Making Money with Infobarrel
In this lesson, I want to talk about another way you can make residual income online for free. With this method, we will be making money with Infobarrel.com. If you read the post on making money with hubpages, then this should be quite easy. It's basically the same thing but instead of using Hubpages.com, you'll be using Infobarrel.
If it's the same thing, then why bother? Why not just stick with Hubpages? There are two main reasons for this.
1. Infobarrel pays 75/25 compared to Hubpages' 60/40. The reason I brought up Hubpages first is because they seem to be stronger in terms of rankability. If you want to see any money come in, the key is to get your site ranking well in the search engines.
2. You need to diversify. Just like the recommendations they have about owning stocks, you can't be putting all of your eggs in one basket. You don't want to be in the position where you're making all of this money but it's coming all from one source. What if one day something happens to that source? All of your efforts will be wiped off. That's not something you want to have to deal with.
Infobarrel Basics
Like I said before, it's pretty much the same thing with Hubpages. The format is a bit different on their site though. They have a Microsoft Word style type of format. When you sign up for an account, you'll be asked to enter your Google Adsense Publisher ID. This is how you get paid, it's the same with Hubpages. If you don't have an Adsense ID, you need to get one. You will need a website to do this so either use your Hubpages profile URL or create your own Blogger blog like the one I have here. Don't worry, you don't have to have as many posts as I have. 2-3 posts should be enough. Just pick a topic, a hobbie of yours perhaps, and write a few 150-200 word posts. Once you qualify for an Adsense account, you can put ads on any site you want.
The keyword research is exactly the same as I described in Lesson 4.
So your aim is to create pages on Infobarrel targeting profitable keywords. The more you do, the more money you will make. It's just a numbers game. Some pages you create will make you money, most of them won't. The more you make, the better your chances of getting a page up that will. The good news is that over time, all of your pages should increase in rankings due to age.
Once you sign up for an account on Infobarrel, you want to click on "create" and read the 7 guidelines that they have. Although they say the minimum amount of words is 250 words, just like with Hubpages, you want to aim for at least 400. You will also see 4 templates. Choose the first one. Then choose a title (must have your keyword in it), then start typing. You will also want to pick a category and fill out the tags box on the right.
After you finish creating a few Infobarrels, you will want to create inbound links by using Ezinearticles. Also, within your infobarrel, you are allowed 2 outgoing links. Make one of those links go to a related Hub that you created. Since both Hubpages and Infobarrel are quite strong, you can use them as backlinks. You probably don't want to do reciprocal linking though, meaning you don't want to have one hub and one infobarrel linking back and forth to each other. It's better to have one-way links.
The down side of Infobarrels is that they have their own Kontera ad links on there which, as far as I know, we don't get paid on. This will just decrease the chances of the reader clicking on your ads. So although they display your ads 75% of the time, from what I'm seeing, they're also displaying their Kontera green links 100% of the time. Hubpages has Kontera as well but you actually get paid for it. 75% but a smaller chance of people clicking on your ads is what I'm seeing. Another thing is that since they are relatively new, started at the beginning of 2008 I think, they're still messing around with a lot of different things like Google ad placements. In order to add analytics to your infobarrels, you will have to become a preapproved author (10 articles or more) If you have more than 10 and still don't have it, just email them.
Now that you know about two different sources of income, let me give you the overall game plan here. I probably should have given you the big picture in the beginning but here it is now.
The Big Picture
As I mentioned earlier, diversification is key. The last thing you want is to put all of your eggs in one basket. That being said though, once you find something that works well, you want to put the majority of your time into it.
Stocks is the same way. Although people recommend to diversify, the best in the business focus their money on only a handful of investments. The reason is because if you spread yourself out too thin, you won't be able to realize the full potential of any one investment.
So here are the "investments" you want to focus on.
1. Your own niche site
2. Hubpages
3. Infobarrel
Your Own Site
There are two ways to go about this. You can either get a free site like a Blogger blog such as this site you're reading, or you can buy your own domain name and hosting service.
The advantage of Blogger blogs is that it's free. The disadvantage is that it's not yours. Who knows, down the line, Google can decide to cancel Blogger. It happens, remember Geocites from Yahoo?
The advantage of having your own website is that it's yours. You can actually sell it down the line if you want. You have control of its fate. The disadvantage is that it's not free. However, it's pretty inexpensive. Using the hosting service that you see on the right of this page, Hostgator, and buying a domain name from Godaddy.com using a promo code that you can find online, having a website up and running will cost you under $10 a month for hosting, and about $8 a year for each domain.
