Gregg H. Hawkins

I’ve mentioned on my blog a few times that I have ventured into affiliate marketing, mainly Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising . It seems to be the big thing as of lately. I began to research the topic mid/late last year and was fortunate to meet Wes Mahler. Wes was kind enough to introduce a group of about 40 us to affiliate marketing and show us how to get campaigns started from start to finish. I definitely did not learn everything I know about affiliate marketing from Wes as a lot of it came from reading forums, other websites and blogs, and testing out tactics on my own. Don’t get me wrong though because Wes and I can’t forget to mention Steven Truong, have taught me a lot and have also been great helpers and go to people for any questions I have had.

Time to Give Back
Wes was a great inspiration to me. I realized that the time he put into helping beginner affiliate marketers was more valuable than him actually making the thousands of dollars he actually makes through affiliate marketing and other projects. By creating the Affiliate Mastermind Group he was able to create a great network of like minds (affiliate marketers and entrepreneurs) who all had the same goal in mind - to become successful. The Affiliate Mastermind Group doesn’t exist anymore due to some unfortunate events, however most of us still do keep in contact via email and AOL/AIM. The Affiliate Mastermind Group was a great concept and way to network with other people. There were some big names in the group including Jon Waraas. Don’t get me wrong though, most of us will become the big names in the near future!

What I’ve decide to do is to create my own blog (www.ThePreneur.com) and forum (www.PreneurTalk.com) to create the same environment Wes created for us. I want to help beginning affiliate marketers get on their feet just like Wes helped us. I want to create a blog that people access for information and gain inspiration from. I want to create a community of affiliate marketers and entrepreneurs where everyone can ask questions and help each other out. There are no stupid questions.

Contacting Me
If you’re a beginner at affiliate marketing and/or interested in learning about it please contact me! If you contact me, please do so through the contact form on The Preneur. If you have friends or know of anyone else who wants to get into affiliate marketing please have them contact me as well. Hopefully I can get a group of about 5-10 interested people to start off and begin teaching the basics to. If you would like to find out more information please visit The Preneur blog and consider registering at the forum to collaborate with others just like you. This group will only become what we make of it so let’s make the most of it!

I don’t have any plans in the near future to keep GreggHawkins.com alive. However, I’ll leave it up for now, there just won’t be any updates to it. In the future I may turn it into a portfolio website for my photography ( that is when I get my SLR camera). My time and efforts will be put into my new blog www.ThePreneur.com and forum www.PreneurTalk.com. For those of you who are interested in affiliate marketing don’t be discouraged. Take action now! Affiliate marketing is a fast growing industry and there’s still a lot of money to be made. Affiliate marketing takes a lot of hard work, time, motivation, and dedication on your end. If you’re willing to put in those things you will become successful.

Blog: www.ThePreneur.com
Forum: www.PreneurTalk.com

Microsoft Corporation 1978

The question is, Would you have invested? This is a picture of Microsoft Corporation in 1978. I don’t know any information regarding the picture as it was presented to my Information Systems class here at Cal Poly. Some of you or maybe even many of you have seen this picture before. I haven’t seen it before and thought it was pretty interesting. Can you point out which person is Bill Gates?

Blog Passes 1 Year Mark
Well, I didn’t update my blog on its’ own birthday…How pathetic! Anyways, my blog has been officially a year old since December 20^th and I’m amazed I made it this long considering most people hardly make it past 3 months! According to my archives my first few blog posts were about AGLOCO, I won’t even go there. Even though my blog posts aren’t very frequent anymore I still enjoy having my own personal space on the web and sharing my thoughts. And yes, I still read most of your blogs, you know who you are, I just haven’t been commenting. Thanks to those of you who still drop by every now and then.

