For several years now, I thought the internet money party had died or was at a minimum, pining for the fjords. I have been mistaken. The money party is rolling but the people at the party are trying to keep it quiet this time.
I’ve known for a while that this site gets visited by a significant number of people besides my mother and some people from work. For the last several months I’ve been bumping up against the 15 GB data transfer limit of my web host in the last week of the month.
Somehow my site even has a Google Page Rank of 7. Now this simply must be a mistake, because there are much better sites that rank lower. Again, this points to the fact that my site gets a goodly amount of traffic.
I had read that people could make some money by putting Google ads on their pages. You see them all over the place now on weblogs and other personal sites. But I simply assumed that you needed huge amounts of traffic to make anything more than pennies.
It seems I was wrong. You can make money and the party is rolling full tilt.
At the beginning of August I put Adsense ads on my site in a few places and was shocked to find myself making several dollars a day via the Adsense ads. This wasn’t making sense to me and did a little research to find out what was going on.
<Research>
It seems that internet advertising is mainly based on the click-through, or when someone actually clicks on a advertisement on a site and is taken to a new site. Seems straightforward, no?
Actually, Google put a twist on advertising by placing ads related to the pages content in as the ad. I don’t know how they do it, but if you go to a page about travel, you will see Adsense ads about travel. Visit a page about computers and you’ll see ads for computer parts. Advertisers want this. They want people that are interesting their product to be the ones that see their ads. Targetted advertising is what it’s all about.
Google, being smart cookies, are letting the market set the price for ads. If you want your ad showing up on a page about online gambling, you bid a price you are willing to pay if someone clicks on the ad. Due to the competition to appear on the front page of a Google search, the price can get quite high. Making the front page can cost $4-5 per click. Supposedly the term mesothelioma (a kind of lung cancer that involves asbestos) can cost up to $100 per click.
So you can see that a single click on the right term, can bring in several dollars. Quite an amazing scheme if you ask me…
</Research>
Now Google doesn’t want people posting tons of statistics about their Adsense program, so I’ll be general about the results. In one month I made over $100 from Adsense placement on some of my pages. Over more than 30,000 views of the ads, people were clicking only a couple percent of the time. Most people reach my site via Google and are not repeat visitors.
I know people that are making thounsands of dollars a month on ads, so my revenue is not that remarkable to people in general. But for me personally, an extra $100 a month for just having my web site up is fantastic. It’s all funny money until the check arrives, but when it does, I’ll be ecstatic.
I now understand why guys like Nick Denton and Jason Calcanis are into making niche websites and filling them with ads. They can make a ton of money!
Who know what the future brings, but the right now the internet money machine is cranking away and it has nothing to do with IPOs of start-ups.
Spreading the know-how
Yesterday I received an email from Brody had built his own electric smoker based on the page I made.
No question.
Just thought I’d let you know I built the smoker, per your page.
I did cut a large hole where the elec. heater goes in, and I cover it during use with tinfoil, which I hold on with magnets.
I also had the opportunity to smoke something that wouldn’t fit in the smoker with the top on. Made a temp top from tin foil, and it worked fine.
thanks again,
Brody
Good work Brody, your smoker looks great.
Now that’s what I’m talking about people! Soon the backyards of America will be filled with homemade smokers and the smell of burning hickory wood.
I like his modification with the tinfoil and using magnets to keep it in place. He should be able to add wood chips to the smoker without having to move the meat like I had to do.
New Music
Here are a couple of albums I’ve been enjoying recently. I suggest you give them a listen. I put in a couple samples to listen too yourself. Due to the current silliness with the RIAA, and considering my job, I’ve only posted partial samples of the songs to avoid legal trouble.
Razorlight – Up All Night
Razorlight is a new British group that Suw told me about. This group is a mix of the sparse guitar/bass/drums sounds today of the Stokes mixed in with a few other things. There’s a dash of 80’s new wave and the occasional folksy riff that floats in and out. I listened to the new Libertines album first (think The Clash) and was suprised by the tasty songs on the Razorlight album. They avoid the ‘wall of sound’ style that’s been so overdone these days. I’ve been listening to them in heavy rotation in the car. The album is an import and the price varies widely, so shop around.
My favorite song on the album: Razorlight – Shuffle and Fall – 60 sec. MP3 – 700k
Northern State – All City
Northern State is a rap group of three New York women that lay down the fresh rhymes. Their first album, Dying in Stereo was fantastic, and this, their second album, does not disappoint. Branching out into a few different styles, the girls stretch their rap further. They aren’t the female Beastie Boys yet, but who knows what the future brings. They are heading out on tour with Cake! OMFG, what a kick ass show that would be. No LA dates announced yet, but I’m keeping my eyes open.
My favorite song on the album: Northern State – Don’t Look Down – 60 sec. MP3 – 700k
Poker Lessons
Played poker with Brad, Tim, Brian and Rich last night. Here are a few more lessons I learned.
While your full boat is nice, the other guys four kings are nicer.
Ratcheting up the betting when a pair appears on the table even though you don’t need it because you made your straight on the last card can be effective in misdirection.
Burning Castro’s crops is fun and enjoyable.
BBQ Insight
Here are my answers to the latest LABlogs.com Insight:
1. When you do fire up the grill, what do you put on it?
Briskets, tri-tip, turkey breasts, chicken
2. Where do you buy your goods (any secret meat markets)?
Bristol Farms for special things like 4-5 pound briskets, Ralphs for generic meats.
3. Besides your house, where do you/would you BBQ around your area?
I used to BBQ at Martin’s house, but he moved to Kansas. What do they know about BBQ in Kansas?
