Gregg H. Hawkins

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.

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!

Blogging, as we all know, has become very popular with people of many ages around the world within the past few years. We also know that blogging is a very tedious task and that there are certain steps to become a successful blogger. There are many things that make a blog successful; an author’s thought process, the quality of posts, monetizing your blog correctly, and the list goes on but I will leave it alone since we have all heard it a thousand times already.

The Correlation Between Girls and Blogging
What I am trying to get at is that girls, also women, would and currently make fantastic bloggers. They are the perfect example of how to run a blog. Now, you are probably wondering where the heck I am going with this. Relax, I am getting there.

For the guys, how many times have you set up a date and told a girl that you will pick her up at 7:00 pm sharp for dinner? You show up at her house at 7:00 pm sharp and she’s STILL getting ready.

For the girls, have you not spent countless hours putting on makeup, going to hair stylists, and getting manicures and pedicures so that you could look pretty (I’m not saying that you already don’t look pretty)?

…and you answered?
If you answered both questions with a definite “yes” then you are on the right track. No, not on track to finding a girl who will be ready on time and no, not having to not put on makeup, go to hair stylists, and getting manicures and pedicures.

The Correct Way to Blog
Finally. If we study a girl’s habits we will notice that she does in fact spend countless hours getting ready for a date and other “special” occasions. Guys on the other hand, throw on jeans that were on the floor and take 10 minutes to get ready (a general assumption). The way a girl gets ready is how we should all treat our blogs, with care.

A girl may go to the shower to clean herself up, shave her legs, and brush her teeth afterwards. We’ll call this stage the “prepping” stage. She’s prepping herself for the night ahead. As bloggers we need to “prep” ourselves – research the blogosphere, purchase a domain name, purchase a web hosting plan, and much more. Without prep stage we wouldn’t know what we were getting ourselves into.

Next, a girl may throw on clothes and style her hair. We’ll call this the “starting” stage (couldn’t think of another word). In the starting stage of blogging we, most of us, decide that we will use a CMS (Content Management System) to manage our blog, which is usually the latest version of WordPress.

Lastly, a girl puts on her makeup, which usually lasts about an hour or so. In this stage, as bloggers we need to take time to make our blog be presentable. This is the stage where we find the plugins we want to install on our blog, edit the WordPress theme to our liking, and make any other finishing touches. This stage is the most important because it deals with appearance. A girl puts on makeup so that she can appear to look beautiful. Bloggers install plugins and change the colors and look of our theme so that hopefully visitors will enjoy their stay, ultimately converting them into a returning visitor.

With my experience as a blogger I have spent many hours searching for the perfect WordPress theme, finding great plugins, and editing a WordPress theme’s style so that it fits my needs and wants. It takes a lot of time, dedication, and patience, but in the end the finished product is always worth it.

Last Thoughts on the Subject
Treating your blog like a girl treats herself is one of many ways to run your blog. This topic lightly covers blogging as whole and there is much more to blogging than just getting one up and the appearance of it. However, those are the first steps to blogging, which are as important as any other step. Of course, you will need to provide quality content to your readers, but without a blog to publish your content you will be a “nobody” in a vast online world.

Don’t be the guy who takes 10 minutes to get ready to go to school, go on a date, and go to church. Learn to be a girl and perfect yourself into something amazing. Spend those extra minutes, even hours, to be the best that you can be. You will appreciate the ending result as well as your readers.

Since my first post about 10 great professional WordPress themes I have come across a few more great looking WordPress themes. This list of WordPress themes contains themes that are business and corporate looking, Adsense ready, and can be easily customized to your needs. I have tried a few of them out and believe that they are sleek and professional WordPress themes. These professional WordPress themes are nice, simple, and easy to look at. Take a look for yourself!

Professional WordPress Themes

1. Autumn Concept is a great professional WordPress theme. It was designed by Ed Merritt, also the creator of the popular Ocean Mist WordPress theme. The Autumn Concept WordPress theme comes readily available with a .css file so that you can easily change the colors of the theme. The theme comes with a default green tone and a neutral tone.

   

   Autumn Concept - [Download, Test Run]
   
   

2. Another great professional WordPress theme is the Ayumi WordPress theme. I just recently changed my blog to the theme and edited the colors and integrated the AdRotator plugin to rotate between 5 images. Ayumi is a 3 column WordPress theme, comes with a default green color, and is widget ready.

   

   Ayumi 1.2 - [Download, Test Run]
   
   

3. dfTheme is a great looking professional Wordpress theme. dfTheme’s black and glossy color scheme gives it a nice professional touch. dfTheme is a 2 column WordPress theme and is compatible with WordPress 2.2.