My 21^st Birthday
My 21^st birthday was on January 8^th, 2008. I didn’t like the fact that it was on a Tuesday, especially the first week back at school. For the most part of what I can remember I enjoyed going to the bars for the first time with friends. I’m not going to lie I woke up at 8am the next morning still pretty drunk. I woke up that early so I wouldn’t be dropped from my Information Systems class since this was the first week of school! Guess what? My professor didn’t even take roll…sigh. Anyways, I’m still alive and that’s all that matters.

Yes. That’s me in the middle!

Looking Back
The last year (2007) definitely had a lot of ups and downs (not like you haven’t heard that one before), but I definitely learned a lot about myself. I’ll have to refer to 2007 as my “entrepreneurial years” because I had/have so many business ideas I’d like to get started on! I’m glad my brother and I made plans for our online business, we learned a lot about the business process and gained experience and knowledge in the field.

As for blogging goes, I’d like to say that I was pretty successful. Not quite so in the making money department, but networking and making friends that I never would have if I hadn’t started blogging. Again, you guys and gals know who you are. I did have my run with PayPerPost making about $500 in a month and a half. However, I don’t think I’ll be writing PayPerPosts anytime soon.

Christmas was great. New Years was great. That’s pretty much all I want to say about 2007 because I’m ready for the now and the future!

This post is well over due; however I would like to share this information with you! My brother made a post on his blog a while back about receiving our very first Google Adsense check, but I don’t think many of you read his blog. Here is an overview of our earnings for our Newport Harbor Fans website for the first month and a half (end of September and all through October). The picture below show’s our first Google Adsense check, it’s not $1,324.07 because some of the money we earned carried over.

Earnings Overview
Google Adsense: $1,324.07
Kontera: $126
Neverblueads: $18
iTunes: $243.53
Total: $1711.60

We made a total of $1,711.60 dollars in a little over a month’s time period. It’s kind of crazy how one simple idea can lead to making a couple thousand within a few months. I hope this can motivate some of you who have ideas to take and put them into action. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

The earnings for the site have decreased quite a bit, however it’s earning us well over what it costs to pay for our web hosting plan. There’s really no point in taking the site down either because a second season is already in the making.

Website Statistics
Since October we’ve averaged over 10,000 unique visits and 250,000 pageviews per month. What’s so great about those statistics? My brother and I put in the hard work for the first few weeks we had the site up. Now, we hardly do anything with the website and people keep coming back. It’s also because re-runs of the show and special episodes are being aired on television. We’ve also managed to rank #3 in Google for the term “Newport Harbor” and we still hold many top spots for other keywords and phrases related to the show.

Future Plans and Ideas
Before our Christmas break ends, my brother and I plan on redoing the WordPress design so hopefully we can sell the whole website it in the near future. Why would we try to do this when it’s brining in a good cash flow? Because we can’t be sure how many seasons of Newport Harbor will air. If there’s a willing buyer who offers us something for the website, it’ll probably be the best offer we’ll get.

What This Has Proved
If you’re discouraged of pursuing something you wish to do, especially online, my brother and I have just proved that knowing very little about coding and anything related to websites doesn’t matter. We don’t know how to code websites and we don’t know how to do a lot of things related to making websites. Who cares if you have to use WordPress. WordPress works like a charm. Make the most of what you have and you will be successful in pursuing any of your endeavors as long as you put 100% of your effort into them.

Merry Christmas!

I should probably get back to researching, but I thought that I would take the time to write this post because to me it means a lot. Let’s get rolling…

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing seems to be the big boom around the blogsphere lately. It’s nothing new, but it sure takes a lot of time, hard work, and dedication. The people who want it most will profit and the people who don’t will fail. I’ve put in quite a few hours researching and testing unsuccessful campaigns since the start of my Christmas break. However, I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.

“The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

I wanted to take the time to write this post to remind myself as well as others the importance for setting and defining your goals. I was talking to a friend that I met online the other day, Wes Mahler. He is an entrepreneur, affiliate marketer, and a damn good friend and affiliate marketing teacher. He also pointed out to me that if you want to make something happen that you can’t want it, but will it. I messaged him on AOL and told him that “I want to make $50 a day through affiliate marketing by the end of my Christmas break.” He replied by saying something along the lines “You can’t want something or it won’t happen.” Just remember, nothing is impossible. That’s the simplified version.

