Becky Marie's Blog

Well, my blog entry this week is a little late mainly because of taxes and this nasty cold ( currently called ‘The Cold from Hell’ ) I have gotten. Leaving little time and energy for anything else. And for these two reason this blog will also be short, but sweet.

I recently discovered a new webpage that I thought most of you would like. I think most affiliate marketers like a little risk, and like money. This page has both, and in the last week I’ve already won $140.00 !!!! It’s called Bid On Cash. It works like other auctions in that you bid on an item, BUT in this case the item is pure cash. Each bid adds 2 minutes to the auction. The auctions range from $30 to $1000 ! This company is new ( just opened in February! ), thus the competition is pretty easy right now! You get 5 bids just for signing up. You can sign up by Clicking HERE.  Enjoy. Tell me what you think.

Love,

Becky

It’s Tax time, so lately I’ve been feeling like there are never enough hours in the day. I have 2 business now to organize my books for, all the while doing invoices and running the businesses. Thus, leaving me feeling like i’m running around like chicken with my head cut off. Yaaaa…

Any who, I’ve been really trying hard to narrow my scopes right now on just a couple of projects instead of having my hands in a bunch of little things and never getting much of anything accomplished. Last week was pretty dismal online, which really keeps my spirits down.  I won’t lie, sometimes when it comes to online marketing I get scattered brained. I try one thing for a couple days, get another idea in my head and scoot on to trying that idea. There fore, I sometimes never full carry out an idea and it never reaches it’s potential. This is dooms day for any business. So, I’ve promised myself that I am going to keep my sites narrower. I’m putting a bunch of little sites on hold. And concentrating more on my 3 things. Hopefully I’ll get there revenue up and then I can start move on to that other pile of things I was working on. My thoughts in this is why do a million things mediocre, if you can 1 or 2 things really well? It only makes since this way. Sometimes I feel like I have online ADD/ADH.

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes for me : )

How about you? How are you?

Love,

Becky

I , like everyone else in the marketing world, dreams of the day when one of my webpage's magically appears in the 1st spot of the organic search in Google. This is the money spot. Your not paying anyone to be there, the traffic flow starts pouring in for free, and so do the conversations. 

I literally imagine this in brain and thoughts whenever I get a spare moment to close my eyes. I also picture my revenue at each network increasing dramatically. I also picture the numbers in my bank account and how there will be many, many, many digits to the LEFT side of the decimal point!  My hope in picturing all this , in detail , is to evoke the power of thought. This being that if you visualize something hard enough, then the event is suppose to occur ( Or at least that’s what I’ve heard ). Or course if it were as easy as this then everyone would be millionaires, have amazing bodies , and all have all of our wildest wishes granted. BUT, I think there is a little something to the power of thought… 

Wellllll…. As it turns out, last week-ish one of the keywords that I’ve been working toward getting ranked, ranked on the first page of google. Wha-hooooo ! It was a fairly competitive words and It wasn’t #1 in Google, more like #6. However, this should have ( operative word here is SHOULD HAVE ) started bringing in increased traffic. I knew the keyword I was targeting was good enough to bring in a decent amount of traffic, but it didn't. It must have been one of those flukes…. All signs point to “YES! That’s a Kickass keyword!” But then it isn’t….

So, ya,, that sucks.

I hope to have a more up lifting post for you all next week.

Love,

Becky

So, my blogs been down for about a month now.  It is not that I have been lazy and not working  online at all. It’s actually the opposite. I have developed the following new routine of my day.

5:00 AM  - Wake Up work online

10:00 or 11:00 AM – Shower & Start other “ job “

2:00 PM – Dogs for LONG walk.

3:30 PM Till bedtime – Feed dogs, clean, work online.

My increased dedication online pays off on some days and I get hopeful. Then other days I make $10.00 and I think “What the Hell Am I doing wasting my time on this shit.” When you dedicate 5 or hours a day to something and make $10.00, it begins to make you feel like your wasting your time! On days like that I try to tell myself that these hours are an investment that will pay off in the future. My hard work today, will payoff in the long run. Dear lord, I hope I’m not fooling myself.