If you get hosting and pay 3 years up front, it'll run you $7.95 a month. I chose to pay on a month by month basis and it costs me about $10 a month. Each domain you buy will cost you about $8 but hosting will only cost you $10 no matter how many domains you host on it. It's unlimited domain hosting.
If you can't afford $10 a month or if you're a bit hesitant about whether or not you'll make your money back, then you can test your keyword rankability by creating a hubpage or inforbarrel on that keyword. If you can rank in the top 3 pages for that keyword within the first few weeks with just a few links pointing to it, then you'll have a good chance of getting your paid site to rank with it.
This is one of the strategies I use. Since I'm creating a bunch of hubpages and infobarrels, I can see what keywords are ranking well and are bringing in money. Then I go and get a domain name for it and start building my site. The great part is since my hubpage or infobarrel is already ranking well, I can add a link to my paid site on them to help me in the rankings.
The ideal situation is to dominate the top 3 positions: 1 site, 1 hubpage, 1 infobarrel. That's the ideal, but more than likely you will have those 2 or 3 somewhere in the first or second page. Or you can get the #1 spot, make a bunch of money, then buy out whoever is in #2 and #3. That's what real businesses do. Just look at Google.
In terms of site building, I'll write about that in another post. It's almost the same thing as doing hubpages but it requires more work. However, since you get 100% of the ad revenue and the ability to sell your site down the line if you choose to, it's well worth it.
Hubpages / Infobarrel
If you can't afford the $10 a month to own your own website, then start building a ton of hubpages and infobarrels to start making some money. How many you build will depend on how much you want to make. If you want to make some serious money, then you have to create a ton of these pages. I'm talking several hundred of them.
If you don't have a job currently, just spend your time creating hubpages and infobarrels. If you have a job, do it in your spare time. Go at your own pace.
So what is the potential? For the first few weeks, you will most likely not see very much at all. Perhaps a few dollars here and there. Even with these site's authority, it will still take some time for your page to rank but it depends on the keyword. I've gotten my hubs ranked on the 1st page after a week. After a month or so, you'll start to see money coming in consistently every day. Now if you go all out and create hundreds of hubpages and infobarrels then you could very well make several hundred dollars within your first month or two. As time goes by, and your rankings increase, your income will as well.
The true potential is hard to say because it will be in direct proportion to how hard you work. You can make thousands a month with this method, however, like I said throughout this post, you will want to diversify. Building your own websites is the best way to go. So once you start making some money, use that money to buy your own website.
Another thing you can do with the money you earn is use it to hire other people to write articles for you. The best in this business outsource all of this stuff. You can only write so many articles a day, but when you outsource everything, you'll be making more money with less time. That's what business is all about. Earning you more money while freeing up your time.
So start building hubpages and infobarrels. Do 100 each. Yes, that's a lot of work but who ever said making money online was easy? Oh right, those internet marketing scams. If you want your life to change, you must start putting in the work. If you want money fast, then work fast. If you're really working hard and don't screw around, you can easily do 10 hubs or infobarrels in a day. Even if you only have 2-3 hours a day, you can still crank out 5 of them which would be 150 a month. In the beginning it may take you a while to write just one since you're still getting used to the format, but once you do around 10, you'll be flying through these.
What I recommend you do is spend part of your time each day looking for keywords. It sucks to have to run out of keywords while you're on a roll cranking these infobarrels and hubpages out. I have way more than I can handle but I still spend at least 30 minutes a day finding keywords. I may never use many of them but it's also good to have a lot of choices to choose from because trust me, there will be times when you look at the words you have and just don't want to write about any of them. By having a huge list you'll have more to choose from and that will allow you to keep your momentum going.
Additional Help
If all of this seems confusing to you or you're just not sure about something, I HIGHLY recommend signing up with the Keyword Academy. You can read my Keywords Academy Review or just go straight to their page and sign up for $1. You'll learn everything you need to know.
Aside from being trained by some of the best in this business, just having access to the forums will be a HUGE help for you. Any questions you have will be answered. You will have the support of hundreds of like minded individuals from beginners to the highly advanced. Having people support you with this journey will greatly increase your chances of being successful. It's the best online community I have ever been involved with. It can be life changing.
It's very hard to do this all on your own. You will inevitably be met with LOTS of setbacks and obstacles. By having people who have similar goals for you to turn to when you need some support or a motivation booster, it can mean the difference between your life being the same a year from now and living the life of your dreams. At the very least, try to get a committed friend to do this with you.
