Facebook awarded $711 million in spam lawsuit
Facebook was awarded $711 million in a judgment Thursday against self-described "spam king" Sanford Wallace.
Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California granted Facebook's application for a default judgment against Wallace for violating the Can-Spam Act, which bans "false and misleading" marketing e-mails. Fogel also found that Wallace "willfully violated" a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction issued in the case and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution of criminal contempt.
"The record demonstrates that Wallace willfully violated the statutes in question with blatant disregard for the rights of Facebook and the thousands of Facebook users whose accounts were compromised by his conduct," Fogel wrote in his judgment order, which also permanently prohibits Wallace from accessing the Facebook Web site or creating a Facebook account, among other restrictions.
Facebook said the order should serve as a strong deterrent against spammers.
"While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals," Sam O'Rourke, Facebook's lead counsel for litigation and intellectual property, wrote in a Facebook blog post. "This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers."
Facebook sued Sanford and two others in February alleging they used phishing sites or other means to fraudulently gain access to Facebook accounts and used them to distribute phishing spam throughout the network.
Wallace earned the nicknames "Spamford" and "spam king" for his past role as head of CyberPromotions, a company responsible for sending as many as 30 million junk e-mails a day in the 1990s.
In May 2008, Wallace and another defendant were ordered to pay MySpace.com $234 million following a trial at which Wallace repeatedly failed to turn over documents or even show up in court.
Wallace has also been previously sued by the Federal Trade Commission and companies such as AOL and Concentric Network. In May 2006, Wallace and his company Smartbot.net were ordered by a federal court to turn over $4.1 million.
As large as it is, the Facebook judgment against Wallace is not the largest for a case brought under the Can-Spam Act. Late last year, the federal court in San Jose awarded Facebook $873 million in damages against a Canadian man accused of spamming users of the site.
Setting Up in Singapore
| Setting Up in Singapore |
| Most foreigners find it easy to start a business in Singapore as we have a very pro-business environment. You just need to be aware of additional regulations and permits that apply to non-Singapore Citizens. Visit Singapore
Branch Of A Foreign Company
Representative Office In Singapore Setting up a Representative Office (RO) in Singapore is a good way for foreign businesses to explore business opportunities in Singapore or the region.
New Business Or Company
EntrePass
Multiple Journey Visa
Passes For Foreign Employees
Overseas Government Offices
Living & Working In Singapore
Online Guides For Foreign Businesses In Singapore
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S.Koreans mourn rising star supermodel
Fans and friends on Saturday expressed shock at the death of a South Korean supermodel who was found hanged in her central Paris apartment earlier this week.
Daul Kim's friends remembered her talent and the difficulties she faced, while her Internet homepage was swamped with tributes following reports of the 20-year-old rising star's apparent suicide.
Ahn Seong-Jin, a photographer who had often worked with Kim, said she was full of ideas and creativity.
"She was able to make various looks and postures on catwalks that can hardly be matched by others. She had an optimum body shape and an amazing capacity to adapt herself to changing circumstances," he told journalists.
A modelling agent said on condition of anonymity: "She was an excellent model but she used to say she had hard times off the job."
Kim wrote on her homepage on August 22: "I need to learn how to stop destroying myself, stop being hard on myself and be nice to myself."
She added: "I need to keep wanting something nice, something warmer than just a fur coat."
The last entry on her blog "I Like To Fork Myself" -- posted Wednesday, a day before her death -- was headlined "say hi to forever."
One poster named Eun Hyo-Sun wrote: "I sincerely hope and pray that you will find that 'something nice' and 'something warm' up there (in heaven).... All the fashion industry is mourning."
Another contributor said:"I believe that you can find what you want. I'll pray for you."
The 1.78-metre (5 feet 10 inches) Kim, who was known for her thick mane of dark hair and quirky look, was born in Seoul and raised there and in Singapore.
She made her catwalk debut for Chanel, Dries Van Noten, and Maison Martin Margiela in 2007 and recently appeared in a commercial for Christopher Kane's Topshop line.
