For the sack of simplicity, let’s say your end goal is driving up revenue.  There are a lot of factors that can cause it to grow that includes everything from increasing the cost of a product to improving the amount of organic traffic.  The trick is understanding how changes you implement actually make a difference.  In order to distinguish what’s happening it’s best to only make a single alteration at a time.

I decided to up the price of a product from $6 to $9, and here’s the results:

Time to do some calculations…

Average value prior to change: 0.0623
Average value after change: 0.0495
Standard deviation of change: 0.0161
Number of sales since change: 377
Student’s T-Value: 15.46
Probability the change is due to chance: 0.00%

Well all that means is that the increase in product cost did affect the conversion rate.  Big surprise, right?  And here’s the final figures:

Estimated monthly revenue pre-change: $618
Estimated monthly revenue post-change: $927
Estimated increase in overall monthly revenue: $309

That may look all well and good, but it’s not reality.  For this example site, traffic actually dropped to 1/5 of its original level, which means slightly under 1/3 of its original revenue.  The reason for the drop is a decreasing need for the product and some competition popping up here and there.  The good news, at least for you, is that this example is still relevant.

When you’re looking at your goals and evaluating shifts, it is essential to ensure that those changes are significant.  It’s also important to account for the other effects your alterations may have had.  If you have multiple types of conversions on your website, how was each of them affected?  Which one do you value more?

Take a step back, reexamine your bottom line before and after you’ve made a revision, and confirm the significance of a changes impact.

Writing superb content just doesn’t cut it anymore.  You can create a website or blog with cutting edge and novel content, but unless you promote it no one will find it.  Well, a few people might accidentally type in the url for your site and discover it, but the market you are targeting will be oblivious to your existence.  In order for people to find your website, you need to market it.

Linking

Don’t be afraid to link out to what you believe may be your competitors.  Obviously if you are running an ecommence site, do not link every product page to a cheaper competitor.  That is just plain stupid.  However if you run a blog, linking to useful and related posts or comments is beneficial to your readers and to your website in terms of seo.  Matt Cutts says that linking out is a smart thing to do.

Q: Okay, but doesn’t this encourage me to link out less? Should I turn off comments on my blog?
A: I wouldn’t recommend closing comments in an attempt to “hoard” your PageRank. In the same way that Google trusts sites less when they link to spammy sites or bad neighborhoods, parts of our system encourage links to good sites.

Not only are there benefits in terms of seo, but I’m sure your readers will appreciate it when they want more information on that topic.

What does it say when you have a website that has no outbound links?  If you fail to recognize your resources, why should other people bother linking to you?  Linking is part of the web, and by failing to link you segregate yourself.

If you start linking out, people will start linking in (assuming that your content is worthwhile).  People are inherently curious; visitors on your website will click on those links.  When the webmaster of the other website looks at his backlinks or traffic referrers, that person is going to proceed down the same path as your visitors.  Curiosity will capture them, and they will visit your site.  When they arrive, that first impression will be lasting.  Would you rather them leave thinking – “God dam copy scrapping blogs” or “wow this person really has some incredible knowledge”.  Even if you only plant a seed in the back of their mind instead of leaving a monumental impression, it’s a start at the very least.

Commenting

Interacting with readers on your own blog, as well as, writers of other blogs helps increase your exposure.  It will alert others to your existence, and allow you to participate in discussions beyond the post. Commenting can have the same effect as linking.  If you write an thoughtful respond or question, people will be overcome with curiosity, and they will want to see what else you have to offer.

Commenting is a means of attracting new visitors, and increasing your visibility within your niche, but it also helps with seo.  The majority of blogs may have no follow comment links, but that doesn’t mean that those links lack value.  These links might be unable to pass pagerank and be treated differently by search engines, but the fact of the matter is that no follow comment links are still seen and thus they provide some benefit.

Networking

It encompasses a pretty wide range of mediums from social networking to networking while at a conference. The means by which you network doesn’t really matter, but the message you convey does.  Whether you are talking to someone at a business conference or expressing yourself on Twitter, it is a powerful tool.  Enlarging your contact circle, sharing opportunities and ideas, and marketing yourself is what networking is all about.

When you are networking, do not be self absorbed and have a one track mind.  Just as with commenting, you need to be interactive, engaging, and care about what the other person is saying.  No one likes a person who just pushes their own agenda, while essentially ignoring the other person in a conversation.  You might as well just talk to a mirror if that is how you are going to go about networking.

Linking, commenting, and networking are resources that can be utilized to improve your exposure and gain you credibility.  They are all tied together in a sense, but if you try to squeeze by only using one of these things, increasing your visibility will be hindered.  Don’t ostracize yourself, instead interact with the people involved in your niche.

If you spent that time writing, how much quality content could you create? A couple fantastic posts probably.

It is time to look at how you budget your time.  I am by no means saying stop reading all of your favorite blog posts, but instead I am pointing out the fact that there should be a balance between how much time you read and how much time you allocate to writing.

Reading –> Ideas

Reading posts from other respected individuals in your niche can provide you with insightful ideas.  You might write a spin off about something they discussed, call them out on a falsehood, or just get the inspiration you need to talk about something that no one else has yet touched upon.  Reading quality posts or content is a useful tool in triggering your own thought development.

