Friday, May 30, 2008

Is There Money To Be Made Online?


When I started this blog, Asia’h Epperson, about two months back, I knew that making money online through blogging is never an easy road. It is all about hard work, hard work and hard work. Still, I decided to start working on it and as they said, the rest is history. Since then, I have created several other niche blogs as well.

To be frank, I am not making big money yet, just some small changes here and there, but, that is enough to convince me that there is serious money out there to be made. It is up to me to work my way there and grab it.

And before you ask, let me tell you, Asia’h Epperson didn’t make me a single cent. There is no money to be made here because I didn’t put up any advertisement and have no intention to do so. All the money that I made online so far is through my other niche blogs, not Asia’h Epperson.


So, how can money be made through blogging? There are two different views:-

One side argues that having a large reader base and high RSS subscriber will bring in the money. With a large reader base, advertiser will be attracted to your blog and that translates into money.

Another view is that having a large reader base won’t bring in the money. Only organic traffic from search engine will help you make money. Why? Because these are the people who found your blog and they are more likely to click on advertisement.


Let’s take a look at the most simplest form of advertisement, Google Adsense. Almost all blogs start their advertisement with Google Adsense as it is easy to sign up and implement.

If you take a look at all those big blogs with large reader base, you will find that most, if not all, of them are not using Adsense. Why? It is because there is a common understanding that regular readers that read your blog won’t click advertisement at all.



I will tell you how I make money online and you think and decide yourself which view is correct.


All my other niche blogs don’t have regular readers. Okay, maybe one or two will bookmark the blog and come back, but, the majority of the visitors are from search engine. I ranked well for some keywords, they search in Google or Yahoo, found and come to my blog. Most of them leave almost immediately when they didn’t find the information that they are looking for. Some of them will click my ads. Some don’t. If they do, I make some money.


That’s how I make my money so far. Simple?


Not really. The tough part is how to rank well in search engine. And if you are not aware, this blog that you are reading now, ranks well for Asia’h Epperson.


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Teacher lets Students Vote out Little Boy


This is totally unbelievable and unacceptable, American Idol style. Teacher lets students vote to remove classmate and the class voted 14-2 to send that poor little boy, only 5 years old, out for the day.

I really cannot think of any good reason that warrant such drastic action from the teacher, I meant, the boy is only 5 years old. It is definitely inappropriate. Where is the common sense, compassion and loves?

I would never ever want to see any kids to go through that, would you?


Check out other general news on Asia'h Epperson.


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

How To Manage Your Time?


One of the biggest challenges that I faced since I started blogging 2 months ago is how to manage my time properly and wisely.

As of today, including this blog, Asia’h Epperson, I have a total of 7 blogs and already, I find it very difficult for me to divide my time properly such that I can cover all of them equally.

For the past one week, I have only been able to work on Asia’h Epperson and one of the niche blog that is drawing quite a handful of visitors from the search engine. The other 5 of them have not been updated for quite a while.

So, I am actually facing some hard time with only 7 blogs, that’s why I cannot understand how others managed to do it with a much bigger portfolio than me.


My day started with working on my niche blog. Now, that’s my money maker. I accidentally hit on a keyword that is getting many search a day and there is no much challenge on that keyword. So, I ranked well and manage to get quite a good number of visitors from the search engine. I am in the process of working to get more keyword ranking for that site into the big G and hopefully, that will bring me more traffic and revenue.

After that, I then move on to work at Asia’h Epperson, this blog that you are reading now. Although it is not monetized, I tried to update it everyday if possible because this is my first blog and my friends and family are actually reading.

When I finished my work, I will visit and read my regular blog and comment. After that, I will spend some time playing Sudoku before calling it a day.


I have think over the matter and in order to improve my productivity, I intend to cut down my time on reading and commenting on other blogs and hopefully, I will have more time to work on my other blogs.


If you have multiple blogs and have any tips for me on how to manage them equally, feel free to drop me a comment.


Monday, May 26, 2008

Three Things You Didn’t Know About Me



1. I Don’t Like American Idol

Yes, it’s true. Or to be exact, I don’t like the way the system works. I simply cannot tolerate the fact that those eliminated idols-to-be are more accomplished and talented singer. I don’t have much argument about the two Davids that show up at the final 2 in this season seven contest, they deserved their places; but, if some of those that are voted off much earlier on could have another shot and stay on, it will be much more interesting. And in my opinion, you knew, Asia’h Epperson deserved at least a place in the top 12.