Obama health drive faces critical vote
WASHINGTON (AFP) - – President Barack Obama's signature drive to remake US health care faced a critical Senate test vote Saturday, amid bitter 11th-hour debate and behind-the-scenes wrangling on a century-old policy feud.
Lawmakers were to vote at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Sunday) on whether to formally take up White House-backed Democratic legislation estimated to extend coverage to some 31 million Americans who currently lack it.
The measure, which includes a government-backed insurance program to compete with private firms and restrictions on dropping care for pre-existing ailments, is estimated to cost 848 billion dollars through 2019 but cut the sky-high US budget deficit by 130 billion dollars over the same period.
If Democrats held together and rallied the 60 votes needed to ensure passage over united opposition from the 100-seat chamber's 40 Republicans, the Senate was due to take up the bill around November 30th for at least three weeks.
A successful vote after that would force the Senate and the House of Representatives, which passed its own version of the legislation November 7, to craft a compromise bill and vote again in order to send it to Obama.
Republicans, one of whom has vowed a "holy war" against the bill, hope to delay the battle into next year with the expectation that the 2010 midterm elections may make it harder for centrist Democrats to support the legislation.
As debate opened Saturday, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned against passing "this staggering spending program at a time when many would argue our international bankers, the Chinese, are lecturing us about debt."
Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid shot back that McConnell had unquestioningly backed spending hundreds of billions of dollars for the "war of choice" in Iraq under then-president George W. Bush.
Reid charged it was "beyond the pale" for McConnell "to lecture us now on debt when not only the war but the other actions of the Bush administration drove this country into deep debt."
The heated debate was unlikely to sway the most-watched wavering Democrats, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, whose vote was perhaps most in doubt because she faces a tough reelection campaign in 2010.
On Thursday, another swing-vote Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, said he would vote with his party on Saturday while warning he might side with Republicans in subsequent fights.
The White House, which has wooed undecided Democrats, declared the legislation "a critical milestone" on Friday and warned "the nation cannot wait another year for health insurance reform."
After next week's Thanksgiving holiday break, Reid was speak to individual senators to "make sure they each have some peace of mind about what the bill does and can support it, and if they have a concern, address it," said the Democrats' chief Senate vote counter, Dick Durbin of Illinois.
The House of Representatives approved its own trillion-dollar version in a 220-215 squeaker only after winning over a platoon of centrist Democrats by toughening restrictions on federal funds subsidizing abortions.
The Senate version does not include that stricter language, and changes several other key provisions of what would be the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in four decades.
The United States is the world's richest nation but the only industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured. Related article: Women's health in political tug-of-war.
Several US presidents since Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900s have sought to overcome the traditional US suspicion of a wider government role in health care.
Washington spends more than double what Britain, France, and Germany do per person on health care, but lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Ming Yi sentenced to 10 months jail; his aide Raymond Yeung gets 9 months jail
SINGAPORE: The ex—CEO of Ren Ci Hospital, Ming Yi has been sentenced to ten months jail. A district court has also sentenced his former aide, 34—year—old Raymond Yeung to nine months’ imprisonment.
47—year—old Ming Yi, whose real name is Goh Kah Heng and Raymond Yeung were convicted last month of falsifying Ren Ci payment vouchers.
The pair was involved in an unauthorised loan of S$50,000 made in 2004 to the Mandala Buddhist Cultural Centre, a religious artefact shop managed by Yeung.
They were also convicted of giving false information to the Commissioner of Charities.
District Judge Toh Yung Cheong said Ming Yi had abused his authority and betrayed the trust given to him.
He said the money could have been used to help the poor and needy patients.
In mitigation, Ming Yi’s lawyer Senior Counsel Andre Yeap argued against a jail sentence.
He said the "tsunami—sized" shame Ming Yi endured because of the trial is punishment enough.
He said Ming Yi had helped a lot of people even risking his life when performing physical stunts to raise money for Ren Ci.