Before I dropped off the face of the blogger earth I believe I told you that  I have been c0nsintrating more on SEO stuff in order to build up a little cushion of cash. My plan for the future is  to do both SEO and PPC.  As I am sure you are well aware, PPC gets you large bursts of cash and has more upfront risk. While SEO takes times to build, and gets you a steady stream of cash. I just can’t live with the risk of losing $1000 (or more dollars) when my finances have been so unsteady that last couple years. And so I have entered a new world of SEO.

Here’s a little chart of my earnings since January 1st (because i’ve only been doing SEO – this chart is 100% profit ). I did have one day where I made $90.00 one day but I took it out because it was such a spike in earnings. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, when I was making this chart I was hoping it would show a slow, but stead increase in the money I’m making… And it does, kinda….  I think when I looked at a chart like this over a 6 month period it will tell me more…

For now I’m just a steady train chugging a long hoping my hard work and enthusiasm pays off in the long run. I keep this mantra of internet marketers in my head when I am feeling hopeless, “The  only difference between those who fail and those who succeed online are : Those who give up, and those who don’t”.

Dropping off the blogger Earth for 2 months

Yet again I dropped off the blogger for a couple months. Yes, i realize this is not good marketing. And, yes, I realize I probably lose readers this way. BUT the truth be told despite all the L O V E woodpress gets I think it’s stupid and I enjoy Blogger.com better.  I know, I know, it’s the “ in the thing..”. And Yes,  I also realize should begin to learn the ins and outs of word press because It’ll do nothing but help me. BUT, I’m sorry, I just feel like it’s time that could be spent doing 100 million things more productive. The last straw came when someone from Word press TOOK my blog down stating I couldn’t have my affiliate links on it. So, in protest re-directed this blog to a blogger.com blog until I could my previous domain ( beckymarie.com ) on a blogger.com blog. So, with the wonderful help of someone at host gator we got all the wheels in motion. Set up a new DNS host,  created a CNAME record, yadda, yadda…. But then google ( Google owns blogger.com ) dropped the ball. And After waiting 2 months for them to pick up the ball, I said top myself, FORGET IT! I’m sick of waiting! I like blogger better and I miss my readers. So.. Here I am… Starting over - kind of.. with a re-direct blog…. I lost my Alexa’s ranking and maybe some readers (sad face here)… but oh, well at least I’m back and connected to you.

I’ve missed you all. So – Say hello so I know your out there.

So, here’s my plan of action. Every Monday I will post. Come rain or shine a new post will be here!

Love you,

Becky Marie

Hi everyone. Do you miss me? I'm having HostGator Host my blog from now on instead of wordpress. So........... until the name servers and all that good stuff gets caught up I've redirected my blog to here.

Why am I dropping wordpress? Because they told me I couldn't have any affiliate links at all on my blog & I think that's stupid. I'm sure they don't care if I dropped them as a host. And to be honest, I kinda like blogger better then wordpess... BUT all the cool kids use wordpress, so after all the dust settles I'll get back to my wordpress blog, minus it hosted by them.

Love you all!

Becky

I just got back from vacation and it was the first vacation I wasn’t worried about money. Last year when I went away I unknowingly over drafted in both my checking accounts (business, and personal). I remember last year sitting in the woods and getting cell phone service for a 1/2 a minute. It was just enough time for my blackberry to connect with my bank account alerts. In came lots of alerts reading “Your bank account balance is under $5.00” ; “Your bank account balance is under $2.00” ; “Your bank account balance is under $0.00”. What a horrible feeling to be sitting in the woods, knowing you can do nothing, imagining the over draft fees piling up. Need less to say it wasn't;t exactly relaxing.

Fast forward to this year and money was not on my mind while I relaxed in an inter-tube, on a beautiful Adirondack Lake, while reading Us Weekly, drinking a beer (vacation pics. to come) .  The bills were covered, and I had money left over to have fun with. Ahhh, what a great feeling. Knock on wood, but the last 2 months (as I indicated in my last blog) have been good online. I am seeing the highest numbers thus far, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. : ) My only on going problem is financing my marketing, which I believe I have a solution to. At the end of September / Mid- October I should have high enough affiliate checks coming in to pay OFF my business American Express card, which I can then use for my marketing.  The only bad part is that I have to wait a month. Think of all the money I am loosing during those days!