2. I like to play Sudoku

Sudoku is a very wonderful game and if you don’t know what it is all about, checks out wiki. And if you want to play, you can try it at Sudoku online.

Some people like the game as they think it is another way to energize your brain. As it is a game with some logic, you need to think and figure out the number. There is another group of people who think that it is a waste of time to play the Sudoku. Maybe yes, maybe not. Anyway, I like this game as it is really fun and it needs some logic thinking and calculation.

Most of the times, when I am finished writing on this blog, Asia’h Epperson, I will play that game for a while before I shut down my computer.


3. I am very good at computer

I can easily assemble a basic computer system with all the spared parts. Installing software like operating system and others is relatively simple job to me. I learnt how to install and setup computer system 2 years ago when my dad’s PC break down and he shows me the way on how to do it. After that, I am hook and started to play around with it, doing some hardware upgrades from time to time. My current computer system is a self-assemble system by me.



So, I guess today you know a little bit more about Asia'h Epperson.


Sunday, May 25, 2008

Google Updating New Algorithm


On Friday I make a post about Google Don't Like Blogspot.com, obviously, I am not the only one that found such dramatic changes in Google.

There is some discussion on Digital Point forum and it look like not only blogspot blogs are being affected, some noticed changes in keyword ranking for .info and .co.uk domain as well.

Initially, there is some thoughts that Google penalize all these websites because people suspect that majority of spam comes from these websites, but, as the day passes, everything is back to normal. So, I think the most possible reason is Google is testing some new algorithm and not really wanted to flushed out all these site. Anyway, blogspot belong to Google, isn't it? There is no reason why they would want to delist their own blogger platform.


This blog, Asia'h Epperson, has been ranking in page 1 or 2 in Google for the keyword, Asia'h Epperson, for quite sometimes. During that period of madness, Asia'h Epperson was also missing from the SERPs.
One of my other niche blogs that is getting about 100 visitors from Google daily get no visitor at all as my blog is also being hit by the changes. From the first page listing on a keyword, my niche blog totally gone from the SERPs.

That leads me to think: We are so dependent on Google and any business that depends solely on search engine will go out of business anytime if Google penalize them. Of course, on a positive note, if you are doing the right thing, your site is not spam, then, not too much worry as it is unlikely that Google will simply penalize you.


So far, as of now, thing is back to normal. Business as usual. This blog Asia'h Epperson is still ranking in the top 10 for the keyword, Asia'h Epperson so I think that is probably a glitch when Google are updating their algorithm.


Friday, May 23, 2008

Google Don't Like Blogspot.com?


I think many people like the site PostSecret? Isn't it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since Frank Warren created the website on 1 January 2005, PostSecret has collected and displayed upwards of 2,500 original pieces of art from people across the United States and around the world.

The site, which started as an experiment on blogspot, is updated every Sunday with approximately 20 new pieces which share a relatively constant style, giving all "artists" who participate some guidelines on how their secrets should be represented.


According to Youth Trends' February 2008 "Top Ten List Report" PostSecret was the 10th most popular site amongst female students in the USA, with 7% of those polled naming the site as their favorite


But, it looks like Google started to dislike Blogspot blogs.


Postsecret used to rank #2 for the keyword 'postcard', when I started to write this post, it drop to number 5. Now, another check show that it don't appear in the top 100. Click this link.


And it look like they are not the only blogspot site that lost the ranking.


makemoneyforbeginners.blogspot.com used to rank top 10 for the term make money till two days ago, now no longer.


moneymakerinfo.blogspot.com used to rank top 10 for the term make money online, also no longer in top 100.


What's going on, Google?



Update:

I just did a check again and all the blogspot.com that I am tracking is all back to normal. I am not sure what causes the glitch yesterday. It look to me that Google is updating their SERPs and somehow all the blogspot.com blogs are being affected.

postsecret.blogspot.com, makemoneyforbeginners.blogspot.com and moneymakerinfo.blogspot.com, and several others that I tracked, including all my blogs are back to normal again.

Hopefully it is not going to happen again. :)


Thursday, May 22, 2008

Google SERPS Update?


It seems like there is some updating going on in Google for their Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

I came to this conclusion is because when I just checked the keyword, Asia'h Epperson, I found that the Asia'h Epperson fan site that used to sit in number 3 spot, just directly after the official American Idol site, is no longer there. And if you are not aware, that site had been occupying the number 3 spot since early March.


So, what's going on?


Actually, since late April, I started to discover that a few websites that used to sit high up in the Google SERPs for the keyword Asia'h Epperson are being de-listed or push all the way back in Google, including this blog. After sometimes, ranging from a period two to four weeks, they are then re-included into the search result pages again.

