Anyone Join The Keyword Academy?

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   Lily Roseposted 15 years ago

   I am trying to figure out if I can realistically make money online when I have no real experience with blogging or writing, no real knowledge of SEO or html.  I am a stay at home mom and have been spending hours & hours on the computer since I joined hubpages because I'm learning so much and I've been doing my best to optimize my existing hubs, but I feel like I'm completely ignoring my kids.  Good thing my girls play well together! Okay, get to the point, already...
   
   I have a mountain of medical bills.  I don't want to have to go back to work outside the home at least until both my girls are in school full time and that's 2.5 years away.  I read Mark Knowles EXCELLENT blog, http://markpknowles.com/how-to-make-money-blogging/, which led me to Mark & Court's Keyword Academy...
   
   It sounds enticing and a great deal for $1 one-month trial, but I want to know if anyone here has tried it out & if it has helped and if it's something I can realistically do if I only want to spend 2-4 hours a day on it. Is it legit? Anyone?

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   I have and I find it really useful. Court is the one who came up with the 100 hubs in 30 days challenge the first time around. He's very gungho and I find he has great ideas and helps keep me motivated. He's a big part of the reason I've had my earnings take off.
   
   Lissie is also a senior hubber here and she's a believer as well.

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      Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      So is it worth the ongoing $33 each month?  Forgot to ask you - are you still a member?

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         Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         No I decided that I could go forward on my own. Everything is so individual on the web. I'm not a good copycat.

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            Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            I think I'm intrugued enough to check out the Keyword Academy at least for the first month at $1 and we'll see after that.  I'm not sure I understand what your copycat comment means...

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   Lily Roseposted 15 years ago

   Thanks for responding so quickly - I respect your comments as well as Lissie's as I read a lot of your posts and you seem to know what you're talking about.  So you think I can manage to do it if I want to spend LESS time on the computer than I have been (feels like I've been online 20 hours a day!) and still make money?

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      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      LESS time - no to be honest I don't think so! It takes an awful lot of time writing an awful lot of boring material and getting some even more boring links! I suppose it depends on what you count as "money" - what's your income goal ? $100? $1000? a week? a year? I blogged about my online income recently but its taken me a long, long time to get there.  Every single person I know who's making good money ($5000+ a month) is working every minute - usually full-time. After a awhile income does become passive (using my business model of building niche sites) but getting them there takes time and effort.
      
      A lot of people get distracted with freelance wriiting along the way (including myself) - but its like a real job but with worse pay - unless you are really talented like Mark Knowles. That said if you need money to pay bills this week freelancing will get it for you.

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         Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Lissie - thanks for joining in!  I appreciate your comments.  I don't have a specific goal in mind - sure, I'd love to make $5000 a month, but I would be absolutely thrilled with $500 a month or there-abouts.  I am definitely not talented like Mark Knowles!  I'll have to check out your recent hub you mention...

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   Eric Graudinsposted 15 years ago

   I've heard some good reports about Keyword Academy,but haven't tried it myself. I will do so in future.
   
   Just be aware that joining anything is totally useless, unless you take action and do the tasks, exercises, etc. that are required.
   
   Check out Ed Dale's 30 day challenge at www.thirtydaychallenge.com for a free very comprehensive program that teaches you the skills you need to make money on the internet.
   
   (Note: there's no sales pitches during the challenge, but after the challenge, you'll be encouraged to purchase some of the tools that you get to use for free during te challenge. don't let this put you off. What you learn for free is VERY worthwhile)
   
   cheers, Eric G.

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   lrohnerposted 15 years ago

   I've never formally joined Court's Keyword Academy, but I do read virtually everything he writes about making money online and have for a very long time. I don't thik I'd have one-half of the knowledge I have without him (and Darkside and Mark).

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   Honestly making money online takes a huge and consistent effort. You get up every day and compete against the entire world. But you do learn to be more efficient at it, because you learn what works for you.
   
   I think when you begin anything you need to spend a lot of time on the attached forum, which definitely eats up time. As time goes on you don't need to because you've sussed out the lay of the land. That cuts you loose for other things.
   