   

   dfTheme 2.0 - [Download, Test Run]
   
   

4. Gangway! is a sleek professional WordPress theme suited for news related websites and blogs. It is a very simple blue, white, and grey theme, yet still provides a professional look. Gangway is a 3 column WordPress theme that focuses more on the content aspect rather than the visual.

   

   Gangway! - [Download, Test Run]
   
   

5. SimplaZEN is a 2 column WordPress theme. SimplaZEN showcases whites and greys and is a great professional WordPress theme. The design was based off of the Simpla Theme originally designed by Phu. The SimplaZEN WordPress theme also comes Adsense ready.

   

   SimplaZEN - [Download, Test Run]
   
   

6. w9212 is a great professional business WordPress theme. It is Adsense ready for a 120 x 160 skyscraper block. w9212 has a blue color scheme and is a 3 column WordPress theme. The header image is also a flash slideshow that you can easily edit with your own images.

   

   w9212 – [Download, Test Run]

This ends my second list of professional WordPress themes. I found most of these themes while in search for a new them for my blog. As you can tell I ended up using the Ayumi WordPress theme and have been very grateful that I found it. Before finding the Ayumi WordPress theme I was contemplating whether or not using the neutral tone of the Autumn Concept. Many of these themes didn’t have links available for test runs, but I recommended downloading them and testing them out for yourselves.

Finding the motivation to do something especially when you are busy doing other things is sometimes hard to find or come across. Lately, I have had a hard time finding the motivation to keep writing blog posts. This whole week I have been running around San Luis Obispo like a crazy Asian with his head cut off. Why? Because getting a new apartment, internet and cable setup, buying food and all that great stuff is quite hectic and exhausting.

Digging a Little Deeper
I have been trying to dig a little deeper to find that motivation but just can’t seem to find it. I don’t want to write blog posts that aren’t of quality because it wouldn’t be fair to my readers. I have made the decision that I will not write a blog post everyday, but will write a blog post when I feel the time is right. If the right time ends up being everyday, then so be it. Now that school will be starting up and I will need to concentrate on academics. I feel that school will keep me busier than ever, especially since my classes don’t end until 5:00 pm everyday.

I want to keep blogging, but the exhaustion of real life has really brought my motivation to an all time low. However, I do believe that once this week is over I will find a new routine and get those ideas running back through my fingertips and onto the screen.

During this, I guess I could say “process,” I’ve learned quite a bit about myself. I’ve learned that in order for any business or startup, a blog for instance, that it takes a lot of time and hard work. I know I’ve said this before in previous posts, but it’s true. We only hear about a few success stories, but what most of us don’t realize is that for every success there were hundreds if not thousands of failures. Without the realization of reality, we too believe that we can become successful. And guess what? We all can and will become successful if we put our minds to it and carry discipline.

Last Thoughts
I also wanted to let my readers know that it’s not all about making money online for me. At times it may seem like it, but it’s not. The reason why I do the things I do; run a fan site, do PayPerPost, and other online ventures is so that my earnings can help fund my college education and living expenses. I do believe that sometimes the PayPerPosts may downgrade the quality of my blog, but it’s something that I need to keep doing.

My goal is to keep on generating at least $200 a month from my blog and another $300 from the fan site my brother and I are running. This will allow me to pay for most of my rent and monthly living expenses. I just wanted to let all of you know what I’ve been up to and thinking. I hope that all of you will be able to understand my feelings and that I truly have a passion for blogging and love the readers that come here day in and day out to read my content. You’ve all helped me become the person I am today and in return I hope that in the future I will be able to help you in some way.

Looking for a new web hosting provider? Look no further! I’ve been using Host Gator since I started my blogging career. I have never had one problem with their services. The hosting plans are great…let me rephrase that, PHENOMINAL. Every time I have contacted support because I had a question or could not figure out something, I have received a reply within the hour and even minutes. I recommend Host Gator to anyone out there hands down.

Host Gator Coupon Codes

• “iceishot” - $9.94 Off
• “jury” - $9.94 Off
• “hgc25″ - $9.94 Off
• “Hostcritique” - $9.94 Off

Hosting Plans Through Host Gator
There is a variety of different web hosting plans you can choose from at Host Gator. The “Hatchling” is $6.95 a month, the “Baby” is $9.95 a month, the “Swamp” is $14.95 a month, and the semi dedicated plan is $74.95 a month. They also offer other solutions for dedicated servers and reseller accounts. I’m currently using the “Baby” plan. With the Baby plan I get 100 gigabytes of storage, 1 terabyte of bandwidth, unlimited domains/sub domains/FTP accounts, and much more. For only $9.95 month Host Gator in my opinion is the best.

By using one of the coupon codes listed above (I found by searching Google) you can get $9.94 off any purchased plan. My brother and I just recently used one of the coupon codes for the Baby plan ($9.95) and our first month of hosting is only costing us 1 cent.

Visit Host Gator Now!

Enjoy!