One of my other blogs, which also sit nicely in page 1 of Google SERPs for a specific search keyword is also gone today. I tried a number of combination, but, it is just not appearing and the strange thing is, if I type “site:abcde.com”, it did show all pages of my blog. So, I think the blog is being indexed, but, Google had taken it offline for the SERPs page.


Back to the Asia'h Epperson fan site that I mentioned above. By typing “site:abcde.com”, it also return results, so, I think Google is currently updating their SERPs, and all those sites affected are being taken off temporary. They should be re-included into the Google SERPS sometimes later, the period might varies from 2-4 weeks, based on what I have seen so far.


It appears strange to me that website that used to rank high for Asia'h Epperson for such a long period can suddenly be gone from Google SERPs, but, as I said before, nobody really understand Google. The only thing that we can do is to keep working on it, don't bother about statistics, page rank and others.



Did you notice any changes in your sites’ rankings?



Asia'h Epperson FaceBook - Update


A month ago, I sign up as Asia'h Epperson for the Facebook account which I wrote about in the post Asia'h Epperson Facebook. At that time, I have only a few friends and although I knew Facebook is very popular, I have clearly underestimated the popularity of it.


To be exact, I am getting quite a big number of friends request daily and I knew that these people who wanted to befriend me, most probably, they mistaken me as the American Idol contestant, Asia'h Epperson. The number of friends request notification emails I received daily from Facebook is flooding my email. Not to sure if I can turn off that as I yet to explore some of the options. Anyway, it looks like I am riding on Asia'h Epperson fame in facebook :)


Initially, I logged into Facebook daily; but as time goes by, I found that I am spending far too much time in Facebook and decided to cut down the frequency. It’s addictive and I found that I can spend hours on it. There are times when I never worked on anything, be it this blog, Asia’h Epperson, or my 2 other blogs for the whole day. So, for now, I tried to restraint myself from logging in daily.


Judging from the number of people that want to befriend Asia’h Epperson, I think Facebook is good for social networking. You can make friends with people all over the world but if you don’t practice enough self-control, you can find yourself updating your ‘status’ every few minutes and staring at a computer screen for hours. If you really sit down and check your time spend on Facebook, I won’t be surprise that you are spending long hours in it. That’s really incredible, isn’t it?

For now, I decided to spend more time working on Asia’h Epperson and will only logged in once a few days. What about you? Are you spending too much time on Facebook?


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

David Cook - The American Idol 2008


David Cook won the "American Idol" title on Wednesday.

In my earlier prediction, I was with David Archuleta and apparently, I was wrong. As I said much earlier, the favorite might not win the competition. Before the show, all indication shows that David Archuleta is the clear favorite. The judges are full of praise for him throughout the entire season, and especially so the night before and it look like the audience also like him.

But, in the end, the voters decided otherwise.

So, here you goes, the Americal Idol season seven, David Cook.


Pack Light Or Pay More


It was reported that the largest US air carrier, American Airlines, would begin charging $15 for many passengers for their first checked bag, starting in mid June. What used to be a free service for all airlines will no longer be so as more and more airline started to charge for additional things in an attempt to battle the skyrocketing jet fuel price.

And almost nothing is complimentary on airlines anymore. We have seen increase in the fare, surcharges and fees for services and now, checked bags.


American is not the first carrier in the world to charge for checking the first bag. Spirit Airlines, a low-fare carrier with service primarily in the eastern United States; Ryanair, low-fare carrier in Europe are other that are charging passenger for their checked bag.


With American leading the way among major carriers, it is likely that other airlines will be tempted to follow suit soon, so, be prepare to pay more when you fly the next time round.


Check out other general news on Asia'h Epperson.



Welcome To Asia'h Epperson


Welcome to Asia’h Epperson.


If you found this blog, Asia’h Epperson, through Google, thanks for visiting. You might not be aware, but, if you try to search Google 2 weeks ago, then, you will never ever set a foot on this bog. I still don’t know exactly what happens, but, this blog is not in the Google search result page for 2 weeks plus.

Today, as I am writing this post, Asia’h Epperson is sitting nicely on the first page of Google.


This blog begin as a simple experiment for me to learn more about blogging and to find out whether is there really money to be made online through blogging. As you can see, there is no monetization on Asia’h Epperson as I meant to keep it as a personal blog. I have another 2 blogs that are currently making some small money for me and I am quite happy with it with those small changes.