Moreover, he also did not personally profit from the loan to Yeung.
But the prosecution, DPP Jaswant Singh, said a tough stand is needed when charitable funds are misused.
Moreover, Yeung put the money to "frivolous" use to renovate a friend’s flat in Hong Kong.
Both Ming Yi and Yeung have filed an appeal.
Andre Yeap, Ming Yi’s lawyer, said: "We actually have ten days to file a notice of appeal against sentencing. But for administrative reasons, we were told we have to file a notice of appeal today, so that’s been filed. I believe Raymond has filed a notice of appeal also for the same reason."
Both Ming Yi and Yeung had filed an appeal against their conviction last month.
Both men are now out on bail. Ming Yi’s was set at S$450,000 while Yeung’s is S$200,000. — 938LIVE/vm
Magazine pays damages to Singapore leaders: lawyer
SINGAPORE (AFP) - – The Far Eastern Economic Review and its editor have paid over 400,000 Singapore dollars (290,000 US) to settle a defamation suit filed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, the magazine's lawyer said Wednesday.
"They have paid it yesterday," said Peter Low, who defended the Hong Kong-based publication and its editor Hugo Restall against the defamation suit filed by the premier and his father Lee Kuan Yew.
The two parties reached a settlement on the amount that FEER and Restall should pay the two Singapore leaders, said Low.
Court orders issued on November 13 to enforce the settlement showed the prime minister got 200,000 Singapore dollars in damages and 30,000 Singapore dollars in legal costs.
Lee Kuan Yew, 86, who now serves as a senior adviser in the cabinet, was to be paid 150,000 Singapore dollars in damages and 25,000 Singapore dollars in legal costs, the documents said.
The settlement was reached after the Court of Appeal last month upheld a 2008 decision finding the defendants guilty of defaming the Lees in a 2006 article based on an interview with Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party leader.
Dow Jones and Co., which owns the magazine, said in a statement that it disagreed with the verdict and denied any wrongdoing, but would settle the damages instead of prolonging the process.
"The Court casts significant doubt as to whether Singapore will ever recognise the fair and honest reporting privilege accorded to responsible journalism -- a privilege available in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries with diverse histories and cultures," Dow Jones said.
FEER, at its height one of Asia's most influential and respected publications, is to be shut down in December, one of a growing number of newspapers and magazines which have fallen victim to the Internet age.
The article at the heart of the case -- entitled "Singapore's 'Martyr', Chee Soon Juan" -- described the opposition Singapore Democratic Party secretary general's battle against the ruling People's Action Party and its leaders.
In the article, editor Restall also touched on the success of Singapore officials in libel suits against critics.
Singaporean leaders have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from domestic critics and foreign publications.
They say the lawsuits are necessary to protect their reputations from unfounded attacks and dismiss criticism from human rights and media groups accusing Singapore of suppressing media freedom.
Singapore Press to buy shopping mall for $392 mln
SINGAPORE, Nov 17 - Singapore Press Holdings
The company said on Tuesday its subsidiary, CM Domain Pte Ltd, has received notification from the government's Housing Development Board that it won a tender for the purchase of Clementi Mall.
Jackie Chan is afraid of needles?
Despite his muscular built, Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan superstar admitted that he was afraid of needles, and revealed that his 3-day charity stint in Vietnam as a doctor's assistant was more tiring than martial arts!
Jackie was in Singapore last Saturday for his latest starring role - a charity ambassador of the Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution (STCMI).
Known for his philantrophic efforts, Jackie was selected to be STCMI's charity ambassador by chairman Lim Guan Lee, through the help of Guan Weiqiang, boss of local pub "Easy 50". Last Saturday, the actor took out time to fly to Singapore to sign the agreement paper, as well as visit STCMI.
Needless to say, there were many fans receiving him when he arrived, young and old. The moment they saw him, the auntie fans kept on gushing about how their idol looks younger than he is on television. Also among the fans was a six-year-old boy, who was busy snapping photos of Jackie. When he was blocked, the boy lamented, "I want to see Jackie Chan! I've watched his movies and he knows real martial arts!" Indeed, the charm of this superstar knows no bounds.
