New Problogger & Adsense Books

Apologies to anyone who's already read this news, but two interesting new books have recently been released to help moneymakers online. Joel Comm, Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett have lent their ideas and expertise to those looking for insight into blogging and making money online.

In terms of blogging, Darren Rowse is a household name amongst most bloggers. He and Chris Garrett recently released their book "ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income", which can be ordered at Amazon. You can also download a sample teaser chapter from the book. The Monetizer fully endorses Darren as he's always got great advice and inspiration on his blog. The PDF download chapter is well worth checking out as it talks about Darren having to work 3 jobs as he gradually worked his way into blogging, eventually earning 6 figures. The book should be a great read describing Darren and Chris' paths towards blogging success. It will also provide you a roadmap to success, along with some great new ideas and inspiration!

The other book which just recently arrived online is an e-book, Joel Comm's "Google Adsense Secrets 4th Edition". I purchased Joel's Adsense Code when I had first started in my online adventures. It definitely gave valuable advice and insight into how to integrate the most popular moneymaker online into my websites and blogs. I recommend Joel's new e-book at just $9.95 available here at his site. He's updated the advice and tips he gives to discuss working with today's version of Google Adsense. (Note: be careful as I have read you will be locked into a monthly or yearly subscription deal at Joel's site, so you need to cancel to avoid extra charges).

The Monetizer wanted to spread the news around because I believe in the products of these guys. I wouldn't be too surprised if John Chow and Shoemoney have their own books come out as well.. And who knows, but maybe one day you'll see a Monetizer e-book or real book selling at Amazon.com!

Blogging Your Thoughts for Free

These days there's millions of blogs around with more people starting their own blogs daily. I'm not sure of the exact statistics, but I'm sure there's one of those "there's a new blog started every 25 seconds" type stats going around the internet and news sources.

With blogging, many people who want to get started expressing their thoughts to friends, family and the world will quickly choose a free alternative, rather than using paid hosting with a domain. There's plenty of available options for free blog platforms such as Blogger, Wordpress, Myspace, and a newer site called "Thoughts.com". By Blogging at Thoughts.com you get the ability to have your own blog which will reside at http://www.thoughts.com/your_username. You also will have the ability to upload pictures, videos, do podcasting, chat in forums, and add friends to your public or private profile. It's almost like blogging meets a Myspace style community, except there's no Tom.

Thoughts.com 10 Most Popular Posts of All-Time:

1 A Great Head of Hair--women's haircuts by brainstormer
2 waiting... zypvashna
3 THE BEST BLOG IN THE WORLD by mazaredo
4 Heel pain: Stanley Zawada WHITESTONEPODIATRY.COM drffc
5 Why did you made me feel this way by hate
6 bipolar,mania by cybaclick
7 Another Celebrity Sex Scandal With A Twist! by hairyLGS
8 What's Hot--Hot Pics by brainstormer
9 (Japanese characters) by dspc
10 Practice Preemie Fair Isle Hat by steviesknitncrochet

For those of us who are concerned with monetizing our blogs, Thoughts.com isn't like Blogger, as it doesn't appear to offer any revenue sharing or ability to use affiliate links or Adsense ads. But there is the added ability of social networking by adding friends and participating in community forums. As stated in the Thoughts.com "Create a Blog" area, you instantly gain an audience when you sign up for your free blog there. It would serve as a great cross-promotional or marketing strategy to maybe keep a separate "daily journal" style blog there. You could add a bit of info about your other monetized blog somewhere on an entry or maybe on your Thoughts.com profile. As you can see in the 10 popular posts above someone has smartly listed out a website name in their user name field in order to promote their website more.

So Thoughts.com will provide you with yet another viable option for free blogging and promotion. While you don't make money, there is one prize offered monthly at Thoughts.com. Each month a random member wins 6 months of free Netflix which is a great way to spend time after blogging, catching up on all the latest DVD releases.

Make Money Online Doing the ChaCha

Special thanks to friend CyberGwen for informing me of the following way to make money online...

