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SEO Millionaires

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

I watch a lot of CNBC.  I’m not in to the whole financial scene, nor am I into stocks.  But I do love to watch those shows about rich people, how they live, and most importantly how they got rich.

I read a lot, too.  I’ve read all the ‘Rich Dad’ books, even bought one for my son.  I’ve read Tim Ferris’ 4 Hour Workweek (loved it) and many more.  Now I’m reading a great book called The Millionaire Next Door.

You could say I’m obsessed with being rich.

But I don’t think I am.  I do think that money is an awesome tool, and there are plenty of people out there who could use more, me included.  I’m not a believer in lotteries or unexpected windfalls.  Sure, that’d be nice, but I’d prefer to earn it myself.

(There’s a saying in the custom auto industry – build it or buy it.  I prefer build it.  A little old fashioned hard work never hurt anyone.)

Anyway, I pay attention to how these people make their money.  The guy on Untold Wealth: The Rise of the Super Rich made his money doing what he loved: mortgages.  There’s another guy on there who is in to leveraged buyouts of undervalued companies.  Most of these guys grew up in an average middle-class family, started working in an industry that interested them, and soon thereafter started their own companies doing the same thing.

It’s no secret that you’ll most likely never get ‘rich’ working for someone else.  Most all millionaires in the US are self-made, and they did it by starting their own company.  So I guess I’m on the right track.

Can an SEO firm make a millionaire? I don’t know, but I’ll let you know :)

The Bad Economy is Good for Your Business

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this ‘bad economy’ is a great time for your business to grow.  The down times are causing people to scale back on necessities, and the government is hoping that their new stimulus package will help some small businesses continue to operate.

As part of the stimulus package, the government has also increased the amount that a business can expense (section 179).  This one-year exception means that if you buy business stuff (a van, a computer, some new software) you can write off a larger chunk of that up front, which will help come time that Uncle Sam visits you again in April.

I’m not a tax expert, so do some research on the section 179 details.

This is a great time for small businesses to get their fannies in gear in relation to online presence.  I’m not going to rehash what I said earlier, but man what an opportunity!  Cut back on those Yellow Pages ads and push that money into your Internet plans.  You won’t be sorry.

Forgetting to Remember that People Can Be Cons

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

“Can I just pay a couple of months now? We can’t afford to do the whole year at once”

Sometimes my hosting business gets requests to extend a hosting account just a month or two.  I’ve always accommodated these requests, as I can understand money can be tight.

However recently I’ve had two instances where people have requested an extension (and they’ve paid their $9 bucks or whatever it is) just to move hosts.  They had planned all along to do so, and just needed a little more time to do so.

Well, no more extensions.  From now on you pay for a year or I terminate the account.

What is that saying, lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part?  Something like that…

Improving Your Income Stream by 2000% – Without Quitting Your Job

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Many people stumble across SEM and think that it’s too hard, or too saturated to make any real money.  After a few months of pushing through something you’re probably not really interested in, you give up.  Small checks come, but it’s not the big payday you thought you’d get.

Well I’m here to tell you that hard work and persistence pays off.

In October 2004 when I stumbled across an Internet Marketing ebook, I started promoting timeshares, lemon laws, and teleconferencing.  None of them ever paid, but I kept at it.

In Feb 2005 I met Derek Chew, then a self employed (and single) SEO.  We hit it off, and I mentioned to him that I was averaging $5/day between Adsense and the few little things I was trying to promote.

Cutting to the chase, I’m now averaging over $3000 a month in side money.  That’s right, I’m still working part time on an Army web design contract, which provides me a nice steady income, and making that money on the side.  I recently bought my wife a nice GMC Denali and have my eye on a Cadillac STS.

If some country boy from Arnold MO can do it, so can you.