In this lesson, I want to talk about another way you can make residual income online for free. With this method, we will be making money with Infobarrel.com. If you read the post on making money with hubpages, then this should be quite easy. It's basically the same thing but instead of using Hubpages.com, you'll be using Infobarrel.
If it's the same thing, then why bother? Why not just stick with Hubpages? There are two main reasons for this.
1. Infobarrel pays 75/25 compared to Hubpages' 60/40. The reason I brought up Hubpages first is because they seem to be stronger in terms of rankability. If you want to see any money come in, the key is to get your site ranking well in the search engines.
2. You need to diversify. Just like the recommendations they have about owning stocks, you can't be putting all of your eggs in one basket. You don't want to be in the position where you're making all of this money but it's coming all from one source. What if one day something happens to that source? All of your efforts will be wiped off. That's not something you want to have to deal with.
Infobarrel Basics
Like I said before, it's pretty much the same thing with Hubpages. The format is a bit different on their site though. They have a Microsoft Word style type of format. When you sign up for an account, you'll be asked to enter your Google Adsense Publisher ID. This is how you get paid, it's the same with Hubpages. If you don't have an Adsense ID, you need to get one. You will need a website to do this so either use your Hubpages profile URL or create your own Blogger blog like the one I have here. Don't worry, you don't have to have as many posts as I have. 2-3 posts should be enough. Just pick a topic, a hobbie of yours perhaps, and write a few 150-200 word posts. Once you qualify for an Adsense account, you can put ads on any site you want.
The keyword research is exactly the same as I described in Lesson 4.
So your aim is to create pages on Infobarrel targeting profitable keywords. The more you do, the more money you will make. It's just a numbers game. Some pages you create will make you money, most of them won't. The more you make, the better your chances of getting a page up that will. The good news is that over time, all of your pages should increase in rankings due to age.
Once you sign up for an account on Infobarrel, you want to click on "create" and read the 7 guidelines that they have. Although they say the minimum amount of words is 250 words, just like with Hubpages, you want to aim for at least 400. You will also see 4 templates. Choose the first one. Then choose a title (must have your keyword in it), then start typing. You will also want to pick a category and fill out the tags box on the right.
After you finish creating a few Infobarrels, you will want to create inbound links by using Ezinearticles. Also, within your infobarrel, you are allowed 2 outgoing links. Make one of those links go to a related Hub that you created. Since both Hubpages and Infobarrel are quite strong, you can use them as backlinks. You probably don't want to do reciprocal linking though, meaning you don't want to have one hub and one infobarrel linking back and forth to each other. It's better to have one-way links.
The down side of Infobarrels is that they have their own Kontera ad links on there which, as far as I know, we don't get paid on. This will just decrease the chances of the reader clicking on your ads. So although they display your ads 75% of the time, from what I'm seeing, they're also displaying their Kontera green links 100% of the time. Hubpages has Kontera as well but you actually get paid for it. 75% but a smaller chance of people clicking on your ads is what I'm seeing. Another thing is that since they are relatively new, started at the beginning of 2008 I think, they're still messing around with a lot of different things like Google ad placements. In order to add analytics to your infobarrels, you will have to become a preapproved author (10 articles or more) If you have more than 10 and still don't have it, just email them.
Now that you know about two different sources of income, let me give you the overall game plan here. I probably should have given you the big picture in the beginning but here it is now.
The Big Picture
As I mentioned earlier, diversification is key. The last thing you want is to put all of your eggs in one basket. That being said though, once you find something that works well, you want to put the majority of your time into it.
Stocks is the same way. Although people recommend to diversify, the best in the business focus their money on only a handful of investments. The reason is because if you spread yourself out too thin, you won't be able to realize the full potential of any one investment.
So here are the "investments" you want to focus on.
1. Your own niche site
2. Hubpages
3. Infobarrel
Your Own Site
There are two ways to go about this. You can either get a free site like a Blogger blog such as this site you're reading, or you can buy your own domain name and hosting service.
The advantage of Blogger blogs is that it's free. The disadvantage is that it's not yours. Who knows, down the line, Google can decide to cancel Blogger. It happens, remember Geocites from Yahoo?
The advantage of having your own website is that it's yours. You can actually sell it down the line if you want. You have control of its fate. The disadvantage is that it's not free. However, it's pretty inexpensive. Using the hosting service that you see on the right of this page, Hostgator, and buying a domain name from Godaddy.com using a promo code that you can find online, having a website up and running will cost you under $10 a month for hosting, and about $8 a year for each domain.
