For me, the dot com lifestyle unofficially started January 7, 2007 at The Tech Zone CES Kickoff Party. This party was hosted by John Chow. At this party, I met several other site owners and continued to build on these relationships and develop more after the show.
Shortly after the show, I came into contact with Bob and started talking to him on AIM. Bob also runs a tech site, ThinkComputers.org which does the same thing as my site, review computer / consumer electronics products. The only difference was that Bob was making a full time living from his site, where as I had been running my site pretty much as a hobby since 2001. I was a total noob when it came to making money online and thought stuff like that was a scam. Boy was I wrong!
Bob was a great mentor to me (and still is). He helped me get set up with TTZ Media which was my first serious attempt at making money from the site and showed me that you actually can make money online (and good money). I also continued to develop a good friendship with John and a few other tech site owners / bloggers. In the online world, it really is all about who you know and what you can do to help each other out.
Once the dot com bug had bitten me, I was infected! I made the decision to drop out of school in February of 2007 to try my hand at doing this full time. My situation was a bit unique based on my disability and what I am limited at doing physically, which I based some of my decision on. The other factors included being sick and tired of school and student loan debt… all working for a degree that I wasn’t going to be using anyway. No, thanks.
The Lifestyle
As I have said before, this was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was smart enough to keep detailed Excel records of everything when I first started this, so I have a clear view of how things are progressing. Besides the stray month or two, there has been a steady increase month after month.
As with any job, the most important aspect is that you must like your job. If not, it will be pure torture and nobody wants that. I was doing this for six years without pay simply because I loved it. Being able to do it and make money is just a perk.
Another great thing about the dot com lifestyle is being able to work on your own schedule. Me personally, I am NOT a morning person. I now have the freedom to get enough sleep and wake up at a time that I am comfortable with. No, this does not mean I sleep all day. I usually go to bed around 3-4 a.m and wake up around noon. This nets me about eight hours or so of sleep per night, which is average - I just shifted the sleep and wake times to my liking.
Not having a 9-5 traditional job also means I am free to go “have fun” at will. I am not trapped at “work” so I can go do things I enjoy like watching hockey games, going to Florida and just hanging out with friends. What makes things even better is that I can still do work using my laptop anywhere in the world that I have an internet connection. How many “real” jobs have that sort of flexibility?
So, What’s The Catch?
Honestly, there are no “catches”. You can be successful at making money online using several different outlets: tech sites, affiliate marketing, blogging, etc. But, the one misconception I think most people have is that it’s easy to do. Not true.
While I have never personally heard anyone say this to me, I do get the impression that some of my friends probably think I just sit around at home all day doing nothing and make money. Yeah, don’t we all wish it was that easy? The reality is, I do sit at home a lot, but I am constantly working. Whether it is testing products, writing reviews, answering emails, talking with sponsors, creating contests, updating the site layout / design… I am always thinking of ways to make the site better. I have worked my ass off since 2001 on the site and probably 10-fold since starting it full time. So the next time you think someone like John who makes 30 grand a month from blogging doesn’t work for it, think again!
Many things remain a constant, like continuing to try and find new ways to drive traffic to the site, toying with ad placement and different programs as well as attaining new and exciting products to review. Maintaining online friendships and also creating new ones is another priority for me.
Some of my goals for the immediate future include hiring a few additional reviewers to help with the workload and allow us to publish even more reviews. I’m also trying to help build up the forums and make them more active. Another idea I am working with is to start an entirely new venture here soon - more on that if / when it happens
Social networking sites aren’t anything new, but some of the newer ones are just plain stupid. Example: Twitter.
For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is an “update” system for your life… yeah, how lame is that? The whole purpose of the site/service is to allow you to make continual updates throughout the day of everything you are doing. You just ate a hamburger? That’s great. Going shopping or mowing the lawn? Congrats. Going fishing or simply watching TV? Hope you have fun. News flash: I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES!
Umm… no, basic updates are not meaningful. Again, I don’t care that you are eating soup, running late to a meeting or partying. If you are running late to a meeting, the last thing you need to be doing is playing on your phone, updating your twitter. How about get in the car and drive to your meeting?! And, if you have enough free time to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing in their lives, well… that says a lot about what you are doing (or more so, NOT doing).
The only thing good about Twitter? It is a stalker’s dream come true.
Now, before you ask, I can already hear some people saying, “Well isn’t a blog essentially the same thing?”. No, not even close. Blog posts are meant to be informative and entertaining. I don’t publish posts unless there is some substance to it: humor, informative, educational, etc. I gain nothing by knowing you just washed your car.
Do you use Twitter? Surely I am not the only one that thinks this is one of the worst ideas ever…
I just saw this video over on John’s blog and got a kick out of it. I’m pro PC, but I love the PC vs. Mac commercials and this is a great parody of it!
Sarah bought this for me a few months back. I’m usually skeptical of those late-night infomercial products… an “As Seen On TV” product. So, does it really work?
Yeah, I am a bit late on this one, but I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday. This is the first time I can remember where Easter was not in April, which totally threw me off for a good week or so beforehand. Anyway, just an update to a previous post about the Vancouver Union Gospel Mission - John Chow members raised over $7,500 in donations, very nice!