Wanting something is saying that it may or may not happen. I might end up accomplishing my goal or I may not. Why be content with that? I sure as hell don’t want to be content with that. I will make things happen. Instead, Wes told me to say that “I will make $50 dollars a day by the end of Christmas break.” If Wes can reach his goal $10,000 a month, he’s already on track to accomplish that goal way before his time frame, anyone can do it. And so I did and my journey begins. I have yet to see a profit, but I know I will see a profit by the end of my break in 3 more weeks. Even if I don’t make the $50 a day mark, it won’t put me down. As long as I can say that I put in all of my effort and have no regrets looking back. To me that’s success. Leaving everything on the table for a goal I desire. It’s kind of like sports and we’ve all heard the saying, “Play every game like it’s your last.”

What I’ve Been Up To
I haven’t been around the blogsphere as of lately and there’s many reasons. These last few weeks have been very hectic studying for finals and what not. My grades weren’t that great so I spent most of my last 2-3 weeks going to my professor’s office hours and studying at the library – all day. It paid off; I’m not on academic probation! Also, as I’ve stated before in previous posts I need to make money in order to pay the bills. Blogging, in all honesty is fun and I enjoy it, but in terms of making money with a blog it is near impossible. There’s only a few diamonds in the rough. I began to pursue affiliate marketing about a month ago and have just really got into it. Let me tell you, there’s a lot of stuff you’ll need to know if you want to head this field. It’s very competitive and you can’t be afraid to take risks and lose money. To make money you have go to spend money. Period. Anyways, I just wanted to get my mind off of researching and working for a little bit. Hope you guys enjoyed.

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

Flickr Image - mumbleyjoe

Many people believe that college is not for them. “I don’t need college to succeed,” “College is a waste of my money,” or “I can’t afford to go to college.” These are a few phrases thrown around quite commonly in our society by our loved ones and friends. The thing is, college should be of interest.

Why College Should Be of Interest
Let us take a minute to answer the negative phrases listed above. The phrase “I don’t need college to succeed” may be true to some extend, but the network you create while you’re at college is priceless. The people I meet today in my classes, organizations (fraternity), and even at parties will be the future leaders of this world whether we like it or not. Every person I meet could possibly be a potential client or even business partner sometime in the future – I just don’t know it yet. Many of world’s richest people credit college for their success, even if they dropped out before graduating. They say that college allowed them to create a network of people, which ultimately helped them be where they are today.

The phrase “College is a waste of my money” could also be true, but probably isn’t. There’s this thing called human capital, we should all think about investing into more of it. College is definitely a way to invest in your human capital. Human capital can be as simple as gaining knowledge on a more diverse range of subjects. You also invest in your human capital while you sleep. The money you spend to go to college will pay itself off when you land that better paying job after graduation.

Lastly, the phrase “I can’t afford to go to college” is complete bullsh*t. There are so many opportunities available to people who help to pay for tuition such as scholarships, financial aid, and grants. People (not all) who claim they can’t afford college are the ones who are trying to find an easy way out of life. All a person needs to do is put in a little bit of effort to fill out applications and the proper paperwork. I’ve personally had a few friends who said they wouldn’t be able to afford college. I told them to look into financial aid and fill out the proper paperwork to receive grants. It turns out that they are now attending 4 year universities because everything but maybe a few thousand dollars is paid for through grants and other means.

My Personal Thoughts
I’ll be honest with you guys. My 3 years at college has taught me a lot about myself and many other things. I used to think college was a waste of my time; however, my view has changed. I believe college is a great opportunity, as mentioned earlier, to create a network of friends. I may think that general education (GE) courses may not teach me the things I need to know in life or my major, but my organizational skills and time management skills have surely improved.