With the latest update to Asia’h Epperson ranking on Google, I decided to make some changes to this blog. I will attempt to increase the posting frequency and the topics that I will be covered will be very wide, ranging from celebrity news, current news, general news, blogging, commentary and many others.


Comment Policy

Currently, all comments on Asia’h Epperson are been moderated. As the volume of comments is not high at the moment, I intend to keep it this way. Any off-topic, spam, offensive or otherwise inappropriate comments will be deleted.


Okay, so much about the future direction, do check back regularly and thanks for visiting Asia’h Epperson.


Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Who Will Win America Idol Season 7


If Asia’h Epperson was to make it to the final 2, do you think she will win this season American Idol? Of course, it’s just a dream which will never materialize. Asia’h Epperson was already eliminated earlier on.

For now, the final 2 contestants left standing in American Idol season 7 is David Archuleta and David Cook So, in your opinion, who will be crown this season American Idol?

My bet was with David Archuleta. Going by the early indication, it looks like he is the clear favorite. He has earned rave reviews and from the deafening screams you heard from the American Idol audience, they obviously like him. He might just nick it.

Of course, there is no certainty. David Cook might be able to pull off an upset. For the past few years, or rather in all voting competition, there is always a trend that favorite contestant is being voted off as there will be many ‘sympathy’ votes from fans of the other eliminated contestants. And, those votes might be massive and outnumber the votes for the favorite contestant.

Not true? You just need to see those contestants that already voted off earlier on, Asia’h Epperson is one of them. Asia’h Epperson may not be the best in this season, but, she definitely deserved to move further instead of voted out much earlier on.


Anyway, back to the final 2. Will the next America Idol be David Archuleta or David Cook? Let’s just wait and see for the final result.


Asia'h Epperson America Idol


It’s now left to the final 2 in America Idol Season 7 contest. My favorite contestant and I knew you know who is my favorite, Asia'h Epperson, was eliminated on 6 March 2008.

It is well documented that Asia'h Epperson was very talented and with all the focus on her due to her father’s death in a car accident two days before her audition, it is such a shame that she was being voted off unexpectedly in this season America Idol. It is the most disappointing result to date as far as I see because I really thought Asia'h Epperson had the talent and charms to go all the way to the final.


Have you noticed that most favorite are being voted off in previous season as well? That’s the reality of the show. You can be much more talented and sing better than the other contestant but, as long as the majority of audience likes the other contestant over you, you are out.

Asia'h Epperson elimination from the America Idol is a typical example. It is clear that she is definitely not the worst singer, but, as said, no matter how good you are, how talented or even how charming you are in front of the cameras, there is no guarantee that you will be voted into the next round.

Controversy? Well, it is not the first time, but, that is a fact of life. Talent might not bring you far in this show.


So, will Asia'h Epperson bound back? Don’t ever doubt that. Since her elimination from the show, we have seen her singing God Bless America during the Springfield Cardinals first baseball game of the year and also at the opening ceremony of the Joplin North Little League as well.

I think it is just a matter of time that America realize that yes, a talented girl was being voted off too early. Asia'h Epperson does have the talent, courage, determination and looks to succeed in the entertainment industry.

We will wait and see if she will be the next star on the horizon.



Monday, May 19, 2008

Make Money Online - The COWpetition


If you have read about one of my earliest post regarding Making Money Online blog here on Asia'h Epperson where I mentioned about all the controversy and drama in Make Money Online scene, I sign off with a note that there is more to come in Making Money Online, remember?

Okay, there is something brewing now on the Make Money Online scene. As you know, for the past 2 week, I was so busy with my other projects that I hardly post here on Asia'h Epperson and I almost miss out about this interesting contest between two MMO bloggers, Garry Conn and John Cow.

Initially, there are some interesting comments to and fro about the real identity about John Cow and whether Grarry is the man behind the blog. Then somehow, a challenge was being thrown and it was being escalated into a "friendly" contest to see who can build a niche blog that make the most money in 30 days.

Now, how to judge and verify which blog can make the most money? It will definitely be very tough to authenticate the earnings and so, after much debating, it was decided that both blog that was created will be listed on SitePoint at the end of 30 days and whichever blog that generated the highest sale win the contest. Interesting, right?


So, if you are going to ask, what’s so great about this contest that is worth mentioning here on Asia'h Epperson? Now, let me evaluate.

For quite a long time, there is a lot of argument and debate on Make Money Online blog. People question about whether does it really make money and does it teach people how to make money. Those questions have been thrown on some post in Asia'h Epperson as well. So, essentially, people are interested to know the whole process of how to make money online, from the start to the end.