At the press conference, Jackie said that he has been to Singapore quite a few times and is pretty familiar with our country. Through his good friend Guan Weiqiang's introduction of STCMI, he was won over by its history and mission and decided to accept the role of being its charity ambassador. With a laugh, he said that with endless offers of different roles and identities, he has no choice but to accept them.
Since he stopped filming 11 days ago, Jackie has been going around doing charitable work. He revealed that four days ago, while in doing charity in Vietnam, he was an assistant to a doctor. Jackie said that he witnessed how the doctor operated on a girl with cleft lip and his respect for doctors and nurses grew after watching the whole process. "In just one hour, my whole body was already aching! It was more draining than doing martial arts!" he exclaimed.
While it seems like daredevil stuntman Jackie Chan is afraid of nothing, he revealed that his Achilles' heel was needles! He admitted that being a doctor's assistant once was enough as it was more than he could handle.
"I'm afraid that I will faint! I am very scared of needles, so every time I go for an injection, I will get dizzy. Some people will throw up and faint when they witness such an operation. While I said that I would not, I was really having a hard time controlling myself."
Not forgetting his newly-found role as a charity ambassador, Jackie took this opportunity to ask the media give more coverage to charity events. "This way, people will know how to go about helping others! What has reports like Andy Lau's marriage or who am I dining with got to do with society?"
Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution sets its sight on raising 3.5 million and hopes that Wakin Chau will attend the event
Founded in 1867, the Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution (STCMI) will be collaborating MediaCorp's Channel 8 to organize a live charity show next year on March 21. Although Jackie will start filming another movie in the same month, he has promised to do his part for the event and even said that he will gather his artiste friends to help out. One of the artistes that STCMI hopes to grace the event is Hong Kong actor-singer Wakin Chau. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems, he is unable to confirm whether he can turn up.
Chairman Lim Guan Lee said that the reason they decided to organise a charity show was to raise more funds to renovate their 33-year-old building and add more medical facilities.
STCMI is setting its sights high on raising 3.5 million. Ambassador Jackie Chan said that this figure will not be impossible to reach if every Singaporean donates $1 or even just $0.50.
One question raised by a reporter was if the target was not reached, will Jackie donate the rest? Amongst laughter, Jackie's cheery response was, "I'm already used to donating money." During the interview, Jackie also expressed confidence on Singaporean's take towards charity.
Jackie Chan left Singapore two days ago and will be heading to Thailand, Cambodia and Shandong, China to continue doing his part for charity.
Keyword Research Tips
This article will teach you basic keyword research strategies and introduce you to more advanced local tactics. Where Can I Find Keywords? There are special tools on the web that help markers find keywords, called keyword research tools. There are free, subscription-based and pay-per-use tools. In this article I focus on the free ones. Disclaimer: Subscription and pay-per-use tools are not always better than free ones. Search for reviews and feedback before spending bucks with any company. There are many bad products aimed at “newbies” and their curious wallets. Free Keyword Research Tools Google Keyword Tool - Search for keywords in over 50 languages. It features a very high quality, clean and frequently updated keyword database, with estimated search volume. The down side – keywords that don’t meet Google’s search volume criteria don’t make it to the database, rendering this tool useless for long keyword phrases (four to eight words in length). Regardless, this is one of the best keyword research tools. Wordtracker – Their free tool has a limit of 100 results. If you want to see all keywords, you must pay. Its free database is very detailed, so in most cases 100 results is enough. Wordtracker gathers keyword data from two meta search engines - Dogpile and Metacrawler. Both search engines hold around a one percent market share, so to estimate real search volume numbers across all search engines you must multiply Wordtracker numbers by 99. Keyword Discovery - This tool has a noisy database, so use it with caution. It gathers data from toolbars installed on many computers. I find their free database needs a huge clean up. Yahoo Search Marketing – Follow these steps to get to Yahoo’s keyword research tool. When you click on the link, you will get to a page that says: “Start Advertising