College is a definite two thumbs up for me. There’s no way someone can’t afford college because there are endless opportunities to take advantage of. College should be of interest because it also helps you grow a person mentally and physically whether or not you notice the changes right away. If you’re thinking about going to college, dropped out of college and want to pursue your degree and graduate I suggest that you do! You have nothing to lose and much much more to gain. The experience alone is priceless.

Beyond Petroleum, also known as BP, is a proud partner of the U.S. Department of Energy and sponsor of the Solar Decathlon. The BP Solar decathlon begins today October 11, 2007 and goes through October 19, 2007. It is held at the national mall in Washington, DC. This even is held every other year and over 20 universities hand chosen from the U.S. Department of Energy from around the world are participating to design, build and operate livable, energy-efficient, and completely solar-powered houses.

“As the first major energy company to acknowledge the need for precautionary action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, BP is sponsoring this special event as part of our commitment to discovering cost effective, clean energy solutions for everyday living.”

Beyond Petroleum first sponsored the Solar Decathlon in 2002 and the second time in 2005. In both the 2002 and 2005 Solar Decathlons were won by the University of Colorado. What is great about the Solar Decathlon is that it helps create greater awareness of solar energy’s potential and in advancing the science and technology of solar energy.

The 20 universities will form what’s called a “Solar Village.” Once teams have settled in they will be judged on 10 different categories. These categories include architecture, engineering, market viability, communications, comfort zone, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance, and getting around. A total of 1,200 points will be allocated between the 10 categories. The Solar Village will stand for the whole week allowing over 100,000 spectators to view them.

I was browsing the internet the other day and ended up on YouTube. This video has over 1 million views already so chances are you may have already seen it. If not, take a look! This guy is amazing fast at…tetris. It gets kind of boring, but if you watch the whole video you’ll definitely be amazed. He even does it when the blocks aren’t visible! Apparently there’s a lot of people  who are considered ‘professional’ tetris players, but there isn’t any money to be made in that profession.

In my economics of poverty, discrimination, and immigration class we began to cover the reasons why some people get head and succeed in life while others don’t. There are many reasons why people succeed not just in life, but in any endeavor they go through with. I believe that this topic relates to blogging and thought it would be a good idea to show the statistics that were gathered in a Gallup Pool (Social Audit) in 1999.

The Statistics Revealed
In the 1999 Gallup Pool there was a sample size, n, taken of 5,001 people in the population. The 5,001 people were to rate reasons on a 1 to 5 (1 being not at all important and 5 being very important) scale of why they thought some people succeed and others do not. There were 3 categories that the sample rated a 4 or 5. “Hard work and initiative” and “getting the right education or training” were both at the top with 92% of people rating it most important. The third item was the “willingness to take risks” with 69% of the sample size rating it a 4 or 5.

Hard Work and Initiative
As bloggers, business owners, and human beings hard work and initiative are needed for success. We as a society (of bloggers) need hard workers and others who are willing to take initiative and help the community prosper. As an individual [blogger] hard work is something that cannot be left out of the picture. If I were to leave hard work out of the picture I definitely wouldn’t have the loyal readers coming to my blog everyday. Hard work is something to appreciate and something that others should appreciate as well. We, as bloggers, work hard to be “the next big thing” in the blogsphere and in the real world.

Getting The Right Education or Training
Well, I don’t really know where to go with this one. As bloggers we don’t really receive any special education or training on the subject. I, for one, haven’t had any classes that covered blogging as one of the main topics! Anyhow, carrying the right education and training for a specific job or task will help you succeed. As bloggers and students we are investing in our human capital. Something of which will benefit us in the long term. Every time I sit in class, I’m investing in human capital. The money I spend on tuition and books is also going towards my human capital. I know for a fact that the education, organizational skills, and experience I gain through college will help me succeed later in life.

