few topics I was interested in and I just felt like blogging about them. My very first website was about online poker. I used it just to keep track of how I played, I shared some lessons I had learned, and I used the blog to keep my friends informed of my progress.

My blogging was mainly for fun. I never intended for anyone other than a select group of people to really read it. Yet, somehow my site was picked up by Google for a few different keyword phrases. I started to have a few regular visitors follow my updates and even had a few people ask me for advice. At the time, this was huge for me. Someone actually took the time to email me and ask for my advice. It was about this time I began to think, “hey, maybe I could make some money doing this.”

Eventually I learned all about the world of affiliate marketing and how I could get paid to promote things. I began to put up ads on my blog to a few poker sites I played at not really expecting any results. And for months there were no results. A few clicks here and there, but nothing at all worth noting.

However, one day I logged into one of my affiliate accounts and saw something other than $0.00 in the commissions column for once. It read $35.00 and it was for referring a new player to Paradise Poker. I remember everything about that day so vividly. It was mind-blowing at the time. I just made $35 from someone on the Internet who visited my website. While $35 sounds like absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, it is one of my proudest achievements.

From there, I saw that yes it was possible to actually make money online and I’ve been hooked ever since. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I would be able to make a full-time income just by running a few websites. Yet, here I stand just a few years later honestly living somewhat of a dream.

My full-time income consists entirely of money I’ve made through a few different websites that I run and it is awesome. I highly suggest you consider looking into starting your own website and with my short story out of the way, I’d like to present you with three different options on how you can start your own website today.

1. Let Me Setup a Blog for You

Cost: Free setup. $10/year per domain name. $10/month for unlimited website hosting.
Recommended For: Someone who just wants their own website and is looking to blog for fun with the possibility of learning how to make money at some point down the road.

To be honest, this route is more suited for people who are interested in the personal side of running a website. Maybe you’d like to have your own website to share updates regarding your family with friends. Or maybe you do part-time amateur photography and you want a website to help showcase some of your work. Or possibly you work an interesting job and just want to share stories of your workplace with the world.

Really, the possibilities for your own blog here are endless. If you want to start a website for the creative aspect of it all, this is the path for you. However, if you’re looking to learn how to make money with a website, well then, skip ahead.

If a free blog setup interests you, click here and check out my instructions.

2. Join Niche Blitzkrieg

Cost: $57 ONE-TIME to join. $10/year per domain name. $10/month for unlimited website hosting.
Recommended For: The individual who wants to make some extra cash in their spare time, but is also willing and/or interested in turning to a full-time Internet Marketing career.

Niche Blitzkrieg really focuses on one aspect of Internet Marketing: niche websites. The program will teach you how to use your own interests to find a niche on the Internet that you can fill with information and essentially dominate that niche.

It was created by Michael Brown and he will walk you through the process of setting up a website. All you need to do is follow his simple step-by-step instructions. He offers both videos and articles to help you get started. Once you have your website setup, he’ll show you search engines like Google to list your website in its search results. Once listed, you’ll start to get visitors and you can turn this traffic into money through ads. Again, Michael will teach you everything you need to know to setup your own niche website.

I did help create a video explaining Niche Blitzkrieg and I highly recommend you click here to learn more about the system and how it can help you.

3. Become a Wealthy Affiliate Member

Cost: $47 per month.
Recommended For: The more serious individual who really wants to learn how to start a full-time Internet Marketing career and wants all the help they can get in starting up as quickly as possible.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate over everything else. They built a system that will automatically setup and host your blog for you. All you have to do is fill out a form. Best of all, they have an entire support system in place to help you whenever you get stuck.

Aside from setting up websites for you, Wealthy Affiliate will also give you the best one-on-one Internet Marketing training that’s available. They have full step-by-step guides for beginners and over 500 different training modules and videos. The support community is huge as well. Every member of Wealthy Affiliate also participates in the Wealthy Affiliate forums. You can ask questions, share ideas, or just talk with beginners like yourself or even successful multi-millionaire Internet Marketers. I wish I know about Wealthy Affiliate before starting my first website.

One last thing, I’ve personally been an active member at Wealthy Affiliate for over a year and a half now. Once you become a member, you can talk to me personally through the site. Ask me questions, ask for my advice or help, introduce yourself, just say hi or anything really. Become a member, add me as a friend and we’ll talk.

Click here and read more about Wealthy Affiliate now. Sign up for an account today and come join me at one of top Internet Marketing schools on the Internet.

The Bottom Line

Start your own website. Seriously. It’s the best way to make decent money online. A few years ago I knew nothing about making money online. I started a website strictly for fun and now I’m a full-time Internet Marketer. I started out self-taught before seeking training and still managed to become successful.

Here I’m giving you tools you need for success from the very beginning. Spend some time, look them over and honestly consider one if you have any interest in making money online.

One last piece of advice: stick with it.

And now you may fire away with your questions.

Either way, Mobile Monopoly.

It’s a program designed to teach you all about mobile marketing. It was created by an 18-year-old dude named Adam Horwitz and he claims to be making thousands of dollars through mobile advertising. I wanted to put his claims to the test and this is my full-review of the program.

Is Mobile Monopoly a Scam?

No. In my opinion, it isn’t.

I paid the $77 fee and joined the program last week. I’ve watched nearly every single one of his 50+ videos and have just been soaking it all in. I do have to say I’m thoroughly impressed. Adam is definitely an expert when it comes to mobile advertising and it’s easy to see that he does know what he’s talking about.