Here are my numbers lately (I left out the most of the days where I ran out of money… ):

DATE	MADE	SPENT	PROFIT	NOTES
8/2/2009	$ 298.76	$ 233.81	$ 64.95	N/A
8/3/2009	$ 349.19	$ 247.03	$ 102.16	N/A
8/4/2009	$ 363.89	$ 243.18	$ 120.71	N/A
8/5/2009	$ 247.99	$ 142.11	$ 105.88	N/A
8/6/2009	$ 267.51	$ 161.59	$ 105.92	N/A
8/7/2009	$ 247.95	$ 132.37	$ 115.58	N/A
8/8/2009	$ 295.71	$ 149.47	$ 146.24	N/A
8/9/2009	$ 233.55	$ 123.64	$ 109.91	N/A
8/10/2009	$ 177.74	$ 108.93	$ 68.81	N/A
8/11/2009	$ 18.22	$ -	$ 18.22	Ran Out Of $

8/25/2009	$ 290.62	$ 176.90	$ 113.72	N/A
8/26/2009	$ 317.14	$ 169.00	$ 148.14	N/A
8/27/2009	$ 182.67	$ 120.89	$ 61.78	Ran out of $ before Day was over : (
8/28/2009	$ 4.56	$ -	$ 4.56	Ran Out Of $
8/29/2009	$ 7.84	$ -	$ 7.84	Ran Out Of $
8/30/2009	$ 4.46	$ -	$ 4.46	Ran Out Of $
8/31/2009	$ 8.12	$ -	$ 8.12	Ran Out Of $
9/2/2009	$ 362.37	$ 197.62	$ 164.75
9/3/2009	$ 229.60	$ 142.08	$ 87.52	Ran out of $ before Day was over : (

 

The Dilemma – Advice Needed…..

As you can see things are going great as long as there is a cash flow going in to my campaigns. Also, besides crunching numbers day to day and 10 minute basic daily maintenance I'm not doing much with these this campaign, or on new ones. This is all  because of time restraints. Remember, I have a stupid , god awful, torturous office part – time office job? It only pays $11 dollars an hour, my paycheck for this week for doing 20 hours of work was just under $200.00 (I practically made that on 9/2 doing 10 minutes of work!) So, basically the job pulls in about an “extra” $800 a month, but SUCKS up 80 hours of my time! The boss is an jerk. The job makes me want to stab my toes with a butter knife… So, the job is guaranteed cash. Affiliate Marketing isn’t.  On the flip side, if I invested that 80 hours a month into my marketing endeavors I feel like I’d be doing even better then I am now. Another thing is my debt… I’d like to pay it off! I have $6000 in credit card debt….

So, what do you think? Keep to stupid job that allows me virtually no time to invest in online stuff but is a guaranteed source of money? Quit the job?

An Aside : Let’s also remember I have the cash source to my other business doing Animal behavioral Consults. This business is doing fine finically. In the future I would like to do this business casually, and marketing mainly.  

Becky

It has occurred to me (and was pointed out by Tyler Cruz) that you, the reader, knows nothing about me. You don’t know if I am 17 or 89. You don’t know if I am a girl? Or a boy? For all you know I could be a spoiled little brat who has inherited millions and living comfortably off the internet.

The problem is it is excruciatingly hard to write solely about one selves… Let me start giving you my stats.. I am a woman, I am 28 (going on 29). I am short, only 5’2 on a good day. Blonde hair, and freakishly big blue eyes. I have a prosthetic incus, it’s a long story… I am not a spoiled brat, although I have been called a brat a few time.. However, I prefer to call it “youngest child syndrome.” I have always been painfully determined and ready to take on a challenge. While to main this is seen as an attribute to me this personality trait is a often a fatal flaw. Why? Well, for starters most of the challenges I have conquered I am rewarded with a certificate of achievement, rather then a check. This is not say that I am by any means money hungry, although if I really want to sink my teeth in this business maybe I should be.
If fact, the fact that I am not money hungry is probably why I don’t tend to take on challenges involving money… And is probably why I don’t have any.

