Thursday, July 31, 2008

Funny Adsense Ad combinations.

Today I came across some funny Adsense combinations.


Found on a hunting and fishing site.


I think it's interesting who the advertiser considers their target market....


Does this mean Hunters and Fishermen are more likely to cheat? (perhaps on their Asian wives..)
And lastly, when the Asian wife finds out about it all...


Perhaps even funnier that these ads appear together.

Saw these at a hunting ad fishing site like Kilwell Sports.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Top Multi Tier Web hosts for making money

I've got a few small websites now. All have some form of Monetization. One of the best ways I've found of making money with a web site is by referring people to web hosting providers, because its something we (webmasters and we site owners) all need.

I quickly learned that just getting a commission is not enough. You want to be able to build a multi tier network of people generating commission for you.

Here are the top Multi Tier Hosts because...

Multi Tier= more cash

Green hosting provider with $100 first tier, $65 second tier

Free ipods and music cards as well as multi tier

Multi tier hosting a whopping 10 levels deep

Know any more/better Multi tier web hosting providers? Make a comment!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Two great things to do when you're bored

Cool thing #1 Rastorbation

Printing a large image using you desktop A4 inkjet (or Laser printer) has a name. It's called Rastorbating (and you though no one was going to catch you).

If you don't have software to split an image up into the tiles you need to be able to print the image on a large scale, then here's something cool: The Rastorbator. It's a free online interface to allow you to upload an image and it will split the file into the tiles you need to print them at any size. Whats cool about is that the rastorbator splits images up using a process similar to line screening (used for printing/screen printing) which converts your image inter woven rounded shapes which give the image an arty look and keep the resulting PDF files size right down, allowing you to print them and email them easily.

You can also download a rastorbator stand alone program so you can rastorbate to any photo in the privacy of your own room :P



Cool thing #2: Wordle

Another cool thing to was some of you time is the cloud generator at www.wordle.net

You may have seem words thrown together in a bunch, some big some small. This is called a cloud. Search clouds are the most common example, these show the most searched items larger than the rest and can be a great way to tink laterally on things that misght interest you.

Now you can make your own artistic clouds from any text you like. Music lyrics, web sites, poems, whatever... here are some examples I came up with:

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Google is Anal

Is Google anal? My computer thinks so...


We all know that Google is a stickler for the rules and that going against Google is like going against god, but today I saw something on my screen that seemed perhaps a digital Freudian slip:




PS. In case your wondering, this happen when I opened multiple tabs in Firefox while logged in at Google Analytics, The words Google Analytics were shortened due to lack of space (or perhaps the computer was trying to say something....at least it helps me to remember how to spell analytics!)

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The seduction of added value.

The seduction of added value.

If you want to sell a product, any product, you need to understand value.

Value is the single reason why people buy things.

I don't mean we buy things when they are “good value for money”. I mean we buy because of a perception of value. Many people for example might not buy a Mercedes because you can get a Toyota much cheaper with a similar specification and yet Mercedes sell a lot of cars, they just sell them to different customers. The people who buy luxury cars have their own set of requirements which they value, the price has less of an impact on their perception of value than for other car buyers. What motivates a luxury car buyer might be Brand name, appearance, exclusivity (sometimes by just making a product expensive, you make it exclusive and therefore attract people who have enough money to want to be seen as part of the 'club' of owners of that product).

To sell you product you first have to understand your customer and what represents value to them.

People who buy Apple Mac's have a different set of value requirements than PC owners. This can bee seen by all the Mac vs. Pc comparisons on the Internet. If we all valued products for the same reasons, simply comparing specifications would be valid and perhaps PC's might winout. By Apple adds value to their computers. Apple gives a more stable product with great free software in a stylish all in one package with a unique operating system. This appeals to their customers who don't necessarily care the computer is the highest specification for the lowest possible price, without the ease of use and style that has become synonymous with the brand, there is little value to that customer.

Anything can represent value within a customer base, look at how quickly the world adopted MP3 as a music format. People wanted a small file which would allowed the files to be downloaded quickly, even though it meant the quality was sacrificed a little.

Value = Matching a customers needs (physically or emotionally)

Once you know what motivates your buyers, you can use a killer strategy to skyrocket you sales: Added Value.

Added value is the preferred way of improving the buyers perception of value without having to discount your product. Once you latch on to the motivation of you customer you can use this to add value. Added value is created when you provide some further incentive to make a purchase. You could offer additional products or services that may also be desirable to your customer at a reduced rate (or free) with their purchase.

In any case you should try to provide added value with minimal cost to you. Online services and E-books can be perfect for that.

Discount should be avoided if you can create value some other way, however sometime the best strategy is to offer a product at a premium in the first instance and then after the initial phase of the product cycle where it's new and interesting you will be able to discount it.

Although its always a better strategy to find other ways to add value, discounting is also added value. By establishing the products initial worth you are showing the customer they can now buy something with an already established worth for less money. Getting more for less equates to added value.

And added value is seductive. My wife an I recently walked past an nice looking furniture item in a shop which had been reduce from €129 to €24.95 it looked like it was worth every penny at €129, now it was a bargain. My parents who were with us at the time also agreed and we were ready to buy it until we realized we actually had nowhere to put it and did not need it anyway. We were simply stunned by the value.

Internet markets do the same thing with E-books. Because delivery is so easy and they don't actually have to produce anything, they can give you lots of bonus books and newsletters.

As added value for this article, feel free to download a free ebook on making money with Google arbitrage (a process of making a profit by paying to send people to a website with advertising so they in turn leave through more expensive advertising). Right click here and click 'save link as' to download it.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

iMac Contenders threaten Apples title

Most people agree, iMacs are cool.

Some (generally those that cant afford them) complain that they are too expensive. Many compare Apples legendary 'All in One' to any number of PC's. The biggest problem is that the PC with which people compare Apples iMac are tower pc's (also lovingly referred to as "boxes"), without any consideration to the value and cost associated with making an amazing looking computer which appears to be little more than a monitor.

But there are PC's capable of contending Apple for the all All in One crown. The most interesting thing is,... they are all (spec for spec) more expensive than an iMAC (and don't come with Apples amazing OS X nor iLife). And these aren't computers made by companies who can't produce enough to achieve economy of scale. These are the biggest brand in the business.

Take a look:





Dell XPS


All in all not a bad lineup, I'm impressed. They just need a Mac OS and ilife....