Hello again. I know it has been a long time since I checked in here, but better late than never.
I know that many of you who visit here are looking for legitimate ways to make a living online. The best program I have found is called Blogging To The Bank. I've devoted a whole web site to it here. Or, you can go directly to the source to find out more.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
5 Ways to Rake In Cash Selling Books Online
By H. Tim Sevets
Selling books is fun, and many people earn a living doing it online. I have had some success with all of the following.
1. Link to books on Amazon and receive commissions
If you have a web site, you can make money by linking from your pages to books and other items on Amazon.com.
You make money when someone clicks through from your link and makes a purchase on Amazon, which will pay you a commission.
You don't actually handle any books with this method. You just send people over to Amazon and collect a reward when they buy something.
You can link to any book on Amazon, but you should try to link to books related to the theme of your site.
For more information and to sign up, go to Amazon and look for a link to the "Associates Program."
2. Sell used books on Amazon and eBay
Some people make a full-time living with this.
First, find used books that you can buy inexpensively. Try thrift stores, yard sales, and your local library's annual book sale.
Next, list your book finds on Amazon. You should be able to sell them there for at least four or five times what you paid for them.
You can also sell books on eBay, but in my experience, it is better to use eBay only for collectible and rare books.
You will be responsible for packing and shipping the books you sell. Try to set up an efficient system for packing your books, weighing the packages, applying labels and postage and making trips to the post office.
You will also need to learn how to grade the conditions of your books so you can describe them accurately to potential purchasers.
3. Write and sell ebooks
Probably more people have made major money with this idea than with any of the others described here.
Write a book on a hot topic, convert it to a PDF file and offer it for sale over the web. "How-to" is by far the most popular and best-selling subject category.
Because your buyers download your ebook directly to their computers, you avoid most of the expenses associated with traditional book publishing. Most of the money you take in will be pure profit.
Of course, you must first write the book or "information product." There are a number of excellent guides available that show how to come up with an idea, research it, and then get your book down on paper--or "on screen" in this case.
Once you've created your ebook, you must gain your prospective buyers' attention and persuade them to purchase. This usually involves crafting and posting a good sales letter that will make people eager to whip out their credit cards.
4. Republish books that are in the public domain
Did you know that there are thousands and thousands of books and other printed works whose copyrights have expired? This means that anyone is free to republish them, in any form.
In the United States, most books published prior to 1923 are considered to be in the public domain ("PD").
If you find a public domain book that you think would sell well if it were republished, you could reprint it as a physical book. Or, you could publish it as an ebook and make it available for download, for a price.
Yet another method of "repurposing" PD books is to make them freely available on a web site, and then put advertising on their pages. I recommend a combination of Google AdSense and affiliate merchant ads (from sources such as Commission Junction).
To make use of this idea, you must of course find some PD works that you can republish and make money from. Several guides, and even a web-browser tool, have been published that can point you to a treasure trove of such works that are free for the taking.
5. Sell individual pages from books
This sounds like an odd way to make money, but it works.
You can often make more money by tearing a book apart and selling the individual pages than you can by selling the intact book.
The basic idea is, you scour old books and magazines for pictures, maps or advertisements that you can remove and offer for sale on eBay.
To be successful, you must learn which subjects sell well. For the right subject, people will go wild bidding for one page from a book that you might have paid only $2 or $3 for. Imagine the money you could make if that book has 10, 20 or 30 saleable pages in it!
Only a handful of people are using this method, and they're raking in the cash. In my opinion it's still a wide-open niche, with plenty of room for others to get in on it.
Monday, March 5, 2007
The Scotch-Irish: A Book Review
I've traced my family tree and, as best I can determine, most of my stock here in America was of Scotch-Irish heritage.
Scotch-Irish: A Social History
Although ancestral to millions of Americans living today, especially in the southern part of the United States, the Scotch-Irish remain a hazy mystery to many people, even people with an interest in history. Who were they, exactly? How did they differ from the unhyphenated Scotch and the just-plain-Irish? Was their history in America in any significant way at odds with other settlers from the British Isles, or from Europe at large for that matter?
Although first published in 1962, James G. Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish, A Social History remains the definitive work on this group. Kept in print by the University of North Carolina, it belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who has Scotch-Irish (or Scots-Irish) ancestors, or who has an interest in the various streams of people who contributed to the American experience.
The book is divided into three sections.
The first examines the Scotch-Irish in their original home in Scotland, before they added an Irish component to their identity.
The second section treats of their removal to Ireland and the events and influences that shaped them during their stay in that country.