One thing to avoid while reading is to steer clear of mindless or rehashed content.  Don’t waste your time reading the same concepts over and over.  If you do that, then you blog posts will reflect just that; they will lack any uniqueness and spirit. You might not realize it initially, but a few sentences into a post your mind will click and say this looks all to familiar.  Too many time are the same points bashed again and again or content that isn’t worth reading is posted.  I don’t mind the occasional rant, but sometime enough is enough – people just need to learn to put a cap on it.  If you find yourself reading something that isn’t different and or lacks true creativity, move on to the next thing.

Once you read a few post from someone, you will know what type of content they are pushing, which will drive you away or will leave you wanting more.  There will likely be plenty of places that you will never return to.  However, after a while of cutting your way through the jungle of rehashing, incompetent, or just plain monotone writers, you’ll find a few diamonds in the rough.  Their content will subsequently generate ideas that you can run with.

Writing –> Recognition and Reputation

Quality writing will allow you to create a reputation and gain you recognition as well. If you just mimic your favorite posters, then your content will suck.  Consider using a text spinner to save yourself some time if you plan on rehashing old news. Don’t turn into the blogs that you read a few lines from and proceed to leave.

What you want to do is build upon a concept someone else started or better yet discuss something that is lacking a perspective or any information whatsoever.  To gain recognition and reputation your posts should

• Be original – Stand out from the crowd
• Challenge people – Have merit to your argument though
• Have purpose – Don’t write for the sense of needing to create something new
• Have personality – Express yourself as who you really are

Writing exceptional blog posts by itself is not enough; you need to do more than that.  Writing encompasses more than creating a new blog post.

When I refer to writing, I am not solely talking about writing articles or posts.  Writing also includes commenting on the thing that you have been reading about.  Interacting with the authors that inspire your posts or just make you think is a favorable thing to do.  By challenging their ideas or adding further input upon the topic, you demonstrate your interest and knowledge.  Ideally, this will help you create a network and encourage them to visit our blog to see what you are writing about.  It might also open the door for guest posting, which is an excellent way to increase your exposure.

Not only should you be commenting on the content you read, but you should be interacting with the commenters on your own blog.  This lets your readers know that you care about their opinions and shows that you’ll take the time to develop the discussion and answer questions beyond your post.

Managing and utilizing the available time you have to the maximum is a challenging task, but by doing so you enable yourself to increase your productivity.  By balancing the time you spend reading and writing, you are better able to create quality, original, and provoking content while expanding your reach.

I’m going to refrain from adding 10-20 more proof pictures, otherwise this would just look like a sleazy eBook product minus the “real” reviews from satisfied customers.

The process if pretty simple: Buy a website for $100-$300, then sell the same website for $500-$1,000 at another platform.  However, this method is easier said then done, and if you don’t know what you’re doing you can end up with a number of websites and a lot of wasted time.  Websites that I try to buy have the following specifications:

• Established website with authority and trust
• Age of 1+ year – the older the better
• Numerous quality backlinks – the more (diverse) the better
• Not deindexed in search engines
• Little maintenance required
• Revenue: $0+ / month
• Traffic: 0+ / month

Basically the websites you are looking to purchase have trust and authority, but their potential has not yet been fully utilized.  Finding a website with these sort of specifications can be a bit of a challenge at least when you are trying to find a bargain.  When I’m skimming through the WTS websites threads on my favorite domain name / website forums, I probably find a website with this criteria every other day.

I will caution everyone that you should not just simply buy any website that you think meets these specifications.  A lot of the websites you will be considering aren’t really what you want.  Be more selective than your gut tells you, and if something looks sour it probably is.

Another thing to consider is you might want to limit your selection of websites by niche.  Instead of purchasing any website that fits, only buy the ones that are in a niche you have some interest in.  This way if you don’t turn a quick flip, you can further develop the website and essentially buy links by buying websites.

If the website doesn’t sell quickly (within a week), then you are not S.O.L.  I’d suggest that you fix up the website a bit by addressing on page optimization issues, adding new content, etc. depending on how much time you want to invest.  Let it continue to marinate for a few months, and then relist it for sale again on forums and/or Flippa.  If you bought a quality website, then it won’t lose it’s value over time.

Obviously the larger the budget you have, the less variance you are going to see with your return on investment.  You will occasionally get a few duds that you can’t sell for a profit, so you can cut your minimal losses or just incorporate them into your portfolio.  On the whole though once you get the hang of it, flipping these type of sites can be extremely profitable.

• Just got out of the shower.
• Is headed off to an exciting day in NYC!!@
• Got stuck in traffic. Sad face.
• Hey babie, check me out…i just uploaded some pics at ***.com
• Victory is ours! (Reference to Ashton Kutcher’s race to 1,000,000 followers)

I could care less about all of those things and so should all of you.

The only purpose I see so far is that if you haven’t gotten your reality TV fix, you can now see minute by minute updates of the exact same garbage.  Oh, there’s one more; for all of you stalkers out there, following your favorite celebrity has never been easier.

Really though, stop wasting your time on Twitter.  Move onto something a bit more meaningful – flash games perhaps.  At least those can improve you fine motor skills and coordination.  Let Twitter continue down the path to the ultimate internet cesspool that ends up becoming synonymous with the spam section of you inbox.