NCAA Tournament
Are any of you college basketball fans? The NCAA Tournament is in full swing, with the Sweet 16 already announced. I am not a basketball fan, but I watch the occasional game here and there. Keith isn’t a fan either, but that didn’t stop him from joining a pool with some of this other friends. He won this pool a few years ago simply by picking “teams with funny names” - nice! He has the championship game as Memphis vs Tennessee, with Memphis taking the win. Are any of you betting in pools this year?
Tax Time
Josh came down yesterday to help me get my taxes done. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not good with taxes, but hey, I’m learning. We usually wait until the last moment to work on my taxes. I think this is the earliest they have been completed… ever. Have you prepared your taxes yet? Are you able to prepare them by yourself? And most importantly, what do you plan to do with your “economic stimulus” money?
HDR Photography
As many of you already know, I am pretty interested in photography. I love taking pictures of anything and everything. I got into infrared photography about two years ago with my old Nikon D50, but when I got rid of that camera / lens / filter setup, I didn’t pick up another IR filter for my new camera. I have been wanting to do more IR shots but can’t justify spending money on the filter since they are so expensive.
But, something new I am looking to try is HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. HDR is a technique that “allows a greater dynamic range of exposures (the range of values between light and dark areas) than normal digital imaging techniques.” I am sure you have seen some photos online that have amazing colors and you wonder how exactly they were able to take such a nice photo, when nothing you snap comes even close. HDR is your answer.
I will be experimenting with some HDR photos in the coming weeks and if any turn out decent, I will post them up here. Have any of you created HDR photos? If so, were you happy with the results?
The Screen Savers Video
I thought this video was lost forever, but turns out, the former site owner Josh had a copy of his appearance on TechTV’s The Screen Savers. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to ask him about it sooner. Anyway, you can check out the first segment below.
A lot of bloggers talk about building your brand and how important it is to becoming successful. This, of course, isn’t just limited to blogging, but any business model in general. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t spent too much time trying to build a brand with this blog. Doing so with a blog that uses your name as the URL can be challenging, but the main reason I haven’t done this yet is because I am focusing most of my time on my tech site.
With a computer hardware review website, the process of building your brand really isn’t different from a blog. Content is key, but more importantly here, quality content is a must. You are providing a free service to the general public, informing them of which products you feel are worth their hard earned money, and which they should probably look past. It is imperative that you give your honest opinion and relay both the good and the bad with each product.
After good content is being produced, you must drive traffic to your site. This can be done by sending out news releases to other tech sites for inclusion in their web news, exchanging affiliate links and becoming friends with other site owners.
Now that you have an initial traffic source, you need to secure a loyal fan base; people that will bookmark your site, subscribe to your RSS feed / Newsletter. These are the people that help make your site what it is, so give them a reason to like your site and want to come back. You can do this with great content, frequent updates and even giveaways / contests. Remember, without fans, none of it would be possible… or worth your time.
Once all of this is in place, it is only a matter of time before you will begin to gain name recognition. This will happen differently depending on your blog / website / business, but here are a few ways that I have done so with OCIA.net.
One thing we do on the site is award a product our Seal of Approval if we feel it is a great product that is worthy of your money. Manufacturers love it when their product wins an award and most will proudly display these awards. I have had my site’s award logo printed in company product line brochures (seen above)…
company pamphlets…
on retail product packages…
and most of all, on company websites. This is great free, targeted advertising for my website and, well… how cool is it to go into your local electronics store and see your website logo on a retail product box?
Another great way to promote your business is to print and distribute t-shirts. I sent out about 20 or so OCIA.net t-shirts to bloggers and friends across the net. They got a free t-shirt, and I get free advertising from them posting pictures on their blogs and every time they wear the shirt out in public!
If you are fortunate enough, getting your name on television is a great way to get a ton of new business. We did this several years ago on Tech TV’s The Screen Savers, when the former co-owner of the site was features on the show for a computer modding segment.
Theres are just a few methods I have used to build my brand and create name recognition.
My replacement iPhone arrived today. I am glad to have the entire situation resolved and without costing me $400 for a new phone. Apple’s customer service was fantastic; I couldn’t have asked for any better service. Apple really isn’t as bad as many people make them out to be
Wow… never have I received such quick service on a damaged / broken electronic product!
Thursday, I called Apple to report my dead iPhone. Friday, I received a loaner unit (also an iPhone) and shipped out my broken phone for repairs in their pre-paid shipping box. Saturday (today), they received the package, diagnosed it and determined that it was indeed dead. I now have the tracking number for my replacement iPhone, which will be here Monday. It doesn’t get much better or faster than that!
Less than 24 hours after calling Apple, a brand new iPhone “loaner” unit arrived at my place.
I must say, I am impressed by how quick this arrived. They even included a paper clip to help remove the SIM card tray. I called FedEx to come pick up the return package, which was already labeled for Priority with Saturday Delivery - nice!
Hopefully I should get my iPhone back (I am assuming a new unit) late next week. For now, I am just happy to have a working phone again.
Also, I was unsure if any of my stored data (text messages, saved notes, etc) was saved on the SIM card, but thankfully, it is. I have some important notes I keep in my phone that I wouldn’t want a stranger to intercept.