4. Gas or charcoal?
Wood! I smoke meats slowly for maximum tenderness and flavor. I do have a gas grill for the quick grill when needed.
5. What is your favorite drink to accompany the grill?
Sipper Jigger of Jack Daniels and Coke.
6. When you bring a side dish, what is it?
Michele will make a quiche or some asian dumplings.
7. If the host burrns the main dish, where do you go out to eat instead?
Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles
8. Post BBQ games: dominoes, croquet, bocci or badminton?
Drinking liquor, eating sweets, herding children.
Two Movies
I’ve seen a few movies recently and I thought I should write up my reviews. Of course, no one really cares to check my reviews before going to a movie, but I’ll do it anyway.
Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman – Zatoitchi is to Japan what James Bond is to Great Britain and America, the story of a cultural hero that lives on in movies with various actors and directors. Takeshi Kitano, actor/writer/director of many films including Battle Royale and Brother, takes the reins of the franchise. Finally being released in the US, Zatoichi is on the screen in it’s full glory instead relegated to the DVD route that many international films suffer.
Now, I’m a huge fan of Akira Kuroswa, and all other samurai movies are measured against the Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, perhaps the two greatest action films ever made. Zatoichi is good even in compairison to these films. Takeshi is limited by the bounds of the pre-existing 20+ films that came before and can’t really stretch himself.
The action is good, the villians are evil, the innocents are innocent, and Zatoichi is one serious ass-kicker. You won’t be disappointed. The ronin samurai and his woman are the most intriguing characters in the film. Poised on the edge between a desire to escape ever present violence and their need to survive they have the most interesting story. I sure I missed a ton of the subtle nuances since that Japanese would find culturally obvious, but that simply means I’ll have to buy the DVD for the commentary when it is released.
The one thing I didn’t understand was the closing dance number. Can anyone explain that?
Napoleon Dynamite – When I saw the previews for Napoleon Dynamite I was hoping for a huge blockbuster comedy with plenty of lines to put into casual conversation like Ghostbusters. Alas, it is not to be.
The film is hilarious and well made, but the humor is in the context of the film. The director shot the film at a deliberately slow pace. Compared to the MTV style of many films these days, it was quite nice to have extended scenes with locked camera shots.
The story takes place in present day Idaho, but has the look of an older film. The themes though are universal; feeling like an outsider and the desire to be popular.
For anyone that was not in the popular crowd in high school (meaning most of the Cruft faithful) this movie will resonate.
Cassettes to CD
Earlier this year, my Uncle Ron passed away. Ron was a great sax and clarinet player. Growing up I can remember hearing tapes of Ron play. I have a clear memory of driving with my Uncle Gus to fish for bass with Ron’s music playing as we drove in the pre-dawn darkness to a Kansas pond.
My dad gave me three tapes of Ron playing to convert to CDs. One of the recordings was quite old. One tape from 1970 that was probably a few generations old.
I realized that I didn’t have a cassette player and even if I got one, I’d still have the problem of jury rigging the recording into a computer and converting it to a CD. After dodging my dad’s emails and questions about the conversion for a while, I was beginning to get desperate. I pondered the problem for a while and finally stumbled on cassettes2cds.
Just like it sounds, cassettes2cds converts cassette tapes to CDs. It’s mainly meant for converting old prerecorded cassettes into CDs for current use. You know that old Police, Led Zepplin, or Duran Duran cassette you have sitting around, it can be made into a CD. (Don’t even pretend that you didn’t buy one of these albums. I know you did and you probably also bought a Michael Jackson album as well in your younger days! Next you’ll try to tell me you don’t know the words to ABBA songs and hated Grease. Friggin’ liars…)
Where was I? Oh yes, the base cost of the job is $7 per CD, less if you convert a large quantity.
I emailed the guy who runs the site and asked a few questions and he seemed to know his stuff. Throwing caution to the wind, I sent the tapes off.
When the tapes arrived I got an email telling me so and daily updates on the status of the conversion. In about a week, a box arrived.
I popped a CD in and sure enough the tape had been transferred. The CD was good quality, considering the source.
The CD is printed with a label that you write the text for online.
For $7 a CD, it’s a terrific service. Sure you could do this stuff at home if you had the right gear, the time, and patience, but for those that don’t cassettes2cd is a godsend.
You can also get MP3s made if you want. (No, you whiny ass iPod lovers can’t get cheesy AAC files, you need to settle for manly MP3 files to listen to on your crappy white earphones.)
So, cassette2cds gets the Cruftastic seal of approval.
Bendy
Yoshi lent me a comic book. I was flipping through the pages and saw this.
This is how I feel every day. Why can’t things just be simpler. Why do I find it so hard to let go?
Snippets
Catching snippets of the GOP convention brings to mind a quote from Apocalypse now:
“Oh man, the shit piled up so fast in [the GOP] you needed wings to stay above it.”
Rationalizing hatred and greed has been translated into “family values” and “freedom”.
Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave.
Back on
Last week I was in Orlando for some company meetings. Hot, muggy weather, long meetings, backstage tours of Disneyworld, lots of drinking at business dinners. I think it wore me out a bit.
No time to blog, except a few camphone photos I moblogged over there ->
Last week was my parents 41st wedding anniversary. 41 years. Wow.
We made a cake for my parents and headed down to their house. My dad had been in Ghana doing some charity work earlier this month and they had been in Hawaii after that. This was the first time we’d seen them since then.
They gave us several gifts that were wonderful. Here’s what I recieved.
Yes, the next time I get a chance I will be burning Castro’s crops.
Back to the regular geek blogging when I get some time.
Until then here’s a little MLP:
Election Protection 2004 (a site my brother Matt built with MovableType)
Cake’s New Album
Star Wars Gangsta Rap Special Edition