with Yahoo! Search Marketing in 5 Simple Steps.” On the right side, select your “market” and “time zone,” then click on “Get Started.” You will see Yahoo say: “1. Target Customers by Geographic Location.” Leave everything as is and click on “Next: Keywords.” You now have access to Yahoo's keyword tool. There’s no need to register further. Copy your keywords when finished and close the window. There is a big down side to using this tool; you have to go through this process every time. If you don’t like the hassle, you can pay Yahoo $50 to open an account with their pay-per-click service. SEO Book Keyword Research Tool – This tool gives exactly the same results as Wordtracker (above). In fact, its database relies on Wordtracker. What you will like about the SEO Book tool is all the extras that come on top of regular keyword research. You can search Yahoo Suggest, Google Suggest, Google Traffic Estimator, Google Insights, Quintra, News Search, Directories, Blog Search, Tag Search and more, all in one place. Play around with it a little. Now you know where to find keywords. To find more, search with “keyword research” or “keyword research tool” on search engines. You can do the research how this work targeting at “online fashion” www.qqwear.comKeyword Research Tips
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Keywords are search queries visitors use on search 
You cannot have a successful search engine optimization campaign without keyword research. Your website must show in search results for key phrases that indicate interest in your products/services and deliver some kind of benefit to the company (sign ups, purchases, downloads, etc), so it’s important to find and test keyword phrases.
Make money fast
Most of this website is about generating a six-figure income by working hard over several months… but this tutorial is a little different. If your goal is just to learn how to make money fast (like just a few hundred bucks), this is for you.
The old-timers reading this probably know that I’m talking about Project Payday, a free website that guarantees you’ll make $100 online, or they’ll just send you the money with no strings attached.
It’s the only way to make money without a website that I endorse. I don’t suggest you try out any other “work at home jobs” for two reasons:
- Project Payday is free. It won’t cost you a dime to get set up, and you can make money without giving out your credit card information or anything. Go to their site and enter your email.
- Project Payday is garaunteed. If you don’t make at least $100 doing what they tell you to do, and fast, then just contact them. They’ll deposit the money into your account without you having to do anything. That’s a success garauntee that anyone can get behind.
To be honest, I wish more people running “make money online” websites would support Project Payday. It’s free, there’s no risk, and you will make money. Why other sites don’t get behind the project is beyond me.
Tip: Sign up for Project Payday, look around, then come back here to read more. Try to force yourself not to get up until you’ve made $100. You’ll be surprised how easy it is.
What Project Payday Is and Isn’t
You can make money fast but you can’t get rich with Project Payday. In other words, you might be able to buy a new TV, but you won’t be able to buy a new porche. I can’t stress this enough… I don’t want you to go in expecting too much.
Project Payday is not a way to make a 6-figure income online. This is only if you want to make a few hundred dollars per day. You won’t get rich, but you can make a realistic income quickly.
If your goal is to make a 6-figure income, and you don’t need to make a little fast money, then Project Payday is a waste of your time. Instead, go back to the main make money online page and read about starting a website. This is the method I use to make money, and it works.
But still, you don’t have to choose one OR the other. You can use both. More importantly, you can use Project Payday to get a free website. I’ll explain how below.
A Popular Way to Use Project Payday
A popular way of using Project Payday looks like this:
- Sign up for Project Payday.
- Make $100-200… then stop.
- Make your own website.
By making 100-200 with Project Payday, you’ll have more than enough to get started with a “real” online business: a website.
My website (the one you’re on right now) is paying for my college plus some. I’ve had it about 6 months. It’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. It cost about $100 to get set up.
Don’t have the money? Then sign up for Project Payday, get the money, and make money online for yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me after you sign up.
Doing this means you can build your own website — for free. You’ll not be out of any money. Effectually, you’ll be getting Project Payday to pay for your website.
One Last Note
Note: You do not have to spend money to sign up… Project Payday is completely free.