The third section describes their migrations to America and their dispersal into and through the backcountry, particularly Pennsylvania and the states of the South.
Leyburn tells an enthralling story, one which had not been fully or accurately told before the publication of this seminal work. No history of the settling of America would be complete that did not draw upon its insights into the people now known to us as the Scotch-Irish.
The Scotch-Irish; A Social History is published by The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; ISBN # 0-8078-4259-1.
H. Tim Sevets is books editor for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium, where he specializes in objective reviews of the top money-making reports available over the Web. Recently, he reviewed an e-book that claims to show how to make money by tearing up old books and magazines and selling them on eBay. Read his opinion at http://www.solid-gold.info/tear-up-old-books-sell-ebay.html.
Scotch-Irish: A Social History
Sunday, March 4, 2007
A Visit to Mike's Radio World On the Web
By Stefan Smith
Oh, hi. Excuse me while I take off these headphones. I was just away in Key West, listening to Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" on the radio.
Actually, my body was sitting here in my home in North Carolina. But I decided it would be neat to listen to a Key West station while imagining the tourists congregating for the famous sunset-watching ritual. Who knows, some of them might be standing there listening to the very same radio station while gazing at that big orange fireball sinking beneath the horizon.
I found the live streaming audio of that Key West radio station on Mike's Radio World (www.mikesradioworld.com), perhaps the least flashy yet most useful radio guide Web site I have yet to come across.
"Mike" is Mike Dean, according to the scanty information available, and beyond that there's not much about him. His site is frankly amateurish looking, with layout and (minimal) graphics that appear to be straight out of the 1990s. (Based on the visitor counter displayed there, the site has existed at least since May, 2001.)
Despite such "deficiencies"--or perhaps because of them--Mike's Radio World is an excellent resource for those looking for live Internet radio streams from around the world. It's simple, straightforward and to the point without frills or fluff--not even any ads that I can see.
Mike's Radio World calls itself "Your global Internet radio guide," and with good reason. It contains links to more than 3,000 live radio streams, categorized by genre and then again by world region, followed by the country. The listing for each station includes two links, one to the station's Web site and the other to the live audio stream. If the user happens not to have the correct media player software on his or her system to play a particular stream, Mike has conveniently included a button for downloading it.
You could spend a lot of time roaming the world on this site and never listen to more than a fraction of the radio stations that are included in the 3,000+ directory. It would be fun to try, though.
Mike's Radio World is a throwback to the days when enthusiastic amateurs created Web sites on their favorite topics for the sheer love it, and not with the idea that they would make a ton of money from it. It does one thing and does it exceptionally well--provides a well-organized, easily navigable collection of live links to live radio streams for the radio junkies of the world.
Thank you, Mike!
Stefan Smith is a radio and music junkie who writes on these and other subjects for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Recently, he has written an extensive review of new software that anyone can use to capture music audio streams from Internet radio broadcasts and break them up into individual mp3 song files--a legal way to download virtually free music. Read the review at: http://www.solid-gold.info/radio2mp3.html
The AdSense Code: A Book Review
By H. Tim SevetsAdSense is one of the easiest ways for the Internet marketing newbie to start making some online income. It is also one of the hardest ways for most people to make a lot of money.
(AdSense refers to those little Google ads that appear on millions of web pages. If you have a web site, even a simple blog, you can get a code from Google that will enable similar ads to show up on your pages. Then, every time someone clicks on one of those ads, Google will pay you a few cents.)
Joel Comm is an acknowledged authority on AdSense, having built an online empire of web pages that provide him with an ongoing living, and a quite comfortable one at that, largely through the income he earns from ad clicks. Anyone wanting to learn how to get started at building their own AdSense empire, and do it right, needs to get hold of Comm's book on the subject, The AdSense Code; A Strategy.
According to Comm, there are some people who receive checks each month from Google in the $10,000 range, while untold numbers of others are regularly generating significant extra income with AdSense.
The AdSense Code reveals all of Comm's own strategies and hard-learned tricks for maximizing income from people clicking those little ads. For example, where you place your ads and what colors you choose to display them in can make the difference between a successful AdSense site and a dud.
There's a lot here, too, on how to get visitors to your site in the first place, so they have a chance to click on the ads. There's also vital information on the often-overlooked necessity of tracking visitors and ad responses, and how to do this so you know exactly what works and what doesn't – allowing you to tweak your ads and your web page accordingly.
The AdSense Code covers all the basics of this fascinating but often frustrating income niche, and then some. Before you paste your first AdSense block on your first web page, you need to read this book. Even if you're an AdSense veteran, you stand to pick up a new trick or two you hadn't thought of before.