The program serves as a great introduction to mobile advertising and all the different ways you can make money with mobile phones. Just a brief side-note: you do not need to own a smart phone to benefit from this course. All of your work will be performed behind a computer.

Mobile advertising as a whole is in its infancy stages. It’s growing more and more each day as millions of people around the world are switching to smart phones. As a mobile marketer, you’ll be buying ad space on people’s mobile phones and you’ll be making money by promoting products or businesses.

As far as I can tell, Adam’s program is the first on mobile marketing. That really proves just how new the whole concept is.

What Does Mobile Monopoly Teach?

The course, as a whole, focuses on six ways of making money through mobile advertising and they are…

1. Mobile Squeeze Pages – Adam teaches you how to collect names and email addresses into newsletters so you can connect with mobile users and then sell to them on their computers.
2. Mobile CPA Offers – With CPA offers, you get paid every time a mobile user completes an action ie. filling out a form or downloading a ringtone. This method is the main focus of the course.
3. Pay Per Call Offers – Pay Per Call is a new form of marketing for mobile users only. The user will click on an ad and that will connect them with a 1-800 number. You get paid depending on the length of the call.
4. Local Business Advertising – Adam walks you through the steps of reaching out to local businesses to help them increase their mobile presence.
5. App Development – This is probably the most profitable way to make money through mobile devices; however, it requires a good idea and some technical coding experience (or a decent amount of investment funds)
6. Help Musicians – This is a lot like the local business method. You reach out to small bands to increase their popularity on the mobile platform.

All in all, it’s a pretty solid course. Adam specifically breaks down each method and will give you detailed step-by-step instructions on how to get started. The course is mostly video based and you’ll be able to watch Adam work directly. At times, all you need to do is copy exactly what he does in the videos.

I really enjoyed the help local business and musician methods. It’s a pretty unique idea that I haven’t seen anyone else promoting. Given enough time, work and dedication, you could really develop a seriously profitable business on your own just by performing these two methods. I’m talking a potential five figures a month.

A great testament to Adam’s knowledge and experience are the “secrets” he plants throughout each training module. These are basically little jewels of information that Adam has discovered through his experiences as a mobile marketer that will help you get started, save you time, or even increase the amount of money you can make. For example, one of the secrets will teach you how to leverage offers to pretty much double your income. It’s insanely simple, but incredibly genius.

What I Don’t Like About Mobile Monopoly

As with nearly every program these days, there are a ton of upsells. There’s always something else to buy that will make your life easier as a mobile marketer. Do you have to buy it? No, you can get by just fine with what’s included in the course.

Take for example this software Adam created. It’s called BeastMobi and will create mobile optimized squeeze pages with the click of a button saving hours of work. You do not need the software as you would only benefit from BeastMobi for just one of the methods. However, it will cost you a staggering $67 per month to use it. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of it on the sales page.

Finally, and this is me just nitpicking here, but Adam likes to refer to the Android platform as just “Droid” which is the name of a specific Android phone. That’s like calling the iPhone just phone. Also, his sales pitch tells you to cut the cord and forget Google, but the number one ad platform he recommends to use is owned by Google. I found that to a bit humorous.

Other than that, it’s a great program and I do give it a full recommendation.

Who Should Join Mobile Monopoly?

Mobile Monopoly isn’t really for everyone. I’ve broken the program down into two categories for you guys.

I recommended Mobile Monopoly for…

• … people with a strong PPC background. You can make a killing just by transferring the skills you have to a mobile platform. Mobile clicks are averaging around 5 cents a piece.
• … experienced Internet Marketers. Mobile advertising is the “next big thing” and now’s a good time to take the jump.
• … someone looking to try something new. The local business method Adam teaches is a great idea that could lead to a very successful home business.
• … someone who can afford to fail for a little. Mobile marketing does cost money and you will have to spend some to buy ad space.

I do not recommended Mobile Monopoly for…

• … complete beginners. A lot of this will go over your head. Learn how to do Internet Marketing first, then move on.
• … someone on a tight a budget. Ads cost money and there is no guarantee of a return. If money is tight and you have no room to spend, this isn’t the program fro you.

Finally, Can You Make Money with Mobile Monopoly?

In my opinion, YES.

Adam teaches methods that are known to generate income. There will be a bit of trial and error when you get started, but once you find a campaign that works, you can potentially make a lot of money. There aren’t a lot of players in the mobile marketing game quite yet so now is the time to get in.

When I first started this review, I really wanted to have conclusive evidence that it worked before issuing a positive recommendation. Unfortunately, it takes a few business days to setup an affiliate account with the mobile affiliate programs that Adam recommends. At this point, I’m still waiting to get approved by two more program before I can start advertising.

I WILL be testing this program in full though. I’ve already deposited $100 into a mobile platform and the only way to see that money again is through success with the program. Within Mobile Monopoly, there are a few “proven campaigns” that Adam claims to have made money with. I will be replicating one of his campaigns word-for-word to see how well it performs and will test a few campaigns of my own.

I will be reporting every single detail on this blog. I’ll show you how much money I’ve spent, made, how many people viewed my ads, clicked on them, etc. If there’s a statistic to track, it will appear on this blog, so stay tuned for future updates.

August 21st, 2010 UPDATE

After further review I no longer recommend this program. Click here and read my latest mobile monopoly update.