I hate to keep saying it’s free, I just don’t want you to think you have to spend money like all of the scams out there. You can’t lose money. You can only gain money. Just sign up, and only go for the free services — don’t ever give your credit card info out.
Ashley Qualls and WhateverLife.com: Case Study of a Teenage Millionaire!! Easy Money for her.
Her numbers are indeed impressive. 17 years old high school dropout. Made more than $1 million. Earns as much as $70K a month. Owns a website that attracts more than 7 million monthly visitors and 60 million page views.
Her first Adsense paycheck was $2,790 and she has already rejected a $1.5 million buyout offer. I’m referring to Ashley Qualls, the founder of Whateverlife.com, a free MySpace layouts website.
Fastcompany recently published a fascinating feature article on Ashley, a teenage entrepreneur from Detroit who has made a substantial amount of money online by targeting a niche market (girls on Myspace/social networks) and fulfilling their needs.
Ashley is evidence of the meritocracy on the Internet that allows even companies run by neophyte entrepreneurs to compete, regardless of funding, location, size, or experience–and she’s a reminder that ingenuity is ageless.
She has taken in more than $1 million, thanks to a now-familiar Web-friendly business model. Her MySpace page layouts are available for the bargain price of…nothing. They’re free for the taking. Her only significant source of revenue so far is advertising.
Inspirational, no doubt. And a clear example of the massive potential that the web has when it comes to generating substantial and consistent income. The amount of money she currently earns would be difficult to replicate offline, although what is really important here is that her online income is very scalable.
What she is currently earning can be exponentially increased through the development of business models which make use of her influence within the specific demographic. In this article I’ll take a quick look at her website and offer some general suggestions on how she can improve her income and reach.
Monetization Strategies: How Whateverlife.com Can Make More Money
Like other high traffic websites, Whateverlife.com runs CPM ads by Casale Media and Value Click, alongside Google Adsense and Nabbr, a revenue sharing video widget. The integration for each ad type is relatively well done and not too intrusive. The main problem is that Ashley doesn’t seem to be selling ads directly, which is a huge loss considering the amount of traffic she gets.
Currently, a site like Techcrunch makes $10K per 125 x 125 ad block and that’s with 4.0 million page views per month. Whateverlife gets 15 times more pageviews and I’m sure an aggressive direct ad campaign will bring in at least $10K more per month, even after one takes into account the variance between technology and lifestyle/teens-oriented advertisers.
According to the article, Whateverlife.com has a larger audience than the combined circulation of magazines like Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and CosmoGirl!. This is something remarkable, that should be taken advantage of in full.
I would suggest contacting these magazine owners and many other similar businesses which share the same demographic to pitch ad space on your site. I’m quite sure many of them would be interested. It’s also important to set up a simple Advertise page in order to better accommodate potential advertisers.
- Affiliate Programs. Establishing affiliate arrangements with products or brands Ashley already uses or supports is also an excellent way to make some extra income through personal recommendations. Even generic web hosting affiliate programs or other non-specific items would generate some income, because of the sheer amount of traffic.
- Donations. They work best when combined with a free service and I think she should put up a simple Paypal badge or customized icon for those who might want to make donations. Even if most visitors are teens, some do have access to online money accounts and can offer appreciation in the form of money.
- Premium Services. Instead of producing layouts en masse for free, Ashley could offer premium design services for corporate clients, businesses or individuals who want a highly customized and specific design.
In essence, brand Whateverlife.com as a design community which understands the teenage demographic. She already has a number of employees working for her and their output can be partially directed towards premium services instead of free content.
- Personal Branding. One of the ways to make more money from any website without increasing traffic or reach is to leverage the exposure the website generates to build your personal brand. Depending on her interests, Ashley could participate in conferences as a paid speaker on specific topics or hold workshops or classes for aspiring young entrepreneurs/designers.
Pushing the personal brand gives you the ability to delve into parallel or adjacent industries that might require your services or skills.