The AdSense Code; A Strategy is published by Morgan-James Publishing of Garden City, New Jersey; ISBN # 1-933596-70-8.
H. Tim Sevets is books editor for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium, where he specializes in objective reviews of the top money-making reports available over the Web. Recently, he reviewed an e-book that claims to show how to make money by tearing up old books and magazines and selling them on eBay. Read his opinion at http://www.solid-gold.info/tear-up-old-books-sell-ebay.html.
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (A Review)
By Denny Waldarmo
To be honest, the red flags were flying when I first saw the ad for this e-book.
I'm a born skeptic, especially on the subject of weight loss and muscle building. I've seen too many "gurus" in this field come and go.
The claims seemed over the top: "Turbo-charge Your metabolism, gain muscle, burn off body fat and develop unstoppable motivation ... Guaranteed!"
Yeah, right. In my own weight training career, I've learned that people differ tremendously ... in genetics, in body type, in goals and desires, in plain old stick-to-it-iveness.
How dare this guy, Tom Venuto, claim he can guarantee to help anyone get leaner, faster than they ever thought possible?
Then I learned something that blew me away: Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the best selling fitness e-book in the history of the Internet.
Maybe the guy was just a genius at marketing. But maybe ... just maybe ... he was really delivering on those promises. There was some reason his e-book was selling like the proverbial hotcakes.
So I checked out Tom Venuto, checked out his system, checked out his customers' results.
Turns out, thousands of men and women of every age really are burning off body fat by following his program. Fat--not muscle or water weight. And, they're doing it naturally, without supplements, pills, or the latest weird exercise gizmo being hawked on late-night TV.
Venuto is a natural bodybuilder who believes in a common-sense approach to trimming off fat and building muscle. He doesn't go for gimmicks, because in the long run, gimmicks don't work.
Burn The Fat is not just another diet program. It's better described as a fat loss Bible. It is, simply, the most complete, detailed and precise guide to fat loss you'll ever read. (Click here if you want to see Venuto's own web site before reading further.)
What makes it so different from other weight loss and body building books and programs?
First, it's not a "weight loss" but a "fat loss" program. This may seem like splitting hairs, but once you've read just the first three chapters, there will be no doubt in your mind that pursuing "weight loss" is not only the wrong goal, it may be the reason you've failed to reach and maintain your ideal body weight.
Burn The Fat shows you why it's fat you must lose, not "weight" (which includes muscle, water and other lean tissue) and then goes on to show you exactly how to do it.
Second, what also makes Burn The Fat different is the thorough attention Venuto gives to every element of successful, healthy, and permanent fat loss.
Burn The Fat not only dispels the lies, myths and fallacies in this field, it is the most detailed book about fat loss ever written, in my opinion.
By reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, (or better yet, studying it attentively), you will learn more about fat loss than you would from an entire year of nutrition classes or from a whole shelf of maintstream diet publications at your neighborhood bookstore.
If you're wondering if this is just some low-carb or high-protein diet, the answer is no. That's because with the information in this book, you will easily be able to determine your own ideal protein, carbs and fats ratio.
This personalized approach--so unlike the "one size fits all" formulas in the latest fad diet books--makes sense. Each of us is a unique individual, and no two people are exactly alike in terms of body physiology and personal goals.
Speaking of goals ... I loved the very first chapter of Tom Venuto's book. It's on goal setting, and is incredibly powerful.
That first chapter will give you what may be the ultimate secret to burning fat and getting in shape... and it has nothing to do with diets, supplements or training programs. Trust me on this.
The rest of the book teaches the complete mechanics of fat loss and muscle building, explained on both a scientific and a practical level. You can easily apply the practical advice to your own daily life in terms of what to eat and how to exercise for maximum, permanent results.
Who is Tom Venuto anyway? For starters, he's been bodybuilding for about 25 years and competing for most of them.
Furthermore, he's worked in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, health club manager, nutritionist, motivation coach and writer.
I mentioned that Venuto is a "natural" bodybuilder. What does this mean? It means he has never used steroids or any other illegal or questionable physique enhancing drugs--ever. This is important to me and should be to you, too.
As he says: "You can achieve amazing results on this program without ever taking drugs - and I'm living proof!"
If I have one criticism of Burn The Fat, it's that it contains so much information that some readers could find it nearly overwhelming. Nevertheless, it's worth the effort not to skip any part of it, because this could easily be the last book you will ever need to buy on the subject.
Will you benefit from this e-book?
