What WordPress theme are you using and do you like it?

I get this question a lot so I wanted to do a quick response for future reference. This way if I’m asked again, which I know I will be, I can just refer to this link.

This site is based on a theme called Live Wire by WooThemes. Although the theme has been highly modified, it gave me the foundation needed for what I wanted to create. For the most part, adding plug-ins have been fairly simple.

I am very happy with my site, which is not easy for me to say. I am one of the pickiest people I know, my web guy can attest to that. I am continually making small changes but that is to be expected.  It’s all part of the trial and error process of creating a successful, profitable blog.

If I had to give a second choice for a theme company it would be StudioPress, previously known as RevolutionThemes. I have used this company for a couple mini-sites of mine and have been very happy with the outcome.

Do you need hosting? I suggest HostGator. I have my account under their baby plan which is only $9.95 a month. With the baby plan I am able to host an unlimited amount of websites and email accounts. As of today this site alone reaches about 18,000 monthly visitors and has never had any down time, knock on wood.

If you need help with installing one of the WordPress themes, installing plug-ins or making changes, send me an email using the contact form. I will be more than happy to put you in touch with my web guy. He is VERY reasonable on pricing.

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Recycled content is when a site owner takes content from another location, usually rewords it and posts to their site as if it was their own. This practice is most used for mini-sites and blogs.

Is this practice ok?
Within reason, yes.

Mini-Sites
I have several mini-sites that I have definitely done this with. A perfect example would be a poker site of mine.  The site provides information on how to play games like Texas Holdem and Omaha. Using my site as the example, there are only so many ways I can write an informational piece on Texas Holdem and make it understandable.

Blog
I am sure I have used this for news, again, how many ways can you report the same story. I cannot say that I have used this for my blog articles. I may get an idea or believe something to be useful to my readers by visiting other blogs. In those situations, I will normally test out what I have read and create a new article based on my experiences.

I have two words for those that recycle content, public domain. Public domain is a term for intellectual properties not owned by anyone. The full definition is way to long, visit Wikipedia for the full version. From what I was recently told anything written before 1923 is considered public domain. You can actually take an entire book written before 1923 and resell, reword, retitle or anything else you want and call it your own. Before using this technique please do your own research, I visited a site called copylaw.com.

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Such a simple task but not everyone is doing it. If you do not know how to backup your data please call your hosting company and ask them to walk you through it. I know HostGator has a tutorial video in their cPanel.

Three Examples Why:
Andrew, a friend of mine and one of my developers almost lost 75+ of his websites. I couldn’t believe it when the guy that does my backups doesn’t do his own. Luckily for him it was an operating system issue and was able to recover all of his data. Downside was it took 2-3 days to get everything back online. You can read everything he has to say about it at DayOnlineSolutions.com.

DNUnderground.com, a domaining blog, lost everything over the weekend. In this case his hosting company was not able to recover anything. Luckily he contacted me, thanks to Andrew (my developer) I was able to walk him through recovering the majority of his articles. We instructed him to do a Google search, site:dnunderground.com and select the cached articles one by one. Using this simple trick he was able to copy the majority of his articles, titles and dates. Once the site is back online it is a simple cut and paste of the articles with dates and titles. This worked for this occasion but will not always work, it depends on how often Google visits and caches your site.

YGrab.com, another domaining blog, lost everything in August. Since losing everything only 14 posts have been made, one of which to say backup your data.

Personally, if I lost all of my files I don’t think I could blog again. Two reasons, one I couldn’t imagine starting from scratch and two because I would be too embarrassed. How embarrassing to be in this business and not back up your files.

Please do not learn the hard way, backup your sites ASAP. I did a complete backup last night, took 24 minutes, which will be worth every minute if my sites go down. From that point I only need to do regular backups for my content. This I will do once or twice a week which should only take a few minutes.

One last thing, do not expect your hosting company to save you. As stated below backing up your files is a courtesy, not an obligation. I found this in my HostGator account, similar to any of the hosting companies out there. “Your use of this service is at your sole risk. Our backup service is provided to you as a courtesy. HostGator is not responsible for files and/or data residing on your account. You agree to take full responsibility for files and data transferred and to maintain all appropriate backup of files and data stored on HostGator servers“. Basically your loss and you can’t sue. Backup your files!!!