Apart from these monetization strategies, I do like how Ashley is aiming for the mobile market by launching $0.99 to $1.99 cell phone wallpaper downloads in September. This will be a big step forward and will provide some much needed diversification: Currently Adsense is responsible for 60% of her total revenue.
Entrepreneurial Strategy: How to Branch Out for Greater Income and Reach
I like the fact that Ashley has branched out into a magazine, a shop and has set up a forum. It’s important to direct the attention you receive elsewhere, particularly into areas which will spread your brand. Let’s say a visitor arrives at Whateverlife.com and downloads a free layout. Do you want her to click off and visit another website?
Or would you rather have her sign up as a community member in your forum or subscribe to your newsletter? Never assume that a visitor will come back once they visit your website. Some will but others do not and your greatest chance of building an audience is to encourage recurrence and loyalty.
- Build Sticky Communities. A community is a great way to do this. Create your own social network and learn to cross-market your existing sites. Don’t think that a search engine visitor will know of your other websites if you don’t tell them about it.
Connect the dots for them. Each of your websites or projects should increase size or reputation of another, if they are just simply feeding off traffic from one another, you are doing something wrong.
- Create Multiple Niche Sites. Another good strategy would be to develop multiple niche sites off the same domain, each offering a specific bait. Unless you have a link building strategy at hand, it is better to put most projects on a single domain because you are leveraging the trust that search engines has already given you.
If you create multiple new sites on different domain names, be sure that you know how to build links and an audience that will help you develop authority and the ability to rank, particularly if you are in a competitive niche market.
Examples of niche areas to explore include a teens marketplace, a classifieds section, niche Yahoo Answers clone, social video community, a teens social news/voting site, wallpapers and entertainment fields like celebrities etc.
Reinvesting Income into Your Business is Important
Fastcompany reports that Ashley doesn’t do any paid advertising of any sort. I’m not sure how she reinvests her income into Whateverlife but I do think that some of it should definitely go back into the promotion of her online empire.
Such a substantial monthly income ($70K) will allow you to play around with various paid advertising programs, particularly for your business models or spinoff websites which are not prominent in their niche. Her lifestyle magazine is an example of a site that could do with more promotion outside of the design/layout crowd.
Apply these Strategies for Your Own Ventures
Hopefully some of what I’ve written will be applicable to your own online business or websites. Let this case study remind you that it is indeed possible to make lots of money through the simple act of building of websites that work.
I particularly like how Ashley quit high school and took classes online to concentrate on her business because it shows her passion and her determination for success. She knows that she has a golden goose and did the right thing by devoting full attention to it. Never be afraid to quit your day job when you have a real money maker that has potential.
Don’t despair if you aren’t making money now. Research your market, consult with those more experienced, learn the business and be strategic to achieve your goals. Want more inspiration? Here are profiles of some other money making websites.
For more case studies and tips how to build a profitable online business or website, do subscribe us now.
Rat roadkill
WARNING: This is definitely not for the squeamish! If you don't like looking at dead animals, then leave this page NOW!
While walking outside my house, I noticed a squashed carcass on the road. On closer inspection, and from the look of its tail, this looked like a rat. So being morbid me, I snapped a picture of it. I continued taking pictures of it about every 12 hours. Eventually, someone must've cleaned up the roadkill, because it wasn't there on the third day.
"Enjoy" these pictures!
Judging by the state of the body, including the redness of that organ that's sticking out, I think this was soon after it got struck by a vehicle.
About 12 hours later. Still mostly intact, but much flatter.
About 24 hours later. And I think that dark stain on the road surface is from the body.
About 36 hours later. Flies were buzzing around, but I still stooped down to get the picture.
About 72 hours later. I cant find the rat!!! HAHAHA~
Defining Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
I picked up a copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “Crush It” to read on my way to DMA in San Diego. Get the book from Amazon (link above) not at the airport unless you’re funding your own stimulus package for airport book stores.
For readers that are not familiar with @garyvee and Wine Library TV, like I wasn’t when first meeting Gary at Blog World Expo a year ago, Vaynerchuck is a poster boy for a small business that has leveraged passion, product and social media to stimulate incredible business growth and community around his brand.