   But that said, I don't believe in passive income where you create it, leave it alone and it still produces money in three years. I think things always need to be updated. Maybe not often but you do need to check in on them.
   
   I think most people way underestimate how much content is needed to produce a good income. I think you need at least 1000 hubs to make a living here.
   
   Now Relache seems to have this down pat, and she differs on that. And revels in her efficiency and she is one hell of a writer and creative spirit.

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      Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I agree and hope I didn't sound like I want all this to come easy.  I don't expect to write more hubs and start a blog or two and then then just sit back and let the money roll in.  I'm just wondering if all this time I'm taking away from my kids has the potential to help me out financially, even if only for a while.  Does that make sense?

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   Oh yes, it can definitely help you financially. I've made at least $100 every month with adsense since my second month here. And make a lot more than that with Amazon. I'd say I spend 4 hours a day on hubs and related hub stuff.

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      Aquaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Nelle - I still think you are the "Queen of Amazon". Maybe you should write a hub on that

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      Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Ok, I think that's what I wanted to hear.  The $100 a month from adsense - was that just from HubPages?  I'm with Aqua - you need to write a hub on how to make money with Amazon.  Several of my hubs feature relevant items (mostly books, but not all) from Amazon and not one single bite.  Is all your Amazon $ coming from HubPages or elsewhere?  Let me know if I'm asking too many questions, please!

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   Aquaposted 15 years ago

   Lily - consider the importance of diversity when you're pondering all of this. I write for several different sites. Some are more lucrative than others for me, however, this phenomena seems to be different for everyone - as in, Suite 101 works for some but not for others, HP the same, Demand the same, private clients the same, etc. etc. I spent a lot of time "cultivating" the articles on the different sites and that's paid off. Now, after a long hiatus, I'm refocusing more on HP and that has been rewarding as well.

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   Yep, that's my hubs adsense numbers. I have a channel for every hub, so I know exactly what it's bringing in.

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      Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I still have a lot to learn about how to read the adsense and analytics reports....are you earning more than what you mentioned now?

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

    I don't have Amazon any other places. Although given the success here I might add it to other sites. I'm concerned about becoming overly dependent on Amazon because if Massachusetts passes an internet sales tax, Amazon will delete me as an affiliate. If it wasn't for this possibility, I would really be going gangbusters.

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       Aquaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I wonder if this is a concern for other states as well?

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          Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          You bet it is. North Carolina and Rhode Island affiliates were cut loose this year. Almost happened in Hawaii, California and Maryland. It was under active discussion in Massachusetts by some powerful lawmakers.
          
          It's my only concern with hubpages. The lack of revenue diversity. I'm going gangbusters here for the Xmas with Amazon. Then I'm transitting over to Ebay and even working on learning how to optimize adsense.

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    SweetiePieposted 15 years ago

    I stopped using the Google adsense channels because Analytics give more comprehensive information about who is visiting our hubs.

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       Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Google Analytics doesn't report all my clicks and what it does report is a lot slower. So that's why I've been using channels. I'm bummed because I'm running out of channels and will have to rely on analytics in the future.

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          SweetiePieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          I have noticed the discrepancies, but I am sort of bogged with the Internet and do not like posting my channels on Google adsense anyway.  What analytics does that I do like though it tells me what key words are most searched for on my site, and it also tells me the top money making hubs.  I guess for my purposes that is all I really need.

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             Lily Roseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

             That's all great information to have and I'd love to figure it out - there must be a hub out there that explains how to garner this information from Analytics, right?

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                earnestshubposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                I would think you are right about the hub being out there, and analytics offers pretty good help.

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    Aquaposted 15 years ago

    Oh figures - I live in California, one of the states mentioned. I don't want to hijack this thread anymore but I do wonder what the issue is? Taxes or what?..sigh.
    
    I'm in complete agreement about the importance of diversification...I'm focusing more on eBay now as well and hope to see some signs of life there - even though a lot of hubbers don't have much luck. Some, on the other hand, have experienced success though, which is enough for me to at least give it a fair shot.

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