This isn't quite Dancing with the Stars online, instead it's a website called "ChaCha", a place where people go to get answers. You might ask, "Isn't that handled by Google already?" Well, yes and no. Google is a very powerful search engine, but many people search and search for what they want and can't quite get the answer they are looking for. Sometimes you find yourself with a ton of listings that mention the terms you searched, but you don't have the precise info you wanted. ChaCha makes sure they do.

ChaCha is geared mostly to the mobile phone/computer user looking for info on the go. An example the site gives is: "What hotel in downtown Cleveland has a business center?" Some people may find themselves sifting through search results to get the answer they really need, and if you're simply using a mobile phone, you want an answer faster. With ChaCha, a live guide will help the person get the info quickly and accurately, or at least send them along the proper path for it. ChaCha is free to use. If you'd like to try it from your own cell phone, text your question to 242-242 (spells ‘ChaCha’) or call 1-800-2ChaCha (800-224-2242) from your mobile phone to ask any question and you will receive the answer as a text message. Standard text message rates or voice minutes may apply. The ChaCha site also offers a search engine box as well which serves the same purpose as texting or calling in your query.

Now to make money with ChaCha, you'll first need to register as a guide, be accepted, and then pass their tests to get in. Almost seems like an elite spy academy or Mission Impossible. The application to become a guide asks for your particulars such as name, email, zip code, level of education, interests, internet connection, times available and other pertinent info. I'm currently in the app review process, and then I'll get the series of tests afterwards, to make sure I'm a good fit for ChaCha's community. Once I'm in, the ChaCha begins!



According to my friend, and the source for writing this entry about ChaCha, she earns 20 cents per query she handles, but it can add up quickly. You could see it as fun, and a new type of instant message game, where you're getting payed to do an online scavenger hunt. It may become a nuisance to some to be interrupted online if they do a lot of other work. However, the great part about making money at ChaCha is that you're on your own schedule. You can log in for 15 minutes or 15 hours and field search queries that come your way. According to the site's Fast Facts there's about 30,000 people working as guides already, in each of the 50 states. One of the notable names on their team of investors is Jeff Bezos who we all know as the man behind online retailer, Amazon.com.

I'll provide more of an update about my experiences with ChaCha once my application status changes. But it looks like yet another worthwhile and legitimate way to earn yourself some extra income, especially if you enjoy finding info online. Or you can also go the more traditional route and launch into one of the careers offered at ChaCha, which has its homebase in Indiana. But, if you'd rather just look stylish than work for ChaCha, they also offer "ChaCha gear", a special section of the site which sells Specialty Tees, Active Wear and Accessories.

The Tax Man Cometh

I enjoy most of the monthly holidays like Christmas, Easter, my birthday, V-day, the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. However, there's one holiday in particular most of us dread and don't really celebrate often: April 15th or "Tax Due Date".

This year I did something I've never done before with regards to filing my taxes, I filed an extension. The reasons are due to my recent move, some tax documents I needed were misplaced. So now with the due date 2 days away, I am extending so I can get those documents in and do my taxes soon after. The drawbacks are there could be a late fee, and month to month interest is charged until you file your Federal return.

To file an extension, you'll need to know your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from 2006, your estimated tax owed this year, and your federal tax payments made. You may also need to file an extension for your state taxes. Make sure to refer to your state's gov site for more info, as each state differs in its rules. For my state, there was no need to file the state extension if you don't expect to owe state taxes AND you filed the federal extension.

Once you've filled out the e-file extension form you'll most likely be asked to pay some money towards your federal tax owed (payment must be over $1). You also may be charged a fee, which in my case was $3.95, payable by bank account or CC. And now I wait to make sure the extension goes through!

If you need to file an extension of your own, check out www.irs.gov where they list out several free e-file sites which include Form 4868, the form for a federal extension. I'll keep you updated on any progress or issues that arise with this...

Hopefully you all are done filing b now and getting some moolah back...Good luck with the process!