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Most people create a mini-site and think they are done. If you want to make money then you’re not. Sorry but in most cases money will not just flow into your bank accounts once the mini-site is created.

I myself am guilty of this so don’t feel bad. I create a mini-site, add my Google AdSense code and then forget about it.

Here are some avenues to making the most out of your mini-sites.

Ad Space
Selling ad space is another way to make a few dollars. Ads come in many sizes so finding something that will flow with your site should be very easy. Simply research a similar website or matching product and either give them a call or send an email. If you don’t ask, they can’t say yes. A reasonable price for a banner would be between $10-$50 per month. Of course if your Alexa, traffic and page rank is high you will charge more.

Directory
Add a directory to your mini-site. There are plenty of free directory scripts available for your sites. Install the script and start selling links. Most of the time the directory scripts are self sustaining which means you don’t have to do any work to maintain them. This is also a great idea if your site targets a city. I think it is safe to say that the majority of city businesses would want their companies listed. If you want more of hands on with the local businesses refer to links, you would make more money using that method.

Google AdSense
I love the fact that I make money just by someone clicking on one of the ads. Yes you do make less compared to an ebook or product sale but no matter what you get paid.

Links
A not talked about subject but a very valid one, selling links. Google does not like this but in the same respect Google does not pay your bills. Depending on the page rank and traffic of your site you can sell links for a nice amount. Lets say “hypothetically” I sold links, this is what I would sell them for per year.

PR0 $30-$35
PR1 $35-$45
PR2 $45-$55
PR3 $55-$75
PR4 $75-$100
PR5 $100-$200
and so forth…

If your selling links for a local directory I would more than likely charge $50-$150 per year.

Product, Service and eBook
If you are going to go this route I suggest you researching the (affiliate) product, service or ebook before creating the content for your site. By doing this you can write your content directing or giving advice to buy whatever you are selling.

Reviews
Offer reviews on your mini-site. It is fairly simple to put together a 200-300 word article about a product or service. For the average mini-site I would sell reviews for $25-$75.

Because of the large ranges in traffic, page rank and Alexa ranking I did not cover every possibility for ad costs. I focused more on the average, an average mini-site will hold a Google page rank of 0-3. If you have any questions let me know, I’d be happy to answer them in comments.

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I would like to break down the numbers for a mini-site project I just completed and some plans.

Development costs:

1. Domain Name $7.05
2. Theme $0
3. Install $15
4. Logo $30
5. Articles $65
6. Article Re-Write $15

Total: $132.05

Time spent was about two hours managing the logo creation, site setup and article implementation.

I probably paid a little more than some of you out there. I’m not tech savvy so didn’t do the WP install and I didn’t feel like doing the rewrites for the articles. For me the extra couple of dollars spent is worth the time saved.

With very little work I have already recovered $100 of my initial investment. I sold three links a few months back on another poker site so I just contacted them to see if they were interested again. One of the three responded and purchased a link on the home page along with a review article.

Within the next week or two my goal is to have sold at least one more link at $35 to break even on the development costs.
Upadate (1/12) I just sold another link for $35 and have broken even on this project.

Now that I have broken even on the project I a few choices…

• Sell the mini-site as is for $100-$250 (take the money and run)
• Leave it alone until the next page rank update (with a higher pr i can sell links for more)
• Continue selling links and work on SEO (build up and make real money)

At this point I’m really not sure what I will do. Because I’m not into building up my mini-sites I’ll probably go with one of the first two options. Now for everyone out there wondering what if I selected the last option. Well, affiliate programs like Party Poker pay $75 just for someone signing up and playing poker. I also have a learn how to play poker banner on the site that pays $23.50 on the initial sale and another $7.50 every month. Real money can be made, it takes effort and time.

A side note for everyone, Google does not allow any of their ads to be displayed on gambling sites. Their is a little trick to this, as long as you are not promoting or directing anyone to an online gambling site you can use Google ads. That decision is up to you, either high paying affiliate sales or Google ads.

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