Willingness to Take Risks
This has to be my favorite category of the three. Why? Because this is where an entrepreneur stands and I consider myself an entrepreneur. Without people who are willing to take risks we wouldn’t be living in the world that we live in today. We are all taking a risk by being bloggers and not knowing what the future holds for the blogsphere or the internet. Innovative minds are the things that better our society and economy as a whole. I’ve read about many business ventures and risks that other bloggers are taking, even friends that I’ve personally made. It’s a great thing to see and watch your friends take on a challenge, especially with something that they have a passion for. In order to succeed you must be willing to take risks, calculated and educated risks. Yes, you may lose some fights, but in the end you won’t have regrets. Take the risks now so that when you’re older the phrases “I should have,” “I could have,” and “That should have been me” won’t be thrown around. But remember, it’s never too late to risk all that you’ve got. Never.

“Don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do something. The world is yours, conquer it.”

As I was browsing the internet the other day I came across a few WordPress plugins that I haven’t seen before and you (probably) have not seen either. I made a post last month in August (2007) titled “A Great List of WordPress Plugins,” which if you have not checked out before I suggest that you do! These plugins work well with any professional WordPress themes you come across and want to use.

The plugins that I will list below were created by one person – Lester Chan who also goes by the online alias ‘GaMerZ’. Lester runs his own website LesterChan.net which showcases his portfolio of websites, programming skills, graphic design skills, and animation.

Great WordPress Plugins

1. WP-Email is a WordPress plugin that allows your users to email a copy of a post to themselves or their friends. WP-Email is a great feature that many people forget about. Many people find email as a friendlier mean since they can check back on it whenever they want and not have to save a website to their bookmarks. The WP-Email plug also allows you to keep track of how many emails have been sent, from where it was sent, to whom it was sent to, the date and time, and much more.
   
   
2. WP-Print is a WordPress plugin that provides your readers the option to print a friendly version of your post or page. You can choose the “friendly” version to print with or without comments, links, and images. This is a great WordPress plugin in my opinion because I have had personal experience where I wanted to print just an article, but the comments and everything else ended up being printed as well.
   
   
3. WP-PostViews is a WordPress plugin that I’ve seen around before. This WordPress plugin allows you to keep track of how many times a post or page has been viewed by your visitors. By default, WP-PostViews does not keep track of registered users views, but that option can be easily changed.
   
   
4. WP-Polls is a WordPress plugin that is self explanatory. This WordPress plugin allows you to create and add polls to your posts or pages. There are many plugins that allow you to add polls to your blog, such as the Democracy AJAX Poll I wrote about in my previous plugins post.
   
   
5. WP-Sticky is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create “sticky” posts. What is great about this WordPress plugin is that a post made on a certain day will remain “sticky” – on top of all posts made for a specific day. Say you made a post on the 27^th, it will remain on top of all posts made on the 27^th. A post made on the 28^th will not be placed below the sticky post.
   
   
6. WP-Stats is a WordPress plugin targeted to those of you who are obsessed with the statistics of your blog! With this plugin you can track the stats for many things, which are useful to any webmaster. You can keep track of general stats which include how many posts were posted, how many pages were created, how many links were added, how much spam was blocked, and much more. You can also keep track of the stats for WordPress plugins such as the WP-DownloadManager plugin, WP-Email plugin, WP-Polls plugin, WP-PostRatings plugin, WP-PostViews plugin, and WP-UsersOnline plugin. There are also many other features of this plugin such as tracking the “Top 10 Highest Stats,” author’s stats, and miscellaneous stats.

These are just a few plugins that Lester Chan has on his website. I will be implementing some of these plugins into my blog within the next few days. Many of these WordPress plugins provide valuable information and also make the experience of your readers and visitors that much better. We don’t realize it, but adding little things (plugins) here and there eventually add up to a lot of things and make a huge difference in the end. As I mentioned in my post about how there is a correlation between girls and blogging, to take your time setting up your blog to make it the best it can be.

On another note, happy blogging!