So, in this contest between Cow and Garry, both bloggers are giving free "classes" to readers who are interested to see how they build the blogs, the entire process from start to end. So, if you followed them, they will show you how to create a blog from scratch that will make money online after 30 days. Interesting?

Okay, if you are interested to know more about how to, head over to their site and sign up for their class for the process update. I believe it will help you to gain some knowledge about the make money online process and also some valuable tips.


So much about the Make Money Online blog and contest. Do check back regularly on Asia'h Epperson.


Thursday, May 15, 2008

Asia'h Epperson Ramblings


It has been quite a while since I last posted here on Asia’h Epperson . The activities on Asia'hEpperson is quite low at these moment mainly because I have been busy with my other blogs, making post and building links.


The other reason is because this blog is out of the Google search result pages since my last post. As of today, by searching Asia'h Epperson in Google, this blog is still nowhere in the top 100 spot. I believe this blog is being sandbox, although I am not quite sure why it happens only now. Anyway, when that happens, the only thing that we can do is only wait.


I believe you are aware of the recent earthquake that happens in Asia Country, China. It seems like disaster occurs one after another. First, we have the devastating cyclone that hit Myanmar, now, we have the earthquake that hit China. If you have been following news, you can see how badly China is being hit by this earthquake. It's really sad to see those scene. God bless them.


For America Idol, finally, it is down to the final 2 and therefore, the rumors on the internet that there is an wildcard tour is probably not going to happen. So you won't be able to see Asia'h Epperson, the eliminated contestant, back on America Idol again.

So much for today. Will be back again soon.


Till then.



Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Support Disaster Relief in Myanmar


If you have been following international news lately, you should be aware of the devastating cyclone that hit Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country. With the latest report, the death toll count at more than 22,000 people, with more than 41,000 were missing. It is such a tragic event and my heart goes out to the Myanmar people.


You can read some of the update from Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.


Now, Google had put up a link for donation on it's home page, hoping to help collect donation from millions of its users. Please take some time to click on the link and make some donation to support the people in Myanmar.

The full link on Google is: http://www.google.com/myanmarcyclone/


Thank You.


Sunday, May 4, 2008

What's Next, Asia'h Epperson?


Asia’h Epperson is the first blog I created and it was meant as an experiment into blogging for me. From the day it was created, Asia’h Epperson was always meant to be a personal blog. It contains various different types of postings; personal, America idol, make money online, positive and rambling. Basically, Asia’h Epperson was all about whatever things that came to the mind, I blog.

As time goes on, blogging becomes a daily routine for me. Through Asia’h Epperson, I came into contacts with fellow bloggers. There are some arguments along the way and I learnt many things from it.


Beside Asia’h Epperson, I created another 2 blogs and they are in specific niche. In the recent google pagerank update, one of the 2 got rewarded with a pagerank 3. I started to put up ads a week ago and apparently, they started to make some money for me. Although the amount made is small, it is still a big step for me as this is the first time I really make money online. I started to realize that it is possible to make money online, but, a lot of effort had to be put in.


As you know, I take a short vacation a few days back as I committed to shutdown day. While I was away from blogging for those few days, I think a lot about what I going to do with Asia’h Epperson and my other blogs.

Initially, when Asia’h Epperson was created, I had a very strong determination to move it up the SERPs and rank high for the keyword Asia’h Epperson. I do put in a lot of effort and while seeing it reaches the number 5 spot in Google, it fall later due to many reasons and apparently, Asia’h Epperson now sits somewhere in page 5 or 6.

Considering that fact that Asia’h Epperson won’t make me any money at all, whereas the other blogs already started to make money, most probably, I will put in more times to build up the other blogs. Although I will spend lesser time on Asia’h Epperson, I will not neglect it because this is the first blog I created and I learn a lot of things here.

I will review Asia’h Epperson again as time goes on and for the moment, posting will still be continue and I do hope that Asia’h Epperson will do well again.


Thursday, May 1, 2008

Asia'h Epperson Going For Vacation


Now, if you don't know, 3rd May is the Shutdown Day, and Asia'h Epperson had signed up to support the movement. Although the initial plan is to read some books at somewhere, Asia'h Epperson decided that it would be good to take a break from blogging. So, time to go for a vacation.

Asia'h Epperson will be going away for a few days. This post that you read is being scheduled to post on 1st May, by the time you read it, Asia'h Epperson already happily holiday somewhere.

Till then.