After BWE, the next time I saw Gary was when he keynoted at Affiliate Summit early in 2009. That was an experience. His “tell it like it is” style isn’t for everyone, but personally, I like it.
The Truth About SEO
I’ve been in the business of SEO for about 12 years and have worked with hundreds of companies of all sizes. I cannot be anything but biased towards the benefits of optimizing web sites to improve visibility in search and the commercial outcomes that can result.
For some, Search Engine Optimization is a favorite whipping boy. Of course, marketers that have experience with proper SEO efforts and consultants, dismiss the sweeping generalizations often made by those looking to “stir the pot” to draw attention to themselves or who are pontificating based on an incomplete set of information.
All industries have a range of practitioners with varied levels of experience. Ease of online publishing allows anyone with a computer to promote themselves, with or without “real”QQwear Fashion Affiliate Program
Our Affiliate Program allows you to generate revenue from your website by placing our QQwear Fashion banners, links or product listings on your website. When visitors click through from your site to QQwear.com and make a purchase, you will receive up to 20% of the sale.
How much can be earned?
We offer a commission rate up to 20% to all affiliates.
QQwear Affiliate Level 1 = 5% (For new affiliate members)
QQwear Affiliate Level 2 = 10% (For total $100 commissions received)
QQwear Affiliate Level 3 = 20% (For total $500 commissions received)
Here it is the detail:
1. Put recommendation link/banners to your Blog, Website, Forums, Friendster, Facebook or other.
2. Visitors click the links/banners to visit our site.
3. If the visitors register on our site and place order in 30 days,then you will get 5% of order amount as reward.
4. Before the order been paid,you will see the reward as "pending" . When order been paid, the money will be credited to your accout.
5. we will send you the money by paypal / Cheque / Fund Transfer
How to post the link/banners to my website?
3. Click Graphic banners in the top left menu,then you can see the affiliation Banner code.
1. Commission will be credit to your account on our site.
2. When your balance of account reach SG$50, you can request us to send money to you. We send money by Paypal / Cheque / fund Transfer
3. We'll transfer money to your Paypal / Banks account in 2 business days after receive your withdraw request.
Register affiliate member :Click Here
Look Where You Shop: How To Find Affiliate Programs
One of the things that I usually get asked about making money online is: “How do I find an affiliate program to use and make money from?”
With the masses of affiliate programs and services out there, I can imagine how difficult the process might be, especially if you’re just starting out with affiliate marketing. In fact, I must admit that I don’t know everything that there is to know about this. It’s such a huge world!
But, thankfully, I have had enough success with affiliate programs to see some steady flow of cash coming from the affiliate relationships that I have. And, having put in the initial effort of finding the right ones that will work for me and my site/s, I am able to see the financial benefits.
So, I thought I’d create a series of short tips for those of you who might be interested in looking in this direction of making money online.
Couple Shopping on the Internet
And yes, my first tip is: Look at Where You Shop Online!
When finding the right affiliate program, it’s always good to promote a product or service that you have already used yourself. Especially if it’s something that you liked. After all, it’s easier to say nice things about products and services that you’ve tried and enjoyed, right?
In my own attempts at using affiliate programs to make money online, I found that I’ve made the most money from those that I am able to endorse. That’s why I very rarely get in to affiliate relationships that I only heard about and never really used.
Therefore, I encourage you to have a look at the things that you enjoy buying online and the shops that you buy from. Do they have an affiliate program that you can sign up for?
Also, don’t just look at the popular affiliate programs ones like Amazon. I must say that while I continue to use Amazon, the bulk of my affiliate income comes from lesser-known sites and services.
So go ahead and watch what kind of things you buy online. Do you enjoy buying books, shoes, electronic gadgets…? See if you can sell those same items through an affiliate program. And yes, take note of those shops where you enjoy buying items from. Which shops are they? See if they run an affiliate program that you can use.