I have debated with myself how much of my personal life I wanted to divulge on this blog, I think it is only fair if I am 100% honest with the 5 reader I have. Plus, the personal stuff is usually more interesting. So, here is my story…..

If you were to talk to anyone who knows me they would probably tell you I am ¼th hippy, 1/8th physiologist, 1/8th do-gooder, and ½ animal lover. I’m down to earth, and one hell of a fantastic listener! I’m probably also one of the hardest workers you’ll ever meet, and I am nice. Since I was about 7 years old I have had an intense admiration for wildlife. There is no magical story that started it. It probably developed out of the fact that my older sister worked for the SPCA and would bring home the menagerie of animals she had fallen in love with. Consequently in college I got a Bachelors of Science degree in Zoology, and Associates in Zoo Technology. My last two years of college I spent in Florida. I loved that time in my life. I went to a very small program in Florida where there were only 35 people in my major. I was surrounded by like minded people. We were all close, and they all became like family to me. I thrived in Florida and was even inducted into the 2004 hall of fame at my college! After graduation I planned to move to Tampa, where my then boyfriend and I were going to start our lives. That was until my then boyfriend decided to start sleeping with a freshman. At which time I decided to move back home to New York. I had no plan. I had no direction. I just knew home is where I needed to settle because without family and life long friends you are with nothing. After moving home by pure, complete and utter luck I was asked to work for an exceedingly wealthy man who built his own private zoo. The zoo was complete with Leopards, wallabies, artic foxes, gibbons, otters, ocelots, cougars, elks, reindeer, oh gosh, lots more. Besides the fact that I was getting paid $250 a week, and sinking myself into a huge pile of debt in order to live, the job was amazing. About a year later, I was abruptly let go. Apparently not all the wild animals had come to the zoo legally and the feds. were after the owner. I did most of the permit paperwork, and in order to save his own butt the owner let me go. A week later I was summed to court to testify. I’m not really sure what happened after that. The problem is even if the animals didn’t arrive illegally what is the USDA to do with them? Not many people in the nation can not take in and house all those wild animals. So the feds could do only one of 3 things with the animals : confiscate the animals and have no where to home them, confiscate the animals and euthanize them, or keep them right where they are and fine the owner. My guess is the just fined him…

Jobless and broke I started my own business until I could figure something else out. I put up some flyers to do dog walks, pet sitting, and animal behavior work. Well, the business took off and before you knew it I was doing ok. I work endless hours though. If 3 families needed pet sitting in one day, then that means I have to do upwards of 9 to 12 visits in that day, spanning the hours of 7am to 10pm. Having more then 3 families in need of pet sitting, plus 4 to 5 daily dog walks is NOT an uncommon day. Plus, doing paper work in my spare time.. I have hired 2 to 4 people to help me. In the last 4 years I have incorporated the business and just last year I purchased a house.

So, what’s the problem? A couple things… For starters, although it sounds like I am financially successful, I’m not. The area I live in has a HUGE suburban sprawl, and so in order to stay a float I must cover a large area. About 80% of my over head is gas, I drive anywhere from 120 to 300 miles a day! My 2001 Toyota Corolla has 300,000 miles. Along the way I have had some emergencies that I have had to put on a credit card in order to live. And when gas prices spiked to $4.00 a gallon I was finicality sinking. I have since let go 1 full time employee and gas prices are down. However, my credit card debt is still outrageous, I have an over due water bill, and other over due bills. My car, oh my wonderful car, is on its last breath of life. But most importantly I’m not happy. I’m happy with my personal life. I have a fabulous group of friends, an amazing family and sweet boyfriend. But in my career I am not beaming sun rays. Dog walking and pet sitting is mind numbing. Anyone can walk a dog! It takes no special skill or education to walk. Also, 75% of my day is driving. Simply put I am ready for a change. I am not naive to think that this is a get rich quick career change. I don’t care much of fancy cars, I just want to be able to go to Target and splurge on that $24.99 sweater I have been eyeing all season and not worry about over drafting my bank account. I want to be able to buy the people I love presents that cost over $15. I want to go out to dinner with my ladies.

I know exactly what I want, I’m ready to put in long hours, and hard work.

Thank you for your support…

Rebecca.