Only you can answer that after reading the additional information at Venuto's web site as well as my remarks here.
Personally, I think this book is absolutely essential for body builders and anyone who is into weight training. You can bet I'll definitely be urging my own clients to grab it.
See, if you're looking to begin weight training at home, or at the gym; if you've been at it a while and are looking for some new weight training tips; and especially if you've taken up weight training to lose weight, this book will give you all the information you need.
But anyone who needs to lose weight will benefit greatly from it, too.
Venuto teaches the system that fitness models and bodybuilders use to reach single digit body fat levels and achieve rock-hard muscle definition that makes them look like "walking anatomy charts."
But it doesn't matter if those are goals that you aspire to or not.
The principles are the same whether you want to lose 10 or 100 pounds; whether you want to be 13% or 3% body fat; whether you want to compete in a bodybuilding or fitness show or you just want to look good on the beach.
I think Venuto's shooting straight with his claim that if you diligently apply the techniques in Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, "you can literally choose any body you want."
One caution: You will find no "30 lbs. in 30 days" miracle being touted here. It's all about intelligent eating choices, planning, hard work and lifestyle.
"Burn the Fat is simple, but it's not easy," Venuto advises. That's honesty, friends. Another reason I've come to like this guy and his no-nonsense approach.
A word about the format of this program. Burn The Fat is an e-book--clean and professionally laid out, in the popular PDF format.
Admittedly, it's a little on the plain side, being just text, but that makes it ideal for printing and reading in the comfort of a favorite chair. (Because of it's size, it does require a robust printer and a good stack of paper!)
A few people might consider Burn The Fat a pricey because $39 seems like a fair chunk of money for an e-book download. However, after they see the sheer amount of information contained in its 340 pages -- not to mention the bonus e-books and reports that come with it -- almost everyone will agree that it is worth many times its price.
As with any how-to publication, you're paying for what the information can do for you, and clearly, Venuto's system has changed many lives. The hundreds of testimonials and success stories found on the Burn The Fat web site are proof of that.
The bottom line?
Anyone looking for a quick fix solution to fat loss, anyone eager to be told fairy tales, and anyone looking for a "magic bullet" offered by the likes of body wraps, fat burning pills, diet shakes, or "fat-burning" creams is best advised to steer clear of Burn The Fat.
On the other hand, if you're tired of spinning your wheels and going nowhere, and want the truth about losing fat and putting on muscle and are ready and willing to put in the work and discipline necessary to gain a fat free body, you will find Burn The Fat to be one of the best investments you've ever made.
Click here to learn more about Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat.
To be honest, the red flags were flying when I first saw the ad for this e-book.
I'm a born skeptic, especially on the subject of weight loss and muscle building. I've seen too many "gurus" in this field come and go.
The claims seemed over the top: "Turbo-charge Your metabolism, gain muscle, burn off body fat and develop unstoppable motivation ... Guaranteed!"
Yeah, right. In my own weight training career, I've learned that people differ tremendously ... in genetics, in body type, in goals and desires, in plain old stick-to-it-iveness.
How dare this guy, Tom Venuto, claim he can guarantee to help anyone get leaner, faster than they ever thought possible?
Then I learned something that blew me away: Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the best selling fitness e-book in the history of the Internet.
Maybe the guy was just a genius at marketing. But maybe ... just maybe ... he was really delivering on those promises. There was some reason his e-book was selling like the proverbial hotcakes.
So I checked out Tom Venuto, checked out his system, checked out his customers' results.
Turns out, thousands of men and women of every age really are burning off body fat by following his program. Fat--not muscle or water weight. And, they're doing it naturally, without supplements, pills, or the latest weird exercise gizmo being hawked on late-night TV.
Venuto is a natural bodybuilder who believes in a common-sense approach to trimming off fat and building muscle. He doesn't go for gimmicks, because in the long run, gimmicks don't work.
Burn The Fat is not just another diet program. It's better described as a fat loss Bible. It is, simply, the most complete, detailed and precise guide to fat loss you'll ever read. (Click here if you want to see Venuto's own web site before reading further.)
What makes it so different from other weight loss and body building books and programs?
First, it's not a "weight loss" but a "fat loss" program. This may seem like splitting hairs, but once you've read just the first three chapters, there will be no doubt in your mind that pursuing "weight loss" is not only the wrong goal, it may be the reason you've failed to reach and maintain your ideal body weight.
Burn The Fat shows you why it's fat you must lose, not "weight" (which includes muscle, water and other lean tissue) and then goes on to show you exactly how to do it.