If you get hosting and pay 3 years up front, it'll run you $7.95 a month. I chose to pay on a month by month basis and it costs me about $10 a month. Each domain you buy will cost you about $8 but hosting will only cost you $10 no matter how many domains you host on it. It's unlimited domain hosting.
If you can't afford $10 a month or if you're a bit hesitant about whether or not you'll make your money back, then you can test your keyword rankability by creating a hubpage or inforbarrel on that keyword. If you can rank in the top 3 pages for that keyword within the first few weeks with just a few links pointing to it, then you'll have a good chance of getting your paid site to rank with it.
This is one of the strategies I use. Since I'm creating a bunch of hubpages and infobarrels, I can see what keywords are ranking well and are bringing in money. Then I go and get a domain name for it and start building my site. The great part is since my hubpage or infobarrel is already ranking well, I can add a link to my paid site on them to help me in the rankings.
The ideal situation is to dominate the top 3 positions: 1 site, 1 hubpage, 1 infobarrel. That's the ideal, but more than likely you will have those 2 or 3 somewhere in the first or second page. Or you can get the #1 spot, make a bunch of money, then buy out whoever is in #2 and #3. That's what real businesses do. Just look at Google.
In terms of site building, I'll write about that in another post. It's almost the same thing as doing hubpages but it requires more work. However, since you get 100% of the ad revenue and the ability to sell your site down the line if you choose to, it's well worth it.
Hubpages / Infobarrel
If you can't afford the $10 a month to own your own website, then start building a ton of hubpages and infobarrels to start making some money. How many you build will depend on how much you want to make. If you want to make some serious money, then you have to create a ton of these pages. I'm talking several hundred of them.
If you don't have a job currently, just spend your time creating hubpages and infobarrels. If you have a job, do it in your spare time. Go at your own pace.
So what is the potential? For the first few weeks, you will most likely not see very much at all. Perhaps a few dollars here and there. Even with these site's authority, it will still take some time for your page to rank but it depends on the keyword. I've gotten my hubs ranked on the 1st page after a week. After a month or so, you'll start to see money coming in consistently every day. Now if you go all out and create hundreds of hubpages and infobarrels then you could very well make several hundred dollars within your first month or two. As time goes by, and your rankings increase, your income will as well.
The true potential is hard to say because it will be in direct proportion to how hard you work. You can make thousands a month with this method, however, like I said throughout this post, you will want to diversify. Building your own websites is the best way to go. So once you start making some money, use that money to buy your own website.
Another thing you can do with the money you earn is use it to hire other people to write articles for you. The best in this business outsource all of this stuff. You can only write so many articles a day, but when you outsource everything, you'll be making more money with less time. That's what business is all about. Earning you more money while freeing up your time.
So start building hubpages and infobarrels. Do 100 each. Yes, that's a lot of work but who ever said making money online was easy? Oh right, those internet marketing scams. If you want your life to change, you must start putting in the work. If you want money fast, then work fast. If you're really working hard and don't screw around, you can easily do 10 hubs or infobarrels in a day. Even if you only have 2-3 hours a day, you can still crank out 5 of them which would be 150 a month. In the beginning it may take you a while to write just one since you're still getting used to the format, but once you do around 10, you'll be flying through these.
What I recommend you do is spend part of your time each day looking for keywords. It sucks to have to run out of keywords while you're on a roll cranking these infobarrels and hubpages out. I have way more than I can handle but I still spend at least 30 minutes a day finding keywords. I may never use many of them but it's also good to have a lot of choices to choose from because trust me, there will be times when you look at the words you have and just don't want to write about any of them. By having a huge list you'll have more to choose from and that will allow you to keep your momentum going.
Additional Help
If all of this seems confusing to you or you're just not sure about something, I HIGHLY recommend signing up with the Keyword Academy. You can read my Keywords Academy Review or just go straight to their page and sign up for $1. You'll learn everything you need to know.
Aside from being trained by some of the best in this business, just having access to the forums will be a HUGE help for you. Any questions you have will be answered. You will have the support of hundreds of like minded individuals from beginners to the highly advanced. Having people support you with this journey will greatly increase your chances of being successful. It's the best online community I have ever been involved with. It can be life changing.
It's very hard to do this all on your own. You will inevitably be met with LOTS of setbacks and obstacles. By having people who have similar goals for you to turn to when you need some support or a motivation booster, it can mean the difference between your life being the same a year from now and living the life of your dreams. At the very least, try to get a committed friend to do this with you.