Second, what also makes Burn The Fat different is the thorough attention Venuto gives to every element of successful, healthy, and permanent fat loss.
Burn The Fat not only dispels the lies, myths and fallacies in this field, it is the most detailed book about fat loss ever written, in my opinion.
By reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, (or better yet, studying it attentively), you will learn more about fat loss than you would from an entire year of nutrition classes or from a whole shelf of maintstream diet publications at your neighborhood bookstore.
If you're wondering if this is just some low-carb or high-protein diet, the answer is no. That's because with the information in this book, you will easily be able to determine your own ideal protein, carbs and fats ratio.
This personalized approach--so unlike the "one size fits all" formulas in the latest fad diet books--makes sense. Each of us is a unique individual, and no two people are exactly alike in terms of body physiology and personal goals.
Speaking of goals ... I loved the very first chapter of Tom Venuto's book. It's on goal setting, and is incredibly powerful.
That first chapter will give you what may be the ultimate secret to burning fat and getting in shape... and it has nothing to do with diets, supplements or training programs. Trust me on this.
The rest of the book teaches the complete mechanics of fat loss and muscle building, explained on both a scientific and a practical level. You can easily apply the practical advice to your own daily life in terms of what to eat and how to exercise for maximum, permanent results.
Who is Tom Venuto anyway? For starters, he's been bodybuilding for about 25 years and competing for most of them.
Furthermore, he's worked in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, health club manager, nutritionist, motivation coach and writer.
I mentioned that Venuto is a "natural" bodybuilder. What does this mean? It means he has never used steroids or any other illegal or questionable physique enhancing drugs--ever. This is important to me and should be to you, too.
As he says: "You can achieve amazing results on this program without ever taking drugs - and I'm living proof!"
If I have one criticism of Burn The Fat, it's that it contains so much information that some readers could find it nearly overwhelming. Nevertheless, it's worth the effort not to skip any part of it, because this could easily be the last book you will ever need to buy on the subject.
Will you benefit from this e-book?
Only you can answer that after reading the additional information at Venuto's web site as well as my remarks here.
Personally, I think this book is absolutely essential for body builders and anyone who is into weight training. You can bet I'll definitely be urging my own clients to grab it.
See, if you're looking to begin weight training at home, or at the gym; if you've been at it a while and are looking for some new weight training tips; and especially if you've taken up weight training to lose weight, this book will give you all the information you need.
But anyone who needs to lose weight will benefit greatly from it, too.
Venuto teaches the system that fitness models and bodybuilders use to reach single digit body fat levels and achieve rock-hard muscle definition that makes them look like "walking anatomy charts."
But it doesn't matter if those are goals that you aspire to or not.
The principles are the same whether you want to lose 10 or 100 pounds; whether you want to be 13% or 3% body fat; whether you want to compete in a bodybuilding or fitness show or you just want to look good on the beach.
I think Venuto's shooting straight with his claim that if you diligently apply the techniques in Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, "you can literally choose any body you want."
One caution: You will find no "30 lbs. in 30 days" miracle being touted here. It's all about intelligent eating choices, planning, hard work and lifestyle.
"Burn the Fat is simple, but it's not easy," Venuto advises. That's honesty, friends. Another reason I've come to like this guy and his no-nonsense approach.
A word about the format of this program. Burn The Fat is an e-book--clean and professionally laid out, in the popular PDF format.
Admittedly, it's a little on the plain side, being just text, but that makes it ideal for printing and reading in the comfort of a favorite chair. (Because of it's size, it does require a robust printer and a good stack of paper!)
A few people might consider Burn The Fat a pricey because $39 seems like a fair chunk of money for an e-book download. However, after they see the sheer amount of information contained in its 340 pages -- not to mention the bonus e-books and reports that come with it -- almost everyone will agree that it is worth many times its price.
As with any how-to publication, you're paying for what the information can do for you, and clearly, Venuto's system has changed many lives. The hundreds of testimonials and success stories found on the Burn The Fat web site are proof of that.
The bottom line?
Anyone looking for a quick fix solution to fat loss, anyone eager to be told fairy tales, and anyone looking for a "magic bullet" offered by the likes of body wraps, fat burning pills, diet shakes, or "fat-burning" creams is best advised to steer clear of Burn The Fat.
On the other hand, if you're tired of spinning your wheels and going nowhere, and want the truth about losing fat and putting on muscle and are ready and willing to put in the work and discipline necessary to gain a fat free body, you will find Burn The Fat to be one of the best investments you've ever made.
Click here to learn more about Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat.
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